Euphora: A Mikeaut1 City Journal

[Mikeaut1 261]

Glad you guys are interested in the tutorial. It'll take me alot of time to make so it may be posted on Saturday. Thanks for your comments!

[sirgeoj2 1]

Great updates!! Looking great!

   

[Deathtoall 28]

i like your traffic cams of cousre Mikeaut 1 i can't wait to i see your next update

[Simguyuk 0]

Date: 7/10/2005 9:46:46 PM Author: Mikeaut1

Thatmonkeysim - Thanks for commenting... I made that with the recorder tool in Sim City 4. Then I took the frames from the recorder tool, sequenced them in Flash MX, and exported it as an animated gif image. But I had to delete multiple frames because the original product came out to be 6MB! So now its at 1MB so i deleted like the whole product. That's why it refreshes so quickly.

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But where is the record tool? (God this answer is going to make me feel stupid)

[Mikeaut1 261]

I'm glad everyone likes the updates. The next update (today) is the Animated GIF Tutorial, so all of your questions will most likely be answered here. Sorry for the wait!

[Mikeaut1 261]

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Well, it is time to present you with this tutorial I made for everyone who is interested in the traffic cams! Many people that visit this city journal are curious on how to make it, so I hope you enjoy!

Before We Start:

Making these traffic cams are not hard at all. You must, although, have software that allows the creations of slideshows like Windows Movie Maker, or Flash MX. These are the two programs I use to make these traffic cams. I know there are hundreds of more programs out there that allow you to create streaming gifs, including some freeware off the Internet. If you don't have Windows Movie Maker or Flash MX, you may have to search online for freeware that lets you make Animated Gifs, or you may just have software that allows you.

Basic Directions:

Follow these steps below to create your cam!

1. Start Sim City 4 and enter into a city you have created.

2. Then, press CTRL + X as if you were entering in a cheat. Note: This is not a cheat.

3. Type in recorder into the console.

4. You will see something like this:

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This shows the recorder tool. The faint rectangle above the recorder box is what will be captured while you record. Enter in the Rate (ms) as 125 and the Time as 30. Each second you are recording, you are creating what is called a frame. Combining frames together is what makes a movie. So...

 

5. Once you have your boxes filled out appropriately, and your capture screen centered on a street or road that you want to film, press START.

 

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As you can see, I am recording this avenue with the recorder tool. Now, look closely at the recorder box where you entered in your time and rate. It should say at the bottom, RECORDING COUNT. This simply means the number of frames you have filmed. As you can see, in the picture above, the recorder tool has recorded 23 frames. In my city journal, I usually record 31 frames. So be sure to hit STOP once your recording count hits 31. This is optional. If you want to film a long movie, you can record up to 100 frames I believe. I am just telling you that I stop at 31.

 

6. After you press STOP, the recorder tool should ask if you want to copy the frames, or something along that line. Hit OK. Wait a few moments as the recorder tool copies the frames to your PC. Then it should say...

 

FRAMES ARE COPIED TO (whatever your path is)... to Sim City 4, Recorded Animations. Then press OK. You are officially done filming!

 

7. This step is very important. Exit Sim City 4 and go to your Sim City 4 folder, where your region and plugin folders are. Within that folder, there should be a sub folder just like your plugins folder, named RecordedAnimations. Double click into that folder and check to see if you have 31 frames. If you do, you're good! If you don't, that means the recorder tool failed to write your frames to the computer. So if this happens, I would enter Sim City 4 and rerecord.

 

OK... take a breather... Now, I'm going to explain to you what I use to make the movies.

 

As said earlier, I use Windows Movie Maker (available on any Microsoft computer. I use the newest version of it, as my computer is just about 2 years old. Windows Movie Maker makes cams that operate with Windows Media Player. This means, if you want other people to view your cam online, you will have to host it, like how you host pictures at Imageshack. But Imageshack doesn't allow you to host .wmp (windows media player) files. So you will have to search for a free windows movie hoster online.

 

I use something better, called Macromedia Flash MX 2004. This is a professional program designed for making flash cartoons that you might find online, like at www.funnyjunk.com or www.newgrounds.com . This program is hard to use, but easy for making cams. You can download the free-trial version of Flash MX by clicking http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/

 

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make your cam using Macromedia Flash MX AND Windows Movie Maker.

 

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USING MACROMEDIA FLASH MX:

 

1. Start a new simple flash document.

 

2. Click FILE, then IMPORT TO  STAGE as seen below:

 

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3. Then, get to your RecordedAnimations sub folder within your Sim City 4 folder. Inside your RecordedAnimations should be the frames I talked about.

 

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As you can see, there are 31 frames.

 

4. Click the first frame entitled ANIMATION (whatever number it shows, in this case mine says 51)_000. Then hit OPEN.

 

Then it will ask:

 

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Hit YES. Wait just a moment, then VOILA! You have sequenced your frames in numerical order!!! You know this because...

