Machinima for Dummies

Having now sold enough copies of Machinima For Dummies to pay for a cup of coffee a day for a week – each! – Hugh and I were delighted to see that the book has become part of the ever-growing library of Google Books. That means you can read Machinima For Dummies for free, online. Well, most of it – as is usually the case with Google Books, a few pages have been deleted seemingly at random. Nonetheless, the majority of the book is now online, and ready for you to read legally and for free. And if you really find yourself missing those few elusive pages that didn’t make it to Google Books, Machinima For Dummies is still available to buy in old skool dead tree format – we can always use more coffee.

It’s half-two in the morning, and neither Hugh nor I are capable or abstract thought, but it’s done.

Hey, look Mum - I just wrote a book!

We’ve worked so late tonight that, even here in Scotland, all the pubs are closed. Celebration will have to wait until tomorrow.

You’d better all buy this book when it’s released, as well as buying two or three spare copies to give to friends. We’ve put in some serious effort for you people.

And now … bed.

One down, five to go!

We’ve just finished the edit on the first of our chapters for today. I like to think of it in the above terms, because “One chapter down, five to go” is much better than the more-exact “Six pages down, a hundred and eleven to go!”.

HELP STOP TRAPPED IN HUGH’S FLAT STOP SEND FOOD STOP MAYBE PARAMEDICS ALSO STOP PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

We’ve just handed in half the book, weighing in at a not-too-shabby 204 pages.

That’s tutorials for WoW and The Sims 2, information on organising a virtual shoot, legal info on Machinima, how to read an EULA, how to encode your film to all the various formats, how to set up a recording studio in your bedroom, our top 10 Machinima films and Machinima sites, making sets in various engines, colour theory, use of space, use of lighting, character design, and lots, lots more.

And there’s still half a book to go, with highlights like Medieval Total War 2, MovieStorm, introduction to camerawork, writing your film and lots more.

Bounce!

We’re just submitted six chapters, making up just over 25% of the manuscript. It’s seems incredible that we’ve written a quarter of the book already, but we really have

So far, we’ve written chapters that feature an all-round introduction to machinima (and to the book), set design and texturing, in-engine character design, directing, editing and distribution. We’ve been using The Sims 2 as an example engine for a lot of this content. Most of ours Sims 2 stuff is done now. I’ve got to say, I’ll be glad to see the back of it. It’s a wonderfully flexible and content-rich engine, but it’s just got too many quirks for me. I found myself spending most of my time trying to find away around seeming dead-ends than actually making a film. I know that’s true of all machinima, but it just seemed more prevalent with Sims 2 somehow.

We interviewed Michelle and Kheri from Brittanica Dreams on Monday (via the miracle of Skype, of course). We’re using The Snow Witch as one of our case studies, and we’re hoping to be able to interview other prominent machinimists later in the book.

By far the hardest part of the writing process has been the editing: going over work you’ve already written (often days or weeks ago), and formatting it correctly, correcting the bad spelling and terrible grammar, and deleting the run-on sentences such as the one that you’re currently reading. Not only is it dull, tedious work, but it brings you down to earth with a nasty splat. The lines of witty prose and elegant discourse of you which you were so proud when you composed them last week are exposed to the harsh light of day. And let me tell you, oftentimes they do not look good.

The more you edit, the more depressed you get. It’s 21:30 over here, and Hugh and I have only just finished work for the day - a day which consisted largely of editing. I’ve almost lost the will to live, - but it’s finished, dammit.