Chapter 9.1 Cinematics: Introduction to Matinee

The Matinee animation tool provides the ability to animate the properties of actors over time, either to create dynamic gameplay or cinematic in-game sequences. The system is based on the use of specialized animation tracks which can have keyframes placed to set the values of certain properties of the actors in the level. The Matinee editor is similar to the non-linear editors used in video editing, making it familiar to video professionals.
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MatineeAndCinematicsHome.html

FullScreen Movie (FMV) There are two methods for movie playback in UE3: using a MovieTexture resource with a material or using the Fullscreen movie player. This document discusses the features of the Fullscreen movie player.
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FullScreenMovie.html

Matinee User Guide - User guide for the Matinee editor. Matinee is a tool for keyframing the properties of Actors in your scene over time, including their position. It can also be used to author cinematic sequences in your level. This document explains how Matinee integrates with the Kismet gameplay scripting system, how to create a new Matinee sequence. For an explanation of the available tracks, see the Matinee Track Reference below.

Matinee Track Reference - Comprehensive reference for all tracks available in Matinee. Matinee provides many built-in track types that allow for animating different types of data on various types of actors.

Matinee AnimControl Track - Instructions to use Matinee's AnimControl tracks with advanced character animation blending. If you want to just play one animation on an actor using Matinee it is quite easy. You do not need to assign Slot names or anything if you are only using one AnimControl track. However Matinee does use "Slots" to play multiple animations on SkeletalMeshes. This documentl will walk you through the steps needed to get Matinee play animations on a skeletal mesh by using AnimControl tracks.

Curve Editor User Guide - The Curve Editor, as it is currently used, is not a standalone editor as you would find with most other editors in Unreal Editor. It is used as a dockable pane inside of other editor. As such, opening the Curve Editor is done through the interface of the editor window it is found within, such as the Matinee or Cascade editor windows.The Curve Editor in Unreal Engine 3 allows fine control over properties that change over time. It is currently used in both Matinee and the Cascade particle system editor.

Using InterpActors - How to create moving actors, or 'movers', using Kismet.  The InterpActor (interpolating actor) is a special dynamic version of the StaticMesh Actor. It supports a variety of physics types, it uses dynamic lighting, it can be controlled in a variety of ways with Unreal Kismet and Matinee, and it can play a number of sounds for specific actor states.  For those who are familiar with previous Unreal Engines, the InterpActor is Unreal Engine 3's Mover.

Any standard StaticMesh can be used as an InterpActor. When inserted into a map, the InterpActor renders the same as a standard StaticMesh with the exception of its magenta (violet) wireframe color in the orthogonal viewports. It is also moved, scaled and rotated in the editor in a similar fashion to the StaticMesh actors. 

Creating Cinematics - Using Unreal Engine 3 to create in-game cinematics and cut scenes. This document will serve as a starting point for identifying the steps in creating cinematics using the UDK content pipeline.

Capturing Cinematics And Gameplay - An important aspect in the game development process that often goes overlooked is the ability to capture in-game footage to be used in promoting your game the public, as pre-recorded cinematics played as videos in-game to provide a consistent playback experience, or just to show off cool features you have added. Knowing what features are provided by the engine itself, having a solid workflow, and knowing what gotcha's to avoid will make the entire process much smoother and save you both time and headaches along the way. There are a few options available to capture game footage. Which one you choose to go with will ultimately depend on the end use of the video and the resources, both hardware and software, you have at your disposal.

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