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There's a big difference between 1 and 2. Watch it and tell me what you think.

I think your answers are a little vague for someone novice to computers. He probably needs a breakdown of the machinima workflow. First of all, you don't need any programming knowledge to do a mind series so you don't need to worry about that. You will probably need to give it an original name... Even more complex machinimas don't need coding. I did all the machinimas you see in my signature with 0 programming knowledge. I just needed the Source SDK and Gmod. A mind series is a good place to start since it requires minimal technical knowledge and time to produce. Only three software programs are needed: screen recording software (Fraps), audio recording and editing software (Audacity - free) and video editing software (Adobe Premiere - $, Sony Vegas - $ or Windows Movie Maker - free). When recording the in game footage you will need to enter these console commands to obtain better quality video: sv_cheats 1 - enables cheats cl_drawhud 0 - makes the HUD go away impulse 200 - makes the gun go away cl_alyx_naked - just kidding After recording your monologue, which can be before, during or after video recording, depending on your style, you need to edit the audio file, normalize the volume, remove breathing pauses, noise, etc. When the audio and video are prepared, you bring them together into the video editor and sync them. Minimal video editing knowlegde is needed since you aren't going to cut your video. You can find plenty of software tutorials on the Internet. That's the absolute minimum to get you started. Good luck!

In what episode you don't understand me? 1 or 2? Or both?

I just realised this, I think you are referring to E1. The recent discussion has been about E2 which was released recently. Both acting and soundwork have emproved since E1. Feel free to watch E2 and judge for yourself. The link is in my signature.

Thanks guys! I also hoped this episode would get more views but I guess it's hard without some proper advertising. I'm confident things will change if someone decides to help me get the webesite up. All my videos have subtitles. They also have annotations in the beginning telling you subtitles are available in Romanian and English. The volume has been normalised to 0dB. Can't get louder than that or it would clip. There has been a problem with LF E1 where the audio was normalised to -6dB but MH E1 and LF E2 have proper audio levels. As for acting, please be more specific. I'm confident there has been an emprovement since E1 and also using an actor for Starch's voice should make a difference. But I'm very interested in some detailed feedback about acting since this is the weakest aspect of the series.

Episode 2 is FINALLY done after 3 months of hard work! http://www.youtube.com/user/rochinima?feature=mhee However, I will not advertise my work on Ross' site anymore. It was ok for the first episodes since I was starting out and wanted to see people's reactions but I think I should have a place of my own. So, if you enjoy my machinima and want to receive updates on my work, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I really want to get the machinima.ro website up but at the current work rate it doesn't seem likely to happen. If anyone would like to help me with the website please go ahead and contact me. I am trying to set up a simple work press site but I lack the necessary knowledge and time to do it. I will still answer any questions and messages on this forum also. About the episode, it was really more work than I had expected, I wanted to finish it about a month ago but the Source engine lived up to its buggy reputation. I watched the first episode recently and I was amazed with how bad my acting and animation was. Hahaha! But I am confident that I have made emprovements on both. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Hmm, well I only worked with the GoldSrc engine.... I'm sure others can help with points 1-3. However the last point, in GoldSrc you need to use the entities scripted_sequence or ascripted_sequence, check how to use here: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Scripted_sequence Place an NPC entity then place the Scripted_sequence entity where you want him to stand/walk/run to (If you want him to be at a fixed position) or just choose none in the "Move to" section of this this sequence and then just make him face a target (Use the Y X Z Circular tool with the line to the right of the properties of this entity)and make him repeat the "shooting action"... don't forget the override AI. Sorry if this is outdated and in Source it's different, then I just wasted your time, but I think the sequences are done very much the same. Problem 1 is solved. For the last one I was told to use an npc_bullseye and for the gun pointing thing I'll probably use a logic_choreographed_scene. Thanks for your effort!

