Thanks to http://league.totalgamingnetwork.com/ for providing this information.

The TGL is proud to announce a series of eight mini-leagues for a total of seven games: Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Call of Duty 4, CounterStrike: Source, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Frontlines: Fuel of War, and Team Fortress 2. Matches will begin on the week of August 10th; map lists, rule sets, and server configs are still being finalized for all games.

These mini-leagues will run 2-6 weeks, depending on the specific release date for the new TGL website once it is completed, and there will be no playoffs or league champions. However, there will be prizing. The top three teams (as determined by team weight and tie-breakers) at the conclusion of each individual mini-league will receive a free server from MyInternetServices.com for a 3-month time period. Combined, MyIS is awarding game servers to 24 teams.

These events represent a time for the TGL to gauge interest in past games, and to test new maps, rule sets, and server configs. We encourage everyone to participate and provide us with your highly respected feedback in the official Mini-League Forum. Registration for full league seasons and tournaments will begin as soon as the new site is released, and we look forward to acquiring additional prizing for TGL members in these future events.

-Battlefield 2 5v5 Infantry Only
-Battlefield 2142 6v6 Infantry Only
-Call of Duty 4 5v5 Hardcore S&D
-Call of Duty 4 5v5 ProMod S&D
-Combat Arms 5v5 CTF
-Combat Arms 5v5 S&D
-CounterStrike: Source 5v5
-Enemy Territory: Quake Wars 4v4 Infantry Only
-Frontlines: Fuel of War 6v6
-Team Fortress 2 6v6

For all those who want to learn how to skin their goldsrc models, this tutorial is for you. This tutorial will work with all goldsrc games. Just replace Counter-Strike with whatever appropriate.

Things you will need:

1. GCFScape
2. Jed’s Half-Life Model Viewer
3. Photoshop (If you don’t have Photoshop you can download a free 30-day trial or download The Gimp - A free graphic editor with almost the power of Photoshop)

Extracting your model from the GCF File

1. Open up GCFScape and browse to your Counter-Strike.gcf file. This file is usually found under C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps. Steam stores all game data in the Game Cache File. We are going to look for a model to skin in the GCF.
2. For this tutorial, We are going to skin an Arctic Avenger. Browse to cstrike\models\player\arctic. Right-click arctic.mdl and click Extract. A window will come up asking where you want to put the file. Go ahead and put it wherever you want but remember where you put it. I like to make a folder on my Desktop to place all my files in to stay organized.

Extracting the texture from the model with JHLMV

1. Open up Jed’s Half-Life Model Viewer and open arctic.mdl.
2. Go to the Textures tab. You will see a flat image of the model’s texture. This is what is placed on the 3-D model to texture it.
3. Hit Export Texture. You will be prompted to save the texture. Name and place it what ever you want but remember where it is.
4. Hit Export UV Map. Place it in the same spot as the texture but make sure your able distinguish them.

Editing your texture

I am going to split this section into two parts: A The Gimp tutorial and a Photoshop tutorial.

The Gimp

1. Open up the texture into The Gimp.
2. The image is currently in indexed mode. In this mode you can only color the texture with the colors already defined in the texture. This may result in you not getting the exact color you want. You must put the image into rgb mode. This will allow a larger color palette. To put the image in color mode, select Image>Mode>RGB. You can now freely edit your texture.
3. This step is optional but is very helpful. Open up the UV map file. Click Select>By Color and select a black area to select all the black in the image. Now hit delete. Don’t deselect yet. Go to Select>Invert. This will select all the white lines in the image. Copy the lines by going to Edit>Copy. Now go to the texture and hit the Create New Layer button which looks like a sheet of paper. With the new layer selected paste the white lines by hitting Edit>Paste. Now select the layer with the texture to make sure your editing the right thing. If you can not find the Layer Toolbox, go to Dialogs>Layers to bring it up. This will show you what pieces of the texture will be applied where on the model.
4. Do the heck whatever you want to your image. Once your done, you have to put the image in indexed mode or else it won’t be readable by Jed’s Half-Life Model Viewer. If you used the UV map, place the layer in the trashcan in the Layer toolbox to delete it. Go to Image>Mode>Indexed. A window will appear. Make sure Generate Optimum Palette is selected and the Maximum amount of colors is 256. Hit Convert.
5. Save your image.

