To screencap or not to screencap...

[strangetomato]

Okay, I've made up my mind. I'm switching to screencapping my images.

Yes, that's right... stubborn old me, who has repeatedly said she couldn't be arsed to go through all that trouble, has now decided that it's worth the trouble. Now that I've been taking screencaps with IrfanView and playing around with them in Photoshop, I see the potential. I couldn't really work with the caps the same way with GIMP, and I'm really liking the results. It's a little more work, but I think it's probably worth the extra effort.








Here's a scene taken with the in-game camera. I have to guess at the framing, because of my widescreen monitor format, and it's not very precise, even though I'm pretty good at it by this point.

There's also the typical jpeg compression happening, which is not extremely noticeable with these colours, and because my graphics are good, but it's still visible.




Here's the same scene, screencapped, and saved as a jpeg at the highest quality level. It's much more crisp, but not annoyingly sharp (I hate oversharpened images). The fact that I have the widescreen shot to resize and move around in the 600x450 window gives me an extra opportunity to fine tune the framing too, resulting in a better composition.

That last part is key. I could live with the slight compression, for the ease of it, though I have to admit that it really bothers me lately. It's one of those things that, once noticed, is impossible to ignore.

This was the shot that convinced me:




Red is by far the worst colour for showing the "dirt" from the compression. See how noticeable it is around the edges of things? (Yeah, that's right. Get in there and get a good look at those sim butts.)

I know that not everyone cares about such fine details, but I'm joining the ranks of those sim image creators that do. Content and composition are still way more important to me than surface detail, but if I can make the surface nicer with just a little extra effort, then why not, right?



 

Comments

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Can you, please, tell me how the screencapping works? I HATE when the game compresses the pictures and because my graphics card isn't very good (you're very lucky to have a good one), the compression is even worse. But the game itself doesn't really look that bad.

The pictures can be very annoying when making a story. I've been writing a story and posting it at S2C but because of lack of time I've stopped. I think I'd like to finish it (the sooner the better) because I hate when I leave things half-done and actually, one of the things that keep me away from the story are the pictures - as I said, the compression is really bad. :(

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It all depends on the program used, but I'm pretty sure they all work the same way. You just end up using a different key, or key sequence, to grab a .png of the screen (or you can set it to different settings for different formats). I like working with Irfanview, but there are a lot of options, so I'd look around until you find one you like.

music_simbol also has a nice tutorial for Irfanview here:

http://music-simbol.livejournal.com/58450.html

Yeah, I'm pretty lucky that my compression isn't too bad. It hasn't been enough to bother me so far, but now that I've seen how nice it can be, I'm not as satisfied with it anymore. I can see why people use screencaps.

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Very cool! The tutorial seems helpful, I'm going to get IrfanView (used to have it, but was deleted with reinstalling of Windows) and try it. :) Thanks!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

No problem. :) Good luck with it!

My only issue with it so far is that I've had a couple cases of taking a bunch of empty, black screen instead of screencaps, but that seems to be solved by making sure it's all set to "start" again if the game had to be shut down and started up again. (Just to be safe, I always exit to check the first screencap, so I'm not wasting my time.)

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

It's amazing the difference screencapping makes. But oye... every time I've tried to do it (remember the Castaways story?) it was so time consuming! I wish I had the time to devote to it but I just don't. :( Sigh.

Oh hey... remember back when we were trying to figure out what was interfering with the morning cuddle? Well, someone replied to my old thread and suggested it might be the movie maker bonsai tree, which I do have in my game. Not sure if you have it in yours or not. Just thought I'd pass that tidbit along... :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly not finding it that much more time consuming, considering what I put into setting up the location and posing the sims. Hell, even just moving around the camera just so takes a decent amount of time. I figure it's really not going to eat up that much more time, but I guess this would vary from person to person.

Also, since I've heard many people say they go through all their images and rename them before posting (which I don't do), I can't see how it's any more time consuming than that. Tweaking them and editing them like this will probably help me stay organized, and it eliminates having to search through the storytelling folder too (the caps are all chronological).

But, anyway... that's me. I'm sure the tolerance level and time available to mess around with it varies from person to person.

