STORM on the HORIZON
Today there are so many ways for creators to get their projects made I am actually surprised we don't see more quality content out there. I think expectation of what should be done holds more people back than anything else. Those who defy expectation are willing to try some interesting things. The creators of the recent, hit web series Afterworld have done that, using Poser to create something not unlike the "visual novel" method of storytelling. That show is now making the jump from the web to TV. As mentioned previously, the makers of Broken Saints also defied convention, creating a long web series in the visual novel style. This eventually led to a DVD publishing deal with Fox.
There is another method of visual storytellng that is, in my view, surprisingly underused. It has been around for years. It has thousands of adherants and millions of fans. That method is Machinima. Typically tied to game engines, where users would record scenes in Quake or Unreal Tournament and then put voices to them, Machinima has been one of the fastest way to create quality content. It is also because of this method of creation, being mostly limited to what the game possessed, that I think it has been held back. Of course, this has been swiftly changing for some time.
Moviestorm is a new tool, currently in beta, which is specifically designed for allowing users to make movies in Machinima. This idea is, of course, not new, as software like iClone and The Movies have given users this ability for some time, but this may be the first time is comes without limits. iClone, though extremely powerful and boasting incredible quality with its generation 2 characters, still requires users to know and used 3DS MAX in order to create their own content. That makes for an extremely expensive plugin to create content for iClone. The Movies allows users to import other object formats with some effort, but users of the movies do not own their creations done with the tool. They are in no way allowed to profit from it. Moviestorm is doing away with such limitations.
According to the Moviestorm site, this tool plans to give users the ability to create all of their content right inside the Moviestorm engine. This is similar to how Second Life handles content creation. Also, users will completely own everything they create with it, meaning that if they can find the avenue, users are welcome to earn money from their work. So just what avenues are available to earn from?
This takes me back to Afterworld. Here is a show that is primarily panning and zooming on stills that, on account of its great writing, has gone pretty far. With Moviestorm, though all movies currently on the site are not representative of it, you have levels of detail like a good game engine should. This means that some movies look flat and typical of realtime 3D, while others have precalculated shadows and lightmaps, realtime shadowmaps, and nice looking textures and shading. This means the gap can be very small between what can be done in Moviestorm and what is often done with Poser.
That's not the end. The ability to make mods in Moviestorm means you can push it as far as your computer can handle. Higher resolution characters, textures and sets can be yours for the making or for the buying when their mod marketplace comes out. But Moviestorm also doesn't limit you to staying inside the program. You can create clips and take them into your favorite editor or even compositor to add high quality FX. You could do matte paintings in Vue and shoot Moviestorm characters on green screen. You could add particle effects from your favorite particle engine, even composite creatures done with another tool. Are you starting to see the possibilities here?
I believe that the creator with vision will be able to create a show that will more than attract the attention of a large fanbase. I believe that creator will stand apart in a coming market boom, a storm that will change the content world. As always there will be far more bad than good. But I believe that creator who has the vision now and prepares, perhaps preparing to make web series, mods for the program, content for others to use, and more, will reap profits from it that may not be possible in other content worlds.
There is another method of visual storytellng that is, in my view, surprisingly underused. It has been around for years. It has thousands of adherants and millions of fans. That method is Machinima. Typically tied to game engines, where users would record scenes in Quake or Unreal Tournament and then put voices to them, Machinima has been one of the fastest way to create quality content. It is also because of this method of creation, being mostly limited to what the game possessed, that I think it has been held back. Of course, this has been swiftly changing for some time.
Moviestorm is a new tool, currently in beta, which is specifically designed for allowing users to make movies in Machinima. This idea is, of course, not new, as software like iClone and The Movies have given users this ability for some time, but this may be the first time is comes without limits. iClone, though extremely powerful and boasting incredible quality with its generation 2 characters, still requires users to know and used 3DS MAX in order to create their own content. That makes for an extremely expensive plugin to create content for iClone. The Movies allows users to import other object formats with some effort, but users of the movies do not own their creations done with the tool. They are in no way allowed to profit from it. Moviestorm is doing away with such limitations.
According to the Moviestorm site, this tool plans to give users the ability to create all of their content right inside the Moviestorm engine. This is similar to how Second Life handles content creation. Also, users will completely own everything they create with it, meaning that if they can find the avenue, users are welcome to earn money from their work. So just what avenues are available to earn from?
This takes me back to Afterworld. Here is a show that is primarily panning and zooming on stills that, on account of its great writing, has gone pretty far. With Moviestorm, though all movies currently on the site are not representative of it, you have levels of detail like a good game engine should. This means that some movies look flat and typical of realtime 3D, while others have precalculated shadows and lightmaps, realtime shadowmaps, and nice looking textures and shading. This means the gap can be very small between what can be done in Moviestorm and what is often done with Poser.
That's not the end. The ability to make mods in Moviestorm means you can push it as far as your computer can handle. Higher resolution characters, textures and sets can be yours for the making or for the buying when their mod marketplace comes out. But Moviestorm also doesn't limit you to staying inside the program. You can create clips and take them into your favorite editor or even compositor to add high quality FX. You could do matte paintings in Vue and shoot Moviestorm characters on green screen. You could add particle effects from your favorite particle engine, even composite creatures done with another tool. Are you starting to see the possibilities here?
I believe that the creator with vision will be able to create a show that will more than attract the attention of a large fanbase. I believe that creator will stand apart in a coming market boom, a storm that will change the content world. As always there will be far more bad than good. But I believe that creator who has the vision now and prepares, perhaps preparing to make web series, mods for the program, content for others to use, and more, will reap profits from it that may not be possible in other content worlds.
3 Comments:
I took a look at some moviestorm animations on youtube. I think it looks better than what I've seen from iclone, or other machinima. The movements look more natural. However, it's still not quite there.
I'm taking a while to settle on what software I will use, and I'm now leaning towards softimage xsi. It was used on making "Happy Feet" because of the motion capture editing capabilities. I compared the animation mixer to what truespace has, and it looks way better. Also, xsi now has "motor," which is their mocap retargeting solution. One of their employess said on xsibase, that they are considering making both "motor" and "gator" available as plugins for xsi foundation, since they are already "giving them away" in the free mod tool. When that will happen is not known.
I've been thinking about endorphin - you know, those fabulous action sequences are not the largest part of most films. They can be great,
but most of the action will usually be walking around and talking. I think that was true even in "The Incredibles." So a program like endorphin could only save a certain amount of time, really.
Endorphin can be an amazing tool outside of just stunts and dynamic action. Even as just a motion capture editor and retargeting tool it has a lot fo functionality. It also ads the ability to mix motion capture and physics, for example, a person walking, but carrying a heavy object.
If one does not have the kind of tools Soft Image might present in their arsenal, Endorphin could be a great multipurpose tool. The expense is still somewhat prohibitive, though.
Er, well, endorphin is a lot more expensive than xsi. My plan for myself is to get the student version to be able learn it all, and start using it to do my own project, and save money to buy the $3000 version in the meantime. Now that you can get just about everything except the unlimited render nodes in the essentials version (as of version 6.5), it's somewhat more doable for ordinary mortals.
Anyway, I'll still also be experimenting with mixing motion capture and physics with the other
inexpensive programs I have.
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