WoW Moviewatch: What a Wonderful World
by Moo Money 
Apr 4th 2008 at 12:00PM
After the sabotage accusation incident, I was reluctant to actually fulfill his request, but it's the only way that he'll be able to refine his technique. While there's nothing visually wrong with the machinima, other than an aspect ratio mistake with the model viewer footage here and there, it's really too literal. I would suggest coming up with a storyline.
Other than that, be careful with the color filters and other effects. The rest will come to you with time! Overall, while it's not the best machinima that I've ever seen, it's also not the worst by far. Keep at it!
[Via Warcraftmovies.com]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
Previously on Moviewatch ...
Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TotalBiscuit Apr 4th 2008 12:38PM
Ok, first thing I'll say on this one. There's nothing in this video you couldn't have done in game. Modelviewer and Mapviewer are being used as a crutch these days. They have their uses, for scenes that are utterly impossible to pull off in-game, but the problem in this case are obvious. The shots are off, the models are not to scale, the animations are all wrong. For instance, it doesn't look like the models are walking at the correct speed, because the animation speed doesn't match up with the movement speed.
This stuff could have been done in-game, with real actors, and it would have looked absolutely fine. I see a scene with a human walking across the water. You could have done that by casting water-walking on your actor and it would have looked like it was supposed to be there. Part of machinima is learning how to work WITH the game and it's limitations. Model and Map viewer remove most of those limitations, and in doing so, also remove much of the perspective and creativity that make a great machinimator. Let me give you an example.
I have a machinima I'm working on that's currently in limbo right now due to other commitments. It's a music video for Captain Dan's Dead Mines Battle. Captain Dan often makes reference to 'his cannon' (work that one out for yourself), so I wanted a scene where the pirates reach the great door with the large cannon, and try to get through it with their own cannons, before the smart one of the party realizes that they could just use the big cannon that's right there. Now, I could have done this with Aftereffects and modelviewer, and superimposed cannons and explosions into the shot. I didn't though, what I did, was have my actors deploy steam-tonks, angle the shot on the door so the tonks were out of the frame, and have them bombard the door with the tonk's cannon ability, causing a barrage of impressive, but otherwise useless in-game explosions on the door.
My motto is this, if you can't do it in-game, then consider just how integral it really is to your story, and then only break out map/model-viewer when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
Let's talk about your lip-sync. Instead of using model-viewer, why not just take shots of your actors in the locations you want to use, at different angles, doing various different emotes, and then chop together that stock footage and manipulate it's speed, to match up to the lyrics. For an example, check out the intro to my 2nd Chronicles movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxWwM247jDM Not to blow my own trumpet, but that lipsync is almost bang on perfect within the confines of the game, without using the repetition/looping trick that some machinima uses (that's not a bad thing btw, if you can pull it off, do it!). There's no fancy modelviewing there, just properly cut in-game footage and some patience. That's all it takes, really, why make it more complicated than it already is? Work with natural materials, and you'll get a natural result.
Your concept's good, your visual quality is pretty solid. I'd encourage you to try it again and this time, try and 'keep it real'. Most of the great machinimators started in-game and then moved to model/mapviewer when their concepts became too grand or otherwise ridiculous for the game to handle, not the other way around. Keep it simple, stick to your concept, and plan what you're going to need scene by scene. Then go out and get that footage. Simple as that.
Keep trying.
Badger Apr 4th 2008 4:49PM
In contrast to the fiasco from yesterday ... This was really well said!
W. Guppy Apr 7th 2008 9:30AM
Other than being insanely loud on my machine (my ears are still in recovery), I enjoyed the spirit behind what created this piece. Good luck on future endeavors.
Silvertip Apr 4th 2008 1:28PM
The sound quality needs to be improved.
ebayes Apr 4th 2008 1:44PM
Just want to add a note. Comment #1 was pretty thorough. Make sure you give credit where credit is due. You made no mention, in the credits, of the songs used. That is one of an important aspect of machinima, in my eyes. Just be careful of that in the future :D
Keep trying!