Photoshop

1. Open up the texture in Photoshop
2. The image is currently in indexed mode. In this mode you can only color the texture with the colors already defined in the texture. This may result in you not getting the exact color you want. You must put the image into rgb mode. This will allow a larger color palette. To put the image in color mode, select Image>Mode>RGB. You can now freely edit your texture
3. This step is optional but is very helpful. Open up the UV map file. Click Select>Color Range. A window will appear. Go to the drop menu and select shadow. This will select all the black in the image. Now hit delete. Don’t deselect yet. Go to Select>Inverse. This will select all the white lines in the image. Copy the lines by going to Edit>Copy. Now go to the texture and hit the Create New Layer button which looks like a sheet of paper. With the new layer selected paste the white lines by hitting Edit>Paste. Now select the layer with the texture to make sure your editing the right thing. If you can not find the Layer Toolbox, go to Windows>Layers to bring it up. This will show you what pieces of the texture will be applied where on the model.
4. Do the heck whatever you want to your image. Once your done, you have to put the image in indexed mode or else it won’t be readable by Jed’s Half-Life Model Viewer. If you used the UV map, place the layer in the trashcan in the Layer toolbox to delete it. Go to Image>Mode>Indexed. A window will appear. Make sure one of the Locals is selected and the amount of colors is 256. Hit Ok.
5. Save your image.

Putting your new texture on your model

1. In Jed’s Half-Life Model Viewer, click Import texture and select your edited texture.
2. Click on Model Display and see your beautiful artwork.

Placing your new skin in game

1. Click File>Save Model As. A window will appear asking you where you want to save your model. Look in GCFscape to see where the file would normally go and put it there. In this case the model would go C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\<username>\counter-strike\cstrike\models\player\arctic\
2. Open up Counter-Strike to see your new skin in game.

Use this technique on other player models and weapons. With weapons there are three tags: v w p. V is the first person model - you holding the weapon. W is the weapon when it is on the ground. P is the weapon in other players’ hands.

This concludes the skinning tutorial. Feel free to ask questions.

Due to time constraints (working hard on the redesign) you may have noticed that we’ve missed a few updates. Never fear, we’re still here!… in a very rhythmical, unsettling, cliche kind of way. But with that said, we are grinding away on our ’super secret project’ (which will hopefully be out soon).

In the meantime, we’re still looking for solid contributers as I have been very busy as of late. As promised, this site will continue to be updated as frequent as possible and there’s still a lot of work to be done.

We still have a lot of quality articles to pump out, but we need your help! Simply send us a PM on the forums and we’ll give you posting access, if we like what you write, it will be posted, simple as that.

Think you know every secret spot or flash bounce in your favorite map? Write a guide on it. I know most of the articles have been for Source, but we’re looking for help with 1.6 too! This site currently gets over 500-700 unique visitors a day, and has had over 60,000 unique visitors since it’s incarnation. Not bad for a dedicated Counter-Strike site. By posting here you’re helping out all your fellow gamers and giving back to the community. A little recognition goes a long way, a lot of recognition goes ever farther, trust me.

The somewhat infamous hacker named “MaddoxX”, also known as the computer hacker responsible for hacking into one of Valve’s third party billing sites over a year ago, got arrested today. He made claims on many forums during the past year that he could not be caught and that he was only using remote PC’s to power his hacks, thus he believed he was impossible to trace. Too bad for him that it seems he wasn’t so ‘untraceable’ after all. I’m sure he’ll come to regret all the damages he’s caused as he now has some serious explaining to do, most likely in front of a judge. Anyway you can find the full rundown is below.

