Shows
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E218 Dune Awakened with FFXIV (Mar 2026)What happens when a Twitch streamer can’t talk about a game because of an NDA… so they recreate the experience inside another MMO instead?In this episode of Now For Something Completely Machinima, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine unpack a bizarre, brilliant, and surprisingly cinematic machinima created in Final Fantasy XIV that channels the mood of Dune, social media culture, and fan-driven storytelling.From desert sandworms to a surprise Harkonnen rap battle, this piece blends machinima, AI-assisted music, fan cinema, and musical narrative into something that feels less like gameplay and...
2026-03-1920 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E217 Substitute | Ersatz (Mar 2206)In Episode 217 of And Now for Something Completely Machinima, we explore “Ersatz” a haunting new solo animated film by Saint Greaver created in Blender’s Eevee engine. Set within a surreal World War I–inspired landscape, the film blends virtual production techniques with painterly concept art aesthetics to create a disturbing, dreamlike vision of war, identity, and memory.The discussion unpacks the film’s themes of replaceability, dehumanization, and institutional machinery, where bodies are interchangeable and suffering becomes routine. Drawing on cultural memory, surrealist art traditions, and early industrial warfare imagery, the episode examines how the film commu...
2026-03-1243 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E216 Machinima News Omnibus (Mar 2026)In this episode of Completely Machinima, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, and Phil Rice unpack the biggest talking points at the intersection of machinima, AI, and creator rights.We start with a quick birthday nod to id Software’s 35th anniversary—a foundational influence on game culture and the machinima scene—before diving into the headline debate: the Disney + OpenAI partnership. Tracy breaks down why Disney choosing licensing over litigation is a major signal for how entertainment giants may handle AI training and generation going forward—raising questions around copyright, compensation, and control. The team explores the ripple e...
2026-03-051h 04
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E215 So, the Self-Aware Robot is Made (Feb 2026)In this episode of And Now for Something Completely Machinima, the team dives deep into the chilling Blender short I Made a Self-Aware Robot by the enigmatic creator Lights Are Off.Tracy brings the film to the table, praising its haunting realism, uncanny robot design, and smart use of found-footage aesthetics. What begins as a seemingly grounded “scientist vlog” quickly spirals into a modern Frankenstein story—raising powerful questions about consciousness, ethics, and the dangers of unchecked technological ambition.Damien highlights how the home-built lab setting makes the horror feel disturbingly close to realit...
2026-02-2636 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E214 Ancient Paths - Ozymandias (Feb 2026)In this episode of Now for Something Completely Machinima, the team revisits Ozymandias (1999) — one of the earliest and most controversial works of machinima, created by Hugh Hancock and Strange Company using the experimental LithTech Film Producer toolkit.What begins as a straightforward critique quickly turns into a deeper debate:👉 Is Ozymandias a “bad film”… or a groundbreaking prototype that helped shape virtual filmmaking?Ricky challenges the film’s pacing, visuals, and sound, arguing that by today’s standards it feels unfinished and awkward. But Tracy and Phil place the work in its historical cont...
2026-02-1949 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E213 Can Starfield Become a Machinima Platform? One Mod Might Prove It: Defying Fire (Feb 2026)Starfield is one of the most cinematic games Bethesda’s ever shipped… so why haven’t we seen much machinima from it? Today we’re looking at a mod that might finally crack that open: a fully built settlement with lore, characters, quests, and surprisingly strong voice acting, presented with a “lore trailer” that feels like a slice-of-life tour through a corporate-controlled mining town. We’ll break down what it gets right, what it’s missing as machinima, and why projects like this might be the new bridge between fandom and professional virtual production.Starfield has been sitting the...
2026-02-1249 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E208 Bad endings = new beginnings? (Jan 2026)🎮 What if the “bad ending” of Half-Life… wasn’t the end at all?In this episode of Completely Machinima, Phil, Tracy, and Damien dive into one of gaming’s most legendary “what ifs.” We explore a fan-made Half-Life mod that does the unthinkable: it turns the game’s infamous impossible ending—the one where you’re meant to die horribly—into a brutal but beatable continuation of the story.Instead of accepting your fate at the hands of the mysterious G-Man, this mod asks: what if you survived? The result is a fascinating piece of fan fiction-meet...
2026-01-0823 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E207 Is that Bond... James Bond? (Jan 2026)🎬 This week on And Now for Something Completely Machinima, we’re shaking (and stirring) things up with a deep dive into Benjamin Tuttle’s long-awaited James Bond machinima, Endgame – Part One 🍸💥Host Damien Valentine kicks things off by revealing he actually voices Q in the film (recorded years ago!), before the panel digs into why this project is such a standout. Created in iClone and rendered in Unreal Engine, Endgame delivers a Bond look and feel that’s grounded, stylish, and refreshingly not sci-fi flashy—London actually looks like London, and the tone leans classic rather than futuristic.
2026-01-0138 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E204 Rare! All Your History Belong To Us, Really (Dec 2025)On this episode of And Now For Something Completely Machinima, Damien, Tracy and Ricky dive into one of Machinima.com’s most unexpected gems: the documentary series “All Your History Are Belong To Us”, focusing on the Stamper brothers and their legendary studio, Rare. 💬 We talk about how the series charts Rare’s rise from a small UK outfit in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to a powerhouse behind classics like Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007, and later Sea of Thieves – highlighting their pioneering use of pre-rendered 3D graphics and their influence on console FPS games. Ricky explains why, despite his misgivings about machinim...
2025-12-0335 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E203 genAI: Arido Taurajo (Nov 2025)In this episode of Completely Machinima, hosts Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine explore the stunning AI-powered operatic machinima “Arido Taurajo” — a groundbreaking short film created by Chantal Harvey (aka Mamachinima) in collaboration with digital artist James Morgan, AI composer Roboccini and soprano/AI researcher Maya Ackerman, among others.🎮 About the Film: Set in the World of Warcraft universe, Arido Taurajo tells the story of Dahlia, a female warrior torn between family life and adventure. The film combines AI-generated music with human performance, blending digital game visuals and classical opera in a visually rich and emotional...
2025-11-2735 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E202 Promoting Star Citizens... (Nov 2025)In this episode of Completely Machinima, hosts Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine review two creative Star Citizen machinima commercials — Dumpers Depot and Big Benny’s Grab Eats — both made for a Star Citizen video contest.They explore how these 45-second in-game ads show off community creativity, storytelling, and production skills. Tracy breaks down what made Dumpers Depot Commercial more sophisticated in design and sound, while Big Benny’s... Grab Eat took home the win with its humor and clever use of Star Citizen lore.💬 In This Episode:Star Citizen machinima film analys...
