My latest release, ASTEROID TRUCKERS has been posted for the Aug machinima contest. I'm looking for more feedback that I can use for later projects.

Give it a look and tell me what you think.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/ASTEROID_TRU...

Sorry for the lack of any kind of update. I'm having serious issues with Part B and may have to scrap it and start from scratch.

The good news is I have a new position at my job that will allow more regular freetime to work on things like this.

^JR^

Just a small update...or lack of one.

Nothing new to report except the script is moving along slowly, due to personal time constraints. If the autopilot on my kids functioned correctly, I could have this thing out pretty quick :)

^JR^

I'm sorrt. I guess I should have been clearer about that. No, I don't shoot in-game. I dont have an active account. I animate from the modelviewer and use the mapviewer to get the backgrounds.

^JR^

Thanks for the interest!

My system is pretty simple and I don't expect to change it much, except for a couple of key things.

The most important of those will be sticking to my gameplan unless I HAVE to change it. There were several instances when making Part A, where I went back and remake some sequences because I kept having new ideas. This time when I have the script on paper, I want it to be the final version.

First, I write the script. When I do, I try to make sure I have some idea of how I will make a sequence. Its very frustrating to get to a point and find you cant do what you planned.

Then I record the voice track in rough cut. Its rough, because I take care of it all in my animation/edit step.

As for that animation/edit step...In my two hour work sessions, I can usually complete 10 or so secs of footage if its simple dialogue, that includes cutting the audio, animation, and compositing backgrounds. 10 secs..done! unless I think of a better way to do that segment, but lets not open up that can of worms again...geesh. Sequences requiring two or more characters on the screen at once, or have effects that need to be applied may take a couple of sessions to complete.

Keep in mind, that I'm constantly reviewing whats been completed to make sure my cuts are where I want them and such. I still missed some errors in Part A :(

Somewhere around this time, I'm thinking about the trailer. I have to admit, the trailer is one of my favorite parts to make :)

After that, I work in the music (which I have some idea about what I'll use as I'm animating). At this step, I cut up the music to get the pace and effect I want and I may have to recut the video a bit to help make it all come together.

Then its on to the opening and end credits.

I'll probably watch it about fifty times when its done to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. I still missed some stupid boo-boos in Part A :(

Then its on to the release. That's where you, the audience come in :)

I think that's about it. If there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

^JR^

As promised, I've started a production thread to keep the masses up to date on the status of Part B.

Before I get started, I want to thank everyone for watching Part A...and liking it!!! Your positive comments have made my first release go above and beyond anything I could have imagined. Thanks you all!!!

Now my first update is a short one. I'm well into writing the script, and I'm pretty happy with it. I only have small chunks of time available and most of it is presently devoted to finishing my latest entry into the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. After that I finish tweaking another story and send it off in the mail. Hopefully after all of that is done, I can throw everything i got into getting Part B done as soon as I can.

The only thing I can promise, as far as a time table, is a trailer being released about a month before the film comes out.

Stay tuned.
^JR^

Ok, let me take those one at a time...

1. R&B part B will be a while down the road. I have to organize all of my bluescreen footage from part A (mostly character animations). Doing that allows me to make future R&B films a bit faster (when I'm able to get to work on it, that is) because I'll only have to animate very specific shots. The story is fleshed out to the end in notes, I still need to script it. I wish I could give you a timetable, but my daily life only allows for small 2 hour chunks of time to work on it. My goal, however, is to have it out before Illegal Danish 3 :) When I do get going on it, look for a production thread here in the forums,

2. I pretty much follow Oxhorn's method, using the wow model and map viewer. I record with Fraps, apply effects with AE 5.5 and put it all together with Adobe Premier 1.5 pro. This is the only way I found to do machinima completely by myself.

3. live action vs. Machinima to start with? That is up to you. I would LOVE to do live action, but that would require getting other people together that have daily lives of their own. The scheduling just wouldn't be managable for what I'd like to do. That's why I went the machinima route. I can do it by myself as free time permits. But if you can get people together and have what you need for Live action, go for it. The principles of filmaking apply to both. You still have to learn to tell your story on film not matter which way you do it.

Oh and there is one other tip I forgot to mention in my original post...Get lots and lots and lots of hardrive space. Trust me. :)

^JR^

Besides Oxhorn's guide, the best piece of advice I have for the beginning machinimator, whether it be WoW, Halo, TF2, or whatever you like, is the following....

DON'T START WITH YOUR DREAM PROJECT FIRST.

If you're never made anything before, you'll find that you'll keep going back and remaking scenes you've already done over and over as you learn more and more, wasting a whole lot of time on something you love. In the end, you will have seen messed with the same material for so long and so often, you'll be sick of it. Hell, you'll see it over and over enough times when your production is going right.

I'm speaking from experience here. When REKGAR & BUSBY was rounding third base and heading for home, I kept thinking I had tried too much, too fast. There were technical things that I wasn't happy with (compositing :( ) that could have been fixed if I had spent a bit more time practicing the techniques. But I had been working on it for so long, I got to the point where I just wanted it to be done before I filed it away with the hundreds of other personal projects that I've never finished. Fortunately for me, I produced something that people have liked despite its flaws and that has given me the confidence to move forward...after some more practice with the fundamentals, of course :)

So to summarize for the beginner...

I suggest working in small steps with quick little projects so you can learn the various individual aspects of machinima. Music videos, for example, are a good place to start, IMO. They help with learning to edit and familiarize yourself with the tools in your editing program ( this is ALWAYS a plus).

From there, write and shoot some short scenes to help more with the editing and working with dialogue and putting them all together. These short scenes also help you learn to tell a story on screen.

Get some practice before you dive head first into the machinima for the ages. I think you'll be happier in the long run.

I hope this helps...somebody.
^JR^