Delayed again

I was holding off on making a new blog post in the hope that my next one would be the release announcement. However, we're delayed again so I think an update is necessary.

I know some readers understand that this ain't no drag-and-drop audio hack project, but 10 minutes of original orchestral score + full custom environmental soundscapes. Those people will wait patiently for another 2 months if necessary and still enjoy the movie when it's released. To those people, thanks! Here's a new screenshot:



If on the other hand, you are one of those who are increasingly irritated at the ongoing delays and demand an explanation, here it is:

The reason for this particular delay is the simple fact that part C is more than half of the movie. It's greater than A and B put together. Because part C > (A+B), I don't think any of us truly appreciate the sheer volume of work needed to fill Part C with audio. This is the reason my timeframe estimates consistently fall short.

Having said all this, the new estimate is as follows: Part C music will be finished by October 15 and the sound effects will be completed in the week that follows. Each time Nathan delivers audio to me, I make notes for changes, which are promptly seen to by him. This process usually takes an additional few days.

Therefore, we're looking at Oct 15 + a week + a few days = Oct 25 (ish). Here's how it will be released and who sees it first:

• Day 1 - send out Waterlollies to my preview list by email (industry people, journalists, bloggers, friends, family)
• Day 2 - Selected groups on the Brackenwood forum (Mods, Admin, MotM)
• Day 3 - Brackenwood forum, General members
• Day 4 - BiteyCastle.com front page announcement and WoodenBlog article
  
• Day 5 - released on Newgrounds.com

click image for full size

--
TRAILER COMP SECURES SPONSOR
More info on this in a later update but for now, the makers of the fantastic Digital Pro software, ToonBoom Animation have kindly agreed to sponsor the upcoming Brackenwood trailer competition to celebrate the launch of the Brackenwood Store. This means that the grand prize-winner* will score a full commercial license of ToonBoom Studio v4.0. worth US $399.oo

Check out the personal learning edition and don't forget to download the excellent tutorials.

*I say "grand prize" because there will be Brackenwood Store prizes for two runners up.

Files to be made available
To make it easier for you to create your Brackenwood trailer, I'll be uploading chunks of my movies in .mov format and posting links for you to download and use those files.

Once the competition is under way, your entry should be uploaded to YouTube and the winner will be decided by community vote on the Brackenwood forum.

Some of you may be able to work without my .mov files and get a slight headstart (note - a headstart doesn't gain you any real advantage, other than the time you have to work on your entry). Check out the first entry here.

done!

Guess what! No need for a Waterlollies graph this week because I've finished all of the animation. The final scene was difficult, time-consuming and complicated.. but heaps of fun (you'll see why sooner or later).

When the music is finished I'll announce the release here and on the forum. There's also a little matter of the actionscripted effects that are still being worked on, but I anticipate it to be finished before the music. I hope to release on or before September 20, but as it's now in the hands of other people, I can't say for sure.

The movie is generously sponsored by Newgrounds so I'll also be submitting it there a day or two after it's live on biteycastle.com.

---

Next project!
Bernard Derriman and I are working together on a freelance job (for television) using ToonBoom Digital Pro - the latest and most awesomest version of ToonBoom Solo. Bernard has been using Solo for a few months now and will be helping me learn the ropes, trying to get me up to speed quickly enough to be useful on this project. Who knows..? Maybe the next Brackenwood will be my first non-Flash movie :O

More Brackenwood
I have a few ideas for my next Brackenwood project, which will break away from the "random scenario" pattern of stories and focus more on the bigger Brackenwood picture. Bitey had to come from somewhere right? Why is Brackenwood so sparsely populated? Where did everyone go so suddenly and without warning? Why has Bitey grown up wild and completely alone?

These questions will be answered if I'm forced to continue making internet episodes. I say "forced" because ideally the Brackenwood feature film is next on the agenda. Therefore (and it's a sad, yet exciting thought) it's possible that there won't be another web episode of Brackenwood.

If that worries you, I hope you take comfort knowing that a Brackenwood feature film is what I've been leading up to all these years and will be better, more complete and more satisfying than all the internet episodes put together.

---

Launch It! Challenge
Today was probably the first Sunday in months that actually felt like a Sunday to me. As a nice break from animation, I made a video showing how to make a small slingshot with piano-wire. It's my entry into the Launch It! Challenge on instructables.com so drop by and take a look at my instructable. Don't hurt yourself!

