What Ev

My World of Warcraft Video

// June 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Videos

I just did a quick portfolio update to include the World of Warcraft video/movie I did. It won 6th place in the Comedy category of the very first World of Warcraft / Xfire movie contest. I ended up getting a PCMCIA sound card as a prize. Woohoo? I still have the thing in a drawer somewhere, unopened.

I had actually forgotten all about this movie until today. Luckily I recently put Windows 7 on my old Alienware laptop, so I was able to get the original video file off of there with no problems. I even found some old pictures of the setup I used when recording the in-game “footage”, so I threw them in the portfolio as well.

I had a lot of fun writing the script, blocking out all the shots and editing everything together. I definitely learned a lot about the whole process as well. The biggest lesson was: don’t try to do it in a weekend. I had planned on doing it for so long, gave up on the idea right as the contest started, and finally said “screw it, I’m doing it” 4 days before it was due. I had so much footage to go through, and not enough time to really tighten everything up. Overall I think it was decent, although I can’t stand watching it anymore. All I see are the problems and the areas I wasn’t satisfied with. I always meant to do a sequel, or at least another movie, but school has taken up most of my time until recently (when I graduated).

I’m embedding a version that was uploaded to Google Video below. I didn’t actually do the upload, some random person decided to download it from the official movie site and upload it. Fair enough. Looks like they uploaded it on March 14th, 2006. Crazy. For a higher quality version, take a look at my portfolio.

Also, just as a quick comment: I usually refrain from using the word “machinima”. This is mostly because I think it’s a terrible term, just awful. Also, no one seems to know how to pronounce it correctly.

-Chris

Arthas Gettin’ Down In Luster

// June 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Luster

I recently finished up a really cool skeletal animation tech demo for Darkwind.  I was able to get the model of Arthas (aka the Lich King) from World of Warcraft and do my own little animation on it.  I brought the animated model into Luster and added some nice lighting and shadow effects. These effects include per-pixel lighting, normal maps, shadows maps and variance shadow maps (VSMs). There is a video of the Skeletal Animation Tech Demo below, and more screenshots available in the Luster Gallery.

I also did a longer write-up of the whole process on the Darkwind Media blog.

-Chris

Videos, Themes and Dreams

// May 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Misc

Turns out I lied about settling on a theme. Oh well. I really do like the one I’m currently using though. Not only does it look decent, but it’s customizable and I fit in my “cartoon/avatar” thing. The colors are not that great between the cartoon and the background, but it’ll do for now.

I figured I’d post this video of Choof and I at the office, mostly because the last video I posted has an ugly still. Plus I find it far too amusing.

Speaking of videos, I recently emailed the small YouTube playlist I made of our Dimension Break videos to someone in the games industry. I’m pretty sure of two things: A: I won’t be hearing back and B: I probably sounded like a complete idiot. But you gotta take a chance sometimes, right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Not that I’m looking for anything out of it. I’m mostly hoping for feedback and, if I’m lucky, to start a discussion. We’ll see. I’m sure I’ll yell it from the highest mountain tops if I actually do hear back, even if the email says “Go away, you smell”.

I have to add Dimension Break (and Rocktropolis for that matter) to my portfolio. And then redo the damn thing because I hate it. Well, that’s not true. I dislike the transitions between “pages”, so I just need to make them look a bit nicer. Once that’s done I’ll feel a whole lot better about it.

-Chris

New Dimension Break Video

// May 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Games

I finally got around to putting together a video of the old portal tech test I did for Dimension Break. It’s nothing fancy, but I’ve wanted to be able to show it for a while now. I’d really like to go back and polish it up a bit. Maybe finally implement the more Portal-esque portals for fun.

-Chris

Dimension Break Video

// April 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Games

I made a video of Dimension Break with some footage I took before the GDC.  I have it up on games.rit.edu, as well as YouTube.

I wish I could have taken some better videos, but the game isn’t quite ready yet.  Hopefully soon though!

-Chris

I Knew It

// April 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Misc

Yeah, that theme didn’t last very long. After playing around with every theme I could get my hands on, I think this is going to be the one (until I get tired of it, that is). I think I’d be less picky if it wasn’t so easy to swap between them at will. I’m just not in the mood to design my own at the moment, so “Gear” it is. I’m pretty happy with it, although I’m sure I’ll photoshop a new icon or two.

-Chris

A Theme?

// April 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Misc

I think i’ve settled on a theme (for now).  I’m far too indecisive when it comes to my own stuff.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

-Chris

Every Saga has a Beginning

// April 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Misc

I guess it was about time.  I’ve had the same “splash screen” on my website for over two years, and since I finally finished my portfolio I figured some sort of change was in order.  Here goes nothing!

-Chris

P.S. I hate the term “blog”, so I’m just going to refer to this as my “website”.  Sound good?