So I wrote the script and recorded the dialog and now the time has come for the hard part, moving the ideas on paper to Hammer. 1. I'm trying to drag a motrocop corpse on the floor. There's no need to see who's doing the dragging so a simple move from A to B would suffice. Of course, I tried to use a func_tracktrain and a prop_dynamic with the cop model. The problem is, it looks unnatural. The cop is stiff and the drag is too smooth plus I can't delay the startforward output. I'm setting the delay at 6 seconds but the game doesn't care. It just starts on spawn. The best way would be to use a prop_ragdoll because it's not stiff but I can't parent it to the tracktrain. I would like the drag to be like this: move slowly, stop, move slightly faster out of frame. How should I set the tracktrain to do this? Is there any way I can make this move look natural or do I have to settle for this crappy stiff looking slide and why doesn't output delaying work? 2. The second problem is vehicles. I will be using a custom car model that was created for Gmod from the SCars pack. I copied over all the folders except the "lua" and imported the car into Hammer using a prop_vehicle. The problem is it has no wheels. How can I attach the wheels to the car? 3. Later on I will be trying to throw an NPC out the window so I would like to know how can I brake a window. Will a phys_impact be enough to blow the galss away or do I need something else? Do phys_impacts affect NPCs as well? 4. Lastly, so far, I want to make NPCs point guns and shoot at certain targets (props and NPCs). That's basically it. I'll post more problems if I run into them. Thanks!

I don't need to decompile anything and I don't know how to anyway. I just need a custom model vehicle that works in Hammer but I think I can fake my way out of this one. Maybe I'll use some of your models in the future. Nice work

Nice work on the car pack. I've been browsing through the facepunch thread but haven't had enough time to check it all out. Can those cars be used in Hammer? I took a Ford Mustang from another car pack and imported it into Hammer but it has no wheels so I have to fake something out for my machinima. So, you wouldn't happen to have a '66-'69 convertible Mustang in your pack that can be used in Hammer?

I don't want to give you the impression that I'm trying to compete with Ross for Freeman's voice or other aspects. I only gave him a voice because it was necessary for this series to happen. I'm trying to turn Half Life 2 from a game into a cinematic experience, a parody movie. Of course, a movie is not all about dialog but it will get more action oriented once I learn more and more about the Source engine. I'm not happy about the fact that Freeman just walks around talking without getting involved in the action but I'll fix that in time. So I hope you will percieve this as a stand alone series because I'm trying to do something different. The reasons I chose the same character as Ross is because of the Source engine (the only one I know how to work with so far), Half Life is my favourite FPS shooter (I'm not much of a gamer but I was impressed with the quality of the story) and Freeman has no personality so I could write one that suits best for my purposes. Yes, my bad acting is becoming a real problem and I'm really trying to get better. I hoped I could hide it with quality writing, animation, camera work and editing but it seems I have to do something about it. I was really busy with my job these days and couldn't work on Little Freemans so I had no chance of recording my dialog. I only had time to record Starch's lines which are played by Ionuţ Maierean. But this is all for the better as I will spend more time rehearsing and I'm confident that my acting will improve over the next episodes.

Thanks, guys! Fortunately, actor Ionuţ Maierean came here today and recorded Starch's lines leaving me to do the voices of Jeffy and Sphyncter. He didn't have much time available, so we couldn't rehearse much, but I'm happy with his performance. If I can't deliver properly for Jeffy's voice this time, I'll probably get an actor for him as well. I'm gonna keep Sphyncter's voice to myself because I really enjoy playing him. As for animation, I'll work harder on it this episode. Episode 1 was more of an animation experiment since I was learning while working but I think I got the hang of it now. I was hoping to do a better animating job with Malf Hockery but the Gordon custom model wouldn't perform all the flex animations properly so unfortunately he will stay that way through out the whole series unless someone fixes the model.

Yeah, I did all the voice acting, except for the girl. I know I'm not a very good actor but I hope I'll get better over time. I will be using a real actor starting from episode 2 for the hat character, Starch. Sorry for the accents, I don't think I can change that.

