Yearly Archives: 2022

S3 E53 Film Reviews: The Remnants & So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead… (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 17, 2022 Leave a reply

This week we have two great films to share with you courtesy of Damien. Our main film is The Remnants by Stan Petruk, a disturbing tale of the aftermath of some global disaster created as part of Reallusion’s Pitch and Produce programme. Our bonus film is a Mobile Short treat, So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead…[LEGO Edition] by Cinematic Series Gaming. Its astonishing what can be packed into 60 seconds!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

The Remnants by Stan Petruk (released 7 June 2022)

This film has all the hallmarks of an Eastern European style that we’ve talked about before – remember Irradiation by Sava Zivkovic (S1 E22, October 2021) and The Ship by Mednios (S1 E2, March 2021)?

There’s a nice description of Stan’s pipeline to create the film and the tools he’s used on 80.lv here and his comments about using Character Creator are on Reallusion’s website here. Below is also a nice video explainer by Stan.

So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead…[LEGO Edition] by Cinematic Gaming Series (released 29 Sept 2022)

Enjoy, and as ever, feedback and suggestions welcome!

Credits –
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine,Tracy Harwood, Phil Rice
Editor/Producer: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00

Projects Update (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Blog November 14, 2022 1 Comment

This week, we take a look at some interesting projects we’ve found in our monthly search of the inter-web for all things machinima / virtual production / real-time. We bring you projects using Web3, made with a HUGE cast, mix virtual and real, and 2D and 3D animation styles

Crip Ya Enthusiasm by SnoopDogg (rel 16 Oct 2022)

Apart from the typical SnoopDogg lingo, which you either love or loathe, this is an interesting short made in Unreal Engine 5. It is not so much interesting because it is a music video by a self-confessed creative tech lover with a novel storytelling approach to putting his content out, but because it is being distrubted through Snoop’s new Web3 platform called Astro Project as a gamified experience or, to use his term, a ‘metaverse music video’. The characters used in the video have been made available on the platform’s marketplace as NFTs and other creators are being encouraged to create and share content through the platform to unlock exclusive content and hosted events. Anyone buying the characters can do anything they like with them, include them in their own creative works for example, using the blockchain tech embedded in their creation and distribution. So, whether you like the content or not, its the platform process used that is particularly interesting in this project.

As with all things NFTs, it is worth noting that really, its success is only as good as the marketing effort through which you can achieve decent audiences in order to manipulate the market parameters. Obviously SnoopDogg has an upper hand on this.

SAPIENS by Lukas Klosel (rel 7 July 2022)

This is a cinematic short about the impact on man on our planet. Its a very provocative film, which does include some disturbing scenes (so if you’re sensitive, you may want to miss watching this one). We’re not exactly sure what creative tools have been used in this one, and the description doesn’t say, but certainly there’s a fair amount of post-production as well as mixing of real and virtual content so there’s bound to have been some use of virtual production tools. We include it though because of the way it mixes virtual and real scenes, how it portrays its focal story through visual concepts (and lens focus) and clever use of sound design.

Sandstorm by Wailander (rel 13 May 2022)

A more traditional machinima made in Star Citizen, this has some great dynamics, played out by the 97 players involved in shooting the scenes included in the finished video. Its an incredibly complex set of scenes with many participants involved in portraying the details of the rather loosely defined plot. Its creative goal, however, wasn’t so much to tell a story as to bring together as many different players as it could. We certainly think it delivered on, drawing in organizations from five different countries (France, USA, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany) and portraying as accurately as it could how fighting unfolds in this expansive engine. The story is held together with a front end briefing against which they do periodic updates. The credits section alone is something to just take a look at. The final scene intimates a continuing saga and we look forward to seeing that and perhaps more of a story integrated into the fighting action too.

Roborovski by Rick Pearce (rel 2020)

Too sentimental for Ricky perhaps, but certainly not one for Nemo-loving children, this is short that mixes 2D and 3D animation styles very effectively. Made in Unreal Engine 4.21, primarily used in order to test the creative pipeline in the engine, the film won Flickerfest’s best animation award in 2020. It was made by Pearce’s Spectre Studio and funded by Screen Australia, so it is by no means a naive creative endeavour. The video is above in the title link, but here’s a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, which is particularly interesting too.

The Walker by AFK – The Webseries (Rel 5 Aug 2022)

Finally, this month, a revisit to a little bit of old-style fun made in Unreal Engine 5, invoking all those great memories of RVB Series 1 (Rooster Teeth, for those in the know). In this short, some incredibly well done Star Wars comedy voice-acting, told through the suits of the Empire’s Snow Troopers, located deep in the bowels of an ATAT. Enjoy!

