This week, we cover three outstanding music videos, demonstrating different genres of music and different game engines – a re-imagined Simon and Garfunkel classic, a pop-tacular and a rap. We discuss the perfect match between the lyrics, the game and the images our three selected creators have demonstrated in these shorts. We suggest comparing and contrasting, but really we just mean enjoy them all for what they are.
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes and Links
Portal – the Sound of Science by Harry101UK, released 29 May 2020
Who I Am | Portal Minecraft Animated Music Video [Song by CG5] by Cubical, released 6 May 2020 –
HELLDIVERS 2 RAP by JT Music – To Liberty and Beyond, released 9 March 2024
and here is the link to Harry1010UK’s Meet the Cores 1 mentioned –
This week, we discuss one of the most outstanding presentations of space science, by @EpicSpaceman , called I put 4M Suns in a Blackhole. Made in Blender, we discuss the creative workflow adopted, from zero to hero – and why the @BlenderOfficial Foundation should take note. We make a few suggestions for enhancing the work even more and discuss the primary audiences for this type of conrtent. Quite simply, the narrative style and animation makes hard science relatable!
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
Film, I Put 4 Million Suns in a Black Hole over New York by Epic Spaceman, released 31 Jan 2024
Who is Epic Spaceman, video explainer and how he made the film here.
Another ending, Draxtor Dupres’ Second Life series supported by Linden Labs, Drax Files: World Makers. Here’s his final report and here’s a link to a livestream he did to celebrate the achievements of the show –
Accolades
Sam Crane’s Hamlet in GTA5 won a Jury prize for best documentary at SXSW 2024, link to news coverage here, and the distribution deal awarded here.
Electro League and Weta’s War is Over has become the first UE5 film to win an Oscar, Best Animated Short –
Congratulations to @ElectroLeagueX and @WetaFXofficial on winning the Oscar for Best Animated Short with "WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko". This is a first for an animated short created in Unreal Engine 5, we couldn't be more proud! https://t.co/bH3yrA23Jf
ConvAI has announced a partnership with Unity for NPCs, and also teamed up with Second Life. Here’s a link to Wagner James Au’s New World Notes blog – and here’s a couple of useful links –
Stability AI has introduced a 3D video generator, information here
RunwayML has partnered with Musixmatch to generate video to lyrics, link to information here
and it has also announced a new lipsync feature for generative audio, currently on early access to its creators programme members
Hume has a demo of a voice-to-voice generator, described as an Empathic Voice Interface – link to sign-up for early access here
and if you need a little overview of how all things generative AI are developing, here’s a nice video summary by Henrik Kniberg –
Inspiration
To celebrate the phenomenal success of Gozilla Minus One at the 2024 Oscars, Nelson Escobar, the VFX creator of the Godzilla model, has released it as a free download for Blender. Link here –
This week, we spend some time talking about new tools, emergent topics, AI and copyright (again), with some interesting links for you below. Check out the episode here –
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
New tool releases
iClone’s ‘clumsy moves’ pack, available at $70, can be downloaded here
Crowd simulation tools, including Reallusion’s sim bundle for CC4 and social groups for iClone 8, link here and a nice video here –
and Kenneth MacLean’s MegaHumans plugin WIP. No link for the latter, but here’s a neat show and tell video –
A free new VR mod by Praydog for Unreal Engine – here’s an overview about it –
Mickey and AI discussion
Disney’s Mickey in a horror game called Infestation Origins that will be released later this year –
and an interesting AI generated short that seems to confirm Mickey’s transmogrification into a horror character –
Princeton’s Public Domain Project released an annual report – check it out here for 2024.
Improving the quality of your machinima films with AI, check out Pryda Parx suggestions here –
and you can also check out the restored machinimas Phil did for the Machiniplex channel here, and here’s the trailer for the body of work too –
Google’s VideoPoet that turns prompts into animations without the interim stage of an image and a separate tool like Runway to animate it. Here’s a neat example of its capabilities, focussing on a travelling raccoon –
Mods and Cockers!
The Convergence mod for Elden Ring (and many others), v 1.4 – a nice overview here –
A case of corporate bullying? Check out the situation this Minecrafter is facing and if you’re a legal expert, do please get in touch with him to help out!
Made with Sims 4 characters although animated in Blender to great effect, this is a short short at under one minute long by @tricoufamily. It is also all about the title, and interesting to reflect on how we have all seen similar things in the film but interpreted them differently. We conclude this is masterfully done, but check out how we get to that!
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
After the Robbery Goes Wrong | A Sims 4 Machinima Mini, by Zombietrait, released 12 Oct 2022
Joker scene on subway (on Flashback FM’s channel) here
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