How do convert demos into RoQ, .avi, or Real Media (.rm) format?

How do convert demos into RoQ, .avi, or Real Media (.rm) format?
I have only found one guide, which really provides a step-by-step walk-through of the conversion process from demo to .avi. This assumes that you don't have a means of directly outputting video through dedicated video capture equipment. Credit goes to Worthless for the original post. I've edited and added my comments to his original post where appropriate.

Step 1 : The Demo
In order to make or RoQ or Avi files we first have to have a demo. Visit the previous section for a short tutorial on recording demos. Now do what ever you wish to have done in your demo. This step is best done with two or more people working together to create a much better look. On to step 2.

Step 2 : The Boring Part
Just as the name implies this is going to be boring. You will have to select what game settings you want to record. If you use the highest settings possible, you're going to end up with a very short demo clip. If you want to stream a video clip, you may want to select a screen resolution and video settings that are much lower. This is because we are going to write screenshots for every single frame of your demo. The constraining factor you should keep in mind is the number of screenshots you want and the amount of storage space on your hard drive they will consume. For example, at 1024 x 768 resolution, each screenshot is ~2.3 Mb. Reducing screen resolution to 800 x 600 reduces the size by 40%, to ~1.4 Mb, so think about your (recorded FPS X minutes of demo X file size per screenshot) = space required, and you should get an idea of what you can physically record. Going to 300 x 200 will result in .tga files that are only 226 Kb each.

Now load up your demo. From the console, type \demo [demoname] to load the demo. [demoname] is the specific name of the demo we just recorded. Now type \cl_avidemo 30 (30 being the frames per second, this number can be changed to your preference but probably no lower than 30). To make things easier we can bind a button to this.

Here's a simple script to toggle the cl_avidemo function on and off:

//set demoAvi recording
set avion "cl_avidemo 30; set nextavi vstr avioff"
set avioff "cl_avidemo 0; set nextavi vstr avion"
set nextavi "vstr avion"
bind x "vstr nextavi"

Before you start this operation, you might want to first delete or move any screenshots currently in your target folder. The cl_avidemo function is now going to take a screenshot for every single frame of your demo. This will take some time depending on the size and length of your demo. After the demo has been complete, it should take you back to the main screen and we might as well just quit Q3:A now. Let's take a look in our screenshots directory and review our screenshots. If your using Paint Shop Pro you can simply look at the thumbnail and see which ones need to be deleted. If you want a free image viewer, you can download Irfanview. However, Irfanview cannot create .avi files.

You will probably see a few screenshots with the console screen since we started the recording while we were in the console. This goes back to the problem of "we should have bound a button to this". So either delete these or delete them all and bind a key to \cl_avidemo 30 and try again. The only editing that needs to be done to the .tga files is that it must be in 512 x 256 resolution, but only if you wish to do RoQ compiling. 512 x 256 was the only resolution tested by Worthless and it worked. I personally have never used RoQ so I cannot vouch for any other resolutions that might work.
Step 3 : The Compiling
From this step we should have all of the screenshots we plan to be use in our RoQ, .avi, or Real Media file. Now we decide which one we want to do. I am going to explain all three ways in this step.
Converting to RoQ
We will start with the RoQ compiling first. We are going to need Id Software's RoQ compiler or for easier usage, Inolen's RoQ Creator. Worthless has put together everything you need in once nice package right --> here. . It is a very easy to use. Not to mention this guide will be based on using it. Extract the .zip of Inolen's RoQ Creator into the same directory that has the screenshots and then start the RoQ Creator. Go to File then Add TGAs, and then highlight them all. This is assuming that you have gone through and determined which screenshots you want kept. This will fill in the information in the fields on the right; RoQ Directory and RoQ File Name, the only thing that needs to be done now is to name your RoQ file. Under RoQ File Name and after the backslash, type in the your RoQ filename. I suggest using idlogo.RoQ. And then click on Make RoQ at the bottom of the window. This is another boring part and can take a very long time depending on the length of your demo. So leave, grab a bite to eat, and just wait till it's finished.

Converting to .avi

Now I'm going to explain how to make an .avi file. We have a directory full of screenshots, all of which are in .tga format. That won't do while we try to make an .avi, so you can either go through each file individually and save as a .jpg or use Irfanview or Paint Shop Pro's Batch Conversion and save some time. Now that we have our .jpgs, let's make our .avi. Open up Paint Shop Pro, or your personal graphical editor, and go to File. Under File go down to Run Animation Shop. From there, go to File and find the Animation Wizard, because I truly don't know much about Paint Shop Pro. From my continuous plugs of PSP you would probably think that I actually liked the program. Nope, can't stand it but it does have some options that my personal Graphical Editor does not have. So it's either that or doing it the hard way.

Converting to Real Media files (.rm)

If you want to produce this as a Real Media (.rm) file, you can download Real Producer Basic, a free demo product, from realnetworks.com and follow the instructions there. I think you have to start off with an .avi first before you can convert it to a Real Media file. However, the same 25-second demo was reduced to 800Kb in file size but I lost a lot of detail.

Again, I am no video/PSP/Real Producer/demo recording wizard so I am sure there are ways to produce this more efficiently. Suggestions and tips are welcome.

Step 4 : The Finished Product
If you chose the RoQ path, you will now have a compiled version of your demo ready and waiting to be seen. Now all we have to do is do the appropriate steps in order to see it. The more professional thing to do is to make a .pk3 out of it but we can simply take the easy path on this one. Make a folder called video and put the idlogo.RoQ in it. Now most people have not gone through the pak0.PK3 in the Baseq3 folder and deleted the idlogo.RoQ so lets put our video folder into a different mod, preferably in a different Mod's folder. And simply start up that Mod and your done.

Alternatives to compiling screenshots into .avi files
Another shortcut you can use is to use screen capture software to record a demo as it is being played on your desktop. For the sake of an example, I'll go through the process of recording a small demo in 300 x 200 resolution using Hypercam: Here are the steps:

1. Download a trial version of a screencapture application such as Camtasia or Hypercam
2. Launch Hypercam
3. Start RTCW then go into Setup:System then turn fullscreen OFF and reduce the screen resolution to 300 x 200.
4. Alt-Tab out of RTCW and go to Hypercam. Click on the select region button and use the crosshairs to outline the boundaries of your recording box. I extended mine to fill up the entire RTCW screen. Click on the AVI File tab and select a folder in which to save your .avi file. In the AVI File tab, you will also have to specify what frame rate you want to record. My system, a P3 733 @ 733, 128 Mb RAM, GeForce 2 32 Mb DDR maxes out between 25-30 for recording purposes.
5. Go back into RTCW and launch your demo.
6. Alt-Tab back to Hypercam and click on the Start Rec. button.
7. Go back into RTCW; it will make the demo run faster.
8. As soon as the demo is finished, go to Hypercam and stop recording.
9. You should now have an .avi file in the specified folder that you can now run through PSP or Real Producer.

While this method is probably faster than the first method, the downside is less flexibility and control over the finished product.

To edit your .avi files and stitch multiple demos together, I've been told that Smacker Tools is an easy application to use.

Here's an Quake 3 example of the final product . This one is compressed using Divx, so you'll need a Divx codec. If you don't already have one, you can get one ---> here