I lost my old computer and all its content in late 2006. This means that I don't have any of the old videos I created anymore, except for the ones found on Youtube and my old Simpage.
The other day, out of pure nostalgia, I decided to go re-read my old blog on my Simpage located on The Sims 2 site. Wow! It was like a blast from the past.
Here's a fun fact I found while reading.
I created my first music video with The Sims 2 in December 2004, based on the song "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer.
OMG! I still remember how proud I was to have completed an entire music video and how hard the process was. They were no hacks and mods at the time, and unfortunately, plumbobs and thought bubbles were running amok in all of our videos.
It was a hot mess. I had girls dressed in little black dresses dancing behind my main character while he was talking/lip synching the lyrics of the song.
So cheesy, but like I wrote in my blog at the time "I chose that song because it brings back good memories. My two best friends and I dressed like the girls from the video for Halloween when we were 15. And we were a big hit at our school dance."
It was fun to re-read my old blog and see where my love of machinima all started.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Music and Machinima
I don't make talkies! I just don't.
Well, I never say never, but I never really had the urge to make movies with dialogue. Okay, I lied... I say never all the time!
I love to make music videos. I actually love music videos in real life. I still remember staying up really late at night watching music videos on TV during most of my teens.
The idea that you can tell a complete story and convey deep emotions in a mere 4 minutes is extremely satisfying to me.
There's also the fact that I love music and get emotionally attached to songs.
I can listen to a song on repeat for hours. And even if my musical tastes have changed and evolved, I'm still attached to the music I listen to as a teen.
For the past year, I have been completely and utterly addicted to Pandora.com. It's a free Internet radio that plays music based on your musical preferences. So let's say you love Coldplay. Well, Pandora will select music similar to the band and in the same genre. It's fantastic!
That's how I discovered Regina Spektor and many others.
Anyways, to get back to my main point... music videos are a viable art form, and there's no shame in being a music video director - even if it's only machinima!
Well, I never say never, but I never really had the urge to make movies with dialogue. Okay, I lied... I say never all the time!
I love to make music videos. I actually love music videos in real life. I still remember staying up really late at night watching music videos on TV during most of my teens.
The idea that you can tell a complete story and convey deep emotions in a mere 4 minutes is extremely satisfying to me.
There's also the fact that I love music and get emotionally attached to songs.
I can listen to a song on repeat for hours. And even if my musical tastes have changed and evolved, I'm still attached to the music I listen to as a teen.
For the past year, I have been completely and utterly addicted to Pandora.com. It's a free Internet radio that plays music based on your musical preferences. So let's say you love Coldplay. Well, Pandora will select music similar to the band and in the same genre. It's fantastic!
That's how I discovered Regina Spektor and many others.
Anyways, to get back to my main point... music videos are a viable art form, and there's no shame in being a music video director - even if it's only machinima!
Windows Movie Maker for XP - HD Problem
Okay! A major... MAJOR... disaster was just averted.
I used to edit movies with Adobe Premiere, but after losing my last computer and all my softwares; I was pretty much left with nothing.
After three years without making any movies, I didn't replace my editing software. Until I recently decided to try to make movies again.
Enter the good old Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP!
The only problem is that the settings to save your movies in are pretty outdated.
I wanted to be able to save my Sims 3 Machinima in an HD setting (1280 x 720) with a bitrate of around 6 Mbps.
Well, with the old WMM, it was impossible. After some research, I found out that you could download a software from Microsoft called Windows Media Encoder.
I found an extremely useful article explaining how to create custom movie settings with Windows Movie Maker.
So my problem was solved. I can now filmed Sims 3 movies in HD and edited them to come out in the perfect setting as well.
Crisis averted. I won't need to buy Adobe Premiere anytime soon, unless Windows Movie Maker limited capabilities finally wears me down.
P.S: You can't filmed any Sims 3 movie in HD without changing the video capture settings. Pyronium, another machinima director, has a great blog post on the subject.
I used to edit movies with Adobe Premiere, but after losing my last computer and all my softwares; I was pretty much left with nothing.
After three years without making any movies, I didn't replace my editing software. Until I recently decided to try to make movies again.
Enter the good old Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP!
The only problem is that the settings to save your movies in are pretty outdated.
I wanted to be able to save my Sims 3 Machinima in an HD setting (1280 x 720) with a bitrate of around 6 Mbps.
Well, with the old WMM, it was impossible. After some research, I found out that you could download a software from Microsoft called Windows Media Encoder.
I found an extremely useful article explaining how to create custom movie settings with Windows Movie Maker.
So my problem was solved. I can now filmed Sims 3 movies in HD and edited them to come out in the perfect setting as well.
Crisis averted. I won't need to buy Adobe Premiere anytime soon, unless Windows Movie Maker limited capabilities finally wears me down.
P.S: You can't filmed any Sims 3 movie in HD without changing the video capture settings. Pyronium, another machinima director, has a great blog post on the subject.
Friday, October 16, 2009
New Music Video - Machinima Style
I'm currently in production for my new music video - first one in 3 years.
It's based on a song from Kate Nash called Nicest Thing. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking song about a girl that wishes the object of her affection would love her back.
The setting for my video will be a house party by the beach at night.
I'm excited about the creative process: building sets, creating the characters, developing the story, visualizing the shots, etc. I really missed it, even if it's really time consuming.
I'll keep you guys updated.
It's based on a song from Kate Nash called Nicest Thing. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking song about a girl that wishes the object of her affection would love her back.
The setting for my video will be a house party by the beach at night.
I'm excited about the creative process: building sets, creating the characters, developing the story, visualizing the shots, etc. I really missed it, even if it's really time consuming.
I'll keep you guys updated.
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