“A 20 year old hacker was arrested on Tuesday evening in the Dutch town of Maastricht, after the youngster had previously hacked himself into game developers Activision and Valve. The evildoer is being charged and questioned for downloading Activision’s video game Enemy Territory: Quake War whilst it was still in development. Leaking the game would’ve led to estimated damages of 25 million US Dollars. Apart from hacking Activision, the hacker also broke into a third-party site used by Valve to handle the Cyber Café business partner program, which is part of the game distribution network Steam.The man from a country Austin Power’s dad doesn’t like distributed photos of his Valve hack as proof, using the very nerdy pseudonym MaddoxX. As if illegally entering the virtual premises of two game developers weren’t enough, Mr. MaddoxX is also being charged with stealing credit card data of 50.000 customers from an English tickets site. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the hacker managed to burn 13 million Euros playing poker online and shopping for notebooks, flat screens and MP3 players.

A crime unit of the Dutch police called Team High Tech Crime (THTC) was responsible for the bust. The THTC was founded to police networks and communication systems in the Netherlands and tackle crimes using or directed against information and communication technolgy. The THTC is located in the Dutch town of Driebergen.”

If you can read dutch, there’s more coverage here.

As we posted yesterday, new control methods are becoming available… The staff at FPS God has been predicting this type of innovation for a while, but I guess you never know what will/wont stick. What do you think?

The future of control methods?

Valve has recently announced that they will be providing full support for a new kind of control method; a 3 dimensional, force feedback mouse that allows you to feel objects and inertia in games.

Here is a quick excerpt about the new technology:

“The Novint Falcon is an entirely new type of interface for PC games. It’s a small robot that lets players feel 3-D touch sensations in games that exploit its features. I thought it was cool the first time I saw it, and it drew a lot of attention at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. But I also knew the company would have an uphill climb convincing game developers to exploit the newfangled device. Still, the Alburquerque, N.M.-based Novint Technologies has done a good job getting the gadget off the ground. Today, it announced that marquee game developer Valve will add support for the Falcon to a number of games.“

“Gabe Newell, Valve’s president and co-founder, said in a statement that new interfaces are changing gaming and the Falcon adds a new level of interaction, adding force feedback while maintaining controls as accurate as a mouse. Under the deal, a new update will be sent through Valve’s Steam online gaming service to add compatibility for the Falcon for games such as “Half-Life 2: Episode Two,” pictured below.”

I know I’ll be giving this thing a try as it is already supported in other major games such as Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Need For Speed Pro Street, World of Warcraft and many others. Apparently not only can you feel the momentum of your actions in game, you can feel surfaces and textures as well!

You can learn more directly from Novint website.

Discuss.

Well the redesign of FPSGOD is nearing a working version, and I must I’m looking forward to it. The new site will be merged with this one to span across many more games, with news/details of each. Don’t worry, this site will still be actively updated, and hopefully much more in depth content will be added soon. Most of the data we’ve collected from our statistic’s and poll’s seem to suggest that the majority of our readers love our hardware related tweaks. Given that, we plan to make that a core focus on the new design. Send Cognito an e-mail to bug him into finishing it!, I know we’re close.

Optimize Dual Core CPU

Are you running an AMD Dual-Core CPU? If so there’s a way to optimize your core’s that you may not be aware about. Back in 2007, AMD released a beautiful little driver/optimization tool that allows better management and communication of your dual core CPU’s. It’s called the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer!. Below is a description taken directly from AMD’s download page.

“The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer can help improve some PC gaming video performance by compensating for those applications that bypass the Windows API for timing by directly using the RDTSC (Read Time Stamp Counter) instruction. Applications that rely on RDTSC do not benefit from the logic in the operating system to properly account for the affect of power management mechanisms on the rate at which a processor core’s Time Stamp Counter (TSC) is incremented. The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer helps to correct the resulting video performance effects or other incorrect timing effects that these applications may experience on dual-core processor systems, by periodically adjusting the core time-stamp-counters, so that they are synchronized.”

Download AMD’s Dual Core Optimizer

Simply run this tool, and voila! Optimized dual core goodiness!

