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Worst trend this gen: Pre-rendered cutscenes
- Thread starter Relix
- Start date
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I don't mind pre-rendered cutscenes, what I do mind as many people have said here is pixelation between them.
Fuck Bink Video and burn it to the ground. Devs should use better compression methods. Eurogamer ran an impressive feature with the FFXIII cutscenes where they compressed them with better quality AND less disc space than what Square used for the 360 version.
Fuck Bink Video and burn it to the ground. Devs should use better compression methods. Eurogamer ran an impressive feature with the FFXIII cutscenes where they compressed them with better quality AND less disc space than what Square used for the 360 version.
miladesn said:
No, they're really not. The faces are still not that detailed, they have the completely smooth plastic look that is so typical of video game faces. There was a lot of detail in FFXIII CG, but nowhere near the level of detail in Avatar, which manages to make things look real and not CG. Just because the video is 1080p doesn't mean it's Avatar-level CG.
Rahxephon91
Banned
I think he meant more the picture quality..Zzoram said:
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
lol at Bink apologists.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Sonic Team should at least be commended for getting the real-time cutscenes in Unleashed right. I swear some of the models used looked like CG...Kulock said:
it has more to do with the level of detail in the CG models rather than video quality, In the earlier sections like the intro video (train...) you can see close up view of Lightning's face and her skin is very detailed but in later sections like near the ending yes they look like plastic models, guess Wada ran out of money:lol . but video compression is top notch, bitrate must be really high.Zzoram said:
How anyone can say that Uncharted 2 is the worst offender in macroblocking, it's ridiculous. At worst I have noticed maybe once or twice small amount of macroblocking but only in parts with big action in scene. Few times for a few seconds. Video is flawlessly compressed. Same thing for GoW3, I really tried to be picky and find faults in compression but there is almost none. You can notice it sometimes but it's not that big of a deal.
On the other hand, Alan Wake is having big macroblocking problem in every cutscene that deals with action and fast movement and dark areas. Sometimes it's so big block fest, it's laughable. In Uncharted 2 the only really poorly compressed videos are the Behind the Scenes videos where you can really notice lower bit-rate but that's because ran out of space on disk. It's just that I hate they still use Bink codec for games today. Bink was used for PC games for a really long time. Hell, I've just played The Longest Journey on PC and Bink is used there as well and that game is 10 years old.
On the other hand, Alan Wake is having big macroblocking problem in every cutscene that deals with action and fast movement and dark areas. Sometimes it's so big block fest, it's laughable. In Uncharted 2 the only really poorly compressed videos are the Behind the Scenes videos where you can really notice lower bit-rate but that's because ran out of space on disk. It's just that I hate they still use Bink codec for games today. Bink was used for PC games for a really long time. Hell, I've just played The Longest Journey on PC and Bink is used there as well and that game is 10 years old.
Dead Man Typing
Member
Of course it should be pointed out that the negative effects of this are more noticeable on larger HDTV's.
I played through Uncharted and Uncharted 2 on a 37inch 720p LCD TV and noticed very little pixellation at any time. But I can imagine that if you're playing on a 50inch 1080p set then the effect would be a lot more pronounced and a lot more annoying. Just like the PC gamers who are playing games at high resolutions.
The worst offender of the gen is a game I really enjoyed, Batman Arkham Asylum is pretty terrible for the quality of it's pre-rendered scenes, especially when the game models look so good.
I played through Uncharted and Uncharted 2 on a 37inch 720p LCD TV and noticed very little pixellation at any time. But I can imagine that if you're playing on a 50inch 1080p set then the effect would be a lot more pronounced and a lot more annoying. Just like the PC gamers who are playing games at high resolutions.
The worst offender of the gen is a game I really enjoyed, Batman Arkham Asylum is pretty terrible for the quality of it's pre-rendered scenes, especially when the game models look so good.
Kagari said:
Yea. I have rarely encountered the OP's problem on PS3. Sure once or twice here and there, but I would rather have a slight hitch in a prerecorded FMV that masks loading that sit through an in engine cutscene, then another loading screen.
Not only that but in engine cutscenes are sometimes very poor because they have camera angles and distances to characters that the models and textures were not meant for. There were a number of instances on both ME2 and Dragon Age that I remember thinking they should have just prerendered the scene and did better texture work.
Philanthropist
Banned
leng jai said:
This is the greatest truth. The Internet is letting every whiny fool to complain about literally everything, from genuine flaws to things that can be right but can't possibly satisfy everyone. And the constructive debates are nowhere to be found.
Warm Machine
Member
Bink isn't the problem. Bink allows developer various compression levels and can look completely macroblock or artifact free if there is enough room for the files. It also allows for simple integration of in game animated textures. It is licensed a lot because it is easy to use and well written.
LegendOfGood
Member
Why are people saying this complaint has been around since FF7?
