Who doesn't love a good olde Western? This week we delve into a great short by avidredeadenjoyer, released 21 Sept 2024, called The Loss. It has been made in the only engine a Western machinima can be, RDR2. We all especially liked one particular shot, which really goes to the heart of why machinima has added so much to movie-making. This week, we also talk about a second pick, a Frontier: Elite 2 short by The Mystic Mushroom accompanied by the Blue Danube: The second best space sim ever made... Enjoy!

1:15 The Western vibe

4:00 The tropes, the story and the cinematography

5:15 Mid shots vs close-ups

7:25 The sentiment portrayed

11:22 The beginning, middle and end!

13:06 Music and foley

13:30 Steam trains: down memory lane for Tracy

16:02 An outstanding shot – tell us more @avidredeadenjoyer!

21:40 Mixing with Chopin maybe not the best choice?

24:50 The second best space sim ever made…

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats

A packed ep this month, key tools, what's happening roundup and some fascinating projects - links to everything on the Show Notes page of our website.

1:29 BBC Sound Archive

2:30 Auto painter AI for Blender

2:56 Google image/film search AI

5:00 Tribute to David Graham

6:05 Mouse: PI For Hire!

7:05 Azeroth politicised? Surely not!

10:13 Pigeon Bringer of Doom and Destroyer of Humanity, by Solofilms

10:50 The Flower that Never Dies, by NewGates Entertainment

11:21 Terminator and Cyberpunk 2077, by eli_handle_b.wav

12:27 Warhammer, JT Music

13:03 Ian Hubert’s Dynamo Dream Part 2 is finally out

14:13 Star Citizen Con updates SC1.0

18:31 Squadron 42 gameplay reveal update

23:09 Hubnet machinima, Overclock and EE Studios

26:15 Luminaria still open!

27:00 GTA Hamlet documentary, Sam Crane

28:40 Reallusion 3D character contest results – stunning work!

31:30 Movies Tycoon out of early access

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week's ep we dedicate to a 3D animation by a French student collective made in their final year of studies, streamed through @TheRookiesCo channel. It is not technically #machinima as its made using traditional #animation tools but nonetheless we absolutely loved it - and its a recommendation by one of our channel's regular followers @3dchick. The film is a post-apocaylptic robot tale, inspired by Zaha Hadid's architectonic style.

2:00 Ricky's intro
8:25 Benevolence vs malificence? A moral tale for bots!
13:46 How to achieve personality in machines? This is an example reminiscent from the early days of machinima and the work of Peter Rasmussen
16:21 Cultural references in this film were not film-based but engineering based - is this a reflection of contemporary times and the emergent use of 3D animation tools?
18:45 A clever use of missing information to set the scene

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood (Phil Rice MIA)
Producer/Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Animo Domini Beats