Fri 3 Jul 2009 | 
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Enlarge textGetting smooth movement is surprisingly tricky with a machinimatographers most hated element - lag. If you've read my previous blogs you will know I'm not a big fan of
camera movement in SL. I think editing to create movement is far more
effective. See Lainy Vooms work on my blog Tricks of the Machinima Trade.
But movement is sometimes necessary to create dramatic tension or to shift the focus from one thing to another. Here are some tips on getting some interesting and smooth movement.
topWhen filming using fraps, you can only capture the size of window you
have open. The resolution size will depend on your delivery
specifications and/or the medium it will be used for. If your content
is for the web only, you can capture a much smaller window (and
therefore have a much smaller file).
If you are capturing High Definition on the other hand there are two options. Firstly you can capture at 1920x1080 (the widescreen HD ratio) however the representative from Fraps told me you would never get very high frame rates in Second Life at that size.
Meet my third story that will appear in the upcoming one hour documentary about Second Life. I've just returned from the US shooting an amazing family. The story
traverses into the virtual family and how families in Second Life live
and play out.
Dee (pictured holding her grandson) is grandma to 9 kids in real life and 5 kids in Second Life as well as finding time to be a model in SL. Her daughter Angela (far left) is mother to Fae, a child avatar, who we also filmed in real life in California. Fae's cousin is the well known child avatar Marianne McCann, who also appears.
The code for basic lip sync has been included in the latest Release Candidate viewer, however it is disabled by default. To enable it, you first have to enable the “Advanced” menu by pressing Ctrl-Alt-D (all three keys together, but not to be confused with Ctrl-Alt-Delete).
Then in the Advanced menu select Character, then Enable Lip Sync (Beta). Whenever someone uses voice chat and you see the green waves above the avatar’s head, you should also see the avatars lips move. When an avatar has an attachment covering its head, though, the attachment is not animated. Sorry, furries.
The charismatic game show host Wolfie Rankin is the second subject of my film. Wolfie has created a weekly music trivia show that is quickly gaining in popularity in Second Life. Its a whiz bang fast flying music quiz show. "When I started RockIt only 2 or 3 people turned up. Now hundreds of people have seen the show."
Wolfie
On the internet he had found his kind and felt accepted for the first time. Second Life has enabled him to unleash the beast, so to speak. In Second Life he can look and behave like the wolf he always felt he was.
Making machinima is such a great tool to practice real life techniques, especially when it comes to refining composition. Since the camera is so easy to move, you can easily find a frame that works best.
face
I recently went to a Machinima conference held in Melbourne. I have been patiently waiting for the audio recordings from ACMI for the last two weeks so I can upload onto the blog.
One of the points raised was that Machinima is so much like real life filmmaking that you should do a film course or at least read some books on filmmaking. The techniques of writing, composition, camera movement and editing are the same for both.
fraps vs camtasia vs hypercam
Mixin looks at different ways to capture Second Life. Fraps is the most widely used, but some prefer camtasia or hypercam. What's it to be - fraps, camtasia or hypercam?
I spoke with Rod Maher from Beepa, creator of fraps who just happens to be down the road from the production office. He said "fraps uses uncompressed video - its raw footage" when I questioned the fraps codec he said "the compression is lossless"
Mixin Pixel will be giving updates of the real life filming of the documentary about Second Life that will be screened on SBS.
andy
This week, we finally started shooting CyberStars. This is a one hour mixed reality documentary that will profile three different people in their real life and their Second Life as they strive to achieve their virtual dreams.
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About this Blog
Machinima is basically filmmaking using a real-time 3D platform. Mixin Pixel is an avatar, who will blog on the minutiae of detail involved in creating a film in a virtual landscape, like Second Life.
Mixin Pixel Mixin Pixel is Shelley Matulick's pink-headed representative in the big wide world of Second Life. Mixin loves making machinima. And why not it's dead cheap and brain dead easy. This blog will hold your hand so you can make the best looking machimina you possibly can.
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