The problem isn't pre-rendered, high-quality CG cutscenes. The problem is pre-rendered cutscenes using in-game models. In other words, the game could be generating the scene in real time, except that it isn't and the video is compressed and pixilated.
The problem isn't pre-rendered, high-quality CG cutscenes. The problem is pre-rendered cutscenes using in-game models. In other words, the game could be generating the scene in real time, except that it isn't and the video is compressed and pixilated.
MomoPufflet
Member
This always annoyed me in the Splinter Cell games-- they've been doing it since the original. It annoyed me in Mass Effect 2 as well, but if it's true that they did it to make the game's loading more seamless then ehh, I'm conflicted. It still takes me out of the game because I can't help but notice it-- it's completely obvious.
flyinpiranha
Member
LegendOfGood said:
People seem to have completely missed the entire point of what the OP is trying to say. Or (most likely) just didn't read the OP because it wasn't 6 words and a gif and just hit reply to the title. Almost every other post has nothing to do with what the OP has stated.
I still don't think it's a problem though. Especially in the games he's mentioned.
for the cutscenes no, they are apparently AVCHD or H.264 encoded files in containers with .wmp format (read White Engine Media package or something like these).ULTROS! said:
Bink is used for other videos files that play in game, for example there is a monitor or TV in the level that displays a looping video, those videos are encoded with Bink, considering it has liitle impact on CPU time, Bink is the perfect codec in these cases. I don't recall seeing Bink logo either. not sure was it in ending credits or not?! anyway if it is used in FFXIII it's definitely not the cut-scenes.
ShockingAlberto said:
Yep you are too reasonable :lol
Fuck Bink by the way. I remember them back in the PC games of early 00's as the worst shit ever. Every time I saw BINK VIDEO PLAYER INSTALLING I got pissed. To this day they haven't got any better. Why developers stick with them is beyond me.
Dead Man Typing said:
This is exactly the problem I have with these videos. Add to that the bad encoding and I just get pissed.
I didn't notice anything in God of War 3, but prerendered cutscenes actually are a really noticeable difference in PC games. You'll go from a 1600x900p, anti-aliased, 60FPS picture to a stretched 1024x768, blocky, 4:3, 30FPS cutscene in the blink of an eye. Really ugly and distracting.
BobsRevenge
I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
:lol :lolJohn said:
Mass Effect was truly jarring with that shit. Yeah, it's annoying.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Zoe said:Must have been an error. US cover:
Then again, the 360 has the Bink version.
Don't tell me they used Bink for the 360 cutscenes (and hopefully not). :/
M3d10n said:
I think you meant Super Mario Sunshine? I'm pretty sure SMG is all in-game cutscenes, as when you run it on an emulator (Dolphin) everything is rendered in high resolution. True, Nintendo added their own anti-aliasing effect to the game, but the emulator coders have found a way to remove it.
If anyone knows better they can correct me, but I'm pretty sure SMG doesn't have fmvs.
EDIT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOErl7NZOU
OK so you're right, the brief scenes where Bowser attacks and so on seem to be FMVs as the author of the video cleverly skips them. Sorry, my mistake!
Arpharmd B
Banned
Actually this gen to me is great because of the games that do in engine cutscenes.
Talking about: Dead Rising, Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet 2, Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Gears of War 1 and 2 all have fantastic in engine cutscenes. And the thing I love about in-engine is just keeps everything so flush and connected.
An in-engine cutscene really wows me because even though obviously during cinemas the engine can do better visuals, it still blows me away how close in-engine cutscenes are to the CG of last gen. Especially titles like RE5.
The coolest thing though, is that you can use your unlocked costumes and items in the scenes. Dead Rising started it, Lost Planet 2 and RE5 took it to the next step.
I have to say I couldn't agree with the OP more. When I heard about Final Fantasy XIII, I was in shock. I mean honestly I'd rather have those scenes actually rendered even with framedipping ala Gears of War. You know, it would have saved massive amounts of storage, too.
Talking about: Dead Rising, Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet 2, Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Gears of War 1 and 2 all have fantastic in engine cutscenes. And the thing I love about in-engine is just keeps everything so flush and connected.
An in-engine cutscene really wows me because even though obviously during cinemas the engine can do better visuals, it still blows me away how close in-engine cutscenes are to the CG of last gen. Especially titles like RE5.
The coolest thing though, is that you can use your unlocked costumes and items in the scenes. Dead Rising started it, Lost Planet 2 and RE5 took it to the next step.
I have to say I couldn't agree with the OP more. When I heard about Final Fantasy XIII, I was in shock. I mean honestly I'd rather have those scenes actually rendered even with framedipping ala Gears of War. You know, it would have saved massive amounts of storage, too.
Every single cut-scene of the game, recorded form xbox 360, was on youtube last time I checked.ULTROS! said:I'm curious, how awful do they look? Are there are 720p streams out there?
Digital Foundry had video comparison of cut-scenes.
