Tour of our SL Campus

Our first machinima but I think we did ok.

I got too tense in the studio while recording the audio, and doing the camera work in SL was tough but I thought this was an amazing experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNP6IJwY90

Hope you like it, Be sure to comment if you're registered with youtube. Or feel free to send comments to me through IM or e mail [email]steelskyblue@gmail.com[/email].


What we used:
Exported video directly out of SL.
Used Final Cut Pro for video editing
Used iMovide HD to compress into podcast format and for uploading to youtube.

I have some questions:
1.Why do people prefer fraps over capturing video from SL directly?
2.Are there any good freebie camera movement scripts?
3.Are there any good for sale camera movement scripts?
4. Why does SL export video only in avi format?
5. Why does the exported video have an alpha layer?
6.Are the screen size settings for SL video export for real? They did not seem to make any sense to us.

Thanks

Troy

Troy




I have limited experience, but here goes:

1) I get a better framerate with FRAPS, and smaller files
2) Some vehicle scripts work well. I used a set of scripts I found in the library, put them in a flat cube prim and have a ride on platform for filming which is controlled by the usual movement keys. Also check out the Alt-Zoom camera which works really well - you can find some more info here: http://moomoney.wordpress.com/2006/...lt-zoom-camera/
3) There are security products which make multiple angle shooting a little easier - try www.slexchange.com and look at the BuckySoft and CaliCam products
4) No idea
5) No idea
6) I usually resize the window to what I want, turn off all extraneous visual elements and use FRAPS

Hope this helps a bit

DG

Thanks for your response and all the info you provided. I will give Fraps a try next time, let's see how that turns out.



Troy

Hi!
I'm curious as to what speech synthesis package you used to get the oh-so-lifelike voice in your movie.. I've played with the AT&T Labs Text-To-Speech and the speech is nowhere near the excellent quality of what you used...

Thanks
Tas

Yes, very nice!



Audio is always tense, since most people hate the way they sound recorded, and its hard to just get through all of the takes.





Moebius Overdrive and I use:
Camera: FRAPS video capture
Audio Recording/FX: SoundForge
Editing/Post FX: Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5/2.0
Final Master: Quicktime 7



1. Unnamed folks at LL themselves recommend using an external capture tool until someone at LL can devote the time to improve the client video capture.

The main issue may be that the in-world capture is designed for "casual" capture, not heavy "production" use such as that needed for longer machinima projects.

FRAPS was designed to capture 3D game sessions, so it is designed to be as lightweight as possible to minimize impact to the 3D games. Many 3D gamers are very finicky about saving every fps they can, and FRAPS caters to that.

2. Yes, the founder of the Alt-Zoom Machinima group in SL, named Buhbuhcuh Fairchild aka BBC, made a very nice scripted motion control camera. You can get a free copy in the machinima kit in the Alt-Zoom Studios Backlot theater on Lukanida island, in SL. YOu rez inworld objects as waypoints, orient them how you want the camera itself to be oriented, and let 'er rip. Occasionally it explodes in your face, and resets can be interesting, but most of the time it works like a champ. The funny thing is: real life motion control cameras break down more than BBCs.

3. I don't know. I have seen many folks say that BBC's camera kit is the best in-world.
I don't think I have even seen a for-sale camera kit.

4. My guess: AVI is easy to implement on all 3 platforms, and represents a compromise choice between speed and compression. SL is dedicated to drawing 3D pictures, and the purpose of saving 2D movies is much lower priority.

5. My guess: because it was already in the data structure, and it was faster to just save it, at the expense of disk, than to strip it at the expense of CPU better used to draw 3D.

6. Not sure I understand the question.

For a first movie, you have done very well indeed, especially with the added overhead of a real commercial client waiting for the results. Kudos for courage

If you have any other questions, feel free to look up myself of Moebius Overdrive in-world.

Some of our movies:
A Scream In The Dark of the Night and A Zombie Stole My Heart:
http://alt-zoom.com/edwood.htm

START: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uvjdf591CpQ