Picture of my avatar

Hey everyone! The Pittsburgh Business Times posted an article about Second Life and machinima today, and I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by the journalist. It was really fun showing her what Second Life is all about! Here is the article:

Ariella Furman makes animated movies, but she doesn’t have a big fancy studio full of computers.

Instead, the 24-year-old is armed with her MacBook and the program Second Life.

From her Pittsburgh base, Furman uses the virtual environment to film her 3D animated short films and collaborates with teams of designers and actors, many of which she has never met in “real life.”

The technique is called Machinima, and Furman uses the tools within Second Life to build sets, set lighting and work with real actors to film short movies for her clients, which include companies such as IBM, Seimens and Eli Lilly. She gives direction to the actors, then has a program that allows her to film what she sees in the virtual world by recording what is in her browser window.

She founded her company in 2007 and has since made 50 short films. For a typical, two-minute animated movie, the price is $2,500 to $3,000, though she has had some projects as high as $15,000.

“Anyone can make a video,” she said. “What makes virtual worlds different is you can’t shoot a lot of this stuff, (but in a virtual world) you can prototype your vision.”

One such project included making a movie for a client that wanted to envision their business in the year 2020.

She won’t reveal her revenue, but says she has seen a 30 percent increase in her business between 2009 and 2010 as more companies want to incorporate 3D animation into their marketing or training. In the case of her IBM project, her movie was shown in a conference in Second Life.

In addition to filming her movies in Second Life, she does a great deal of networking and lead generation within the world by attending conferences and lectures, and other networking events.

Registration is free for Second Life, a product of San Francisco-based Linden Labs, but becoming a “landowner” takes cash. In the world, a business or a user can purchase property to build an environment. One region, the equivalent of 2.5 square miles, costs $1,000 in a setup fee, then $295 a month per region.

A Linden Labs spokesman would only say that hundreds of businesses own land in Second Life but declined to give specifics.

Like Furman, there are hundreds of “solution providers” that will work with businesses on setting up environments within Second Life. Linden Labs lists more than 300 on its website and encourages people to build on the company’s technology.

“Second Life is an open platform for creativity, and we’re happy to see entrepreneurs use Second Life in ways that bring additional value to the virtual world or that help others benefit from it,” said company spokesman Peter Gray in an e-mail response.

Read more: Pittsburgh filmmaker works in virtual world | Pittsburgh Business Times

A New Years wish- Steelers to win the superbowl!!

Hey everyone! It is a new year and with a new year comes new opportunities. Instead of jumping into twenty eleven, I wanted to update you on our whereabouts in 2010:

We had the opportunity to make a machinima about Gronstedt Group’s new hurricane simulation training sim for their client, CUNY:

Link: http://www.vimeo.com/15312707

We then teleported- to a new Virtual World! We made 6 educational videos about Congress to be shared with students in schools around the country. I can’t reveal too much about this, but I will instead be able to share the final cuts in a few weeks- coming soon! Featured videos include the Rotunda, the Capitol Building, House of Representatives, and the Senate.

I also got to work with a medical startup in the ‘burgh. I’m really interested in seeing where the medical world takes machinima, so this was a great opportunity that could extend into some training videos on products. Their “avatar” movie as they liked to call it was presented in place of a Powerpoint, which proved to be successful.

We also worked with my favorite Second Life- based company, Startled Cat run by Jenaia Morane and Dusan Writer! As a team, we filmed a Veteran Dialog event and are heavy into post-production right now. Let’s just say, it’s a tear jerker! The opportunity for veterans to get together in a common safe place and having the option to be anonymous at the same time is an incredible option.

There were also a number of great opportunities to present Powerpoints and screen videos about Framed in 3D’s point of view on animation and machinima. We were able to present for Karl Kapp’s class of ambitious students. For those of you that don’t know his amazing research and work within 3D Virtual worlds and gaming, I highly recommend his site: http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/  I gave all his students beers at the end of class– but don’t worry, they were pixelated beers!