You can download it below.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

NOTE: This a copy of anX’s guide found on the Cal forums and on his clan website forums at: http://www.iue5.com/

Complete HQ CS:S Movie Guide by anX
High Quality wmv, x264, or Xvid for advanced users
Version 1.9.2: Last Updated 7/1/07
================================================== ========

Table of Contents:
———————————————-
1. Movie Config
2. HQ Movie Files
3. Before You Get Started
A. Separate CSS Icons
B. Enabling Visible File Extensions
C. Windows Sound Settings
D. Video Card Driver Settings
–Nvidia
–ATI
4. Encoding and Compiling Files Section
-Includes Links to All Freeware:
–VirtualDub
–Windows Media Encoder
–HuffYUV
–VLC Media Player (x264 Playback)
–x264 Encoding File Pack by anX
–Xvid Encoding File Pack by anX
5. Recording in CS:S
6. Screenshots to avi in VirtualDub
7. Editing Program to Uncompressed Master File(s)
A. Sony Vegas to Combined Uncompressed Video and Audio for wmv
B. Sony Vegas to Separate Uncompressed Video and Audio for x264 or Xvid
C. Adobe Premiere to Combined Uncompressed Video and Audio for wmv
D. Adobe Premiere to Separate Uncompressed Video and Audio for x264 or Xvid
8. Encoding
A. Windows Media Encoder for wmv
B. FAAC, MEGUI, and more for x264
C. LAME, VirtualDubMod, and more for Xvid

1. Movie Config v2.3:

Download: http://files.filefront.com/movieconf…/fileinfo.html

I definately spent the most time working on this. It contains all your basic movie commands (hides radar, text, all that), sets all your settings on high, and has a lot of common binds already set up for you. You can toggle wireframe, mat_proxy, hud, radar, spectator bars, you name it.

Screenshot of Console Menu:

I worked parallel with CAL|Barelds on this (literally, we sat in IRC relaying ideas back and forth). He helped me get it perfect, and showed me a bunch of useful things. Thus, our movie configs are pretty similar. Here’s a link to his: http://forums.caleague.com/showthread.php?t=91265

2. HQ Movie Files v4:

Download: http://files.filefront.com/cssmovief…/fileinfo.html

This movie pack contains the following:

1. A modified version of Fragalicious’ HUD remover (www.csflicks.net). The original changed the kill notice text and
gave it a shadow. I changed it back to default.

2. The materials folder and blue LED bomblight from ARN’s CSS Movie Making GUI. I did not include the GUI’s hud remover because the clientscheme.res changed too many in-game texts. The materials folder includes high quality textures, better explosions, and much more. Along with it comes a custom movie making background and a custom movie GUI.

3. Spectator bar removal for POV demos. These are NOT recommended for sourcetv demos, because you can toggle the bars with the movie config. Read the installation section in the readmeon how to enable/disable the spec bar removal.

These files will remove the HUD in CSS and make your game look downright sexy when used with the movie.cfg. It took a while to modify them so the texts in the game are all default, but I think I got it figured out.

NOTE: The HUD toggles in the movie.cfg will not work with these files in use. The HUD is permantly off when using the new scripts and resource folder.

I am not the original creator of the resource, materials, or scripts folder in this pack. I only modified them so that the game had all default texts with maximum settings and high quality materials.

NOTE: After the recent sv_pure update, the high quality materials of these movie files no longer work. The hud remover, however, works just fine.

3. Before You Get Started:

3A. Separate CSS Icons

I recommend using two separate CSS icons on your desktop: one for playing and one for making movies. I would also recommend NOT using an autoexec. Why? Well, you don’t want stuff loading from your autoexec as you make movies, and vice versa. If you don’t use an autoexec, skip this and go onto “Things you’ll want/need.”

So, here’s what I do. Go to your cstrike/cfg. Open up your config.cfg. Back up any personal commands, then completely empty it. Save it and close the window. Then right click on the file > properties > check the “Read-Only” box. This will prevent things from the movie config saving into there.

Then rename your autoexec.cfg to play.cfg. Make sure you have ALL of your binds in there (for movement and everything).

Now we go to launch options in your two CSS desktop icons. I’ll be using defaults for resolution. Change the -w and -h to whatever your res is. You can also change the dxlevel in your play icon to whatever you usually use.

For your play CSS icon:

-fullscreen -w 1024 -h 768 -dxlevel 80 +exec play

For your movie CSS icon:

-windowed -w 800 -h 600 -dxlevel 95 +exec movie

Example:

3B. Enabling Visible File Extenstions

Also, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGLY recommend enabling file visible file extensions in windows. Actually, it’s required for x264 encoding, so just go ahead and do it.