2025-11-2031 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS6 E201 Back To The Future: Unhinged (Nov 2025)We're beginning Season 6 with one of the best machinima-animated shorts we've ever seen (probably)! 🎥 Back to the Future UNHINGED, Machinima Film Made in Blender In this episode of The Completely Machinima Podcast, hosts Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, and Tracy Harwood review “Back to the Future Unhinged”, a viral machinima short film by Landon’s Animation Wheelhouse, created entirely in Blender 3D.This chaotic, hilarious reimagining of Doc Brown and Marty’s adventures has racked up 700,000+ views and showcases incredible 3D animation, storytelling, and sound design. It’s packed with visual gags, cinematic camera work, a...
2025-11-1328 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E200 Finale E200 Part B Our Predictions for 2026This week, we continue our discussion, reflecting on Season 5 and our predictions for 2026.... yep, sure is a lot going on in the world of #machinima! Do add your own thoughts into the comments (on our show notes).1:01 Our predictions for 2026 1:10 Tracy’s thoughts! 4:26 A quick interjection on the Minecraft short we reviewed 6:47 Damien’s views and perspective on tools being used 7:38 Ricky’s prediction on genAI and it’s layering out and ethical approaches 10:27 Who is the world’s smartest dumb person?! Phil tees up some fab analogies – who is going to keep golfing...
2025-10-0237 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E184 NPC vs Man: Rat Bait (May 2025)Ever wondered what it might be like to experience GTA as an NPC - or an animal? Well check out our pick this week! An hilarious let's play by @PuttherUncut "I Pretended to be a RAT NPV in GTA RP and Trolled the ENTIRE SERVER | DonDada RP", released 5 June 2022. Shades of Robin Hood in the approach - 2:37 Putther Uncut's Rat NPC trolling... 5:10 Details of the rat's actions 8:24 Damien's reaction and analysis 11:53 Phil's perspective and technical insights Credits - Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood Producer/Editor: Phil Rice Music: A...
2025-05-2921 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E183 Total War: Battle of Badr (May 2025)In this episode, we discuss an account of an historic battle, which is commemorated annually on the 17th of Ramadan across all Muslim countries: the Battle of Badr 624AD. The film has been created by the Bellum et Historia channel, released on 16 November 2024, and made in Total War Atilla and other games, using various mods. These are, however, a little hazy because the creator has chosen not to reveal the creative process, making full attribution of assets used quite a challenge to fully appreciate, not least how the game technology was used in the creative process. Nonetheless, we talk a...
2025-05-2236 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E181 Skyrim: True Nords (May 2025)This week's machinima is made in Skyrim, and whilst its a little older, it shows off beautifully the quality of the game, characters and lip sync capability. The film, by Wanderersofthedas was released in 2015, and was made using lines drawn only from the game's NPCs. It makes for an oddly familial campfire conversation, notwithstanding the numerous references to in game lore. Do you and add your comments on our channels, as usual.0:31 Introduction by Damien, using NPCs in a single player game4:12 Schizophrenia!6:37 The role of the campfire, and familial dysfunctional conversations 8...
2025-05-0828 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E180 Gmod: Fragile Harmony (May 2025)This week's ep focusses on the 2024 Crowbar Productions Machinima Mayhem contest winner: Fragile Harmony, made in Garry's Mod by Logan and released on 9 Sept 2024. Logan sent this in for us to take a look at, and we're sure glad he did. Yes there are a few things we could be critical about, but storytelling isn't one of them. Check out our review and leave your comments in the usual way.1:14 Introduction by Phil, a classic Philip K Dick sci fi, storytelling and production values: deer in the headlights9:16 Emotional reactions, lip sync and the aesthetic qua...
2025-05-0145 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E179 Anime Machinima (Apr 2025)This week we discuss a machinima form we've not really talked about before - anime. Whilst its one of Ricky's favourite creative forms, for the rest of us its a little out of our comfort zone! We take a look at two films, both made in Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV), Frieren: Beyond Journey's End by Wheat Tea (released 2 Feb 2025) and Arcadion by Magitek Productions (released 1 Jan 2025). Check out our discussion and reviews, and do add your comments.1:24 What is anime machinima?3:44 Studio Ghibli: “An insult to life itself”4:20 About FFXIV for machinima7:14 Friere...
2025-04-2429 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E178 Machinima News Omnibus (Apr 2025) In this week's episode, we discuss the month's news items we've found most interesting and relevant to making machinima, including more great projects to be inspired by, genAIs we've spotted, Steam's rip off, inZOI's challenge to Sims and the phenomenon known as the 'Minecraft Movie'. Check out our discussion and do add comments on our YT or blog posts.1:18 Projects: a zombie film in GTA5, Trillo’s Cuco, NeuralViz’ Tigg Talk – an alternative perspective on tariffs3:33 The speed of a creative and production process – efficiencies and pivoting to topical content a la South Park!6:25 An...
2025-04-1755 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E177 Who is the Most Powerful Person in the World? (Apr 2025)This week is another pick from the Archives, a short by Thuyen Nguyen aka @evaneon and @collectivenounfilmworksdev4297 . The film was released in 2007 - it is a love letter to games and gamers at a time when seemingly the whole world was filled with haters. Catch up with our comments and reflections and do add your own below. 1:13 About the Archive - How They Got Game, a Stanford University project3:30 The Most Powerful Person in the World by Thuyen Nguyen7:17 I am omnipotent!9:12 The historical context – and the ‘hot coffee mod’12:50...
2025-04-1024 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E170 Machinima News Omnibus (Feb 2025)A packed news episode, with Tracy's analysis of the AI art copyright ruling decision and a discussion with Damien about his hit fan series, Heir to the Empire - the Star Wars story that everyone always wanted to see made. Do comment on the discussion (on the YouTube channel or the Blog post). The links are available in the show notes.0:45 Tracy is the first woman on Mars!!!2:38 RunwayML’s third annual film festival – call for submissions now open4:20 Second Life evolves [again]7:00 Bloomsbury’s video series: Richard Williams’ Animation Series7:30...
2025-02-2054 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E167 Cyberpunk: V - Never Stop Fighting (Jan 2025)This week's pick is a machinima run through of the female V character in Cyberpunk 2077, by Charles Liu, edited to a Johnny Cash classic, Hurt. Sound design in this is everything, and we especially like how the fade is used to emphasise the game footage vs the words of the song at different points in the film. Check out our views -1:14 Intro to film, music video, a perfect complement to I’m Still Seeing Breen (S5 E163)?3:37 Music storytelling vs film storytelling – interplay and aesthetic choice6:10 Phil’s perspective: over saturation?10:15...
2025-01-3026 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E166 Elitist: The Little Limpet (Jan 2025)The Little Limpet is an Elite Dangerous animation by CMDR Nickweb85, released in July 2024. It has shades of Disney X David Attenborough X Busby Barkley. You could say it has something for everyone then... well, assuming you enjoy a good space opera/ballet (which of course we do). Check out our comments -0:44 Intro to film, Elite Dangerous, Pixar-like, composited game footage using Blender4:17 Story, Tom Cook’s music and anthropomorphic animations6:45 Experimental work, testing emotional representations7:59 Ep 1 vs Ep 2, a Busby Barkley space ballet10:16 Criticism: why split the epi...