We also presented alongside the founder of Vastpark and many others at an Association of Virtual Worlds network meet up where each presenter was given 10 minutes and the audience then had the opportunity to ask questions. Should you be interested in speaking about your business, I recommend signing up at this webpage. The location of the meetups (aka which Virtual World) changes every month: http://www.associationofvirtualworlds.com/meet-ups/meetups-sign-up/

In Pittsburgh, PA, we also met with members of the PYP group (Pittsburgh Young Professionals) where each of us rotated and delivered topics ranging from animation to investment banking! Let’s just say, everyone made a lot of diverse friends at that one! I also did a company spotlight at the YEC Luncheon at the Rivers Club. For all you non-Pittsburghers, that is a popular roundtable networking spot that overlooks the city.

It has been our busiest year and we’re thrilled to be caught in the middle of a whirlpool of opportunity for the changing face of Virtual Worlds! Let’s set up a pixelated coffee meet and catch up?

The view of Pittsburgh from one of its many hills

One of things people don’t know about me: When I’m in a professional meeting in Second Life as my avatar, I’ll do anything but make eye contact with the other avatar. I’ll swing around in my chair, play with my hair, stare into space with my thoughts, flick things across my desk, sometimes even browse Facebook (shh, don’t tell)! I am a natural multi-tasker and a product of my generation: This is just how I do my best critical thinking.

4 months ago, I moved to Pittsburgh to expand my business for 3D animation (machinima). Right off the bat, my plan was to network network network. However, the process of connecting with a person in real life was physically taxing for me. I didn’t understand why– I’m only on Second Life when I work. All the other times I’m absorbed in real life with friends or family!

My first Real Life networking meeting was a disaster. It was  a woman’s business group meeting for lunch, and I had no idea what to expect. I actually went to the wrong table of women: It was old college friends reconnecting. I sat down and was confused as to why everyone was starring at me awkwardly. Finally, I arrived at the correct table and stumbled across my mere 30 second elevator speech probably once per second! I took a deep breath and stayed quiet, and I listened to the interactions of all these women. They were all very successful– sat with their hands folded on their laps. When I saw this, I quickly removed my slouched elbows from the table and sat up straight. I wasn’t in my home office anymore with my jammies and a bowel of chips and dip in my lap. As time passed, I felt more comfortable and thought to myself, “now or never.” I casually took out my laptop and waved it in the air, “Would anyone like to see my work?” Eagerly, 15 women gathered around me. This was probably one of the most intense feelings I ever had: All of them were impressed and asked about a million questions and tried to apply it to their own work. The woman who led the organization took me under her wing and probably sent me to at least 4 clients over the past couple months.

I networked on a boat!

After this lunch, I was not yet cured of awkward avatar syndrome. It takes a WHILE. Months later, I still get nervous and have cotton mouth and suddenly feel lightheaded because my heart is pumping so fast. I’ve been to dozens of networking events since that one, from 15 women luncheons to 200 people in one ballroom. Going to these was the greatest decision I ever made, especially since I’m after one thing: Making machinima global!

My biggest feat so far was a meeting with Highmark, the company that owns all the sports teams here. Yeah– that kind of company They enjoyed my work, understood it, connected with it, and now potentially want to use it. You can’t imagine what kind of confidence that’s given me. The gentleman from Highmark also gave me wholesome advice. We even reminisced about Philadelphia (he lived there temporarily, and I am from there). Sometimes the people at the top are the most humble.

Every meeting and every encounter has taught me more and more. I am now much better at communicating, at finding out people’s needs, and realize how many needs I CAN match. Sometimes just being personable gives me the advantage. I realized a few techniques:

**When I’m at networking events, even if I know people there, I’ll walk around the entire room to connect with NEW people. Or if I see my acquaintance there with a new person, I’ll politely ask them to introduce me. When you get involved in a convo with someone, stand with your shoulders facing out, inviting outsiders to come in. Oh, and if you aren’t the one to walk around and say hi to everyone- it will get awkward. I’ve been there

**I stay till the end. This way, I grab someone interesting and have them walk out with me. Sometimes they’ll even give me a ride home– you won’t believe how much you can connect with someone in a car or a nice walk

**I will email each and every person afterward no matter who they are. I keep it brief, visit their website, and see how I can help them.

