What good mods/software should I use to make a KSP film?

[Clockwork13]

I had an idea for a KSP short film I want to make, but I have some questions about what mods/software I should use.

Recording Software

What good screencapture software could I use? For older videos on my channel, I have used ezvid, although I'm wondering if there's anything better out there. I'm looking for something that ideally would be free, could be imported into sony vegas, and has no watermark. Ezvid fulfills all of these, but it's quality is a bit lower than what I would prefer. If I can't find anything else, I'll stick to this.

Editing Software

What editing software would be best? I use an old version of Sony Vegas, although I'm wondering if there would be any better ones out there. I would prefer something that's free since I can't pay for any of this.

Mods

What good KSP mods could I use for this? I primarily need a camera mod, but am not sure if there's any other mods out there useful for filming.

EDIT 2: what good visual mods could I use. i know I'd want a good skybox, and also things like clouds. I already have texturereplacer, but where could I get other visual mods that add things like clouds?

Any other advice?

Not sure if there's anything else that would be nice to know before making a KSP short film. If there is, please post it here!

EDIT:

1 more that I forgot:

What good songs could I use as soundtracks for the film?

I generally want to avoid using songs with voice(since IMO they don't sound as good).

Edited June 27, 2015 by Clockwork13

[jedensuscg]

Environmental Visual Enhancements is to my knowledge the only mod that creates nicer graphics outside of the limited stuff Texture Re-placer dies (which seems to focus on suits and skyboxes). It adds city lights, awesome volumetric clouds, skyboxes, textures, you name it. Unfortunately it is severely outdated as are all the config packs and can be a real pain in the ass to get working.

For filming, there is Movie Time is an addon which gives you a bunch of filters that allow you to mimic effects that simulate watching a film on black and white tv's, older color tv's, night vision. You can make your film look just like the tv broadcast from the original Apollo mission.

Not sure about streaming software, but if you have a new Nvidia GPU you can use Shadow Play. I have been using Shadow Play since it released. It is built into newer GPU's (at least as far back as the 670) and since all the captures are being done at a GPU level is it very low resources usage. It has the ability to capture the last 10 seconds to last 2 minutes of gameplay with the push of a button, as opposed to something that is always capturing video and filling up your hard drive. So you are not sorting through a bunch of raw footage trying to find that one scene you want to use. Instead you can retroactively capture say the last 30 seconds of video if you did something you want to save. If your launch scene did not work out the way you want, then don't hit the save video key and try again. IF you have an AMD card, then I do not know. Shadow Play is enabled and controled via the Nvidia GeForce Experience panel.

As for sounds or music, check out Youtubes Free Audio Library. It's a collection of free to use music (without lyrics) that you can download and attach to your videos. A lot of it is styled to sound like movie score music, but they have something from every genre.

https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music

I just used Widows Movie Maker honestly, though it is not very feature filled it was free and on my computer already.

All of the above (minus the KSP mods of course) are what I used for making video shorts for Planetside 2.

Edited June 28, 2015 by jedensuscg

[Clockwork13]

Environmental Visual Enhancements is to my knowledge the only mod that creates nicer graphics outside of the limited stuff Texture Re-placer dies (which seems to focus on suits and skyboxes). It adds city lights, awesome volumetric clouds, skyboxes, textures, you name it. Unfortunately it is severely outdated as are all the config packs and can be a real pain in the ass to get working.

For filming, there is Movie Time is an addon which gives you a bunch of filters that allow you to mimic effects that simulate watching a film on black and white tv's, older color tv's, night vision. You can make your film look just like the tv broadcast from the original Apollo mission.

Not sure about streaming software, but if you have a new Nvidia GPU you can use Shadow Play. I have been using Shadow Play since it released. It is built into newer GPU's (at least as far back as the 670) and since all the captures are being done at a GPU level is it very low resources usage. It has the ability to capture the last 10 seconds to last 2 minutes of gameplay with the push of a button, as opposed to something that is always capturing video and filling up your hard drive. So you are not sorting through a bunch of raw footage trying to find that one scene you want to use. Instead you can retroactively capture say the last 30 seconds of video if you did something you want to save. If your launch scene did not work out the way you want, then don't hit the save video key and try again. IF you have an AMD card, then I do not know. Shadow Play is enabled and controled via the Nvidia GeForce Experience panel.

