Blender

I have just recently downloaded the open source 3D animation software called "Blender." It has some amazing capabilities-it is almost as powerful as the CG software that Hollywood movies use. Over the past 3 days, I have been rendering what might be considered a "right of passage" for learning Blender: a fluid simulation. I call this a "right of passage," because blender fluid simulations are a dime a dozen on youtube. So it's not anything that stellar..... unless you haven't seen any blender fluid simulations. In which case, you can praise me for my incredibly awesome animation skills until you see a whole bunch of videos like mine and realize that they are not anything special.

Anyway, here's the video:

Although at first glance this latest video may seem to be more procrastination, it is in fact a very good thing for you, the viewer (unlike procrastination). You see, the fact that I am learning Blender is a very good thing for you. Using Blender, I can make original models and animations, and put them into BOTH Crysis and RCT3!!!!!!

So, we'll just see how Mechanics Vs. Aliens episode 6 turns out using terrain animation as well as animated CS.

Refreshing

I saw a refreshingly original but not overreaching RCT3 Machinima today!! It was fairly funny in my opinion. So just watch it already!!!

Mechanics Vs. Aliens episode 6 in production

You read the title correctly! (or did you?) Mechanics Vs. Aliens episode 6 is officially in production. Now you can watch the Xfire thingy and keep track of how long I've worked on it! So far I have logged 6 hours. That might not be very incredible, but what I did during those 6 hours is: I recorded the same shot over and over and over again. I recorded it 61 times in a row!!

Now you might be thinking "Wow, that must be a tough shot to get! It took 61 takes?" Well, the fact is that I recorded it 61 times in a row to achieve a very specific effect.

So far as I can tell, this effect has never been performed before. That means I get to make up a name for it! New effect, I shalt dub thee "Terrain Animation."

Yes. Terrain animation. It is pretty much what it sounds like. I am animating terrain. The process, although fairly simple, takes a bit too much time to explain in this one post. I'm thinking about making a topic about it in LordG1gabyt3's RCT3 Machinima forums which you should really check out if you haven't already (It has a new, awesome front page!)

So that's pretty much it. MVA episode 6 is in production and will showcase the first ever (I think) use of terrain animation.

The coolness of messing around on Saturday

At first I thought that I would try to start another Crysis Machinima today, so I got up at 6:00 am and tried to work on something. But nothing would come to me, so I gave up and just messed around today. 

A small portion of this "messing around" was making some ToD art using the CryENGINE 2. (apparently I was up to the task of snapping pictures, but not filmmaking).

So, here is what I came up with:

37 Seconds of Cinematic Win

Well, this morning I uploaded my most recent project: a short, cinematic clip with no plot made with the epic CryENGINE 2. I was not expecting a huge response, and I know videos usually get a whole bunch of views upon release and then taper out, but I have been unusually pleased with the response to my short Crysis clip, entitled "37 Seconds of Cinematic Win."

As of 8:45 pm, it has 187 views and 8 comments on Youtube. Even more astonishing than that is a thread that I started on the Crymod forums. It has gotten 8 replies and 140 views!! I am just not used to getting that many views on a thread in a few hours. The thread can be found here:

http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=47897

And the video, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJmlDdY15PA

The video is in High Definition, as every Crysis video should be.