2025-01-2322 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E165 What is it about those HL NPCs? Ridiculous Ties (Jan 2025)This week's #machinima short is ridiculous, yep Ridiculous Ties - a meme response to Eltorro64Rus' review of favorite and least favorite words used by the Scientist in Half Life, created by Finzlow. And did we say its ridiculous?! We love the well-crafted humor in this, in-jokes with some of the best timing and inspired editing we've seen for quite some time. Although its strictly not machinima, it is definitely from a machinima stable, so it counts for us at least. Our review -1:01 Intro to the film, models and the stylistic choices Finzlow has made, Marx Bro...
2025-01-1629 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E164 Machinima News Omnibus (Jan 2025)Whilst January's news begins with more of the same ole genAIs doing their thang, because they can, there's now evidence of more concerted effort to control the efforts of creators... because the corporates and policymakers can at least try to do that, right? Well, maybe, but all this has achieved in the past is even more creative energy invested in jumping through the hoops, clambering over the walls and crashing through the hedges - so Happy New Year, we're looking forward to seeing what the amazing machinima creative communities of all engine persuasions around the World can achieve in 2025! Pl...
2025-01-0928 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E163 20 Years on HL2: I'm Still Seeing Breen (Jan 2025)Kicking off 2025 with a review of a classic and iconic #machinima by one of the pioneers of the movement, Paul Marino aka ILLRobinson. I'm Still Seeing Breen, made in HL2, holds a special place in our memories from those early years - not only was it a perfect 'protest piece' as the feature machinima demonstrating its potential for a 2005 Sundance Film Festival panel discussion (alongside RoosterTeeth's RVB) but was further developed for MTV2's Season 2 premiere of its Video Mods TV show later that same year. In this episode, we go over the back story, discuss how this was...
2025-01-0248 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E162 Lethal Company Mini Series: Pilot (Dec 2024)What a fantastic short to end 2024 on... this week is yet another great creative work by GibbsonTV, released in April. The film is based on the award-winning Roblox-inspired game Lethal Company by Zeekerss. It's not actually machinima, being made in Blender, but in the spirit of being inspired by the game and with a original tale, it has all the right heritage for our show. Check out our comments and add your own - and see you on the other side of the New Year for more creative tidbits.1:04 Introduction to the film, the game and the rul...
2024-12-2646 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E158 To the Stars & Beyond (Nov 2024)This week's film review is a Star Citizen cinematic machinima by Virtuality Media called Dangerous Love, beautifully made and with a well chosen music accompaniment. Its a tale that has a tragic twist for its lead character. The layers of emotion and depth to the storytelling are inspirational. Check out our review and do add your own comments.1:12 Introducing the film and the creator6:50 The music choice7:50 The shots, life and death14:50 This film is an inspiration16:29 A story driven music video17:25 Editing is weak
2024-11-2821 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E157 Olde West: The Loss (Nov 2024)Who doesn't love a good olde Western? This week we delve into a great short by avidredeadenjoyer, released 21 Sept 2024, called The Loss. It has been made in the only engine a Western machinima can be, RDR2. We all especially liked one particular shot, which really goes to the heart of why machinima has added so much to movie-making. This week, we also talk about a second pick, a Frontier: Elite 2 short by The Mystic Mushroom accompanied by the Blue Danube: The second best space sim ever made... Enjoy!1:15 The Western vibe4:00 The tropes, the story...
2024-11-2131 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E156 Machinima News Omnibus (Nov 2024)A packed ep this month, key tools, what's happening roundup and some fascinating projects - links to everything on the Show Notes page of our website.1:29 BBC Sound Archive2:30 Auto painter AI for Blender2:56 Google image/film search AI5:00 Tribute to David Graham6:05 Mouse: PI For Hire!7:05 Azeroth politicised? Surely not!10:13 Pigeon Bringer of Doom and Destroyer of Humanity, by Solofilms10:50 The Flower that Never Dies, by NewGates Entertainment11:21 Terminator and Cyberpunk 2077, by eli_handle_b.wav 12:27 Warhammer, JT M...
2024-11-1433 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E155 Beyond the Dust (Nov 2024)This week's ep we dedicate to a 3D animation by a French student collective made in their final year of studies, streamed through @TheRookiesCo channel. It is not technically #machinima as its made using traditional #animation tools but nonetheless we absolutely loved it - and its a recommendation by one of our channel's regular followers @3dchick. The film is a post-apocaylptic robot tale, inspired by Zaha Hadid's architectonic style. 2:00 Ricky's intro8:25 Benevolence vs malificence? A moral tale for bots! 13:46 How to achieve personality in machines? This is an example reminiscent from the early days of ma...
2024-11-0725 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E154 Good advice! (Oct 2024)In this ep, we discuss The Nomad | Cyberpunk 2077, a Lifepath cinematic by Zero-Sum Story, and Ian Hubert's Lazy Tutorials, which are not for the feinthearted yet somehow full of the very best machinima advice, such as "... just drag it to a place where you don't think it looks stupid" and "... imagine doing all this and actually putting in some effort - its something to think about" - yep, it sure is. Enjoy the discussions.Credits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer: Damien ValentineEditor: Phil RiceMusic: Animo Domini Beats
2024-10-3139 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E152 Kitbashing Away (Oct 2024)News update: interjecting our normal weekly service for a short special - Damien discusses the latest Kitbash contest. Links in the show notes.Credits -Speaker/Producer/Editor: Damien ValentineMusic: Animo Domini Beats
2024-10-1704 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS5 E151 Machinima News Omnibus (Oct 2024)We have another packed news update ep this week, check out the show notes for links to our discussion points -1:14 iClone 8 update discussion, and Phil picks the discussion up again at 34:38 on broken grass6:30 Baldur’s Gate 3 modding tools release discussion8:20 Starfield expansion pack discussion10:00 Documentary machinima: focus on TF210:45 Hollywood is broken: enter machinima? (Andreasson Horowitz seem to have had their eyes and ears closed for a few years!)12:27 Game Sprout’s article about gameplay becoming performance 12:50 Denuvo’s release of Unbotify and discussion25...
2024-10-101h 12
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E150 Dead on Cue: Fake Science (Oct 2024)This week, we take a deep dive into a film from one of the original machinima creator studios, Dead on Cue. This comprised the duo Mike Holochwost and Brian Mayberry. The film, Fake Science, had a couple more iterations, including one that allowed it to be played in the game itself, which was Half Life. It was released some 3 years before YouTube, and is another great example of how games could be used to produce artworks. Its wide recognition led to careers in games dev and production for both Mike and Brian, the former working on RoosterTeeth's RWBY series a...
2024-10-0433 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E147 BeamNG Drive: Realistic FreeWay Crashes #10 (Sept 2024)In this ep, we discuss a film by Patrick Zeugirdor, which uses the game BeamNG to simulate realistic freeway crashes. The game features advanced physics and modding capabilities, allowing for detailed crash simulations. The film shows various crash scenarios, each with multiple camera perspectives, highlighting the game's recamming feature. We debate the film's educational value, its potential to encourage poor driving behavior, and its popularity due to morbid curiosity - a good combination? Suffice to say, it evokes some strong emotions from us! We also discuss the game's potential for use in narrative storytelling and its realistic portrayal of...