 

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On the stage, there are 31 filled frames on the Timeline. If there are more than 31, that means that you have filmed a higher number of frames. That's not serious at all, as said earlier!

 

5. Now, you can Test the movie by doing what is says in the image below...

 

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6. Now, exporting your movie. Click FILE then EXPORT AS MOVIE like shown below...

 

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Now you should see something like this...

 

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This shows you are exporting the movie. THIS IS IMPORTANT. BE SURE TO SAVE AS AN ANIMATED GIF!!!!!!!! Please don't go save it as a JPEG or BMP file because ... DER! The movie won't run!!! It'll just be an image of your first frame!! So the important thing is folks... to save it as an Animted Gif Image so the movie runs normally. Then save your movie as Traffic Cam or whatever else you want it to be named.

 

THEN... after naming it and saving it as an animated gif, you will have to set the settings for your movie...

 

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Leave it the way it is in the picture above, but your dimensions can be different if you wish.

 

Note: Depending on how many frames you have in your movie, that decides the size of the movie. If you have over 50 frames, the movie's size will be much larger than a movie with 25 frames.

 

SO THERE YA GO! YOU HAVE JUST MADE YOUR FIRST CAM!!!

 

NOW FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE USING MACROMEDIA FLASH, OR DON'T HAVE IT AND ARE TOO LAZY TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE TRIAL... I WILL PRESENT THE NEXT HALF OF THE TUTORIAL IN WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER.

 

 

USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER:

 

1. Start a new movie.

 

2. Now, do what the picture below says to do... press FILE then IMPORT INTO COLLECTIONS. 

 

NOTE: Make sure that your collections box is clear and no other frames are present there. You can get disorganized easily if there are more than one set of frames in there. Just simply select everything that's in the collections, and hit delete on your keyboard.

 

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3. Go to RecordedAnimations within your Sim City 4 folder. SELECT ALL THE FRAMES (all 31 of them if you recorded 31 frames). THEN HIT IMPORT.

 

They should now appear in sequential order within your collections box.

 

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You should also see the first frame in the movie player to your right of the screen.

 

4. Now, SELECT EVERY FRAME (all 31 of them if you recorded 31 frames) FROM YOUR COLLECTIONS. Once you have selected all of them, copy them, and right click THE FIRST BOX OF YOUR STORYBOARD. As you can see in the above picture in step 3, it says Drag media to the storyboard to begin making a movie. That is exactly what you're doing. Right click and press PASTE, wait a second, then your frames should appear in numerical order on the storyboard. VOILA! You have made a .wmp movie file! You can test the clip with the movie player to the right of the collections box.

 

This is what it should look like...

 

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So save your file, obviously, and you're set to go!!

 

I really recommend downloading the free trial version of Macromedia Flash MX. It works really well. And you are able to make animated gifs with that. If you ever get inspired, you can even create cartoons with it (when you get the jist of how to use the program).

 

I know there are many other programs which allow you to make similar movie clips. I urge you to try and find some more online, it could even be freeware that allows you to make such great movies.

 

I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and that it wasn't too confusing.

 

Please don't hesitate to PM me about a problem you are having, because I will surely help you!!

 

And here is what the final product looks after being made through MX FLASH!

 

http://www.desearch.net/out.php/i9929_Traffic%20Cam.gif align=baseline>

 

ALSO, I would like to tell you about this great, free image hosting site, www.desearch.net . If you ever want to host your animated gifs, you can do so by hosting it here, since many animations sometimes exceed 1024KB, the average maximum size for images at hosting sites. The limit here is 4 MEG! So enjoy!!

 

Comments on the tutorial are welcome, any suggestions with the tutorial are welcomed as well.

 

Remember, if there is any problem, or you are just unsure, PM me!

 

If some images aren't working, please hit F5 for refresh!

 

[jacqulina 162]

awesome tutorial thankyou

[Mikeaut1 261]

Jaqulina, I'm glad you liked the tutorial!

[dhoppeii 12]

Fantastic tutorial Mike.  Well thought out and thorough.

 

Thank You.

 

D

[Compromise 1]

Thats a very good tutorial mikeaut, really high quality. That info will come in handy for my CJ and other things at some point. Well done.

[Mikeaut1 261]

Dhoppeii & Compromise - Thank you for your comments on the tutorial.

To ALL: I have thought long and hard about this today and I am sadly going to say that this city journal is complete. At the moment I am currently having problems with Sim City 4 so I will install the game over again and build up a new region. I know ending this city journal was very abrupt and I'm sorry for that. I only have a month really left until I have to go back to school, and plus, sometimes playing a region gets you bored and you're inspired by new ideas. So, what I will do is post some new pictures of the region hopefully tonight or tomorrow in this thread and hopefully I will start my new city journal. I am also sorry for not letting this go longer. 17 pages (in my opinion) is young for a city journal to die out. I think 20+ pages is an appropriate time to end a city journal, if your that into updating and playing the game. In conclusion, it has been a fun five months entertaining you with my city building, and my region, Euphora. I really want to thank the following people for keeping this city journal alive ...

