The above video is Part 1 of a presentation of the Celtic and Prehistoric museum collection by founder and owner Harris Moore. You can find Part 2 below. The Celtic and Prehistoric museum is on the Slea Head road west of Ventry, west of Dingle, Kerry. Kerry is as close as you’ll get to the mythical Ireland; that Celtic Kingdom of misty mountains promised by glossy brochures, Hollywood and our daydreams. Between the county’s snow-capped summits are medieval ruins, glacial lakes, coastal peninsulas, blustery beaches, deserted archipelagos, secluded hamlets, and larger towns where live music sparks up every night.

If you follow the YouTube link on the video, you’ll find that the video was uploaded by celticways. John of the wonderful tour company, Celtic Ways, does a great deal for the Celtic community – much more than ferry people around Ireland

Celtic Ways

Based in Co. Sligo, John of Celtic Ways says:

During the days we offer a variety of guided tours, adventures and experiences around local ancient sacred sites. Be surrounded by the mythology and spiritual stories of Brigid, Morrigan, Maeve, The Tuatha De Dannan, Lughad, Dagda and many more in places high enough to see up to a third of Ireland, around our many beautiful lakes and along our beautiful coastline.

Enjoy sharing some time discovering traditions that have been here since ancient times such as making Brigid crosses, walking our labyrinth garden, learning tree lore and ogham language, songs and music with harp, storytelling and lunches in our traditional restored thatched cottage.

A wonderful way to launch your vacation in Ireland, or stay here longer if you wish!

As far as I’m aware, the Museum does not have a website I can point you to, but you can find John on the Celtic Ways website. He has also started a Celtic story-telling podcast with wonderful music from his partner, Claire Roche called the Celtic Dreamtime Podscape but we’ll have more about that in the future.

Last Minute Updates

Thanks to John of Celtic Ways, we now have a link to the Celtic & Prehistoric Museum.

Originally posted 2010-01-26 07:59:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Live Welsh Pic: Y Lolfa

Like millions of others, Ruthie and I are trying to learn Welsh. It’s a beautiful Celtic language and as we are writing the new Welsh episodes and planning Holiday trips into Wales, spoken Welsh is a very attractive goal. We’ve been following the excellent podcasts found in our Celtic Language Podcasts section, and still will, but imagine our delight when Wales Online reported that a revolutionary new book was set to upset traditional Welsh language teachers by teaching Welsh as the language is spoken today – and that is with very little grammatical consideration! The book is published by the Aberystwyth based publisher Y Lolfa, who publish a wide range of books, many of them bi-lingual and at a very reasonable priced – so controversial or not – we had to buy a copy

Wales Online report that:

Live Welsh

It’s a revolutionary Welsh language course that might get traditionalist Welsh teachers balking at its disregard for grammar.

The new Live Welsh book has been dubbed the book “learners will love and grammarians will hate”.

But its author, Welsh teacher and university lecturer Heini Gruffudd, said its key incentive is get Welsh learners speaking, rather than being bogged down by complexities.

And publishers Y Lolfa claim it teaches “real spoken Welsh fast”. Mr Gruffudd, a prolific author and expert on language planning, said:

The purpose of this book is to allow learners to learn the Welsh that is used by many ordinary Welsh speakers.

The book does not dwell on the niceties of grammar, indeed it avoids or disregards them intentionally.

He said much of the fundamental Welsh that learners are taught initially is never really used in colloquial speech.

When speaking Welsh, many Welsh speakers don’t use verbs, use a lot of English words, change English words into Welsh ones and don’t mutate according to the rules. I appreciate that some traditionalist balk at this idea, but the fact of the matter is not everyone speaks grammatically correctly.

The important thing is that we give learners the cornerstones of basic conversational Welsh and are given the confidence to engage in a Welsh conversation.

I am not saying that grammar is not important but in a language that has been described as in crisis and one which people are not using in everyday life, I feel this is a way of encouraging those who would like to take up Welsh.