2024-09-1942 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E145 Video essay: The Game of Video (Sept 2024)What is #machinima?! Good question these days, and this week we review a new video essay on tackling just that question... which is always interesting for us pioneers and vets to reflect on in this podcast. In the vid we review, Collin Aull introduces a few thoughts we've not really considered before, plus some comments we've discussed many times over the years, so its worth a listen as well as if you want to spot some of the older machinimas from those very early years in the narrative edit. 1:14 Ricky discusses his latest performance award success 8:49...
2024-09-0546 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E144 Assault on 2Fort (Aug 2024)This week we take a look at another stunning Team Fortress 2 short called Assault on 2Fort by JP Stevens aka Lolripk, a recommendation made to us by Dominzki (whose own TF2 short we reviewed in E135). What a great choice this is: we loved this film, a classic RED vs BLU tale but with a layer of emotion that is as beautifully portrayed as it is unexpected in SFM. These characters have real depth to them and we note how that's been achieved, even though the focal character doesn't even speak. Did we mention the fight choreography too? We...
2024-08-2942 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E143 Star Citizen: Wanderers (Aug 2024)A Star Citizen extravaganza: this week, we discuss a brilliant re-creation of Erik Wernquist's epic short, Wanderers, released by one of its creators Mr Hasgaha. Whilst this is a faithful scene-by-scene depiction of the original, its actually so much more than that too. We comment once again on the incredible qualities of the game, and how the fact it is an open world reflects the original inspiration for Wernquist's film: the artwork of Chesley Bonestell, whose paintings were partly the reason that NASA exists today. The machinima also pays homage to Carl Sagan in the only way it can...
2024-08-2223 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E142 HL: Overworld (Aug 2024)This week's selection is a stunning cinematic imaginary by Unknown Dino, focussing on the next version of Half Life (soon to be released... er, well, possibly in the next 10 years or so?). There is a lot of craft in this film, called HL: Overworld and made in Blender, which has taken its inspiration both from the HL Reddit community and the HL2 Artbook 'Raising The Bar'. We also talk about the positioning of the new world portrayed as being the next obvious logical step in the story arc for Half Life - HL1 being a portal through which aliens...
2024-08-1532 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E141 Machinima News Omnibus (Aug 2024)Another packed episode of news items we found for machinima creators everywhere. We take a look at some games news including several that have released music albums recently and discuss why we think that is. We go through some of the latest AI matters, including Vimeo's new AI content guidelines. We found one of the best Unreal master classes we ever seen, more like a work of art than a 'how to', but since its by the amazing Luis Andrade, we'd expect nothing less. We also found some partciularly juicy tidbits we think you'll enjoy.1:24 HELP! Can...
2024-08-081h 17
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E140 This is one of the craziest videos I have ever made... (GTA5) (Aug 2024)Crazy, it is certainly that - and more. If you enjoy slasher horror, we think you'll love this - and its definitely not for U18s! The film is by Toaster and is a music video for Code Mistake, a deathcore metal spectacular by CORPSE and Bring Me the Horizon. We examine Toaster's GTA5 machinima, reflect on its anime qualities, and conclude its significantly better than the official music video: Ricky discusses it in the context of Stan Brakhage's Dog Star Man, but Phil, Tracy & Damien feel the inspiration is much closer to home.1:29 Ricky’s introduction to...
2024-08-0126 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E139 S4 E139 Star Citizen | Sims 4: Wonderful World | Plumbob Princess (July 2024This week, we discussion two films: @neisannnn 'What a Wonderful World', a love letter to Star Citizen, where we focus on its surreal nature, use of backwards music, and ability to capture the game's vast universe. Our second film is 'Plumbob Princess' by @lReMi07l - one of the all time best machinimas we've seen in Sims 4. We discuss the visual quality and storytelling of machinima videos for The Sims 4 and Star Citizen, highlighting the creative use of animation, music, and language. Check out the films, with links on our website, info below. SCredits - Spe...
2024-07-2544 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E132 Star Citizen: 60 Seconds of Horror (Jun 2024)A compelling and powerful story of one man's quest to remain sane on an isolated planet. This is a very effective story by Lens Nation, given its only 60 seconds long - its probably not just this one creator's worst nightmare in a game, but several of us. Check out our review and don't forget to give us some feedback on your thoughts too. 1:01 Ricky introduces the film and his critique of it, suggesing Lovecraftian tones to the story 6:17 Tracy comments on the sound design and why the lack of sound works so well 14:14 Phil feels the...
2024-06-0628 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E129 Cinematics: GTA5 (May 2024)Not for the first time do we discuss the gorgeous cinematic qualities of GTA5, and this week we share a beaut by @Salva.Padilla. This one has a distinct vibe to it, but it is its general ambiguity that we especially love about the machinima. We each see something a little different in it! What do you see in it?Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer: Damien ValentineEditor: Phil RiceMusic: Animo Domini Beats
2024-05-1658 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E127 May the Force: A Tribute (May 2024)This week we celebrate Star Wars with a fabulous short portraying the infamous AT-AT death walkers as 'nature-creatures' in their natural habitat - this is a beautifully observed work, made in Unreal Engine by Jeremy Cummins. Cummins is an experienced character creator, now working for Tippett Studio, with an impressive list of credits including Ant-Man and the Wasp, Spider-Man and Avengers, among others. We discuss the transition pros are making in the development of an Unreal pipeline and the impact this has on the creative machinima community. 0:44 Intro to the film3:18 About Jeremy Cummins4...
2024-05-0227 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E120 Machinima Omnibus News (Mar 2024)This week’s podcast episode is our curated news omnibus for this month. We cover lots, and enjoy reflecting on the significance of the stories we highlight for the world of machinima and virtual production. Links and show notes on our website, as usual – skip to our highlights about each item with our timestamps here – 1:23 Learn UE5 in less than 60 minutes – and yes, it seems you really can! Its an excellent tutorial6:50 Valve getting tough with modders and what it means for machinima10:23 New moviemaking toolsets: Blockbuster Inc and Replikant (UE5)12:39...
2024-03-141h 17
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E117 DC vs Marvel + Unreal Engine vs Action Man + AI (Feb 2024)This week we compare and contrast, in a way extending that ongoing debate about whose IP is the daddy... but the ep is about much more than that too. We discuss @solofilmmaking4857 's use of #chatgpt to generate a film's story, using the plots of 60 of his portfolio works on Batman, mixing styles and genres along the way. We don't see it as wholly successful and we discuss why. We contrast that with an unusual hobbyist technique to create 'analogue machinima', inspired by Spiderman toy figurines digitised and animated by @MakeItMoveMedia . In the end, our conclusion is that its al...
