ISSUE INSIDEISSUE INSIDEISSUE INSIDE

a world of wonder

welcome 8

what is steampunk? 11

Shutterbugs Showcase 12

Mood Lighting 32

World Review 40

Get Set 44

Making Magic 46

In Character 52

Set Design Tips 58

SIFF ISSUE

including winners announced

65

Contents

Editor

Minraed Arzhel

Staff Contributors

FA Productions

MysteryJack

JN

Kazee

Guest Contributors

Lady Fairchilde

Contributors

official host of SIFF

http://simatography.webs.com

photo by FredBrenny TSR

cover artwork by Minraed

As always, SIFF is an exciting time

around the Simatography community. The

SIFF Buzz is our way of getting as many

different Sims3 creative minds involved in

the artistic extravaganza as possible. This

year we saw more newcomers than ever

and a record number of submissions. Thank

you to all who participated.

Another big thank you to The Sims3

gurus who have continued to support and

praise our efforts and those of our artists.

Last, but not least, thank you to all of

the content, pose, animation and mod

creators - without who we would be at a

loss. You are the wish-granters who make it

all possible for us to express our dreams.

Enjoy our magazine, and don’t forget to

look for the SIFF winners, announced in the

SIFF section towards the end of this issue.

As you can probably tell, the theme this

time around is Steampunk. Enjoy and keep

on creating!

Minraed Arzhel

ad by Kazee

Steampunk can perhaps be described as Victorian-

inspired industrialized science fiction - most famously

attributed to the literary workings of Jules Verne and

H.G.Wells - though the phrase itself was not coined

until the 1980’s.

Steampunk, as a genre and culture, is embodied

most notably by it’s fascination with gears and goggles,

dirigibles and other such mechanical wonderments.

Steampunk fashion is an entire world unto itself,

encompassing a diverse range of styles that might be

described as neo-vintage, Victorian punk or cyber-

couture to name just a few.

The Sims3 community seems to have had a surge

of Steampunk creations of late so we couldn’t resist

bringing it out as this issue’s theme. We hope you will

find yourself as inspired as we have.

photo by Ruth Ivette

Shutterbugs is the name we use for the

creative collective of Sims3 photographers, or

“simtographers” in our community.

Personally, I feel that these artists are under-

exposed and under-appreciated so we are

using this opportunity to showcase what

really is just a token collection of the

amazing, awe-inspiring, and utterly incredible

photography that is on display in our photo

gallery. Unfortunately it is impossible to

showcase everyone or every great photo, so

you’ll have to drop by to have a look for your-

self at what lurks in our galleries.

Evil twins by demeter

Evil Twins by Kate

1940 Glam by kate

Evil twins by demeter

Evil Twins by Kate

Army of elves by ausagi

fantasy pics by ausagi

fantasy pics by ausagi

In photography perspective refers to the relative placement

of objects in a photo, or to the camera angle and field of

depth used to produce unique and interesting effects. We

discovered some great examples of interesting perspective

in our galleries.

photo by Toxxik Error

two photos by Crimsyn Chin

photo above by memeku

photo below by Ubasti

photo by Ubasti

by Jadedcat

by ruth ivette

above by Memeku - below by Kenji by Jadedcat

by Crinsyn chin

above by Demeter - below by rhapsody

By Minraed and Midnight

Many of you will know the star quality simtography created by Norbert - also known as Midnight - who creates his signature

colourful and eye-popping photos using no content outside of EA. Here are a few tips from this master simtographer about lighting…

The secret to setting the stage for a vivid photo is in the lighting. Most of

the best photos are created using the invisible lighting seen here as large

white squares - this is what it looks like in build mode, but it magically

disappears leaving nothing but bright light to make your photos pop.

Another trick for added lighting and effects is the fog emitter. I apologize

for not getting into detail here, but ask around and people will surely be able

to lead you to some great fog emitter tutorials to help you add neat effects

to your photos and machinima.

Find both of these using the cheat code testingcheatsenabled true then

buydebug then look in your buyable objects under a tab marked with a ?

A final recommendation for some neat effects and

lighting is the Party FX machine found in the Party section of

Entertainment in buy mode. It came with the Late Night

expansion pack. Norbert used it here for additional fire.

When shooting photos

indoors, don’t rely on the

regular indoor lighting.

Use the invisible lighting for all

of your modeling shots and

their star qualities will shine.

You will always get better effects if you use the

invisible lighting from the buydebug menu.

Even when producing an indoor photo where the indoor lighting

seems to be good enough you will still find that invisible lighting

can really make the details pop out of the page.

Good lighting is

the key to giving

your Sims3

photos that

WOW factor!

Explore cool sky

lighting effects with

Outdoor Lighting

Tweaks mod from

Mod the Sims.

Click HERE

Daytime photos outdoors

have horrible shadows -

avoid this by creating your

outdoor set indoors. Build a

very large room around

your set and drop the walls

to hide them for the

photos. This way you can

see the outdoor scenery

but you can control the

lighting because the lights

are actually indoors.

Overall, just explore and

experiment with many

types of lights. You

never know what you

might discover.

photo by SmokyTopaz

photo by Minraed

photo by Midnight

Welcome to the world of Fratres, a stunning new steampunk-themed world

that is sure to amaze with its magical architecture and whimsical history.