Bonsai tree? I don't think I have that, but what just to be sure... what is it used for and where did it come from? I occasionally grab a moviemaking tool that I don't use at all, so that might be one of them.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what it's called exactly. I got it from jaydee's website (linked to it... I think it's actually from MTS2) and it triggers a nightmare and turns off the sleeping Zzz's on sims.

Part of why screencapping takes so long for me is the way I do it, I'm sure. I've never been able to get any outside program (like SnagIt) to work worth a darn, and when I was doing the Castaway story I tried several. So I would end up using Alt-Prtsc, then going immediately into Paint, hitting "paste," cropping it to what I wanted it to be, resaving, etc... then going back into the game to get more pics. I don't mind doing it for contests and whatnot, but for storytelling I think that extra step would drive me around the twist (more so than usual, lol) ;)

And I'm also lazy when it comes to pics. My lack of background scenery should attest to that. :P

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

The bonsai tree's actually from MATY. At least it was, depending on whether it was Pescado or Twojeffs that made it. If the latter, he's moved to Simbology.

I don't use the tree so much since Numenor (MTS2) made a global hack to get rid of the zzz's, but it's handy for when you want to give them nightmares ;)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'm not sure I have that, but I'll double check.

You know, I was never bothered by the zeds (I'm Canadian, a'right?) when they're sleeping, but sometimes they are annoying. Like the censor blur, I find them amusing in a cartoony way, but they tend to wear out their welcome. Also, the speech balloons do too. If I'm setting up a posed scene, I tend to use the showheadlines off cheat (and also plumbbobtoggle off). This saves me a lot of trouble.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I was using a program that exited the game every time I took a cap and it didn't take me long to throw my hands up and go back to the in-game camera. Irfanview just grabs them and saves them in a folder, much like the ingame camera, and the only extra work is cropping and saving them as a jpeg, which isn't so bad.

My one complaint is the lack of a camera sound. It doesn't have to sound like a camera shutter going off, but I want something to let me know the cap was taken. I should check to see if I can set it up that way. I need reassurance that it's working. *snicker*

You need to set up some home businesses in your hood to solve the decorating problem. I have a couple I play right now, and every time I enter a new lot, I check their inventory and find all their purchases from when they were non-playable. Just stick it on the walls, or around the room, and voila - instant decorating! :P

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

...I honestly cannot see a difference. Do whatever you want, as long as you're happy. Though I don't think it'll matter much to your readers!

Personally, I'm perfectly happy with just taking my pictures in-game. With screencapping, you have to figure out what to crop and that would really bother me because I've finally gotten the hang of having the camera take it at the right angles and centering it perfectly within the size limitations of the frames, etc.

Okay, so I'm also extremely lazy, but that's besides the point. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the difference really isn't noticeable on some monitors, but you can see it on my home screen. It's still pretty minimal, but it's starting to bother me.

See, I really like that second opportunity to crop. I have a pretty decent handle on framing too, but this gives me a little more control. It's like photography, where you can (and usually do) adjust the cropping of the image when you print it, even if it looked pretty good when you shot it.

Heheh. That's how I felt too. The effort didn't seem worth the result, but I'm feeling differently now.

[lesimnoir.livejournal.com]

Not that I had a problem with your images before, but I definitely see why you're changing your methods. If I had a better graphics card/monitor, that red would bug me too!

I can't believe you'd been using the in-game camera: all of the images still looked so crisp. The pictures I get out of that thing are unusable.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Like I said, it wasn't really a problem before, but it's just knowing that it could be better. The extra opportunity for framing appeals to me too.

Based on comments form others in the past, I've come to realize that I'm incredibly lucky that way. I guess I have a good graphics card (it's an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT).

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Huzzah! You've joined us!

ut, to be honest, I don't find it to be that much work. I use SagIt, which I did pay for, but if you have Photoshop you'll be able to use the same features I do- I Batch Process them to change the name, trim out 150 pixels on each side (I like to center my images, if an image is off center I remove it from the process and resize it myself) and then resize them to 600x___ or 500x___ for Legacy updates.

