Blender Machinima?

Game Engine Game Engine Support and Discussion
#1

I was wondering what the status is a tthe moment on attempts to make the Blender Game Engine a tool for Machinima (i.e. short films produced by recording game activities)?

I have begun working on basic human parts, like a hand that grabs things in some detail (wrapping its fingers around it as if it was a real object, rather than just POOF holding it) and some foot motion (no walk cycles, but real feel-the-floor movement). But if there are people out there already doing such work, I would like to know, so that I may swap ideas and draw on experiences!

It is my solemn belief, after experimenting with the GE for some time, that very detailed human actors can be created and run inside flexible environments, effectively producing a versatile Machinima toolbox in Blender. Anyone interested in participating or already working on such projects is welcome to post or PM me :yes:

#2

Here:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=91606

That’s about all I ever heard on the topic of machinima in the forums. Kinda looks dead now, but some of that info should still be useful.

That said; I too feel like machinima is the way to go with the BGE. I mean waiting for even the simplest animations to “render” usually means waiting for hours, and that wait is probably the only thing that kept me from getting into some serious animation work.

So yea, a usable machinima framework would definitely be a nice refresher.

#3

Yeah, I found that thread myself (I am a very disciplined searcher. Not searching first makes Baby Jesus cry, people!). But it is largely redundant due to the (excellent, but with room for improvement) Record Game to IPO function.

I am more talking about methods to build a working Machinima framework, as you call it. If anyone had been working on anthropomorphic (sp?) system emulations like functioning hands or the like, it would be nice to know. If someone with skills in the GE wanted to build some fundamental methodology (always nice to have terms and routines to work with), that would be cool, too. I think people see the potentials, but I feel a bit alone in wanting to realize them, with the exception of Beaver’s extensive work on the recording aspects.

Basically, anyone know how to get a head start on building a human for Machinima?

#4

Actually to both you guys i made a personal inquiry to buck beaver less than a week ago and he is still developing his plugin. The problem is though that it most likeley wont be used for actual blender realtime, just the normal interface for animation. Its harldy possible if not impossible to do in the GE since IK’s arent imported yet…

#5

IK’s work fine, just no other animation constraints…

#6

Yeah, that’s the major stumbling block for me. Does anyone know why only IK constraints work in the GE, and whether it will change anytime soon?

#7

Actually, the Panda Puppet Project is quite a bit more than just the record game to IPO function (which doesn’t really help if you want to do serious Machinima using armatures) and is exactly the type of Machinima framework you seem to be envisioning. The goal of the project is to have a professional framework for rapidly rigging and performing characters in real-time.

Panda Puppet is very much alive and it or projects related to it is basically my day job at this point as there’s a small start-up in Canada that’s being built around it now. I spend about 50% of my work hours each week on it. Unfortunately, the GE is very frustrating to work with at the moment because you basically have to fake everything or develop work-arounds for whatever you want to do.

As Chuzzy mentioned, the track I’m on for the moment is building a stand-alone application using OGRE, which can be used to perform characters/create Machinima in real-time and then imported the scenes in to Blender.

I know this gets said a lot in the forums, but it would be really, really nice to see a major upgrade of the GE. It has so much potential that it’s limitations are very frustrating.

#8

@BuckBeaver: Info info info info :smiley: You have just wetted my appetite to know more! Also, how is Panda set to interac with Blender?
My hopes is something that can generate the animation, the have the results pulled in to the renderer for added details, etc.