Easy to follow guide for Windows users

[condefombrilac]

Happy New Year!!

I hope all your aspirations come to fruition in this new year!

Several friends and I have tried to install this tool... but we just get stuck halfway through! We aren't too tech-savvy haha. Could you perhaps add a step-by-step dummy-proof installation and use guide for Windows users, please?

Thank you very much!

[Lep19]

I'm not the one who wrote the code or made the original writeup but I can say what worked for me and my setup, hopefully it'll help.

1. Install Python using their link. Be sure to check the box at the beginning of the install talking about the PATH, as this will give you access to python commands in the command prompt (namely "pip", which you'll be using later).
2. The link they've provided is meant for you to compile your own version of ffmpeg. Even though I recognize this process I've never done it and am not comfortable with it, and I suspect the same is true for you. In this case, download a static build from this site https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases
   (I downloaded the win64-gpl-4.3 version). To install it, extract and drop the ffmpeg folder somewhere you can find it. You may also want to rename it.
3. If you're here you probably already have Slippi, but if not install both the Rollback client and the Slippi Desktop App at https://slippi.gg/ . FM-Slippi-r18 isn't required for this; the playback version of Dolphin should be in "C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Slippi Desktop App\dolphin" as they've mentioned.
4. Open your command prompt and type the command "pip install py-slippi". If pip isn't recognized as a command, something went wrong with your Python installation. Be sure you checked that box I mentioned and that the instance of the command prompt you have open was opened after you finished the Python installation.
5. Similarly, type "pip install psutil"

That's it for the dependencies. To actually get the program working, though, you have to point it to all the stuff you've just installed (I'm only going to cover the essential settings, but you might also want to change things like "widescreen", etc.).

6. Download the actual SLP to MP4 code as a zip and extract it wherever you want it to be. Inside there should be a file called "config_windows.json", which you want to open with a text editor like Notepad or Notepad++ (if you don't have Notepad++, you should get it! Very handy for stuff like this). Inside there's some directories you have to set. Note that forward slashes should be used for the directory instead of backslashes to avoid issues with exit characters.

• "melee_iso": the directory of your Melee ISO file, including the filename itself (i.e. "C:/Users/YourName/Games/MeleeISO.iso"). Note that it helps if the filename doesn't have any spaces in it.
• "dolphin_dir": the directory of the playback version of dolphin. Check the directory mentioned in step 3, it's probably there. Do not include Dolphin.exe at the end, you need only point to the folder it's in.
• "ffmpeg": the directory of your ffmpeg binary from the folder you downloaded in step 2. Inside it there should be a bin folder, and inside that there should be "ffmpeg.exe". Point to this file (i.e. "C:/Program Files (x86)/ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg.exe").

Finally, to actually use the program, you can either:

• Use the command line as instructed by the original post. This will give you access to the various commands available for rendering multiple SLP files at once, etc. For this, make sure you are in the SLP to MP4 directory by using the "cd" command (i.e. "cd C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\Dolphin\SLPtoMP4\slp2mp4") before running the slp-to-mp4.py commands.
• You can also just drag and drop an SLP replay file onto the slp-to-mp4.py file. This is functionally the same as running the first slp-to-mp4.py command mentioned without specifying an output path. The resulting MP4 file will be output to the "out" folder in your slp2mp4 folder.

That should be it. Note that I've posted Issue #14 as I'm having sync issues with the audio and video components. I would appreciate if you let me know if you're having the same problem as it might be indicative of an installation problem rather than a problem with the program.

[NunoDasNeves]

Thanks @condefombrilac and @Lep19, sorry it isn't easier to use.
Using OBS (https://obsproject.com/download) to record the Dolphin window is another method many people use; it might be easier.
The goal of slp-to-mp4 is to make batch recording a bit easier, but the interface is definitely for the more technically-inclined.