Welcome to Bungie Pro Video
It’s Official
In 3...2...1...
Bungie Pro originally launched right alongside a little game called Halo 3 in September, 2007, providing the community-at-large (that’s you) with some extra server-side features that we can't offer to millions of ravenous players (that’s you too) without charging a lit bit extra. The reception was overwhelming. To date, Bungie Pro has allowed players to create and share more Screenshots, Saved Films & Film Clips, and Game & Map Variants than we ever imagined. Launch-to-Date, over 84 million pieces of Halo 3 content have been shared through Bungie.net.
84 Million!
But still, you demand more. And guess what? We’re ready to deliver. Today we've incorporated some brand-spankin’ new technology into Bungie Pro’s existing suite of game-enhancing features. We call it Bungie Pro Video. And here’s what you need to know:
Details, Details…
- Bungie Pro Video lets you take your Halo 3 Films Clips (or anyone else’s) and turn ‘em into videos you can watch on any computer with a player that supports the WMV format
- Bungie Pro Video comes bundled with Bungie Pro at no extra charge
- Your rendered videos can be viewed by anyone on the web and saved to your local hard drive
- Bungie Pro Video users will automatically be granted five (5) render minutes per month, awarded on the day you purchased Bungie Pro (or at month’s end in the case a date falls on the 31st.)
- Render minutes granted via this monthly method will NOT roll-over month-to-month—you gotta use ‘em or lose ‘em
- Additional minute packs will soon be available through the in-game Halo 3 Media Menu/File Share for 100 Microsoft Points each, they do not expire and DO roll-over from month to month
Our beta users have already gave Bungie Pro Video a thorough testing, creating tens of thousands of gameplay videos to ensure that the system works as advertised. If you want to see samples of what Bungie Pro Video offers, all you have to do is
click into the complete collection and pluck out something that strikes your fancy.
We think you’ll find that Bungie Pro Video is a pretty sweet tool for capturing and sharing your OMGWTFBBQ moments in Halo 3. Whether you’re looking for a way to bolster your smack talk or simply show off your sweet plays, Bungie Pro Video is the tool for the job.
To find out even more about what you can expect when you purchase Bungie Pro for 750 Microsoft Points, go ahead and check out our new and improved
Bungie Pro Project Page. It’ll get you up to speed on all the features, both new and old, and walk you through the process of purchasing and using Bungie Pro and Bungie Pro Video.
Got Some Splainin’ To Do
If the details above haven’t sent you spiraling into a dark place from which no player can return, we’ve got even more!
Your Film Clips can be rendered in two WMV flavors: Standard (360p) and High Definition (720p). Standard Definition looks great and it’s light weight enough for streaming. Should you elect the SD video option, we’ll host it right here on Bungie.net for a few months (we love to share). For streaming, you can copy and paste the code from the content page and our Silverlight Media Player will handle the playback on any website that allows video embedding.
Like this:
The HD flavor rocks a pretty hefty 6Mbps bitrate, so it’s not suitable for on-demand streaming. You gotta find your own host if you want to embed this bad boy. If you’re an auteur looking for the best video quality, HD is what you’re after. Once you’ve rendered the video, make sure to save it to your hard drive. Since HD video requires much more horsepower for us to crank out, it'll cost you 5 render minutes from your account for each minute of HD video. But we'll also toss in an SD version so you can still stream it from our player.
Right-click and download to check out a sample in HD
Since we can’t host your videos forever (you can expect a few months of hosting from us at no charge), you should save your videos down to your local hard drive no matter which quality you choose to run with. From there you can stream the videos straight to your Xbox 360, edit them with whatever video editing software suite you choose, or upload them to any hosting solutions you have access to in order to share ‘em with the world.
…And Even More Details
You might have noticed that the text above doesn’t talk much about Halo 3: ODST—for the sake of clarification and transparency, Bungie Pro Video should be considered a Halo 3 feature at this time. While Bungie Pro Video is designed to work perfectly with the secondary Halo 3 disc included with Halo 3: ODST, the video rendering functionality is NOT enabled for Halo 3: ODST’s Campaign or Firefight modes. Whether or not Bungie Pro Video will be made available for Halo 3: ODST’s original content in the future is to be determined. Of course, the File Share expansion provided by Bungie Pro will work just fine with Halo 3: ODST, this caveat only covers Bungie Pro Video.
If you need more information about Bungie Pro or Bungie Pro Video, check out our fancy
Bungie Pro Project Page.