For our Christmas 2022 episode, we review The Talky Orcs attempting to learn a new language courtesy of AFK, using Unreal Engine 5 and Reallusion’s Character Creator. The film is one of the best examples we’ve seen so far of lip sync and, as we’ve come to expect from these guys, also a good laugh. Enjoy and Happy Christmas!
YouTube Version of this Episode
Links
Film –
AFK channel on YouTube
Reallusion’s Character Creator Starter Pack
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.
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
This week, we share updates that will add to your repertoire of tools, tuts and libraries along with a bit of fighting inspriation for creating machinima and virtual production.
Just the Job!
Unreal Engine has released a FREE animation course. Their ‘starter’ course includes contributions from Disney and Reel FX and is an excellent introduction to some of the basics in UE. Thoroughly recommended, even as a refresher for those of you that already have some of the basics.
Alongside the release of UE5.1, a new KitBash3D Cyber District kit has also been released, created by David Baylis. It looks pretty impressive – read about it on their blog here.
Cineshare has released a tutorial on how to create a scene that comprises a pedestrian environment, using Reallusion’s ActorCore, iClone and Nvidia Omniverse. The tutorial has also been featured on Reallusion Magazine’s site here.
Nvidia Omniverse has released Create 2022.3.0 in beta. Check out the updates on its developer forum here and watch the highlights on this video –
Libraries
We came across this amazing 3D scan library, unimaginatively called ScansLibrary, but includes a wide range of 3D and texture assets. It’s not free but relatively low cost. For example, many assets a single credit, with a 60 package of credits being $29 per month. Make sure you check out the terms!
We also found a fantastic sound library, Freesound.org. The library includes 10s of thousands of audio clips, samples, recording and bleeps, all released under CC licenses, free to use for non-commercial purposes. Sounds can be browsed by key words, a ‘sounds like’ question and other methods. The database has running since 2005 and is supported by its community of users and maintained by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Not really a library as such, but Altered AI is a tool that lets you change voices on your recordings, including those you directly make into the platform. Its a cloud-based service and its not free but it has a reasonably accessible pricing strategy. This is perfect if you’re an indie creator and want a bunch of voices but can’t find the actor you want! (Ricky, please close your ears to this.) The video link is a nice review by Jae Solina, JSFilmz – check it out –
Fighting Inspiration
Sifu is updating it’s fighting action game to allow for recording and playback. You can essentially create your own martial arts movies. If you’re interested in creating fight scenes then this might be something to check out.
In this ep, Phil leads the discussion about one of the most *disturbing films we’ve ever seen, called 917 by Krad Productions, released 30 Oct (spoiler alert: Phil designed the soundscape for it). It is disturbing that there’s a true back story to the film, which is explained – and having watched the film, we couldn’t really think of another adjective that summed it up better. Yep, its disturbing… and we are definitely none the wiser about the truth of 917, that maddening frequency that sends you off into a twirling spiral of err…… All theories welcome!
*Disturbing=anxiety inducing, worrying, upsetting; mental illness such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, addictive behaviors.
Youtube Version of this Episode
Film Link
Film has been made in Reallusion’s iClone 7.
Top Shorts Film Festival hosts a monthly contest for films such as machinima and virtual production, website here.
If you are trying to help someone with mental health issues such as schizophrenia, we recommend this website for advice, Mind.org (UK based) or any other local organization that specialises in appropriate support.
Credits
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Edited in CreateStudio Pro. Music is from their licensed collection.
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