And Now For Something Completely Machinima

How do you make virtual worlds sound real? 🎧 In this episode of Ricky’s Wonderful World of Sound, Ricky Grove reveals the secrets of ambient sound—the subtle audio magic that transforms machinima and 3D game-engine films into unforgettable experiences. Perfect for filmmakers, animators, and sound lovers alike.🎬 Ricky’s Wonderful World of Sound – Episode: Ambient Sound in MachinimaDiscover how sound transforms storytelling in filmmaking, with a deep dive into ambient sound—the subtle audio that sets mood, builds atmosphere, and immerses your audience. This episode focuses on machinima—films created using 3D game engines and virtual worlds—making it a must-watch for filmmakers, sound designers, game creators, and animation enthusiasts.Ricky Grove shares his expert insights on using ambient sound to bring machinima to life, offering practical tips and creative ideas you can apply to your own projects. Whether you’re crafting your first indie animation or refining your cinematic game scenes, you’ll be inspired and better equipped to design unforgettable soundscapes.About Ricky GroveRicky Grove is an award-winning actor, director, voice artist, and sound designer with decades of experience in stage, film, and virtual production. After earning his BFA in Directing from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Acting from the Yale School of Drama, Ricky built a rich career in theatre and television, appearing in works such as Army of Darkness and ER.In the late 1990s, he became a pioneer in the machinima community, collaborating with trailblazers like Hugh Hancock, Phil Rice, and Jason Choi. His contributions as a voice director, actor, and sound designer have shaped many award-winning early machinima films. He’s hosted festivals, championed the art form, and continues to share his passion as co-host of the Completely Machinima Podcast.The first episodes of Ricky’s Wonderful World of Sound were originally created for the early-2000s machinima podcast The Overcast. This updated series expands his original teachings, offering timeless advice for creating powerful sound in machinima.🎧 Tip: For the best experience, close your eyes and immerse yourself in Ricky’s words.CreditsSpeaker / Producer / Sound Editor: Ricky GroveVisuals & Music: Phil Rice#Machinima #SoundDesign #Filmmaking #3DAnimation #GameEngines #AmbientSound #VirtualWorlds #IndieFilm #VoiceActing

This week, we continue our discussion, reflecting on Season 5 and our predictions for 2026.... yep, sure is a lot going on in the world of #machinima! Do add your own thoughts into the comments (on our show notes).1:01 Our predictions for 2026 1:10 Tracy’s thoughts! 4:26 A quick interjection on the Minecraft short we reviewed 6:47 Damien’s views and perspective on tools being used 7:38 Ricky’s prediction on genAI and it’s layering out and ethical approaches 10:27 Who is the world’s smartest dumb person?! Phil tees up some fab analogies – who is going to keep golfing? 22:30 The joy of machinima! 27:31 Killing off the golden goose 28:17 Creators we look forward to seeing:  ⁨@Dominzki⁩ ⁨@thebizthebiz⁩ ⁨@biggstrek⁩ among others 30:00 Celebrating  ⁨@DarthAngelus⁩ achievements with Heir to the Empire – a ‘big’ production project completed in machinima is a rare thing! 36:08 Ricky’s final wishes for 2026:  ⁨@NeuralViz⁩ figures out how to bring Prag Snarbo back! 36:38 Exciting new CM episodes introduced – The Wonderful World of Sound by  ⁨@RickyGrove⁩ and  ⁨@zsOverman⁩ Credits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood Producer: Tracy Harwood Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice & SunoAI

In this first part of our 200th episode of Completely Machinima Podcast, Ricky highlights ⁨@NeuralViz⁩ AI-driven films as a significant advancement, while Phil praised the fast-paced, subtle social commentary. We discuss legal developments affecting AI use, such as Warner Brothers suing Midjourney. The success of Blender's "Flow" at the Oscars is noted, emphasizing the growing capabilities of open-source tools. The conversation also touches on the breadth of aesthetic approaches to machinima projects, the rise of big-budget projects like "Predator: Killer of Killers," and the evolving role of generative AI in storytelling. Tune into next week's part B to hear about our predictions for next year!Credits - Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Tracy Harwood Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice and SunoAI

