The 2009 Machinima Expo - for which I am a judge - has announced it’s date and location: Sunday, November 22 from 9AM (Pacific Time) to 2PM (Pacific Time) on the University Campus Suffolk’s island in the virtual World of Second Life. Here are the complete details.
Via Machinima Expo:
Reallusion, the makers of iClone 4 and Crazy Talk 6, have agreed to sponsor the Machinima Expo this … petition categories.
Full details: Machinima Expo, including listing of prizes. See this link on digipendence.com for our continuing coverage on Machinima Expo.
Blender (Wikipedia) is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.
Downloads are available for Windows (32-bit - 2000/XP/Vista, 64-bit - Vista), Linux (x86-32, x86-64), Mac OS X, Solaris and Irix. Check this official page for manuals and documentation in many languages. Someone has updated and corrected the original single page QuickStart PDF. The new version is two pages; the person who made it says that “covers less material but [is] more in-depth.”
Besides 3D still artwork, Blender can be used to make films and even games. Blender’s back story is very interesting, and well worth a read. It was originally a commercial product before being going open source and getting released under a GNU General Public License.
The Blender Community is large and vibrant. And not just in English. New users are welcomed. There are many free tutorials - PDFs, videos - available as well. Books, DVDs and other merchandise can be purchased from the Blender eShop. Buying items from the site is a way to show support and say thank you for the awesome free software. There is even an annual conference. The upcoming one will be the 8th, and it will be held in Amsterdam, October 23-25th.
While there are a great many 3rd-party ones to choose from, some of the best video tutorials are by Neal Hirsig. His course is posted on the Tufts University’s Open CourseWare site and is available free of charge under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License to anyone with an internet connection. When first offered in 2006, the course was entitled “Three-Dimensional Modeling, Animation and Rendering Using Blender 3D Software“. While that course is still avaliable, it was updated in the Spring of 2008 and is now a 68 hour course called “Blender 3D Design“.
One of my favourite Blender resources is BlenderArt Magazine. It’s published on a bi-monthly schedule, and so far, there are 21 PDF issues available, along with supporting project files. I will continue to document them in my ‘Books Worth Reading‘ category. Additional free books can be found at WikiBooks. The “Noob to Pro” series is a favourite of many. Check the menu on the left hand side for a link to generate a PDF version.
Here are some of the top 3rd-party Blender resources:
Here are a few pictures from the current Gallery. Also be sure to check out the Archive.
I’d definitely love to attend this event, but I probably won’t be able to as the expense of travel and accomodations is a bit out of my reach at the moment. Ah, the glamorous life of a freelance journalist.
What: Play Machinima Law
When: April 24-25, 2009
Where: Stanford Law School
Co-Sponsored by the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society and the Preserving Virtual Worlds project of the Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, Play Machinima Law is a two-day conference that will explore a series of key issues relating to what is often called “player-generated” or “user-created” content based on digital games or created in game and virtual worlds. Topics will include machinima, game art, game hacking, open source ideas and “modding”, technology studies, player/consumer-driven innovation, cultural studies, fan culture, legal and business issues, transgressive play, game preservation, and notions of collaborative co-creation drawn from virtual worlds and online games. Experts from the major players in the digital game arena, lawyers, practitioners, and academics will convene at Stanford to discuss the legal issues associated with gameplay in regards to user-generated content, machinima, and game-related practices.
Speakers so far:
Henry Lowood: Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections; Film & Media Collections, Stanford University Libraries
Lauren Gelman: Executive Director, Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School
Julie Ahrens: Associate Director of the Fair Use Project at the Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School
Matteo Bittanti: Associate Researcher, Stanford Humanities Lab, Stanford University
Continuing its dedication to bringing animation to the classroom (previous post), Reallusion sponsored the annual Singapore Digital Media Awards (SDMA).
Inaugurated in June 1999, the Schools Video Awards (SVA) started with the aim of providing a platform for our students to express themselves creatively through the use of video. The 9th SVA (2008) is rebranded as the Schools Digital Media Awards (SDM Awards) to include media categories such as audio and animation. The SDM Awards aims to provide opportunities for teamwork, collaboration and the development of media literacy.
There are two competition divisions, one for students and one for teachers. Click here to learn more about the SDMA. Winning entries can be viewed here. Vist the gallery. Download free PDF resources (miscellanous worksheets).