S3 E52 Film Review: Metaverse Music Video by JSFilmz (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 9, 2022 1 Comment

This week’s pick is a 360 music video – a ‘metaverse’ video – by a creator we’ve been following all year, Jae Solina aka JSFilmz. The film has been created in UE5 and includes some nifty mocap, great dance moves and some interesting lighting effects. Hear what the team have to say about the film and format and let us have your comments too!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes and Links

Metaverse Music Video, released 10 Sept 2022 (note, the video can be viewed as a VR experience or a 360 video) – where is the Batman Easter Egg?!!!

Our discussion on Friedrich Kirschner’s immersive machinima, person2184, in THIS episode

Nightmare Puppeteer allows 360 filmmaking – check out the engine on Steam HERE

Key questions: what new language might be needed for machinima story vs experience creators to get the most out of VR/360 formats?

Credits –

Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood (MIA Phil Rice, courtesy of Hurricane Ian)
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00

Tech Update 2 (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Blog November 7, 2022 Leave a reply

This week, we take a look at some potentially useful tech platforms, starting with an inspired new service from Nvidia, then a new service and mod hub for The Sims 4, followed by some interesting distribution options linked to blockchain tech and another for festivals and events.

Cloud Services for Artists

With the ongoing challenges of access to kit for using many of the new render tools we’ve reviewed on the show over the months we’ve been running, its interesting to see that Nvidia are now launching Omniverse Cloud services. Ostensibly, the service is aimed at powering future ‘metaverse’ applications and those working on digital twin-type projects, but clearly its a very good way for content creators to finally be able to access contemporary tools without the hassles of continually updating their hardware to do it – or indeed ever worrying about acquiring the latest desirable RTX card! You can find out more about the services here – and we’d love to hear from anyone using the services about their experiences with the services.

Nvidia Omniverse Cloud Nucleus

Anyone for Sims?

The Sims 4 is now FREE to use (announced 18 Oct 2022), although we note that specific content packs will still be paid only accessible. No doubt Phil will be peeved since we all advised him to go for Unreal as a creative option when he switched his attention from RDR2 last year! Their glitzy Summit vid is clearly pitching itself against the Fortnite user, but with an entirely different heritage and more adult trajectory. They are even partnering with a new content creator curation platform, a mod hub hosted by Overwolf (coming soon).

Distribution Options

With rapid progression towards Web3, and the growing demand for 3D content that will fill the platforms and sites people create, Josephyine If has usefully created a spreadsheet that you can access here. The XLS file lists platforms and their creators including website addresses for film and video content can be shared (at the time of writing, some 18 different platforms such as Hyphenova, MContent – see video below – and Eluv.io). The main point of the platforms, at least at this stage, is to manage IP of content, so the emphasis is on how to share blockchain-marked film. Its probably one of the most interesting aspects and benefits that Web3 has for content creators, the ability to sell, track and manage content over time. This is something that’s been a major flaw of the YouTube platform process over the years since it evolved into an ad revenue driven distribution model. If you find any of the platforms particularly useful (or not), or others not mentioned on the list, do drop us a line and let us know.

We also found a potentially interesting distribution platform for festivals and events primarily, called VisualContainerTV. The platform launched in 2009 makes content available for free and therefore competes directly with the likes of YouTube (which frankly it can’t easily do) but more importantly, it can make content accessible behind a paywall. This means artists, creators and curators can receive payment for ticketed content shown over the platform via the internet and also have that branded and associated with particular curated events. At this stage of its development, it appears to be primarily targeting college students and courses based in Europe (the platform has been developed in Italy) but it is certainly something that looks interesting for small scale user groups. There are some very interesting arts projects on the site, so if nothing else, add it to your streaming platforms folder to check out periodically for interesting new works coming out.

VisualContainerTV

S3 E51 Film Review: Paths of Misery by Federica Orlandini (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 2, 2022 Leave a reply

Definitely not for kids, this week’s film is an horrific overview of the ‘true’ Wild West, courtesy of RDR2. The tale is told through the galloping lens of Dutch van der Linde’s character and Morricone’s classic composition, ‘The Ecstacy of Gold’… its The Good, The Bad and The Ugly but not as we know it!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Film released on 4 October 2022

Digitally remastered version of Ennio Moriccone’s ‘The Ecstacy of Gold’

Check out Federica’s other films on her Vimeo channel here.

Credits
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice
Produer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: House Loop by Sakebeats / CC 0 / Freesound.org66