And I didn't notice any compression in your picture of Frances. (But we both know I'm not at noticing those little details.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I've heard about batch processing, so I suppose I should look into setting that up. To be honest, though, I really enjoy adjusting them by hand, because I can fine tune the composition. Unless I begin to find it really slow and tedious, I'm going to try that for a while. I figure the worst case scenario is that I reduce my pic count and get pickier about it, though that probably won't happen either.

It probably wasn't the best example, but that was one I have accidentally taken with the in-game cam too, so I used it. When I'm dealing with faces, the difference seems more striking to me.

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

Haha, you beat me to it josh ;)

@ST: Welcome to the club :D I've been using screen caps for ages, and every time I go back to the in-game camera for misc. pictures, I really notice the difference. You can't touch up those pics; I've tried and they come out worse >_<

I've never heard of Irfanview; I use Gadwin which lets you choose your own rectangular area, I dunno if Irfanview does too. But Gadwin works fine for me, and it's free. I touch up mine in Photoshop and Photoscape (also free) - which has a very useful backlight correction tool :)

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

I touch up my pictures all the time without any problems with pictures from the in-game camera. Just to do pretty photoshoots though, I couldn't bother with doing a whole story update like that.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, but only so far. I have done some touching up on my in-game photos, but it doesn't take much for them to start to look really processed.

One of the things that doesn't bother me about the in-game shots is the slightly softer focus of them. I actually prefer that to seeing all the hard edges of the models. But it's not just a softer focus in some of the pics... there's that hint of compression (mind you, it's really just a hint, and I'd hardly be bothered by it in someone else's pics - when I say I'm picky about images, I'm almost always talking about composition).

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

You must have a great graphics card then, 'cause every time I try it looks awful, at least to my perfectionist eye. You do a good job though :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I was reluctant to join the club, because I was afraid I'd lose all interest if I made the process too much of a chore, but I'm actually enjoying the extra step so far. It's another moment to zero in on what I really want in the image, and contemplate it a little. And maybe it will make me a little more selective... that's never a bad thing.

Can you explain how Gadwin "lets you choose your own rectangular area" a little more. Do you have the frame to view it in-game, or do you have to exit with each shot to see it? I have no interest in exiting the game each time I take a shot, but a framing device like that might be useful. Since I have a wide screen, I always have the option of reducing my images or cropping them a little closer once I'm in Photoshop, and I'm liking that freedom.

I should look into Photoscape. I also have no idea what a backlight correction tool is, but I'd love to find out, even if I don't do any processing to my images besides cropping and converting to jpegs (and probably won't, unless it's for an effect, like making some frames black and white).

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

Basically, Gadwin runs in the background, and the beauty is you never have to ALT-TAB away from the game. With the rectangular area feature, what happens is that after pressing PrintScreen, your cursor changes and you then click and drag your mouse over the area you want to capture. There's a little thumbnail that zooms in on where your cursor is so you can fine-tune your selection. It means you don't need to crop in Photoshop, only resize.

I wasn't sure about backlight correction either, but it's handy if your images are too dark. It brightens up the picture using a kind of lighting effect, so used right it can add a splash of colour too, if the image looks a bit drab. It saved some early legacy pics (a different one) where you can't afford much lighting in the beginning ;)

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

Forgot to add: after pressing PrintScreen, you need to press Escape to free the cursor, 'cause it tends to stick. Don't know why. I've heard it's best to save the captured images as .tif, then convert them to .png or .jpg after the editing process - something to do with preserving the picture quality.

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

The screencapped ones look amazing. Your regular ones are actually pretty good too, but I can definitely tell the difference.

<3

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Being such a visual person, I knew you'd be able to see a difference. There's just something really delicious (to borrow Josh's word) about the screencaps. They're so delightfully crisp. They really seem to make the most of the new eyes.

[(Anonymous)]

If you are screencapping sims stuff, you NEED Gadwin Printscreen (http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/). At least, I do. I can't stand the whole cap, exit, paste into image viewer thing - with Gadwin Printscreen you just cap, cap, cap, and keep on playing, and everything saves itself without you having to do anything. Sorry if I sound like a shill here, but it really saves my sanity. Also, it's free.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Actually, Irfanview takes caps instantly like that too and they are stored in a folder without ever having the exit the game. If I had to do that, believe me, I would never have the patience to use screencaps. And Irfanview is also free, so they're probably very similar programs.