Control Panel (in classic view) > Folder Options > View Tab:

Uncheck that box.

3C. Windows Sound Settings

CS:S cannot record surround sound audio. If your audio settings are at 5.1/7.1, the audio file you record will be 0 kb. I recommend using Two Speaker settings. Not only will your audio record, but this is the best audio setting to play at BY FAR unless you’re using 5.1/7.1 headphones.

Control Panel (in Classic View) > Sounds and Audio Devices > Volume Tab > Advanced (under Speaker Settings) > Set your Speaker Setup to “Desktop Stereo Speakers”

3D. Video Card Driver Settings

CS:S does not contain commands for maximum AF/AA. For example, the maximum Filtering command in CS:S is mat_trillinear 1. Any mainstream card made in the past couple years can support higher AF than trillinear. Thus, it is best to force maximum settings in your video card drivers

Nvidia (Forceware 84.26):

Right click on your desktop > Nvidia Display > “monitor name” > “video card name” > Performance and Quality Settings: Turn everything up to its maximum, and uncheck any box that says “Let the application decide.”

I know these aren’t the newest drivers, but newer ones cause some problems with my PC. You should get the idea of what you want to do.

ATI (Catalyst Control Center):

Right Click on your Desktop > ATI Catalyst Control Center > 3D > All settings: Turn everything up to its maximum (excluding Catalyst AI and Smartshader Effects), and uncheck any box that says “Let the application decide.”

4. Encoding and Compiling Files Section:

Disclaimer about wares: Do NOT post links, ask for publicly on these forums, or PM me about illegal software cracks or downloads. That’s not welcome here.

Required non-free Software:
-Counter-Strike: Source
-Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere (I use Vegas 5)

Freeware:
-VirtualDub (I use version 1.5.10) Download: http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=virtualdub

-Windows Media Encoder (for easy wmv files) Download: HERE

-HuffYUV Codec for Lossless Compression Download: http://www.divx-digest.com/software/huffyuv.html

-VLC Media Player (x264 playback) Download: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

-x264 Encoding Pack by anX Download: HERE
Contents:
—AVISynth 2.5.7
—YAMB 1.6
—FAAC.exe
—meGUI x264 specific version
—meGUI new version (multiple codecs)
—MP4Box.exe
—x264.exe
—A bunch of dlls and other files THAT YOU MUST KEEP IN THE SAME FILE AS THE .exe’s.

-Xvid Encoding Pack by anX Download: HERE
Contents:
—AVISynth 2.5.7
—Xvid 1.0 (newer versions are without a few options)
—Xvid Bitrate Calculator
—LAME.exe
—Multifrontend.exe
—VirtualDub 1.5.10
—VirtualDubMod 1.5.10
—A bunch of dlls and other files THAT YOU MUST KEEP IN THE SAME FILE AS THE .exe’s.

Optional Sofware:
-Adobe Photoshop
-Adobe After Effects
-3DS Max
-Particle Illusion

5. Recording in CS:S:

After executing the config:

- Hit the down arrow on your keypad to set your capturing rate @ 90 fps (or chose whatever framerate you want).
- Hit F11 to start recording. Hit F12 to stop recording.
- After recording a clip, hit control (host_framerate 0) for functional demoui speed control. Before you record your next clip, don’t forget to hit the down arrow key again (or whatever framerate key you used).

All of that stuff should be in your console on the menu I made…

Now there will be a ton of .tgas and one .wav file in your cstrike folder all named a (or b or c or whatever letter you were on. You can record up to 26 times with F11 in one execution of the config. Nothing will ever get overwritten unless you re-exec the config).

Now close css and open up virtualdub.

6. Screenshots to avi in VirtualDub:

With virtualdub open:

- File > Open video file > click on the first ss in your cstrike folder (the whole series will open up
- Video > Framerate > change to whatever framerate you recorded at (90)
- Video > Color depth > decompression format: 24 bit, output format to compressor/display: 24 bit
- Video > compression > uncompressed OR HuffYUV (files section, lossless codec, no quality loss but output size will be less than half than that of uncompressed avi)
- Video > Full Processing Mode
- Audo > WAV audio > browse to your wav file in your cstrike folder
- Audio > Full Processing Mode
- Audio > Compression > Uncompressed
- File > Save as AVI

Done.