This is our final film pick for Season 5, and it stimulates quite a discussion. The film is a concept test of tools and techniques, but the story and aesthetic is less inspiring. Check out our thoughts and do add your own comments below. 1:47 Introduction to Reflekt by @derunique 4:00 Anachronistically broken 10:25 Gelling the story? 11:54 The aesthetic of Unreal 13:19 Who is the apocalyptic soldier Unreal tutor? 14:00 The attraction of Unreal – its all about the technology, and little about the story 15:02 Comparison to Project Zomboid movie (S5 ep 193) 15:40 Camera work in Unreal is uninspiring! 18:12 Prazinburke Ridge remains the outstanding Unreal film we’ve seen 18:22 Lighting is a standout, ambiguity and some suggestions 25:31 Speaking vs talking to self, and quality and use of the sound library 33:11 Surrealism and uncanny are some of the most creative ideas 37:35 Why is the Unreal creator community just not hit the high notes just yet 39:29 Final words Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Phil Rice Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice & SunoAI

This week's film selectiion is a technical masterpiece, made in RDR2. It is both an homage to the game and the film. John Wick's Red Dead Redemption is made by eli_handle_b.wav, and is worth every second of your time watching it! 1:49 Introduction to film, editing quality, compositing and matching RDR2 to John Wick – technically outstanding!4:11 How?!!! Skill level is well above average7:00 This is not just cut scenes9:13 A tribute to both the game and the film9:47 There are no scripted behaviour mods for RDR2 – the camera in the game all has to be positioned through play for this kind of machinima to be achieved – an editor is a missed opportunity for the game13:00 Discussing the tools usedCredits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice Producer: Ricky Grove Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice & SunoAI

A DC inspired short made with love and artful skill, this week's pick is also an homage to the creative talent of a young creator now sadly passed. Despite us not necessarily being the target audience - due to certain demographic features - we really enjoyed reviewing this. Check out our comments and do add your own. 1:32 Introduction to the film: form and creative technique – Smallville comedy vibe X superhero, and a shout out for collaborations everywhere 6:00 The challenge of being a Minecraft modder and making machinima possible – the Blockbuster mod and BBS mod 9:20 Player control: the visual fidelity is outstanding, the choreography is impressive, the editing, shot selection and sequencing and craft is admirable 12:37 Is it for us oldies? Maybe… target audience is key to this, identifying with the game aesthetic 17:20 Discussing early machinimas: Seal of Nahara and Devil’s Covenant 19:28 Kid Flash comparison to the DC TV show – this is better! 22:58 In conclusion: “This film was clearly loved by its creators” Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine Producer: Ricky Grove Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice and SunoAI

This week, we discuss a 2013 episode of @Draxtor's interviews series with artists filmed in Second Life series, this episode with Australian artist  @lynettewallworth270. 1:43 Get involved in the latest Star Citizen contest, links in Show Notes 3:26 Introduction to the pick 9:12 Phil describes early traditions of interview shows filmed in virtual worlds, such as Late Night with Toxie (filmed in Quake) and This Spartan Life (Halo) 12:44 Could this episode now be updated using AI? 13:33 Quality of audio is the most valuable part 15:49 GenZ viewing patterns are changing – how well does SL as an interview format reflect contemporary approaches? 17:53 The major obstacle to multi-tasking…! Credits - Speakes: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine Producer: Ricky Grove Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice & SonaAI

This is not genSLOP... or is it?! This week's discussion focusses on a recent genAI meme, vlogging from the Fall of the Empire as a Stormtrooper tourist.  The series we take a look at is by Galactic Archives, which has garnered a phenomenal number of views in just a couple of weeks.  Its quite different to The Glurons we discussed a couple of months back by NeuralViz, which remains a standout for us.  There are some excellent learning points from the way this short / series has been created as a narrative arc though, despite the creative process and generative tools leaving something a little unsavoury in the reactor core.  1:35 Intro to film and the meme4:15 Reminiscent of the Space 1999 aesthetic10:24 Slop or Slap? Beyond speed, what’s the real benefit of using genAI tools for this kind of narrative approach?21:55 Tools, tricks, NeuralViz and thoughtsCredits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice and SunoAI

We love AFK! This week's ep covers another of AFK's ambitious world building attempts to round out the Star Wars universe... and of course it works. What do you imagine the worst jobs to be for the most hapless Stormtroopers? These totally make sense to us! Check out our comments, our overview of AFK's background and other projects, and what we really think of this short. 1:39 Intro to film3:14 Humor and world building6:12 The most clever way to integrate sponsorship?10:26 Memories of advertising…. Err maybe12:47 Background to the series and Peter Haynes as a creator18:23 What are the most useless jobs you can think of? In jokes and fun references21:41 Tech tests and pee takesCredits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice and SunoAI

