Upcoming features: WebM

As regular visitors to our forums will know, we have big plans for the next version of Moviestorm. We’ve already talked about the headline features such as the terrain editor and option for oversized set area, improved character animation, rewritten autosave feature, more flexible character creation tools, advisor system, plus improvements to the performance and stability of the program – but there’s one feature that we haven’t yet mentioned...
The way that Moviestorm handles video has been completely rewritten. We have adopted the new WebM video format developed by Google as our new standard, which offers great performance and image quality even on older hardware, plus the advantage that it’s as friendly to the Mac OS as it is to Windows – this means that most machines will playback the new movie format “out of the box”, and those that don’t will only have to do a small update for compatibility.
Another great advantage of adding this format is that the way Moviestorm handles video clips has had to be re-written. A side-effect of this is that you can now run video on Moviestorm props in the Director’s View in real-time (even on modest hardware) and with sound playing. You can also add videos in the Cutting Room that can be dragged to the timeline in the same way as your camera shots. This means that you can import footage into your Cutting Room bins and drag video clips into your movies without the need for an external editor. If you’ve previously had problems with running out of system resources on complex multi-scened projects, you can now simply render them out separately and combine the clips in an empty Movie, with almost zero overhead.
Of course, we’ve left the old video format in there for those users who have an established workflow that they don’t want to alter, but we think WebM is the way forward...

Making Better Movies, Vol 2, coming soon

The next part of Matt's series of books will be out soon. As before, it'll be a free download.

Here's what previewers have said about it:

It proved to be useful as I was teaching Maya to some 2D animators who work on Peppa Pig. There is a marked difference in thinking for 2d animation and 3d shots, especially the use of physical depth. It saved me tearing my remaining hair out when trying to set up and explain the staging and set construction. I usually work backwards in Maya, blocking out the set/camera etc to get rough story shots, so I know how much set to build and how detailed the props/characters need to be.

The practicality of learning these techniques in Moviestorm, rather than just the theory, gives you an easier way to fix these concepts in your head. I also like the lack of 'what buttons do I press': this gives the reader more control over what they have learned and how it's implemented, and it makes the volume concise. Good solid info on staging a scene, lots of ideas and suggestions for the filmmaker, and it doesn't bog you down with extraneous info (or technical programme specific information). A really good primer for any film student, especially all crammed into 40 pages.

Andrew Segal, Carshalton College

The idea itself is very solid. If someone goes through the book and does the exercises, they're going to come out a better filmmaker, no question.

Hugh Hancock, Guerilla Showrunner

An excellent resource for both new and veteran users. The exercises are easy to follow and designed to give Moviestorm users a whole new perspective on moviemaking. By following the exercises you begin to understand the importance of staging, which will take your movie to a new level. He doesn’t just describe ways to add feeling to your movies, but shows you through the easy to follow steps. All great directors have their own style. In this book Matt gives you the keys to unlock your style. In the end, you decide which techniques work best for you.

Shirley Martin, filmmaker

The book's currently going through final editing, and should be available in early November.

Bonus Content – Trick or Treat!

With Halloween quickly approaching, we’re bringing you a selection of props and animations to help you shock and scare your audience! There’s a tragedy/ comedy mask (always particularly unsettling when used in the correct context!), and a hockey mask that you can customise by adding your own texture. In addition to the masks, we’re also providing a set of gruesome weapons for your characters to wield, in the form of a machete, a hot poker and a plank with protruding rusty nails! We’ve also included animations for these props so your maniacal characters can intimidate even the most hardened horror aficionado.
We’ve given you the tools, now go and terrorise your virtual neighbourhood!

Bonus Content - Pot of pills

This week’s Bonus Content item is a rather-useful pot of pills that you can use as a static prop (e.g. placed on a surface within your set), or a held prop (that your character can use). When it was first mentioned on our “possible bonus content assets” list, I started to think of possible scenarios where such a prop might be useful, and I think this particular asset is going to prove to be quite popular!
There’s essentially four main parts to this prop:

• A customisable pot that can be used as a set item
• A customisable tablet (capsule or pill) that can be used as a set item
• A held prop “pot” with animations for your characters
• A held prop “tablet” with a show/ hide command for your character to hold in his/ her hand

Basically this means that it’s a pretty flexible prop, useful as set dressing as well as getting you characters to re-enact that gritty medical drama scene.
We hope you all enjoy the latest update, and please remember that you will only get these assets as a paid subscriber. If you haven’t yet registered for the Bonus Content pack, you can do so from the Marketplace page.

Machinima Mondays

Bit short notice, I know, but I'll be talking at Machinima Mondays in Second Life twice today, at 2pm & 7pm Pacific Time (5pm & 10pm EST, 10pm & 3am UK). Hope to see some of you there!

More info here.