7. Editing Program to Uncompressed Master File(s)

7A. Sony Vegas to Combined Uncompressed Video and Audio for wmv:

I use Vegas 5, just for reference. Newer versions might be slightly different.

After you’re done editing:

- File > Render As…

Now in your “Render As” window:

- Template: Default Template (uncompressed)
- Save as Type: Video for Windows (.avi)

Then click on the “Custom” button. In your “Custom Template” Window:

- Project tab > Video Rendering Quality: Preview (this will prevent deinterlacing and you will not lose any quality)
- Hit okay. Name it what you want, and hit save.

This is your master file. It’s uncompressed audio and video, and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

7B. Sony Vegas to Separate Uncompressed Video and Audio for x264 or Xvid:

I use Vegas 5, just for reference. Newer versions might be slightly different.

One thing you’ll want to know about x264 encoding is that the resolution (both width and height) has to be divisible by 16. If you’ve been using 800×600, I’d just resize your video to 800×592. You should take this into account before you edit.

After you’re done editing:

- File > Render As…

Now in your “Render As” window:

- Template: Default Template (uncompressed)
- Save as type: Video for Windows (.avi)

Then click on the “Custom” button. In your “Custom Template” Window:

- Project tab > Video Rendering Quality: Preview (this will prevent deinterlacing and you will not lose any quality)
- Audio Tab > Uncheck “Include Audio” box
- Hit okay. Name it what you want, and hit save.

This is your master video file. It’s uncompressed and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

After that’s done, you’ll need to produce the uncompressed audio file:

- File > Render As…

Now in your “Render As” window:

- Template: Default Template
- Save as type: Wave (Microsoft) (.wav)
- Hit okay. Name it what you want (preferably the same as the video), and hit save.

This is your master audio file. It’s uncompressed and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

7C. Adobe Premiere to Combined Uncompressed Video and Audio for wmv:

I don’t use this program. This laptop came with premiere elements, and I’m basing this guide off of it. Your version might be different, but you’ll get the idea of what you wanna do. I use vegas so yeah =/.

After you’re done editing:

- File > Export > Movie… > Settings

Okay now you’ll have a window opened called “Export Movie Settings.”

There should be should be four categories on the left: General, Video, Keyframe and Rendering, and Audio. Now do this:

- General > File Type > Microsoft AVI
- Video > Compressor > Uncompressed
- Video > Frame size > whatever resolution you recorded at/want to render at
- Audio > Compressor > Uncompressed.

I don’t know if you’ll get deinterlacing on those settings or not (you don’t want that), but that’s the best I can do with a program I’ve never used lollll.

Hit okay and save it as what you want. This is your master file. It’s uncompressed audio and video, and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

7D. Adobe Premiere to Separate Uncompressed Video and Audio for x264 or Xvid :

I don’t use this program. This laptop came with premiere elements, and I’m basing this guide off of it. Your version might be different, but you’ll get the idea of what you wanna do. I use vegas so yeah =/.

After you’re done editing:

- File > Export > Movie… > Settings

Okay now you’ll have a window opened called “Export Movie Settings.”

There should be should be four categories on the left: General, Video, Keyframe and Rendering, and Audio. Now do this:

- General > File Type > Microsoft AVI
- General > UNCHECK the “Export Audio” box
- Video > Compressor > Uncompressed
- Video > Frame size > whatever resolution you recorded at/want to render at

Hit okay and save it as what you want. This is your master video file. It’s uncompressed and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

After that’s done, you’ll need to produce the uncompressed audio file:

File > Export > Audio…

Name it what you want (preferably the same as the video), and hit save.

This is your master audio file. It’s uncompressed and you can encode it into whatever codec you want.

8. Encoding:

8A. Windows Media Encoder for wmv:

WMV9 Codec:

Pros: Decent file size, good quality at any resolution. Very simple encoding process.

