Independent Focus on Second Life

This week our assignment was to research an aspect of Second Life that we found interesting and wanted to find out more about.  I decided that I wanted to find out more about Machinima and its uses in Second Life.

Machinima is defined as "the use of real-time three-dimensional (3-D) graphics rendering engines to generate computer animation."  Put simply, its making movies in a virtual environment. 

One of the first tools that you'll need is some type of screen capturing software.  Some of this type of software costs money to purchase (like Camtasia) but there are other alternatives that are free to download and use (like Windows Movie Maker or FRAPS).  Upon doing some research into the free versions, I wanted to find out more about FRAPS.  It is free to download and use but if you want the unrestricted version, you'll have to pay for it.  The free version "puts an unremovable watermark at the top of every video, and each video can only be 30 seconds in length."  Screenshots are not watermarked in the free version but can only be taken in BMG, TGA, JPEG and PNG.  Also, in order for FRAPS to work, users have to have DirectX or OpenGL on their computer. 

FRAPS is a benchmarking software that "shows how many Frames Per Second (FPS) you are getting in the corner of your screen."  You can "measure the frame rate between any two points."  Another advantage of using FRAPS is that it has screen capturing software.  You can take a screenshot by pressing one key and your "screen captures are automatically named and time stamped."  There is also real time video capturing software that "captures audio and video up to 7680 x 480 with custom frame rates from 1 to 120 frames per second."  If you are interested in downloading FRAPS, please go to http://www.fraps.com/download.php.

Videoing in Second Life
 Before videoing in Second Life, it is important to be aware of the Linden Lab policy on taking snapshots and making movies using machinima.  Here are the rules:

• Snapshots - if you are on a private island or a homestead property, you must check the covenant and if it says nothing, then you have permission to take snapshots.  If you are on the mainland, there isn't a covenant in the land menu, so you automatically have permission to take snapshots.
• Machinima - is the same as taking snapshots where if you are on a private island or a homestead property, you must check the covenant to see if you have permission.  It is important to remember that there are some places on the mainland where permission must be obtained from the land owner.
• Avatar Consent - If you are just taking a snapshot then there is no permission required.  If you are recording in machinima, you have to obtain permission from every avatar that will be involved in the movie.

For more information on this policy, please go to:  http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy.

The advantage of using machinima is unlike making movies in real life, there is no equipment to gather and set up and no actors to pay to hire.

In the process of doing research on machinima, I came across a guide that listed how to record a movie in machinima in 19 steps.  I thought that these steps were useful and very thought provoking and wanted to share them:

1. Decide what type of movie that you want to make.  Think about the genre.
2. Do you want to use dialogue or narrative?
3. Where will your source text come from?  Will you be using your own written text or use text from a coursebook or story?
4. Write an outline of the movie.
5. Write your screenplay.
6. Make a storyboard which includes minute by minute, second by second, or anytime you plan a change.
7. Write the actual text that will be used if you plan on having a conversation in your movie.
8. Find a suitable location and scene to record your movie.
9. Find actors (avatars) and outfits to use in your movie.
10. Decide if you will or will not use voice in your movie.
11. Record a sample scene to make sure everything works.
12. Make arrangements with actors (avatars) about when to show up to record the movie.
13. Record your movie.
14. Convert your recordings and audio files so that you can edit them in a another program like Windows Movie Maker (free) or Camtasia (costs money).
15. Edit, cut, snip and combine.
16. Add voices, music and edit.
17. Add a title, names of actors, etc.
18. Upload your movie to YouTube.  Use MachinEVO as a tag for ease in locating your machinima at a later date.
19. Post in the Ning.

To learn more about using machinima in Second Life, there is a tutorial at:  http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Making_movies

My thoughts on Machinima
I can see the benefit of using Machinima in Second Life for both business related projects as well as educational projects.  Businesses can benefit by not having a lot of cost involved as they would in real life.  Educational institutions could benefit by being able to make short movies to be used in class as an educational tool.  These movies can be uploaded to YouTube so that students could watch them and use as a guide in how to do a project such as how to build an object in Second Life.

Other web sites consulted while reserching Machinima:

http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2012/01/14/making-a-machinima-in-second-life-in-19-steps/#.UAreRJHhc8g

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Tips_and_Tricks:_Ten_Tips_on_Creating_Machinima_in_Second_Life

http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/1139661.htm

http://www.vizworld.com/2010/01/life-video-production-machinima/