According to the book, learners should put in English words if they don’t remember the Welsh. There is also a handy list of 120 words that are similar to English.

Language expert Dr Tess Fitzpatrick, who lectures at Swansea University, said individual learner differences play a huge part in how different people learn a language successfully.

She said there is evidence to show that those who want to learn Welsh primarily for conversation will benefit from a focus on colloquial Welsh.

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/03/02/new-book-teaching-real-spoken-welsh-set-to-upset-grammarians-91466-30442918/#ixzz1rPuAEUaU

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Triquetra on one of the Funbo Runestones, located in the park of Uppsala University. Pic: IantoPF

The Circles of Existence, sometimes called the Triquetra became popular as a result of the television series “Charmed“. In that television series it is represented on the cover of the Hallowell sister’s “Book of Shadows” A book containing spells and incantations passed down by generations of witches.The Triquetra has a much older representation. The word “Triquetra” is a Latin word that translates as “Three cornered” However for the ancient Celtic people it had a sacred and special meaning. The Symbol has been found carved on stones in various parts of North West Europe and is found on the Irish Book of Kells. Its widespread use marks it as something more than decoration. We find the answer to the question of its meaning in ancient story and legend.

The three points have led to some in the modern Pagan movement claiming it as a representation of the Goddess in her three manifestations of Maiden, Mother and Crone or as a representation of the God in his manifestations of Youth, Warrior and Sage.

Here is a much older definition. Welsh words are used. There are literal translations of these words but they do not sufficiently convey the meanings. Certainly not in the context they are used in the old Welsh Myth and legend.

Abred, Our Mortal Home

The first Circle is called “Abred“.This is mortal existence. This is where we are now. Abred encompasses this Earth and all the other Worlds that exist on this material plane. We are born to live out our mortal lives here in Abred. This mortal plane, this Middle Earth, is not some punishment nor is it a testing ground. It just is. It’s the place where we live a mortal existence and experience the “Cause and Effect” laws. Here our actions, whether good or bad have an effect and we must keep coming back here until we have wiped out all of our footprints. When we have learned to live without disturbing the flow of the universe then we will be ready to move on. Until then we are caught in the circle of our mortality. This story illustrates the dilemma:-

Our Mortal Home as seen from Apollo 17 Pic: Wiki

“There was once a priest whose duty it was to sacrifice goats. One day while preparing a goat for sacrifice he heard the goat laugh, a very human laugh. Surprised, he asked the goat why he was laughing. The goat explained that for the past 500 years he had been born as a sacrificial goat, to die on the altar and be reborn only to be sacrificed again but this time he was to be reborn as a man. The priest was pleased for the goat but then he saw a tear in the goat’s eye. He asked why the goat was sad. The goat replied; “Because 500 years ago I was a priest who sacrificed goats.”

Annwn, the Otherworld

We journey from this life to return again. Pic: IantoPF

The second Circle is “Annwn“.When we pass from this mortal existence our spirit, that essence of us that is truly us, enters Annwn. For those who die bravely and honorably in battle this is a place similar to the halls of Odin in Scandinavian legend. Annwn is also a place of rest and reflection; it can be a home of joy and delight for those of a less warlike nature or for those who wish to rest from war. For the wicked it can be a grim and forbidding place but it is not an eternal resting place for anyone.

After we absorb what we have learned and experienced we prepare for our re-birth.

We die into Annwn and are born into Abred to die into Annwn and so on.

Gwynfyd, the “White Life”

The third Circle is called “Gwynfyd“When we have passed all the trials of Abred it is time to move on. Now we go to Gwynfyd, known in Irish as “Tir na Nog” the land of youth. Here, in these undying lands, we face other adventures. Little is known of this Circle. Only that in each transition from Abred to Annwn we become better prepared for Gwynfyd.

