Battlerecorder Tutorial

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This is a guide to using Battlerecorder for the Battlefield Game Series. For an overview of producing videos of in-game footage from BF2/BF2142 and other games see the Video Production Overview Page

Contents

[edit] Accessing Battlerecorder Files

[edit] Using the Community Tab

After launching Battlefield and logging in click on the "Community" Tab. Here you will see a lists of all the rounds that you played where BFR was enabled. Select one to download and the click click "Play" to load the recording. Once loaded, click "Join Game" just as if you were playing it live to begin the playback.

[edit] Direct Downloads for TG Supporting Members

TG Supporting Members have the option to directly download rounds from the server including rounds that were not played by that member. For instructions on how to do this see this thread in the Members Only Forum: Battlefield Recorder enabled on all BFx servers

[edit] Playback Info

The following commands can be used to control the game replay and camera in a recorded demo:


Q – opens the Playback Rose. Move the mouse to highlight the desired playback option and press the Left Mouse Button to select. Options available here that are not bound to separate keys include "Restart" and "Quit".

T – opens the Camera Rose. Choose the camera option or cycle through the available players.

1 – Pause the playback (also available in the Playback Rose).

2 – Playback recorded session at normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

3 – Playback recorded session at 5% of normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

4 – Playback recorded session at 25% of normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

5 – Playback recorded session at 50% of normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

6 – Playback recorded session at normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

7 – Playback recorded session at 150% of normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

8 – Playback recorded session at 300% of normal speed (also available in the Playback Rose).

Spacebar – cycle between players.

Right Mouse Button – cycle between free camera and player camera.

Mouse wheel – zoom camera in and out when locked onto a player.

W, A, S, D, Ctrl and Shift – move free camera around map, forward, left, backwards, right, down and up.

Mouse look – aim free camera.


[edit] Special Notes

  • There is no rewind in Battlerecorder. Battlerecorder is not playing a movie of the round, it is actually replaying the round as it occurred when recorded within the Battlefield engine. As such, it is possible to pause and run in fast-forward. However, it is impossible to "rewind" because then the engine would have to reverse bullet trajectories, have players "catch" grenades, reverse explosions, etc.
  • There is also no first-person view available in Battlerecorder. The player cam feature of Battlerecorder will track individuals players which does allow for some freedom of camera placement relative to the player but not a true first-person point of view. In order to playback the game from a particular player's that player would need to record the round using Fraps.

[edit] Basic Rendering Instructions

[edit] Playing Back a Demo outside the Client and Recording Your Camera Movements

This mode lets you record a camera path to go with a demo recording so that they can be played back together. The camera works exactly as described in the instructions above but all movements you make are recorded.

  • If working from the machine that recorded the demo, drop the demo.cmd into the root of the Battlefield 2 install folder.
  • If working from a client that has downloaded a demo from the game’s front end:
    • Create a "Demos" folder in the root of the game install folder.
    • Move the demos you wish to render from into the demos folder from their normal location in you’re my Documents folder.
    • Drop the demo.cmd folder found below into the root of the game install folder.
  • Launch the demo recording as follows
    • Launch the Command Prompt and browse to the game’s install directory.
    • E.g. type "cd c:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2" and hit ENTER
    • Type "demo.cmd +c " and press enter.
    • E.g. "demo.cmd +c mydemo mydemocam" will record a Demos\mydemocam.bf2cam for demo Demos\mydemo.bf2demo
    • Before quitting the game, wait for the message 'camera file closed' in the console or the camera file will be broken.

[edit] Playing Back a Demo with Pre-Recorded Camera Movements

This mode combines the previous steps and shows you a take with both the demo and camera tracks active.

  • Launch the game as follows: demo.cmd
  • To watch the demo with the default recorded camera use: demo.cmd -def

[edit] Rendering Images to Disk

This mode writes out an .avi file to disk based on a demo file and a recorded camera file.

  • Launch the game as follows: demo.cmd +r
  • A dialog box pops up where you can select encoder (Xvid or Divx is recommended) and the quality settings for that encoder.
If you want to stop rendering before the end of the demo, press 'R'

[edit] Capturing Sound

This mode tries to set up an ideal environment for recording sound.

  • Launch the game as follows: demo.cmd +s
  • Use external recording software to capture the sound from the playback

[edit] Recording Rounds in Single Player and Local Server Modes

You can use the Battlefield Demo Recorder in Single Player and Local Server modes in addition to downloading from multiplayer servers.

  • Start your round and open the console (~). Then type: 
demo.recorddemo filename
Substitute filename with a name of your choosing.
  • When you want to stop recording type: 
demo.stoprecording
  • To retrieve and playback your round, go to /Program Files/EA Games/Battlefield2/Mods/BF2/Demos and find your recording (remember the name you used in the console.
  • Copy the recording to My Documents/Battlefield 2/Profiles/Default/Demos. If the Demos folder does not exist then create one.

[edit] Tips & Tricks

If you have any tips and tricks share them here!

  • to get rid of the mouse cursor when recording from Battlerecorder press the Q key once shortly. There is also an option in Fraps (if used in conjunction with Battlerecorder to remove the cursor
  • To get rid of the red and blue nametags, you have to edit the GameLogicInit.con file. This is located main BF2 install directory in the subdirectory \mod\bf2 (i.e. C:\PROG FILES\EA\BATTLEFIELD 2\mods\bf2) You need to make a backup of this file before you edit it. Make a copy and move the original to another directory where it is safe while recording. To remove the tags open the GameLogicInit.con file in notepad and add the following line: 
renderer.drawNametags 0
Remember to delete the edited .con file and replace the orginal one before playing another round.


  • To get rid of the HUD do this while in using Battlerecorder, pull up the console (~) and type: 
renderer.drawHud 0
Please note that this will also get rid of the commo rose so you will have to use the shortcut keys to control playback


  • To turn the hud back on, open the console and type" 
renderer.drawHud 1

Special Note: BattleDirector also has integrated features that allow you to turn off nametags and the hud without altering .con files or using the console. For more information see the BattleDirector Tutorial.

  • After awhile the list of rounds played in the community tab will grow quite big and you may want to delete rounds that you do not wish to replay. Although they can be deleted manually, here is a method to quickly and easily delete the bookmarks in BF2142:
    • Go to \My Documents\Battlefield 2142\Battlefield 2142\Profiles\0001 (0002 for your second soldier, 0003 and 0004 for your other two)
    • Open the file "DemoBookmarks" with a Text Editor and delete all the unwanted bookmarks. Each Battlerecorder log will begin with LocalProfile.addDemoBookmark and looks like this: 
" LocalProfile.addDemoBookmark "SQUADPLAY All The Way" "fall_of_berlin" "http://www.ipdclan.com/bf2142-
replays/demo/auto_2007_05_25_18_40_54.bf2142demo" 1180112192 "

 Need to verify if method also works for BF2.
  • BattleDirector can also be used to record playback and includes some advanced features. For more information on using BattleDirector, see the BattleDirector Tutorial.
  • An even easier method to record playback is to use Fraps to record the round. For more information on using Fraps, see the Fraps Tutorial.
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