December 2009 Archives

Machinima Production Flowchart

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We just compiled this production flow chart for internal use, with thanks to new DoQ member George for making it all shiny. It was so shiny in fact, that I immediately felt the need to share it with the community. Enjoy!

DoQ shiny.pdf

New Blog. New Heading.

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Nearly half a decade ago I took up a bit of blogging to tell a tale from the lowly perspective of a guy who finally landed a job teaching what he loved most. Machinima. A lot has happened since I took up the blog in 2005 as can be read here; sometimes a bit boldly in the archived text, and sometimes hidden between the posts. The old is out, and the new is in! I'm starting this blog over, and gearing it back to a production log, as I originally intended it to be.

But, before we do that, how about some highlights?



Soul Meridian: My first post, a lengthy this is my life at the crossroads post that closes with the original goal of the blog: Showcase the development of my epic Machinima film, "Soul Meridian" I still have soulmeridian.com that I purchased as a motivational tool. I still visit the blank teaser page every so often, take away the ideas that still stick, and jot them down.

Ottawa 2004:
The second entry was a Machinimators lament at the poorly handled category disqualification. We came, we saw, we got our asses kicked, and somehow we came home a little bit stronger. I posted some pics too!

SummerTech 2005: The primary reason for keeping the blog was my job teaching Machinima at SummerTech in New York. A long way from home, I figured it would help me keep in touch with friends, family, and keep all others informed and hopefully entertained. A epic ton of self discovery happened that summer, and much of it can be gleaned just by reading the text. It's amazing looking back and reading your own coming of age story.

Space Man Biff: Sometime late summer 2005, Mike calls me up with a fleshed out version of a tale he feverishly concocted in Ottawa right after our walk-out. It's a solid tale about an old man stuck all but trapped in a dying space craft, and how he must salvage parts from a trashed out planet. He makes friends with a local robot and has to fend off evil machines. This would evolve into a more epic tale that is still being written, as is unfortunately common with us.

Who's indie now baby? In late 2005 I pick up a copy of the Torque Game Engine, and would toy with it like a kid trying to finish his lima beans for the next four years!

Machinima Film Festival 2005: The first festival for me in a while, and I somehow ended up covering the Fountainhead booth. Never did anything like that before, and it was a lot of fun telling folks about one my student's favorite tools. It was such a last minute ordeal, that Paul Marino had to buy copies of his book to snag the Machinimation demo so we could promote the product!

Getting Ready! I outline my basic production plan for Soul Meridian, including hardware, software, and the like. I'm very careful not to say what I'm working on, as to avoid the chance that I will be DoA. It pretty much was, since i'm still writing it. (Actively, I might add!)

SiN Episodes: A co-worker at the school has a son, he's a programmer who at the time worked at Ritual. They needed some play-testers to come in and play the shit out of SiN Episodes part one. I enjoyed it very much, told them it could use more vertical levels as they were the highlight.

What the Hell is Going on Here?! Here I lament on the past year or so, and come to realize that I've all but stood still on a few very important topics the lack of action with my own Machinima, and personal life. I think this marks the first time I got moody on the blog. The entry right before that was on Valentines day, and reading it now is great for a chuckle.

*tear*

Tuesday, February 14, 2006, 03:39 PM - Life


She's out there... somewhere.

/plugs in some Weezer


A Better Future for Fox TV! - An Open Letter This one's funny enough I'll just re-post it right here:
 
The influx of so called "reality" television is the main reason for my
exodus from the world of watching TV regularly. There was a time when I
enjoyed the bulk of Fox networks programing, until a few years ago when
the 'reality' struck. I find the programing insulting and downright
lazy. Please return to the quality written, directed, and acted
programing of the past. I understand the low cost of reality program
production helps the ad-fed bottom line, after all you don't need
scripts or known actors; but please realize the impact it has on the
overall opinion of your fine studio. It degrades your entire company,
an entity comparable only to cheep liquor: only good for making you
feel stupid. I feel I would be more likely not to change the channel,
or skip ads using a TVIO device if the content of the shows you air
were of a higher social caliber.