Gwynfyd, literally “White Life” Pic: Wiki

The Ceugant

We journey from this life to return again. Pic: srpllc

Now it is time to add the three Circles together, where they intersect forms a sacred symbol that we have come to know as the Tri-Quetra.There are beings that are able to travel freely between all three Circles or spheres of existence. These beings are said to live in the “Ceugant” Sometimes a fourth Circle is added to symbolize the Ceugant itself and the wanderers travelling through the three Circles. This is the symbol of the Ceugant and the travelers of the Multiverse.

inatoPF (‘Pete’) Biography

Born in Wales, I left school when I was 15 and never looked back. Worked on farms and construction sites until I got a job working for a local bus company, South Wales Transport. Just a stopgap until I could find something better. I’ve been driving buses ever since.

Now I live in California. Married to an Apache we have two wonderful sons with brown skin and blue eyes. Yes, trouble all the way. On-line writing is how I fulfill my life time dream of being an author. If you have the same dream join HubPages and start making it a reality.

Though I write about a variety of subjects, my main interests lie in Myths and legends from the past and opinions about the shenanigans of today.

I love the art of driving, Some of my hubs will reflect that.

We’re a Pagan family and our lives are truly Goddess blessed.

We’re also a very fun loving bunch.

My latest project is telling the old Welsh legends the way they were always told with the poetry. The tales were meant to be listened to, not read, studied and analyzed. They are here to be enjoyed and my aim is to tell them before the old ways are lost forever.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Daibanjo47?feature=mhum

I also have a Blog Where the magic never ends;

http://themagicneverends.blogspot.com/

I just found Twitter and I think it’s cool.

Thank to Ianto for this fantastic post. You can find our more about him and his other posts about Welsh Myth on his blog.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Gawaine Swearing Mercy Pic: explore-parliament.net

This is the fourth part in our new series of animated stories of King Arthur based on artwork found around the Houses of Parliament, courtesy of a wonderful Virtual Tour found at explore-parliament.net. In this piece, called Mercy, we can see Sir Gawaine swearing never to refuse ‘Mercy’. Sir Gawaine represents the knightly virtue of Mercy in a strange tale in which he fought a knight who had killed Sir Gawaine’s hounds, after they had slain that knight’s white hart.

Why have you slain my hounds?’ said Sir Gawaine. ‘For they did but their kind.’ And he smote the knight so hard that he fell to the earth, and then he cried mercy and besought him as he were a knight and a gentleman to save his life. Sir Gawaine would no mercy have, but unlaced his helm to have stricken off his head. Right so came his lady out of a chamber and fell on him, and so he smote her head off by misadventure.
- Malory

Gawaine returned to Camelot with the lady’s body on his horse, and her head hung about his neck.

And there by ordnance of the queen it was judged upon Sir Gawaine for ever after he should be with all ladies, and fight their quarrels, and that he should never refuse mercy to him that asketh mercy. Thus was Gawaine sworn upon the four Evangelists.
- Malory

Prince Albert made frequent visits to the Robing Room to view Dyce’s progress. His active interest in and support of the fine arts schemes in the Palace of Westminster could express themselves in both criticism and praise.

Personal Note

As we noted before in Part 3. of this series, Sir Galahad, the hart represented Christ,  ‘a white hart without spot’, so the potential interpretations of this strange story are innumerable.

I noted in that piece that the White Hart has an earlier origin than as a symbol for Christ, and the first part of this story is so reminiscent of the First Branch of the Mabinogion and the slaying or taking of Arawn’s stag, that we may be not only seeing evidence of that cross-fertilisation we have spoken of before, but also the archetypal nature of the symbols that makes them remain as an essential part of stories, culture and tradition for well over 1400 years – and that is only recorded history! How old is the story and its images before that?? I’d give a body part to have been there at the beginning!

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: BBC

More than a dozen skeletons thought to be thousands of years old, have been found by Oxford archaeologists working at an ancient burial site in Dorset, reported the BBC in December 2008.

Excavations are taking place at the site in Weymouth before builders move in to build an access road to the Olympic sailing centre for 2012.

Archaeologist David Score said they had catalogued finds from almost every period of human life.

