What to do on Easter Saturday afternoon? Why not create a quick “Cyborg questioning existance, looking for something and some meaning in her life” machinima. This idea came about from playing with one of the default characters in CT5 (Crazy Talk 5) and using various imported songs. I quickly made a spaceship so the ‘cyborg’ can be seen in full body, and in which I (the Golem Robot character on the right seat) can sit and drive around various sims. The lip sync character is a CT5 ‘auto lip-sync’ take against one of my long time ago ex students (now a fully fledged pop diva) Imogen Heap’s wonderful track “Hide and Seek” (I wanted something vocoderised, slightly robotic) although this goes a lot deeper thanks to Immi’s great words. Also the subtle head movements and eye positions were recorded in separate live takes withing CT5.

I needed three appropriate sims for the three phases of the song. Ones that had a sense of dawning, evolving and evolved – also that were off the ground, so the spaceship could move around, inside, under, over etc: Three sprang immediately to mind. Planet Mongo a space city (evolved – spelt wrong on video, not Mondo! sorry rush job ;-(), Svarga (dawning) and Deakin (that I built – evolving). The main process was a quick 5 hours but editing took about an hour longer than normal because of rendering, all those green screen shots (the head shots against the reversed Space Navigator backgrounds).

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A medium rez, stereo MP4 52MB version can be downloaded here
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Anyways hope you like this quick ‘sketch’ – the following info is mostly duped from the YouTube description.

A machinima by Gary Hazlitt completed on easter Saturday afternoon 2008. The song ‘Hide and Seek’ is by Imogen Heap from the album ‘Speak for Yourself’.

Special thanks to the creators of Second Life sims Planet Mongo built by Lumiere Noir (spelt wrong on video sorry, rushed, not Mondo!) and Svarga built by Svarog Laukosargas. Deakin sim and spaceship for this video built/designed by Gary Hayes.

Lip sync animation created using Crazy Talk 5, green screened in Final Cut. The spaceship shots were filmed live in Second Life.

Avatanimation, machinimatography and editing (in the usual 5 hours total!) by Gary Hazlitt

A JustVirtual Production
© Gary Hazlitt 2008

So for this next Gary Hazlitt machinima I fiddled with SilkCharm‘s avatar (or is that SilkCharm herself?) uploading some portrait faces to map onto the face & body and equipped her with suitable running attire fore this ‘Run Lola Run‘ lookalike (and big soundalike thanks to Twyker’s music). The film features Franka Potente running around the backstreets of Berlin trying to get some money for her criminal boyfriend (and goes back in time twice). SilkCharm though was just getting some exercise…or as she suggested in the comments on the video ‘in desperate search of chocolate’ ! Enjoy…oh before that one interesting effect in here. At one point in the recording I fell off the world and started hurtling south/down or just out of the sim – the running SilkCharm began to ‘break up’ slowly. As I still had the record on you can see the effect at the start and end of the movie which is quite an attractive ‘inworld’ effect

A Machinima by GARY HAZLITT starring SILKCHARM
‘Run SilkCharm Run’ Filmed in the Beta Virtual World TWINITY (Alpha City Berlin) – more info on the Twinity site

MUSIC “Believe” by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil Feat: Voice of Franka Potente from the film ‘Run Lola Run’

Filmed & Edited (in 3 hours) by GARY HAZLITT

Shot in the ‘massive’ Berlin simulator in Twinity featuring areas around Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz

Many thanks to SilkCharm & A ‘New World’ Twinity

© JustVirtual Productions 2008
http://www.justvirtual.com

Now I have had some time back in Second Life nice to visit a very special build, hat tip to Bettina over at NPIRL. As well as being inspired to pop over to this wonderfully rich sim designed and built by Baron Grayson I joined in the challenge of photographing it in stills (flickr set here) and video. Some of these are below and of course the video is a quicky mostly single long shot using the space navigator – of course, what else

So video, then description followed by some more nice stills

A Space Navigator Machinima by  GARY HAZLITT. Second Life Island Creation by  BARON GRAYSON. Steinway Grand Piano and Martin Backpacker Guitar One Take Improvisation by  GARY HAYES © 2008. Medium quality (69.5MB mp4 available here

“filmed in one take, then re-edited, vignette and desaturate filters added in places. Most of the playback made twice speed to improve smoothness as sim had quite low frame rates during capture. Enjoy” The wonderful Second Life 3rd generation sim, Templum ex Obscurum by Baron Grayson, machinima by Gary Hazlitt in one three hour session.

I ventured into fifty of them to review and sample the culture, creative, business and educational potential. On my travels I got out my virtual camera and decided to capture a bunch of small vignettes which quickly turned into a body of audio visual delights – so decided to create a nice seven minute video for posterity.

