This ep, we take a walk down memory lane to the first major peak of #machinima with a documentary produced by  @ProducerStuartBrown , released in 2003. The film is a fly on the wall documentary of the creative practice of the legendary Hugh Hancock (founder of #Machinima.com) and his @strangecompany

0:39 Introduction to the film; shock and awe: Hugh’s bravado, character, energy and enthusiasm shines through
3:09 Foundations of Machinima.com, the Strange Company, the ILL Clan and others – the first peak of machinima
6:54 Stuart Brown’s YouTube channel
7:50 Minority report: “This may be the future of filmmaking” (2003)!
8:14 Positioning machinima as previs, preproduction, and the role of remote directing
10:40 Technical challenges to filmmaking back in 2003
13:58 What happened next to Machinima.com
15:35 Fond memories
19:32 Boom and bust: the poison of the profit motive?
22:40 The hard ask of the  @roosterteethanimation #rvb model
23:41 Money as a means to an end
25:52 The team and the decisions
27:29 Frank Dellario’s humour!  @ILLClan @frankdellario7401
29:05 Remembering Peter Rasmussen 

Show notes & links: includes Tracy's notes and an interview with Hugh - see links below 

Credits - 
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine 
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice 
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week's pick is nostalgic for a time before machinima... its a rare look back at the demoscene era that informed and influenced the evolution of machinima all those years ago.  The film selection is called We Are Demo, made in 2016 by Fairlight, Noice, Offence, and it was originally shared on X by the Commodore Computer Museum. Check out our review and thoughts, and do add your comments on our YouTube channel.

• Phil introduces the film We Are Demo, which was made in 2016 using technology from the 1980s and 1990s
• The film is a tribute to the demoscene, and the Commodore 64
• Phil explains the demoscene and its requirement for both technical and artistic skills.
• We discuss the historical context of the demo scene and a few anecdotes from some early experiences
• The demoscene was a way for creators to self-promote and showcase their skills, often incorporating their team logos into the demos
• Phil examines the use of the SID chip, which limited music to three notes of polyphony, explaining how composers overcame some key limitations
• We Are Demo adheres to the musical limitations, using the SID chip to create the music
• Is it all about nostalgia and creativity involved in creating music and visuals within these technical constraints?
• We discuss the visual and musical style of the film, and how it is faithful to the era of the demoscene
• What’s the role of an emulator these days, a discussion inspired by the film.
• Ricky recalls the SIGGRAPH conferences and the demoscene meetings 
• We reminisce about the unique community and artistic spirit of the demoscene, which is similar to the early days of machinima.
• What are your thoughts about this pick – add some comments in the discussion below about whether the demo scene is something only older generations will appreciate.

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

A Source Filmmaker short by Dominzki, this is another of his well-crafted stories told in 3 parts, called Mission. This episode we focus on the third part Exodus and discuss its merits in detail. We conclude that if there was ever a machinima that should be made in a film studio, this would be it.  Check out our comments.

1:17 Tracy's introduction to the film
11:47 Complexity and dialogue
13:51 Scifi and the clone, and the director's clever device of using a disrupted world to portray the ethical considerations of cloning
15:31 Clay-like characters and the portrayal of emotion
17:09 The soundtrack and its role
18:53 Making this IRL, maybe Kim Kardashian could play the lead?
19:23 The Mobius strip is the masterful component
24:48 The art and craft is evident 

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

TOP GUN Maverick Intro by  @godivasl in  @secondlife , as you've never seen it before! The attention to detail in editing the scenes and character performance is outstanding - well done to all those involved.

Credits -
Speakers:  @zsOverman @tgharwood @DarthAngelus (MIA  @RickyGrove ) 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Ricky Grove 
Sound Effect: Motorcycle driveby by Severaltimes / Freesound.org

This week's review is of  @Astartes40k aka Syama Pedersen's stunning Warhammer 40K masterpiece called Astartes Project. The film was first released two years ago and has been recommended to us by  @orencloud . It is currently hosted on  @TheChach 's channel - we explain why.

1:07 Disclaimers
4:38 Thoughts about the game
8:02 How to carry the story forward
11:39 Are they the good guys or the bad guys?
17:42 Game-based machinima and its problems
22:35 It's better for you than for them
27:11 Mansplaining the film

Credits - Speakers:  @zsOverman @tgharwood @DarthAngelus (MIA  @RickyGrove ) 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: bainmack / punk rock short 31 from freesound.org

After we first talked about this project last April 2022, we were thrilled to see what a stunning job @MartinKlekner has made in the 21 Jan release of the first episode of Heroes of Bronze. We were not disappointed: the film and work stands up to AAA Assassin's Creed Odyssey studio work, but with amazing detail of historical artefacts and storytelling, which is even evident in the way clothes move on characters. Damien couldn't put our views better when he says this work inspires him to want to do better with iClone. We're definitely looking forward to the next release - bring it on! 

5:12 The story is told through the memories of a soldier's wife. 
8:45 A beautiful and moving film. 
11:05 The historical accuracy of the film. 
16:39 Historical accuracy and technical details. 
21:04 The importance of realistic portrayals of ancient times. 

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: bainmack / punk rock short 31

This week's film is a SFM Saxxy 2017 entry from  @TipsyDucks called Mann Co: Employee Training Video. Lots of in-jokes and satire in the style of a PSA, with a fantastic voiceover by Keith Ferrell aka MrTush.

4:13 We don't pay you to think. We pay you to work.
7:07 Team Fortress 2 stylized graphics.
9:02 Phil’s sense of humour and satire.
10:31 Pushing the edge of appropriateness.
13:42 The value of safe comedy.
16:07 The difference between satire and tastelessness.
19:04 Christoph Waltz' The Consultant, based on Bentley Little novel.

Credits -
Speakers:  @zsOverman @RickyGrove @DarthAngelus @tgharwood
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: CreateStudio Pro Music Assets licensed. Nebular Focus by Dan Henig. Youtube audio collection

We always love a good RDR2 machinima, and this is one by a Sam Menell, released on 9 Feb 2023.  We watched this several times, and Tracy didn't spot the UFO in the opening shot!

2:03 Phil’s thoughts on the film. 
3:36 The soundtrack and editing. 
6:24 The searchers 
8:05 The ending was such a surprise. 

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music:  Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week, Ricky provokes us with a selection of shorts released on TikTok.  We discuss the usefulness of the platform for machinima and virtual production creators, as well as pass comment on the three films we take a look at, which unsurprisingly we variously struggle with. Phil's analogy to fish restaurants of different quality sums it up well for us all.

8:19 Fish restaurants
11:51 Dumpsters for paperbacks analogy
15:23 Terry Gilliam said...
19:26 Phil's profound reflection on quality kit
29:52 Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)
35:05 Does Twitter make you a better script writer?

Show notes and links here

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's film review is The Gateway by  @ritualenfilm3976 , made with  @UnrealEngine and released in May 2020. Its a mix of some well-known alien life sci-fis we all love, the pacing is nicely done and there are some interesting effects that we comment on although we're not quite sure what the ending is all about. Ricky also tells us about a new Philip K. Dick inspired (Blade Runner stylized) release on  @Netflix called JUNG_E.

Time stamps -
0:14 Intro to the film.
3:35 A gateway to another world.
5:39 The story is just a sketch.
7:53 Tracy’s impressions of the film.
9:07 Hiding the details.
11:25 Science Fiction Recommendations: JUNG_E
13:11 The problem with not having enough character content.
16:12 A war hero’s brain.

Show notes: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove 
End music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week we review the winner of the 2022 Kitbash3D moving image challenge contest, based on their free Mission to Minerva asset pack.  The film is called Secret Moon by Orencloud, and what a visually stunning and ethereal representation of Minerva this is, with a clear trajectory between this piece and Orencloud's portfolio.  We discuss some of the ways in which the film works and works less well for us, and note that at least one of us missed the ending!

1:34 What was the challenge for?
4:42 The gloom of the world.
6:59 The power of content packs.
10:09 The ethereal quality.
11:24 Music and the voice.
13:17 The problem with music in film.
15:15 I would watch anything this director made in a heartbeat.

Show notes and links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/23/s3-e66-film-review-secret-moon-by-orencloud-feb-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky Grove, Phil Rice
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

Ricky's pick for the month is Let's Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews, uploaded to Vimeo on 11 Mar 2013. The film is a 'slice of life' comedy with intriguing mix of playing a 90s style space game, Nomad X, and reflecting on losing the love of your life - a perfect antidote for those Valentine's week shenanigans!

0:10 Let’s Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews
3:59 Let’s play, let's play 6:27 The shared consciousness of video games
9:00 Inspired by Frontier Elite Dangerous
12:02 Nostalgia factor of video games
13:35 The Halle Project
16:05 The genius of the story
17:57 The importance of good storytelling

Show notes and links: www.completelymachinima.com/

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer: Ricky Grove 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's episode reviews a film by Fandom Games called Half Life 3: Honest Game Trailers, released 31 March 2015.  The film is a throwback style of satire and even if you've not been following Valve's Half Life developments, you'll enjoy this.  For those less in the know, HL3 is a game that never made it beyond the hype, despite its avid fan base waiting patiently (or impatiently) to play it for 20 years!  We reflect on Fandom Games origins in Jimmy Wale's Wiki technology.  We also discuss our approach to 'healthy criticism' on the podcast.

0:14 Intro to the show
1:45 What made you like this one?
4:22 The voice of the movie trailer
8:04 Half-life 3 assets leaked
12:29 The cliffhanger ending
18:54 How to best handle internet criticism?
19:46 Praise what we like and learn from it
22:39  Discussing opinions on youtube
26:42 The value of professional criticism

Show notes and links available at https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/09/s3-e64-film-review-half-life-3-honest-game-trailers-by-fandom-games-feb-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's film review is a Star Citizen cinematic machinima by Virtuality Media called Dangerous Love, beautifully made and with a well chosen music accompaniment. Its a tale that has a tragic twist for its lead character. The layers of emotion and depth to the storytelling are inspirational. Check out our review and do add your own comments.

1:12 Introducing the film and the creator

6:50 The music choice

7:50 The shots, life and death

14:50 This film is an inspiration

16:29 A story driven music video

17:25 Editing is weak

 
Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats

Show Notes & Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/02/s3-e63-film-review-the-backrooms-reunion-feb-2023/

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood 
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove 
Music: CreateStudio Pro Licensed Music Assets. Youtube Audio Library - Nebular Focus by Dan Henig. 

Show Notes & Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/26/s3-e62-film-review-so-i-tried-to-take-a-holiday-jan-2023/

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood 
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove 
Music: CreateStudio Pro licensed audio.

Show Notes and Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/19/s3-e61-film-review-interloper-half-life-2s-greatest-unsolved-mystery-jan-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music:  licensed from CreateStudio Pro

Links and show notes: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky Grove, Phil Rice
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: licensed from CreateStudio Pro

0:14 Introduction to this episode. 

9:45 The stylized look of the film. 

11:44 How they arrived at the world of the film. 

15:43 The flaws in the story. 

21:52 Is there still a significant audience for quick and dirty machinima? 

27:26 The audience’s reaction to machinima. 

33:33 Machinima’s plight is a hidden one. 

37:57 What are your thoughts on my criticism of the story aspect of the voice in the hollow? 

40:01 Why some of the ambiguities in the film didn’t bug Ricky. 

Links for this episode on our website: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/05/s3-e59-film-review-the-voice-in-the-hollow-by-half-m-t-studios-jan-2023/

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: licensed from CreateStudio Pro

Links on our website here: 

Credits 
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Ricky Grove 
Music: CreateStudio Pro licensed music. fallbackcrush / whistling auld lang syne @ freesound.org https://freesound.org/people/fallbackcrush/sounds/413563/

Links and notes on our website here

Credits:
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Lights in the Dark by CSP CC OO

Time stamps -
0:11 Introduction to this episode

3:51 Compositing and editing in Second Life
7:25 Teal’s inspiration as an artist in Second Life
10:19 The film is halfway between machinima and photography
13:11 Why I didn’t look for a deeper story
15:11 When advertising comes on, I immediately start shouting at it
17:19 Promotional work and informational info ads are really great forms of advertising from machinima

Show Notes and Links on our website here

Credits
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Lights in the Dark by CSP, licensed collection

Links and notes on our website here

Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Edited in CreateStudio Pro. Music licensed from their collection. 

Show notes and links on our website here

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine (MIA zsOverman) 
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: Tattoo by CreateStudio (licensed)

Who doesn't love a good olde Western? This week we delve into a great short by avidredeadenjoyer, released 21 Sept 2024, called The Loss. It has been made in the only engine a Western machinima can be, RDR2. We all especially liked one particular shot, which really goes to the heart of why machinima has added so much to movie-making. This week, we also talk about a second pick, a Frontier: Elite 2 short by The Mystic Mushroom accompanied by the Blue Danube: The second best space sim ever made... Enjoy!

1:15 The Western vibe

4:00 The tropes, the story and the cinematography

5:15 Mid shots vs close-ups

7:25 The sentiment portrayed

11:22 The beginning, middle and end!

13:06 Music and foley

13:30 Steam trains: down memory lane for Tracy

16:02 An outstanding shot – tell us more @avidredeadenjoyer!

21:40 Mixing with Chopin maybe not the best choice?

24:50 The second best space sim ever made…

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats

Time stamps -
1:13 The Remnants
22:26 So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead...[LEGO Edition]

Enjoy, and as ever, feedback and suggestions welcome!

Our website has all the links and notes here

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine,Tracy Harwood, Phil Rice
Editor/Producer: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00

Show Notes & Links on our website at www.completelymachinima.com/

Credits -

Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood (MIA Phil Rice, courtesy of Hurricane Ian)
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00

Show Notes & Links on our website: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice
Produer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: House Loop by Sakebeats /CC 0 / freesound.org

Little White Poney Inn by Olibith
It Lives Within the Sea by Squadron Orange (dir. Dominic Edwards)

Links and notes on our website here

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: sclolex__a-bad-day-at-the-crypt / freesound.org

Links to the film on our website, https://completelymachinima.com/2022/10/19/s3-e49-film-review-most-precious-gift-by-shangyu-wang-oct-2022/

Credits
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: evanjones4__sleepnomore1 - Freesound.org. License CC 0

We discuss the eyes, the monster, the surprise and and camera shots.

1:06 Tracy introduces ‘The eye: Calanthek’ by Aaron Sims

5:56 What makes it so realistic? The eyes!

11:02 Things that break the storytelling

15:02 Does knowing the craft of filmmaking restrict creative approaches to filmmaking?

Show notes and links on our website for this episode, www.completelymachinima.com/

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: evanjones4__sleepnomore1 - Freesound.org. License CC 0

0:47 Ricky highlights some of the news items we’re released in a series of blogs this month, being released on Mondays, starting with out Tech Update on 3 Oct, then Projects Update on 10 Oct, Fests & Contests Update on 17 Oct and finally a Report on Creative AI Generators on 24 Oct. You can find these on https://CompletelyMachinima.com/Blog
2:19 Feedback on previous episodes
6:51 How I learned Unity without following tutorials (Developing 1) by Mark Brown on his Game Maker’s Toolkit channel, released 28 September 2021 – discussion, learning by rote vs learning concepts, different learning styles and role of prototyping in machinima and virtual production.
Q: What are your favourite tutorials on machinima making?

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: evanjones4__sleepnomore1, freesound.org, Creative Commons License 0
Sound Effect: newagesoup__queens-sting, freesound.org,  Creative Commons License 0

Facing the Wolf, by Iain Douglas and Mark Coverdale, released 2021

1:35 Interview with Matteo Bittanti, Milan Machinima Film Festival

5:00 Ricky poses an interesting question: is machinima an animation style or a form of art that ideas can dominate, as opposed to feelings?

27:56 Discussion: for idea films, do you have to have more information than the film provides to appreciate the work?  What is the role of ambiguity in filmmaking?  How much time should audience invest in understanding a film?

Show notes and links on our website at https://completelymachinima.com/2022/09/15/cm-s2-ep46-film-review-facing-the-wolf/

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au

0:10 Ricky introduces our new episode format – feedback welcome on the plans!

0:59 The Cloud Racer by Impossible Objects (UE5), released 15 August 2022 

21:16 The Lord Inquisitor – Prologue, by Warpgazer Animations (released 28 August 2016) 

39:15 Person2184 (UT2004 machinima), by Friedrich Kirschner released 4 April 2008 

59:09 Prazinburk Ridge by Yes, Commissioner? aka Martin Bell, Unreal Engine 4 (released 27 June 2022)

Links and show notes on our website: https://completelymachinima.com/2022/09/08/cm-s2-ep45-films-sept-2022/

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au

Show Notes and Links
0:27 Nvidia Omniverse Machinima Contest #madeinmachinima results, entries showreel, announcement of winners at SIGGRAPH and links to winners (via 80.lv) Simon Lavit and runners up Nicklas Lotz and Ted Saguindel

2:54 Tracy’s interview with John MacInnes on his latest Unreal Challenge contest: Mood Scene – the contest begins 1 Sept

5:44 Unreal Engine’s Better Light Than Never contest results sizzle reel and 80.lv article about winners

6:19 Jackson Wang’s Cruel video, using Unreal in his virtual production process

7:01 Also using Unreal in a music video, Sagans on Coherence using Katherine Crowson’s software Disco Fusion 

7:28 Pavel Oliva’s desert kit mod

7:48 Game Art Experiments’ tutorial on turning AI generated images from MidJourney into 3D format

8:32 Turning in3D Avatars into Reallusion’s Character Creator 4 avatars with just a quick scan using your mobile phone!

9:36 Trailer for an upcoming fan film by Unreal Cinema, made in Unreal Engine 5: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Kotor: Episode 1 – The Spire, premiered 5 August 2022

11:31 Dreamworks announces that its Moonray platform will become open source

16:22 19-20 September, remember the Nvidia GTC event is always worth following!

17:50 Film Music.io website update

23:00 Nvidia Omniverse Audio2Face update 2022.1 – using emotions

28:19 Adobe’s Premiere Pro guide for filmmakers

32:04 Lynch-land in Second Life – for all those lovers of David Lynch films

33:09 Update: changing our news episodes format – what do you think to our plans?

Website link https://completelymachinima.com/2022/09/01/completely-machinima-s2-ep-44-news-september-2022/

Credits
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au

A packed ep this month, key tools, what's happening roundup and some fascinating projects - links to everything on the Show Notes page of our website.

1:29 BBC Sound Archive

2:30 Auto painter AI for Blender

2:56 Google image/film search AI

5:00 Tribute to David Graham

6:05 Mouse: PI For Hire!

7:05 Azeroth politicised? Surely not!

10:13 Pigeon Bringer of Doom and Destroyer of Humanity, by Solofilms

10:50 The Flower that Never Dies, by NewGates Entertainment

11:21 Terminator and Cyberpunk 2077, by eli_handle_b.wav 

12:27 Warhammer, JT Music 

13:03 Ian Hubert’s Dynamo Dream Part 2 is finally out 

14:13 Star Citizen Con updates SC1.0

18:31 Squadron 42 gameplay reveal update

23:09 Hubnet machinima, Overclock and EE Studios

26:15 Luminaria still open!

27:00 GTA Hamlet documentary, Sam Crane

28:40 Reallusion 3D character contest results – stunning work!

31:30 Movies Tycoon out of early access

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats

0:45 Unreal 1 Released – 22 May 1998

2:22 Unframed Productions formed, with James Hammer-Morton and Hugh MacDonald, and created Resident Evil themed content

3:13 Unreal Tournament 1 – 23 May 1999 and Reactor4’s Real Time Movie Studio mod

4:16 Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 which included the first edition of Matinee and further information round 12:00

5:04 Star Fury produces Sucker in 2003

5:58 2003, Epic Games launches the Make Something Unreal Contest with notable films awarded runners up by Friedrich Kirschner (The Tournament) and Unframed Productions’ Lucky Man, EG_Intro from Hongman Leung and The Showdown by Accelerated Pictures.

7:25 2004, Epic’s Make Something Unreal Contest winner was Friedrich Kirschner’s The Journey

8:18 Creators Testing concepts for Blade Runner, Lord of the Things and others

11:12 Spielberg uses Unreal Tournament 1 for pre-viz for Artificial Intelligence with ILM

14:06 First version of Epic’s Unreal Engine released in October 2003 for education and non-commercial projects

15:02 Computer website, HomeLAN, interviewed Friedrich Kirschner about his 2004 winning film The Journey and Steve Polge at Epic Games about why the film was selected – interesting comments!

Full show notes and links at https://completelymachinima.com/2022/08/18/cm-history-with-ben-grussi-unreal-engine/

17:36 Victory’s tutorials on Unreal Tournament 2004

Time Stamps
0:57 The Folklore of Phasmophobia | Modern Mythology, by The Digital Dream Club (released 9 January 2021)

9:51 NVIDIA Omniverse Machinima Path Tracing Test, by JSFilmz (21 June 2022) 

17:33 Tiny Elden Ring | Tilt Shift, by Flurdeh (11 April 2022) 

27:27 What a typical project Zomboid Run looks like, by Pathoze (26 Jan 2022)

31:45 Discussion: using live action with machinima footage in films, what are the challenges?

For show notes and links, see https://completelymachinima.com/2022/08/11/cm-s2ep43-films-aug-2022/

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: tosha73 Distortion Guitar Power Chord
            snapper4298 Intro/Outro
            freesound.org

John MacInnes talks to Tracy about his new real-time movie contest just launched - a competition with a very interesting difference, using Unreal Engine 5.   Its all about mis-en-scene... "the skill, the challenge, is to actually reproduce a tone or a feeling and affect the audience... there's something really challenging and valuable in that exercise in itself..."

Show notes and links at https://completelymachinima.com/2022/08/08/real-time-movie-challenge-mood-scenes-announcement/

In this episode, Ricky, Tracy and Damien discuss some of the more interesting machinima and real-time things they’ve trawled the internet for during the last month.  Tracy gives her take on the GTA Online performance of Hamlet by Sam Crane, some interesting uses of Unreal Engine, tech tools and a fun way to simulate gravity. Damien brings Godot to the table and highlights some worrisome news about Unity, before waxing lyrical on Star Trek’s Strange New World’s use of Unreal. Ricky finds an interesting Unreal Engine Field Guide and discusses the latest updates to Nightmare Puppeteer.  

1:30 Feedback and comments from Mike Clements, 3D Chick, EE Studios, JSFilmz, TMC, Lord Krit and Chris Newell 

4:04 The Snow Witch, by Britannica Productions, reviewed on CM podcast Season 1, Episode 18

16:20 Sam Crane’s GTA Online performance of Hamlet, an interesting audience experience (live 4 July 2022)

22:41 Digital replica of co-op live music venue strikes the right chord, Unreal Engine, 23 June 2022

23:22 Christopher Nolan: How to make a good no-budget film | Christopher Nolan on Following, by Cinedome, published 28 June 2022

23:51 50 Greatest Fictional deaths, Slate.com, by Dan Kois, 20 July 2022

24:31 AI dubbing service by Papercup

25:00 Markerless hand tracking in DeepMotion Animate 3D

25:50 Rotate you monitor to simulate gravity in Unreal Engine 5 using Android orientation data, by Ayoub Attache, 12 July 2022

27:14 Godot 4 engine can now make movies – explainer, by Gamefromscratch, released 29 June 2022

29:08 Behind the scenes of Netflix’s ‘In Valuted Halls Entombed’ | Spotlight | Unreal Engine, by Unreal Engine, released 27 June 2022

32:29 Star Trek’s Strange New Worlds – a better use of Unreal than Mando?! Review in American Cinematographer, by Noah Kadner, 23 June 2022

42:04 Should we be concerned?  Unity is merging with a company who made a malware installer, by Jody Macgregor, 16 July 2022

43:48 Unreal Engine Field Guide, free download book

44:57 Updates to Nightmare Puppeteer, available on Steam

Further details on the podcast website, https://completelymachinima.com/2022/08/04/cm-s2ep42-news-august-2022/

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: Where We Wanna Go by Patrick  Patrikios
Sount Effect: SoftBounceShowReel2 by Malcolmboye

June Episode of Completely Machinima podcast  https://completelymachinima.com/2022/06/08/completely-machinima-s2-ep-39-films-june-2022/) – go to time stamp 18:57 for discussion of How to Fly

5:40 Backgrounds (released 19 February 2013), collaboration with John Blandy, father

7:08 Franz Fanon series, Finding Fanon 2 (Grand Theft Auto, released 11 September 2015), collaboration with Larry Achiampong 

14:12 Reflecting on the cultural forces represented by games, meaning in games, cultural capital and the importance of shared memories through games

23:15 Telling alternative stories in ways such as to deal with the social anxieties intertwined in them eg., Henrietta Lacks and John Edmonson

25:06 Discussing How to Fly (released 22 April 2020) and How to Live (released 21 May 2020), pandemic project – and why the cormorant?

32:14 Discussing Androids Dream and the use of a voice trained AI to create a meditative effect

35:13 Discussing Henrietta Lacks and the film A Lament for Power (released 20 July 2020), also being shown at WORLDBUILDING at the Julia Stoschek Foundation between June 2022 and December 2023 

38:49 Reflecting on different types of creative practice, objectivity, collaboration, space, happy accidents and found objects

55:53 Reflecting on future practice using machinima 

Credits:
Speakers: David Blandy, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: Freesound.org  Intro/Outro by Snapper4298

Show Notes and Time Stamps
 

1:21 If Top Gun Was a British Film Part 2, by Square (released 31 March 2022)

6:49 DCS World Movie | Top Gun: Maverick Intro by Phenom (released 16 June 2022) 

13:05 Discussion: Why recreate scenes from big budget films, such as Top Gun Maverick?

20:00 Hired Steel: A Mech Machinima – Episode Two, by TMC (released 25 February 2022) and the review of Episode One in Completely Machinima S1 Ep 16 Films (August 2021) 

27:40 Star Citizen – News – RED LINE Episode 2 (Elite Expeditionary), by EE Studios (released 13 April 2022)

35:57 Unreal Engine 5 Concept Short Film by JSFilmz (released 17 June 2022)

See also: https://completelymachinima.com/2022/07/14/cm-s2-ep41-films-july-2022/ 

Despite being encouraged to create an episode of just 15 minutes duration by one of our followers, the team have this month extended their coverage – hear Tracy, Damien and Phil discuss vtubing, Ricky’s Duke Henry the Red character in the game Evil Dead, the FTC’s proposed updates to social media guidelines, Unreal’s review of the Matrix Awakens Experience, John Gaeta’s latest exploits, metaquette, Reallusion’s iClone 8 and CC4 and a number of other exciting developments relevant to the world of real-time filmmaking and machinima.  Thankfully, you can use the timestamps to jump to the bits your most interested in!

Timestamps - 
1:34 Feedback from our followers: 3DChick, Al Scotch, Spentaneous, Mike Clements, Circu Virtu, Notagamer3d 
8:14 Vtubing and Face Rig app (Steam), VTuber Studio – real time puppeteering using faceware 
17:41 Interactive video on Vimeo, branching narrative storylines 
20:23 Ukranian films of the recent war, showcased at Milan Machinima Film Festival website 
24:17 Evil Dead and the character Duke Henry the Red played by Ricky Grove and IP generally, Ricky Grove on IMDb 
39:29 FTC updating ‘disclosures 101 for social media infuencers’ guide’ discussion, the relationship between brands, platforms and influencers and see also [Company] Rulez! (Phil Rice aka zsOverman & Evan Ryan aka Krad Productions) 
54:55 Competition updates: Nvidia Omniverse Machinima promo video ‘Top Goose’ and Unreal competition, Ben Tuttle’s The Amazing Comet and William Faucher’s YouTube channel. 
58:03 Making of Unreal’s Matrix Awakens Experience, Behind the Scenes on The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience, released 6 June 2022, and Tracy’s interview with John Gaeta, VFX, The Matrix films, released 17 February 2022. Living Cities is a new metaverse mirror world and Inworld AI 
1:00:16 Pooky Amsterdam’s blog on metaverse etiquette, called Metaquette 
1:00:39 Reallusion’s iClone 8 character animation processes including Character Creator 4 launch 
1:13:08 Mesh to MetaHuman in Unreal Engine by Unreal Engine, released 9 June 2022 
1:13:33 Meta’s new model allows creating photoreal avatars with an iPhone, 80.lv, 14 June 2022 and full research publication 
1:14:02 Mocap with the MoCats: Livestreaming with Multiple Actors (Faceware & Movella/Xsens) by Faceware 
1:14:29 Love, Death & Robots, Jibaro character creation Love, Death + Robots | Inside the Animation: Jibaro, Netflix, released 9 June 2022 and Art Dump 
1:16:48 Jonathon Nimmons WriteSeen.com, launched June 2022, website connecting creative writers with industry professionals (upload written content, attach a video pitch, audio clips, video clips and a link to a prototype if required) 
1:19:08 A word of thanks to our sponsors 

Credits - 
Speakers: Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au

0:47 May 1999, Steve Jobs (Apple) and Macintosh presentation reveal for Halo 

1:57 2000, Halo promo for NVIDIA Geforce2 GTS 

3:16 15 November 2001 Halo for Xbox released

3:40 First machinima for Halo, released 6 June 2002, Warthog Jump by Randall Glass  

5:04 Red vs Blue premieres, 1 April 2003, by Rooster Teeth Productions

7:04 Halo released for PC on 30 September 2003

7:31 Fire Team Charlie starts up in 2003

7:56 Halo PC Custom Edition released on 6 May 2004 and a recently made Halo PC Custom Edition Fan Documentary by Subpixel, released 17 April 2020

8:57 On 6 June 2004, the seed of Sponsors Vs Freeloaders is planted –

·      First Episode  

·      Flame War Saga

12:09 HaloTV.net was launched on 10 July 2004 – this channel (pre-YouTube) offered 24/7 Halo machinima primarily of clan matches with commentary plus had a dedicated Red Vs Blue channel 

13:10 The Matrix (Halo Remix) by Halo1007 released (Halo Footage – Matrix Voice-Overs, released on 5 September 2004

14:01 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Dave Anderson, released 13 October 2004 

14:55 Halo 2 released 9 November 2004 and Burnie Burns reports from Camp Bungie on the secret machinima test they doing in the game 

16:26 The Codex series ran for 21 Episodes with an average run time 3-5 minutes and it’s prequel The Heretic, by Edgeworks Entertainment, released in 2005

17:39 This Spartan Life by Damien Lacedaemon aka Chris Burke premiered in May 2005 

19:07 iGod... Holy Halo series by Fuzion Church, Crossroads Baptist Church and Chi-Ro Ministries, a Halo-based machinima to promote a Christian weekend retreat and to promote Christian principles in general – the episodes are covered on Halo.Bungie’s fan website (see Purple and Pink Mirrored), released 12 April 2005 

20:55 First green screening machinima by AmandaJ3162, merging Sims 2 and Halo in You’re Fired, released 10 July 2005 

24:41 Company Rulz by Z-Studios and Krad Productions, a Microsoft game usage rules explainer, released in 2007  

Tracy talks to John MacInnes, winner of the OSCARS' Nicholl Fellowship for Screenwriting in 2011, screenwriter for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (released 2014), winner of 2 Epic Unreal Megagrants for his virtual David Bowie project, founder of awarding-winning studio MacInnes Studios, and director of the 2021 Real Time Shorts Challenge.

2:53 Official trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFu5qXMuaJU

13:25 Game engines as storytelling tools

23:36 Making realistic humans in game engines, David Bowie and the Epic Megagrant project and Grace the first digital popstar

31:29 Real Time Filmmakers Facebook group and the Real Time Shorts Challenge, including the winners 

42:00 One good movie? The blessing and the curse of original thinking!

50:34 Professional vs indie filmmaking

54:00 Demand for long form vs short form films and the future of machinima

Credits:
Speakers: John MacInnes, Tracy Harwood 
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: freesound.org / Intro/Outro by snapper4298

This month, Damien leads the discussion on another fabulous film selection by the Completely Machinima podcast team... Phil's Stalker fan film by Sodaz is dark and disturbing; Tracy's music vid picks are light and airy; Ricky's is far from bland and Damien's is a moving affair too! The team also discuss approaches to promoting a film once it’s been made, thanks to a question raised by show follower, Mike Clements.

Time Stamps:
0:34 STALKER Fan film – Contract by Sodaz, released 8 December 2021

6:53 Married to Your Melody by Imanbek and Salem Ilese (Unreal Engine 5, Matrix Awakens City), released 21 April 2022

10:19 Lion’s Feet by I Break Strings, video by Tom Jantol (iClone 4), released 13 May 2022

14:33 MOVING OUT || Somewhere in Space || A No Man’s Sky Cinematic Series by Geeks Actively Making Entertainment, released 5 June 2021

18:57 How to Fly by David Blandy (GTA5), released 22 April 2020

34:36 Discussion: what do you do with your machinima film once it’s made? Question by Mike Clements

Credits:
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au

This week's ep we dedicate to a 3D animation by a French student collective made in their final year of studies, streamed through @TheRookiesCo channel. It is not technically #machinima as its made using traditional #animation tools but nonetheless we absolutely loved it - and its a recommendation by one of our channel's regular followers @3dchick. The film is a post-apocaylptic robot tale, inspired by Zaha Hadid's architectonic style. 

2:00 Ricky's intro
8:25 Benevolence vs malificence? A moral tale for bots! 
13:46 How to achieve personality in machines? This is an example reminiscent from the early days of machinima and the work of Peter Rasmussen 
16:21 Cultural references in this film were not film-based but engineering based - is this a reflection of contemporary times and the emergent use of 3D animation tools? 
18:45 A clever use of missing information to set the scene 

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood (Phil Rice MIA) 
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: Animo Domini Beats

Show notes and links

0:35 Feedback from our listeners, thanks Ben Tuttle, 3DChick, Mike Clements, CD and Pooky Amsterdam

6:40 Getting started with Nvidia Omniverse Machinima, ostensibly for the Make Something with Nvidia Machinima contest but also really useful to just learn about the toolset

9:17 Using machinima techniques for the new Batman film

11:29 Damien compares the fan-made Star Trek Pike to the release of Star Trek Strange New Worlds

13:34 Release of iClone 8 and Character Creator 4 discussion

21:48 Milan Machinima Film Festival update and using OpenAI to generate scripts for machinima

24:12 Fair use and transformative use and the case of Star Citizens’ updated machinima and fan film content rules and guidelines and its relationship to Squardron 42 (maybe?)

34:10 No excuses: Nvidia Omniverse Machinima competition closes 27 June 2022 – and here’s the link to Ricky’s interview with Dane Johnston as the Machinima app was being launched last year

36:09 Reallusion’s Pitch and Produce competitive support programme

37:14 Showreel of 100 3D renders of ‘infinite journeys’ and the weekly CG challenge by Clinton Jones aka Pwnisher (paid subscription on Patreon channel)

38:40 2nd Annual Film Festival for Fantasy Faire in Second Life, organized by Saffia Widdeshins and Chantal Harvey.  Congratulations to winners – links are HERE and Pryda Parx epic fly through the Fantasy Faire sim is HERE 

41:19 Especially for Ricky: Elden Ring’s new VR mod by Luke Ross (Patreon channel) 

47:30 Facial motion capture in Roblox coming and using BHaptics for immersive storytelling

48:43 Review of best software for video editing via Shopify website

49:06 FSFilmz Cyberpunk short tutorial

49:36 Pooky Amsterdam’s new project stage play, Mambo Motel update and website HERE, the world’s first Metaverse Musical! 

0:48 VIDEO GAME Maps Size Comparison | 2021 by MrRanker (Blender, Adobe After Effects & Premiere Pro) released 19 Sept 2020

19:05 Blu x @Teflon Sega meta-saga!! Ep4 by Xanadu (Unreal 4.27) released 9 Mar 2022

32:26 Star Trek Pike – Fan Made Opening | Made in Star Trek Online by ZEFilms Productions released 1 July 2019 and the possibilities for using machinima as a pre-market concept testing tool

41:36 It just a virtual kiss by Juan Poyuan (World of Warcraft) released 19 Nov 2021

53:00 Discussion: What is experimental machinima and why do it?

Website: 

Credits:
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: Til I Hear'em Say (Instrumental) - NEFFEX

News for May 2022.

Time stamps, show notes and links -
2.35 Nvidia Omniverse Machinima contest, assets and prizes

4.18 Nvidia’s GTC conference recordings – worth the watch!

6.23 How are RTX cards coping with heat in laptops?

6.34 Nvidia Omniverse Create and Machinima apps

10.17 Reallusion’s ActorCore library now available for Nvidia Omniverse

12.51 Concert Creator AI creator for music and Damien’s animation of Kara Remembers (Battlestar Galactica) test

16.16 Art AI Festival in Leicester, creative application of AI including a YouTube channel of presentations

19.49 Mad God by Phil Tippett, film now completed and available on Shudder TV (subscription-based horror streaming channel)

22.43 Real Time Shorts Challenge competition (John MacInnes) overview

25.29 Milan Machinima Film Festival overview and Critics’ Choice Award, We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On (Shakespear’s Tempest performance) by Sam Crane (GTA Online) and current project to perform Hamlet in GTA Online

28.57 Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times by Draxtor Dupres, comparison of life in the metaverses, Second Life and Animal Crossing, during the pandemic

34.47 Matrix Awakens Experience City Sample available for PC

39.52 Unreal 5 update is great for machinima creators (Kim Libreri’s keynote and The Matrix Awakens: creating a world tech talk)

42.10 GTA 6 rumours!

43.20 Unity realtime cinematic, Enemies and Unity for machinima

46.23 Don’t forget to read!  Phil’s recommendation: Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris, acquired from Ricky’s Paperback Show and book store

The blog post for this episode can be found here: https://completelymachinima.com/2022/05/05/completely-machinima-s2-ep36-news/