The island contains four tombs, each dedicated to a different element

with new items especially created for Fratres. If you choose to, you can

explore these tombs and unlock the secrets to this mysterious land! If

exploration is not for you, then you can play one of the many families,

each with their own unique storyline!

This world is the first ever collaboration of it’s kind at The Sims Resource -

involving dozens of TSR featured artists including creators, builders and

composers who have put their creative minds together to present a world

full of new items and elements to spark your imagination. It is truly a

world of wonder with unique features never seen before in other worlds

such as an offshore dive bar, mystical mountain top castles and more.

Welcome to the world of Fratres, a stunning new steampunk-themed world

that is sure to amaze with its magical architecture and whimsical history.

The island contains four tombs, each dedicated to a different element

with new items especially created for Fratres. If you choose to, you can

explore these tombs and unlock the secrets to this mysterious land! If

exploration is not for you, then you can play one of the many families,

each with their own unique storyline!

This world is the first ever collaboration of it’s kind at The Sims Resource -

involving dozens of TSR featured artists including creators, builders and

composers who have put their creative minds together to present a world

full of new items and elements to spark your imagination. It is truly a

world of wonder with unique features never seen before in other worlds

such as an offshore dive bar, mystical mountain top castles and more.

watch the magical teaser

for Fratres now on Youtube

http://youtu.be/bEdaL6HZVJA

Coming Soon

Roderick Kitchen by Sim_Man123 at TSR

beverage machine

by

Garden of Shadows

Steampunk Accessories

build and buy set

Mod The Sims by Lisen

Find these and more great items

to help you create the perfect

Steampunk themed set.

Roderick Kitchen by Sim_Man123 at TSR

Left - various items by Cemre at TSR

Right - Morrisay Dining by Angela TSR

phonograph and more

at The Sims 3 Store

Art Nouveau

by

Shino and KCR

at TSR

steampunk scooter by wintermutei1

munsters model T Ford by Ihawk07

both at Mod The Sims

photo edit by Nanami

With a growing number of Simatography members

experimenting with photo editing and manipulation using

their Sims3 images we simply had to showcase some of the amazing creativity we are

seeing in our galleries.

Inner Animal by Demeter

D&G ad by Ruth Ivette

background pic by JadedCat

background photo by Ruth Ivette

above by JadedCat

below by Kenji

Every good actor must learn

to get in character for a role -

costume and wardrobe

are vital to this.

To get in character for your

next Steampunk role or scene

be sure to include some of

the vital elements of this

eclectic style such as goggles,

rivets, worn leather and fab-

rics, salvaged militaria and a

general Neo-Victorian

aesthetic.

photos and costume design by Lady Fairchilde words by Minraed

You can find all of these wardrobe items

at The Sims 3 Store

You can find all of these wardrobe items

at The Sims 3 Store

Executive Director

Minraed Arzhel

Senior Directors

Sylent Whysper administration

SSProductions tech support

Kazee public relations

JN video surveillance

ARTISTICDIRECTORS C

ON

TEN

TS

playbill 68

Red Carpet

with Felicity Éclair 72

SIFF Posters 88

SIFF Stories 92

Winner’s Annouced 96

The Exposer

special edition 104

Who Are Machinima Masters?

Machinima Masters, newly named this year to replace the previously titled Featured Machinima

Makers, are the SIFF contributors who have a great deal of machinima experience and who

have previously proven their machinima making skills. They are selected for their excellence and

mastery of essential machinima making skills such as camera, editing, sound, story telling, wardrobe

and set design.

Being invited or selected as a Machinima Master is an honour in itself. Machinima Masters are those

who inspire us all and who’s talent’s often leave us breathless with awe. We are honoured to have such talented film makers participating in SIFF and inspiring newcomers to reach for the stars!

Challenge

POSTER

Congratulations and Thank You to - Ruth Ivette

The first challenge to kick off the SIFF season each round is the poster creation challenge.

Many of our talented members participated and here are the results.

and two amazing runners-up

by AAshleySEG and FA Productions

with a special thanks

to everyone who entered

FILM

POSTERS

Each film maker is encouraged to create a promotional poster for their film - yet another way for our talented

members to get involved in the SIFF Buzz. You will see the winning posters throughought

this publication. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to each of the other contributing artists.

Selection of winners at SIFF come in two phases - SIFF staff picks and Viewer’s Choice Polls.

and the winners are...

SIFF Staff Picks These are selected through a process of nomination and voting

among the SIFF Staff to recognize our official appreciation of the

amazing talent showcased at SIFF.

These also include the Special Recognition awards which are meant

to recognize those who are not featured in other staff pick awards

but who demonstrated a specific talent we felt is worth noting.

Best Overall Film

This is selected from all submissions that have not been selected

for Masters of Machinima. It is the submission that demonstrates

great talent in overall machinima skills and is likely someone on

their way to becoming a Master of Machinima themselves.

Best New Film Maker

Selected based on the criteria of having five or fewer Sims3 ma-

chinima creations and having not participated in SIFF in previous

years. It is someone that we feel is showing great potential for a

brand new film maker.

Selection of winners at SIFF come in two phases - SIFF staff picks and Viewer’s Choice Polls.

and the winners are...

Viewer’s Choice These are selected through a process of open polls where

all fans and viewer’s have a chance to show their support

and vote for their personal faves

Best Film Trailer

Best Film - top three

Best Music Video - top three

Best of the Masters

Best Short

Best Staff Film

magazine rack by dons123 @TSR