Thank you for your time, and here's looking to a better future for Fox TV!

Whodathunkit, they wrote me back!

Thank you for the feedback, Buddy. I've passed this on to our VP of
Programming for Fox Reality.

All the best to you,

Steve

_____________________________________

Steven Ward
Director, New Media
Fox Reality
_____________________________________

No Grant: Holy shit, we made a new Machinima movie! It's only been a year since this blog got started! But it's actually only a teaser for Diet Cola.



SummerTech 2006:
Another amazing summer teaching Machinima. This one was a lot smoother
and better documented. Check out June - August 2006 for all the yummy.

So long and thanks for all the Chicken Fried Steak!:
Off across the great blue wonder to the land of chopsticks, crazy, and
robots. Started off trying to figure out love between two people, but
discovered a mighty love of travel instead. The mushy stuff would just
have to wait! We eventually made it back to Japan 2 years latter, but
instead of just a long weekend, we made it a full on week and had even
more fun discovering nooks on our own without the guides!

Machinima: What is it good for? Not sure where all the rage came from, but this was an epic rant for the time. Made a few waves, but I felt a ton better after typing it all out. I said some really cruel things, and instead of getting slammed like I expected, I got kudos instead. I mean, I even told the community their balls hadn't dropped... the hell? NEXT TIME!!!!

It's Christmas Time, Again! A random cell-phone picture post. Fun!

Proclamations and Projections New Year of 2006 going into 2007 Good old fashion reflection on the past, and a bit of hopeful poking at the future!

Internet Celebrity on Innovation! Posted my short list of most innovative Machinima films of all time. At least up to that point.

One of those days. Goats who stare at men!

Secret Projects, Push Backs, and Silver Linings I
discover that a previous post was a topic of discussion on the much
loved Overcast. It was an honest mistake on my part to be so
mysterious, but it was really fun so I kept it up! Saddly, the project
in question never made it past a few models and textures. I still have
the story boards and swear I'll finish it one day!

Welcome to the Office! Dead on Que's first office, and the start of one hell of a year!

Road Trip for Freedom! The presidential race is in full swing, and we shake hands with our pick of the litter Ron Paul.

Only make IMPORTANT additions. I was knee deep in working out the Crysis pipeline when I accidentally the SCAR Machine Gun.

Stanley
We started a forum novel game. Where someone writes a chapter (post)
and the next person picks up and writes the next one. The masses were
moderately entertained by our terrible writing!

Behind the Machinima Likely the single greatest post in the whole lot. A picture update of our summer of fun and Machinima in the office with Barry.

Picking Up the Mess The very next post, I love it! /tear

A Skimming Stone The office closes its doors and I find my true love, but didn't post about it in fear of jinxing it! Well, I did include a "secret I love you" in the very next post. <3

New Years Resolution With the office closed and some spare time I managed to make a short film called Rise.



Rise. from Brian Mayberry on Vimeo.

Must we always, rise?


I also claimed that I was going to make one a month for the entire
year. Had I known what was coming next, I might have said something a
little less demanding!

Gwendolyn Day Mayberry Skip to Febuary 2009 and you've got the topic of the rest of this year. A little girl is on the way, even if we didn't 'know' she was going to be a girl for many more months, we still... knew.

On the Awesomeness of Beards I think this was my first and only purely satirical post. I still crack myself up re-reading this thing. The rest of the year is just once a month updates of the baby's progress in utero. There was a post about how cool the new Torque engine is, however.

And now we are at the end. A really interesting look back, if I do say so myself. You can almost pinpoint the moment I got a life by the drought of updates in 2009. Priorities, man! With all that said, it's now time to clean up my act and blog like I intended back in 2005. This will now become a combination of promotion, examples, tips, tricks, and production pipeline examples, all Machinima related. I wanted to create something useful, not only for myself, but for the greater Machinima community as a whole, and a tutorial blog IMHO, is the way to go!



The old blog is staying right where it is, for archival reasons, so please update your links!

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