Machinima: AM Radio cornucopia

I stumbled across this machinima, which compiles many of AM Radio’s great builds…true works of art into themselves.  Thought you’d like to see, too.

Machinima appreciation: “Avatar” by Lainy Voom

This is a bit of an oldie but a goodie.  I’ve been thinking about machinima recently and how much I’d like to put one together.  This probably comes from the fact that I’ve had quite a bit of driving for RL work and, listening to the radio, my mind drifts into mental storyboards for the songs that I’m listening to at the moment.

When thinking about the type of machinima to make, I’ve noticed that most are either REALLY well done but somewhat moody, or they’re light and upbeat while looking a little – um – simplistic.  One machinima came to mind, however, that split the difference in that it’s light and upbeat while still reasonably complex, Lainy Voom’s “Avatar”.  So, as it’s on my mind, I thought it would be fun to share my appreciation for Lainy’s considerable talents.

Here’s “Avatar”.  Enjoy – and make sure you maximize the image to full screen to take it all in…it flies by quite fast!

(Hat tip to Corcosman Voom – no relation – for helping me find this piece.  Hadn’t thought to look on Vimeo!)

Machinima: “Stop Making Sense & Dream”

Mariposa Upshaw sent me a link to this montage of the “Stop Making Sense & Dream” show at Angel Dorei and Caerleon Isle.  Enjoy!

Machinima: Christmas 2007 at Oyster Bay

Rummaging through my old machinima footage, I saw that I recorded Madcow Cosmos’ incredible Christmas tree at Oyster Bay (links here and here).  A little video editing later, and we have my Christmas gift to you!  It’s not the greatest footage ever shot, but hopefully it brings back warm memories.

Note the Viggy “Christmas card” on the dock of Oyster Bay at the end of the piece…what a monstrosity!  No wonder this year’s piece was so tame.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Machinima: Flying Lights

I took advantage of a day off of work (danged sinus infection) to slowly work through a challenge that I’d always wanted to address – that being how to make swirling, bright shining lights.  I think I got there and made a machinima to celebrate.  Enjoy!

With this machinima, I do believe I’ve seen it all…

I only wish I could take credit for it…classic.

Fireworks at Night

Machinima: Conversation with Princess Ivory

Sure, chatting with a friend is not exactly sterling machinima material. But what if you had the conversation in a visually interesting place? What if you included some motion from a 3D SpaceNavigator? What if you put a soundtrack on the conversation?

Well, you get this:

Enjoy! Thanks to Princess Ivory for being such a good sport…

The “How-to” machinima post that I wanted to write…but didn’t

Wouldn’t you know, Head BurroAntfarm beat me to the punch. That’s what I get for not having a RL (or an SL, for that matter!).

Rather than duplicate the post, I’ll just link to HBA’s
Lights Camera Action – My Adventures With SL Machinima.  I filled in a couple gaps about my personal (and limited) experience with machinima.  It’s an exhaustive “how-to” blog post that offers great hints on how to get started and what tools to use.

Well done, HBA!  Happy filming!

Koinonia Congregational Church

Wednesday’s walkabout found me stumbling upon the Koinonia Congregational Church just as they were about to begin their evening services.  Never having attended church in Second Life (I don’t count the First SL Church of Elvis as “church” — sorry, King), I thought I would stay and partake.

The service was very well attended,and felt like a RL church experience.  Sophianne Rhode, the pastor led the services, and she offered a beautiful sermon about the Holy Trinity.  The decidedly SL moment in the services was when she turned a particle generator on to visualize how water can have 3 forms – solid, liquid and gas – just as God has 3 forms.  (She joked afterwards that it was pulled from a children’s service that she observed…but, hey, go with a good thing!)

The build itself, by Troy Vogel, was just incredible.  Very Frank Lloyd Wright-ish, I think.  I found this to be a wonderful place of contemplation and reflection.  In fact, I liked it so much that I took some footage after the service ended and a few of us were sitting around, listening to some music.

It was a unique experience for me in SL, one that I very well might return to.  The Koinonia Congregational Church is building a beautiful community of faith.