Machinima Collab: December 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Game Arcade

The journey continues...
Found game arcade at Flotsam Beach. (SLURL)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Week 15 - Digital Cinema

Hisham Bizri
What is digital cinema? history, theory, and practice...

resolution comparison of different digital video formats:

source: Red Camera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RED_Digital_Camera_Company#Recording_formats

common digital cinema formats:

source: Digital Cinematography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinematography#Acquisition_Formats

aspect ratio - HDTV (16:9/1.78:1), cinema projection (1.85:1)

source: Aspect Ratio (16:9)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16:9#Why_16:9.3F

--- ---------- ---
technical details:
• High-Definition Video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_video#Technical_details
• NTSC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC
• DVD Video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video
• Final Cut Pro
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=wxO&q=final+cut+pro+frame+size&btnG=Search
change frame size

--- ---------- ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czRZ0moKIu8

Friday, December 12, 2008

12 shots were completed today: gun fight, martial art, aerial attack, and cute robot & lieutenant double actions. It was a good filming session. Details can be worked out later as the project continues to develop: camera movement, image quality, specific animation & motion, and particle effects.

Couple things were left for post-production to amend: lighting + color, unification of frame size + ratio. (We should fix out frame size next week. It was a bit off 16:9)

camera 2 (Jenny): 720x450 > 720x405
camera 1 (Bruce): 864x540 > 853x480 (864x486)
camera 3 (Valeria): 960x540

Technical issues: Steve and Snow White were turned into smoke avatars. Last week, it was Sassy. It's a Second Life bug we lived with. Fogs just freeze the client (Black Friday).

Link to 12-12-08 shots (light setting changed to sunset)

Light setting comparison (this was test shot from 12-09-08 with fogs and night)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Week 14 - HD Machinima

Theoretically, it is possible to create HD machinima by capturing video on the computer screen through DVI (s-video out on Mac) to another digital device, such as Mini DV Pro Camcorder. Although EQC at New School has DV, which supports 720p/1080p @ 24/30/60pfs, it does not carry AV interface adapter/converter. The converter also needs to be able to process HD video format. Not sure if there is an inexpensive equipment setup. Most of mid-range priced converter only supports resolution up to 720x480.

We will see if we can get some answers. (forum post)

Apple DVI to Video Adapter

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Week 14 - Room 425 Testing Results

Compare recording qualities:
Mac desktop (425) in Nov 07

Back in early Nov, we were able to video capture at 968x544 with the front computer. So why not now... (view 640x480)
Spec:

PC desktop (In-Bum)

Spec:
TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (Camtasia), 720*486, 30fps
Nvidia Geforce 7800 GT, cpu pentium D 3Ghz, ram 2G

*** * * * ***
To create HD machinima with Second Life is proven to be problematic based on the current hardware capacity we have in Room 425. There are different recommendations from machinima filmmaker experienced with Second Life:
1. Video capture to DV camcorder.
2. Less avatars present.
3. Less primitives, textures, particle effects ... anything for client to render (client issue).
4. Get a better graphic card.
5. Use windows?
6. Go online during less traffic hour (server issue).

other references: Recording Machinima

Recommendation from Academic Technology:
7. Clear files on the computer to optimize its performance.
8. Less users on network bandwidth.
9. ...

To monitor lag:
Help > Lag Meter
View > Statistics
Advanced > (to see all the real-time rendering details)

*** * * * ***
Conclusion:
We will do our best with what we have been using (Second Life & Snapz) and hardware configuration available in Room 425.
1. Only 5 actors (at most) for the shot should log in and present at the set.
2. Two cameramen need to stay outside the filming site.
3. Set needs to reduce its usage of primitives, textures, shine, and glow.
4. Stick to old frame size: 960x540, anti-aliasing x2 (if not working, we will go down to: 869x480, 720x450 and take out anti-alising).
5. Clear files on your computer (work-in-progress folder) and restart.
6. Camera movements kept low. (no zooming in and out swiftly).

Monday, December 08, 2008

Week 14 - Machinima Setup

Review 12/5 Shots:
camera 1 (Bruce)

camera 3 (Valeria)

Light Setting:

****
plan for testing:
We need to inspect our machinima setup again and Second Life loads. Aspects include primitive / avatar numbers, graphic rendering, and video capturing spec. I suspect the main problems is Second Life client and equipment's capacity. Couple things to go through:
1. Reduce primitive usage numbers (assigned parcel only takes 717 prims).
2. Reduce rendering loads (primitive faces: remove unnecessary texture, shine, glow, and light).
3. Kick out other avatars on the sim. Actors standby at another sim.
4. Delete files on computers.
5. Record on to another machine or mini DV pro camcorder instead of using Snapz.