Story basics - a reminder for all classes

Hi all.

When developing your story, remember the story shape we discussed during class. This story shape can help you create a story that gets people interested in it. You can use this structure as a kind of scaffolding to hang your story off. The elements of the story shape are as follows:

- setup (introduction to characters, scene, future conflicts)
- turning point (a 'point of no return' that leads to stuff happening in the story)
- crisis points (where the drama/conflict increases)
- a climax (The height of the drama, out of which comes the ultimate end to the story)
- a denouement (a winding down of the story, where things are wrapped up)

Remember too that the story idea for your Second Life project requires at least two characters: your own Second Life character/Avatar and a visitor. You cna have as many other characters as you like - but remember, you have to film them in your Second life apartment so make sure your story is realistic and achievable.

Some questions about bringing 3dsmax into Second Life answered

Some good questions from Glen;

Is it possible to model meshes in max, and export them to second life?

And if this IS a possiblity, can you export animation keyframes with them? Meaning, can we export our own models from max, into 2nd life, and have them animated?

If so, this will really help open up the potential of action that occurs in our machinima stories.

The answer to this (yes) is quite complex, posted below is some information from http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims:_3d_Software_Guide

If you wish to make what are known as 'sculpted' prims I suggest reading that whole wiki.

In terms of animation, there is a massive range of animations to choose from for Second Life avatars in world, or you can import .bvh files(avimator or poser export these, I am not 100% sure about 3ds).

The best help of all will be jumping in (you can sign up at secondlife.com, search for Victoria University once in if you need space to build) and having a look around. Like any OOP (object oriented programming, think flash) - it has quite a steep learning curve, but after those initial few hours you will realise just how much is possible and how easily it can be achieved.

Thanks for the questions, and keep them coming. I look forward to catching up with those of you I haven't met yet.

3d Studio Max (Autodesk)

• Website: Autodesk 3ds Max
• Cost: US$3495. Educational License: ~US$200. Subscription: ~US$500/year.
• Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP, Windows Vista (with version 9.1)
• Trial version available?: Yes, 30-day demo, full features
• User Scripting? Yes, MAX Script/plugins
• Modeling Methods: Polygons, NURBS, Subdivsion, Basic Brush Sculpting
• Built-in Texture Baking? Yes (some functions only in version 8 and higher)
• Current Sculpt Map Support?: Yes
  • Prim Composer for 3ds Max Prim Composer is a complete offline builder for Second Life and OpenSim. Create regular prims and sculpts within 3ds Max and import them into either Second Life or OpenSim as linked sets. Hierarchical grouping and gizmo scaling are supported within 3ds Max. (from the maker of SculptGenMax) Open Source.
  • Method 1 by Gearsawe Stonecutter, uses a premade template file.
  • Method 2 by Abu Nasu, uses a shader. Download the Materials file here, or the updated Materials file here. Read the tutorial here.
    • A varient of Abu's methood by Chip Midnight uses a projection modifier and can handle arbitrary shapes but requires Max version 8 or higher. The tutorial is here.

Formerly Maya's main competitor, especially in the game industry. Then Autodesk (the makers of Max) bought out Alias (the makers of Maya) a couple years ago. So far the company is developing both products separately, marketing Maya at the movie industry and Max at the game developers, but they have long had comparable feature sets, and in the future it's likely that there will be tighter integration between the two. A choice between Maya and Max generally comes down to user preference and (particularly in our case) plugin support. Some users have said that Max is easier for a newbie to learn than Maya and certain basic controls share similarities with SL's build tools (such as shift-drag to copy).

Resources

SL Prims to 3ds Max - A prim building plugin and export system for Max. Open source.

Prim Composer for 3ds Max - Prim Composer is based on SL Prims and SculptGenMax. 3ds Max offline building plugin for both prims and sculpties. Open Source.

WM1 Flinders Class Two - Tuesday July 21st

Today we caught up with the blogs which could not be accessed last week.
We then did the spinning earth exercise, learning how we can place a rotation script inside a textured sphere to make it spin. We then made some transparent clouds for the earth which span at a different pace.
After this we worked on some fridges and various household items, to practice importing textures and basic building.
We then blogged about it all, and went for a field trip to the NGV. More to come on that!

Note - Sorry all, I didn't realise that the gallery was undergoing renovations! We will return at a later stage, in the meantime please feel free to email me at dale (at) oztron.com with any questions about how Second Life can be used.