**A lot of the clients that end up booking animation work with me come through in the most off-hand ways. It sometimes works like this: I was recommended to go to a new networking event from a woman/man I met a DIFFERENT networking event. Going to this new event, I meet a person who knows a person and through those 6 degrees of separation, I end up meeting my client.

**You can’t really think about it in terms of money. Sure, I need to live and we all need to make a buck– but that will naturally come. I will never refuse a coffee with someone. Just learning of people’s foibles or successes with business is worth it. Sometimes because I am so young, they like to do most of the talking, but I let them. Later, I try to help them in my own ways and they will do the same thing back. Or if all else fails, just talk about the Steelers and they’ll be on your side in an instant.

Your city might be different, but Pittsburgh is unbelievably open and helpful. They’re like a small town with big buildings. I’m happy to be here and I hope my fellow Pittsburgh-ers will comment. If you are from a different city, I invite you to tell us about what your city is like!

In developed Virtual World programs, that are a number of key solutions that make me seal the package deal and establish my place of work there: Ability to control the light, ability to build anything within reason, ability to move my camera effortlessly, ability to control character design and motion, and of course good graphics

Second Life is a given. That is usually the best option. However– I’m starting to really like my place in Unity 3D, an integrated authoring tool for creating 3D video games or other interactive content. The wonderful thing about Unity is there are a ton of professionals making it grow and adding features– many of these were already professional game designers.

Here are some features making Unity  into a shining star, not only for avid game fans but for machinimatographers too:

1) Beast Lightmapping

Transforms dull flat scenes into beautifully lit environments. You can add atmosphere, shadow, etc. I’m sold! The amazing thing is you can literally paint the shadows on the scenes in Photoshop. Check out a demo:

[http://vimeo.com/13361651]

2) Image effects

YES- you can now control the depth of field! You can perform actions like layer based bloom, sun shafts, etc. That means you can achieve effects like shallow depth of field (background out of focus), light flares entering your camera, and even achieve just a flat 2D representation of your scene.

[http://vimeo.com/12500504]

3) Locomotion System

This is a way to blend keyframed or motion-captured movement to smooth them out for the game environment. A system like this is important in capturing realism in character movement.

[http://vimeo.com/5391896]

If you’re still not impressed, just watch this clip from Unity’s new deferred renderer to watch everything at work:

The Machiniconomy?

Many people see Machinima as a documentation of the virtual life- a bridge that allows people not in virtual worlds to see and experience them anyway (of course through the control of another’s camera.. but either way..)  Machinima could also have many uses in real life- in technology, education, business, law, etc. I invite everyone to think outside the box and make a list with me of how we can give machinima a more global use:

A) LAW VIDEOS

There is a big field called “litigation animation” where traditional animation companies demonstrate what the key witness experienced during some kind of disaster. So for example, a slip and fall, a hit and run, a shooting, etc. Obviously, without stunt dummies and a special effects team, this would be not possible to recreate. Hence, they use animation.

Machinima would be a much more effective use for these. WHY? It’s cheaper! We also have more resources to recreate this disaster happening from any camera perspective without limitations. There are builders who can recreate sets- whether it be a street corner or someone’s kitchen- and replicate every detail, to the point of where a pot of flowers stood at that moment of time. We have animators who can recreate the fall based on the description they are given. Machinima is a more effective solution because it would be cheaper to produce as well as more realistic to the witness’ descriptions.

B) TRAINING SCENARIOS

Many fields require workers to be in deadly scenarios. So how does one show these scenarios? Again, using real video would require special effects and stunt dummies. With machinima, you can have the workers be in the scenario and react to it accordingly, without dying in the process. With Second Life’s advanced scripting methods, things like pyro technology and spills are easy to recreate.

These scenarios also don’t just have to be in the manufacturing field, they can also show corporate scenarios such as customer relations and manager’s training.

