Shenmue: The TV Series

[Wickio]

Hello everyone, my name is Nick (or Wickio as my tag would give away) and I'm a lifelong Shenmue fan. I've been a member here for years, but have only recently gotten the fire back for the franchise with all the hype around the GDC14 event. It really reminded me just how much I love this franchise of ours. I figured I could give something back to the series that provided me with so many happy memories and give our hopes of a third game a boost now that there seems to be some momentum.

So, where do I start? This is gonna be ambitious, but basically I want to edit Shenmue I and II into a TV series, following the typical anime format; 20-odd minute episodes with opening and ending videos, recaps and previews. I'm thinking about editing each game into a 13 episode series and will be using the original Japanese voice tracks - sorry to everyone who loves the English dub!

I would also add that this wouldn't be some botch job. I'm well versed in video editing and confident I can make a very passable end product. That said, don't expect these to turn out on a weekly basis!

I'm gonna be away for the next few weeks so won't be able to start work on this quite yet, but I just wanted to gauge interest and see what you guys thought about it. Any comments and suggestions are welcome. It's been a long, long time since I played Shenmue, so I would be particularly interested to see how you guys might split the first game into episodic chunks.

Thanks to everyone for your time.

[MiTT3NZ]

I think someone's already doin that tbh. I might be wrong, can't be arsed watchin any of em. Don't really see the point if I'm bein honest, but if you're seriously considering it you might be best havin a scout about the forums n YouTube to see if somebody has done it.

[Wickio]

I think someone's already doin that tbh. I might be wrong, can't be arsed watchin any of em. Don't really see the point if I'm bein honest, but if you're seriously considering it you might be best havin a scout about the forums n YouTube to see if somebody has done it.

Fair enough, never gonna be to everyone's taste, but it's as good an excuse as any to replay the games.

I'll have a snoop, but if anyone can point me towards any of these I'd appreciate it.

Edit: Found the thread. On the same page as mine, no less. Well, I'll still have a little play around with this just for my own purposes, if nothing else!

[ShenSun]

Go for it. If you do it though, please do so via NullDC, so that it can be in HD.

If you want to mix it up, and make it different than the typical Shenmue Movie/tv show project, then i suggest not just throwing cutscenes together, but including various conversations with NPCS, brief sessions on the arcade/toy capsules, phone conversations etc.

For example, when Ryo wakes up, it would be nice to see him interact with fuku-san and ine san before he heads out, same with some of his other friends as he makes his way to Dobuita. It would also be nice to see this when he heads back home. (Maybe he speaks to Nozomi or Naoyuki on the phone before he goes to bed)

All in all, make it completely different from the Shenmue movie and other attempts on youtube.

I can imagine this being a very big task, and requiring some serious video editing skills. Best of luck, I look forward to it.

[Wickio]

Go for it. If you do it though, please do so via NullDC, so that it can be in HD.

If you want to mix it up, and make it different than the typical Shenmue Movie/tv show project, then i suggest not just throwing cutscenes together, but including various conversations with NPCS, brief sessions on the arcade/toy capsules, phone conversations etc.

For example, when Ryo wakes up, it would be nice to see him interact with fuku-san and ine san before he heads out, same with some of his other friends as he makes his way to Dobuita. It would also be nice to see this when he heads back home. (Maybe he speaks to Nozomi or Naoyuki on the phone before he goes to bed)

All in all, make it completely different from the Shenmue movie and other attempts on youtube.

I can imagine this being a very big task, and requiring some serious video editing skills. Best of luck, I look forward to it.

Everything will be recorded in 1080p using NullDC. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so couldn't bring myself to do anything but, haha.

Yeah, I was thinking exactly this. The reason why I'd like to make it into an extended project is mainly to better capture the whole spirit of Shenmue, so the small talk and other actions will certainly be included to an extent.

It will certainly be a big task, but I'm confident in my ability to make it happen to a good standard. The biggest hurdle I have to address would be the pacing. I've not played the game since 2000, so a lot of this will feel like new to me, so that's the main area I could require some assistance.

