Production Update 180: SoDak Wrap Up

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Chris Biewer

700 miles logged in a road trip over the weekend and it was worth it! As you may know, SoDak Con was this past weekend, which was actually my first time attending it. Over the course of the weekend I held my History of CGI in Anime panel and also had a screening for Cosmic Rage. I had an awesome time at the con. The staff was incredible and the guests were very friendly. I enjoyed my first SoDak con and the convention had a very friendly vibe to it. I hope it is the first of many more.

My panels went really well. I always love sharing the history of CGI in anime, most people haven’t seen some of the older applications of CGI in anime. It’s a blast seeing the crowds reaction to some of the early uses.

The screening of Cosmic Rage went off really well too. It is always humbling to see people show up to learn about the project and watch it. Especially when there was such a good line up of panels throughout all of SoDak Con.

A huge thank you to all of the SoDak staff and to all of the new friends I made at the con. I hope to see everyone again soon!

Now, it’s dive into the production side. I wrapped up the rest of my art grant paperwork, so that will get sent in and be cleared. While filling out the paperwork, it was sort of nostalgic seeing how far the project has come in the last year. I also spent some time on freelance work.

This week I am getting back into the production side. I am going to be working on something special for my next convention, Tokyo in Tulsa! The e-book cover is still at the top of the list for this week to get wrapped up as well.

Another update will be up Wednesday!

Production Update 178: Next Stop, E-book

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Chris Biewer

I know. I know. I have been writing the past few weeks about how my goal was to get the e-book cover or the script to the second episode written but I have a confession. The past couple months I have been creatively burnt out. I didn’t want to admit it and I thought it was just a week long funk but it turned into a good month to 6 week session. The good news, I honestly feel like I am coming out of it.

While I had some traveling this past week and some school work to do, I did start moving the ball on more Cosmic Rage items. First off, I have a rough sketch of what I want the e-book cover to be like. I spent some time in the car working on some rough layouts and working through some of the elements on I wanted. I feel like I have come to a very good solution and I am hoping to get into that this weekend! I have the lofty expectation of getting it wrapped up this weekend. (My Patreon supporters will get to see these sketches, if you are interested in supporting Cosmic Rage, check out my Patreon page)

I also need to get my grant paperwork filled out and sent in as well. I made a lot of notes and I need to flesh out to areas yet and that will be off of my plate as well.

Lastly, I had a rough outline for the second episode completed. I can now say that I have officially started on the script! While it isn’t close to done, I have begun writing out the first few scenes and I am very excited to build onto the world.

I really appreciate your patience, as much as I try to be transparent here, I really underestimated the amount of burn out I had. But I will leave you with one of my pictures from this past week in photography!

Production Update 133: Post A-kon + Big Announcements

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Chris Biewer

Wow, it’s been a busy week (which is why I didn’t get a chance to post). I had to put in some extra hours on some work projects and then headed off to A-kon for my second convention of the season. A-kon was a fantastic time, from staff to the fans to the layout, but more on A-kon later this week!

First off, I did a little work this week but nothing noteworthy to show off yet. However, there are some major announcements that I wanted to share at Akon first.

1) Going Back to School
When I was a student at SDSU, it was my 3rd college in 3 years. I started off studying graphic design before moving into animation once that program was starting. Due to my internship at the time, I couldn’t keep my job unless I was going to school full-time, so I elected to not finish my graphic design degree and venture into the industry instead.

I was recently talking to one of my old professors and he mentioned the graphic design requirements were changing and the courses would no longer be offered in the city I live in. So this was my last chance to get my degree without having to start all over, so I elected to go back and finish it up. Your never to late to learn! Plus, motion design and graphic design are surely blending together more and more everyday. Keep that in mind aspiring students!

In terms of how this effects Cosmic Rage, I need a handful of classes but really looking at about one a semester.

2) Need for Voice Actors and Actresses
That’s right, I am looking for voice over talent for Cosmic Rage! If you don’t recall, I made the decision to make a full animated motion comic upon completion of the e-book. Look forward to more announcements on this front. I need to create some character materials specifically for voice over talent in the near future. Very exciting stuff, so help me spread the word to aspiring talent!

3) Art Grant Awarded
Earlier this year, I applied for an art grant for Cosmic Rage. The plan with the grant was to work full-time on the project for a month. I found out just before A-kon that I have been awarded the grant. The month of work will hopefully focus on the animated version, which is why I am putting out the call for voice over talent. Final word on the grant should occur sometime over the summer.

Production Update 123: New Art and Animation

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Chris Biewer

A long, overdue production update but I appreciate your patience! It has been a whirlwind last couple weeks. I worked a lot overtime at the office and when I wasn’t animating I was packing and moving my stuff. In the meantime I was sick for a couple days in there and needed some time to rest up and heal. Also had a mix up with the internet company getting things transferred to the new place, seriously felt like it would have made for a good 13 episode “slice-of-life” anime.

So what all happened in these last two weeks? Well, I didn’t get any Cosmic Rage animation done, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new goodies to show off 😉 I wrapped up the proposal for the art grant I talked about in some of my previous posts. So, feast your eyes on some of the first animated Cosmic Rage content to be released!

This video is a quick teaser to show how the e-book will work, how I combined animation and text frames for the viewer. The areas for reading will be user controlled, allowing you to turn pages at your own pace.

[vimeo 120329405 w=500 h=281]

Cosmic Rage blends 2D and 3D animation, so in this spot I wanted to take Zeth and show you the process from pencil drawing to final animation. The steps are labeled in the corner.

[vimeo 120442944 w=500 h=375]

After seeing how the characters were treated, I wanted to show off the same process but for environments. Here is the fighting arena as a sample.

[vimeo 120442458 w=500 h=375]

I also went to a WordPress class to gain a better understanding of it and to meet up with some other bloggers in the area. I learned a few new things and looking forward to taking the next step and doing the third class later in March. Plenty of stuff to gear up for and more exciting news coming soon.

Stay tuned for more updates and I promise I won’t be away for that long again!