This week we discuss a machinima form we’ve not really talked about before – anime. Whilst its one of Ricky’s favourite creative forms, for the rest of us its a little out of our comfort zone! We take a look at two films, both made in Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV), Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End by @WheatTee (released 2 Feb 2025) and Arcadion by @magitek_productions (released 1 Jan 2025). Check out our discussion and reviews, and do add your comments.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End by Wheat Tea, released 2 Feb 2025
Arcadion | FFXIV Machinima by Magitek Productions, released 1 Jan 2025
Kitarō Kōsaka, a contributor to Studio Ghibli, has produced promotionals for FFXIV and is well known for works that push the boundaries of the anime by integrating digital technologies –
Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, episode one here –
Elden Ring mod v2.2 link how to here, includes download link –
This week is yet another packed episode of updates and things we think you’ll find relevant to creating great machinima content, including more great projects to be inspired by, genAIs we’ve spotted, Steam’s rip off, inZOI’s challenge to Sims and the phenomenon known as the ‘Minecraft Movie’. Check out our discussion and do add comments.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Projects
A GTA5 Zombie Movie, called Survive by Gabrian Films –
Cuco – A Love Letter to LA by Paul Trillo, created in 2D and AI –
Neural Viz released episode 485: Pog Corto of Tigg Talk – all about tariffs –
Anomidae on making a game, an explainer –
Another WoW documentary, thanks to Ben Grussi for sending this over to us –
A GTA6 mAIchinima, made with Cursor and Claude Sonnet 3.7, released on X, link here.
genAI updates
A conversational AI voice synthesiser by Sesame.com worth looking at.
ElevenLabs launched its Actor Mode, here’s the show & tell video –
Runway released Gen 4 which enables you to precisely generate consistent characters, locations and objects across scenes –
chatGPTs 4.o image generator launched and immediately took backlash from a Studio Ghibli meme – here’s the post that seemed to start it all off. Link here.
A method for aligning 3D generators with simulation feedback for physical soundness – generates 3D assets that are stable under gravity and faithful to the conditioning images, meaning they don’t fall over so easily, and can also be used for 3D print models. Link here.
A recamming tool called Recammaster, which takes a video file as input and then generates a breadth of different perspectives on it. Link to Github here.
An AI assisted VTubing tool, called AIWarper/WarpTuber, which allows you to animate portraits or character images by mapping your facial expressions and movements to them in real-time. It supports both static images and video animations, making it perfect for virtual avatars, content creation, and streaming. Link here. YouTube tutorial here –
And in Other News
How Steam works – a review of the algorithmic problems that Steam perpetuates –
Apple Arts Studios, nothing to do with Apple Inc. has launched Animation Shopee – an intriguing competitor to Reallusion’s character animations. Link here.
This week is another pick from the Archives, a short by Thuyen Nguyen aka @evaneon and @collectivenounfilmworksdev4297 . The film was released in 2007 – it is a love letter to games and gamers at a time when seemingly the whole world was filled with haters. Catch up with our comments and reflections and do add your own.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
The Most Powerful Person in the World by Thuyen Nguyen, released in 2007, available on the Internet Archive here.
Thuyen Nguyen’s YouTube channel here and Collective Noun Filmworks here and on Vimeo here.
A viewer nominated series, this week’s ep is another great example of brilliant writing. Optimism Bias was directed by @AndrewGoodKnight and originally released in 2013 having been showcased at the Melbourne International Animation Festival @melbourneinternationalanim3991 – its Australian comedy, deeply rooted in game lore, at its very best.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Optimism Bias by Andrew Knight of Recycled Media was released originally as a 20 minutes film for the Melbourne International Animation Festival in 2014, but later re-released as a series in 2015 on their youtube channel – episode 1 is here but do take the time to watch the whole series –
Interview with Andrew Knight
You can also check out the interview Tracy did with Andrew, released at the same time as our review. Audio version only of Tracy’s interview with Andrew –
YouTube version –
Courtesy (and copyright) of Andrew, here are a selection of shots from the making of Optimism Bias and the early days of machinima in Melbourne.
LAN party at Andrew’s place –
Creating the frame for the film –
Production challenges! Cooling off the kit –
Voice recording (dodgy looking tash there…) –
On the programme, Melbourne International Animation Festival 2014 –
The early days at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) circa 2004-5 with RoosterTeeth crew members Burnie Burns and Gus Sarola and Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences CEO Paul Marino, and friends –
It’s lovely to hear a fellow machinima fan discuss their passion for the creative works that have inspired them. This week’s ep is a documentary by one such person, @Angelikatosh, who reminisces about the ‘golden age’ of classic World of Warcraft films. We highlight a few films from our own and possibly slightly older archives that she’s not managed to cover too.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Golden Age of WOW Machinima by Angelikatosh released on 14 Feb 2025
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