MACHINIMA BEST PRACTICES: PRESERVING VIRTUAL WORLDS

THROUGH VIDEO DOCUMENTATION

Shannon Bohle, MLIS(Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life)

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in EducationMarch 17,2011

Machinima offers the ability to create films which implement the best of traditional film making and animation as well as take advantage of this new

media format.

It is possible to implement archival best practice standards for from Real Life when making

machinima video in Second Life and storing it for long term digital preservation.

• Sundance Film Festival (Park City, Utah) Life 2.0 by Jason Spingarn-Koff (Jay Spire in Second Life), 2010 – Official website http://life2movie.com/; Teaser - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xe6uVLOy2g

• Nobel Museum (Stockholm, Sweden) Can results from Planck prove inflation paradigm? by Shannon Bohle (Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life), 2009 – Photo http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3095934&id=81239734102;

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9uaAEXnbY• Nobel Foundation (Stockholm, Sweden) Are Zeolite Crystals Grown in Space Viable for Nanotechnology? by Shannon

Bohle (Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life), 2010 – http://www.youtube.com/user/thenobelprize#p/p/DD105B9580DCF671/0/c1tULNeUHHQ

• Music video Every Day in Second Life by Grammy Award winner Alissa Moreno (film by Pookymedia), 2009 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTt1YsH2r-I

• U2 in Second Life singing Beautiful Day posted by stampshady, 2006 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYRABde3jB4• U2 in Second Life U2 in Second Life Where the Streets Have No Name by FallFilms, Showing on large screen during

Real Life U2 concert -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTMN_lmkJLMhttp://bit.ly/c6kN2  • UWA Challenge Winner, Cisko Vandeverre, for Seek, 2010 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6zbFx3Dxws• Wireframe view, Wireframe Dancing by ZonjaCapalini, 2008 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyWqakkfrio• Avatar trailer - http://www.avatarmovie.com/index.html• Stanford Special Collections' Virtual Archives in Second Life -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_TWmth3MdE• Copyright & Privacy Guidelines for Recording Lectures by Duke University Libraries -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbA7AGOTlCg

Featured Videos andAward-Winning Machinima

Advantages & Benefits

Machinima can be used to:

• Educate through video tutorials using 3-D animation• Memorialize concerts, lectures, conferences, and

special events held in Second Life• Creatively direct, film, and produce animated

movies, short films, television shows/series, commercials, and music videos

Shortfalls & LimitationsIn Second Life:Animations must be created outside Second Life• Limited number of facial expressions that are purchased as

part of an animation override (AO) worn as a HUD• The best lip synch currently possible is to try to match open

and closed mouth positions with the audio• A "puppeteer" tool is under development by Linden Lab, which

could allow animations to be created inworld• Cost; expect to spend $600-$2,000 USD on hardware and

between $39.00-$2,300.00 USD for software, or hire a professional company for $80.00-$200.00 USD per movie to create your own quality videos

Official Linden Lab AdviceLL Official Machinima Policy: 

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

Eric Linden's Top 10 Machinima Tips: http://www.machinima.com/article/view&id=447

Second Life Wiki: Machinima: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Machinima

Books and Articles

The Machinima Readerby Henry Lowood and Michael Nitsche, Eds. (MIT, May 2011)

Lowood, Henry E. "Perfect Capture: Three Takes on Replay, Machinima and the History of Virtual Worlds." Journal of Visual Culture, forthcoming

2011.

Archival Guidelines for Audio and Visual Materials

The National Archives and Records Administration of the United States of America (NARA)

• NARA has published its digital audio recommendations. These include using an "uncompressed lossless codec" and the following acceptable formats: AIFF, WAV, AU, BWF, FLAC, and MPEG4-ALS. NARA's preferred audio is 24 bps and the minimum acceptable is 16 bps. NARA recommends that "all audio should be recorded at a minimum sample rate of 44.1 KHz, although sampling at 96 KHz is encouraged.“

• NARA recommends the following formats for visual materials: AVI, MXF, and MOV and "lossless open codecs such as Motion JPEG 2000 or HuffyUV." When lossless codecs can't be used, NARA recommends MPEG2, MPEG4, DV, and MJPEG2000. "NARA recommends a minimum 720x486 pixels at 30 frames per second." It recommends "8 bits per channel with 10 bits per channel preferred" at 48KHz.

