Production Update 153: Animation Galore

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Chris Biewer

The week started off a little dicey. I had homework to finish up and some revisions to freelance work to get done. I was really concerned that I wasn’t going to get to log as many hours on Cosmic Rage as I would have liked. However, as the weekend approached, I was able to get almost a full day in over the weekend. I had some shots to finish tweaking and then I was moving on to compositing all of the shots in the new scene I was working on.

Overall I was able to get 12 shots done and completed the scene that I was aiming to get done. Here is a frame from the current scene.

This week I need to go through a scene for audio revisions and also send this scene off for audio.

I am also taking a mini vacation and going to a concert to see a J-Rock band called One OK Rock that is touring in the US since they signed a US record deal. You can check out one of their music videos below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZqcDYbvAE&w=560&h=315]

I will also be at Anime Nebraskon this weekend to present a panel and check out the con! I am very excited to hit up the con and meet all kinds of new people.

For Cosmic Rage, I am starting to work on a new scene that is composed of 7 shots. MY goal is to get it done or very close to done by next weeks production update. I am starting a new project for school this week but feel like I can use Monday and Tuesday to get a strong start on this next scene. Have a fantastic week everyone!

Voice Over Audition Closing Date Announced!

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Chris Biewer

Closing date is Friday, November 13th! Voice over auditions have been open for a few months now. I have received a lot of awesome auditions, but if you were holding back or just heard about the project you have another month to audition for any characters.

Check out the auditions page to learn more about the characters and also compensation for each role. Feel free to contact me if you have any direct questions about the process or if you have any issues with downloading the audition packets.

Looking forward to hearing more auditions and working with the chosen voice over talent in the near future! Thanks everyone!

Production Update 147: Shots, Shots, Shots

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Chris Biewer

Back home from AnimeFargo, and it was a blast. I can already say that I am excited for next year! I will have more on AnimeFargo later this week in a recap.

Let’s dive into production update! I was able to wrap up the two short scenes that I mentioned in the last production update. These shots will need to get sent off for audio production this week. Here is a still frame from the recent shots that have been finished.

After completing these scenes, I was able to start working on framing up the next scene. The next scene is composed of 11 shots, so this one will take a little bit more time to wrap up. I have the backgrounds framed for these shots, so the next step is roughing out the timing of the shots and also rendering out the high resolution or beauty versions.

Unfortunately, I discovered I missed a couple scenes in terms of inking and coloring. So over the next week or so that will be my area of focus. To give you all some context, it looks like there are about 5 scenes left including the one I will begin production on.

I am going to get onto inking. Stay tuned for an AnimeFargo recap this week! Thanks for visiting!

Remaining Flexible in Production

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Chris Biewer

I thought I would actually be writing more posts about this kind of subject, but to be honest production has been going pretty smooth. However, I ran into one of my first small changes I needed to make which is what I want to discuss.

As you may know, I complete all of the backgrounds in Cosmic Rage in a 3D animation program called Cinema 4D or C4D. Some of these renders can be slightly time consuming and others go by pretty quick. Lots of things go into effect when setting up these renders and also many things contribute to how long these renders take.

The current shot I am working on involves a 3D city view with a nice camera move to travel up close to a set of doors since the shot is setting up where the scene takes place. I spent some time this week putting together some test renders to get some of the texturing and lighting right.

During these tests, it isn’t uncommon to knock the settings down to get faster results. Once I was happy with the camera move I set up the final render. The final render time estimation was simply too long to wait, so I needed to lower the settings. I spent most of today letting my computer render while I was at work, but when I got home I felt that the quality of the render wasn’t good enough to keep the computer rendering to finish it. The reason for this is an effect called aliasing, which makes the image kinda flicker in areas and most noticeably in areas of high contrast. Given the grungy nature of the scene, it simply wasn’t acceptable.

As a way to compromise on quality and movement, I rendered out a larger image and will have to do a scale instead of having a camera move. This way I can get moving onto the next shot and not have to worry about the shot looking bad. Can’t wait to share more next week!

Production Update 129: Scene Complete!

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Chris Biewer

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.

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.

Anime Detour Bound!

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Chris Biewer

Starting my journey to Minneapolis for Anime Detour. Very excited to get back to the cities and to actually attend my first Detour.

Be sure to check out the programming grid if you are attending or curious to see what events are going on.

I will be presenting my History of CGI in Anime panel at 1:30 on Sunday so be sure to make your way over at that time (the bad CGI is worth it).

Here is a small demo of Cosmic Rage.

Process clips

Production Update 122: Slammed

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Chris Biewer

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

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.

Con Update! Anime Detour

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Chris Biewer

News Flash! I will presenting at Anime Detour in March, the panel is a look at the History of CGI in Anime. As of now Anime Detour in Minneapolis Minnesota is full but if you are heading there, be sure to check out my panel and many others.

Anime Detour Schedule

Production Update 120: Final Project Complete!

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Chris Biewer

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!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Chris Biewer

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.