It is early in December as I write this but will publish it as the year adds another number to itself -- which by chance is my rez day (early in the morning I was birthed; not bored at midnight *wink*).
There have been plenty of changes in Second Life this year, some of them affecting machinima production and photography. Mesh bodies have become the norm among many groups, heads are making their way there. We look "better" some folks would say or "spookily real" as others comment.
I have always put an emphasis on production values -- in real life or virtual. One can certainly make a very good machinima without Windlight, mesh and all the newer additions to Second Life, but adding them ups the Preeetty Factor and I like pretty.
We are losing the University of Western Australia yearly contests. We have lost Month of Machinima. There are a few other contests on the horizon (Mad Pea, Firestorm) to give us themes and shake us outside our boxes a little. Or of course we can simply do our own thing.
The New Year is my personal favorite holiday; a turning of a giant page in the book of our lives. What might the next year bring?
I have a couple of ideas for MOSP. They will either turn out or not. I don't worry about that; there is always another path with its own twists and turns. Perhaps a better path than what we had planned.
Sansar should open this next year. Originally touted as a better Second Life, it seems like plans have changed there too. So my concentration, for now, will be here. What would make OUR world better for machinima? Facial animations come to mind.
With the new animated heads capable of what might turn out to be to be planned facial animations running by scripts with a few clicks, it seems clear that the next big step forward will include -- well let's call them "talking heads" LOL. And with the new facial bones we will be able to tell our stories with a look.
Imagine within the next year stores that sell scripted animations for various animated heads. Now wouldn't that be something?
Our props keep getting better and better. Be sure and hit The Arcade yards sales to pick up wonderfulness at rock bottom prices. A RL friend asked me the other day where I got that great military uniform for my last film. I told him I bought it at a yard sale some time back. It was great and I was pretty sure I would find a use for it. And of course it was transfer *wink*. This month I got REALLY lucky and found two sets of matching surreal telephone poles at LESS than the cost of playing the machine.
Well, damn -- now I have told you my secrets!
That's OK. It's a new year and who knows what it will bring.
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