Moddingstorm's "Stupidly Easy Competition"

Really, how much easier of a competition can you get?
Moddingstorm is running a "Stupidly Easy Competition". Winner gets three free addon packs for Moviestorm from Moddingstorm!
So how stupidly easy is it? Simple.
All you have to do is visit Moddingstorm's facebook page and click like.
That's it.
Two weeks from today, a name will be chosen at random from the list of people who like the page, and the winner gets the three packs! You get extra chances to be drawn by promoting the competition on your own facebook page, blogs, site, etc.
You do need to prove you've done this by posting links in the competition's thread on the Moviestorm forums.
There is one disclaimer: The headgear bundle pack currently offered counts as two packs since its, well, a bundle!
If you haven't seen Moddingstorm's content yet, check it out. It's all top-quality! And if you aren't using Moviestorm yet, maybe this is a good time to start!
Check it out!
Oh...and while you're over on facebook, don't forget to "like" Dark Lord Productions if you haven't already ;)

Messiah Studio for $10-$40!

The software company pmG Worldwide is conducting a viral test marketing campaign by selling their award-winning animation/rendering engine Messiah Studio 5 for an incredibly low price.

There are two options for purchase, the first being a limited-feature basic edition for $10 (regularly priced at $499), and the full pro version for $40 ($1195 regular price).

The offer works as follows. The offer is set for a limited time. They have set a goal for the number of sales. You purchase the software as a pre-order. If the goal is met in within the time limit, you get the software. If the goal is not met on time, you get refunded your money.

The viral part is simple. In order to meet the goal as quickly as possible, you are encouraged to share this with as many people as possible.

Messiah Studio is a high-profile animation and rendering engine that has won several awards and even received an Academy Award nomination. It has been used for character animation and the creation of VFX shots in a number of feature films and shorts, including the following, such as the Harry Potter films, X-Men, Ghost Rider, Hellboy, Syriana, and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. It has also been used in a number of television productions, including The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Robbie the Reindeer, Andy's Airplanes and the upcoming Plankton Invasion, as well as numerous commercials.

If you are interested in getting into some hardcore professional studio-quality animation, this is an incredible offer that is too good to pass up. At this price, it's worth getting even if you do nothing more then try to learn something from it.

You can participate in this campaign by going here:

http://projectmessiah.com/x6/shop.html

There is plenty of information on their web site, but if you want to learn more you can read about them on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_%28software%29

So go get it, and let everyone know!

The Grey People

I'm happy to announce that I have been cast for the role of Special in the independent animated film "The Grey People", a sci-fi epic directed by D.L. Watson.
D.L. Watson is a talented and respected director who makes independent animated films (or machinima, depending on how you wish to view it) and live-action films.
For this movie, he will be using Moviestorm and iClone4 for the project, and after reading through only part of the script so far I think this is going to be an incredible movie. Having seen a test shot released a long time ago on the Moviestorm website, this movie looks to be visually stunning as well.
The film is tentatively scheduled to be released around June 2011. Once a date is set and announced I will share that with you here as well.
In the meantime, learn more about the project by visiting its Official Website.
You can also follow the film on Facebook. Don't forget to click "Like"!
Oh, and while you are on Facebook, don't forget to check out the Dark Lord Productions Facebook page....and click that "L" button while you're at it!
In other news, I am hard at work on a new movie myself! More details as the project progresses. Stay tuned!

Lightworks editing software is going open-source

EditShare, the company behind Academy and Emmy award-winning video editing software Lightworks announced plans to release its product under an open source license. Lightworks was most recently used to edit movies like Shutter Island and Centurion, but is also credited with helping create otehr films like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Mission Impossible.

This is very exciting, since it could be an incredible boon for machinima directors who are on a small budget.

For more information about the software and how to get your hands on it, click here.

Now on Facebook...

I've resisted doing this because it seemed like everyone else was, but realized that I was missing out on an opportunity to network further with people who create machinima, enjoy my machinima, or even introduce people to machinima who may not otherwise know about it.

So, I created a facebook page. If you like my movies, now you can "Like" Dark Lord Productions!

Find it here.

Thanks in advance for hitting the button!

Mach3di...a new machinima site!

If you haven't seen it announced on various forums, tweets, and facebook accounts, there is a new machinima site called Mach3di. Here is how they describe themselves:

We are a machinima rating and review site similar to the old Sims99 web site. You link to your machinima movie and receive honest straightforward reviews.

You do not upload movies, but rather link to where the movie exists, either by providing a direct link to a file or to the movie on another uploading site, such as Vimeo, Koinup, or Youtube.

Other members will be able to rate and review your movies, and unlike Sims99 you can comment back on the reviews. You can also rate your reviews (much like Youtube) with a thumbs-up or down if you found them helpful or annoying. If you don't want people to rate and review, you can choose to have none of those options, or either option, when you submit a movie.

Profiles contain an interesting feature. You can put in your Twitter name and your latest tweets will appear on your profile page. There is also a link for people to follow you as well.

Just about everything on the site can be subscribed to as an RSS feed.

And...there is a forum.

Unlike 99, there are areas for other specific machinima platforms, such as Moviestorm and SecondLife. An iClone section may come soon, but in the meantime there is an "other" area to catch anything not specified.

The site is in beta, so expect some bugs to be ironed out. And the community is new, but growing. If this site ends up like 99 was, this will be the best place to showcase machinima.

What the site needs now is directors and fans who are willing to show/watch movies there and help the community grow. Are you such a person?

Check the site out and see what you think.

Just not feeling it....

Not long ago I posted that, after working out some issues, I was finally able to resume production on "I, Zombie".

After working on it again I realized, unfortunately, that I'm not into the idea anymore. I still want to make the movie, but I'm just not feeling the inspiration. My muse is just looking at me and saying "fuggit"!

I don't know....maybe it's because of the frustration with things that have happened that made this movie such a pain. Maybe it's having other ideas that I really wanted to do but insisted on waiting until this one was done. Those ideas built and built, and now, trying to jump back into the zombie movie....not happening.

So, it's on hold indefinitely.

I've been working on some custom content for another idea that I had in mind, and once done I will work on that movie. It's tentatively titled "Why?" and it will be my first attempt at an "action movie". I've always been excited over the concept, and since making this decision I'm very eager to get rolling on it.

Once it's done, I'll try picking up the zombie movie again. Right now, experimenting with the anti-hero character archetype sounds like just what the doctor ordered.....

....or maybe the muse did. Whatever. Stay tuned!