machinima

05/18/2003 10:07:00 AM
A new technology is about to revolutionize amateur/hobbyist filmmaking. It's called "machinima" and it allows users to create 3D animated films with big-budget Pixar-style production quality using video-game programming software. It's essentially like shooting a film in a virtual reality in real-time.
what is machinima
http://www.machinima.com/
WIRED article

At this point, these virtual worlds look like video games. But the technology is still in its infancy and as the animation community gets closer and closer to compelling realism, machinima will as well. Think of the way people download "skins" for media players and software apps. Now imagine, a few years from now, downloading machinima worlds in the same way. These worlds would have a file type like .mach and there would be various world editing programs and plug-ins. Chicago in 1913. Mars. Yankee Stadium. A baboon community in the rainforest. The set of "Three's Company." Now imagine designers, programmers and end-users creating original pieces for these worlds, like customized video game add-ons. Templates and bits and pieces of these virtual realities would be publicly available. Anyone would be able to download them and create custom films within them. Free cast, free crew, free special effects teams. A struggling screenwriter or a twelve year old doing a presentation for school would be able to create animated films of higher production quality than what would currently require multi-million dollar budgets.

You can download sample machinima films. These ones are set in the world of "The Matrix"

In the nearer future, watch for machinima popping up in ad agencies as a superior way to storyboard, to inexpensively test concepts and ultimately to produce advertising.
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