Andrew's "Vlarion 1" Review

PLEASE NOTE: This review may contain spolilers. I don't think it does, actually, but if you don't want to risk it, then read later!

Every once in awhile, a highly anticipated movie reaches insane heights of hype and expectations, and the worry becomes that this movie will let down. And oh-so rarely does a movie actually exceed expectations and leave the audiences floored. This is one of those movies.
Aaron Haynes’ Vlarion series has been his anchoring achievement since his entrance into the community several years ago. Though Haynes has branched out to make Redux and Pamela, Vlarion’s been what he’s been known for.
Of course, the outdated nature of the original Vlarions finally caught Haynes’ attention and he’s gone back to re-create them one by one.
Vlarion 1 is a fantastic achievement, pushing the boundaries (and CPUs) of 3dmm visually, while keeping its focus trained on a storyline that’s survived the years. While it has a glitch or two, Vlarion 1 is a stunning achievement that will be used as a measuring stick for years.

Story
Vlarion follows the story of Dask, a mercenary with magical abilities, as he investigates a mysterious robbery at a local science lab. The discoveries he makes there catapult him, his partner Stacey, and his old friend Jack into a series of harrowing encounters with ancient creatures, all the while unfolding a mysterious plot by an even more mysterious leader.
The story and character development still seem to be the main focus of Vlarion. Though much ballyhooed for its visual and technical achievements, an often overlooked breakthrough Haynes has achieved is the emotional weight of the story. Though the characters start out to be vague and unmotivated, as mercenaries tend to be, their discoveries solidify their characters and they are thrust reluctantly into one unified goal. This achievement is not easily overlooked or achieved. Because of the lack of dynamic expressions on the actor’s faces, dialogue and pacing are the strongest factors in creating this feeling. This is the first time in any 3dmm film that I have felt like urging the characters to do something. These characters are becoming well formed, but we’ll have to wait until the next installment to truly love them.

Presentation
An amazingly strong presentation fuels Vlarion’s story. Haynes has put together a well planned cinematic experience. The film flows remarkably well, given its sometimes chaotic plot, with all scenes logically falling together. Though Haynes’ use of blackouts can border on excessive, these only minimally break up the flow. It would have been nice to see some shorter breaks between scenes, though.
Haynes’ camera is dynamic and savvy. There are smooth pans, jittery fight scenes, and the token Matrix effects. The thing about them is that they are implemented so naturally that you have to force yourself to think of them as effects. It’s important to remember how astonishingly difficult it is to create smooth, fluid camera movements in 3dmm, and for that, Aaron’s care to detail, the main deadline-murdering machine, is astounding.

Visuals
Perhaps the most hyped of all the aspects of Vlarion, Haynes certainly doesn’t disappoint. The use of Maya, Photoshop, and every gadget 7gen has is clearly apparent. The thing is, especially with the Maya-created environments, is that they appear so naturally in 3dmm’s renderer that it’s a chore to actually notice what was created outside of the program. Some of the more conventional scenery, therefore, is more easily noticed as such, but barely so.
The massive environments created for this film show how much the program can be manipulated. It is still one of the easiest animation mediums for 3d films out there, and the fact that it can be expanded upon so complexly is a great achievement. Haynes has a keen eye for natural looking (in 3dmm) scenery that it is hard to tell the distinction.
It’s not all perfect. Kraemer’s battle takes place in uniform rolling hills, and some of the lighting comes off as jittery on account of crosshatching (I mentioned this in my Pamela review, as well) it still is dramatically better looking than many films this medium has seen before.

Sound
Ann Robinson wouldn’t be summoned, but this is the weak link. Though not for the voices. The voices in themselves were excellent. Especially noteworthy were Haynes himself as Dask, done in the complete image of the character according to the director, but also Stacey, played by Shannon Kelly, an IRL friend of Aaron, and Rosal, played by Beast. All three of these voices are the highlight, but the vast supporting cast (and damn, I need to do more voicing for the future… IM me) pulls together well and does a superb job.
The music was well done and well selected. The MIDI remixes were the weak link here, but they were outdone by the opening theme () and the various orchestrated pieces, especially those taken from Metal Gear Solid. The MIDIs seemed a bit out of place, but never glaringly “WHAT THE” as they have potential to be.
Sound effects and sound mixing are the points that could use improvement in the later installments. Though a lot of the effects were taken from 3dmm’s default library, that wasn’t the issue. The fact was that these default ones were always mixed a little too loud. They were, as such, more noticeable. A general lowering of the sound effects volume, except for in battles, could help. The same goes for footsteps. Though they add a lot, they should be lower in volume.

The Final Word
Vlarion is an outstanding achievement. Haynes has tied together all these elements, all of which have breakthroughs of their own (not since Moderately Confused have I seen such a voice cast) into a cohesive, stunning, and downright amazing film. The first installment of these remakes shows insane amounts of promise for the future episodes. Even if they don’t continue to advance technically, the story is still the best around, and still the highlight.

