This is the Snowfighters Institute podcast, where you will hear directly from some of the most interesting people in the professional snow and ice management industry – to learn about their successes, to hear about the challenges they faced along the way, and to have their perspective on critical issues facing our industry today. Hosted by Phil Harwood (Phil@GrowTheBench.com). Follow our social media feeds and check out upcoming events at SnowfightersInstitute.com.
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And Now For Something Completely Machinima
Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine, and Phil Rice
Machinima, real-time filmmaking, virtual production and VR. Four veteran machinimators share news, new films & filmmakers, and discuss the past, present and future of machinima.
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Counterfactual is a podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association’s Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section. The Counterfactual podcast strives to inform and entertain about topics of interest that lie at the core, intersection or even periphery of competition law and policy.
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A Star Citizen extravaganza: this week, we discuss a brilliant re-creation of Erik Wernquist's epic short, Wanderers, released by one of its creators Mr Hasgaha. Whilst this is a faithful scene-by-scene depiction of the original, its actually so much more than that too. We comment once again on the incredible qualities of the game, and how the fact…
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Listen in as Phil Harwood interviews Levi Jett about Mock Storm Training, a methodology based on military principles and applied to our industry. Levi is the founder of Jett Facility Consultants and will be presenting in person at OPS Management, September 11-12, 2024 at Storks Plows.由Phil Harwood
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This week's selection is a stunning cinematic imaginary by Unknown Dino, focussing on the next version of Half Life (soon to be released... er, well, possibly in the next 10 years or so?). There is a lot of craft in this film, called HL: Overworld and made in Blender, which has taken its inspiration both from the HL Reddit community and the HL2 Art…
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Another packed episode of news items we found for machinima creators everywhere. We take a look at some games news including several that have released music albums recently and discuss why we think that is. We go through some of the latest AI matters, including Vimeo's new AI content guidelines. We found one of the best Unreal master classes we ev…
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Crazy, it is certainly that - and more. If you enjoy slasher horror, we think you'll love this - and its definitely not for U18s! The film is by Toaster and is a music video for Code Mistake, a deathcore metal spectacular by CORPSE and Bring Me the Horizon. We examine Toaster's GTA5 machinima, reflect on its anime qualities, and conclude its signif…
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This week, we discussion two films: @neisannnn 'What a Wonderful World', a love letter to Star Citizen, where we focus on its surreal nature, use of backwards music, and ability to capture the game's vast universe. Our second film is 'Plumbob Princess' by @lReMi07l - one of the all time best machinimas we've seen in Sims 4. We discuss the visual qu…
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This week's film is a machinima that deals with pollution in the most overt way it can. Andy Hughes' Inner Migration juxtaposes Cyberpunk 2077 against some 'found footage' taken from early 40s/60s films and General Motors corporate 'forecast' of the future of technology. We discuss how machinima is an interesting way to explore social commentary an…
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This month's news omnibus covers our usual breadth of topics - from Reallusion's Character Creator contest; to a 'how to create in SL', available only in SL; to Project Odyssey's contest for genAIers; to the winners of the second AIFF; to some fabulous projects such as @EpicSpaceman latest film, an Elden Ring band, Jennifer McKnew's Sydney and Sock…
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In the fourteenth episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we host a follow-on conversation from the recent CBA Competition Law Spring Conference, Old Port – New Tech: Exploring the Future. The conference co-chairs provide the key highlights from the panel discussions (Private Access – A New Frontier in Canadian; A fireside chat with Canada’s AI lead…
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This week's film review is of [GTA5] 賽銭箱に身を投げる ロスサントス市警察, made by @mzanku - its absurdist humor but also deeply disturbing, which hits us all in different ways around half way through watching the film. Following our discussions, we conclude the creator probably didn't intend for the work to be culturally appropriated as an interpretation of US pol…
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In this episode, we analyse our picks' cinematics, beginning with 'Day of Darkness' made in Eve Online by Dire Lauthris and completing with 'The Wanderer' made in the Source engine by Dominzki. We discuss the use of ambiguity, character development, and narrative qualities, as well as the advancement of video game cinematics and in-engine technique…
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This week, we discuss the art of machinima filmmaking, emphasizing the importance of craftsmanship, freshness, and humor in exceptional storytelling, as evidenced in 'Lonely Episode Two: The Package Thief' by TheBizTheBiz. We analyze the efficiency and density used in delivering witty lines and twists in what is essentially a modern retelling of th…
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Welcome to our latest bonus episode. We had the pleasure of catching up with Phil Rice aka zsOverman to talk exclusively about his latest machinima, called Being Moses. If there's such as thing as a parody of a Let's Play, this film is it! Check out Phil's comments and watch the film - links on our show notes web post. Credits - Speakers: Phil Rice…
