MovieStorm? Options

[Romily]

Has anyone tried Short Fuze's MovieStorm machinima program (currently in beta)? I've downloaded and tinkered a bit but won't have time to really take it for a spin until Sept/Oct.

Wondered if anyone else was tinkering with it so we could goob in public. :P

[Justin]

Has anyone tried Short Fuze's MovieStorm machinima program (currently in beta)? I've downloaded and tinkered a bit but won't have time to really take it for a spin until Sept/Oct.

Wondered if anyone else was tinkering with it so we could goob in public. :P

I've tried it, but it had a few issues with Vista so I didn't use it for too long. It's just like Alternative for Reallusion's iClone 2. A lot of customizable stuff, from eye color to special effects. But the graphics ain't so well :) And if you want to do something with such 'humanish' characters, I prefer shooting a real movie then :)

[Romily]

I've tried it, but it had a few issues with Vista so I didn't use it for too long. It's just like Alternative for Reallusion's iClone 2. A lot of customizable stuff, from eye color to special effects. But the graphics ain't so well :) And if you want to do something with such 'humanish' characters, I prefer shooting a real movie then :)

After seeing so much machinima created in different game engines, I find myself running back to WoW (the The Sims2 would probably be my 2nd choice). I dunno. I just love the lush, soft focus and rich colors of WoW. So many games have this "sharpness" to their graphics that's irritating. Particularly around NPC/PCs, in some cases, it's almost like anti-aliasing gone wrong.

Character movement is another pet peeve of mine. The Movies looks really cool but everybody tromps around like they're wearing buckets on their feet and they occasionally swagger in normal movement like they're drunk. :/

[Justin]

After seeing so much machinima created in different game engines, I find myself running back to WoW (the The Sims2 would probably be my 2nd choice). I dunno. I just love the lush, soft focus and rich colors of WoW. So many games have this "sharpness" to their graphics that's irritating. Particularly around NPC/PCs, in some cases, it's almost like anti-aliasing gone wrong.

Character movement is another pet peeve of mine. The Movies looks really cool but everybody tromps around like they're wearing buckets on their feet and they occasionally swagger in normal movement like they're drunk. :/

With WoW Model Viewer you can do everything you can imagine if you have hands grown from the right place. What World of Warcraft is so succesfull imo, is it's amazing atmosphere. You really fell sometimes like you're inside, in this metal box playing with other 9 million people. Graphics aren't as good as latest LotR for example, but ease of actions, brilliant environment make you want to create movies and entertain public :) And also build yourself some future.

[Dead Workers Par...]

I tried MovieStorm a little bit, and it felt like I was creating an animatic or storyboard, not like making an actual movie, much less machinima. What's wierd is that MovieStorm markets itself as a tool for machinimators when it's not even associated with any video game engine at all. It's more like Poser or FrameForge3D.

This is a fine tool for those interested in making machinima, in the sense that MovieStorm will inspire your camera movements and blocking. Then when you have a handle on movie making, you can use a gaming engine to create your first machinima piece.

[Romily]

I tried MovieStorm a little bit, and it felt like I was creating an animatic or storyboard, not like making an actual movie, much less machinima. What's wierd is that MovieStorm markets itself as a tool for machinimators when it's not even associated with any video game engine at all. It's more like Poser or FrameForge3D.

This is a fine tool for those interested in making machinima, in the sense that MovieStorm will inspire your camera movements and blocking. Then when you have a handle on movie making, you can use a gaming engine to create your first machinima piece.

That brings up a question for me:

When does machinima cease to be machinima and become something else (animation I guess?)? Is it when it's no longer in a game engine? I think it was Quake that had some tools for making videos outside the game (which might parallel WoW Model Viewer?) but, as both were based on game engines/design... Still qualifies. But you bring up an interesting point. ;)

[Romily]

With WoW Model Viewer you can do everything you can imagine if you have hands grown from the right place. What World of Warcraft is so succesfull imo, is it's amazing atmosphere. You really fell sometimes like you're inside, in this metal box playing with other 9 million people. Graphics aren't as good as latest LotR for example, but ease of actions, brilliant environment make you want to create movies and entertain public :) And also build yourself some future.

