Category: Machinima

Tech Geeks Help with Constant Changes in Digital Tools

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For 14 years now, I’ve been working with machinima in Second Life and other virtual worlds. I have always been disappointed in my video quality because getting those screen settings set up correctly has been troublesome! First, the viewer has to record with a good graphics card. Then, you have to capture the video in the highest possible quality. And, finally, you have to have the correct settings in the video editor.

Here is my very first machinima recorded at ISTE Island back in 2007. My daughter met me inworld and I took a shot of her crossing a bridge before heading over to the library (what became the Community Virtual Library). Okay- I know it is unwatchable quality! But the memory of that first capture is so vivid and real to me, I just want to keep it in the archives!

Learning to work and help learners in virtual environments requires juggling multiple programs. It is difficult to keep up with the format changes, especially as video has improved with HD and formats (mp4, etc). Having a PLC (professional learning community) is essential and a colleague just took the time to share screens with me and go through all my settings! Thanks so much, Sitearm.

Juggling Multiple Applications and Screens

Sitearm working in Virbela and sharing tools

Searching for Help Online

During our screensharing session, Sitearm and I looked up free open source editing software (Shotcut) on Selby Evan’s blog because we found the problem with my poor quality machinima. I was using an old outdated version of Adobe Premiere that is incompatible with the higher quality video available now. Free open source software tools may not have all the “bells and whistles” of professional software, but hey- the price is right!

Machimima Quality Comparison

Take a look at these two versions (raw footage) of our recent CVL tour to 3rdRock at the immersive storybook Alice in Wonderland.
First, the video exported using Adobe Premiere (720×480) at 30 fps. Scroll to minute 2:14 or so to get a good comparison.

Wonderland Version 1

Now- compare with this higher quality version of Wonderland from Shotcut (1920×1080) at 60 fps. Scroll to minute 1:19 to see the same scene as the one above.

Wonderland Version 2

Shooting, editing, and sharing machinima can be time-consuming and I do not consider myself a professional. However, archiving educational experiences in virtual environments is important in order to document the potential they hold for learning in the future. Digital archival has become essential for us all- both professionally and personally- as much of life is spent online.

We can share tips and tricks on youtube as tutorials are plentiful. There is no way we can individually keep up with all the changing technology tools available but developing a PLC (or a PLN if you prefer to call it a professional/personal learning network) is sure a big help. Visit the Community Virtual Library if finding colleagues in virtual learning environments would benefit your teaching, learning or life.

Through the #VR Looking-Glass to Wonderland

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A group of us (librarians and educators at the Community Virtual Library) visited the virtual world of 3rdRock to experience Alice in Wonderland in a 3D immersive environment. Wow! This was not only reading but entering the book!

A librarian at the University of Hawaii created this immersive storybook complete with various scenes from the story with passages of text. Thinking about how children (as well as readers/learners of all ages) will experience literature in the future was a fascinating topic during our tour. Talk about metaliteracy! We enjoyed conversing at the Mad Hatter’s tea party!

While we were fully immersed in the 3D storytelling, we were not wearing virtual reality headsets. Virtual worlds are viewed on a desktop and we believe they are part of virtual reality. Desktop VR allows for many productive tools built into the interface and is less uncomfortable than the “trapped feeling” I get with my VR headset. Of course, as VR evolves, it may become more comfortable. Who knows what the future holds for VR but it may not be ready for young people since research has not been done on how it impacts developing minds. In a virtual world, students could create their own storybook content or develop 3D objects on various subjects. Building in VR currently requires additional programs like Unity or Unreal Engine.

Watching a machinima of our Wonderland virtual field trip does not do is justice! You really need to “be there” inside the story, but this video is meant to archive the event. The group started out in Kitely at the CVL Hypergrid Resource Library and then jumped over to 3rdRock to visit Wonderland as part of the ACRL Virtual World Interest Group which is part of the American Library Association.

When Did You First Enter a Virtual World?

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A twitter chat question asks “When did you first start using virtual worlds and what subject do you teach with it?”
As school librarian, teaching information literacy, I heard about the virtual world of Second Life over ten years ago and signed up in 2006. My “rez” day (the day we first came into a virtual world) is June 9, 2006. Almost ten years!