Published Guidelines Analog & Digital AV Materials

• The National Archives (NARA) "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Digital Audio and Video Records" - http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/dav-faq.html

• Image Permanence Institute -http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/

• Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board -http://www.loc.gov/film/plan.html

• Association of Moving Image Archivists -http://www.amianet.org/resources/pubsres.php

• Conservation Online Motion Picture Film Preservation -http://cool.conservation-us.org/bytopic/motion-pictures/

• National Film Preservation Foundation's The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Libraries, Archives, and Museums: http://www.filmpreservation.org/preservation/fpg.pdf

• "Film Preservation" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_preservation

General Tips - 1• Set Away timeout to "Never“• Set your avatar to "Busy“• Use Shift+ALT+F1 and Shift+ALT+H shortcut keys to clear the screen during filming• Turn off names and groups above people's heads under the general preferences tab• Lower your draw distance• Set graphics preferences to Ultra & enable all Shaders (under Advanced) if your graphics card

allows this• Under graphics preferences/Hardware, enable Anisotropic Filtering and set Anisotropic Fitering

to 16x• Be aware of your mouse location while recording • Record at the highest level possible with your video and audio capture software• Best recording formats for original video footage: DV-AVI* and MOV* (expect 1-2 GIG files)• Standard recording sizes for the internet: 1024x576 and 1900x1200• Best lossless formats for audio: Apple Lossless (ALE, ALAC), AIFF*, SDII, WAV at 44.1 kHz*

and a sample size of 16 bits* to 24 bits*• Experiment with light and shadow; Try alternate viewers, like Windlight • Search for unique and interesting angles• Film a complete, seamless scene, when warranted, by remembering the cues "Action!" and

"Cut!" used by traditional Directors• Aim for smooth shots using inworld camera tools, recording at the right frame rate, and filming in

low lag sims

General Tips - 2• For experienced machinima artists, plan ahead: storyboard, build sets, get actors, provide costumes• Get to know the many talented music performers in Second Life• Capture audio and video separately, then combine during post production• Experiment with new features in Second Life, for example, by clicking CTRL+ALT+Q you display the

Develop Menu. In it, under Rendering, check the wireframe view or the Render Metadata features• In the Develop Menu, enable HTTP textures, as well as Render Animation and Full Rez Textures• Create alternate avatars (Alts) if your computer can run more than one version of Second Life at a time;

it is possible to log in with multiple avatars and use them instead of hiring actors• Make or purchase different skins/shapes to create different "characters" featured in the films• For documentaries, a good rule of thumb is for every 1 hour of footage captured, 1 minute will result in

final footage• Creative pieces may require in-depth editing, re-shoots, and post processing, adding to the time needed

to make a quality film• Re-filming scenes may be required during the editing stages• Blend in photos, create mini-animations with gradual frames like old-fashioned animated cartoons using

a free tool like GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/downloads/)• Always request permission of a sim owner before filming in their sim• Always respect copyright by using material that are either in the public domain, fall under a Creative

Commons license, are materials you create yourself, or that you have written permission to use.• Always credit people who:

Own the simCreate content appearing in the videoAppear in the video as avatarsPlay music or created audio heard in the video

Recommended Hardware

• Pentium 3 or above CPU

• DirectX 9.0c or DirectX 10

• NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon graphics card

• 512 MB RAM video card

Second Life Equipment• Alt-Zoom Studios (free) - Scripted camera for dolly shots

-http://alt-zoom.com/• Milestone's Camera HUD (free) • MachinimaCam HUD -

http://codebastardredgrave.com/machinimacam/• Multi-Cam Machinima Camera Switcher (MSMCS) (25

Lindens, approximately 10 cents USD) - About: 

http://ddmcollective.blogspot.com/2009/04/using-multi-cam-machinima-switcher.html; Store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gourdneck/197/233/67

* Robot actors - Curiosity AI - (Archivist Llewellyn)

Software – Video Capture

• FRAPS (free to try with a limit of 20 second recordings plus a watermark, or $37 to buy) - Recommended software. Fraps can capture audio and video up to 2560x1600 with custom frame rates from 10 to 120 frames per second). The recommended/standard frame rate is 29.997 -http://www.fraps.com/download.php