He said it

really added to knowledge of the Bronze and Neolithic eras. Building the relief road has given archaeologists an excuse to excavate and record finds dating back thousands of years,

Mr Score said.

I think it is very important because it’s not very often that you get the opportunity to excavate an area of this size, in a location of such importance with so many burials from a wide span of time.

Eating habits

I think once we have done all the analysis it really will contribute quite a lot to the corpus of knowledge that we’ve got about the Bronze Age and Neolithic periods in this area.

"We found more than a dozen skeletons they’re in various states of preservation. Some are fairly poorly preserved, but the later ones, particularly the Roman ones are fairly well preserved.

All the finds are being taken back to Oxford where they are being catalogued.

Scientists will also look for small fish bones or charred plant remains to try and find out more about ancient eating habits.

The items will eventually be returned to Dorset where they will be put on display in a museum.

[Source]

Originally posted 2009-12-03 08:44:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The CMP Logo

In this show, we hope to bring you a wonderful gift for Ostara, or Easter, with our first ever documentary show. Starting from conception as a play performed by young actors to a film about to hit our screens, the Spirit of Albion Movie promises to bring the Celtic Gods to the World of Film for possibly the first time! We bring you the long-awaited, full story of ‘the Spirit of Albion the Movie’ along with interviews with all the actors.

We also include many ‘Behind the Scenes’ audio clips to bring you a feel of what it was like to be on the set of the film as it was being made.

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Hope you enjoy it,

Gary & Ruthie x x x

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Back in August, 2011 the Guardian reported that King Arthur Pendragon appeared at the high court in London to argue that the “royal” remains should be returned to their age-old resting place in Wiltshire.

Pendragon, a 57-year-old former soldier and biker who changed his name by deed poll, wanted the high court to give permission for a judicial review of the government’s decision to allow the remains to be taken away for analysis.

But Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused King Arthur, ruling there was insufficient evidence to show the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had acted unreasonably. Arthur said:

Even though on this occasion my appeal has been dismissed I am still very much hopeful that I can win in the future. I wasn’t asking for the bones to be put back straight away, I simply wanted confirmation that they will be returned to the site as soon as possible.

He said druids felt the remains were “guardians” of the site.

The judge heard that the cremated remains of more than 40 bodies – thought to be at least 5,000 years old – were removed from a burial site at Stonehenge in 2008 , with ministers giving researchers from Sheffield University permission to keep the bones until 2015. [source]

The Peaceful Protest Continues

Druid and eco-warrior King Arthur Pendragon has been leading a high-profile picket based at Stonehenge with the intention of getting the remains of the ancient dead returned to their resting place.

King Arthur said: “Let those we lay to rest, stay to rest.”

Button badges for King Arthur’s campaign proclaim “Bring back the ancient dead!”

Remains of the ancient dead that were buried at Stonehenge were removed by archaeologists and it was said that after carbon dating them they would be returned. However, this has not been done and the remains of the bones of the ancient dead have been held at Sheffield University.

King Arthur and other druids and pagans refer to these bones as those of ancient ancestors. Stonehenge is regarded as temple for druids and pagans. The ancestors who were buried there are believed to be the guardian spirits of Stonehenge and were meant to remain where they were buried.

Sign the Petition Below

King Arthur and fellow protesters organised a petition which has been signed by a large number of people. A question on the petition asks those who sign it to sate their religion and King Arthur was proud to be able to announce that the petition had signatures from over 60 people from different religious pathways and beliefs.

To Support King Arthur’s call for the reburial at Stonehenge of the Ancient cremated human remains (known as the Guardians) held by Sheffield University , please sign the following E Petition;
( http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14696 )

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Legendary wizard Merlin lived in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, and not in Camelot, a new book has claimed.Tradition has it that King Arthur’s magician was either English or Welsh.  But Scots advocate Adam Ardrey, who spent six years researching Merlin, claims he actually lived in what is now Ardery Street with his wife Gwendolin.

Pic: Indiana Stan

Mr Ardrey said he believes

Merlin was a politician and scholar rather than a magician, and is buried near Dunipace, just south of Stirling.