Definitely. It's one of those rare games that, if I've been playing way too much I find myself seeing parallels or trying to do something that I would normally do in game. (One day at work I was walking behind someone and I mentally poked around for a few moments, looking for my stealth button. Stalk much? :P)

P.S. I love your signature graphic. Your avatar, however, scares me. :P

[Justin]

You've got to stop playing a rogue :D Try creating a sheep.

P.S. The signature pic is the best picture ever made by me :D But I'm too lazy to create a same-color avatar :)

[Romily]

You've got to stop playing a rogue :D Try creating a sheep.

P.S. The signature pic is the best picture ever made by me :D But I'm too lazy to create a same-color avatar :)

Druid, my dear. Feral Druid. :thumbsup: (Though I have a rogue now and very much enjoy playing her! I am often at a bit of a loss with my Shadow Priest as she can't hide. I'm one of those Explorer/Socializer types of gamers so, I think characters that can sneak around undetected suit me best as I get to explore stuff I have NO business being in. I can't tell you how many times I got a whisper from my friends list "What on earth are you doing in THERE?!" :tongue:

*pulls the bus back on track*

So, when does something like this stop being machinima (and what does it become)?

DWP/Erik - you'd mentioned MovieStorm would be good for planning but the work should be shot in whatever game was to be used. Not sure I follow. The game (for instance WoW) wouldn't have the same mechanics as MovieStorm. I guess if I was going to spend the time modeling, I'd try to do composites from ModelViewer... But maybe I'm missing something?

P.S. Justin - your avatar is scary enough that, free time or no, I might try to create one for you! *hides*

[Dead Workers Par...]

DWP/Erik - you'd mentioned MovieStorm would be good for planning but the work should be shot in whatever game was to be used. Not sure I follow. The game (for instance WoW) wouldn't have the same mechanics as MovieStorm. I guess if I was going to spend the time modeling, I'd try to do composites from ModelViewer... But maybe I'm missing something?

MovieStorm ships with built-in camera movements (tracking, crane, dolly, etc) so that the artist doesn't need to focus on the technical aspects of the film, thus putting more time and thought into the characters and blocking. These are things that WoW machinimators are plagued to understand and learn how to master. One could find their own style through the use of the tools in MovieStorm and then take that style to WoW machinima. Of course with WoW machinima, there's limited tools for movie making, so obviously there's going to be alot more work involved. I guess what I'm trying to say is that MovieStorm is a great beginner's tool for getting a taste of movie making without actually being bound to a certain video game engine.

As for what I think machinima really is... I think machinima can be described as a movie using actual video game elements. These elements could include the video game engine itself, the character models, the game's textures, or a combination of elements. I've heard the term "Off-the-Shelf Machinima" meaning that the movie was created in real-time using only the video game engine. The contridiction to this term would be that Return won an award at the 2005 Machinima Film Festival for "Best Off-the-Shelf Machinima", when in fact Rufus3 used other resources than just the video game engine.

It seems that everyone has their own idea of what machinima really is, and the one thing that everyone's definition has in common is video games.

[pmm0927]

I've used MovieStorm extensively over the past months. Maybe it's not a game engine, but when I tried working on the piece I've just finished, Beat the Devil, in The Sims 2, all I experienced was frustration, too much work for just something simple like placing a character at 45 degrees, which, yes, can be done, but why bother when there's a simpler way. Unfortunately, as MovieStorm is still in Beta, the lack of assets are a pain, but I'm sure as time goes on things will improve. Graphics could be better, but, at the moment at least, its free, and I don't have to worry about Microsoft or some game company saying "hey you're violating our copyright." It's wonderful they let me own what I create.

You can check out the work at

http://pmm0927.googlepages.com/home

[StoneFalconProdu...]

So, when does something like this stop being machinima (and what does it become)?

I'm going to be stubborn about this and persist that machinima involves real-time capture of pre-rendered animation, game or otherwise, period. Anything rendered on a frame by frame basis then becomes full animation and is no longer machinima.