Here's the video.. the audio is by French band 'The Hush Puppies'. I bought their CD after hearing them play live at Annecy, France in 2006.



---

Speaking of slingshots
I've posted a human slingshot in the past, but when you watch my YouTube how-to video, this other video comes up in the 'Related' column. The term "crazy bastards" comes to mind.







Seeya!

Waterlollies Eclipsed

As most Australians saw, there was a total lunar eclipse recently and I took a few hours away from Waterlollies in order to set up my telescope. We made a night of it and we were joined by some friendly neighbours who brought vodka.

With binoculars, telescopes and cameras we saw plenty of the moon that night and I managed to get some amazing shots simply by aligning my camera lens to the telescope's eyepiece. By fantastic coincidence, my digital camera's lens fits quite neatly into the telescope's eyepiece. Here are my favs from about 75 shots.

Note: as seen through a refractor telescope, the moon appears upside-down in these shots.

High-power lens: The earth's shadow creeps in from top left.


Low-power lens: Taken about 10 min after the above shot.


Towards the end of the eclipse as the light starts to reappear. Increased the exposure (+1.3) here in order to see detail in the darkness.


My favourite. Same shot as above but decreased exposure (-1.0). I have this one as my desktop wallpaper.


I took this photo from the window of my home-made spaceship, shortly after lift-off.

---

Waterlollies progress

oO0oh.. contractions are very close together now. The biggest and most difficult scenes are finished. Part C has 85 scenes and there are 13 to go. Here's the graph:





As you can see, storyboard is complete and we're days from finishing..

HOWEVER..!

.. don't organise your Waterlollies party just yet. Nathan McCree is working on Part B music right now. Here's what his to-do list looks like:

• Part B music
• Part B sound effects
• Part C music
• Part C sound effects

I still think we'll be good for a September release, but I'm thinking it'll be around September 2oth. Don't quote me, I'll keep you updated.

Flash Forward People's Choice
Thanks everyone who voted for 30 shorts. People's choice voting closed on August 30 so now we sit tight and wait for September 19-21. The Flash Forward Film Festival ("FFFF!") night is held at the end of the conference and the winners of the individual categories are announced.

To stay up to date on the conference itself, keep an eye on the Flash Forward site over the coming weeks.

---
By next update, I'll be finished Waterlollies and music/audio should be in its final stages. Talk to ye then!

-Phillips

Flash CS3 Quicktime Export

Anyone using Flash CS3 is probably aware that we can now export our movies to Quicktime format keeping movieclips intact and exporting any actionscripted graphics/animation. This is something that was screwed up in previous versions of Flash, where only the first frame of movieclips were exported and any actionscript was ignored.

Note: CS3's enhanced Quicktime Export is the only video export format that Adobe have improved so far. Exporting to .avi or image sequences will result in the same old movieclip/actionscript issues.

Even though I'm using CS3 I still use graphic symbols wherever possible because it's important that I'm able to scrub the main timeline and preview the animation in the context of the scene. This isn't possible with movieclips, despite the menu item Control > Enable Live Preview (which the Help file tells us allows movieclips to be previewed in the timeline - - uh, no it doesn't).

Still, being able to export actionscript stuff like particles, physics experiments and so on, it's a godsend for any Flash programmer who's ever wanted to create a showreel for YouTube or a DVD.

To use Flash CS3's quicktime export, go to:
File > Export > Export Movie

then choose Quicktime as the format.



Then you'll get some options to play with:



Clicking the Quicktime Settings button at the bottom gives you further options such as the compression codec and audio settings.

A word of warning for animators. The 'enhanced Quicktime export' has great difficulty coping with large movies, CPU intensive graphics and high frame rates. Because it captures frames from the Flash Player, your exported movie may contain dropped frames and some unexpected stuff.

It's recommended that, if possible, you lower the frame rate for the export process, then raise it in another program like After Effects. I know, this is a huge pain in the arse but remember this is QT Export's v1.0. At least we know Adobe are listening to us and the feature will inevitably improve as time goes by.

Waterlollies
I posted an update on my Newgrounds user blog and Tom frontpaged it (cheers!):
chluaid.newgrounds.com/news

If you've come here from Newgrounds looking for a Waterlollies update, here's the latest graph:



I estimate it's about 82% complete now. My painful schedule of 4 scenes per day is pretty tough but it's good to see how fast the movie is coming along. The end is actually in sight and I'm pretty sure we're looking at a September release. Don't ask me for a specific date or my face will implode.