When I came inworld, I wanted my purpose to be clear, so I chose the name Valibrarian (Valerie as a librarian). Unfortunately, my computer graphics card would not support Second Life (SL), so I could not get into the world.

A year later, I got a new computer. I remembered my inworld name, Valibrarian Gregg (Gregg is my husband’s name). I remembered my password, too! Sitting at my computer on a June morning (summer is always a good time for learning as an educator because school is out!), I remember feeling this excited feeling. I was a bit nervous and felt like I was entering another dimension. I typed in my name…. my password….and I entered a new world. There were sounds! I could fly! I could teleport to new places on a gigantic map.

The first thing I searched for was librarians and I found them! The American Library Association had an island and many librarians helped me learn how to maneuver. I met educators from all over the world and attended professional networking events.

I wanted to learn to capture the amazing 3D places I visited. My daughter, a tech-savvy young woman, had also explored Second Life. She met me inworld and we explored places together- including the Community Virtual Library- which was called the Alliance Library at that time. My first machinima shot I ever recorded was my daughter crossing a bridge on ISTE Island. The quality is terrible—grainy and hard to view. But, I am glad I captured these early images. The shots of the library, my cottage and some of the places in SL bring back memories as powerful as any physical world memory. You can see, in this machinima video, shots of my daughter and me enjoying a cup of virtual tea together in a virtual library. We are immersed in a shared experience which may not be understood by simply observing us.

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Virtual Reminiscence

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What triggers the human brain to reminisce about our past experiences in life? Smells, I am told, are critical to our memories. But, this week, for the first time, I ran across an old machinima that I shot in 2008 and (believe it or not) I found myself virtually reminiscing. Physical space, such as our houses or the streets and shady parks we remember from our youth, cause us to recall personal memories.

Perhaps I am one of the first to discover a personal “pang” of reminiscence in a virtual world. The spaces we live in are moving from physical to virtual. Whether or not we have an avatar is of little consequence.

Note (2020): With BlipTV gone away… I have lost many of my early machinima videos. But I remember the places.

My “So Called” Lives (Physical and Virtual) Gangnam Style

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We all now live both physical and virtual lives.  If you don’t agree, take a look at how close your digital device is at this moment.  We are networking, connected, and always online. This evolution of networked culture has challenged me to be both a physical world librarian and a virtual world librarian.

Within this past month, I was coincidentally (I am not sure if that is the right word when you realize how pop culture inspired this post) asked to edit a Gangnam Style video in both worlds.

As a school librarian, I was asked to edit a video showing student engagement.  The popular Gangnam Style dance parody was embraced by everyone from kindergarten to our principal, pictured dancing in my library loft.

Just a few days later, as a virtual world librarian leading an exhibit tour to the Museum of Virtual Media, I was asked to edit another Gangnam Style dance- this time with avatars from around the globe. One of the tour guides, from Argentina, gave the participants a dance animation for the closing festivities.

The exhibit was built by the University of Washington’s Certificate in Virtual Worlds Class of 2012 and features the evolution of media from ancient cave paintings, through radio & movies, into the future. Being asked to produce a video by two completely different patron communities fascinated me.

We all hear every day, as educators and librarians, about how we now live in a participatory culture. Spending time editing such diverse groups, in both physical and virtual worlds, made participatory culture clear to me in a way that I had never before experienced. Learning theorists, like Lev Vygotsky and John Dewey, proposed that learning is social in nature nearly a century ago, way before digital culture took hold. Witnessing this human desire to be part of a social experience through the global phenomenon of a popular dance video illustrated a new frontier in constructivist learning.

Grand Opening of Summer in Berlin

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Having never played many videogames, I don’t consider myself a gamer; however, I have seen a generation of learners come through my library who have grown up with videogames.  A recent library article shared the idea of including videogames as a literary genre alongside other media formats, such as films because they now embed stories that evoke real emotions in a similar way.  Current videogames feature cinematic scenes and are often set in historical periods, just like historical fiction novels. Some may be considered too violent for young players (example Call of Duty), but often the historical details are researched in the same way writers and filmmakers seek authenticity.