C) VIRTUAL SETS

Television production often has the most intricate sets- think of all the flashy game shows, talk shows, news segments, etc. where it probably took a large team of top set designers to create. Now that 3D is the new craze and all the adults are going to see the Pixar animated films, it would be JUST as effective to show an animated set behind the real characters. It would definitely be more cost-effective and with Second Life’s scripting effects, just as flashy (ie blinking lights, glowing prims, etc).

So, help me add to this list. If you had a particular experience with integrating machinima into the real world economy- I invite you to tell us about your experiences.

So a few months ago, I wrote a post about a VERY influential, inspirational university class that was in production for a rap video shot in Second Life. Read about my initial reactions on what they were doing here:

http://framedin3d.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/university-class-takes-hold-of-the-reins-to-a-rappers-fame-in-second-life/

From hearing their first ideas to the release of the video, I was amazed by how much their ideas advanced and how much technology they were able idealize in a short 4 minute span. The video, in my mind, encompasses the multi-tasking that everybody in the internet age has to manage. It really makes you realize how complex these systems are, how each one is different, how each one is just a language on its own (audio/video programs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). For me personally, I realize there’s sometimes this severe disconnect as everything I react with is so mechanical, yet I take for granted the repercussions of a society so focused on technology. Even the 2D stencil drawing of the rapper makes me realize that no matter how 3D it appears, we are still subject to a 2D space where there is a clear element missing- human to human interaction. It’s scary, but at the same time powerful what we can create now and how much influence each one of us HAS the potential for. However, the question is whether we’ll use these technologies for the right things?

So away my abstract interpretation, this video was meant to be more fun, exciting than I made it out to be, especially according to the lyrics. How does it make you feel? Do you think my interpretation can be viewed through a more positive light? Check it out for yourself:

Starlight particles

So you’re making a Second Life movie and your script calls for: CRAZY WILD SPECIAL EFFECTS. A car explosion perhaps? A building collapsing? Or maybe it’s just something simple, like the progress of a tulip blooming? If you’re a typical machinimatographer like me, you probably can’t really make those things happen out of thin air. And chances are, the typical scripting shop won’t have what you need. So now you have to make an important decision: Do it in post-production or get customized scripting? Either way is correct, and I’ll try to tell you about the benefits of each.

I recently was asked to be machinimatographer on a project that was predicting what a real science laboratory might look like a couple years into the future. The script called for some complex computer programs to be re-created and basically placed into the screens. We decided to shoot green screens and insert the technology at a later time in post. Choosing this option was probably for the best since it required a lot of attention to small details such as menus and commands that would be a challenge to coordinate with prims.

However, what about a tulip blooming, or pyro effects exploding around a car? What would be the benefits of doing these in-world? Well, for one, you’re using content in Second Life so the textures, 3D feel, etc. will be consistant with the rest of your theme. It will feel as if its part of the location. This is just what we did for another project I worked on for IBM, where it was required that a woman shoot a rotating cube out of her hand at her enemy. The scripter made a cube, gave it a rotation effect, and created this great foggy substance that was commanded to travel after the cube. With all this done in Second Life, it gave it a really neat cartoon-y edge that fit with the look and style.

So, in the end it really depends on what you’re trying to do. Overall, it would probably be more time consuming and expensive to achieve special effects in post, but you also have a lot of controls and capabilities that would work great to recreate more of those complex scenarios, such as data visualizations, in your movie scene.

I decided to meet with a Second Life scripter to see just how much you can really do with good old in-world scripting. His name is Arminas and he is a the best of the best of SL scripting and particles. Check out his site here http://www.secondeffects.com

Mr. Arminas himself

How did you learn SL-scripting? Was it a completely different language than anything else you’ve ever had to learn in the computer world?

In RL I have a Master’s degree in Computer Science and have programmed in many languages. It turns out that LSL is a rather simplistic coding environment, although it does have some interesting features that relate to a 3D environment that you don’t see in other situations. It’s quite fun to see visual results of your efforts immediately, though.

How has SL scripting changed from when it first started to now? Do you think these changes helped break down a lot of limitations?

