Production Update 146: Preparations for AnimeFargo

Apologies for the late production update, came down with a bad cold and crashed last night after returning home. Been away from my place for 4 days so it was nice to get back and get a full night sleep. So what’s going on with Cosmic Rage this week?

I received some audio tracks for a couple scenes that have been going through some revisions, those 2 scenes are wrapped up. On top of that, two more scenes have been passed along for audio production. Here is a shot from one of the scenes that was passed on.

23_Down_for_the_countI have also been making final preparations for AnimeFargo. I received a last minute notice that I have been added to the Artist Alley and have been prepping prints to sell and also finalizing some new things to sell, including a unique print that is only available via raffle.

One of my favorite things to do at conventions now is to bring another screen along so attendees can watch me animate and work. I will be working on a couple of short scenes that I anticipate getting wrapped up over the weekend at the con.

Looking forward to being back in Fargo!

Production Update 145: Labor Day Quickie

Keeping this week’s update short and simple since I took Labor Day off from working on stuff and everyone will probably be playing catch up this week.

My goal this week was to get all of the backgrounds rendered out, get crowds built and also get things roughly timed out. I was able to do that on the shots I am currently working on. The first scene is 3 shots and the second scene I am working on is only 1 shot.

My goal for the next production update will be to have both of these scenes finished up and sent in for audio work.

Quick side note, there won’t be a post up later this week on Thursday since I will be traveling for work for the last half of the week and into the weekend. So the next, time I will be posting will be next weeks production update along with some production art!

Have a great week everyone!

Production Update 134: Another Scene Wrapped Up

As you can tell by the title of this post, I wrapped up a scene for Cosmic Rage in the week following Akon. I had two shots to complete and was able to get those knocked out. Here is a glimpse of this shot below.

20_Duncan_Crouching

 

After this scene was complete, I started prepping for the next scene. The next scene is made up of 9 shots, and have a nice variety to them. While I was prepping this scene, I discovered that I missed a piece of artwork getting inked, colored and shaded, so I have that to do this week.

I also lost a little time over the weekend. I had to travel back from Dallas and also had a family medical emergency. Everything is good now, but that stuff is kinda scary when it’s going on. Very thankful that things turned out as positive as they could given the situation.

I did get a little time in the garden to catch up on wrangling the weeds and harvesting some lettuce and spinach. Looking forward to getting some hours in on Cosmic Rage this week and start roughing out the new scenes.

 

Production Update 129: Scene Complete!

I was finally able to get that pesky scene done. It felt like I have been working on tat scene for a long time. Lots of things sprung up during production on that specific scene. The scene has been sent off to get audio work done. Here is actually a screenshot of the final shot from that scene.

19_Zeth_injury

I also spent some time this week with some revisions to the freelance project I was working on. Have one last minor edit to wrap up and then it should be good to go.

I also traveled and visited some family over the weekend. It was good to see them and things have been somewhat stabilizing with my grandpa and his condition.

One pleasant surprise this week, was the notification we got that we would be able to get into our garden almost month earlier than last year! So we spent part of Sunday putting up the fence and getting some early crops planted.

Given all of that, I am starting to prepare things for the next scene. Just to give you an idea of the next scene, it is composed of 5 shots. I am aiming to get a good chunk of it wrapped up for the next production update. I am anticipating that 3 of the shots will need 3D background renderings that will be more than one frame so part of the progress will be focused on how fast things render.

I also have a few minor edits and tweaks to make in anticipation for Akon 26 in Dallas, TX.

Production Update 128: Where Have I Been?

It’s a fair question to ask, there hasn’t been much for updates around here or much of anything else. I have always tried to be transparent about things behind the scenes, just to let everyone know what has been going on from time-to-time and what obstacles or issues occur during production and also just to let you all into my lives a little bit so you know your not wasting your time reading updates on a project that won’t get completed. This will happen, trust me 😉

So the last time we left off, I was working on wrapping up a scene. I am still working on that scene, however, I have the 3D render complete and plan on wrapping up this shot this week and more. I am also wrapping up a freelance project that I have been working on over the last couple weeks as well.

With all of this, what happened? Well, the be blunt, there was a medical emergency in the family. My grandpa has been sick and there has been some traveling and lots of phone calls trying to determine a diagnosis. In the meantime it I have been visiting my parents and some family to just help everyone kinda cope with the events going on.

Things have somewhat stabilized given the situation and anticipate getting back on Cosmic Rage this week. The freelance project is very close to being wrapped up, which got a little delayed given the events as well.

I appreciate your patience and look forward to getting back into production!

Production Update 122: Slammed

I got utterly slammed at work this week with projects. Feels as if Majin Buu body slammed my work schedule.

majin_buu_body_slam

 

I stayed at the office late this week and also worked over the weekend. I did relax on Valentine’s day, it was much needed. I did sneak some Cosmic Rage work this week. I was able to finish up one shot and got a 3D render completed as well. My goal is to sneak in some more production time this week. I will know more in the next day or two. I should get more 3D renders done in the meantime so I will be able to composite soon. I owe you all some production art when I get back on track.

