Jumped into machinima big time yesterday, not only overcoming my fear of working in three dimensions, but throwing time, space and sound into the mix. Since we’ve been recording our first original tune in real life this week, Botgirl and I have also begun discussing the music video we’ll be using to introduce it to the world. Since  my digital paintings were to be incorporated in some way, I finally realized I’d have to go in there myself and experiment with the medium hands on, in order to get the full sense of how it should look and feel.

I decided, at least for the sake of experimentation, that I’d put together one of my art cubes using my most recent paintings, and set up a brief shoot with Camille on guitar and myself on drums. Then I downloaded several machinima (screen capture) software programs and began to try them out, one by one. The programs were Camtasia, fraps, and jing… in each case, the free – and, I should also add, limited – versions.

Though I wasn’t able to do some of the more important things, like pan, zoom, select and frame – nor did I get around to editing; this is raw footage – I concentrated mainly on the look and feel of the scene, using lighting and atmosphere, much as I would in my paintings; then I shot the film in HD. I also had to settle for streaming audio on my sim since my software skills are limited in this medium, and I didn’t have any editing software (I’m sure you veteran machinamators out there are chuckling at this). One of the clips, if you care to check it out, can be seen on vimeo. Fyi, this particular clip was shot in fraps.

Over dinner once an American friend quizzed Charles Dickens about the workings of his imagination. Where on earth did those wonderful characters come from? “What an unfathomable mystery there is in it all!” replied the creator of Little Nell, Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge, Uriah Heep, Miss Havisham, Pip, Pickwick and the rest. Raising a wine glass, he continued: “Suppose I choose to call this a character, fancy it a man, endue it with certain qualities; and soon the fine filmy webs of thought, coming from every direction, we know not whence, spin and weave about it, until it assumes form and beauty, and becomes instinct with life.”

- From a review of Charles Dickens by Michael Slater in the Economist

Never thought I could improve on my idealized version of female beauty as exressed in Juliette, the charming young lady who models for all of my paintings; after all, she has been Juliette for at least a year and I haven’t come across any flaws in a long, long time. Beauty, of course, is said to be in the eye of the beholder, but few would argue with the uncanny beauty she possesses, even though she is an avatar. Today, though, since my brain was in recharge mode and couldn’t handle any complex tasks, I was doing menial virtual tasks, and while combing through her inventory I came across a few skin demos that I didn’t know she had. To fill some time as well as jettison some unwanted items, I had her try on the demos. Looky, looky, looky. What have we here?

As one of those skins began to rez, I could sense her mounting excitement. By the time it was finished, she was positively glowing. I stood back in amazement. She was stunning; even more beautiful than she was before… and the skin was much finer, with higher resolution, more detail… in short, it seemed far more natural, and really brought a new Juliette into being. The skin was then purchased, as seen above, at Belezza. I won’t tell you which one, though (trade secrets, ya know), but I will tell you this much: it is all in the right combination of shape and skin, and they are made by two different vendors. One more secret… the shape must be modifiable, and the beauty begins to appear when you make the adjustments. Just follow your instincts.