2024-02-2238 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E111 Machinima News | GTA5 Cinematic (Jan 2024)This week, we discuss the critical turn we witnessed in 2023 towards machinima among creative industries professionals. We highlight why it is high time there is a major rethink on the role of indie creatives and fan fiction in general. We also review a beautiful cinematic made in GTA5, and also reflect on some of the challenges with a particular camera technique. Discussion points - 2:23 Hardly Working by Austrian collective Total Refusal wins a major Festival award, its significance and impact 5:10 2023 was a critical turn for machinima productions and their global recognition among professionals in the cre...
2024-01-1157 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E110 Elden Ring Machinima: Overpowering Character Builds (Jan 2024)Kicking off 2024 with machinima from a slightly different perspective: this week, Ricky introduces us to the #letsplay/#tutorial/#epicguideline/#showNtell genre in his favorite game of all time: Elden Ring. Its the first time we've heard just how much time he's spent in game and we won't draw attention to it just in case his partner is following us... but from the machinimas he shared with us, he's by no means alone. We discuss their usefulness and impact in the world of machinima, why building OP characters is important and just how skilled these creators are not only in th...
2024-01-0436 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E109 Training an AI: Backflip (Dec 2023)Backflip is a docu-style film, made over a period of three years where Nikita Diakur presents his progress using AI to teach a character to backflip. The character is the 3D scanned artist and the learning process applied is based on a technique he read in an academic paper. To say its chaos is an understatatement, and something anyone in research could probably have told him when attempting to replicate a finding in a publication (which of course is why LLMs using text alone will never be 'intelligent'). It is also everything one would expect from a character rig wi...
2023-12-2840 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E108 Cyberpunk 2077 The Movie - Trailer (Dec 2023)This week, we review a trailer for a movie, although the full movie is now also available: Cyberpunk 2077, by Jack Hunt. In many ways this is an astonishing and timely feat, not least because the ultimate edition of the game released earlier this month too (5 December). We start by discussing The Witcher's update, a piece of news that is highly relevant to the release of the film we review.1:03 The Witcher 3 mod toolset release - extending the game's life or eploiting the machinima community?3:54 Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition presents even more opportunities for machinima creators8:00 Cyberpunk 2077 Th...
2023-12-2133 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E107 Epic Battles: Northern Wars | Oryctes (Dec 2023)This week's film picks are of epic battle scenes: one made in Warhammer and the other Unreal Engine. There are similarities and contrasts between these two works, respectively created by a gamer, Game Thumb, and a CG production team, Glow Productions - and that also includes the opinions of the CM crew reviewing the works! What's your view, please do add you comments on our YT review or ep blog post. The ep begins with an update on Ricky's take on the SAG AFTRA deal for his Army of Darkness characterisations.1:07 the SAG AFTRA deal5:14 Tracy's r...
2023-12-1443 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E106 The Sims 4: I Abducted My Entire Neighborhood (Dec 2023)We start this week's episode with a discussion about Reallusion's new facial mocap system, Accuface (which Phil and Damien have already invested in), move on to a brief contest update (being run by Pink Floyd no less), and then follow this up with our film review. If you liked the Saw series of films, then this is for you - its a particularly sadistic let's play style machinima made in The Sims 4, called I Abducted My Entire Neighborhood in The Sims 4, by Lets Game It Out... and its also just Phil's sense of humor too! We contrast our discussion wi...
2023-12-0753 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E104 Starfield: Let's Talk Machinima & The Mantis Teaser (Nov 2023)Damien's picks this week take a look at two of the first Starfield machinimas by @TheKShow and @Mod81Gameworld respectively. The first is a 'tell and show' with a neat cinematic demo invoking Starship Troopers, and the second is a slightly more original lore-based teaser for an upcoming series called The Mantis. We begin this episode with an update on Star Citizen’s new spin off game, Squadron 42, which is now ‘feature complete’ and their launch of a new contest which can be entered on TikTok, leading Tracy to speculate on their strategic response to the release of Starfield! Ricky...
2023-11-2344 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E103 Longest Walkable Distances (in a game) | UE: The Alchemist's Confession (Nov 2023)This week we present a critique of two very contrasting machinima productions - one took literally months to make and the other just a few days. In our first pick, the creator has asked: just how big are the maps in games these days? Well, vast actually - and quite frankly it blows our minds to think that so much effort has gone into answering the question. The film is called Longest Walkable Distances in a Video Game, by How Big is the Map. Our second film is a review of a creative experiment in Unreal Engine, called The Alch...
2023-11-1644 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E100 Special: Machinima ReflectionsCelebrating our 100th episode on the CM podcast/YouTube show, we reflect how far machinima has come and some of the recent trends we've observed in our film reviews - a medium we all love. Please do add your thoughts and reflections in the comments below too. 3:25 The impact of isolation during COVID-19 led to Damien’s participation in the show. 5:17 Phil reflects on the decline of the Machinima community and how it affected him personally. 7:00 Ricky’s skepticism, feeling that the community and passion for the medium have been lost after M.com’s acquisiti...
2023-10-2639 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E99 Elite Dangerous Odyssey: The Personal Odyssey 1 (Oct 2023)This week our film selection is an Elite Dangerous Odyssey 'Captain's Log' style machinima, heavily influenced by Douglas Adams and John Carpenter with shades of Gerry Anderson. The film is The Personal Odyssey 1 by Cmdr Fortytwo. We discuss the use of AI generated voices in this (its a 2021 film) and in particular how well its use can convey emotion - our debate is a deliberation on the choice to create a monotonic dialogue. Damien's overview of the Thargoids is a fascinating insight into the hidden game lore of Elite Dangerous.1:14 Damien’s overview of the film and the...
2023-10-1931 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS4 E98 World of Warcraft/Cyberpunk 2077: Neo Stormwind (Oct 2023)WOW! Our collective adjective for this World of Warcraft / Cyberpunk 2077 mashup. This is a stunningly edited urban observational film, set in a strange new world the like of which we have never seen before - a cacophany in a good way. Shades of Blade Runner, Robocop and Mad Max run through the film, with a soundscape and accompanying music that are a perfect fit. We also loved that @DurenMachinima has cited his inspiration, mentioning the late, great @Phixor2000 among others. Credits – Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Phil Rice Editor: Damien V...
2023-10-1216 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E95 UE: Terra & ED: Into Black (Sept 2023)This week Damien has picked two space exploration shorts for us to review: one is made in UE called Terra by @j.thomaswilson3543 and the other is an ED film called Into Black by @indigointoblack . The film sequencing of the craft in flight in Into Black shows the competence of the creator whereas the human element encapsulated by the robot in Terra is particularly engaging and adds a different dimension to the storytelling. We discuss the similarities and differences of these approaches to space operas in general, and also how it contrasts to the Pixar approach of building in cu...