With over 300 million frequenting or registering for the non-game based worlds and millions of new investment in 2nd and 3rd generation services there seems to be no stopping them…Enjoy

75MB MP4 Download available at http://www.justvirtual.com/SVWS_2008.mp4

Here is a list of the worlds featured in my video in order of appearance:

• Kaneva
• YoVille (in Facebook)
• RocketOn
• Prototerra
• Gaia Online
• HiPiHi
• Google Lively
• Habbo Hotel
• Laguna Beach (vMTV)
• Whyville
• Twinity
• Cyworld
• Football Superstars
• Weblin
• IMVU
• Second Life
• Club Penguin
• Active Worlds
• vSide
• A Tale in the Desert
• Barbie Online
• Amazing Worlds
• Webkinz
• Worlds.com
• Spore
• Exit Reality
• and 15 others including SpineWorld, Stardoll, The Manor, There.com, Vastpark, Qwaq, PS3Home, GoSupermodel, Grockit, Croquet, Metaplace, Coke Studios, Dreamville, Dubit, Mokitown, Moove, Muse, The Palace, Playdo, Sora City, Voodoo Chat, TowerChat, Traveler, Virtual Ibiza

Video details:

The ‘Social Virtual’ World’s A Stage
A Film by Gary Hayes © Personalizemedia 2008

http://www.personalizemedia.com

“This is not a Game” – Music composed and performed by
Gary Hayes http://www.cubrisound.com

You obviously can’t read the labels on the map below, clicking will take you to the high rez version. Enjoy. Oh and if I have missed an Australian sim (or related to) please add in comments and I will update if I get at least 5!

Modified map is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Although the distance between, or proximity to fellow inhabitants doesn’t really affect you operationally in Second Life it is nice to be able to just call up the map and in one quick hop, double click a neighbour’s sim to ‘pop over’, feels all communal and friendly. I tp all over the grid and meet anyone and everyone but it is nice to be back in Marni on a Sunday morning and just pop over to AFTRS, The Pond, USQ and Cog with a simple double click And there are many other benefits too, especially when adjacent, joined at the hip so to speak – over to you!

Some creation details for those who like that kind of stuff: I used the wonderful space navigator for nearly all the ‘tracking/pan/crane/dolly’ type shots combined with fraps PAL capture, then converted using Canopus Pro 3 to PAL Quicktime DVs for a final edit in Final Cut Pro. A final save out to DV at same resolution and converts down to MP4s for online distribution. The whole process, capture, processing, editing took just over six hours – I know, I am slacking! The builds and sim terraforms took significantly longer (!) but the music a quick 35 minutes in two single takes, so excuse a few ‘bum’ notes!

A Second Life ‘Windlight’ Machinima, Filmed and Edited by GARY HAZLITT

Higher rez 95MB MP4 640/480 download available here.

Steinway Grand Piano and Classical Guitar improvisations both performed, in one take, by GARY HAYES

All featured sim builds and terraforms created and designed by GARY HAZLITT (some unamed builds still in development)

Gary’s builds or sim creations featured include: Esperance, The Pond, ABC Island, Cog Island, Marni, Thursday’s Fictions, Melbourne Laneways and others.

A Just Virtual Video Production © Gary Hazlitt/Hayes 2007

Second Life Gary’s Sim Marni 10, originally uploaded by Gary Hayes.

I have been so busy since October last year that I have completely forgotten to mention the island I bought. I did the sums and it actually worked out way cheaper for me to buy and island and divide it into four with three other friends. So Marni was born. Marni is an aboriginal word meaning welcome.

I terraformed the island with a large central and shared mountain space with 80m waterfalls with rivers and smaller hills separating the four quadrants. It is a very tranquil area and the images here are some building designs I did over 6 months ago! I hope to get time to finish some of them and add some more architecture in the ‘Sci-Fi Persian’ style.

The other three folk on the island are a wonderful immersive sound sculpture artist, a designer with his own company and an SL entrepreneur. I am sure they won’t mind you looking around.

Please pop along and have a look around. I am unlikely to be there most of the time, but you never know. In any event you are very Marni (Welcome). Heres the SLURL

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from Inside Second Life

1. Black Library – Literature, arts, games, and more. (They told me they are moving soon so keep an eye out for the new locaiton). Click here to go there

2. Dragon Moon Resort – Relaxed atmosphere. Regular concerts and events. Click here to go there

3. The Cliffs of BonnyDoon – Newly opened build in Liferain Park. Majestic falls, towering cliffs, a treetop village, and subterranean caverns. Click here to go there

4. Galaxy Sci-Fi Sim – Join Starfleet Academy. The group has regular role play events, tactical training, bi-Annual Banquets and more. Click here to go there