• Camstudio (free) - Criticisms: No control over frame rate -http://camstudio.org/• WeGame (free) Windows only http://www.wegame.com/download/ help by Torley 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxAmKzyYoC4• Snaps Pro X for MAC (free to try, $20 USD for 1.x and $69 USD for 2.x) -

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/• Pinnacle Video Creator + HD ($89.99 USD) -

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Video+Capture+for+Mac.htmhttp://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Video+Capture+for+Mac.htm

• Pinnacle Video Capture for MAC ($99.99 USD) -

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Video+Capture+for+Mac.htm

• VideoLab for other platforms - http://www.mitov.com/html/videolab.html

Software – Video Editing, FX and Post Production

• Windows Movie Maker (free) - Criticisms: Poor quality output -http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

• Sony Vegas (free to try; $599.95 USD to buy): Recommended software -http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro

• Magix ($39.99 USD or $69.99 USD)- http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/• Adobe Premiere ($79.99 USD) - http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/• Adobe AfterEffects ($999.00 USD) - 

http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/• Pinnacle (varies; $49.99-$149.99 USD) -

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/ProductsAZ.htm

• Avid Media Composer ($2,295.00 USD commercial; $295.00 USD educational institutions and students) - http://www.avid.com/products/Media-Composer-Software/index.asp

• Other - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_editing_software

Audio Recording, Editing and Enhancement

• Audio is half of a machinima presentation • The choice of audio selection and the quality of the recording can

make or break a machinima video• Audio is even more important when there is no storyline. More

advanced videos will convey a story of some sort. It can be used to help create an impression or mood for the film

• Options for voice narration including using one's own voice or employing a voice actor

• A poem, story, fairy tale, folk tale, scene from a movie or play, etc. can be narrated in the video as long as it respects copyright and IP laws

Audio Tips• Voice actors should stand up when recording• Explain mindset (scenario) of the characters to the voice actor rather than telling him/her how you want

them to sound• Practice in real time in Second Life with the voice actors prior to recording, but don't record voice in

Second Life• Record in separate sound files and email or use Skype• Complete 3-4 takes per line• Sound rooms are used by some (price starts at $1500 USD)• Avoid gaming headsets because the microphones provide low quality audio recordings• Background noise can be removed by software, but it is better to use a good microphone and

techniques• Distance or buffer the microphone from the computer fan• Determine the best microphone position/distance from the speaker's mouth before recording• Aim for 3-15 decibels amplitude range• Consider purchasing a microphone with a condenser microphone, phantom power, and a pop filter• Lip synch can be improved by taking many close up video shots• If recording voice first, the voice actor's speech and inflections can be used to select the right avatar

appearance, gestures, and animations (think of Robin Williams in Disney's Aladdin)• Many voice actors will work for free; offer film credit, praise, and a show reel of all their voice clips

Audio Hardware/Software• Pro Tools - http://www.digidesign.com/• Crazy talk ($49.95 USD) - software to add lip synch in post production.

Criticism: looks unnatural -http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/• Musician's Friend - professional audio discount website -

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/rec• Sweetwater - professional audio discount website -

http://www.sweetwater.com/• Behringer professional microphones - http://www.behringer.com/• Blue professional microphones - http://www.bluemic.com/• M-audio professional microphones - 

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=microphones• Logitech headsets -

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/internet_headsets_phones/&cl=us,en

Share Your Videos - 1On the Internet

• YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/ Recommended video formats: HD is 1920x1080 (1080p) or 1280 x 720, Codec: H.264 (MP4) or MPEG-2. Recommended audio formats: MP3 or Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) preferred, Sample rate: 44.1kHz, Channels: 2 (stereo). Maximum file size and length: Expect up to 2 GIG, 10 mins

• iTunes - http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/• AviewTV - http://www.aviewtv.com/• Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/

Recommended video formats: HD is 720p, Codec: H.264 (MP4) or WMV3. Their website recommends a frame rate of 25 or 30 fps and a data rate of "2000 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video, 3000 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition footage." Resolutions are "640x480 for standard definition 4:3 video, 853x480 for widescreen DV, or 1280x720 for high definition. It is also best to export 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 video as 1280x720 too, since we will automatically scale it down. If you have the option to control the pixel aspect ratio (not display aspect ratio) make sure it's set to "1:1" or "1.00", also sometimes called 'square pixels.' “ Recommended audio formats: Advanced Audio Codec (AAC), Sample rate: 44.1kHz, bit rate of 320 kbps.Maximum file size and length: Unknown

In Second Life• There are a variety of television merchants in Second Life• UWA's Giant 4 Island BOSL Theater - http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/107/241/1645.