In his book Finding Merlin: The Truth Behind The Legend, amateur historian Mr Ardrey said his research showed Merlin was born in the year 540 in the Cadzow area of what is now part of Hamilton in Lanarkshire.

Mr Ardrey said

Merlin later lived with Gwendolin at Ardery Street from 600 to 618, where they would have enjoyed a “comfortable lifestyle.

The area is today occupied by traditional red sandstone tenement flats, but in Merlin’s day it would have been open countryside. It is best known as the area where comedian Billy Connolly grew up, and was also the original home of Glasgow football club Partick Thistle. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-11-28 10:59:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Study for The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania Pic: Wiki

It is just over three hundred years since Robert Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle, died at the age of fifty two. But the question remains, did he really die or was he ‘taken’? Taken, that is, by the Good People, the elusive folk who lived under the earth in the green hills.The youngest and seventh son of James Kirk, Robert studied theology at St. Andrews and took his master’s degree at Edinburgh.

He became the minister of Balquidder and moved to Aberfoyle in 1685, having published a psalter in Gaelic the previous year. He had also been involved in preparing a Gaelic translation of the Bible.

We might expect a man of his background to have been a staunch supporter of established orthodoxy but this was no ordinary preacher. He recorded his thoughts in a manuscript dated 1691 entitled “The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies“.

Descriptions of the Faerie World

There is no mention of hell and damnation, just a fair and reasonable account of the unseen world. There is nothing sentimental in his writing, and those seers who had the ability to witness the people of peace regarded it as an affliction rather than a gift. The Tabhaiser, or Seer,

“is not terrified with their sight when he calls them, but seeing them in a surpryse (as often he does) frights him extreamly”.

These are clearly not the tinselled fairies of Victorian England but the wild and elemental spirits of nature.

Two ways of gaining the second sight are described. The first is to acquire a tedder (tether) of hair which has bound a corpse to the bier. With this wound round the waist one must stoop down and look back through the legs until a funeral passes. The alternative is to find an accomplished seer who will place his right foot over the candidate’s left and lay his hand upon his head. This confers the power to see and seems not unlike descriptions of admission to a witch coven.

Kirk’s account of the secret commonwealth combines the banal with the surreal. They live in houses underground that are large and fair, lit with lamps and fires but without fuel to sustain them. They may abduct mortal women to nurse their children. Their clothing and speech is that of the country they live in. Their life span is longer than ours, but eventually they die. They have rulers and laws but no discernible religion. Moreover, unlike us, they do not have a dense, material form but have, in Kirk’s words,

“Bodies of congealed Air”.

Every Quarter they travel to fresh lodgings, a reference perhaps to the elemental tides of the seasons.

It is possible that Kirk employed seers to give him information about the dark and silent world, just as Dr. Dee relied upon Edward Kelly a century before.

What really happened to Robert Kirk?

An odd story of what became of the minister of Aberfoyle remains. His successor, the Rev. Dr Grahame, describes how Robert Kirk was walking one day on a fairy hill. He collapsed and was taken for dead. After the funeral, his form was seen by a relative. The spectre urged him to go to their cousin Grahame of Duchray.

Kirk was, he explained, not dead but a captive in the elemental world. His widow was pregnant and he foretold that if Duchray came to the christening, he, Robert Kirk, would appear. Duchray must then throw his dirk over the head of the apparition. If this was done, Kirk would be freed.

Sure enough, the birth and the christening came. Grahame of Duchray was there, just as he had been bidden. During the ceremony the outline of the former minister could be seen. Duchray was so taken aback that he failed to throw the dirk. And the author of the Secret Commonwealth disappeared, never to be seen again

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.

You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Wireframe model (enlarge to see it textured) Pic: Trinity3D.com

OK… Well one of my dreams has been the possibility of re-telling the Celtic Myths visually by using the medium of 3D Animation. In fact, Ruth and I started our whole concept of re-telling of the myths by beginning to create an animated film. Story-boards were produced, scripts were started and not being used to patience, I made a start on creating the terrain for the opening shots of the film and then plotted a camera track, recorded some voice over and with some accompanying music began to put together the opening scenes of the film.