Click image for full size

OK that's it! As always, thanks for the support. See you in about 10 days with the next update ;)

Crash [of] Course

A few nights ago, I lost about 3 hrs work when Flash crashed. I'm using Flash CS3 and I'd never had a problem with it until then. It's the most stable and powerful version of Flash yet so I still highly recommend it. I have a feeling it was a problem with my computer's memory though, as I've begun to get some "not enough memory" messages in certain other programs.

The most frustrating part of any crash is that I'm a compulsive Ctrl+Shift+S guy, and my drive is full of incremental saves from every project I've worked on since 'Bingbong of Brackenwood' (some of you may already know that I no longer have a Flash file for Bingbong.. I lost it in the Great Crash of 2002).

You never crash when you save frequently.. you only crash when you forget to save. Just like you never drop the tin cup, only the most expensive and sentimental china cup.

So anyway, so demoralised after losing 3 hrs work, I went and played WoW for the rest of the night.

Waterlollies Progress

Thanks to those extra scenes in Part B, I'm now well behind the original schedule. But all freelance work is gone, so Waterlollies is now full time (midday to 3am).



Part B is finally complete and now for the real hard work, Part C. This final chunk of the movie is the nightmare workload, with some multiple character scenes, more water effects including some underwater scenes and possibly the first glimpse at Brackenwood weather.

Here are some screenshots from Part B:









For Part B I've probably given more sneak-peeks than I'd like to, so you may only see one or two shots from the upcoming Part C.

Thanks for the continued support and the comments posted on recent Waterlollies articles. Reading those pages keeps me going :)

Ween's Transdermal video

You can see the video at the end of this article. Fans of my stuff probably know the following story, but I thought I'd post it here and explain how it all came about.

In 2003 I created a music video for Ween. The song was 'Transdermal Celebration' from the album Quebec.



I had bought the album and listened through a few times.. I'd been a Ween fan proper for a few years by that stage, but listening to the new songs prompted me to check out their website for the first time.

There I saw a notice to fans saying "Transdermal video, looking for ideas". The third track on the CD "Transdermal Celebration" was one of the songs that I really liked, so I emailed Ween's manager right away with some sketches and a short synopsis.

He replied saying that unfortunately Ween had decided to go with a live video for the song, because they were about to go on a tour. I was gutted.. so after some thought I emailed back, saying that I would do the video free of charge, for the experience of it.

They gave me their blessing to go ahead, I got an email from Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) with some explanation of the lyrics. Sadly the email was later lost in a hard-drive crash, but I'll always remember his opening line:

"Hi Adam it's Aaron, it's 3am I'm fucked up in Jersey City.."

So I got to work right away. At the time (October 2003) I was still working full-time for Disney.. I asked the studio manager for a month off so that I could do this music video. We were smack in the middle of crunchtime on "Return to Neverland", so I knew I'd be very lucky to get as much as two days off. To be allowed any time off during crunchtime was unheard of, so unfortunately I had to threaten resignation (actually that's something I'd never told anyone until now).

After a bit of negotiating I managed to get two weeks. Since landing my job at Disney, I saw this as the biggest opportunity life had thrown at me, so it was something I had to do.

I worked for around 12 - 14 hours each day on the clip and at the end of the two weeks I delivered it to Ween. I got another email from Aaron telling me how much he loved it, and how it captured the song perfectly. He told me it'd be the official video and that they wanted to pay me for it.

I rate that two weeks (and the month that followed) as the best working experience of my life to date. The video became a special feature on Ween's 'Live in Chicago' DVD.



Until today I've been aware of only one fairly low-quality version of the video on the net. But then while surfing YouTube, it suddenly occurred to me to do a search. I found several but I think the following is the best quality I've seen yet.

Enjoy Ween's 'Transdermal Celebration'..



These days I look at it and wish I'd had more time to fine-tune, but there's not much about the actual working experience that I'd change. Thanks Ween :)

So quick it HURTS!!

Are you a keyboard shortcuts freak like me? If so, and you're also a Flash user, you probably wish there were shortcuts for a lot more stuff in Flash. Like resizing the brush tool (as it is with Photoshop), toggling the onion skin on/off, switching between brush modes, changing brush smoothing..

