KoshTheKoala
[09] Warrior
What you need:
720p TV. Anything less outputs at 30 fps, not 60. CRT preferred, but not required.
Camera capable of 60 fps video recording. Many cheap Canon point-and-shoots can do this, it's the "fast frame rate" video option.
Tripod.
Step 1:
Set up tripod and camera such that the camera has a good view of the screen and enough space in-frame to see your controller. Make sure the contrast and brightness on the screen are good, you want to see what's happening.
Step 2:
Start recording.
Step 3:
To execute a move, lift your finger up at least an inch above the button, then press down on it as fast as you can while trying to keep the controller always in-frame. Repeat for all moves whose impact data you wish to find. Keeping a good system for keeping track of what moves you're doing without using audio would be advisable. You could, for example, write out a script. It's also recommended to do each move twice and reset the training between each move (on PS3, it's the R3 button).
Step 4:
Load the movies onto your computer using a USB cable, dock or memory card. Copy the movies onto your actual hard drive, don't just view them dynamically from the camera. Open the movies in either quicktime, media player classic, virtual dub, or premiere. I prefer virtual dub personally.
Step 5:
To find the frame data, move forward by pressing the right arrow (in mpc or vd) frame-by-frame until the moment your finger is on the attack button and no longer moving (no motion blur). Then count frames until you see the first indication of a hit... usually a damage number if you're in training. Turning on counter-hit in the training options makes this portion easier because as soon as you hit, a notification on the top of the screen appears that's unobstructed by the explosions of combat.
Step 6:
If you have a CRT, skip this step. If you have an LCD (and maybe plasma and projection), you have to figure out how much lag you have. Do this by finding established frame data (such as Taki's i9 A) and recording it. Subtract the established frame data from the number of frames you counted to find the lag. This number should coincide with the number of frames it takes after pressing the button to seeing your character move. You should subtract this number from all your impact frame tests. You should also perform multiple tests whenever possible.
Step 7:
Now that you have all your impact data, share it! The next few steps do not require a camera setup, just two people playing SC4. Thus, if you share impact data, others can do the rest of the work for you.
Step 8:
Find advantage on hit/counter/block by using characters whose impact frames are known and trying to attack. For example, if you wanted to test the advantage frames on Taki's K attack, you could make the training opponent also Taki. Having another player at the controls also helps. You'd hit K then both players would buffer an A (as KA isn't a Taki string, this works). Whoever hits first lets you know who has the advantage. If they clash, it's neutral. However, this example isn't actually that great because A is the 2nd fastest move in the game. You want to use a move that's around i16 or 17 to start testing with so it's easy to go faster and slower to find advantage/disadvantage.
Step 9:
After you find out who has the advantage, you could either use slower moves for the person with advantage or faster moves for the person at disadvantage in order to find out exactly how many frames there are. Repeat for all moves for hit, counter hit and block. When you change moves, make sure you take into account things like horizontals vs verticals, tech crouching, while rising, etc.
Step 10:
POST YOUR RESULTS ONLINE. Don't be a dick and keep them to yourself.
720p TV. Anything less outputs at 30 fps, not 60. CRT preferred, but not required.
Camera capable of 60 fps video recording. Many cheap Canon point-and-shoots can do this, it's the "fast frame rate" video option.
Tripod.
Step 1:
Set up tripod and camera such that the camera has a good view of the screen and enough space in-frame to see your controller. Make sure the contrast and brightness on the screen are good, you want to see what's happening.
Step 2:
Start recording.
Step 3:
To execute a move, lift your finger up at least an inch above the button, then press down on it as fast as you can while trying to keep the controller always in-frame. Repeat for all moves whose impact data you wish to find. Keeping a good system for keeping track of what moves you're doing without using audio would be advisable. You could, for example, write out a script. It's also recommended to do each move twice and reset the training between each move (on PS3, it's the R3 button).
Step 4:
Load the movies onto your computer using a USB cable, dock or memory card. Copy the movies onto your actual hard drive, don't just view them dynamically from the camera. Open the movies in either quicktime, media player classic, virtual dub, or premiere. I prefer virtual dub personally.
Step 5:
To find the frame data, move forward by pressing the right arrow (in mpc or vd) frame-by-frame until the moment your finger is on the attack button and no longer moving (no motion blur). Then count frames until you see the first indication of a hit... usually a damage number if you're in training. Turning on counter-hit in the training options makes this portion easier because as soon as you hit, a notification on the top of the screen appears that's unobstructed by the explosions of combat.
Step 6:
If you have a CRT, skip this step. If you have an LCD (and maybe plasma and projection), you have to figure out how much lag you have. Do this by finding established frame data (such as Taki's i9 A) and recording it. Subtract the established frame data from the number of frames you counted to find the lag. This number should coincide with the number of frames it takes after pressing the button to seeing your character move. You should subtract this number from all your impact frame tests. You should also perform multiple tests whenever possible.
Step 7:
Now that you have all your impact data, share it! The next few steps do not require a camera setup, just two people playing SC4. Thus, if you share impact data, others can do the rest of the work for you.
Step 8:
Find advantage on hit/counter/block by using characters whose impact frames are known and trying to attack. For example, if you wanted to test the advantage frames on Taki's K attack, you could make the training opponent also Taki. Having another player at the controls also helps. You'd hit K then both players would buffer an A (as KA isn't a Taki string, this works). Whoever hits first lets you know who has the advantage. If they clash, it's neutral. However, this example isn't actually that great because A is the 2nd fastest move in the game. You want to use a move that's around i16 or 17 to start testing with so it's easy to go faster and slower to find advantage/disadvantage.
Step 9:
After you find out who has the advantage, you could either use slower moves for the person with advantage or faster moves for the person at disadvantage in order to find out exactly how many frames there are. Repeat for all moves for hit, counter hit and block. When you change moves, make sure you take into account things like horizontals vs verticals, tech crouching, while rising, etc.
Step 10:
POST YOUR RESULTS ONLINE. Don't be a dick and keep them to yourself.
