Bridge Washed Out - Must Detour...

Why can't things run smooth?

I'm at an impasse. I've started my vid for the competition but now I've run into some memory issues. My ram is taxed passed its limits and now iClone keeps crashing when I try to open my project. I can't get in to work on it anymore. So I'm trying to scope out some new ram (I hope that's the problem) and get that installed. Problem is, the nearby stores don't have the one I want in stock so I'm going to have to order it online to have it delivered. That probably won't happen until Tuesday earliest so I'm losing the whole weekend.

Now that's not taking account the additional elements that I had planned for this video - elements that I'm basically learning as I go, will take quite a bit of time and that I need the renders from iClone first before I can even start them.

Tack on to that that I'm going on vacation for a week which means that's a whole week I can't work on it, that leaves me with just under 3 weeks to get it done. In some respects, my "Pinhead in the S*** " is technically a lot simpler than what I'm attempting now - and that took me almost 2 months! :(

If left to my own devices, I would move the coffee maker on top of my printer and I would work on it day and night for the rest of the summer (yes, I am that crazy - ask my friends) to get it done in time but that would be at the exclusion of all other responsibilities which simply isn't fair to those people. And my peeps would break into my house to stage an intervention by kidnapping me in the middle of the night and leaving my butt in Amish country. *Oh the torture!*

So here I am - what to do? For a second - only a split second - I thought about compromising the scope of my film. I would not be happy with it but it would be for the sake of getting it done on time. I quickly nixed that option because I think my idea has grown from just being a piece to compliment a poster to a piece that could stand on it's own.

So here is where I'm going to detour - I'm going to make two films. One, my original vision that most likely won't be done by the end of August and another, much simplified, that iClone will be able to handle at present and I could probably bang out within the week before I leave. I'm going to take the day to think up a new script - probably same premise (to go with the poster) but a totally different approach. I still aim to have my original version completed in time for the Machinima Expo - thankfully, I've got an extra month for that so it should be doable. Wish me luck.

'Til next time! :)

Movie Tribute Poster...

Alrighty - here's my poster for the Movie Poster Tribute Competition. I'm really happy with how it came out - especially for my first completed outfit. I'm still working on the video though. I hope to have it done by the end of the week! :)

Challenging Yourself...

That's where the fun with machinima is at for me. It can be stressful too - sure. But if you're just going through the motions and coming up with a piece of work, decent or not then *sarcastic* woohoo. You haven't pushed yourself. You haven't challenged yourself. You haven't made that accomplishment that little bit sweeter because you fought for it.

I have to say I'm having a blast with the Movie Tribute Challenge that Reallusion is putting on. I enjoy having to push myself to rise to the occasion. Right now, I know what I want to accomplish, but it's figuring out how to actually do it that's both frustrating and exciting. And hell, I don't even know if my ideas will work! Which means there may be some problem solving, some compromising, some hair pulling, some capitulating, maybe even some failure but in the end, I'm sure I would have learned something from the experience that I can take and put towards my next project.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. End up with a spectacular product in the end one day. :)

So Far So Good...

So here's where I'm at for the Movie Tribute Competition. I'm actually kinda proud of it so far - it's the best I've managed to design to date. About 2 days worth of work for me but it's a learning process. I'm more or less done the upper body, but I've still got to figure out how to put wrinkles in. That's a huge challenge. Hoping to tackle the lower body later tonight.

So Much To Do...

Finally, freedom is mine! Finished the presentation today, will finish the course tom'w - one more teachable under my belt. Yay! And now I can set my sights on new goals - getting my doggone script done! It'll be good to flesh this thing out finally but I can tell I'm in for a challenge. It's all good! There's also a CloneCloth challenge over at Reallusion that I'm thinking I might try my hand at. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And not to forget, I've got to work on my lines for Killian. And then there's the seriously behind banners for the last two Kawoosh! challenges. Hell, I'm going to be just as busy as if I were still in a class. But I think I'll have a bit more fun, though. :)

Professionalism - On and Off the Court...

So yeah, just a brief little comment. There's something to be said for courtesy in public forums. I've just read a couple of posts by someone, who I don't know personally, but was strongly considering asking to VA for a major role in my script. (And to those I may have dropped names to, no this is not the same person). These posts in my opinion were very disrespectful and smacked of immaturity. Immaturity I can deal with, disrespectfulness I can't. For them it may not be a big deal and the fact that it is for me, most likely doesn't matter to them either. It's a shame - I really liked the way this person delivered their (I'm keeping it neutral) lines, but if this person is going to be representing me in a way, I want to feel proud to be associated with that person. So yeah, it's a personal thing but I can't in good conscience continue to consider this person and it's disappointing. You should always be conscious of what you post - you never know who's reading. Bottomline, treating others with respect is always the way to go - even if your opinions differ.

Procrastinator At Large...

Yeah, yeah - I know. "Back away from the computer!" I couldn't do it! I had to try another strategy with the Clone Cloth (besides, it's late -who's going to do work now?). :D I'll be brief.

Bad news - while not a total fail, I didn't like the result much at all. I was following a tutorial I found, just using Photoshop colour layer fills and creating my own elements like buttons etc using a combination of shadowing and highlights. The hand drawn look looks tacky to me - at least what I turned out did. And I found it hard to create detailed freehand designs like trims without the benefit of (usable) guides on the template.

Well, the good news - I learned a bit more about Photoshop that I'm sure I'll be able to use later. And I learned that real textures are the way to go. Guess I'm going texture huntin'... but not now. Now I'm getting some sleep! (honest)

On The Ground Floor...

Well, adventures in G3 Clone Cloth have commenced... with utter fail! :) No surprise there but I'm not deterred. Did a whole smack of research last night - found some very informative tips I'm going to utilize in my next attempts. AND on Monday's Wolf and Dulci Hour, they're going to be having the two guru's of Clone Cloth - Alley and Animatechnica on - what timing! I think most of my difficulty stems from my lack of proficiency with Photoshop. I can get by, but I don't really know about or use 90% of the features it has... ok maybe 85%. I think as I get a better feel for the program, the quality of my creations will improve greatly.

With the eagerly awaited (by me, at least) release of both the Male and Female Clone Cloths, I'm finally able to tackle an aspect of iClone that so intimidated me. It's going to bring me one step closer to 'doing for myself' and making my vision more of a reality when it comes to the appearance of my characters.

Also, this is a great time for me to get in on the ground floor and make some contributions back to the community. Since there are very few freebie clothes available with the G3 Cloth, I hope to offer up some of my decent 'training wheel' creations to the masses.

On the real world front, my AQ class has begun which means an intense 3 week period of readings, assignments, and presentations. Yay. Which also means my exploits in filmmaking will be curtailed for a while. Boo! (though I'm taking Friday nights off for G3 cloth, dammit!) So that script I was hoping to get done in 3 weeks - so not gonna happen (though I do still work on it during my 30 min lunch break - I can't stay away!). So progress will be slow, but it's progress nonetheless. If I happen to stray from my self-imposed restrictions, being the ultimate procrastinator (when it comes to work) that I am, y'all will be the first to know! :D