********** (10/10) As close to perfect as I've seen.

[Salter]

Ah here it is. Thanks goat.

[Aaron Haynes]

One of several longer reviews I still need to respond to. I'm here in the lab for two classes and might start on it in a minute.

Edit: Oh, and there are no MIDIs in this movie, so not sure where you're getting that :O

[Salter]

Right, what I meant by that is MIDI-based songs... like sound like they are from MIDI compositions rather than orchestrated, or even MIDI orchestrated.
Actually, I think it's just that I like to write MIDI.

[Salter]

HI AARON HAYNES

[Zaps]

Hi !

By the way, good review.

[Salter]

[Salter]

* explodes *

[Aaron Haynes]

Better late than never.

Originally Posted by Andrew Salter

Every once in awhile, a highly anticipated movie reaches insane heights of hype and expectations, and the worry becomes that this movie will let down. And oh-so rarely does a movie actually exceed expectations and leave the audiences floored. This is one of those movies.
Aaron Haynes’ Vlarion series has been his anchoring achievement since his entrance into the community several years ago. Though Haynes has branched out to make Redux and Pamela, Vlarion’s been what he’s been known for.
Of course, the outdated nature of the original Vlarions finally caught Haynes’ attention and he’s gone back to re-create them one by one.

Nice recap.

Story
The story and character development still seem to be the main focus of Vlarion. Though much ballyhooed for its visual and technical achievements, an often overlooked breakthrough Haynes has achieved is the emotional weight of the story.

I'm glad it came across that way, because while the story was the principal motivation for doing this, and I certainly was very deliberate in crafting it, it didn't take anywhere near as long as the animation and design work did. So throughout the movie's production it felt like I was devoting most of my focus to the sheer spectacle of the movie, and often got worried the story was being lost in the midst of that. It tends to mess with your perspective.

Because of the lack of dynamic expressions on the actor’s faces, dialogue and pacing are the strongest factors in creating this feeling. This is the first time in any 3dmm film that I have felt like urging the characters to do something.

I wish I'd been able to do something about this. Dynamic expressions wouldn't have been that much further of a step, though lip-syncing certainly is. I've heard that someone else working a project actually has gone that far, though...

Presentation
An amazingly strong presentation fuels Vlarion’s story. Haynes has put together a well planned cinematic experience. The film flows remarkably well, given its sometimes chaotic plot, with all scenes logically falling together. Though Haynes’ use of blackouts can border on excessive, these only minimally break up the flow. It would have been nice to see some shorter breaks between scenes, though.

The pace of the first half of the story seemed pretty well served by the blackouts and music fades at the time. I think it would've taken a tighter rewrite of the first 20 minutes in order to pace the film better, blackouts or no. There are quite a lot of them though, so you may have a point.

Haynes’ camera is dynamic and savvy. There are smooth pans, jittery fight scenes, and the token Matrix effects.

Blah. I take exception to this. The Kramer battle is the only part I'd call "Matrixy".

Other fights are more "token slowdown effects".

The thing about them is that they are implemented so naturally that you have to force yourself to think of them as effects. It’s important to remember how astonishingly difficult it is to create smooth, fluid camera movements in 3dmm, and for that, Aaron’s care to detail, the main deadline-murdering machine, is astounding.

One-piece sets certainly helped a lot in this regard. Looking back at my camerawork in the unfinished AV4 material, though, I think I did a better job at cinematography there.

Visuals
Perhaps the most hyped of all the aspects of Vlarion, Haynes certainly doesn’t disappoint. The use of Maya, Photoshop, and every gadget 7gen has is clearly apparent. The thing is, especially with the Maya-created environments, is that they appear so naturally in 3dmm’s renderer that it’s a chore to actually notice what was created outside of the program. Some of the more conventional scenery, therefore, is more easily noticed as such, but barely so.

There were actually only three pre-made sets in the movie, but you probably know this by now. I really wish I'd gone ahead and made the Terrania street set for the final sequence; building those scenes by hand took anywhere from 1-3 hours apiece.

The massive environments created for this film show how much the program can be manipulated. It is still one of the easiest animation mediums for 3d films out there, and the fact that it can be expanded upon so complexly is a great achievement.

This is the main reason I've hung around for as long as I have. It's becoming clear that even with years of experience learning more advanced 3D programs, nothing even comes close to 3DMM in terms of producing an elaborate full-length film.

It’s not all perfect. Kraemer’s battle takes place in uniform rolling hills, and some of the lighting comes off as jittery on account of crosshatching (I mentioned this in my Pamela review, as well) it still is dramatically better looking than many films this medium has seen before.

I've found it extremely hard to bounce light off of objects without using the crosshatching technique. HMC has the patience to draw them directly into the textures. I don't. :/

Sound
The MIDIs seemed a bit out of place, but never glaringly “WHAT THE” as they have potential to be.

