XWA HD Videos

[Ace Antilles]

Updated Releases - XWA HD Videos
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xwahdvideos.jpg

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XWA HD Videos: This is an renamed release of a video upgrade that I really should have promoted more before.
@marcop000 from these very XWAU forums created these videos and graciously allowed me to host them.
I thank him for his hard work to make them available to us all
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The XWA HD Cutscenes Videos replace the original Battle cutscene videos in the game with new HD versions.
He has taken the old SNM files and recoded them as AVI files with a much larger frame size for widescreen monitors.
They have also been enhanced to try and improve the older quality videos as best as possible.
As a bonus he has also created Italian spoken versions that you can find as an alternative download on my site.


The XWA HD Concourse Menu Videos are a new addition to the download package. These replace the original Concourse menu videos in the game with new HD versions. Videos like the Tech Globe or Simulator Pod closing.

I've created a new setting in the installer which let's you choose to play these videos in the Default ratio or Widescreen. Widescreen will stretch the videos to fit the screen. The menu videos can look a little weird stretched out, I find Default ratio works the best. They still look great in either mode. You can change the ratio by running the installer again or using the Babu Frik’s Configurator from the XWAU game launcher.

A few of the videos included might replace other video upgrade mods you may have installed. For example, the XWA Movie Crawl. I recommended you install this upgrade before those installers. If you accidentally overwrite it then reinstall your preferred version or copy from the Backup folder into the Movies folder.

View the Readme document for all the full details and you can get the new versions now on the Upgrades page.

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XWA Movie Crawl: I've updated this release to include the Default or Widescreen viewing choices.

The XWA Movie Crawl replaces the Intro_Final cutscene video in the game with a new HD version. I commissioned Angel to create a new beginning that adds the missing classic “A long time ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away” to the video and a brand-new HD title crawl. This was then blended into a HD upsized version of the opening cutscene created by Evil Mark.
So if you want the full Star Wars movie start then this is the video upgrade to install.

You should install this after the XWA HD Videos mod to avoid it being overwritten by that upgrade.

I hope you all enjoy the updated videos, thanks again to Marco. If anyone finds any issues please post and let me know
Download NOW!!
https://www.xwingoutpost.com/

XW Outpost Logo.png

[Ace Antilles]

Has anyone actually tried this update??
It would be good to know if the new Concourse Menu Videos worked ok for people.

[DarHan]

I’ve been using them. The videos work on my computer, BUT there is a distinct pause (up to several seconds long) before they start playing.

[Ace Antilles]

I’ve been using them. The videos work on my computer, BUT there is a distinct pause (up to several seconds long) before they start playing.

This is to do with the format I believe. We seem to have to choose between format compatibility, quality or file size.
When in some formats like for example I believe WMV or MP4 there is a 1 second delay.

@marcop000 have you tried making the concourse menu videos in AVI format?
I think this could get rid of the small delay.

[marcop000]

I’ve been using them. The videos work on my computer, BUT there is a distinct pause (up to several seconds long) before they start playing.

This is to do with the format I believe. We seem to have to choose between format compatibility, quality or file size.
When in some formats like for example I believe WMV or MP4 there is a 1 second delay.

@marcop000 have you tried making the concourse menu videos in AVI format?
I think this could get rid of the small delay.

I have now converted the videos in AVI (lossless conversion):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

I have not tested personally, please give me your feedback.

[Ace Antilles]

I have now converted the videos in AVI (lossless conversion):
I have not tested personally, please give me your feedback.

Sorry but those didn't work at all. I just got a black screen and no sound.
@AngeI what was the magic formula for the video format to use, so that it works without a 2 second delay?

[marcop000]

I have now converted the videos in AVI (lossless conversion):
I have not tested personally, please give me your feedback.

Sorry but those didn't work at all. I just got a black screen and no sound.
@AngeI what was the magic formula for the video format to use, so that it works without a 2 second delay?

Please replace your dll in xwa main folder with these 2 dll:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... TRF4V0J8G4

(don't forget to do a backup copy of the original files)

and use mp4 version (not avi).

Take present that this patch reduce only partially the problem, but for now I don't have other options.

Please let me if you see better results.

[Ace Antilles]

Please replace your dll in xwa main folder with these 2 dll:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... TRF4V0J8G4

(don't forget to do a backup copy of the original files)
and use mp4 version (not avi).
Take present that this patch reduce only partially the problem, but for now I don't have other options.
Please let me if you see better results.

Those dll files are already included in XWAU and my installer.
I need to test the avi videos again but I need to redownload and you took them offline?

Also there are no MP4 versions? Your original cutscenes are AVI and the menus were WMV.
I believe it's whenever a video is not in avi format there is a small delay.

[marcop000]

Please replace your dll in xwa main folder with these 2 dll:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... TRF4V0J8G4

(don't forget to do a backup copy of the original files)
and use mp4 version (not avi).
Take present that this patch reduce only partially the problem, but for now I don't have other options.
Please let me if you see better results.

Those dll files are already included in XWAU and my installer.
I need to test the avi videos again but I need to redownload and you took them offline?

Also there are no MP4 versions? Your original cutscenes are AVI and the menus were WMV.
I believe it's whenever a video is not in avi format there is a small delay.

I' am not sure if these dll are the some included in your installer.

These dlls at the beginning was created by @JeremyFR to allow the playback of hi-resolution movies and after I have modified to try to minimized these paused.

In the past I have informed @JeremyFR about this small issue, but he tell me that probably there is not way to solve it.

After I have tried to work myself about with only a partial result.

For what I remember I have tried WMV, MP4, AVI for internal cutscene but this small delay is always present.

When you see a intro cutscene you don't see any roll-off / delay problems, but for some internal cutscene where the movle not start with a black screen , but start with a initial image you can see a short delay.

About the standard cutscenes (not menu) I have used avi format to avoid others bugs that in the past I was see with MP4 format, however In the past I have checked A/B avi and mp4 version without see difference. The only limit is actual machine learning progress that contain some artefact yet.

A possible compromise to reduce the delay of internal cutscene is reconvert from avi to original SNM format, but if work I would expect a degrade of quality.

If someone with more experience then me can work on these dll to minimize this pause can be a very good news.

[Bman]

Are your *.avi movies using any video compression codecs ? Or are they raw/uncompressed format ? If the latter, you'll get best quality and compatibility but larger file sizes. Default .snm format would require conversion to frame sizes of 640x480 I think.

[marcop000]

The codec uses is AVC (Advanced Video Codec).

The avi video files are a copy of mp4 file generated by this command line:

ffmpeg.exe -i "input.mp4" -c:v copy -c:a copy "output.avi"

in short it is a lossless copy of mp4 version.

[Bman]

I'm wondering if the decompression algorithms are what slows down the beginning of the video as it's translated to native format. ???

[marcop000]

I don't think, the problem is to allow to play a more recent codec (the game is 20 years old) need a hook that don't allow a full control of game.

if we had the source code of the game, this compromise it would not have happened.