Malf Hockery is, most likely, the second Romanian Machinima series after Little Freemans. It is a parody after Half Life 2 where a Gordon Freeman full of personality relives the story of the game in a funny, twisted way. This Gordon, aside from being the young and brilliant physicist we know, is a narcoleptic. Also, he bears a lot of other bad traits that will reaveal themselves during the series. Episode 1 - In this episode we find out what caused the accident in the test lab while Gordon tries to find out where he is. He also gives hand to hand combat advice to a metrocop from his children beating experience. GFQkGJFZd00 Episode 2 - In this episode Gordon gets bullied by the customs cops and meets up with Barney. We also find out that he enjoys robbing old ladies. -_AFSfCf19Y

It's the same here, man. How do you think I would come up with this humor otherwise? Wait till you see my other series. I hope I can finish it in a month or so.

Laughs are the best reward...

I barely made it to this thread to report this error, hahaha! But I see you guys beat me to it...

Thanks, I know this kind of humor doesn't appeal to everyone but I do have more projects coming up some of which will be very serious. Not the next one though, that one will be a parody. It's a pity machinima takes massive amounts of time to make. For example this episode took about 3 months to make in my spare time after work...

Little Freemans is, most likely, the first Romanian Machinima series. It is placed in the Half Life universe some time before Gordon comes out of stasis. The series features three original characters, Starch, Jeffy and Sphyncter who rezide inside a small rebel base. Their mission is to provide assistance to City 17 escapees and guide them along the escape route. However, things rarely happen as planned much to the disadvantage of the fugitives... Character Bios Starch is a 37 year old con man who used to do all sorts of petty crimes until the Combine took over. After that, he traded on the black market for a short while but when the invaders' grip got tighter around the cities, the supply routes got thin and Starch found himself out of business. Seeing how the Combine raides got closer and with no way to escape City 17, he had no choice but to join the Resistance and hope for other business opportunities. Starch is a natural leader and a tough man. He has no problem deceiving others while throwing in a sarcastic remark. Jeffy is a 33 year old medic who was sued for malpraxis in the days before the war. He used to be involved in organ trafficking. When the police found out, he was encarcerated and sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he witnessed the 7 Hour War. The Combine left him there but he was rescued by the Resistance along with other prisoners. With the records being lost and the chance of a clear reputation, Jeffy claimed he had been imprisoned by the invaders for refusing to operate on human enlisted Combine soldiers. Without other options, Jeffy joined the Resistance as a field medic. He is a cinical, corrupt and indifferent man whose cowardly actions are often times funny. Sphyncter is a Vortigaunt scentist and he is in charge of the base. On his home planet, he studied ways to develop agricuture by means of various energy sources. A peaceful life was all that Sphyncter wanted for his people. When the Black Mesa incident occured, he got teleported to Earth and finally joined the humans in the fight against the Combine. For the past twenty years, he has been studying along with Earth's last remaining scientists. When he was asigned to work on weapons development, he declined, preferring to aid fugitive citizens and conduct his own experiments close to the first line of battle. Sphyncter is wise and peaceful but incredibly naive. Episode 1 - First Asignment eE4M6I7mCiE Episode 2 - Green Mustang pwK3Hrhzn3w

I don't have actors horror stories but I can share some of my ordeals. I started brainstorming for two machinima series about 1 year ago. I came up with the concepts and finished the first script in may. Since then, I've been struggling for a few months with bugs and crashes and learning the SDK. I was overwhelmed by the amount of unexplainable problems that occurred and finally gave up when I had found out I couldn't autoextract phonemes. I shelved my projects and would check the forums every few months to find out if any improvements had been made. Finally, I came to the conclusion that things are never going to get any easier and I should put my laziness aside and get to work. So I listened to the old Romanian proverb "Need always teaches you what to do." and manually extracted the phonemes for every line, did the flex animations, asked for help on the forums, recorded every shot and now I'm very close to finishing the first episode. After that I'm gonna work on a website and start the second machinima series, start a topic here about them and see what people have to say about my work. It's hard to be a one man production company but it can be done!