machinima podcast

Quake 1: Ray Traced Mod by sultim_t (Dec 2022)

Ricky Grove Blog December 19, 2022 Leave a reply

Even the everyday gamer knows how much graphics technology has advanced over the last few years. The days of the old, pixelated textures on walls and rocks are long gone. So much so that gamers with more advanced skills have gone back to classic games like Doom and have re-coded them to include advanced graphic technology like high-definition textures and ray-traced rendering.

I’m not going to go into detail about ray tracing in this short article. You can find a complete explanation here. Essentially it has to do with how light is reproduced in a 3D game engine. Ray-traced rendering makes everything in a 3D scene look more realistic and believable. This is why adding ray tracing to games like Doom and now Quake is so exciting. The original blocky look to the game is gone. In its place is a more believable environment that adds so much to the atmosphere of horror in the game. This is perfect for those who want to go back and play the original game: it’s a better experience. It is also great for those first-time gamers who didn’t grow up with Doom or Quake.

Although certainly not at the same level of realism as modern games like Elden Ring, the new Quake mod is pretty damn good if you ask me. The sultim_t team deserves a standing ovation for their hard work.

You can download the Quake Ray Traced Mod by clicking the link. We also have a short trailer that sultim_t put on out the mod. The comments for the video are worth a read as well. Of course, you need to buy Quake from Steam in order to get started. The mod is free.


S3 E56 Film Review: Artists of SL by Teal Aurelia (Dec 2022)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes December 15, 2022 Leave a reply

This episode is Ricky’s December film pick, Artists of Second Life by Teal Aurelia, released 3 October 2022. We discuss the emerging trend of photography in virtual worlds and reflect on the significance of the compositing used by the creator of this film, which has a surprising backdrop to the runway style presentation of ‘inspiring’ characters. Plus, we reflect on the state of TV advertising today!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Links & Show Notes

Film –

and this is Teal’s editing and compositing process video we discuss in our review –

Create Studio Pro – a low cost tool for editing short form content such as adverts

S3 E54 Film Review: ALONE by Playard Studios (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes November 25, 2022 2 Comments

This week covers a reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem Alone, read by Shane Morris (audio used is from the BEKNOWN channel) with visuals by Playard Studios. The film uses Unreal Engine’s metahuman and  NVIDIA Omniverse ‘s Audio-to-Face and there are some impressive introspective looks achieved with the process… among a few other things we comment on, not least being Ricky’s experience of reading poetry.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

ALONE film, released on 26 October 2022

Beknown channel reading by Shane Morris on YouTube.

Nvidia Omniverse’s Audio to Face

Unreal Engine’s Metahuman

How to read a poem, tips and hints by the Academy of American Poets

Fests & Contests Update (Nov 2022)

Tracy Harwood Blog November 21, 2022 Leave a reply

There are a growing number of ‘challenges’ that we’ve been finding over the last few months – many are opportunities to learn new tools or use assets created by studios such as MacInnes Studio. They are also incentivised with some great prizes, generally involving something offered by the contest organizer, such as that by Kitbash3D we link to in this post. This week, we were however light on actual live contests to call out, but have found someone who is always in the know, Winbush!

Mission to Minerva (deadline 2 Dec 2022)

Kitbash3D’s challenge is for you to contribute to the development of a new galaxy! On their website, they state: ‘Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to build a settlement on a planet within the galaxy. What will yours look like?’ Their ultimate aim is to outsource all the creatie work to their community, combining artworks contests participants submit. There are online tutorials to assist, where they show you how to use Kitbash3D in Blender and Unreal Engine 5, and your work can be either concept are or animation. Entry into the contest couldn’t be simpler: you just need to share on social media (Twitter, FB, IG, Artstation) and use the hashtag #KB3Dchallenge. Winners will be announced on 20 December and there are some great prizes, sponsored by the likes off Unreal, Nvidia, CG Spectrum, WACOM, The Gnoman Workshop, The Rookies and ArtStation (platforms). Entry details and more info here.

Pug Forest Challenge

This contest has already wrapped – but there are now a few of this type of thing emerging – challenges which give you an asset to play with for a period of time, a submission guideline process, and some fabulous prizes – all geared towards incentivising you to learn a new toolset, this one being UE5! So if you need the incentivisation to motivate you – its definitely worth looking out for these. Jonathan Winbush is also one of those folks whose tutorials are legendary in the UE5 community, so even if you don’t want to enter, this is someone to follow.

McInnes Studios’ Mood Scene Challenge

John McInnes recently announced the winners of his Mood Scene challenge contest that we reported on back in August – we must say, the winners have certainly delivered some amazing moods. Check the show reel out here –

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