Preview images of your apartments

Here are some preview images of the flat everyone shall be given to use as a set for their machinima pieces.

Next to the window(the photo shall be redone from Eureka tower.)


Looking at the kitchen on the left, and through to the bedroom on the right.


Standing looking at the entry, kitchen to the left, bedroom behind that, and window number 2 on the right along with some lounge space.


You can visit the display apartment in Second Life by searching for Victoria University(it's diagonally opposite all of the white buildings with native trees on the island).
You shall all be given self-rezzing copies in which you will be able to modify the textures and content to suit your own machinima piece.
We will be building some of the content during the course, such as artwork, a fridge, and furniture.

WM1 Flinders Class One - Tuesday July 14th

Welcome to Writing for Multimedia.

We will be doing the classes from week 6 today as Stefan is at a conference.

Introduction to Interactive Storytelling, explanation of course outline and assessment

• Linear versus interactive multimedia/storytelling
• History of Multimedia - Speech>Text>Print>Radio>Television>Interactive Multimedia
• Discussion of future technologies and their impact on society in general (Disabled, Digital Divide, Intelligence/Individual Divide, What will become of our current reality?)

Introduction to augmented and virtual reality

Second Life and other Virtual Words

• There
• Openlife
• Activeworlds
• Entropia
• Playstation Home
• The Sims
• Google Earth
• Lively
• Photosynth

What is required in a virtual environment?

Introduction to Second Life

• Registering
• Modifying avatars/characters in Second Life
• Applying textures
• Using the Appearance Tool
• Searching
• Teleporting
• Object, Library and Inventory Use

What is Interactive Story telling?
How can VR be used to tell a story?

You must visit three places in Second Life, take a snapshot, and complete a short review on each place.

• Location Name?
• Region?
• People Online?
• What is done there?
• What is your opinion of it, and why?
• Would you visit again?

Eg;


The first location I visited was Ocean Sunrise.
I liked the trees(nice palms), they used some nice saturated rich colors, and nice waves.
I didn't like the land style, and the sand was a little boring, it needed more shapes or perhaps some grass. There didn't seem like there was too much to do, and there wasn't many original creations to examine.
I would come back if I needed a new style of palm tree.

..............................................................

We also looked at creating tshirts, with everyone creating their own shirt from a template in fireworks.

For anyone who missed it, the file can be found on mmshare>secondlife, or alternately you can download a similar template here as well as view instructions;

http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Technical/SL-Tuts/SLPages/RSWTShirtStart.html

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to Writing for Multimedia - or Interactive Storytelling, if you're doing the games course.

Your teachers are Stefan Schutt (stefan.schutt {at} vu.edu.au) and Dale Linegar (daleoztron {at} gmail.com). Stefan will cover the general story, character and industry stuff, and Dale will be guide your guide into developing a story and machinima using Second Life (this will be your major project).

In this class, you’ll learn how to enhance your design and development career with writing skills. You’ll find out what makes stories and characters tick, how to create scripts and how interactive narratives differ from linear stories. We’ll also building assets in Second Life, making movies from within Second Life - and we'll cover some visual aspects of interactive writing including tips on how to write for the screen. Welcome aboard.

Week 1 :: Introductions. What is interactive media? What is interactivity? What is immersion? :: A history | Technology and times :: What is an interactive media writer? | What skills do they need? | Some project roles.

Generating ideas | Postcards exercise :: How to write: point of view, style and structure, active/passive voices, sentence length

Week 2 :: Script formatting for dialogue. Plotting and story shapes: linear narrative. Hero’s Journey. Three act play.

Week 3 :: Flexible week: create storyboard of linear narrative. Create script of scene.

Week 4 :: Non-linear and interactive stories. Creating characters: character sketches.

Week 5 :: Writing dialogue: pacing, believability.

Creating worlds: fleshing out your idea, Creating worlds cont

Week 6 :: Introduction to Virtual Reality and Second Life. Basic Avatar Design. Location
Reviews - Uploading artwork

Week 7 :: Avatar design, T-shirt design, Prop design

Week 8 :: NGV, Building and scripting objects - Fridge with opening door,
rotating kitchen items

Week 9 :: Building and scripting objects - Furniture with sitting/sleeping
scripts

Week 10 :: Comic Life - recreating stories as comic strips using SL

Week 11 :: Machinima in SL - tips and techniques

Week 12 :: Filming and editing

Week 13 :: Filming and editing

Week 14 :: Filming and editing; presentations