I’ve been thinking very seriously about putting together a series of short articles covering one of the universal machinima topics (i.e. it doesn’t really matter which engine you use): video encoding. The thought was to cover all the major encoding methods - Windows Media, DivX, xVid, QuickTime, perhaps others? One at a time, I’d go through a detailed how-to, explain what each of the settings mean, and give some “best practices” recommendations for what settings seem to yield the best results.

In order to pull that off, I’d need some input from you, as I get the feeling that no single one of us is a 100% expert on the subject, but we all have some knowledge of what has worked well for us. I’d be glad to handle the actual writing / illustration of the final articles themselves, would just need some of you who know your stuff to contribute some knowledge.

So, are you interested in some informal collaboration on this topic? If so, let me know by way of a comment here or by e-mail. I could set up a section of my forum specifically for discussion on the project. NOTE: The forum section has been created (link). All are welcome to participate to whatever degree you are able.

In other news, I’d *like* to be able to make some progress on The Overcast, but if you’ve tried visiting the site you’re already aware that there’s some kind of technical problem with the server. The host is working on it; in spite of what the message states, they tell me it is not my site having the CPU trouble. Either way, it should be resolved in the next day or so.

I had the pleasure of a Skype interview last night with Lars from Machinima.org (AMAS) for a podcast series he is doing as part of their official post-festival coverage. Lars is a great interviewer, had lots of very good questions. The podcast, one among many such interviews with machinima folks, should be available soon, I’ll get you a link when I know it.