There weren't any MIDIs. I'm not sure what you were hearing here. Everything was taken directly from the digital audio soundtracks of the various sources I pulled music from.

Sound effects and sound mixing are the points that could use improvement in the later installments. Though a lot of the effects were taken from 3dmm’s default library, that wasn’t the issue. The fact was that these default ones were always mixed a little too loud. They were, as such, more noticeable. A general lowering of the sound effects volume, except for in battles, could help. The same goes for footsteps. Though they add a lot, they should be lower in volume.

I know the footstep sounds become a monotone drilling over time, but I actually did attempt to fade them in and out, and never looped sounds for more than two people walking at a time. Short of preparing the entire footstep loops outside of 3DMM, I'm not sure there's any way to do this so everyone's happy with it. Oh well.

The Final Word
Vlarion is an outstanding achievement. Haynes has tied together all these elements, all of which have breakthroughs of their own (not since Moderately Confused have I seen such a voice cast) into a cohesive, stunning, and downright amazing film. The first installment of these remakes shows insane amounts of promise for the future episodes. Even if they don’t continue to advance technically, the story is still the best around, and still the highlight.

Thanks a ton for these comments, and sorry I put this off for as long as I did. I was absentmindedly clicking through old subscribed threads and came across this, so there you go.

[Tuna Hematoma]

* BODY FALL DIRT *

[Aaron Haynes]

* THE ENTIRETY OF BIRD SANCTUARY *

[Tuna Hematoma]

* IS GREAT *

[Jim Raynor]

Originally Posted by Aaron Haynes

:/There weren't any MIDIs. I'm not sure what you were hearing here. Everything was taken directly from the digital audio soundtracks of the various sources I pulled music from.

I can sort of see what Andrew was getting at with the midis. Altough there are no midis, the music from Final Fantasy Tactics was created with synthesisers and was very MIDI-like. Plus, the game was made pre-FF8, back before Square-Enix decided to use real recorded music.

[Aaron Haynes]

Square continued using MIDI up through FF9 at the very least. Besides, the digital samples used to create FFT's music were infinitely better than the ones used in FF7, 8, or 9. So's the soundtrack itself, in my opinion, which is why it features so prominently.

I was pretty picky about what sounded good enough to be in the movie, and even as far back as AV4 I decided I wouldn't be using any MIDI.

[Pogo]

They're still using them come 12 although they're certainly using more pre-recorded music than they used to.
Hell, I think everything used in V1 was MIDI of some form except stuff from Metal Gear Solid and The Dig.

[Aaron Haynes]

My opposition to MIDI itself is the variable nature of the format. It's only as good as the synthesizer playing it. Top-of-the-line samples, managed in a precise way, can be just about as good as any movie score. It's not the same as a full orchestra, but I'm an amateur animator using what I have available, and I'm using the best compression possible for a program like 3dmm. Short of finding my own composer or not using the songs I think work the best with the movie, I'm not sure how much I can improve on this.

[Jim Raynor]

Originally Posted by Aaron Haynes

Square continued using MIDI up through FF9 at the very least.

I guess they used some damn good synthesisers in 8, then, 'cause the only fake sounding instrument I could find in it was the flute.

[Jim Raynor]

Originally Posted by Aaron Haynes

Besides, the digital samples used to create FFT's music were infinitely better than the ones used in FF7, 8, or 9. So's the soundtrack itself, in my opinion, which is why it features so prominently.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. While I agree that FF7's synthesiser kinda sucked, FF8's is far superior to FFT's. With the exception of some of the string instruments, FFT's sounds undeniably fake in places, whereas FF8 only sounds fake whenever a flute is playing. I by far prefer much of FF8's battle music over FFT's(sound quality wise). But don't get me wrong, FFT is still a good game with a good soundtrack, it would just be better if it were recorded or used FF8's synthesiser(if it really is synthesised). In fact, some of FF7 and T's music sounds more realistic on my computer's Roland GS soundcard.

[Aaron Haynes]

I'm afraid this is one area where we're both just going to have to assume the other guy is completely insane.

[Jim Raynor]

Originally Posted by Aaron Haynes

I'm afraid this is one area where we're both just going to have to assume the other guy is completely insane.

Exactly who is this "other guy"?
EDIT:Oh. ......
And about the song: Just listen to the brass instruments and string sections; especially at very high and low pitches. The cymbals, too, especially during cymbal rolls. They sound decent, but somewhat far from realistic. Now just listen to a song with the picazzito(spelling?) strings in it. Compare it to a MIDI version. The midi version has higher quality samples for many of its instruments. But, MIDI lacks any type of echo support, and some percussion instruments such as gongs. I'd have to say that the most realistic sounding instrument used in FFT was the snare drum.
But again, FFT does have a good soundtrack.(I'm listening to the MIDI version now, for that's all I have)