Ficsit-cam Timelapse
Question for @Panakotta00 regarding Ficsit-cam mod focusing on timelapse.
Hi and thanks for this rather handy mod, just added it to my mod pack for my play through and want to use it for my YT channel (https://www.youtube.com/@MyNameJakes) as i have been trying to do timelapse video segments manually which, as you can imagine, is very time consuming. The person using the timelapse function on a master level, @Dekoba , has managed to utilize it to a great effect.
Im looking to create similar timelapses for my video in the future.
The thing im struggling with atm is how to add camera movement to the timelapse similar to what Dekoba does, is there any documentation that detaisl that? I did watch the long form tutorial video you made but i still struggling.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated
YouTube
My Name Jakes
Satisfactory player with a focus on aesthetic builds inspired by a cyberpunk vision of the future !
All factories will be designed to be fully walkable and with realistic design choices.
15 Replies
Dekoba in fact, does not use the timelapse feature.
He uses two accounts, one to build, the other to record.
He uses normal scenes and plays them on the recording account.
but you can still animate timelapses.
For that you have to call your time lapse camera specifically.
>[scene name]
f.e.
1. create a scene e.g "my_scene"
2. edit the scene
3. create a timelapse camera with camera reference e.g. ">my_scene"
4. start the timelapse camera
5. start the animation in background (i think it was shift-click on the play button of the animation in the FIC window, as command this would /fic play my_scene true and additionally /fic start my_scene)
about camera referenced and background player: https://youtu.be/6Gl5rOFyqmM?t=6823 (does not cover FIC UI)Panakotta00
YouTube
FicsIt-Cam In-Depth Tutorial | v0.3.0
FicsIt-Cam is a modification for Satisfactory that does not add any additional Game-Play. Instead it adds a extensive animation editor mode as well as tools and utilities to create cinematic camera shots, manipulate the camera in more different ways, like using timelapse cameras or additional camera feeds. It also allows you to animate the time ...
Oo ok did not know he was using two accounts, i know other creators do use two accounts but i assumed your mod would make the two account approach obsolete.
Ill for sure give this above a go, thx
Well... as described, it can, but dekoba at least said that working with two accounts is better for his workflow.
Especially the planning of scenes. Like multiple iterations of building, dismantling etc to get the timinings right.
yeah i get that, the two account option is not possible for me atm
Also, your last video is probably made with ingame photo mode, and not fic right?
would like to know what stuff makes photomode more usuable than FIC
Yes i use photo mode extensively since its introduction, for now i cant speak for what makes photo mode better than FIC as i just started using FIC to test its features. One thing i can say is that the timelapse mode you have in FIC is an amazing feature for content creators, that and the fact that you can do cinematic recordings via waypoints. Both of these features are missing in photo mode and my biggest gripe with photo mode atm.
As for usability comparisons...id say photo mode has a more intuitive UI, the layout and ease of use would appeal to anyone. For instance you can play around with photo mode and kind figure it out in a few minutes. As for FIC i had to go look up tutorials, found the one you made and one Totalxclips made. While your is very detailed it is quite lengthy, having multipole short videos focusing on one feature would be great for those new to FIC. For instance if there was a shorter video, like 3-5min, just explaining how place camera and add additional movement waypoint...this kinda of approach is very easily consumable and the user would be able to practically use that knowledge within 10-15min of experimenting.
Once that have a good grip on that feature they can move onto how to setup a time lapse, another 3-5min video just showing the basics, smaller chunks of info will be easier to digest especially if you can use it almost immediately to get results.
As user learn more and more via short form tutorials they will naturally gravitate to long form more in-depth feature tutorials for those that want to go into detail. Which wont be everyone but that is what the short form tutorial is great for.... appeasing the more casual user and long form detailed 1hr-2hr video for the more experienced user.
The big take away, aside from photo mode's base game integration, is accessibility and ease of use when comparing them...imho
i hope this helps 🙂
thanks jeah that helps i guess
FIC is way better than photo mode IMO, photo mode is a good for casual use but the depth and feature set of FIC is vastly superior
my intuition is that it gives better control within the system - you can very quickly, and easily, and intuitively, set two points and slerp between them. the downside, is that is all the photo mode movement feature can do. it cant turn or change camera direction, which is essential in proper cinematogrphy
it also has other control features, like posing the pioneer and filters.
conversely, one of my most used features of FIC which drives me up a wall when im trying to use photo mode for something quick is the time of day setting
so good on ya for coming up with that
@MyNameJakes :) im happy to chat with you and show you what i know, and where I think my knowledge could be improved
100% agree, photo mode is good for a quick setup and filming something short but it does lack in-depth controls like and settings like time of day end waypoint. From the little ive played with FIC it seem to provide all that missing form photo mode before photo mode was a thing 😄
@Dekoba ill hit you up on DM's for a chat if you dont mind, dont want to hog this thread
Hey panakotta, can you perhaps tell em what is the cause of the fluctuation between the exposure on these images. Im test the timelapse function and the first test i did earlier today was great but now the image exposure changes alot
Does seem to be an exposure issue ...2nd image from ingame screen grab
Either something in my file save pipeline is messed up that causes the gamma correction to behave weirdly, or it's the Auto exposure.
Either it doesn't store the previous state between images or it "over corrects" due to the speed increase I applied to make it near instantaneous.
What speed would you recommend for the images to be taken ?
Every 1 second or more like 5-6 second delay between images?
I usually test with 1 second.
Of course lower delay means more frames in your timelapse. So this all depends on how long your entire recording time will be, and how long you you will play the timelapse.
So If your build will take 1h and you plan to show it as 10s clip: recording_time / (play_time * fps) = 1*60*60 / (10 * 60) = 6
since more is better, if you dont know your play time, its better to choose a lower value so you have some buffer
ok great thanks ill give it some more testing