This month, each of us put together a ‘Let’s Play’ video covering a different aspect of Machinima. For mine, I chose to do a behind the scenes video for Heir to the Empire. Watch as I put together a scene from Chapter 14 using iClone. From animating the characters, fixing some clipping issues to lip sync and facial expressions.
Tthe first effort by director and co-producer Jan Nickman which served as a demonstration of computer animation when the art-form was still in its relative infancy. It is composed of a sequence of segments ambitiously chronicling the formation of Earth (“Creation”), the rise of human civilizations (“Civilization Rising”), and the technological advances of humanity from the advent of agriculture to the future exploration of the cosmos. The video speculatively concludes with a segment of what might be the next sentient species to arise on Earth, as well as the CGI short Stanley and Stella in: Breaking the Ice. The soundtrack was composed by James Reynolds. The sales of this video were RIAA certified as “Multi-Platinum” and reached as high as #12 on Billboard’s video sales chart.
The Mind’s Eye is a spectacular odyssey through time. Your journey begins at the dawn of creation and moves through the rise of man and technology. Travel in the world of abstraction and on into the future with breathtaking computer animation imagery. The Mind’s Eye joins the imaginations of over 300 of the world’s most talented computer animation artists with a powerful, original music soundtrack. This unique collaboration takes you on an incredible voyage into The Mind’s Eye. (1990, Archive.org)
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If you were intrigued by the conversation in Season 1 Episode 2 of our podcast, where we discussed the relatively uncharted territory of VR and 360 degree filmmaking, this may interest you.
Over at CreatorUp – a site focused on education on the art of storytelling – they have a course titled “360° VR Filmmaking Masterclass” taught by some remarkably experienced pros. They’re offering a free preview which lets you sample part of the first module of the training, and they’re running an early access special on the course at half its normal price. Right now the full course is available for $150, but at the end of April (2021) the price is set to go up to $299.
We tend to focus our attention here on free or low cost training opportunities, but I thought I’d mention this “premium” training simply because it’s highly specialized and is so related to a topic we recently discussed on the show. Plus, if you’re really serious about this kind of filmmaking, you’ve probably already made a substantial investment in equipment, or you plan to. So this kind of educational investment might make sense if that’s the case.
Check out their course page, which shows the full curriculum and schedule, tells you all about the instructors, and even has a trailer.
It’s worth mentioning, too, that CreatorUp has a substantial catalog of other filmmaking-related courses – many of which are priced under $20.
*Disclosure: This podcast and blog is listener/reader supported. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn us a small commission to help cover the costs of producing the show. Read full disclaimer here.
In the Season 1 Episode 2 podcast, we discussed whether making machinima on smartphone or mobile devices was something practical or possible in 2021. While the overall conclusion was a bit of a “no,” Tracy Harwood was astute to point out that while the mobile platforms might not yet be ready to handle complete production of machinima, perhaps mobile could be useful for certain aspects of production. Sound recording for example. To some degree, music production. Working on scripts. That kind of thing.
And then there is creation of actual game video footage. For me, this seemed less attractive for one reason primarily – controls. Having experimented with Minecraft PE on an iPhone, I just found the on-screen controls difficult to master – and besides, who wants footage with on-screen controls visible anyway. So what would be the solution for this? Some sort of Xbox-like external controller, I suppose. But that introduces a whole other sort of fumbly-ness, fiddling with two separate pieces of equipment.
A device called Backbone provides a brilliant solution to this control issue, fitting an iPhone with a rig that turns it into something comparable to a Nintendo Switch. The Backbone works with ANY game which supports controllers – 1,300+ games by my last count.
Perhaps MORE interesting to machinima folks… with the Backbone, at a touch of a button, you can record footage at up to 1080p at 30fps with a 20mbps bitrate (the newer your iPhone, the better your result here, I would reckon). iOS 13 or higher is required, check their tech specs page for a list of iPhone models which are supported.
The app also helps connect with other players for multiplayer. And the Backbone has a jack to connect a headset – with or without a microphone.
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