This week's pick is the complete contrast to the Happy Wheels gag-fest, Ep 191: the film is called They Were Once Here by Werlias and it has everything you would expect from a Project Zomboid machinima, plus some things you wouldn't. Its a dark and sad tale, beautifully told, and delivers a real emotional punch. It makes excellent use of Zach Beever's classic composition for the game, and harnesses a bunch of mods to achieve the outcome. Catch our review and reflections on this one. For those of you into zombie fests, we're sure you'll enjoy it.1:00 Intro to film11:11 Background to film, early zombie stories17:57 Emotional responses to the film, the role of music20:00 What’s happened to Werlias?22:03 Alternative perspectives on the narrative25:25 How would Machinima [Inc] have reacted to this? Tragic talesCredits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice and SunoAI 

This week, we cover a lot of things this month, as usual, but start with a tribute to a machinima pioneer who has sadly crossed the bridge into an unknown world - Tutsy NAvArAthnA. We then go through some more fascinating projects that we want to share, more about genAI and machinima, a bunch of new tools and techniques, some wise words from some great artists, latest games and relevant updates. All links on our show notes link below.1:39 Tribute to Tutsy3:45 Projects 5:50 Conversations7:40 genAI, Anthropic case discussion, implications for creative practice from the machinima perspective, killing YouTube26:44 Tools and techniques27:75 Martin Bells’ new tutorial series for Unreal Engine28:00 Jaws and the power of silence!31:00 Games updates: Dune discussion45:49 Another definition for machinima: Fortnite47:22 Character Creator 5 and iClone 9?52:26 Cyberpunk 2077 updates58:10 Getting the call up to produce a show for a big studio… but changing you mind!1:02:23 More genAI news – Hollywood vs MidJourney1:03:10 Fender 8 Track software release1:04:47 mod NaturalVision for GTA5 discussionCredits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice & SunoAI

In days of yore, when Machinima ruled the digiwaves, they commissioned stuff like this week's pick... we have a rather more heated discussion than usual about the pros and cons of the choice and the commissioning strategy. Check out our thoughts and let us know what you think. Maybe you were caught up in this mess, we certainly hope not... or at least, we hope the lesson was well learned. Ricky tells it from his experience, as part of the Hollywood set - seen it all before. Enjoy the show! 1:28 Intro to Happy Wheels, evolution of a community9:40 Background to Happy Wheels, creators, producers and game21:07 ‘Well, I wasn’t asking you whether you like them or not….’ music vs death and cruelty23:53 ‘Make Money for Machinima [Inc]’36:50 Beyond a joke44:36 Minecrafty: a provocation!Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer/Editor: Phil Rice Music: Phil Rice and SunoAI

To think this film's creator knew nothing about animation prior to making this short is absolutely astonishing. Of course, as we discuss, many crossed this path as a consequence of the pandemic, but there are few gems we've found like this. The film, Rally, draws heavily on Santiago Menghini's experience as a live action director and producer. What's fascinating, in our analysis, is our evaluation of ambiguity and how its clever use makes up for the animation and limitations. Watch the movie, check out our comments and add your own.Credits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice and SunoAI

"Courage is not the absence of fear, it is acting in spite of it." Yep, never a truer few words than said in jest. This week, we discuss a cutscene extravanza of Arthur's life story in the game, apparently endorsed by Roger Clark himself. Its a story told in three acts, supported by some great musical choices, even if we don't completely agree on that. What we do agree on is that Charles Liu has done a superb job of selecting just the right shots to portray the character. Check out our review, watch the film and do add your own thoughts.Credits -Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien ValentineProducer/Editor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice & SunoAI

This brings back so many memories for us, the 1980s and 90s, Frank Drebin's utter incompetence and Leslie Neilsen's brilliance. Hat Loving Gamer has excelled himself with this interpretation, taking in a bunch of retro games - everything from PacMan to Mario and then adding in a bit of Halo and GTA for good measure. Our selection of this film also has absolutely nothing to do with the launch of NS2 or the announcement of a new NG movie... Enjoy the discussion.Credits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer: Ricky GroveEditor: Phil RiceMusic: Phil Rice & SunoAI