Make a Machinima

You love watching cartoons, and you’ve decided it would be really fun to make your own. However, animation can be incredibly tedious. One way you can save time is by rearranging animation that already exists to fit your own story. A machinima is a cinematic production you make you using video games. The word machinima is a combination of the words “machine” and “animation”. To make a machinima, you’ll capture and edit in-game footage to create your own production.

Steps

Planning your Machinima

1. Choose a game. Pick a game that you want to base your machinima on. Make sure it’s a game with a large following as the fans of the game are likely to be your initial audience. You should choose a game that you are fairly familiar with. Some popular games to use for machinima include:
   • Halo
   • World of Warcraft
   • The Sims
   • Grand Theft Auto
2. Get your hardware. If you choose a computer game like “World of Warcraft”, the only hardware that you’ll need is your computer and a microphone. If the game you choose is for your console. You’ll need your computer, a microphone, your console and a video capture card.
   • Make sure your video capture card has a USB drive so it can connect to your computer.
   • If your console has its own capture software, you won’t need a capture card.
3. Get your software. Besides a copy of the game you’ll be using, you’ll also need video capturing software and video editing software. Download the programs you’ll need to create your machinima.
   • Fraps is a great video capture program you can use for computers. You can download it for free off the company’s website.
   • Sony Vegas is a great program to use for editing your film.
4. Find inspiration. Watch some other machinimas to get ideas for your own. What do you like about them? What don’t you like about them? Pay close attention to the way their characters move and interact. Study machinimas like:
   • Red vs. Blue
   • Make Love, Not Warcraft
   • A Law-Abiding Engineer

Writing your Script

1. Choose your theme. What do you want your machinima to be about? Decide a tone for it. Take some time to figure out how you want your machinima to be perceived. The game you choose can help you make a decision. For instance, if your game has a science fiction theme, you’ll have plenty of science fiction animation to work with.
   • Your machinima can be a comedy.
   • Your machinima can be dramatic.
   • Your machinima can be an action thriller.
2. Create a setting. Choose where your story takes place. You’ll be somewhat limited in your selection using footage from a video game. Be thorough in creating the backstory for your setting. Your story may take place in:
   • A post-apocalyptic wasteland
   • A friendly neighborhood
   • An office environment
   • A war zone
3. Develop interesting characters. Once again, you’ll be somewhat limited in creating characters using video game footage. Create a protagonist, an antagonist and the various other characters you’ll need to drive your story. Give them personalities and experiences that influence the way they interact with each other.
   • If you’re using a game like "World of Warcraft", you can build characters in the game to suit your specifications.
   • If you’re using a game like "Halo", you may have a set amount of character models to choose from.
4. Create conflict. There has to be a reason for your story. Give your characters a reason to act. If you’re creating an episodic, make sure that as soon as one conflict resolves, there is another one waiting to take its place.
   • Even a comedy has to have some sort of stakes or it will become boring.
5. Write dialogue. You can make it witty but try to keep it simple. You’ll need to make your characters look like they are saying your words. You may have trouble matching big words with the characters’ vocal animations.
   • Include inside jokes about the game you’re using to appeal to your audience.
6. Keep it short. Your machinima will likely end up on the internet where it will be viewed by people with very short attention spans.

Bringing your Machinima to Life using Fraps

1. Storyboard your script. You’ll want to sketch out the scenes you need to film. Make sure to account for all the characters that will be in your scene and everything you need them to interact with. This will save time when you are capturing footage.
   • If your character has to fall on a table, include it in your storyboard so you know to add it in your set.
2. Cast your machinima. Choose a group of actors to voice your characters. You can hold auditions or you can just use your friends.
   • One actor can play multiple characters if they can believably change their voice.
3. Capture your footage. If you’re using Fraps, open your screen capture software on your computer. You’ll have to choose a "hot key" that will record footage when you press it. Choose a key that doesn’t interfere with the controls of the game. Open your game while you have Fraps open. When you want to record, press your "hot key" to start recording and again to stop. Do this until you’ve required all the necessary footage.
   • Fraps has a green screen function, so you may want to record your character actions separate from your setting.
   • Make sure your frame rate is at least thirty frames per second so your video doesn’t lag.
   • Choose a file where you can save your footage that you can identify later on. Title each bit of footage so you can remember which is which.
   • Remember, the free version of Fraps will only record in thirty-second increments
   • If you’re recording with a capture card, input your footage into your computer using Windows Movie Maker or another program.
4. Record your audio. In Fraps, go to "sound capture settings" under the "movies" tab. Choose to record from an external microphone. Choose a save file you’ll to store your audio. Then pick a "hot key" to record your sound. Try to match your footage as best you can with your voice recording so that everything fits together smoothly. It may take some time to make everything sound natural.
   • Unclick your operating system in Fraps when you’re recording voices.
   • Unclick your microphone in Fraps when you’re recording game sounds.
   • Make sure your microphone is enabled on your computer and is the default recording device. Right click your sound icon and go to "recording devices" and enable the microphone.
   • Adjust the recording volume of your microphone and the in-game sounds by clicking on the sound icon and selecting "mixer".
5. Edit your machinima. Import your footage from Fraps into your editing software. Sync the audio to the footage and add whatever sound effects you need. Arrange your footage carefully so that it tells your story. Add cut scenes, background music and anything else you need to help the flow.
   • Because Fraps doesn’t compress files, you may need to convert your Fraps AVI files to a more manageable format like MPEG-2. Brorsoft video converter is a good app to download for this.
   • Be sure to add a short intro with the name of your production company to get your name out there.

Tips

• Remember to capture various types of shots to keep it interesting. Close ups show your character’s emotions and wide shots can be used to establish a setting and break up the pace.
• When editing, consider the ambiance of each shot.
• If your console has its own video capturing software, upload your footage to YouTube and then download it to your computer.

Warnings

• Shoot the video before recording the sound. It's very difficult to record video to match the sound.
• When recording voice audio, don’t let characters overlap their lines.
• Be very organized, you’ll be dealing with a lot of files.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Work in Animation
• Create a Figurine for Clay Animation
• Create a Stop Motion Animation
• Make Your Own Animation
• Make an Animated Short Film
• Make a Cartoon
• Make a Stop Motion Movie
• Make a Flipbook
• Make a LEGO Animation
• Create Animated GIFs Using Photoshop

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What links here

• Make a Movie from Games on Your PC