Since Iâm working on mining all the frame data for each character, I thought Iâd create a thread explaining how Iâm doing it. Just in case anyone wants to help.
First off, this explanation is for PC. Iâm sorry console dudes, but I donât have a capture card to record stuff from.
#Programs
I recommend picking up OBS, and Avidemux. OBS is what youâre going to use to capture the game into a video. Avidemux is the program Iâm using to play the video, and frame skip.
When you get OBS, youâre going to be confused unless youâve used it before. The first thing youâre going to want to do is hit Settings in the bottom right-hand corner. Next, youâre going to go to Video, and set âCommon FPS Valuesâ to 60. Then set Downscale Filter to Bilinear, and Output (scaled) Resolution to something thatâs bearable, but still captures at 60fps.
Then, youâre gonna head to Hotkeys. You wanna set âStart Recordingâ and âStop Recordingâ to keybinds that make sense for you. Personally, I use Enter and Num +, the two big keys on my Numpad. Hit Apply and youâre all set there.
Next, since Killer Instinct is a UWP App, you canât capture it directly. So then how do I record the game? Well, see that little box on the bottom that says Sources? Right click in that box, mouse over add, and click Display Capture. This may be hard on some machines.
Now that we got that all set up, letâs hop into KI!
#Killer Instinct
First, youâre going to head into Practice, and pick Jago as Player 1, and Jago for the Dummy. Open up the options and go to Help & Options then Graphics. I recommend turning off Fullscreen, Motion Blur, Reflections, Occlusion, Bloom and Anti-Aliasing. Then set the resolution 1 step lower than you had it. This makes sure that your recording will be in 60fps. Besides, we donât need to be flashy or pretty when looking at hitboxes.
Next youâre gonna need to go to Display, and turn on Display Input, and Display Hitboxes. Turn off the HUD as well. It gets in the way when doing certain moves.
Now, weâre ready for the test to make sure youâre recording at 60fps. First, start your recording. Then hit Light Punch. After the move has finished, stop the recording.
Using Avidemux is pretty straight forward for what weâre using it for. Basically, once youâve recorded the attack you want the frame data of, youâre going to go to File, then Open. Youâre then going to head to your Videos folder (or wherever youâve set your OBS recordings to go) and select the video.
Go to the bottom left and hit Play twice. This will start playing, then pause the video. The video needs to be paused so you can use the Left and Right Arrow Keys to move back and forward by 1 frame.
Find the frame where Light Punch has just appeared in the top left hand corner of the screen, using the Left and Right Arrow Keys. This is Frame 1.
Frame 1: Button appears in the top left
Hit the right arrow key
Frame 2
Hit right arrow key
Frame 3
Hit the right arrow key
Frame 4
Hit the right arrow key
Frame 5 should be the first frame where the RED Hitbox shows up.
If not, you need to change your bitrate in OBS by going to Settings > Output > Video Bitrate. Nudge the bitrate down by 100 then repeat the process above with a new recording of Standing Light Punch.
If this was correct, then you just counted Jagoâs standing light punch âStart-upâ Frames.
#Start-up Frames
Using Jagoâs standing light punch as an example, this is how you count start-up frames.
Frame 1: the button appears in the top left corner
Frame 2: no red
Frame 3: no red
Frame 4: no red
Frame 5: Red Hitbox Appears
This is used for ALL physical attacks, and Riptorâs Heavy Punches.
#Active Frames
Counting Active Frames is very simple. When does the Red Hitbox show up, and when does it disappear? Jagoâs standing light punchâs active frames start on Frame 5 of its start-up. You start counting Active Frames when the Red Hitbox appears, and donât count the frame that it disappears. Jagoâs standing light punch has 2 Active Frames.
#Recovery Frames
Recovery frames are a little harder to count. This will need a new video to be counted correctly. First, make sure youâre far enough away to not hit your opponent then, Start recording, hit standing LP, then hold up immediately after, and stop the recording once he has made it into the air.
You need to find the first frame where the Red Hitbox disappears and count until you see Jagoâs Throwbox (the blue rectangle around the Yellow box) disappear. The frame that the Throwbox disappears on, does not count. If you have done this correctly, then you should have counted 9 total recovery frames, and youâre ready to count the Start-up, Active, and Recovery frames for all normals and specials.
Iâll update this after Iâve had some sleep, and teach you about counting Advantage Frames, and possibly Shadow Move start-up frames.
Until then, if you want to practice counting frames and want something to compare to click here for the most up to date Frame Data Spreadsheet.