iClone

Completely Machinima Interview: Ben Tuttle, film maker

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes January 15, 2024 Leave a reply

Phil catches up with a long-time machinima creator Ben Tuttle, aka 4413 Media.  Ben admits he cut his teeth on The Movies in the late 2000s, and then discusses Shockbreak, one of his latest productions.  They get into the detail of how the film was created and generally Ben’s creative workflow using iClone, Character Creator, Unreal Engine and a heap of other tools integrated into the production process.  They also discuss the merits of using AI and the difficulties of social media misinterpretations. Ben shares with us some teasers for some of his upcoming films.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Ben Tuttle’s latest film, Shockbreak, released 19 October 2023 –

Using iClone on a new project, Redstrike –

Follow Ben’s YouTube channel for great tutorials on using different tools in the creative production process here

S4 E104 Starfield: Let’s Talk Machinima & The Mantis Teaser (Nov 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 22, 2023 Leave a reply

Damien’s picks this week take a look at two of the first Stafield machinimas by @TheKShow and @Mod81Gameworld respectively. The first is a ‘tell and show’ with a neat cinematic demo invoking Starship Troopers, and the second is a slightly more original lore-based teaser for an upcoming series called The Mantis. We begin this episode with an update on Star Citizen’s new spin off game, Squadron 42, which is now ‘feature complete’ and their launch of a new contest which can be entered on TikTok, leading Tracy to speculate on their strategic response to the release of Starfield! Ricky highlight’s a recent important update to Second Life’s render system which has important implications for machinima creators.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Our film picks this week –

Starfield: The feature nobody talks about, by The K Show, released 15 Sept 2023

and the second film,

The Mantis Teaser, by Mod81 Gameworld, released 25 Sept 2023

Inside Star Citizen: Inside CitizenCon, overview released 9 Nov 2023 –

and Squadron 42 now ‘feature complete’, with a video update here –

and here’s a link to the machinima contest for TikTok entrants

Examples of Second Life’s PBR (physical based render) system –

S4 E103 Longest Walkable Distances (in a game) | UE: The Alchemist’s Confession (Nov 2023

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 16, 2023 Leave a reply

This week we present a critique of two very contrasting machinima productions – one took literally months to make and the other just a few days. In our first pick, the creator has asked: just how big are the maps in games these days? Well, vast actually – and quite frankly it blows our minds to think that so much effort has gone into answering the question. The film is called Longest Walkable Distances in a Video Game, by How Big is the Map. Our second film is a review of a creative experiment in Unreal Engine, called The Alchemist’s Confession by Cory Williams – it was inspired by a found marketplace asset and is experimental in a number of ways, not least in the five days it took to make it. Ricky highlights the weakness in the writing albeit the film is technically masterfully produced and acted, using mocap and LinkedIn (yep, you heard that correctly!). We also start this episode with some links we hope you enjoy and a discussion about the voice characterisation of G Man in the Half Life series.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Longest Walkable Distances in a Video Game / Maps Size Comparison by How Big is the Map, released 2 Sept 2023

An Alchemist’s Confession by Cory Williams, released 27 September

and he’s also created a how to, Behind the Scenes

Fractal Pi video mentioned by Tracy, by Chirag Dudat –

All G Man’s speeches, by No Click –

S4 E102 mAIchinima: Nina & Prelude to Dust (Nov 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 9, 2023 Leave a reply

Not strictly machinima, but something we’ve named mAIchinima! This week, we discuss two films using generative AI to create narrative works. In both cases, the techniques employed emphasize the sound – music or voice acting – but whilst one is intentional, the other is not. We share our thoughts on these works and discuss some of the current limitations and benefits observed, which leads us into a timely discussion about style in filmmaking. We also discuss some recent developments in AI for creatives, such as the role of Glaze masking and Nightshade corrupting tools.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Our films this week –

Nina | Denvery Pluto | Episode 2 by Dean Corrigan, released 13 Sept 2023

Prelude to Dust by Dark Machine Audio, released 5 Sept 2023

The generative AI tools we mention in our preliminary discussion are Glaze and Nightshade, information about both can be found here. You can also find out more about Glaze and how it works here –

Ricky’s games mentioned: The Lies of P by From Software and Lords of the Fallen, available on Steam.

Recommended USB microphone reviewed by Ricky is by J Lab, called Talk, link here.

Artist mentioned is Lynd Ward and film style we discuss is Waltz With Bashir, trailer here –

and another artist is H R Giger, whose work on Alien encompasses a distinct style.

S3 E94 Half Life 2: Shelf Life (September 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes September 13, 2023 Leave a reply

This week we discuss one of the best HL2 films from the 2009 era – Shelf Life by Pixel Eyes Productions. The film, which is in two episodes, won a heap of creator awards back in the day and has definitely stood the test of time for us. There are some fun sci-fi and weird tropes integrated into the story, which we discuss, as well as the very well done sound design and original music. We’d love to see these guys pick this project back up, although of course, none of the issues they faced back then will be a problem now – just a whole set of new ones to overcome!



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes and Links

Films

Chapter 1 Shelf Life: You Are What You Remember, by Pixel Eyes Productions, released 6 July 2009

and Chapter 2 Shelf Life: After the Scan

Music video by Pixel Eyes to E V Kain’s Yes No Maybe, made in iClone –