Like, I said, I'm not going to be able to start anything until May-ish. But I'd like to at least start planning until then.

[ShenSun]

Awesome, i look forward to it. Just always keep in mind, "Do the complete opposite to the movie", and it should be fine.

I haven't play shenmue since 2006. You'd be surprise how everything seems so familiar when coming back to it after all these years.

If you need anymore suggestions, help, or anything else, feel free to ask.

[Wickio]

Awesome, i look forward to it. Just always keep in mind, "Do the complete opposite to the movie", and it should be fine.

I haven't play shenmue since 2006. You'd be surprise how everything seems so familiar when coming back to it after all these years.

If you need anymore suggestions, help, or anything else, feel free to ask.

I'll need to rewatch the movie for hints on what to avoid then! My initial vision was to make the second game into a movie, but I thought better of it when I remembered the first one.

I'm honestly hyped about going back to it after all these years.

There are two main things I could use help with, if you don't mind. First off, is there a definitive guide on getting the best out of nullDC for Shenmue? I'd like to record the least glitchy and most visually pleasing experience possible.

Secondly, do you have any suggestions in regards to pacing? 13 episodes sounds like it would be suitable, but my memory isn't too clear on all of the game's events. Mapping the whole game out might be useful.

I think the way I'll tackle this is just to play through the entire game whilst recording my progress and then stick the lot into Premiere and After Effects to tinker with it.

[IlDucci]

Sounds like a reaally interesting project.

You could do this as well: Get a rough cut through Ziming channel's videos (He has almost all the cutscenes recorded) and then start recording the full 1080p version.

As about emulators, well... I don't know about NullDC, but the latest version of Demul (0.8.5.2, I think) also has a decent quality. No emulator is perfect, though (When I re-recorded the Shenmue Digest Movie, I had to use two different recordings of the ending to mask the ship's smoke).

You can also use the Shenmue I's Beta for accessing difficult cutscenes.

Maybe you can do less episodes for Shenmue I (As S2 packs a lot more of narrative punch)

[Wickio]

Sounds like a reaally interesting project.

You could do this as well: Get a rough cut through Ziming channel's videos (He has almost all the cutscenes recorded) and then start recording the full 1080p version.

As about emulators, well... I don't know about NullDC, but the latest version of Demul (0.8.5.2, I think) also has a decent quality. No emulator is perfect, though (When I re-recorded the Shenmue Digest Movie, I had to use two different recordings of the ending to mask the ship's smoke).

You can also use the Shenmue I's Beta for accessing difficult cutscenes.

Maybe you can do less episodes for Shenmue I (As S2 packs a lot more of narrative punch)

Appreciate all of these comments. Thanks a lot, I'll certainly have a look at Ziming's videos. I want to make sure everything bridges together nicely so that newcomers can watch.

Will have to test emulators and try and gauge the results. Thanks for the information, though!

How do you mean concerning the beta? Is it possible to skip to certain cutscenes?

Trying to decide what aspect ratio to do this in. I'm edging towards 16:9 widescreen, just for the more cinematic feel. This would require some cropping, but I'd do it on a shot-by-shot basis so the focus is always in shot. What do you guys think?

[DreamcastPast]

Sounds good if, as others have said, we get more of the incidental stuff...

How do you mean concerning the beta? Is it possible to skip to certain cutscenes?

It's possible to go to wherever you want by entering scene and area codes;

phpBB [video]

Read this...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=43133

[Wickio]

Sounds good if, as others have said, we get more of the incidental stuff...

How do you mean concerning the beta? Is it possible to skip to certain cutscenes?

It's possible to go to wherever you want by entering scene and area codes;

phpBB [video]

Read this...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=43133

Thanks so much, this will be remarkably useful.

Started work on OP and ED sequences and will hopefully have something to show not long after I'm back from Japan.

[GrimMeNaCe]

Sounds interesting.

[Wickio]

Fresh from the land of the rising sun, I'm looking to kick this off soon. Gonna get myself a new rig so I can capture the best quality footage and then see where I can go from there!