2023-09-2119 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E91 No Man's Sky: Origins (August 2023)This week's review is of a No Man's Sky machinima called Origins, produced by Evil Dr.Porkchop. Its a beautiful cinematic travelogue showcasing the vast expansiveness that is No Man's Sky - a game in which you will almost never have the same experience twice. Of course, Ricky wanted more drama and story but Phil nails it, reflecting on what might be possible if you could use No Man Sky's environments with Eve Online's space battles and Star Citizen's avatars! Yeah... but that's not this film!Key points -7:38 Music by Confidential MX, Rebirth Overtone
2023-08-2422 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E90 Unreal Engine: The Crown | Hunt (August 2023)This week we feature two films by Chinese artist collective studio, @Motzify Mohua. These two shorts, The Crown and Hunt, are made in Unreal Engine and show extraordinary qualities in very different ways: The Crown is a fairytale made originally for World Children's Day and illustrates traditional cultural references with gorgeous imagery; Hunt is a cyberpunk anti-hero teaser. Our main 'complaint' is that we need more detail from the artists! 3:23 Unreal Engine is one of the best tools for making machinima. 8:14 The crown and the sword. 12:03 The mystique of the film - a hyb...
2023-08-1736 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E88 Minecraft: Wither Storm War (July 2023)This week's film review focusses on a story made with building blocks and without voice acting... and yet, what a spectacular story! The game world is Minecraft of course, and the story is based on Telltale Games' episodic release called Story Mode. Made by @SquaredMediaAnimations, we discuss the production values emcompassed within the film, why we think adding voice acting would have enhanced the film and a number of other things we nit-picked but conclude that its really no wonder Squared Media are one of the top machinima producers in Minecraft. 0:38 Background and intro to the film ...
2023-08-0324 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E87 Cyberpunk 2077: Don’t Fall Down, Cinematic Machinima Music Video (July 2023)A love letter to Cyberpunk 2077? In this week's episode, the CM crew discuss a cinematic music video that perfectly captures a uniquely human feeling of people watching... and reflects on the phenomenal creativity of procedurally generated character content in the Cyberpunk world. The film is called Don't Fall Down by Puttefnask and the song it accompanies is Pray by Haelos - it is perhaps a more fitting video than the original.6:10 The first person perspective in Cyberpunk11:01 Wowed by the variety of the NPC characters and procedurally generated art13:00 Black Mirror is today's T...
2023-07-2722 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E84 DCS: The Ghost | DCS: The Right Stuff (July 2023)This week, we discuss some of the best flight sim machinima we’ve ever seen, thanks to Damien’s picks. We couldn’t decide which was better, so we discuss two films: The Ghost and The Right Stuff by J P Ferre, made in DCS. The first is a horror story and the other a story of one of the most influential pioneers of modern space flight today: Chuck Yeager. It is an outstanding retelling of one particularly testing flight, and is a Hollywood movie in 12 minutes! 1:00 The Ghost intro.3:02 Pilot’s involvement in the actio...
2023-07-0634 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E82 Machinima by Ally Kustera (June 2023)This week’s film review looks at a work by Ally Kustera. The work artfully conveys a sense of feminism without the politics through snippets of video game character cutscenes from Lara Croft to Ellie (The Last of Us) and others in between. 1:00 Kitbash for Blender of the Back Rooms by Daniel Grove. 1:30 Machinima by Ally Kustera. 13:35 Feminism in the video game world. 16:17 A celebration of women without any of the baggage. Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Ricky Grove Editor: Damien Valentine Music: A...
2023-06-2222 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E79 Genesis by Edy Recendez (May 2023)A well-trodden path in alien encounters, this week’s short is Genesis by Edy Recendez, filmed in Unreal Engine. From the very beginning the film is such fun, with great editing and sound design – right up to and including the ending ‘rap slash dance’ credits. Ricky, Phil and Damien also talk about the upcoming Diablo 4 release. 0:08 Introduction3:56 The detail is important to the director7:15 An archetypical story concept8:45 Sound design and foley11:22 The ending credits – a rap slash dance!17:01 Diablo 4… releases 6 June20:00 Elden Ring, again...
2023-06-0125 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E78 Film Review: Torn Seas (May 2023)This week, Ricky, Phil and Damien discuss Torn Seas – a feature made with Unreal Engine, by Richard Boisvert. We don’t often review feature-length films on this show, not least because few are brave enough to make them, and we talk about that aspect a bit too. Overall, we were impressed by this film but we also have a few suggestions to consider. 5:21 Cinematic Design. 9:35 Difference between Ricky’s tolerance for sentimental stories and your tolerance. 11:22 The problem with Pixar and Unreal. 15:42 The value of screenwriting and narrative. 20:24 Voice acting and so...
2023-05-2533 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E77 Film Review: Sandstorm (May 2023)Made in the still developing game, Star Citizen, this week's film is a large-scale production showing 97 players creating a complex battle scene. The film is called Sandstorm, directed by Wailander. Ricky, Phil and Damien discuss the extent to which machinima is about showing off the game vs telling a story, what the role of the director is in game-based machinima productions and, of course, take a deep dive into the history of machinima in the process. They also reflect on just how wealthy (with in-game currency) the creators of this work actually have to be! 0:05 Intro to th...
2023-05-1827 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E76 Film Review: After War (May 2023)This week, Ricky, Phil and Damien begin with an brief discussion of the roles AI is being used for to restore old machinimas, and in particular the very exciting upcoming release Phil will be doing of old Machiniplex films - more on that in due course! The film discussion centres on After War by RG Studios, and their approach to telling a story without moving a camera in the Half Life 2 world. 3:19 Ethical considerations in upscaling. 5:35 How good is the game? 7:59 How to choose a film. 11:43 Single camera in one p...
2023-05-0421 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E75 Film Review: Patient Zero - A Half Life Short (April 2023)Recently, we've seen some really great HL2 shorts, and this week we have an excellent one for you - Patient Zero is by TheParryGod aka Richard Makk, released in Feb. This is so well done you can cut the atmosphere with a butter knife, the choreography between the actors is brilliant and there are even some gratuitous small animal shots to boot. Hear us discuss the details and check out the film following the links on our Show Notes post on the Completely Machinima website.Credits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine (mia Ricky G...
2023-04-2735 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E71 Film Review: Heroes of Bronze: The Memory (March 2023)After we first talked about this project last April 2022, we were thrilled to see what a stunning job @MartinKlekner has made in the 21 Jan release of the first episode of Heroes of Bronze. We were not disappointed: the film and work stands up to AAA Assassin's Creed Odyssey studio work, but with amazing detail of historical artefacts and storytelling, which is even evident in the way clothes move on characters. Damien couldn't put our views better when he says this work inspires him to want to do better with iClone. We're definitely looking forward to the next release...