5. Gris-Gris Land – Stunning futuristic architecture by Milo Bellow. “Mad Gods and Englishmen…” Click here to go there

6. Intermundia – Art Space of Nebulosus Severine. Evolving installation work. Click here to go there

7. Little Silent Hill – Re-creation of locations from the survival horror game series. Click here to go there

8. Mars Japanese Gardens – A wild and romantic Japanese park style garden. Click here to go there

9. Nakama – A huge Japanese city, divided into different anime themed regions. Click here to go there

10. Nexus Prime – Vast cyberpunk city. Lots to explore and hidden areas to discover. Click here to go there

11. The Port – Arena for projects which create new links between first and second life. Click here to go there

12. Pot Healer Adventure – Immersive game of exploration and puzzles. Click here to go there

13. Sci-Fi Geeks Museum – Full size starships, interactive holodeck, movies, events, fan art, and more. Click here to go there

14. Suffugium – Dystopian future city with cyberpunk influences. Click here to go there

15. Svarga – A fully functional artificial ecology system. Click here to go there

16. Voted 5 Group Land – Caution! Ego-free zone. Sense of humour advisable. Click here to go there

17. Avalon Island – Beautiful architecture and one of Second Life’s best cinemas play host to a variety of real world companies and organisations. Click here to go there

18. Shiny Things – Shoes and jewellery designed for the most discerning residents of Second Life. Click here to go there

19. Support for Healing Island – offers nightly depression support groups in beautiful surroundings. Click here to go there

20. Sick Cat – Art installation exploring the possibilities of mind uploading. Click here to go there

Some other places that I like visiting

Of course if your passing pop in for tea and see my place – who knows I may be in Gary Hazlitt’s Angels Nest in Blueberry, Click here to go there

Esperance – The AFTRS Island, where I work, some nice art developing Click here to go there

Amsterdam – apparently like some bio place? Click here to go there

Camp Darfur, it makes me sad, confused and angry when I go there Click here to go there

Shivar, Mont Saint Michel au Per – lovely atmosphere and medieval buildings Click here to go there

The Lost Gardens of Apollo – very romantic and special vegetation Click here to go there

Social Simulation Cyber-Research Lab – fun interactive games Click here to go there

Phoenicia Center for Contemporary Art – great 2D art gallery Click here to go there

Other places to be added in upcoming posts from the other side include the Sci-Fi sim (my neighbour), NMC campus then my fav shopping places, great art places, best interactive spots and the hottest clubs – not that I do them a lot – must be my age

Posted by Gary Hazlitt inside Second Life

Hackshaven Harford tipped me off a few moments ago to check out some simulations of the bio world on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) island called Metereoa (what does National mean?). Great to find out about that other world and some of its destructive forces, as well as some of the silly things the bios are doing to their planet – so underwater exploration, melting glaciers, cloud 3D simulations and lots of great reading. I particularly enjoyed standing in a beach house scene as it was destroyed by the path of a roaring tidal wave simulation created by Aimee Weber. Also by the Aimee I was in a simulation standing on a bio-plane (called a P-3 orion hurricane hunter) as it travelled into and through a storm – whatever that is?

Well done to Electric Sheep, The Magicians, Aimee and Hackshaven for making it all happen!

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

The one just above and to the left is nearest Esperance and only about one minute to fly or five to sail. I noticed it was called Kittyland and decided to pop-over. There was no one there at the time and arriving it felt very residential until I spotted some reocgnisable platforms heading skywards in the distance.

Well its a small world. Here is good old DanCoyote Antonelli again – the main artist from the New West visit I did a few days ago. Weird. What a small world this is! All the other buildings on this double island are very residential, a few furries tree houses but mostly a sleepy domestic place. Getting nearer to the art work in the corner

and I spotted some great animated layered, texture works across the various floors. Very DCA. Here also references to his aeriel piece ZeroG on the notice boards – all very odd being just across the water from Esperance. I spotted again the art rubric

1st Generation:  Paintings, digital or otherwise uploaded into SL
2nd Generation: Art made with only SL default inventory materials
3rd Generation:  The synthesis of 1st and 2nd Generation and  scripting

Definitely 4th generation for me then as I am not keen on the 1st gen stuff.

Anyway great that this is my first island hop, a peaceful artistic community. Will report again from other local communities for now though something about that sixth finger thing I keep seeing everywhere…

The sixth finger symbolizes the computer cursor, or mankind’s intervention into the metaverse (VR).  The black hand itself attempts to make the connection between pre-historic artists who painted their own handprint on the walls of caves over 16,000 years ago and the similar efforts of artists today in the virtual world.
I have also used the sixth finger as a metaphor for human adaptation to the world of wonder we inhabit in Second Life.  Thanks Linden Labs and cheers to the whole community in Second Life!
DanCoyote Antonelli and DC@Spensley.com

I have heard about early mankind and someone once said it is similar to this world at the moment, I have no frame of reference but I do like the idea that I am the start of a new evolutionary path.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life