Production Update 121

It was a good week getting back to Cosmic Rage and not having to worry about final projects and being able to focus in on my artwork. I had a couple events at the end of the week to attend that did hinder production a touch, coupled with the nice weather we had, I needed to get outdoors. Thursday I hosted a monthly animation meet up and on Friday I checked out a local art gallery reception. It was a good time to reconnect with a few people and artists I haven’t seen for a while.

The cool thing about the art gallery, is that it has some art spaces for rent. I have really been on the fence about getting a space, maybe this summer sometime. Speaking of new spaces, I got approved to move into a new apartment, so the end of the month will mark the beginning of a new apartment. I will be sure to get some photos up of the new space and my desk when I get things organized.

This week I was able to get 3 more shots done. I am sitting at about 40% for this current scene getting it wrapped up. The goal is to have it done by next week for the production update. I will be back in 3D this week and will need to get some background renders done for some of the upcoming shots. The good news is my laptop will be able to render all day since I won’t need it for work. I would also like to get some new production art up for next week since it has been a while.

Other than that, I have been submitting a few things for panels, artist alleys and more for con season. Once I hear back on those I will get notifications and such posted up on the site and maybe we will meet up at a con!

Production Update 120: Final Project Complete!

What a week, lots of exciting news and even a project to share with all of you. On a personal note, I actually spent some time apartment hunting this week. Found a new apartment and hopefully will get some paperwork done this week to get it wrapped up and official! I already got a sweet spot picked out for the desk and all the toys that need to go with it!

Now the moment you have all been waiting for… FINALS UPDATE. So around two months ago I decided to take a 6 week intensive course (didn’t know the final project would take 2 weeks). I took it for a variety of reasons. One being it really pushed a tool in After Effects called the curve editor. It was something I never really utilized since I spent a lot of time in the sports graphics world with tight turnarounds and tight deadlines. It was something that got looked over unfortunately.

The second reason was seeing how this class would be taught. I have always had an interest in education and art education so I wanted to see the style of the class just out of curiosity. I can say that I learned a lot in this course and I really enjoyed meeting new animators.

So without further delay, my final project!

I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly had a blast working on it.

With Cosmic Rage back on top of my priority list, I am looking forward to spearheading the current scene I am working on. I was able to get some final backgrounds rendered for the next few shots I want to work on. I am setting the goal of Valentines day weekend of having this scene wrapped up. I currently have 9 more shots to do.

Finally, I am working towards getting things gathered up to apply for an art grant for the project. I looked over all of the paperwork today and have some questions I need to get answered before going forward with that. It needs to be in by the end of the month.

More conventions, panels and artist allies may be in the works as well. I will keep you all up to speed on this front as news comes in!

Looking forward to getting back on Cosmic Rage! Let’s get shit done this month!

 

Production Update 118 Animatic Complete!

It was nice being able to stay at my own apartment this weekend and getting some work done. Most of the actual weekend was consumed with my online course homework. This is the final week of the course! I did have a little bit of down time this week in between my homework and a blizzard to wrap up the animatic for the new scene I am working on. Which means I have started working on the actual shots. As I type this, I am rendering out the background for the first shot. This upcoming week I do have homework and I am sure it will be pretty crazy, but my goal is by the end of January to finish up this scene (10 shots).

I also spent time this week applying for some panels at conventions and gathering a few things in preparations for a potential art grant. My goal is by the end of January to have all of my materials outlined so I can write and finalize things in February. So the remaining weeks in January will be busy mocking things up and getting things ready for the spring.

I hope to get some more production art up for you guys real soon. I appreciate all of you being so patient this last month with my online course. It is a small price to pay for great things in the future and I can’t wait to share them all with you. 🙂 I am just getting started.

Production Update 117: 2015 Here I Come!

The first post of 2015, the start of a very exciting year. Big things are on deck to happen and I am so excited to get the year off to a great start. I spent the last week celebrating a late Christmas and enjoying lots of time with my family and my sister who lives almost a thousand miles away. I got some fantastic gifts including some movies, kitchen stuff (since I enjoy cooking) and some desk/office stuff to make 2015 even more productive! One of the items was a new desk chair that was long overdue, and it has been put together already. I also sat down with my dad over the holiday and drew a blueprint for a standing desk. I have been pretty antsy sitting at a desk all day and doing the same when I get home, and in 2015 I also want to put an emphasis on continuing to improve my diet and also my lifestyle. Since I spend so much time in front of a desk, I decided to go the standing desk route to help be a little more active.

I wanted to get an animatic done this week, but with all of the traveling and catching up on things on my to-do list, I didn’t get it done. I know, I said I was going to and I didn’t and that isn’t a good way to start 2015. I came home on Sunday night and spent the night cleaning my apartment, washing my new kitchen stuff and getting my workspace organized in a moment of zen.

I will hit the ground running this week and have the weekend to work on things as well. 2 weeks left in my online crash course, which has been going well and looking into some new exciting things.

One last thing I have, is that if you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see more of on the blog in 2015, please let me know through comments, email, Facebook etc. I would love to help share content that you want to see! Let’s kick some ass in 2015!