Independent filmmakers, visual artists, and composers are starting to use machinima more and more in serious artistic pursuits. Machinima, animation using video game engines, has matured considerably in the last few years to something for Fanboys of Quake and World of Warcraft to a viable way of making an affordable feature length animated film.There are several machinima software options available to the aspiring machinima filmmaker. As a musician that wanted to make an opera using machinima, I found that Moviestorm, a UK-based machinima platform, was easy to use and affordable. Below you can see a rough cut of Baby Machine from Libertaria: The Virtual Opera .   As you can see from the clip, I was able to create a quick sci-fi machinima scene without too much of a learning curve. Some Moviestorm animators have made great headway in making incredible original mods and new animations for the characters. One of the drawbacks of Moviestorm is that initially you are limited by th...

Launching a full multimedia production like an opera, film, or concert doesn't require a budget of six figures, hundreds of personnel, and a gigantic venue. If you are willing to go virtual and use the amazing multimedia tools at your fingertips, you can create incredible works of art without breaking your budget. The artist is only limited by technology. Machinima Opera Libertaria: The Virtual Opera Two years ago when I embarked on my modern opera, Libertaria:The Virtual Opera I wanted to create a full-scale opera production. Experience had taught me that just because I created a large-scale work doesn't mean that it would see more than a few live performances in my lifetime. Of course, that has always been a major issue for composers, with most of our famous composers today never enjoying even a modicum of the popularity that they experience in the modern classical music scene. Instead, I decided to use my film school chops and create a feature-length animated opera u...