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The videos shown in the Palantir are a bit special. In addition to the regular video frames they hold a second set of frames for the alpha channel, which controls the transparency of the different video areas. This is done to "crop" the video to a circular shape so the edges aren't visible outside the Palantir.

It was previously believed that this type of video required encoding with the VP61 codec, which unfortunately Siberian_GRemlin's VP6 Builder does not support, and was thus impossible. However, this is not true anymore. With the Palantir Video Converter you can encode a video with regular VP60, convert it to EA VP6 and then inject the alpha channel frames required for the Palantir.




In order to inject the alpha channel frames you will need a video in the dimensions of 224 x 224 pixels, exported with VP60 and converted to EA's VP6 format with the VP6 Builder. See page 3 for the general procedure.

If your video doesn't happen to come in the size of 224 x 224 pixels, you can use VirtualDub to crop and resize it for you. Do the following before you save it as AVI:

1. Select Video -> Filters...
2. Press the Add... button in the dialog box
3. Pick null transform and with that selected in the filters list, press Cropping...
4. In the cropping interface, crop the video to a perfect square. Usually the source video will be wider than it will be high so you will need to adjust the X1 Offset and X2 Offset in the top left and top right. Press OK when you are done.
5. Back in the filters list, Add... another filter, this time resize
6. Enter 224 as the new width/height. Make sure the Aspect ratio is set to Same as source.
7. Close the filters list with OK

You can now follow the instructions on page 3 and page 4 to export the video with VP60 compression and convert it to the EA VP6 file format.





Make sure you have downloaded the Palantir Video Converter and extract the program to the same folder as your VP6 file. Let's say I put them in C:\Users\Phil\BFME Modding\MyMod.

The program does not have a graphical interface; you will have to use the command prompt to run it. Navigate to the folder and run the program:
              

Code

cd "C:\Users\Phil\BFME Modding\MyMod" PalantirVideoConverter.exe video.vp6 video_with_alpha.vp6

where video.vp6 is the name of your VP6 file and video_with_alpha.vp6 is the desired file name for your final version with alpha channel.

If the desired file already exists, it will ask whether you want to overwrite that file or not. The program should print a few statistics when started and a success message shortly thereafter. The conversion shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds.

Your new Palantir video should now be comfortably sitting in that directory. You can include it in your mod like any other video.








The most obvious use for this will be adding new videos to campaign maps. You can of course also replace existing Palantir movies in the vanilla campaign, although there is probably little benefit in doing so except for testing purposes.

The triggers for these video events are done with map scripts in WorldBuilder. All you need coding-wise is an appropriate entry in video.ini:
              

Code

Video Palantir_WKMyHour Filename = wkmyhour_l_with_alpha Comment = "Movie played in palantir" End

You can also use it as Palantir video played during a Special Power.

In SpecialPower.ini you can simply add the name of your video block from video.ini:
              

Code

SpecialPower SpecialAbilityWitchKingWordOfPower Enum = SPECIAL_WORD_OF_POWER ReloadTime = 360000 PublicTimer = No PalantirMovie = Palantir_WKMyHour End

Result:

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