Cons: Toubles with color balance. Edges of reds can be lost, areas of green can be oversaturated.

- Open it up. A new session window will come up. Just hit cancel.
- Hit the properties button near the top.
- Sources Tab > Source From: File
- Sources Tab > File name > browse to your master file that you made in premiere/vegas
- Output Tab > Uncheck the Pull from Encoder Box
- Output Tab > Check the Encode to File box. Hit browse and save it as what you want
- Compression Tab > Destination > File download (computer playback)
- Video Size Tab > Blue resize text > Method: No resizing
- Processing > Pixel Format: YV12
- Hit apply. Then hit the green Start Encoding button near the top….

NOTE: This encodes @ 5mbps. Quality will be excellent, but you’ll be sitting @ about 36-39MB/minute @ 800×600. Expect pretty large file sizes.

AND YOU’RE DONE.

8B. FAAC, MEGUI, and more for x264:

x264 Codec:

Pros: Lowest file size out of any codec, high quality at most resolutions.

Cons: Weaker in reds than Xvid. Slow encoding process.

For this section I’m assuming you’re using my x264 pack and that you followed the readme.txt in it correctly. I’m also assuming that you exported an uncompressed video and audio file from vegas (section 7B) or premiere (section 7D).

This section is for advanced users. Some of the encoding will take place in the command line prompt. It’s not that hard, but if you’re not that great with computers you might want to overlook this and just encode in wmv.

Okay, you should have this folder filled with all your x264 files:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264

Put both your uncompressed .avi and uncompressed .wav in this folder. Make both of their names the same. You can decipher them by their file extentions.

Audio Encoding:

Start > Run > cmd

This is the command prompt. When I tell you to type something in it DON’T USE THE QUOTES.

The default directory should be:

C:\Documents and Settings\username

type “cd x264″ and hit enter

Now your directory should be:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264

type “faac -w -b 128 audiofilename.wav” and hit enter.

Your audio file should encode pretty quickly.

You will now have a file called “audiofilename.m4a” in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264 folder. This is your compressed audio.

Video Encoding:

Remember, resolution (width and height) must be divisible by 16!

Right-Click in any white area in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264 folder > New > Text Document.

Rename it to: videofilename.avs

Windows will ask you if you want to change the file type. Say yes.

Open up the file (it won’t know what program to use. Just do Chose Program from List and use notepad). Put this in the body:

AVISource(”videofilename.avi”)
Crop(0,0,-0,-0)
ConvertToYV12()

Save it and close it.

Open up megui.exe.

Input Tab under Video Encoding:

Codec > x264

File Type > MP4

Across from AviSynth Script click on the “…” Button. Browse to: C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264 and click on videofilename.avs.

A new window should open up with the video file. You don’t need to do anything there. Just close it.

Back in your main window, hit Config.

The first thing you MUST do is set your “AVC Profiles” to “High Profile”

Then, use these settings for your main tab:

For your RC and ME tab, use these settings:

For you advanced tab, use these settings:

Note: I can’t guarentee good quality or smooth playback with these settings. x264 is tricky. Every video is different. Currently I get about 23 MB/minute with amazing quality @ 800×600 with these settings. You might need to raise/lower the bitrate depending on resolution.

Hit okay. Then back in your main window, hit Enqueue below the config button. Go to the queue tab and hit start.

Encoding in x264 takes a VERY long time. Be patient. After you’re done encoding, you’ll have a file named “videofilename.mp4″ in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\x264 folder. This is your compressed video file.

Muxing (combining your video and audio):

Open up YAMB.

Across from Audio and Video in blue text hit add. Add both your audiofilename.m4a and your videofilename.mp4 files. For the final time, THEY MUST HAVE THE SAME NAME OR YOU WILL GET ERRORS.

Down in the bottom right hit mux. Save it as what you want and hit okay.

AND YOU’RE DONE.

I’d like some feedback on the quality and mb/minute you guys are getting with those settings.

8C. LAME, VirtualDubMod, and more for Xvid:

Xvid MPEG-Layer 4 Codec:

Pros: Low file size, high quality at any resolution, accurate colors all around.