There are so many things I would like to see keyboard shortcuts for in Flash, but there are some things even Flash extensions can't help you with.

So the other day I discovered a (PC only) program that allows you to set keyboard shortcuts for any number of steps in any program. It's called QuickMacros and it works by capturing your mouse movements, key presses, etc and saving them as macros for which you can then set keyboard shortcuts.

For the uninitiated, a macro is a group of actions saved as one step.. Flash Commands are a type of macro, as are Photoshop Actions.

Remember this isn't just for Flash.. it can be used for any program, even multiple programs. You can even use it to enter long usernames, your credit card number or complicated passwords with just one keypress. Therefore by my (admittedly naive) reasoning, if spyware is logging your keystrokes, it can't get hold of your info because you're not pressing the actual keys. You're just using a shortcut that enters the info automatically.. (feel free to correct me or back me up if you're a tecchy).

So in QuickMacros, I have a macro called 'FlashRecent'. It is assigned the keyboard shortcut Shift+F10, which when pressed, makes all of this happen:

1. Start Flash
2. Open the most recent document
3. Select the Paint Bucket
4. Set 'Don't Close Gaps'
5. Choose the Brush tool
6. Select the smallest brush size
7. Toggle the 'Use Pressure' button (tablet pressure)
8. Open the Property Inspector
9. set Brush Smoothing to 20
10. Close Property Inspector
11. Click the Fill Color swatch - which opens the colour swatches.

All these steps are what I usually need to do each time I start Flash, because Flash doesn't remember these settings when you close/open (with the exception of step 9, which I always check manually anyway... this macro relieves me even of that simple check).

The entire process of setting up my workspace is performed with a simple key combination now, so first thing in the morning I turn on my computer, hit Shift + F10 and go away to make a cup of coffee (it all happens extremely fast, but it's as good a time as any to get coffee).

When coffee's safely on the desk beside me, Flash has the swatches palette open waiting for me to choose a colour and start drawing. NICE!


My macros in the screenshot are:

• FlashRecent as I described above. Notice in the right part of the screen, as well as certain other steps, it runs another of my macros: "Paint Setup". So this macro runs another macro.. which is just bloody lovely.
• Brush (Paint Inside and Paint Normal) sets the brush mode.
  
• Smoothing (20 and 100), sets the brush smoothing slider to these values.
• FFT_Flash is a filter for Flash, meaning that those keyboard shortcuts only work in Flash - very handy, cos I can set the same key presses for different macros in other programs.
• Signature types out my email signature.
  
• the ER_disneyMovs macro is for whenever anyone asks me which Disney movies I worked on. I press Ctrl + Num *, and the list types itself out :D

As you can also see from the screenshot, I'm using a fully functioning trial version, but after just 8 days I know I'll be buying this. It has increased my already lightning workflow by probably 30%. Bear in mind that I'm not the most tech-savvy guy in the world, but I picked this up in minutes. Very easy.

Finally, where can you get it? www.quickmacros.com - - and once again, no I'm not advertising for anyone. I'm simply sharing stuff with you that I've found incredibly useful.
Take the trial for a spin.. it has a Quick Start mode, the documentation is good and even has a couple of simple tutorials to get you going.

--- --- ---

So which Disney movies did I work on?
Now pressing Ctrl+Num*

---

Some of the movies I worked on when I was working with Disney are (as you'll see, we were mostly a sequel Studio). These are in the order they came into my head:

• Lion King 2
• Lion King 1.5
• Lady and the Tramp 2
• Little Mermaid 2
• A Goofy Movie
• An Extremely Goofy Movie
• Jungle Book 2
• The Three Musketeers
• Lilo and Stitch 2
• Bambi 2
• Aladdin 2
• Aladdin 3
• Peter Pan 2
• Tarzan 2
• and a whole bunch of Disney TV shows (for Saturday morning cartoons).

In most of those, you'll find my name in the Special Effects credits.

---

So if you recently asked me that question in an email and you received that reply, you now know that it took me about half second to type it!

--- -- ---

oh yeah and.. the other night when I said I was going outside to see the meteor shower, I closed down the computer and went outside to find it pissing down rain.. so didn't see any!

(pressing Ctrl Num -)

Adam

--- --- ---
Adam Phillips
www.biteycastle.com