Machinima for Dummies – A comprehensive manual for newbies and pros alike

Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram have set out to write the ultimate manual for developing and creating machinima. The material is incredibly well-organized and presented with a mix of humor and transparent passion for the subject matter. The authors' insight and vast experience is reflected throughout the book as they manage to successfully seed enthusiasm and a "can-do" attitude in those reading it. After all, machinima is "maverick film-making", "a philosophy, a fervent belief, a technique, and, last of all, a technology". By the time you finish the last chapter, you too will be a convert to the idea that "everyone, everywhere, should be able to make movies".

After the journey through film-making concepts, storytelling, 3D modeling, learning the insides of a game engine, editing, and perhaps custom scripting, it is very obvious that machinima is anything but for dummies. In fact, if you plan on heading into this adventure alone, you will need a myriad of creative and technical skills and a hacker-like mindset. As such, the key selling point for Machinima for Dummies is its accessibility – the amazing ability to offer a wide range of readers a solid foundation upon which they can develop their own knowledge and skills. Expect a book that empowers and urges the audience to action.

Some quick previews:

1. Filmmaking 101 – Unless you're a film major, you'll likely need some help in thinking through the movie-like aspects of animation. This chapter covers concepts of framing, style, transition effects, etc., which all help the audience better understand your characters and follow the storyline. Some of it is common sense, others are useful tricks the movie industry uses on a regular basis. You cannot make a great piece of machinima without being aware and mastering the implementation of these concepts.

2. Storytelling + scripting – A lot of attention is given to this part, and rightly so. Your machinima's goal is to tell a story. The better organized you become at putting thoughts down and detailing your vision, the easier it will be to work out filming details later on (way after you've said "Action!"). Ideas here are illustrated with great dialog from Hugh and Johnnie and with Lord of the Rings samples.

3. Natural progression – The book isn't meant to be read in one sitting. Chapters follow a natural progression. Earlier parts are directed at readers who are new to machinima and later ones to those who have dabbed in it and want to make a run for professional creations. Final chapters advise the audience on best 3D modeling software to use for customizing your character and sets, and resources for scripting your own camera/neat character making hacks.

4. Engine review – Throughout the book, the authors have compiled helpful and up-to-date engine reviews based on a variety of features that relate to machinima. They are an invaluable resource because they also survey the sea of game engines and offer a big picture view of the possibilities ahead. Choose the engine/game that works best for the story you'd like to tell. The book follow machinima creation in three engines: Sims 2, World of Warcraft, and the newly-created Moviestorm.

5. Machinima distribution – everything from understanding codecs, formats, to delivery practices online and offline.

6. Audio – I was very excited to read this part. It was breaming with information on Creative Commons resources, software & hardware resources to capture audio from your actors/characters, and great hack tips to turning your bedroom into a state-of-the-art sound studio (ok, not quite, but very close).

7. Pro Machinima – The authors call it the final frontier, and it may very well be. Making professional machinima is a work of passion, that also comes with the added stress of putting up with game engine limitations in order to produce your masterpiece. When that is done, you may or may not be in trouble with the law. This chapter provides valuable information on which platforms are friendly to the machinima community, what to look for in EULAs, and how copyright legislation can affect you, the filmmaker. There is even a contact list for legal advice, should you actually get in trouble.

8. Up-to-date – This feature is perhaps the coolest, especially in the world of machinima, where things change pretty quickly and resources may spring over night. The authors have made a commitment to keep some of the information updated on machinimafordummies.com

9. The DVD – The book comes with a DVD! This contains a generous compilation of software, pieces of machinima to get you started, resources, and a free & fully legal new machinima bundle called Moviestorm. There are also goodies, such as the fun-to-watch top ten best machinima. Another top ten list to take note of is that of the sites promoting or talking about machinima (including this one!)

Feel free to add your own impressions here. :)