I do believe I tried Gadwin Printscreen at one point, and had some issues with it, but I probably just didnt have it set up correctly. I wouldn't mind trying it again, now that I've a little more informed about the process. I've had it recommended to me before.

Thanks for the input.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

This has lots of potential. Your pictures are always great, so I can hardly imagine they would get any better. :D Irfanview refuses to work for me -- it never saves my caps -- so I'm content with the ingame camera, but...yeah. By the way, I love the pic of Frances and Beau kissing under the mistletoe. So squeeworthy!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I've had a couple of annoying moments where my screencaps were saved but all that showed up was a black screen. I'm not sure what happened there. Mostly, though, it works just fine, and I always double check it every time I start up the game now, just to be sure.

(Read the manual? But why? LOL - In my relationship, I'M the one that refuses to stop to ask for directions, if you haven't guessed.)

Heehee. Yeah, they're cute. If only I would get my ass in gear and get the next update happening... you could see more interactions between them.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

Bah, I follow the directions and it still doesn't work for me. I blame it on my family's seeming curse with electronics - dad went through 5 garage door openers in 6 months, my brother has all kinds of electrical trouble with his car, and my problems seem to be with things that have rechargeable batteries like cell phones and laptops. I've given up on trying screencap programs for now.

I would love to see a new update! We get attached to those little pixellated people and I for one want to see more of their lives. Frances/Beau is destined to be super cute, I just know it.

[orikes13.livejournal.com]

Ultimately, I think the jpg compression issues are only something you are going to notice. Most people wouldn't even realize there's a difference and most of the rest would only notice if they got in there really close and look with wrinkled up nose and squinting eyes. The rest either don't care or probably wouldn't be reading the story anyway. :)

I think what it comes down to is what's going to make things easier for you. If you've got framing/cropping issues with playing on a widescreen monitor, then I think using a screencap program is definitely the way to go. I know with my CRT monitor, I only need to be careful about the very top or very bottom of the picture and it's easy to compensate for.

I have thought about switching to a screencap program just to have the larger pictures to work with, but since I post my story on the exchange, it doesn't matter in the long run.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I don't know about that. A number of people have agreed with me about the difference it makes. You're right, though. If I wanted to do it for someone else, I would have done it a long time ago, so it's mostly for my own satisfaction.

But wait... why would the people who care about image quality probably not be reading my story? I always thought the images were fairly decent.

I've adapted fairly well to my framing/cropping issues with the monitor, but the extra sense of control feels really good, so I think I'll stick with it for a while. If the new process becomes too cumbersome, I figure I can always just switch back.

[orikes13.livejournal.com]

OY. What I meant was clear in my head, but obviously didn't make it onto the keyboard. Sorry about that. :}

I absolutely love your camera work, so that's not what I meant. I basically was trying to refer to art snobs who would turn their nose up at this type of artwork. Anything to do with video games is not 'real' artwork in the snobby mind.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. No problem. I was a little confused by your meaning, but I assumed you didn't mean the images were poorly done. I thought you were maybe referring to the my use of Maxis and Maxis-match content. I'm sure that turns some people away. It's just a style thing, and it's fair enough when people avoid something because they aren't into the syle of the thing. We all do that.

That's very true. It's not "real art" or "real writing" if you look at it that way, but you could also argue that it's a medium like any other. Videogames might one day be regarded as art, just as movies are. Movies had to earn their artistic respect too.

I really love the internet as a medium for art, especially any sort of combination of images and text. (In art school, I was doing some narrative work that was really looking at what hypertext can do that other forms of writing can't.)

And even if it's "just" entertainment, there's nothing wrong with that. I like entertainment. :)

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

Your pictures have always looked great to me, and I am sure this will make them look even better. I am glad you are enjoying the process.

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

Gadwin is great for the reasons that people have mentioned, but it also has the option of having alerts every time you take a picture (which is great for me because I'm forgetful). I assume irfanview probably would have that option too, which could help you?