Conference #13

• Meeting Date: Sunday January 25 2009
• Topic: Encoding Practices for Video Sharing Sites

Topic this month was encoding practices, with a particular emphasis on the specs of several popular video sharing sites, what they accept and what they recommend, what has proven to work well, and so on.

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Conference #12

• Meeting Date: Sunday November 30 2008
• Topic: In Defense of Amateur

Topic this month was a continued discussion of the notion of “amateur,” as discussed in overcast #043 and also at the Machinima Expo 2008. Discussion got a bit heated at times; people have very passionate views on the subject…

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Conference #11

• Meeting Date: Sunday September 28 2008
• Topic: Free For All

This month was focused primarily on the flurry of events which had either already passed or were about to happen, festivals, gatherings, etc. Lots of video clips and travel tips were exchanged as most of the people present prepared to attend either the New York festival or the virtual one (or both).

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Conference #10

• Meeting Date: Sunday August 31 2008
• Topic: Pixel Aspect Ratio, Free For All

This month we met again at Frank and Michelle’s place, which was warm and inviting as usual. We kicked things off with a bit of structured discussion on issues related to pixel aspect ratio when rendering video, and then went free form after that.

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Conference #09

• Meeting Date: Saturday July 26 2008
• Topic: Vimeo, Festivals, Free For All

Frank and Michelle were gracious enough to provide a wonderful setting, highlighted by a big screen TV which Frank kept populated with URLs related to the discussion (a fabulous touch, and a reminder why this venue can work so well). Discussion felt lively and relaxed, and apart from one impromptu lapdance by an androgynous Joker, things stayed wonderfully on topic.

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Conference #08

• Meeting Date: Saturday June 28 2008
• Topic: Free For All

We met in a public park Overman found while shopping for land. This month’s conference proved one thing for certain: hard working machinimators sometimes need to just unwind and play…

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Conference #07

• Meeting Date: Saturday May 31 2008
• Topic: Custom Content, etc.

Primary topic this week was the various ways of bringing custom content (especially 3d models) into various machinima platforms. Discussion evolved from there to a number of other topics.

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Conference #06

• Meeting Date: Saturday April 26 2008
• Topic: Free For All

Phil kicked off the discussion by sharing a couple videos he’d found this week, and discussion evolved naturally from there. Toward the end of the formal part of the discussion, we went around the room and asked everyone what they were working on at the moment…

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Conference #05

• Meeting Date: Friday 22nd February 2008
• Topic: Free For All

Guest host Frank Fox reports: “We touched on about 13 subjects during the first phase on my deck by the shore, then moo transported us up the street to her place and brought out a magic wand full of many physical and visual effects. The discussion veered off in a more freewheeling manner from there.”

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Conference #04

• Meeting Date: Saturday 26th January 2008
• Topic: Free For All

Participants: Phil Rice (US), Ben Grussi (US), Damien Valentine (UK), Elf (US), Frank Fox (US), Lucinda McNary (UK), Michael K. Clements (UK), Peter Rasmussen (AUS), Ricky Grove (US), Zachariah Scott (US), Michelle Pettit-Me (CAN), doogle300 (?), Will Vitale (?), NarcoticGetz (?), Thundara (US).

Elf’s article on encoding and distribution practices was the anchor for this month’s conference, though the unmoderated feel allowed conversation to venture wherever people felt led.

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Conference #03

• Meeting Date: Saturday 24th November 2007
• Topic: Free For All

Participants: Phil Rice (US), Ben Grussi (US), Sasha Rudie (US), Damien Valentine (UK), Bebop Vox (US?), Elf (US), Michelle Pettit-Me (CAN), Ricky Grove (US), Frank Fox (US), Leo Lucien-Bay (UK).

The conversation was even more free form than previous meetings, but the biggest topic was that of the challenges of using custom assets in various machinima platforms, and whether machinima done in that way (100% custom content) has any remaining advantages over traditional CGI.

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Conference #02

• Meeting Date: Saturday 27th October 2007
• Topic: Free For All

Participants: Peter Rasmussen (AUS), Phil Rice (US), Hugh Hancock (UK), Johnnie Ingram (UK), Leo Lucien-Bay (UK), Ben Grussi (US), Charlemagne Fezza (where are you from?), CJ Ambrosia (US), and Sasha Rudie (US).

Topics: Motion Capture, “free and clear” machinima tools, BloodSpell Feature Cut, Baron Soosdon’s machinima, democratized filmmaking, etc.

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Conference #01

• Meeting Date: Saturday 29th September 2007
• Topic: Free For All

Attendees: Peter Rasmussen (AUS), Phil Rice (US), Richard Grove (US), Damien Valentine (UK), Harrison Heller (US), Sasha Rudie (US), Hugh Hancock (UK), Ross Bambrey (UK), Leo Lucien-Bay (UK).

The conversation was very free form, touching on a number of topics, including: ownership / copyright issues with machinima, Machinima For Dummies, Second Life open source, the Machinima Europe Festival, Motionbuilder…

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