I originally wrote this over on ManiaPlanet forums. But I feel like it should have a home here as well.

This tutorial assumes some basic knowledge of how to use MediaTracker, add and manipulate clips.

This tutorial is a way to get a screenshot of the car sharply in focus, but the background with motion blur. Once you understand the concepts behind the technique, you can modify it and use it in different ways.

• Load a replay in the replay editor.
  
• Add a custom camera.
  
• Place the camera where you want in relation to the car.
  
• Turn on AnchorRot. AnchorVis will already be on by default.
  
• Change Anchor to Local Player or whatever ghost name you are using.
  
• The camera will change perspective, but it will be in the same position.
  
• Reframe the car by right click-dragging to change where you're looking.
  
• Copy the middle keyframe to the first and last keyframes of the custom camera clip by first selecting the keyframe you are copying TO, then holding CTRL and clicking the middle keyframe (which is the keyframe you're copying FROM). Do the same for the end keyframe. Select it first, then hold CTRL, and click the middle keyframe to copy it's positional data to the last keyframe.
  
• Now select the middle keyframe and take the shot in the editor using the in-game screenshot tool labeled BMP at the top left in the replay editor. Set the motion blur to whatever you desire and whatever you think yields the results you want. Try something like 0.10 to start with.

Note: It's very important to set your camera position before turning on AnchorRot or Anchoring the camera to the car. It becomes very hard to move the camera around once you do these two actions. So always choose your camera position first!

Also, make sure you always choose AnchorRot before anchoring the camera to the car, or else the camera will move to another position.

Here's a screenshot of the menu for quick reference:


Here's an example I just made using this technique:



A couple other tips people might find useful:

• Hold down CTRL and Right click+Drag on the image to tilt the camera from side to side.
  
• Tap the minus key several times on the numeric keypad to slow down camera movement. You can also use the plus key to speed up movement. This only applies to the speed in which you move the camera into position. It has no effect on the clip itself. It's just a way to get more granular control over choosing a spot for your camera.
  
• If you want to hide the HUD while in the replay editor, you can hit the TAB key.

Many thanks for sharing this eyebo! , did now know of this, several things you point out there i had no clue about...happy to learn new things in this game

very usefull !
Thx a lot !
(just a precision : this technique works only for replays, it doesn't work if you try it into Media Tracker : intro outro or gps)

I'm glad you guys found it useful.

And thanks for the added info MirExpress.

KillaProDTM recently posted a video showing this technique in action, for any who are interested in seeing it in a more visual way.

Thank you! I just learnt from this tutorial how to slow down the camera motion in MT :-)

Hey, can anyone explain this new system? I remember the old easy way of making spinning wheels and making screenshots, but I guess there was an update because I don't play TM2 but I own it and this was my first time logging in after 79 days.
This is how my shot looks like (A01):
http://i.imgur.com/3OqHfJN.jpg

What the hell is this?
http://i.imgur.com/tpARdDx.jpg

Why can't I set my own resolution? - It just changes it back to 1080p. Same goes for video. I can't shoot above 1080p and nothing else from the settings works either.
Why can't I change the quality? - I am running at max quality tho.
Why doesn't that "Duration" work? - Before, I set the duration and it rendered spinning wheels and voila, a screenshot. Now it just shoots a still photo with no effects.
Why is there no "Blur" effect anymore? - Or did they rename it and I'm just stupid?

Plenty questions and I need answers AKA solutions quick ;P

_____________________________________
Solved. There were some settings issues that were unknown to me and when I changed them, everything went back to normal.

Does anyone know why water isn't showing up on higher settings? I'm trying to take a screenshot that has water blocks from the RPG titlepack in it, but the water is totally invisible. I tried turning on/off all of the reflects but it doesn't help. Anyone know how to fix this?

Zack11 says:
Does anyone know why water isn't showing up on higher settings? I'm trying to take a screenshot that has water blocks from the RPG titlepack in it, but the water is totally invisible. I tried turning on/off all of the reflects but it doesn't help. Anyone know how to fix this?

I remember something about the highest filtering setting screwing up those effects, I don't know the exact setting you have to bump down from max by one
I would try the shader quality, texture quality and max filtering first.

Thanks, I'll try that and see if it was the filtering