Verizon uses SameTime, an instant messaging tool similar to AIM. Talking over the cubicles is not encouraged, but we do hold interesting conversations via SameTime. Entirely work-related, of course.
Louis K. Zee/VE... So we have the same schedule tomorrow
Rebecca B. Po... Yes!
Rebecca B. Po... I wish I could still bring my laptop.
Rebecca B. Po... I could show you all the nifty model tools that come with HL2.
Louis K. Zee/V... why not
Louis K. Zee/V... just don't get caught
Louis K. Zee/V... by Glenn
Rebecca B. Po... I don't wanna get busted!
Rebecca B. Po... Handcuffed!
Rebecca B. Po... Convicted of laptop possession!
Louis K. Zee/V... He can't fire you
Louis K. Zee/V... He is not a sup
Rebecca B. Po... No, he can just be a jerk about it.
Rebecca B. Po... I could do without that.
Louis K. Zee/V... How do we deal with jerk in Texas
Rebecca B. Po... We shoot them.
Rebecca B. Po... And steal their horses.
It's true.
So we're making progress on the machinima. Just like any good show, we need several things.
- Actors
Actors in machinima consist of two major pieces: the body and the voice. The bodies we intend to use are the models from VTM:B, and I've been working on converting those into useable and well-behaved HalfLife 2 models. The voices I'm going to threaten and cajole our friends into doing for us; I am blessed with an unusual number of sexy, sultry-voiced friends that cover a wide variety of voice types from light to deep.
- Sets
We're going to be doing all our filming in HL2, but we're using the sets from VTMB as well as some of our own creation, I'm sure. We've gotten the VTMB sets into Hammer (the map editor for HL2), and as soon as we've gone through them and cleaned them out and attached the textures they should work a treat.
- Props
Clothes we'll be doing by "reskinning" the models we've got, which means painting their existing outfits to look like whatever outfit we need. The two characters we're going to be seeing the most of already have four different sets of clothes, and I think we'll be able to get whatever we need for their wardrobe pretty easily. Guns/Cars/Chairs/Etc we're going to pull from either the Vampire or the HL2 library.
This is an EXTREMELY simplified list. I'm going to be making a more extensive list just in case anyone who still reads this thing has any kind of 3D Modeling experience (particularly in XSI or 3DSMax. If you know Maya I maya not pay attention to you. Aha. Hah. Haha).
Amy has gone away and my living room is empty. My fish is moping and my Christmas tree seems to have lost its sense of purpose. Our couch suddenly seems too big. Miss you, muffin.