From when I started scripting in 2007 it really hasn’t changed very much. Yes, a few new things were introduced, and yes, it runs slightly faster and differently with the new Mono environment, but basically it’s the same type of coding. What will really change things is when The Lab manage to permit other languages in the Mono environment. In other words, you won’t have to code in LSL forever – you can use more advanced languages that are commonly used outside of SL. This means you can bring in existing code, open source projects, etc, and a lot more function will suddenly be available. Who knows what might happen then?

Could you give me some examples of effects that wouldn’t be possible in-SL? Why wouldn’t they?

There are fairly limited particle capabilities in SL. For example, LSL-based particle effects have many restrictions on the movement and orientation of the particles – the most obvious being each particle texture can only be shown face-on. That said, there are ways to get  around that – to solve the face-on problem, you make several textures with different orientation and then rotate between them with a script. Similarly, I’ve had to build all kinds of wacky gadgets, triggers and moving composite objects that can deploy particles in just the right way to achieve the desired effect. Not everything can be done – but what can be done is often more than you’d expect. It just takes imagination and a bunch of time.

What is your favorite scripting project you’ve ever done?

While I’ve done some larger projects, such as an entire underwater animated coral reef with several teaching stations, the one I am most fond of is quite simple: steam from a teacup. Why is it my favorite? I spent a great many hours working on the appearance of the steam until it looks utterly realistic. It’s very hard to see unless you’re told it’s there, but that’s the essence of effects – they are in the periphery, subtly affecting your perception of the scene in a subconscious way.

What kinds of people in SL most use your services? Is it a whole
variety of people?

I have two types of clients: retail, where people drop by my Electric Pixels Particle Shop to pick up a standard effect of some sort – and many of them are directly useful for various situations; and contract,
where I am asked to build something very unique and unusual, typically for an event. It might be scenery, background, something to wear, something to hand out as a gift, etc. I’ve worked for educators, weddings, machinima, parties, concerts and others. Everyone can use particles!

What kinds of things limit how much you can do? Any other technology issues?

Mostly the limits are personal: there’s only so much time available to make things, and only so much money for people to pay for that time. There are two fundamental issues, however: Some people still have rather crappy PCs with barely usable graphics cards. In those cases they could potentially be overloaded by a lot (and I mean tons, not a small poofer) of particles and they’ll lag. However, most systems purchased in the past two or even three years are invulnerable to almost any amount of particles. The second issue is more profound: I call it Particle Prejudice. There are many people who simply turn off particles, even permanently, as they have some kind of unnatural fear of particles. Perhaps they had a bad experience in the past with a griefer or a newbie blingtard, but to brand all particle makers in that way is actually a bit insulting. There’s nothing I can do for those folks, as they simply miss out on the added experience due to properly installed particle effects.

If you could change one thing in SL that will break down a lot of barriers for your scripting, what would it be?

Consumed by aqua

The development tools for LSL are extremely primitive and are missing even the most basic features from tools in the non-LSL coding world. Things like source code control, libraries, object orientation, debugging tools, IDE and many others just aren’t there. In LSL today you get a text editor with minimal syntax checking. a box full of API calls, and that’s it. Again, a full Mono implementation would permit use of all those tools – but on the outside of SL – and we’d supercharge the SL scripting world. Breaking down the barriers? I think if there was one thing I could ask for, it would be for people to take another look at particles; they can be truly beautiful and make your immersive experience that much greater.

]]> http://framedin3d.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/196/feed/ 0 framedin3d twinkles_081 particle lounge vampire shots_002 fountain_003 http://framedin3d.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/i-went-a-little-paparazzi-on-sl7b-pics-from-my-favorite-booths/ http://framedin3d.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/i-went-a-little-paparazzi-on-sl7b-pics-from-my-favorite-booths/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:50:21 +0000 framedin3d http://framedin3d.wordpress.com/?p=171 ]]>

I guess you need a big cake to feed all the wonderful artists!