So, it may seem perfectly natural for the “gaming generation” to enter virtual spaces set in eras from the past.  Resources may include reading a novel, viewing a film, or actually entering a virtual simulation set in a particular time and place, such as Berlin, Germany in the 1920’s. Working in collaboration with colleagues in the virtual world of Second Life, I shot machinima of the Grand Opening of the Summer in Berlin Exhibit on display through August 2012. All are welcome to attend individually or for the live tours on July 14th or August 5th at 1pm Pacific Time.


At the upcoming American Library Association Convention in Anaheim, California, I will be leading the ACRL Virtual World Interest Group meeting for librarians interested in immersive learning and information delivery through virtual worlds.  I will also be leading a session on Virtual Media in Libraries and Museums, sharing the Summer of Berlin Exhibit and other virtual media examples.

Summer in Berlin- Travel Back in Time

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For the past two years, I have been working with fellow librarians on virtual library projects that allow participants to “enter” a virtual exhibit or simulation.  The first exhibit we developed was Virtual Texas, which featured the Alamo.  Next, we worked with a virtual world builder who designed a rescue simulation called Virtual Tornado.  The third virtual library project was created in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Washington’s Certificate in Virtual World, which built Maya Island.

Now, in the summer of 2012, we present Summer in Berlin!

        Summer in Berlin will be on display at the Community Virtual Library in the virtual world of Second Life. This virtual experience will give participants the opportunity to enter an historical simulation of Berlin, Germany in the 1920’s- complete with music, art, literature, and historical attire (which will be provided).  The Berlin project was created by a woman in the Netherlands who is an historical consultant specializing in the era.

What’s the purpose of these virtual exhibits?  The Horizon Report, and current research on best practices in education, show potential and predicted growth in serious gaming for education. Librarians realize the importance of not only embracing emerging technology trends, but helping users prioritize them through teaching critical evaluation of content.  Several librarian colleagues have worked together to acquire virtual world resources in the same way librarians acquire the best physical resources available for community libraries.  In the future, it may be possible not only to “read” the book, but to “enter” the book through an immersive virtual experience in 3D.  

Machinimatography 101: a session by Valibrarian Gregg

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I was totally blown away when I found that HVX Silverstar (a wonderful machinimist who taught me how to get started) captured my session on machinimatography in Second Life this week! Machinima is a portmonteau which combines the words “machine” and “cinema” and means capturing video within a computer simulated environment. Machinima can be used for digital storytelling, visual poetry, archiving digital content, and capturing simulated learning experiences in virtual worlds and online games.


There are a couple of audio glitches (when I lost sound) but most of the session can be viewed here. Just fast-forward if there’s a lull. I do not consider myself an expert, but I hope my session helped other beginners who want to learn how to created videos in this creative format. Video formats and editing tools continue to change and are now readily available for home use.

(Note: Revisiting this blog in 2020, I find the video is gone. BlipTV was only an active site from 2005-2011. Below is a machinima 101 promo clip.)

Virtual World Libraries, Education & Museums

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The Virtual World Libraries, Education & Museums Conference 2009 will be held April 24 and 25th in Second Life and through Adobe Connect.  I filmed 5 short machinima ads for the conference on Youtube. These were filmed on a Mac Pro Laptop using Snapz Pro software.  My earlier machinima videos were filmed on a Dell PC using Fraps software.  Both programs are great but work differently, so I can not say I have a preference. Registration for the conference should open this week.

Virtual World Conference

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Virtual Worlds: Libraries, Education and Museums Conference was just like presenting at a real world conference!  My presentation was at the end of the day (1opm my time zone) and I was rather nervous- this being my first virtual presentation.  The best part was that my machinima about the grand opening of the Land of Lincoln sim actually played!

Image by Yesha https://images.app.goo.gl/5Zg3F5Mix1hbTXc2A

(Note: In 2020, I revisited this blog. Sadly, BlipTV lost many of my machinima videos which is another example of the importance of digital archival).