D2 Video Preferences

[maxicek]

I have recently worked out how to record my gameplay with the sound on the Mac, so now I'm thinking about how best to pull together severeal clips into a movie and make it a bit more professional by adding titles and stuff.

My default choice for video editing on the Mac would be iMovie, which is simple to use and does everything I need it to do. But the trouble is D2 is an old game and has a 4:3 (800x600) aspect ratio. iMovie doesn't support 4:3 aspect ratios unfortunately, it only supports widescreem 16:9.

• So do I go widescreen? I notice that many of the D2 youtubers fill the space with a talking head and stuff. I'm not going to be doing that, but could use it for some text or something.
• Or do I stay at the native 4:3? In this case I need to find a new video editor - any recommendations?
• Or doesn't it matter? Most players will fit to suit anyway, so if I chose 4:3 black bars get added anyway.

I don't watch many D2 videos but I know others do - What do you prefer?

 

[Babyhell]

You HAVE to use those empty spaces to make some advertising for PureDiablo!!!

Joke apart, I bet you will find the nice idea to fill this additional space, maybe it will depend of the type of vid (RFL/MFO would give lists of stuff to be added nicely beside for example, or Pat/Mat build stats, but that's so obvious that I don't even need to put it here). At least that's what I would do (maybe find a way to put the vid on the right or left side to have the extra space on one side?)

Looking forward for those semi-professional Mac edited productions (no pressure...)

 

[Apila]

The empty space could come in handy. There's a lot of stuff you can fit in there, possibly a step-by-step guide, a list of equipment, miscellaneous stats/info...

Or just leave it blank. I don't think it's worthwhile to hunt for a new software just to achieve a 4:3 aspect ratio.

 

[Luhkoh]

Definitely dont stretch it to fill the space, but sounds like you werent considering that anyways. Black bars are fine to my taste. Good luck! Look forward to seeing what you post!

 

[maxicek]

Thanks all for the input. Stretching was never considered, that is just horrible

 

[Zyr]

Black bars are fine to my taste.

Emphatically agree.

 

[Excalibur]

I've created many gaming videos in the past and that was an issue with old games.
I have studied Graphics Design and stretching there is pretty much forbidding.

But for the gaming videos in youtube I always stretch them because I hate black bars ( I really think it looks stupid to have them) and in the end the stretching doesn't look bad.

 

[maareek]

Bit of a necro but figured I'd chime in to say that filling in the space with useful information for the viewer will generally help massively.

In basically all of my explanation videos I include the gear I'm going over or some things to keep in mind, and generally speaking if I'm showing runs I include the run timer as well to keep everyone on the same page with how the build performs. Depending on exactly what you're doing with your videos you can either put shoutouts or other pertinent information ("so this build was great but I had issues with xyz" or "if you're pressed for time skip to <time> for a sweet boss fight/near death/what have you" or "Be sure to check out PureDiablo where only the coolest people hang out. Except sometimes maareek is also there." That kind of thing.

Black bars are absolutely fine, I legitimately will not watch stretched videos because they make me sick, but you do get a fantastic opportunity to connect your audience with information you want to share by using that space some other way. Here's an example of what I did in a later sort of guide/how-to video of mine with build on the side and run timer to show effectiveness. Run timer is a little attention drawing, to my taste, so you may want to exclude it for what you're doing, but it highlights efficacy for build guides.

 

[maxicek]

I can't do that in my software @maareek or I would probably do something like that. The ones I have done I'm relatively happy with, they are quick to put together and one of the most important things for me.

 

[maareek]

I can't do that in my software @maareek or I would probably do something like that. The ones I have done I'm relatively happy with, they are quick to put together and one of the most important things for me.

Definitely understand, time is the most precious resource always. If you do want to give it a try at some point, OBS does have a mac version. Something like what I had there is just setting up a scene with the different sources (I was using a fitted .png for the text though there's many options) and lining it up how you like.

Either way, thanks for the effort and cheers!