2023-03-3027 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E69 Film Review: Didn't I - A Red Dead Machinima (Mar 2023)We always love a good RDR2 machinima, and this is one by a Sam Menell, released on 9 Feb 2023. We watched this several times, and Tracy didn't spot the UFO in the opening shot!2:03 Phil’s thoughts on the film. 3:36 The soundtrack and editing. 6:24 The searchers 8:05 The ending was such a surprise. Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Phil Rice Editor: Damien Valentine Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig
2023-03-1611 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E66 Film Review: Secret Moon (Feb 2023)This week we review the winner of the 2022 Kitbash3D moving image challenge contest, based on their free Mission to Minerva asset pack. The film is called Secret Moon by Orencloud, and what a visually stunning and ethereal representation of Minerva this is, with a clear trajectory between this piece and Orencloud's portfolio. We discuss some of the ways in which the film works and works less well for us, and note that at least one of us missed the ending!1:34 What was the challenge for? 4:42 The gloom of the world. 6:59 The power of content pa...
2023-02-2320 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E65 Film Review: Let's Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews (Feb 2023)Ricky's pick for the month is Let's Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews, uploaded to Vimeo on 11 Mar 2013. The film is a 'slice of life' comedy with intriguing mix of playing a 90s style space game, Nomad X, and reflecting on losing the love of your life - a perfect antidote for those Valentine's week shenanigans! 0:10 Let’s Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews 3:59 Let’s play, let's play 6:27 The shared consciousness of video games 9:00 Inspired by Frontier Elite Dangerous 12:02 Nostalgia factor of video games 13:35 The Halle Project 16:05 The genius of the stor...
2023-02-1621 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E61 Film Review: INTERLOPER: Half Life 2’s Greatest Unsolved Mystery (Jan 2023)Show Notes and Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/19/s3-e61-film-review-interloper-half-life-2s-greatest-unsolved-mystery-jan-2023/Credits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer: Ricky GroveEditor: Damien ValentineMusic: licensed from CreateStudio Pro
2023-01-1928 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E60 Film Review: Team Fortress 2 - Law Abiding Engineer by TrueOneMoreUser (Jan 2023)Links and show notes: www.completelymachinima.comCredits -Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky Grove, Phil RiceProducer: Ricky GroveEditor: Damien ValentineMusic: licensed from CreateStudio Pro
2023-01-1227 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E57 The Talky Orcs by AFK (Dec 2022)Links and notes on our website here Credits:Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer: Phil RiceEditor: Damien ValentineMusic: Lights in the Dark by CSP CC OO
2022-12-2214 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E56 Film Review: Artists of SL by Teal Aurelia (Dec 2022)Time stamps -0:11 Introduction to this episode3:51 Compositing and editing in Second Life7:25 Teal’s inspiration as an artist in Second Life10:19 The film is halfway between machinima and photography13:11 Why I didn’t look for a deeper story15:11 When advertising comes on, I immediately start shouting at it17:19 Promotional work and informational info ads are really great forms of advertising from machinimaShow Notes and Links on our website hereCreditsSpeakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer: Phil RiceEdit...
2022-12-1520 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E53 Film Reviews: The Remnants & So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead... (Nov 2022)Time stamps -1:13 The Remnants22:26 So Palpatine Needs Padme Dead...[LEGO Edition]Enjoy, and as ever, feedback and suggestions welcome!Our website has all the links and notes hereCredits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine,Tracy Harwood, Phil RiceEditor/Producer: Damien ValentineMusic: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00
2022-11-1730 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaS3 E52 Film Review: Metaverse Music Video by JSFilmz (Nov 2022)Show Notes & Links on our website at www.completelymachinima.com/Credits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood (MIA Phil Rice, courtesy of Hurricane Ian)Producer/Editor: Damien ValentineMusic: Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au CC 00
2022-11-1015 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 46: Film Review - Facing the WolfFacing the Wolf, by Iain Douglas and Mark Coverdale, released 2021 1:35 Interview with Matteo Bittanti, Milan Machinima Film Festival 5:00 Ricky poses an interesting question: is machinima an animation style or a form of art that ideas can dominate, as opposed to feelings? 27:56 Discussion: for idea films, do you have to have more information than the film provides to appreciate the work? What is the role of ambiguity in filmmaking? How much time should audience invest in understanding a film?Show notes and links on our website at ht...
2022-09-1541 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 45 Films (Sept 2022)0:10 Ricky introduces our new episode format – feedback welcome on the plans! 0:59 The Cloud Racer by Impossible Objects (UE5), released 15 August 2022 21:16 The Lord Inquisitor – Prologue, by Warpgazer Animations (released 28 August 2016) 39:15 Person2184 (UT2004 machinima), by Friedrich Kirschner released 4 April 2008 59:09 Prazinburk Ridge by Yes, Commissioner? aka Martin Bell, Unreal Engine 4 (released 27 June 2022) Links and show notes on our website: https://completelymachinima.com/2022/09/08/cm-s2-ep45-films-sept-2022/Credits:Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice, Tracy HarwoodProducer/Editor: Damien ValentineMusic: Scot...
2022-09-081h 14
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 44 News (September 2022)Show Notes and Links 0:27 Nvidia Omniverse Machinima Contest #madeinmachinima results, entries showreel, announcement of winners at SIGGRAPH and links to winners (via 80.lv) Simon Lavit and runners up Nicklas Lotz and Ted Saguindel 2:54 Tracy’s interview with John MacInnes on his latest Unreal Challenge contest: Mood Scene – the contest begins 1 Sept 5:44 Unreal Engine’s Better Light Than Never contest results sizzle reel and 80.lv article about winners 6:19 Jackson Wang’s Cruel video, using Unreal in his virtual production process 7:01 Also using Unreal in a music v...
2022-09-0135 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 42 News (August 2022)In this episode, Ricky, Tracy and Damien discuss some of the more interesting machinima and real-time things they’ve trawled the internet for during the last month. Tracy gives her take on the GTA Online performance of Hamlet by Sam Crane, some interesting uses of Unreal Engine, tech tools and a fun way to simulate gravity. Damien brings Godot to the table and highlights some worrisome news about Unity, before waxing lyrical on Star Trek’s Strange New World’s use of Unreal. Ricky finds an interesting Unreal Engine Field Guide and discusses the latest updates to Nightmare Puppeteer.
2022-08-0449 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 40 News (July 2022)Despite being encouraged to create an episode of just 15 minutes duration by one of our followers, the team have this month extended their coverage – hear Tracy, Damien and Phil discuss vtubing, Ricky’s Duke Henry the Red character in the game Evil Dead, the FTC’s proposed updates to social media guidelines, Unreal’s review of the Matrix Awakens Experience, John Gaeta’s latest exploits, metaquette, Reallusion’s iClone 8 and CC4 and a number of other exciting developments relevant to the world of real-time filmmaking and machinima. Thankfully, you can use the timestamps to jump to the bits your most interest...
2022-07-071h 21
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 39 Films (June 2022)This month, Damien leads the discussion on another fabulous film selection by the Completely Machinima podcast team... Phil's Stalker fan film by Sodaz is dark and disturbing; Tracy's music vid picks are light and airy; Ricky's is far from bland and Damien's is a moving affair too! The team also discuss approaches to promoting a film once it’s been made, thanks to a question raised by show follower, Mike Clements.Time Stamps:0:34 STALKER Fan film – Contract by Sodaz, released 8 December 20216:53 Married to Your Melody by Imanbek and Salem Ilese (Unreal Engine 5, Matrix Awakens City...
