Saturday
Mar292008
Utada Hikaru Filmmaker talks iClone
Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 11:16AM
If you have not been privileged to experience the work of John Holland then you are in for a treat. If you know his work, then you’ll be happy to know he has released his 11th iClone video featuring the music of Utada Hikaru. I recently talked with John and asked him to tell us more about himself and his iClone filmmaking process.
Since I first discovered John’s work in 2006, I’ve followed his rise from first-time animator with iClone to full-time student at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I’m impressed with the journey John has taken and feel it’s representative of many stories that the Machinima craft has to tell. The power of the filmmaker is no longer exclusively in heart of the Hollywood hills, it’s now in the heart of every imaginative soul.
Reallusion Interview with John Holland:
RL: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? A quick bio?
Lets see, well my name is John Holland, I am 20 years old, and I am a Animation Sophomore at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I live in Georgia and I have been animating here and there for a little over 2 years now.
RL: How long have you been using iClone?
I've been using iClone since the end of 2005 when I downloaded the trial version of the program(I found it by accident and i'm really glad that I did because its what made me realize I want to do this for a living). I had never animated anything before at this point and I always thought it might be fun to give it a try.
RL: Why have you chosen iClone as your tool for animating Utada music videos?
I decided to use iClone for my Utada music videos because I just find its pretty easy to use and I can get the results I want with it in just a couple hours of work, you don't have to an experienced animator to create great videos, and with each upgrade it seems that the program just gets better and better.
RL: How long does it normally take to create one of your videos with iClone?
For each video I make, the time it takes to finish one depends mostly on the amount of time I have when I'm not working on projects for school. The overall time I guess each would take if I just constantly work on it for a couple of hours each day, would put them at about a week.
RL: What video editor do you use?
For editing videos, I just use Windows Movie Maker. Probably not the most professional tool, but it is pretty simple to use and gets the job I want done.
RL: Can you explain your process that you plan your shots inside iClone. Do you storyboard your videos?
When I start a new video, I just listen and look at the lyrics to the songs I plan to use, and just see what comes to mind. I usually make a list of things that I think would be interesting to do, images that come into my mind when I hear certain parts, colors, lighting, and things like that. So I don't necessarily storyboard my videos out, but I don't go into each video without some idea of what I hope to achieve.
RL: What do you like most about iClone?
As for picking one feature to say I like best is pretty hard, because there are a couple things I really enjoy about iClone. I really like 3DXchange and Clone Cloth, I think they both allow for a lot more customization to the things everyone can create with iClone.
RL: What would you like to see added or refined in the forthcoming iClone 3?
With iClone 3 coming out soon, I really would like to see being able to animate independently more than one character at a time. I think that would be a great feature. As for other inclusions, I'd really like to see more types of animals added to iClone like Dogs and Cats. From some of the things I've heard are supposed to be in iClone 3, I think Reallusion is heading in the right direction.
View all 11 of John Holland's iClone Music Videos
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=atlier00
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‧One highly detailed horse featuring 2 sample LiveProp animations and saddle.
‧Project includes the "Link-to" Linkage feature showing the link relationship between characters and props.
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