» Fri May 27, 2011 10:53 am
Sunsi:
I'm learning the ropes myself and certainly no expert. And even my best work can not match the quality of that produced by the creators of elaborately staged and choreographed "set-pieces". But as a chronicler of events as they unfold, without recourse to pose-packs, my best friends are the commands "tai" and "tfc". In combat situations I, like you, leave fighting to my companion. Keeping close watch, I periodically bring up the console, freezing action. If and when both companion and mob(s) are caught in interesting stances I "tai" the lot, disabling their A.I. which locks them in-place until reversed.
At that point go to third person if not there already.
If you want your avatar in on the action, position it and go through the same routine you did earlier. Attack the mob(s) while bringing up the console until freezing a suitable pose, at which point you "tai" the avatar.
Then (still in third-person) "tfc" to enable the flying camera. This lets you move the viewpoint at will until you find the best possible angle from from which to capture the action. If in doubt shoot the scene from multiple camera positions. Don't be afraid to experiment.
When done, don't forget to reverse all "tai", "tfc", etc.. To relieve paranoia (for fear that I might have typed something that might bloat or corrupt my save) I tend to reload and fight the battle again, this time sans trickery.
It goes without saying that "tm" is my third friend.
While editing a capture for posting, cropping can transform mundane into interesting. (My image of http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn303/Decrepit_Waste/ESIV%20Oblivion/CrayfishOrge_1.jpg, which you so kindly complimented, is an example.)
Several general-purpose mods are a boon to screen captures. DroplitTorchesOBSE makes action shots possible in otherwise-too-dark environments. (Neeshka and the Ogre is lit via a dropped torch or two.) AdvancedWindowLighting&Chimneys, in combination with a sky darkener, opens up a whole world of nighttime scenic captures. (http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn303/Decrepit_Waste/ESIV%20Oblivion/MothTemple_1.jpg, while nothing special, would have been pointless without Chapel lights.)
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Alas, due to a combination of poor health and hitting a roadblock in my current quest I've had few screenshot opportunities these past several day. My only capture worth posting was taken during a recent dungeon crawl. I call it...
"http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn303/Decrepit_Waste/ESIV%20Oblivion/GoblinLarder.jpg"
(In keeping with the above, I'll point out that to make this scene presentable I needed to crop a bit off the right, more off the left, and a good bit off the top. The rat-head-on-spit at left is a bothersome and unwanted distraction. I debated cropping more off the left to remove it. But I wanted to use the vertical rock edge to frame that side. In the end framing won out. But the rat-head still bothers me. Oh yeah, Neeshka is of course "tai" so that she remains standing in the distance while Decrepit moves forward and stoops to examine the rock shelf and its contents.)
-Decrepit