Machinima Storyteller: When TV meets videogames

PORTUGAL – beActive will be presenting Machinima Storyteller, its brand new platform for real-time 3D animation production, at the next MIPCOM, event to be held on October 14^th, 11am, at Palais de Festivals in Cannes. At its core, Machinima Storyteller is a platform that allows filmmakers to create high-end 3D CGI animated content. By using a videogame 3D engine to generate real-time animated sequences, this platform employs videogame techniques to create professional TV and Digital animated content.

The biggest advantages of the platform are its real-time approach that generates 3D animated sequences instantly, allowing directors to change scenes in seconds and eliminating the need of long render sessions. On the financial side, production companies can use the 3D assets (characters, objects, backgrounds) for both the game and the animated series or film reducing production costs and increase economies of the scale.

Animation companies can now incorporate videogame production in their animation production workflows with little effort and change. Depending on the complexity of the project, 60% to 80% of the videogame code will be generated inside theMachinima Storyteller, drastically reducing the costs of videogame development and production.

To overcome some of the limitations of user-generated machinima-based videos that flooded YouTube in the last few years, the Machinima Storyteller uses Artificial Intelligence to improve character emotions and make animated sequences more appealing to the audience. The Machinima Storyteller also uses virtual storytelling techniques to ease the creation of the narrative and facilitate the transformation of the non-interactive story into an interactive experience, meaning it can also be played as a game.

beActive’s CEO Nuno Bernardo, Emmy-nominated writer-producer, will present this new platform and showcase one of its first productions: COLLIDER 2017. This is the first animated Web series and videogame created using the Machinima Storyteller technology. COLLIDER 2017 is a dystopia set in Rio de Janeiro in 2017. It will be extended by a tablet based survival game and an animated Web series. The Machinima Storyteller platform was developed using the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.