Cons: None.

For this section I’m assuming you’re using my Xvid pack and that you followed the readme.txt in it correctly. I’m also assuming that you exported an uncompressed video and audio file from vegas (section 7B) or premiere (section 7D).

This section is for advanced users. Some of the encoding will take place in the command line prompt. It’s not that hard, but if you’re not that great with computers you might want to overlook this and just encode in wmv.

Okay, you should have this folder filled with all your Xvid files:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid

Put both your uncompressed .avi and uncompressed .wav in this folder. Make both of their names the same. You can decipher them by their file extentions.

Audio Encoding:

Start > Run > cmd

This is the command prompt. When I tell you to type something in it DON’T USE THE QUOTES.

The default directory should be:

C:\Documents and Settings\username

type “cd xvid” and hit enter

Now your directory should be:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid

type “lame audiofilename.wav audiofilename.mp3″ and hit enter.

Your audio file should encode pretty quickly.

You will now have a file called “audiofilename.mp3″ in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid folder. This is your compressed audio.

Video Encoding:

Remember, resolution (width and height) must be divisible by 2!

Right-Click in any white area in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid folder > New > Text Document.

Rename it to: videofilename.avs

Windows will ask you if you want to change the file type. Say yes.

Open up the file (it won’t know what program to use. Just do Chose Program from List and use notepad). Put this in the body:

AVISource(”videofilename.avi”)
Crop(0,0,-0,-0)
ConvertToYV12()

Save it and close it.

Open up VirtualDubMod.exe:

-File > Open Video File > Browse to your videofilename.avs file.
-Streams > Steam List > Add > Browse to your audiofilename.mp3 file.
-Video > Compression > Select Xvid MPEG-4 Codec. Hit Configure.

In your XviD Configuration Window:

-Profile @ Level: (unrestricted). Hit the more… button to the right of it.

In the new window, use these settings:

Hit okay. Back in your main XviD Configuration Window:

-Encoding Type: Twopass - 1st pass

Hit “Advanced Options…”

In new window’s Motion tab, use these settings:

In the Quantization tab, use these settings:

Hit Okay. Okay. Okay.

Back in your VirtualDubMod Main Window:

-File > Save As (F7) > CHECK “Don’t run this job now; add it to Job Control so I can run it in batch mode.” Save it as “firstpass.avi” in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid folder.

Back in your VirtualDubMod Main Window:

-Video > Compression > Select Xvid MPEG-4 Codec. Hit Configure.

In your XviD Configuration Window:

-Encoding Type: Twopass - 2nd pass
-Target Bitrate: 4500-5000 (I use 4900, depends on video resolution. You can find an optimal bitrate using the XviD bitrate calculator. The higher the resolution, the higher bitrate you’ll need)

If it says “Target Size (kbytes)” instead of “Target Bitrate (kbps),” just click on the “Target Size (kbytes)” text and it will switch to “Target Bitrate (kbps).”

Hit okay. Okay.

Back in your VirtualDubMod Main Window:

-File > Save As (F7) > CHECK “Don’t run this job now; add it to Job Control so I can run it in batch mode.” Save it as “secondpass.avi” in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid folder.
-File > Job Control (F4) > Start

There will be a firstpass.avi and a secondpass.avi in your C:\Documents and Settings\username\xvid folder. The secondpass.avi is your finalized project.

AND YOU’RE DONE.

Practice against bots

When you haven’t played Counter-Strike Source in a while, I find one of the best ways to bring your aim up to speed is to practice against bots. When you enter the Counter-Strike menu, create server, select your map, and add a bunch of bots. If you find that the bots are not joining, or are mysteriously joining then disconnecting, make sure to check your console to see that these settings are at the following values:

mp_autoteambalance 0
mp_limitteams 63

Aim Maps

I find playing against bots is most effective on maps such as awp_india or aim_ak_colt or generally any ‘aim’ specific map. If you’re tired of getting insta-headshotted by the expert bots, simply remove their weapons. When you create the server you should have an option to restrict them to specific weapons, select knives only. That way, they’ll charge at you like zombies and will make great fodder while you improve your headshot aim.