EDUCEDGE,

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zonja/sets/72157605194470169/

I get a lot of questions about how I prepare my videos. Here are some tips:

1) The built-in video capture feature of the SL client is broken, deprecated, and will be removed in a future release. There are a number of programs to capture video, I’m using FRAPS, it’s unexpensive and works very well.

2) I’m using Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum for editing. Again, it’s unexpensive and it has a lot of nice features.

3) I shoot all my footage at 1024×768, 30 fps. To generate the uploadable movies, I create Windows Media 9 movies at 640×480, 23.9 fps, “good” quality, music at VBR quality.

4) The extreme WindLight settings I use come from experimenting. I start with some extreme preset, like “Sailor’s delight”, and begin to play with the sliders.

5) You can get really amazing effects with water by playing with the Fresnel parameters.

mmmmm, it appears that it might take a bit more than 5 minutes to figure out FRAPS recording in RC8. Apparently something is not working with the lipsync. It’s not working when I start recording. Maybe it’s my headset. I did not take it with me this weekend. I”ll try again on Tuesday, once i’m back home.

Lipsync is working though. That’s cool. Even if it’s just RC8.

I am so happy Happy HAPPY! I think that the hardest is over now. i will just need to start polishing my filming techniques and my post-production editing creativity.

http://willowshenlin.blip.tv

This was done for the CALICO 2008 that I was not able to attend at the last minute. So in order not to let my co-presenter dry without my input on our presentation about bringing MIT’s Cultura to SL, I offered to create a Machinima to replace the SL demonstration I was going to do in San Francisco.

My next item on my to-do list:
1-Download the full version FRAPS.
2-Organize the gestures in categories in my inventory
3-Figuring out the gesture edit “bug”(?): not updating my list of gesture choices in the active animation/gestures
4-Emailing the links to colleagues to get fresh reactions to the movie (reaction to avatar appearance and immediacy behavior)
5-Prepare a questionnaire to have the CALICO audience give their reactions.