Going to Second Life’s 7th Birthday Fiesta makes me feel a peculiar way.. like peeling off (ok.. going into inventory and detaching) my flip flops and sinking my feet into the grass to people watch all the cool hipsters and their artwork. Every year, Second Life celebrates its birthday by offering a free plot of land to every artist, engineer, scientist, videographer, etc.- basically if you are part of a collaborative effort, you’re in! With that land, you can anything as long as it stays mature and reasonable, but you get a limited number of prims (basically, there’s only so many “objects” you can make on this land). In fact, the prim amount is so low that it’s hard to sacrifice. Sometimes, you have to go a little more simple with your exhibit. Ironically, I see a lot of people going all out too– What is their secret sauce??

Anyways, trying to view all the exhibits is overwhelming! A popular blogger, Dusan Writer once said something along the lines of this, that Second Life is the largest collaborative, creative venture on the planet. Where else can all these different types of people come together and show off their talents? You can visit each booth, and a lot of times you get greeted by the actual artist and they try to give you a lot of free stuff. I went a little paparazzi on the thing today and tried to capture my favorite booths. I’ll share a few snaps with some select words– enjoy!!

Nothing like starting out a little melancholy with a gargoyle statue. I thought the rain complimented the statue perfectly. You really start to see the detail when moving in– and when you boost your graphics settings you really see the care put into this.

This was a great sculpture where each oval had a separate room, but the rooms were tricking your perspective. You can see in the shot below it that only the table in the foreground was an actual object, the paintings and everything else in the distance are actually just a picture– can you tell the difference? Basically what happened was I walked in and kept going– until I realized I was going nowhere fast

Feeling a little Alice in wonderland.. Can you spot me? (Hint- I’m in all white)

Standing atop an invisible prim as these misshapen balls begin to take shape at the bottom and blast up into the air, becoming more oval in the process. I swore I could feel them whishing past my feet

I love how the textures and lighting were done in this booth. The avatar animation was great- I wish I can grab it for myself. It oddly reminds me of my own office at my RL home. And that’s also the position I spend my time in 90% of the day. Oh yes.. and my avatar has a mac in there.. as do I.. as do I.

I believe this was some sort of political statement, or recreation of a famous city street. I loved how the textures look like photos taken in real life. They didn’t try to recreate it in animation form, but rather transform the 2D images so they fit in a 3D world. How do you think they did? It looks unique- doesn’t it? It reminds me of taking a pack of playing cards and building a house from the cards, which are flat, and suddenly the building you make has 3-dimensionality to it. Funny how perspective works.. that goes to the Alice in Wonderland exhibit as well. Very well done!

And my absolute favorite booth! I think this artist’s passion for writing seeped over me. If you can squint, you can see my avatar posing as a letter. Each of those black boxes allows you to pose as a letter or number so you can spell anything you want. I love the colors and textures, how everything blends and has almost a childlike naivety for it.

Ok.. that’s me posing as the letter A- for Ariella! Check out the pen in the background with pages for leaves– in the exhibit, the pages were fluidly moving like wings.

And I leave you with this image to ponder. Each of those squares is a plot of land that belongs to 1 artist. I tried zooming out as much as my camera could bear it, but the map goes on and on and on– imagine that!

Now I invite you to post your own discoveries of SL7B– your favorite booths, presentations, events, etc.!

One of the pages from our Storyboard

When I first met Annabelle Fanshaw (SL) to produce an animation video for her project, we instantly clicked. Ann’s goal? To show how much data effects our lives and can enrich us. She wanted to capture something to an extent that was not available to us in the physical world yet. However, the “Possibilities” of the virtual world made it easy to prototype her vision. In essence, the vision was to capture the “visualization of data.” I learned the importance of data and how much we take it for granted. It is not a coincidence that the video is called, “Possibilities” either. Possible or not, Ann and I weren’t afraid to get our gears moving, or in many cases, running. I think it really reflects on not only the finished product itself, but also on the production process itself. Ann and I met many times, had about 9 revisions of the storyboard, and put ourselves in the situation of our lead character, “Mr. B” to give us inspiration for more and more Possibilites. Many scenes were cut, others were lengthened. Typical production process, but somehow it felt more powerful than any other video I’ve done the whole way. The message was clear and it spoke to me. In the end, the animation received a standing ovation at the Federal Consortium conference for Virtual Worlds.

