If there's one thing I've learned after 10+ years of blogging about Second Life, any general statement you plan to make about the virtual world always requires an "on the other hand". So, while it's generally true that Second Life machinima is waning, it's also true, on the other hand, that SL machinima like this pretty spectacular surfing montage by ChanAndMe are still being made. Watch:
I love the jagged montage editing that cuts to the music and the cinematography, which at its swoopiest, looks like real world surfing footage. (Am from Hawaii and surfed, can confirm.)
On the other hand (yes, this other hand has an other hand), this excellent machinima also showcases the limitations of Second Life machinima which other creators mentioned in this comment thread:
The starring avatar doesn't seem "grounded" with the world, sort of skimming over the surface of the sand and the waves. Part of the problem is the video's lack of dynamic shadows, but I'm guessing it would be technically difficult to do smooth shots with animated waves and dynamic shadows. (The avatar is over-sexualized, especially for being a female surfer, who are uniformly badass, but that's another conversation.) The physics of the surf board are also off in places (and that's leaving aside the constant flips).
All that said, I will say this: I'm fairly sure it would be impossible to create as good a surfing machinima video on any platform. Am I wrong? Because if I'm not, we can also see in this a solid reason for why good Second Life machinimas are still being made: Despite its many limitations, Second Life is still the most open-ended and modifiable 3D content creation platform out there.
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Thank you for this more well rounded post on Machinima, nice job.
Posted by: LaPiscean Liberty | Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 06:40 AM