2010 Linden Prize Finalist video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TohDEqs4DM0

Share Your Videos - 2In Mixed Reality

Television shows and events taking place and filmed in Second Life are sometimes taking place both virtually and in a Real Life location. Others are recorded with or without a live audience, or streamed to the internet in real time.

BBC Film Network - (Contact Chester Orbit) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/

Metanomics - http://www.metanomics.net/

TreetTv - http://treet.tv/1st Question - http://treet.tv/shows/1stquestionTonight Live with Paisley Bebee - http://treet.tv/shows/tonightlive

Virtual World Network TV - http://www.virtualworldnetwork.tv/home.htmlFashion Nation - http://www.virtualworldnetwork.tv/fashionnation.htmlVirtual Tonight - http://www.virtualworldnetwork.tv/virtualtonight.html

ContestsEnter SL Contests• 48 Hour Film Festival machinima - http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima• Aniboom - 

http://www.aniboom.com/competition/Awards4#sort:Shuffled;page:0;filter:|• Genero TV - http://genero.tv/Competitions/• M.A.G. Awards - yearly contest, for more information,

see: http://mag-award-2009.ning.com/• MMIF 2011 –• University of Western Australia (UWA) Machinima Challenges - 

http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/Enter RL Contests• Sundance Film Festival - http://festival.sundance.org/• Bitfilm Festival - http://www.bitfilm.com/festival/• Film festivals in the Yahoo! Directory -

http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Movies_and_Film/Film_Festivals/• Filmfestivals.com: Calls for entries - http://www.filmfestivals.com/htm/deadlines.shtmlArchived ContestsAcademy of Machinima Arts & Sciences (AMAS) - 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_machinima_festivals; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_machinima_festivals

Machinima Expo 2009 - http://machiniplex.net/expo/MMIF 2010 - http://about.mmif.org/

Learn Through NetworkingSL Groups

• Aview TV• MachinimaMondays - weekly meetings to disucss machinima topics - 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/RastaOpen4/81/85/41• Machinimatographers Group• MaMachinima• SL Machinima Artists Guild

Magazines, Blogs & Forums• Machinima Studios - http://machinima-studios.blogspot.com/• MMIF.org - http://about.mmif.org/• Machinima.com - http://www.machinima.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=19 and 

http://www.machinima.com/forums/index.php?c=8• Machinimag - http://machinimag.com/• Pro M.A.G. - http://promag.ning.com/• Thinking Machinima - http://blog.machinima.org/

SL Media Companies & Contractors

The going rate to hire a machinima company varies, but is usually

between 20,000-50,000 Linden dollars (approximately $80-$200 USD).

• Fall Films - http://www.youtube.com/FallFilms• Ishelwood Studios - 

http://www.ishelwoodstudios.com.webbuilder03.hostbasket.com/Page 143001.htm

• Lowe Runo Productions -  http://lowerunoproductions.web.officelive.com/specialEffects.html

• Pookymedia - http://www.pookymediafilms.com/• theDOgroup - http://the-do-group.com/

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Cisko Vandeverre, winner of the UWA Challenge 2010Machinima Award and computer animator with over 30 years of experience, whogenerously spent two hours talking with me on Skype from Berlin, Germanyreviewing my original Second Life note card and offering his comments towardThe improvement of these Best Practices guidelines. I would also like to thankJason Spingarn-Koff (Jay Spire in Second Life), whose machinima video wasrecently shown at Sundance Film Festival, for reviewing these materials.Additionally, I would like to thank Fall Films (Rysan Fall in Second Life), whoproduces “Green” environmentally-conscious music videos used by Real Lifeperforming artists like U2 and Craig Lyons for providing advice and friendship.

http://archivopedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=Machinima