EVE Fiction

Thread moved from General Discussion to OOPE. Good luck and I hope you find what you need - ISD Type40.

My issue is that I have to start at a much more basic level than that. I either need to figure out how these programs work, or find someone to work with who already knows how to do this kind of thing.

I have never done anything at all like this before. I know literally nothing. Still, I think that there are great stories to be told here. I just need to figure out how to make that happen.

Question remains: What programs?

Also, who made Clear Skies, This is Eve, and Day of Darkness? Would asking them for help be profitable?

Clear Skies = Ian Chisholm, who used motion capture Ian's write up in MS Word
This is eve = poxyrider, created using footage from alliance tournament, many years ago
Day of Darkness = Dire Lauthris, using test server footage from missions

You can ask all of them except Dire Lauthris, as he works for CCP now "CCP Prawn"

As to what programs to use...that's pretty straightforward

Fraps = recording footage from EVE
any editing program (premiere pro, vegas, movie maker, virtual dub) = editing/cutting/graphics

If you want to create something like clear skies, then the source filmaker will fit the bill and you'll need to learn how to animate and keyframe - patience is a virtue, give it the time it needs.

You could also try UDK under Matinee, this is what CCP use for their DUST514 video production...it's powerful stuff, and equally complex. Once again, give it time.
here is a good youtube channel showing it working in a variety of situations
And here is it running with converted models in an EVE video"Future Proof"

The basic principle is that you import models into the program you want and animate from within.

The models for EVE, in terms of ships, stations etc, can be exported directly from your EVE directory, but there is a gap between the models and how Trinity (CCP's renderer) displays them, which over the years has become more and more locked down. This makes the surface texture of the models, and specifically how they are lit and respond to light, hard to duplicate to make them look *exactly* like they do in game.

CCP do have an inhouse tool they use for the videos they make for EVE, but this is basically a developer tool and linked diectly to CCP's servers. It takes a weeks worth of training to grasp the fundamentals, and you can only use it onsite in Iceland.

If you want help, I'm sure the community would happily step up - but my recommendation to you would be to get the story right before you start looking into the technicalities of producing a video.

So, get a script written - if it's really good, maybe CCP could lend a hand in it's production, they've done it before.

AK

Ah.

I see. So you want to create a documentary on the history of Eve.

That's a noble idea, for which you'll need to research greatly to accurately represent the truth.

You'll need to communicate with veterans who were 'there' and could tell you the motives and underlining reasons for the actions that were taken.

Isn't the old forums accessible via eve-search?

You could check the coad posts and cross reference that with any vets that are still playing, you might even do well to post something on the current coad.

Either way, you have a lot of work ahead of you before you start creating an actual video.

As for loxy, I imagine he has his hands full right now, give it time.

AK

You're kidding, right?

Don't take this the wrong way, but I've been trolled once this year already and you got me there for a while. I actually started thinking about how it might be best to get help for your ideas.

Nice troll. Well played, I salute you.

/sits back to see if anyone else will take the bait.

AlleyKat:
I have to say, I'm totally lost. I am not trolling. I was just concerned that there was something that I had totally missed that would make this function impossible/impractical that would require a some sort of face-saving back tracking.




Blane Xero:
You have a number of valid concerns, it was just that:

1) I was hoping to collaborate wtih CCP lore writers. Or at least exist at the Corporate Middle-Manager level of the NPC corporations. Having a context, a set of rules, provided by CCP or more expert lore writers entering into an undertaking like this makes it easier for me to do. Yeah, it's frustrating being told no and all, but it gives a framework that I can use.
2) It'd only be hollow if I fail. I'm simply replacing "guy went on vacation and forgot to pay the bill" with "Amarrian agent distracts the guy and intercepts payment". I'd be replaceing "someone figures out that damage mods stacks and goes to see exactly how much mayhem he can figure" with "guy figures out a unique configuration of weapon mods while suffering from advanced capsuleer dementia". I was hoping to try to explain backstory with the actions of players, and explain the actions of players wth backstory.
3) I do hope that it is original. I haven't heard of anyone else trying to do it. But really, I would like to keep it as close as practical to real history. Like that Hatfield and McCoy Miniseries on the History Channel or Band of Brothers from HBO.

Historical fiction, mythic history, family lore, and cultural/national epics are all fictionalized versions of history told for different reasons by different people. I fully understand that a nonfictional historical tone and methodology does not fit with a fiction narrative. The fact of the matter is that the difference here is mostly one of approach, you can tell history as fiction you just start with the events and work the unknown/unknowable characterization around that. Scripts still have to be written, but scripts have to be written for documentaries as well.

Nonfiction is new relative to storytelling. The idea that fiction and nonfiction are different things is an artifact of the modern university system. After all, the Iliad, Odyssey, and other Greek Epics were history, just fictionalized history that worked. They took the historical events and descriptions and put them in the context of a hero's story and cultural epic. We used those stories to find the lost city of Troy millennium later. Even Baron von Munchausen (who gives his name to a compulsive lying disorder) even told a first hand account of a series of conflicts that are not without merit, even if he didn't ride a cannonball to escape a siege but was probably ransomed with the other defenders.









I decided not to do a purely nonfiction historical retropsective because:
1) I am biased, and the primary sources are biased. I am afraid that I will be unable to generate the quality and neutrality I would expect from myself.
2) I love the backstory of Eve, but I am rarely exposed to it any more, and I saw this as an opportunity to get more of it.

If the resources are there to address both of these, for example someone who has an opposing bias or is reasonably neutral can be found to address the academic standard issue and another method is available for me to get my backstory fix, then I would be more than happy to switch my focus to a purely historical narrative. There are a couple of World War Two series on the old history channel I would love to emulate.

I am afraid that I haven't taken any of those classes in college. So I'm afraid that I'm largely unaware of the paradigms that you are discussing. I didn't major in English, so the only way that I would be on the same page is if you explained the specifics.

After all, I am still very much in the initial planning stages of this idea, and I am willing to change even the subject matter if there are better ideas to be had. I just need to understand why those other ideas are, in fact, better before I abandon the ones I currently have.


Basically:
Do I suck?
Why do I suck?
How can I suck less in the future?

If things come out better in the end, that's a win in my book.