Any other words fall short of what you’ll learn watching this video. I want you to watch this and think about the world around you as if all physical and natural objects could tell you information, give you data at all times of the day. Perhaps a truck rolls by on the street and you were able to see what it was transporting and how far it was traveling? Perhaps trees could process images to us that described history through its age rings. Or perhaps clouds could be another communication device to relay a message to another person far away. We would be aware of the world around us and become practically all-knowing, right? How does that make you feel? Scary or full of possibilities? Take a look at the finished animation and see for yourself!

The standard Second Life animations that come with a newbie avatar are very short of impressive. Their feet kind of slide across the floor, they needlessly spread their legs apart with every position. With machinima, this can turn heads away to tune in elsewhere. How can the audience relate to the characters in the story when those characters use their hands in a dorky typing motion to communicate?

There are many ways you can control an avatar’s movements. The first step to purchase a proper AO. Sometimes it’s worth the money to purchase the more expensive ones from good Mo-Cap stores such as Vista and Abranimations. This is because the animations you purchase were actually done by a real person and their motion was recorded- if that doesn’t add to “realism” then I don’t know what does.

Next, you should put yourself in the character’s shoes. If my character is a leader, I’ll choose AO’s that make them appear more dominant in their stature; perhaps they cross their arms a bit more. With shy or supporting characters, I might choose an AO that has them clasp their hands in their lap more often. You’d be surprised how much this visually builds their character until you scream, “It’s alive!”

With an AO, the walk is also a lot more fluid and easier to control as well. Often, you will ask an actor to walk from point A to B and stop. With an AO, your character actually takes smaller steps so you can approximate the correct positioning more. Here’s a little trick- to make the character walk slower (really pleasant looking in a machinima), drag the actual AO HUD to the ground, now right click it and go to Contents. Remove the walk you like and drag it to your inventory to a folder you’ll remember. Now, open this animation from your inventory by double clicking it. While walking, press Page Down key on your keyboard and it will actually make your avatar take a more delicate, appealing stride.

Machinimas with heavy narrative storylines are actually a little more challenging because it calls for an avatar to perform something more specific. For example, one time I shot an episode for IBM that called for one of the Project Leaders to be mad—by mad I mean fuming! Crossing his arms wasn’t going to do. He had to be running around an office, panicked and at his last resort. At Abranimations and other animation stores, they sell specific animations as individual purchases (about 70L per animation). For example, there’s one where a character might fall over drunk, another where a character jumps in the air with their hands up because of excitement. ]In my case, I found an animation called “Panic” where my avatar paced around, making sharp turns and shaking his head angrily, occasionally shaking his fist in different directions. So, we went on set that day and placed avatars 360 degrees all around him, and when we played that animation it looked like he was shaking his fist at all of them. It looked amazing!

If you click through the options at various pose stores, even though the name of the animation may not match what you’re trying to express, you can still use if you change the context. Try to imagine what you would do in real life to express yourself. Remember though, in animation characters do tend to express their selves a bit more to the extreme than anyone would in real life, so feel free to exaggerate the emotion.

In one of my machinimas called “Muinjij Becomes a Man” I needed to have a Native American boy appear upset because the townfolk in a modern town he went to were making fun of his clothes and smell. I decided to use the animation called Gloat, even though to gloat is to look at somebody with great gratification and joy. The way the arms raised up and down, it could have been used as disappointment as well (don’t you spastically throw down your hands when you’re upset?).  So I made the boy wear a sad face so his lips were curled down and when he played the animation, it looked perfect even though the context was the opposite of the intention!

Last but not least, if your machinima script ever calls for something even MORE specific, sometimes it’s best to hire an animator. In fact, because of the amount of control you’ll have, you will receive the best results, particularly if that animator is willing to record it in Mocap for you.   The most professional machinimatographers have a full time animator on board who gets  a list of all the animations in the script and creates them with the director’s consent.

Here is a preview of one of the IBM Episodes we made. Take notice of the various stands, walks, and animations we triggered to give the characters a more life like feel.

(written for the Metaverse Tribune by Framedin3D)