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This week we celebrate Nvidia's investment in machinima, discuss latest AIs and give you the heads up on some great projects we want to highlight - there are just too many for us to fully review everything we're seeing that we want to share with you these days! Do check them out, we'd love to hear your thoughts too - links and notes on our website.…
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Listen in as Phil Harwood interviews Mike Cossins, President of The Integra Group and developer of Boss Software, and Tyler Johnson, Business Coordinator with Curbside Landscape & Irrigation, about using Boss Software for snow. By making significant investments in its capabilities and by engaging with Boss users involved in snow, Boss has developed…
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A compelling and powerful story of one man's quest to remain sane on an isolated planet. This is a very effective story by Lens Nation, given its only 60 seconds long - its probably not just this one creator's worst nightmare in a game, but several of us. Check out our review and don't forget to give us some feedback on your thoughts too. 1:01 Rick…
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This week, we review a pretender for a new Disney show called Forlorn, by @projectforlorn (aka Alex St Pierre). Well, it may well be at some point in the near future! Starting life as a tech demo, this short has an interesting back story and has evolved into something even more interesting. Check out our review and add your own thoughts! Credits - …
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This week, we discuss two stunning music videos: Children of Pain by @VincereSylph with video created by @TomJantol and @tanyasubaBg ; and Firefly by @TheEsotericaChannel in Unreal Engine. Children of Pain is a perfect example of Tom's 'anymation' approach whilst Firefly demonstrates just how far Unreal Engine has come as a creative toolset in one …
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Not for the first time do we discuss the gorgeous cinematic qualities of GTA5, and this week we share a beaut by @Salva.Padilla. This one has a distinct vibe to it, but it is its general ambiguity that we especially love about the machinima. We each see something a little different in it! What do you see in it? Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil…
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Our May update on machinima and virtual production related news highlights some of the latest generative AI tools, warts and all, and brings to attention several of the latest machinima potential games, including Jaws, Jurassic World Evolution, Rise of the Hydra and Harold Halibut. We discuss the challenges filmmakers face when developing games fro…
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This week we celebrate Star Wars with a fabulous short portraying the infamous AT-AT death walkers as 'nature-creatures' in their natural habitat - this is a beautifully observed work, made in Unreal Engine by Jeremy Cummins. Cummins is an experienced character creator, now working for Tippett Studio, with an impressive list of credits including An…
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In March 2024, the Canadian government issued new guidelines concerning foreign investment review of investments into Canadian interactive digital media companies. In this episode, we dig into the reasons for the government’s concerns with Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, the author of the recent report “Gaming the System, How Extremists Exploit Gaming …
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This week, we cover three outstanding music videos, demonstrating different genres of music and different game engines - a re-imagined Simon and Garfunkel classic, a pop-tacular and a rap. We discuss the perfect match between the lyrics, the game and the images our three selected creators have demonstrated in these shorts. We suggest comparing and …
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This week, we discuss one of the most outstanding presentations of space science, by @EpicSpaceman , called I put 4M Suns in a Blackhole. Made in Blender, we discuss the creative workflow adopted, from zero to hero - and why the @BlenderOfficial Foundation should take note. We make a few suggestions for enhancing the work even more and discuss the …
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Join Phil Harwood as he interviews Jason Case, CEO of Case Facility Management Solutions. Listen in as Jason shares his inspiring story and perspective on a wide range of topics.由Phil Harwood
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A packed review this month, with some sad :( better :| and happy news :) 1:42 Demise of Rooster Teeth and yet RVB will outlive the corporate brand! We reminisce about the early days of machinima and the influence Rooster Teeth had on the emerging creator community 26:30 Drax Files: World Makers comes to a close 33:37 Awards! Sam Crane’s continuing …
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Even More Double Jeopardy? Intersection of Competition Act and Sector Specific Merger Reviews: Financial Services, Telecom and Transportation
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In this episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we host a follow-on conversation from the recent CBA Mergers Committee Brownbag session on sector-specific merger reviews (for the transportation, financial services, and telecom industries) that take place in parallel to the Competition Act merger review process. The panelists (from government, privat…
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The Dog Days is an unusual machinima that combines the glitchiness of AI generated content composited with a Second Life avatar. Whilst not realtime, the performative aspect of this work is evident and we reflect on the fit of the current state of generative AI with the Fluxus art movement. We discuss what The Dog Days means, metaphorically and lit…
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