Unreal MatineeCh. 13

CIS 488/588

Nick Martineau

Matthew Sable

UM-Dearborn

What is Matinee?

• UnrealEd tool to enable the creation of in-game cinematic sequences

Consists of:

• Scene Manager: Manage a series of actions

• Actions: Moving, pausing cameras or actors

• Subactions

A Basic Matinee Sequence

• On your map, click on the Matinee button in the toolbox to open the Matinee interface

• In the Scenes tab, click the Add New Scene icon to add a Scene Manager Actor to your Scene

• Select your SceneManager and click on the actions tab

A Basic Matinee Sequence - 2

• In the Actions tab you will be able to see all of the different actions you have in your scene (starting out there should be none)

• There are now two things you can do:– In the actions tab you can add new actions (camera

positions “ActionMoveCamera”) and later on add an interpolation point and associate it with that action under the “MatAction” property OR, under the Tools tab of the Matinee control panel you can move the camera to where you want it and click on “Add Interpolation Point & Action”

A Basic Matinee Sequence - 3

• After you have added all of the points you want, go back into the Actions tab

• Under each action in the “Time” property there is a duration field– The duration refers to the time it takes to move from

the previous point to this point– Each action must have a duration or else UnrealED

will crash• Caused by the fact that Unreal will read this as the camera

location being in the same place at the same time, which is of course impossible

A Basic Matinee Sequence - 4

• Once all of the durations are set and you have all of your points in order save your progress

• Click on the preview button and watch your amazing Matinee sequence

Camera Cuts

• Assume we have to camera “segments” consisting of 2 actions apiece and we want a smooth transition from “segment A” to “segment B”

• The beginning of the second segment should have a duration of 0 so the end of the first segment instantly “snaps” to the second segment.

Matinee Sequence - Trigger

• To add a trigger to the Matinee sequence you just created– Go back into the Matinee Scene Manager and

expand the “Events” tab– Under “Tag” type in “StartMovie”– Now open up the Actor Class Browser

• Navigate to Triggers and expand it• Click on Trigger & add one to the scene

Matinee Sequence – Trigger 2

• Double click on the trigger you just created to access its properties

• Expand the “Events” tab– Where it says “Event” type in “StartMovie”

• What this essentially does it that when a person comes close to the trigger, the sequence itself will broadcast “StartMovie” the trigger will intercept that message and start the sequence

Testing the Trigger

• So you know its working correctly– Under the trigger properties expand the

“Advanced” tab– There is a property called “bHidden” and its

default value is set to “True”, set it to “False”• This will allow you to see the trigger in game so

you know it is placed in the right location

• If you did everything correctly, when you run the game and approach the trigger your Matinee sequence will play

Automatically Launching a Matinee Sequence

• Start off by deleting the old trigger you placed in your map

• Go to the Actor Class browser and then expand Actor-> Keypoint -> AIScript -> ScriptedSequence -> and click ScriptedTrigger

• Add the ScriptedTrigger to anywhere in the level

Automatically Launching - 2

• Open the properties tab for the trigger and expand “AIScript”

• Select the “Actions” property and click on add

• Select from the dropdown list “ACTION_TriggerEvent” click on the “New” button to add that event to the AIScript

• Under the Event Property set it to “StartMovie”

• Launch the game and watch your sequence

Non-Linear Pathing

• By default, a matinee travels in a straight line.

• Make sure your scene is selected & then select your last action. In Path->PathStyle->PATHSTYLE_Bezier.

• You should now see the path connecting your actions. Right-click it & choose “Straighten Bezier Curves.” You can now hold Ctrl & drag the handles to adjust the camera movement.

Sub-Actions

• Add dynamic effects to your actions such as fading, changing camera orientation, shaking and subtitles.

• Select the first action in a sequence. Sub-Actions tab->AddActionOrientation. By default, the camera will follow the path straight on. Go to Orientation->CamOrientation->CamOrientation->CamOrient_Interpolate & this adds interpolation to this sub-action.

• The effect is more apparent when the camera is oriented in a different direction. Click “Lock to Selected Actor”, click the camera & reorient it.

Sub-Actions 2

• Add “SubActionCameraShake” & change Shake->Shake minimums & maximums to adjust the shake amount.

• Time->Duration should be the among the duration of the action it’s attached to.

• Add “SubActionFade” & adjust Time->Duration to among the duration of the action it’s attached to.

Text Sub-Actions

• Create a picture of text in your favorite graphic arts software with the background stripped out. The dimentions of the picture must be of powers of 2.

• In Paint.Net, you can use the “Magic Wand” tool to select the background, delete it to show a checkerboard pattern, & then save as .tga.

• In the Texture browser, go to File->Import->(your file) and MAKE SURE “ALPHA” IS CHECKED!

Text Sub-Actions (2)

• Again, select the first action in a sequence & add a “SubActionCameraEffect.”

• StartAlpha & EndAlpha control the fade in of the text.

• Delay & Duration work the same as other effects.

• “DisableAfterDuration” must be set to true or the text will never disappear!

Text Sub-Actions (3)

• In the same window, expand “CameraEffect” & make a new “CameraOverlay.”

• “OverlayMaterial” is where we “use” the texture.

Look Targets

• The camera will focus on this one object throughout it’s movement.

• Tools->Add Look Target.

• We will now change our interpolation sub-action. Orientation->CamOrientation-CamOrient_LookAtActor.

• Also go to Orientation->LookAt & with the target selected, click “Use.”

Move Actors

• Create a new scene & change it’s tag to “StartTarget”

• Expand “SceneManager” in the “Scene” tab change “Affect” to “AFFECT_Actor.”

• Choose an actor to affect in your map and with it selected, click “Use” where “AffectedActor” is.

• Create a series of interpolation points as usual and trigger!