Visualizing Virtual Worlds

This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of ‘405’. World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

Na'vi People of Hometree Wisconsin

March 7, 2010 joellynrock Avatars + Virtual Worlds, Recently Noticed

Portrait of The Na’vi People of Hometree Wisconsin.

Machinima > a new art form

January 29, 2010 joellynrock Avatars + Virtual Worlds, Digital Narrative, Recently Noticed

A Japanese ghost story adapted from Hearn’s “Yuki-Onna”(Kwaidan). Directed by Michelle Pettit-Mee. Filmed entirely in the Sims 2, October 2006. Winner of Best Story at the European Machinima Festival ’07.

So, what is Machinima?
From the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences
http://www.machinima.org/

Machinima (muh-sheen-eh-mah) is filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment, often using 3D video-game technologies.

In an expanded definition, it is the convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development. Machinima is real-world filmmaking techniques applied within an interactive virtual space where characters and events can be either controlled by humans, scripts or artificial intelligence.

By combining the techniques of filmmaking, animation production and the technology of real-time 3D game engines, Machinima makes for a very cost- and time-efficient way to produce films, with a large amount of creative control.

Archive of Machinima Films
http://www.archive.org/details/machinima

Machinima.com is a website, operated by Machinima, Inc., that aims to be a hub for machinima, the art of creating animated videos in real-time virtual 3-D environments. The site features machinima-related articles, news, and Internet forums.
http://www.machinima.com/

ILL Clan Animation Studios is an award-winning machinima animation studio with over ten years of experience producing original content and work for hire. Called “machinima masters” by Wired Magazine we’ve been a key player in pioneering this medium since its origins in 1997.
http://www.illclan.com/our-videos

The Art of Machinima on Vimeo
http://www.vimeo.com/channels/54547

Machinima Podcasts
http://theovercast.com/

List of Machinima Film Festivals

INTERNATIONAL MACHINIMA EXPO 2009
http://machiniplex.net/expo/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_machinima_festivals

Machinima Festival Europe
http://www.dmu.ac.uk/machinima/index.php

Angela Thomas blogs about Machinima here, with some great examples:
Proposing A Machinima Canon
http://angelaathomas.com/2009/05/27/proposing-a-machinima-canon/

Paul Marino blog
http://blog.machinima.org/

More about Machinima

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Utopian Campus

October 1, 2009June 30, 2015 joellynrock Avatars + Virtual Worlds, Utopian Art

Students have completed the digital compositing project. Here are some visions of a campus utopia…

http://www.d.umn.edu/~jrock2/utopian_campus/

In my Utopian campus I would integrate more “art” into everyday areas where students would walk past or even walk on. I would also want to build a channel for a river that would flow through campus where students could swim or canoe. There would also be many unique bridges over it for access to other buildings on campus. I would also change the sidewalks and boring concrete walls around UMD and fill them with student designs so that our school would be customizable to our time. And the architecture would be more unique for each building so that It would be easy to navigate and be pleasant to look at as you walk though school. Overall I would just want the atmosphere to feel less like a business building and have a more creative feel that could inspire students as they travel and learn on campus. ~Garrett Danielson

As you walk through the bright hallways you will find a large wooden door. This leads to the courtyard. As you enter there is a boardwalk that leads you down the center and along side the reflecting pool. After that, feel free to walk on the grass or along the granite walkways on either side. It is recommended to take your shoes off to enjoy this place of tranquil delight. Spend time walking around the art pieces as well as the gardens and trees. As the seasons change the courtyard changes. In the fall, enjoy the rich colored trees and crisp, cool air. Once the snow falls, a large, clear dome will protect the courtyard from snow and ice. It will turn into an indoor courtyard. The natural order of trees may change but the grass will stay green all year and the flowers will be at constant care. The courtyard’s maintenance will provide students with jobs as well as class projects and volunteer work. There are more windows and sky-walks around campus as well. This allows everyone to see the beautiful place on his or her way to and from class.

~Amara Barthelemy

For my design I decided to do the theme of super human abilities. It is a fun project to ask my friends what super power they would want to have and then try to create what they want. I decided to try and make it look realistic yet also have qualities of a fantasy. The composition of a panorama opens up the picture and allows the characters to interact with their location in space and their environment. Having the whole background consist of an actual pieced together wide view of a real part of the campus gives it part of the realistic feel. Heightened contrast and slightly unsaturated colors in the background make the characters pop more and also a more fantasy, cartoon feel. Recreating the sky digitally makes it a little more dreamlike and less realistic feeling. My aim is to create a unique wide angle view of the UMD campus with a few make-believe twists. ~Beau Walsh

The kind of Utopia I envision in a university setting is one that brings together all students and faculty of diverse areas of study, as one educational unit. The centrally planned architecture and sustainable nature of the university encourages congregation and intermingling, as well as the educational structure itself. From the first day of class to graduation day, students collaborate with other areas of study on group projects. The campus relies on on-campus agricultural land as its source of food, as well as solar power and rain water collection systems. The university acts like communal society, but with advanced technology on their side making every day living safe and convenient..~David Roberts

Building Utopian Cities

September 14, 2009 joellynrock Avatars + Virtual Worlds, Utopian Art

Vegetal City: Idealistic Visions of Our Urban Future
by Ariel Schwartz
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/07/31/vegetal-city-idealistic-visions-of-our-urban-future/

Check out this cool installation of a utopian city: Vegetal City by visionary architect from Brussels, Luc Schuiten.
http://vegetalcity.net/

Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
http://www.inhabitat.com/new-york-design-week-2009/