 It rapidly became apparent that after three and a half months, we had produced just under 2 minutes of film!!!!

Not only that, but I discovered animating tumbling rocks required a knowledge of physics that escaped me and those unlucky few who were subjugated to my attempts fell about laughing at these balloon like boulders careering unrealistically down the hill-side! Scrap that idea then…

So, the podcast was born and the rest, they say, is history..

However, the knowledge, love and desire to produce using my 3D design skills has remained with me, which is why I guess, I have occasionally produced Wallpapers for screen or phone.

In the Windmills of my mind

The myths are still very visual in my mind, and maybe that is why when it comes to editing the final audio podcasts I make an attempt at re-creating in a sound-picture what I can ‘see’ inside my head. Technology proceeds faster than we can keep up with it though, and now my mind si whirling with new possibilities.

You see, not only do we have the incredible shading, light and built-in hardware possibilities of today’s top-of-the-range Graphics Cards (OK, I admit still well out of my reach financially), but we have several Game editors that are designed to utilise these technological advances and have pre-scripted sequences or cut-aways, that would be ideal for using to clip together the scenes of a movie! Now you see the Windmills whirring furiously

Not only that, but for the purposes of development the editors are free. Well, I think 3 out of the 4 are. There is something called Unity that mixes well with much Open Source software (Blender being used as a 3D modelling tool) and I love Open Source, and then there is the Source Engine developed by Valve and using Havok physics. You can see this in operation in the latest Half-Life games. Although it was one of the first editors to make use of Ragdoll physics and was/still is groundbreaking in many areas, in terms of creating believable outside areas it relies upon the skills of the artist and trickery to try to re-create the outside world.

Unreal Development Kit (UDK)

Now, however, there are two very real contenders remaining for the title of King of the Hill when it comes to bringing you your mythological stories in movie format! The first has evolved out of the very successful Unreal series of games – the Unreal Development Kit.

(https://plus.google.com/u/0/110838162887713508997/posts/gX3Etmk57SK)

As you can see, the terrain is quite simplistic but passable. There is a technical demo reel of an amazing scene showing jungle, rain, water trickling over rock surfaces and its all very exciting but I can imagine that it probably took a team of Unreal designers weeks to produce that demo, On the down-side, I have read frequently in forums, that the UDK is ideally suited to developing interiors (easy use of Phong shading) but you have to struggle to produce terrain, although it is well served by the community with documentation and tutorials.

The Tech Demo Reel looks pretty good though, especially the Realistic Foliage…

Search.flv Watch on Posterous

CryENGINE

Lastly, the choice that has really caught my eye in terms of terrain development is the latest incarnation of the Design Environment behind the Crysis series of games developed by the Crytek company. I remember playing the original FarCry and being blown away by the water, trees and shadows and things have come on so far since then!

(http://www.incrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=31543)

The disadvantages are that the Engine is purportedly buggy, with many crashes, and has a very steep learning curve with only a growing developer community.

Last words?

Yes, I think the only option is to try both pieces of software. I’m still going to have to use traditional 3D design s/w to produce models and objects, still going to have to use serious art software for textures and still have the import/export pipeline to consider in the workflow. In addition, whilst productions made by the latter, and possibly the former, and free for non-commercial use – if we reach the stage where we wish to make something in addition for sale, then there are licensing considerations to be taken into account. If every single frame has been hand-crafted by myself – that ceases to become a financial problem. But then 3 months for 2 minutes of film?? Get serious, Gary!

Mind you, those rocks and trees, soft ambient shadows and diffuse glows are very tempting… (sigh..)

Lastly, the very impressive CryEngine 2012 demo reel, including DX11 features not yet implemented.. :{

CryEngine_3_GDC_2012_Tech_Trailer_(Cam).mp4 Watch on Posterous

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