Make TF2 Replays

ThirdRockFromTheSun

How-to: Make TF2 Replays!

ATTENTION: When you save a TF2 replay, it basically saves it as a macro, remember what everyone did. It doesn't automatically save it as a video. So if you're trying to get a macro of a funny ragdoll, it won't work. Ragdolls don't always look like they did when you first saved the replay!

What you will need:

• Team Fortress 2
• A finger
• A brain cell.

What you can have:
An editing program
.MOV to .AVI converter
A YouTube account


Finding the right servers

Having the right server is what you'll usually need to make a TF2 replay. If funny stuff usually happens to you, then I recommend start joining servers with replay captures enabled. If replays ARE enabled, you'll see a little video icon next to the server name, like this:

Capturing your replay.

Okay, so now you're in a server with enabled replays. What now? All you have to do it play! Just keep playing until something happens that you feel would make a funny replay for people to see. When it happens, be sure to press F6, and do it fast, or sometimes it won't save the right life. When you press F6, you'll get a box like this:

I recommend strongly that you name it something you'll remember. Or you'll just end up with a bunch of replays that you don't what is in them. So, name it!
Now we have to wait until we see this box pop up in the top left hand corner:

It's vital that you wait for this box. It will sometimes keep saving, but there is a chance it'll become corrupt, and you'll lose what ever it was you were saving. So be smart, and wait!

Editing the replays.

So, you've got your replay. What do you do now? First we have to go into our replay menu that's found in the main menu screen.



Once you've found that, you should be taken to a screen that looks something like this.



Now if you double click that replay, you'll be taken to a screen with all its details. If you look at the bottom, you'll see a button like this:



Click the "Watch/Edit" button, and it'll take you to the editor.



So once it's started playing your replay, hit the spacebar and you should get something that looks like this:



This is your editor. Here you can cut clips, change the speeds, and the camera angles. There isn't much I can tell you about the editor that isn't already said as soon as you open it up, so I'm sure that'll be easy enough to get the hang of. Change your camera angles, and play around to get the hang of things. You can even select to view the world through the eyes of another player by clicking the buttons in the bottom right hand corner. Here is a picture of me fiddling around with the camera angles:



When you've finished with your take, it'll be time to save it. So go to the top left hand corner and click the little icon. Then you can choose to save it.



You can go back and make several takes, and make a longer video if you want, but it's totally up to you.

Rendering and Exporting your replay.
So now we have a brand new shiny take for you to play with. If you go back to your raw replay, you'll see all your takes saved at the bottom. Click it, then click "Save to Movie..."



You'll get a popup box like this. It's time for you to pick how you want it to be rendered. I usually chose 720p and High quality, but it's up to you, and your GPU/CPU power will also determine what you should have it set to.



Once you've accepted it'll show you the rendering process. You don't have to look at this, you can turn it off with the little check box at the bottom left of the screen, because it can make it go faster. But I prefer to keep it on so I know where about it is, with out having to rely on the bar at the bottom.



Now it's all rendered! But we're not clear yet, there is still more to do! Next, it's time to export your video. So go back to your replays screen, and you'll see it says "Saved Videos" at the bottom of the screen.



Click on the movie you've just made, it'll take you to an info screen, telling you about the replay. All you have to do now is click "Export" and then click where you want to save it to:



By default, all exports will go to Program Files/Steam/steamapps/Your Username/team fortress 2
Alright, it's exported. You should see your folder like this:



Editing and uploading your rendered replay
If you want to edit it, it'd be smart to first convert it to .avi, you can do this with a .MOV to .AVI converter. This tool is easy enough to set up and get started. Once you've converted it, go ahead and add music or what ever you want to do. The choice of video editing software is up to you. I'm going to use Windows Movie Maker for this because it's only a small project.



Once that's done, go ahead and upload it. Load up YouTube, and click the big upload button at the top, make sure you're signed into your account first! And remember to do all the normal tagging and naming junk as well.

Once you're finished, you should have your finished project, like this:

Sorry about how rushed my replay is. It was just a test to show you guys.


And that's it. You've made your very own replay. I hope you're proud of yourselves. I'm sure proud of you! :hai: