Category: Machinima

After Aperture: Chell’s Life Beyond Portal 2

And here we go, more good stuff out of Source Filmmaker. Created by my bud Zachariah Scott, After Aperture is just what it sounds like, a short piece about Chell after she escapes the infamous lab that specializes in portal science.

The description of the video on YouTube notes a few limitations encountered during its making. For one, Chell’s model doesn’t have a ton of facial animation possibilities, seeing as how the player is never meant to see her directly. So that certainly presents a challenge in terms of shot selection. Despite that, it’s definitely a nice piece, although it is just a bit of a preamble to another project that Zachariah is working on, one that I think will outclass it by far. Enjoy!

Thoughts? Got any other awesome stuff you guys have seen in SFM yet? Go!

Practical Problems: A Day in the Life of a TF2 Engineer

Once Valve officially released Source Filmmaker to the public, it was only a matter of time before some fans would do some truly great things with it — after the slew of derivative “x movie in Team Fortress 2” videos, of course. Well, it seems we finally have a worthy machinima entry, straight from the fan community.

Sort of. Although James McVinnie is a Team Fortress 2 fan, he also happens to be a cinematic designer at Bioware. Which probably explains why his new short, Practical Problems, is so well done. In addition to spending 130 hours in both Hammer and Source Filmmaker to get the job done, James also worked with his friend Zach to do some motion capture work via 2 Kinects.

So, yeah. The results are rather entertaining, and quite faithful to the spirit of Valve’s own work with Team Fortress 2.

Thoughts?

Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

It’s a good day to be a Valve fan as we’re being treated to two new releases from everyone’s favorite gaming company. First is Meet the Pyro, which finally takes us behind the mask of the mysterious flame-spewing class…kind of. It’s not the strongest of the Meet the Team videos, but it has its moments.

The big news though, is that Valve is putting out Source Filmmaker, and there’s a video you can catch after the jump. Continue reading Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

Team Fortress 2 Introduces the Director/Replays

Saxxy Awards

It looks like Valve has added replays to Team Fortress 2, along with a fancy new machinima contest of sorts. The Saxxy Awards are designed to let users explore all of their filmmaking abilities in a Thunderdome fashion, where awards will be handed out based on YouTube views and all manner of categories such as “Most Pwnage”, “Most Epic Fail” and “Best Team Costume”. Basically, you have until May 19th to submit your awesomely edited piece and receive your lootz. They’ve got a Saxxy trailer up (see what I did there) which will tell you all you need to know.

In addition to all this, Valve tucked a TF2 comic into the update called Meet the Director, and I have to say I’m intrigued. Perhaps I’m looking too deeply into this, but it seems to be pushing at the universe of TF2 and giving us a cool new story to go on. Not to mention the art, which is fantastic.

Anyway, this will probably make me jump back into TF2 a little. My last PC could only barely run it, and I imagine it will sing on the new one. Who knows, maybe I’ll dabble with some machinima. Old habits die hard, after all…

What about you guys? Is anybody excited about this? What do you think of the comic? Go!

Source –Team Fortress 2

Mass Effect 2 Machinima: Dance Dance Retribution

Oh man, it’s not very often that a machinima piece makes me laugh these days, but then again, most pieces aren’t named Dance Dance Retribution. Nor do they feature two Krogans from Mass Effect 2 dancing. This is a piece created by Blue Suns for the 48 hour machinima contest that was featured in Fantastic Fest this past weekend in Austin, Texas. I kept hearing good things about it, so I just had to post on it.

Really, there’s not much else to say other than that it follows the tale of a Krogan seeking extreme justice through extreme dance moves. And it’s hilarious. Give it a watch.

Best of all? It was co-created by a SmoothFewFilms fan that goes by the handle of Gassy Mexican. Great job, man!

Activision Wants to Sell Gaming Cut Scenes as Movies

Starcraft 2Get your popcorn ready. Bobby Kotick’s got a bright idea for you.

Ever since gaming content distribution has moved online in a significant way, I’ve wondered privately why video game studios haven’t taken full advantage of this by capitalizing on their audiences with video content. Since it’s ridiculously hard these days to get a video game movie produced, why don’t video game studios take this development into their own hands?

With great looking game assets and competent studio directors, there’s no reason someone like Konami, Bungie or Naughty Dog couldn’t take their popular franchises and create an in-game graphics movie out of the cut scenes, extending their stories or telling side stories. At a proper price point, this would be cheaper than producing a movie, and much cheaper than going to a movie for consumers. I imagine a 90 minute Uncharted movie would sell millions online, but I could be naive about this.

Well, we appear to be inching in a slightly different direction, if Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s latest comments are to be taken at face value. You see, Kotick thinks that if Blizzard took the cut scenes from the already released Starcraft II and put them all together at once, gamers would pay up to $20 or $30 for them. Say what, Bobby Kotick? Check the jump for the quote. Continue reading Activision Wants to Sell Gaming Cut Scenes as Movies

Machinima: Gears of War 3: What Have I Become

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: TheDuoGroup makes some of my favorite machinima out there. Their new piece, a trailer created for Gears of War 3 titled What Have I Become, might be some of their best work. It was created in collaboration with Dave Tyner of Treadster Media.

Anyway, I don’t watch too much machinima these days, but I’m sure to catch everything these guys put out. Honestly, this got me more pumped for Gears of War 3 than anything else has to date. Give it a watch!

The Law Abiding Engineer Puts TF2 on the Big Screen

I thought I would interrupt the madness of the day to post this, because this video is worth noting.

YouTube dude TrueOneMoreUser has posted a couple of videos which I found terribly impressive, given what he did with these TF2 characters. Basically, he re-edited live action footage of the trailer for Law Abiding Citizen and replaced the real actors with the characters from Team Fortress 2. The result is the amazingly awesome Law Abiding Engineer.

He’s also posted a vertical comparison video, which shows the original and the new trailers next to each other. I’d recommend checking that one out as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGrHBpfqCo[/youtube]

Modern Warfare 2 Machinima: No Russian

I am a man who has an affinity for some mighty fine machinima from time to time. That’s why I’ve taken a liking to a cool new video by YouTube user Michael Barnes, who has produced a new Modern Warfare 2 machinima titled No Russian.

The video is basically a re-telling of Modern Warfare 2’s plot, with different camera angles and what looks to be some sick as hell settings on his video card. I honestly don’t remember Modern Warfare 2 looking this good, but I really like what he’s done and how he’s cut everything together. Impressive stuff, I must say. Anyway, give it a watch and revel. That’s an order.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHHBK6PGN8M[/youtube]

Fake Dragon Age DLC Trailer is Hilarious

One thing that makes PC gaming great: the ability to infuse new life into a gaming via the modding community. In what I hope to be the first of many Dragon Age: Origins releases, a new DLC trailer is available that showcases some hilarious tweaks made to the game and how it’s played.

Not only is this a look into what is available to modders, it also showcases some of the machinima tools available to users. I really can’t wait to see more of what people come up with. I’d have to say my favorite portion is the Morrigan slapping, as well as mastering “the taint”. Do watch this. Now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDeawqKzEVM[/youtube]

G-Man Sings Body to Body, Oozes Sex Appeal

Put this one under the “weird but hilarious” category. This is a machinima music video by WAM Studios in which G-Man sings Body to Body by Jay-J. It was created with Half Life 2, lots of Faceposer and GMod.

The song is pretty much horrid, but the video rules because they re-created the original music video by Jay-J almost perfectly, only with G-Man and Alyx in the leading roles. Seeing G-Man act suave and sexy is worth the price of admission on this one. Be warned it has a few images that are more than likely NSFW, especially the original, which I recommend suffering at least a few seconds of in order to fully appreciate what was done here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1OMBJ9MZBc[/youtube]

Red vs Blue Meets ODST

I’m sure that many of you are at least somewhat familiar with Red vs Blue, the popular Halo machinima series from Rooster Teeth. Well, it seems the guys got a bit of time to do a ODST crossover with their series. Check out the first segment. As I’ve said before on this site, I’ve been mostly unimpressed with this game until very recently with the “firefight” footage, which is basically horde mode from Gears of War 2. It looks awesome.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voLCnyqW_E0[/youtube]

Machinima: Halo 3: ODST Thunder From Above

TheDuoGroup is at it again, with yet another excellent machinima short that combines some snazzy effects with Halo 3 footage. I really love the work these guys do, so it’s cool to see them make a trailer for Halo 3: ODST, a game in which we have no actual footage yet. Very creative.

The Warthog Promo

TheDuoGroup, one of my favorite machinima teams, is at it again with a brand new video. In this one, they put together a well shot warthog ad as it would be seen in the Halo universe. I really like the way this is put together, and the way they transitioned between each map is kind of awesome.

WoW: Secrets of Ulduar Trailer is Fine Machinima

Now this is something you don’t see everyday. As games’ technology gets more and more advanced, it seems that many developers are turning to in-game cinematics rather than the CG artistry of old. Heck, even MGS4’s cut scenes were filmed with a real time camera tool. It’s pretty cool then, to see Blizzard using this machinima trailer to promote its next part of the Wrath of the Lich King, Secrets of Ulduar. The animation is slick and the visuals rock, to boot. Great stuff.

Today’s Do Want: EVE Fan Video, Day of Darkness II

EVE Online, the space MMO that is home to brigands, rogues and generally awesome dudes, always seems to come along and tantalize me. Particularly after a fan trailer like this latest machinima work from EVE player Dire Lauthris. The video is produced mostly with in-game footage (though he adds some sizzle here and there), and is also incredible. Apparently, he’s been working on it since back in 2007.

If you want to hear more about the dude’s methods, check out the EVE forums.

Source- RPS

Machinima: Mirror’s Edge

Our good bud Mystfit makes some pretty cool machinima, and this time he’s back with a new short in Mirror’s Edge. Loving some of the camera work here, it’s for the win. Spread this around to as many people as possible, because he’s doing this for a contest- most views wins. Good luck, dude!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f66usjHqvw0[/youtube]

My Spartan Girl Music Video

One of my favorite machinima groups, Darkspire Films, has released some more comedic gold today with their new music video, My Spartan Girl. It’s essentially dedicated to all the girl gamers out there, specifically in Halo 3. It’s kind of tasteless, hilarious, and maybe also slightly NSFW.

One other word: hawt. And if you really want, you can download the song here.

GTA IV Machinima: Dirty Brake

Zachariah Scott of LitFuseFilms is at it again with some more GTA IV machinima tests, the newest of which is called Dirty Brake. This one involves some good old fashioned driving and destruction, something we can all relate to in terms of the GTA series. A particularly epic shot has to do with a light pole. You’ll know it when you see it. Also, make sure to check it out in HD.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVP4cVLPzV4[/youtube]

Call of Duty 4 Machinima: The Spectator

Here’s a new machinima short from some of my favorite machinimators on the planet, The Duo Group. It’s actually created with Call of Duty 4, so that’s rather unique as far as machinima goes. While it’s a little unbelievable that this man would survive, I still love the way it all looks. Great voice acting, too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ1_o9iNn8U[/youtube]