 

Jacqulina: For posting almost every update.

 

DragonAnime: For adding suggestions and commenting a lot.

 

Ephorex_77: For always being there to reply to an update.

 

Railrod7: For having such enthusiasm about this city journal, and following it very closely.

 

Dhoppeii: For always being there with inspirational comments.

 

Compromise: For being a fan of this city journal and commenting alot.

 

RadioheadFan: For replying and issuing helpful tips.

 

Kingofsimcity: For replying in here as well.

 

ThatmonkeySim: For getting to visit this thread and commenting nicely about this city journal.

 

Comdude21: For checking in and replying insightfully.

 

MayorTim: For replying most of the time, and having my city journal in your sig.

 

gundamdude: For replying with nice comments.

 

Utora: For checking in and replying to this city journal.

 

bobinator: For replying nicely.

 

 

Even if you were not mentioned, your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

What can you expect in my next city journal?

• The region is going to be relatively small, but highly populated.
• As always, I love incorporating a tropical climate to the region. So expect alot of palm trees and beautiful waterscapes.
• Some mountains and hills, with narrow strips of plain.
• Traffic Cams
• Weather Reports
• Diary of MySim

Hope you get an idea of the new region. Check back later for some regional shots of my next region!

 

[kingofsimcity 5,740]

What? Euphora Ended? Well, it has been a great CJ, and definately one for people browsing through about months later...it definately was one of the better CJ's out there. I know I didn't comment much...but I have been lurking around and checking it and I love the .gifs.

I wish the same amount of luck on your next CJ!

[Simworld 056132 1]

Great CJ, I love all your animated pictures. And the suburbs, superb!

[jacqulina 162]

you are welcom

[utora 0]

Geez, I'm really sorry to hear Euphora has ended that abruptly... I wish you all the luck in the world with your new one; I now have the chance to follow it all the way from the start! I also think this is the right place to thank YOU here; not only am I very happy you mentioned me above, but also I want you to know that I feel that some kind of friendship has been established between several journalers; I was always inspired by the work you'd done; the latest tutorial is one of the best examples of that; and from your posts I learn that I've inspired you as well. That's important, because this is how we keep the community alive and kicking! I know exactly what you mean by getting bored with the current region.. the same occurred to me when my previous cj reached 15 pages or so; it's ok to make a fresh start, I'm sure many good things will come from that!

It's been a great pleasure being around here in Euphora!!

[dhoppeii 12]

Totally understandable Mike.  I'll be looking forward to your next project.

[Compromise 1]

Well I am sorrey to hear your CJ is coming to a end mikeaut but it is perfectley understandable and I have seen it happen before.

I look forward to and will hopefully be around to see your next CJ.

[railrod7 2]

Hey now.... Thank you for giving me something to look forward to. I too got tied of SimCity. But I just bought more RAM and i'll be installing it soon so i can enjoy the game more fully.... Take the break. Maybe we should check back on the MSN Group once a while . . . . hehe Hope you enjoy your month of summer!!!!

railrod7

[U.S.K.C. 0]

you have an outstanding c j!!!!!!! great work!!

[Mikeaut1 261]

Thank you very much for understanding, and posting here... now I will show you some pictures of my upcoming city journal... CABEL BAY!

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[____----____ 37]

i'll be waiting for more looks nice

[Mikeaut1 261]

I'm glad you like it aleking.

I will post in here when the new city journal begins!

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

wow, amazing work with the pics there!!!

[jacqulina 162]

excellent look forward to your new one

[Compromise 1]

This new CJ is going to be intresting by the sound of it. I noticed that your region is called Cable Bay while the name you put in your posts is Cabel Bay.

[Mikeaut1 261]

Thanks alot for responding... and Compromise... consider that a typo .

New city journal should start either TODAY or THURSDAY so look for it... it will be called...

 

The Cabel Bay Republic

[GingerBlokey 30]

Wow a new CJ. Thanx for the tutorial

[p_mcgough 0]

Hi there. I'm enjoying your cj, but there is years of reading here. As you know, my city is a modernising European city, so I totally miss out on building super urban areas and I'm a bit jealous. I have to look back over your cj to find our how your fab shorelines came about. Cheers mate!

[Slowhand 0]

Good luck on your next CJ, mikeaut1. It seems interesting.

[oroen 0]

The animated gif tutorial was excellent and very well written and well explained. It's been fun to follow Euphora (I haven't commented as much as I should have...). Nice background and teaser pictures of Cabel Bay. Good luck with the new region; it's always good to start fresh and put the things you learned to use anew.