As for sounds or music, check out Youtubes Free Audio Library. It's a collection of free to use music (without lyrics) that you can download and attach to your videos. A lot of it is styled to sound like movie score music, but they have something from every genre.

https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music

I just used Widows Movie Maker honestly, though it is not very feature filled it was free and on my computer already.

All of the above (minus the KSP mods of course) are what I used for making video shorts for Planetside 2.

Thanks for the feedback. I tried getting the Movie Time addon, but the link didn't work for me.

EDIT: I googled KSP Movie Time and found it.

[Mic_n]

Planetshine is another mod that adds a bit, giving/simulating 'ambient' lighting reflected back of the surface of an orbited planet.. You might also want to look at some part packs like Aviation Lights which ads some nicer light sources to help you light your scenes and craft, which you shouldn't overlook for 'filming'.

As for music, most classical scores are out of copyright as well, though specific modern performances/recordings would technically not be 'free use'. I'd probably go with the youtube archive already linked... but you could try the music archives from http://archive.org/ - that's really more about providing an archive for media that may otherwise be lost to time, but depending on what feel you're going for, it could still be quite useful. I could see an entertaining little reel of comical mishaps running slightly sped-up in grainy black and white with a jangly old piano piece running along.. silent movie style.

Oh, you might also want something like Persistent Trails that lets you record and playback flights, so you can focus on the actual flying and craft control and then replay that sequence to record the action. IE "act", then play cinematographer and film the action.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Mic_n

[colmo]

Scatterer (looks stunning at sunset with EVE's clouds).

Bahamuto D's camera mod (for flyby's and fixed cameras).

EVA follower and BurnTogether for moving Kerbals and vehicles in groups.

RPM for IVA views.

Hyperedit for fast scene setup.

[Clockwork13]

Planetshine is another mod that adds a bit, giving/simulating 'ambient' lighting reflected back of the surface of an orbited planet.. You might also want to look at some part packs like Aviation Lights which ads some nicer light sources to help you light your scenes and craft, which you shouldn't overlook for 'filming'.

As for music, most classical scores are out of copyright as well, though specific modern performances/recordings would technically not be 'free use'. I'd probably go with the youtube archive already linked... but you could try the music archives from http://archive.org/ - that's really more about providing an archive for media that may otherwise be lost to time, but depending on what feel you're going for, it could still be quite useful. I could see an entertaining little reel of comical mishaps running slightly sped-up in grainy black and white with a jangly old piano piece running along.. silent movie style.

Oh, you might also want something like Persistent Trails that lets you record and playback flights, so you can focus on the actual flying and craft control and then replay that sequence to record the action. IE "act", then play cinematographer and film the action.

I already have planetshine and am planning on using it.

- - - Updated - - -

Scatterer (looks stunning at sunset with EVE's clouds).

Bahamuto D's camera mod (for flyby's and fixed cameras).

EVA follower and BurnTogether for moving Kerbals and vehicles in groups.

RPM for IVA views.

Hyperedit for fast scene setup.

Scatterer looks interesting, and so does RPM, although I'm not sure how much I'm going to be in IVA mode. I already have hyperedit too.

[jedensuscg]

RPM would actually be fantastic. I remember awhile back I did a career trying to do IVA only. It was hard but with RPM as well as the many mods that plug into it (mechjeb, vessel view, cameras, etc) it was doable and fun. However for a film type video, imagine having scenes from inside the flight deck looking out the window at a planet or an asteroid looming on over the window. Even if you don't actually FLY with IVA, all the realistic details RPM adds makes IVA look much neater than the stock interior from a cinematic standpoint. There is also a mod (or used to be not sure if it's updated" called prob control room that allows you to IVA with a probe. It is essentially a room with a main screen and several computer displays set up like a small version of Mission Control, where you set up all the RPM screens.

Edited June 28, 2015 by jedensuscg

[Clockwork13]

I will try it then. Thanks.

[Harry Rhodan]

Ambient Light Adjustment to not film a black screen half the time.

[Space.exe]

I don't know much about the mods, Although i would recommend something along the lines of fraps/obs. As for editing software go with sony vegas.