2022-06-0948 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 33 Films (March 2022)This month, Ricky, Phil, Tracy and Damien discuss machinima and real-time productions made in Second Life including documentaries illustrating life on the ‘grid’, events and experiences such as an art collector’s paradise, a potted history of the environment, a sci-fi convention, extraordinary examples of films that show the unique qualities of the Second Life creative community, a tutorial and a new cyberpunk drama series. The co-hosts also discuss their perspectives on the importance of Second Life as a creative platform for machinima. SUMMARY KEYWORDSlife, film, machinima, called, created, bit, people, documentary, game, ch...
2022-03-101h 27
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S2 Ep 32 News & Discussion (March 2022)Speakers:Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky GroveTime stamps:1:56 Nvidia Omniverse, Omniverse Code and Meet the Creators (Omnivores)· Jae Solina Filmz – Nvidia blog post 4:11 KGB in Minecraft – yes really! 3:00 Backlot – not a lot 6:44 Best games for M1 Mac by Tyler Stalman 9:10 Music and sound studio set up for machinima: Everything I use as a full-time content creator by Malinda 10:54 Nvidia AI conference, GTC 2022 13:00 Implications of games convergence into Microsoft ownership for mac...
2022-03-0338 min
And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima: January 2022 Machinima FilmsIn this episode, Ricky, Phil, Tracy and Damien discuss five very different recently released film selections, highlighting the importance of story making in machinima. Alongside this, the team discuss some observations on the future scope of creativity, reflecting on comments made by Keanu Reeves on the release of the Matrix Awakens Experience made in Unreal 5.Credits:Editor/Producer: Ricky GroveCo-hosts: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineMusic: Back to the Future by Ofshane
2022-01-1358 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima Interview: Ashley Ruhl, Cinematic Designer, Bioware Ashley Ruhl has been designing memorable cinematic moments in games for over 10 years. She's a designer, writer, and director of story content for games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, Tales From the Borderlands, Remnant: From the Ashes, Darksiders 3, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Defiance. I strive to tell a compelling interactive narrative that empowers the player to be the author of their own story.Summary: Our Completely Machinima producer, Damien Valentine (a massive Star Wars fan and machinima filmmaker) spoke with Ashley about her background and beginning work as a cinematic designer a...
2021-05-2230 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 8 Discussion (May 2021)And Now For Something Completely Machinima is a podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines). This month (May 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (May 6), Machinima Films (May 13), Machinima Discussion (May 20) along with several interviews which we will publish separately throughout the month. This episode was produced by Damien Valentine who is joined by hosts Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, and Tracy Harwood.Contact and Feedback for this show: https://completelymachinima.com/#talkSummary: Two questions for the group - one, why h...
2021-05-2051 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 7 Films (May 2021)And Now For Something Completely Machinima is a podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines). This month (May 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (May 6), Machinima Films (May 13), Machinima Discussion (May 20) along with several interviews which we will publish separately throughout the month. This episode was produced by Damien Valentine who is joined by hosts Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, and Tracy Harwood. Contact and Feedback for this show: https://completelymachinima.com/#talkSummary: The hosts share their monthly machinima film favorites. T...
2021-05-1341 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 6 News (May 2021)And Now For Something Completely Machinima is a podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines). This month (May 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (May 6), Machinima Films (May 13), Machinima Discussion (May 20) along with several interviews which we will publish separately throughout the month. This episode was produced by Damien Valentine who is joined by hosts Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, and Tracy Harwood. Contact and Feedback for this show:https://completelymachinima.com/#talkSummary: Damien and the gang share Star Wars memories, Ricky s...
2021-05-0655 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 6 TrailerAnd Now For Something Completely Machinima is a podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines). This month (May 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (May 6), Machinima Films (May 13), Machinima Discussion (May 20) along with several interviews which we will publish separately throughout the month. This episode was produced by Damien Valentine who is joined by hosts Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, and Tracy Harwood. Contact and Feedback for this show:https://completelymachinima.com/#talkSummary: Damien and the gang share Star Wars memories, Ricky s...
2021-05-0301 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 5 Discussion (April 2021)CM Episode 3.3 Machinima Discussion Show NotesAnd Now For Something Completely Machinima is a long-form podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines), real-time technologies, and virtual reality. This month (April 2021) we are splitting our 3rd podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (April 1), Machinima Films (April 8), Machinima Discussion (April 15), and a Special “Build a Machinima PC” podcast (April 22).Episode 3 was produced by Ricky Grove joined by hosts Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine.Summary: After Ricky's Milan Machinima Festival report he brings up a question that...
2021-04-151h 11And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima Interview: Slavo Strangeovich (m dot strange)CM Interview with Slavo StrangeovichAnd Now For Something Completely Machinima is a long-form podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines), real-time technologies and virtual reality. This month (April 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (April 1), Machinima Films (April 8), Machinima Discussion (April 15), and a Special “Build a Machinima PC” podcast (April 22).This episode was produced by Ricky Grovejoined by hosts Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine.Summary: Ricky interviews Slavo Strangeovich (formerly known as m dot strange) about his new game...
2021-04-1022 minAnd Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 4 Films (April 2021)CM S1 Ep 4 Film Selection Show NotesAnd Now For Something Completely Machinima is a long-form podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines), real-time technologies, and virtual reality. This month (April 2021) we are splitting our podcast into four sections which will post once a week: Machinima News (April 1), Machinima Films (April 8), Machinima Discussion (April 15), and a Special “Build a Machinima PC” podcast (April 22).This episode was produced by Ricky Grove joined by hosts Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood and Damien Valentine.Summary: All four podcast hosts present their machinima film picks with Phil...
2021-04-081h 01And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima S1 Ep 2 (March 2021)And Now For Something Completely Machinima is a monthly, long form podcast devoted to machinima (movies made in game engines), real-time technologies and virtual reality.Episode produced by Phil Rice, joined by hosts Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine.Our second podcast features a discussion of recent news in the machinima and VR sphere, four very diverse short films, a cameo by Baby Yoda, an interview with SIGGRAPH Asia’s Ricard Gras, and much more!Contact and Feedback for this show: https://completelymachinima.com/#talkFully detailed and link-infused no...
2021-03-041h 55And Now For Something Completely MachinimaCompletely Machinima Podcast Premiere TrailerMachinima veterans Phil Rice and Ricky Grove along with their machinima pals Tracy Harwood and Damien Valentine are creating a brand-new podcast devoted to machinima (the art of making movies with games), real-time technology and a bit of virtual reality. Their premiere episode will start on February 4, 2021, and will feature news, films, interviews, discussion and satiric comedy all focused on machinima and machinima filmmakersThis teaser/trailer will give you and idea of the style of the Completely Machinima podcast - fun, free wheeling with sharp discussion and a heavy dose of satire. Join Phil...
2021-01-3102 min