THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 2 2013
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your eyes – it’s done on a computer
but it is not strictly CGI – the assets
are virtual and exist in a library that
you can buy and/or access. You can
design your entire set in a 3D
environment and shoot from any
angle, it does not have to be drawn
or rendered for each shot.
TOOLS OF CREATION
Machinima will also continue to
rise because the tools of creation
will become easier to use, less
expensive and more ubiquitous.
Some examples are iClone5 which
is a real‐time 3D animation tool
with digital actors, environments,
visual effects, drag & drop editing,
powerful physics and Microsoft
Kinect‐ready motion capture;
designed for rapid production,
creative education and cost‐
effective pre‐visualization. The
library is fixed but you can get
expansion packs. You can start up
for under $200. Yes, it takes the
concentration of a geek ninja, but
you can master this stuff if it
becomes your obsession. There are
new game platforms gaining
strength all the time now.
Unity3D, a platform upon which
to build 3D environments that can
load right to your browser, is also a
great and exciting development.
There is no built‐in function to
export the scene as a movie. Unity
is a game creation tool, not a movie
scene builder.
As awareness of the medium
grows, this democratization of
animated film making can reach
more people – who have ideas
about the films they want to make
and need. Certainly educational
and instructional videos are a great
area for this medium as more
courses begin to go online. Machinima
is fast, approachable and low cost.
And with more awareness you get
more people who want to be able to
craft their own films. And YouTube
created a fantastic distribution
system, which made the video
revolution possible. Over a billion
unique people worldwide view
YouTube videos each month. As
uploads to views go it’s about 17:3
– in other words, many more
people watch than create.
CREATIVE VIDEO
This means the demand for new
and creative video is unrelenting.
When the Super Bowl shows
commercials made by the folks at
home, user created content is only
going to grow and having more
tools in the arsenal of possible gives
us ability we didn’t have before.
You might need a blonde
bombshell or a redheaded freedom
fighter for your film yet they are
difficult to get. Plus you need to
audition them. And what about the
costs of hair and makeup, which
can be a disaster on humid days. In
fact the weather is always what you
want it to be in an animated
Machinima landscape! You might
want a talking pony or a singing
anthropomorphic wolf – again not
easy to get for your film even if you
advertise – but completely available
within the world of the game
engines you might use.
Any platform upon which you
can capture what is happening on
“
”
Machinima
is film
making…
make no
mistake
In the TV Industry, Machinima
could be used to create sizzle
reels and showreels to show
concepts rather than paying for a
cast, crew and team to do the
same. It can be highly effective as
a pre-viz tool and one that will
help save hundreds of thousands
of dollars.
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The authors’
avatars
CREATIVE
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THE CHANNEL
your screen means you can create a
movie. All kinds of software that
are easy to use and relatively
inexpensive can be utilized as
screen captured “raw footage” –
Google Earth, Sony PlayStation,
Xbox, Nintendo, LittleBigPlanet,
Halo, OpenSim, Unity3D, Second
Life, Habbo etc.
Story and character development
will never become unimportant
though. Vital to connecting with the
people who will press ʹPlayʹ is
creating a contract with them
where you donʹt let them down. So
they keep watching, so they share
and so they come back for more.
Here are six reasons why Machinima
has nowhere to go but up: (1)
Increase in the kind of game engine
programmes that are available; (2)
Low cost of these programmes; (3)
Distribution avenues which are free
like YouTube, Vimeo and blip; (4)
Greater familiarity with game
engine entertainment and avatars
that began and has continued with
video games; (5) Indie movement
becomes commercially viable ‐
early adopters are already creating
beautiful, compelling and
educational video which is
inspiring more people within the
community ‐ already places like the
New Media Film Festival have a
category for Machinima; (6)
Industry events that support and
promote the medium Machinima
are becoming better known – for
example Augmented World Expo
this year did have Will Wright of
The Sims delivering the keynote.
So watch this space ‐ those of us
involved with Machinima as a
medium are in a growing phase of
the internet that will be constantly
changing the way we look at
storytelling.
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