A Late Huzzah to a New Year (March)

So I just came back from Atlanta for the frist of many orientations at Georgia Tech, which is where I'll be suffering for what I hope to be a 4-6 year period as I get my PhD. Man, am I overwhelmed... and a bit excited all the same. I'm absolutely going to give it my best and good things always come when I'm in that state of mind. Hell, I didn't even start animating until my first summer as a overwhelmed undergrad.

I finished FallOut 3 none to long ago and am now just exploring around the world. My character is noble yet demanding of money to the degree that I find myself asking "What Would Baltheir Do?" before I commit to any challenge.

I'm also playing Fire Emblem for the DS--which is GREAT! It's kind of like chess in a weird RTS kind of a way. Maybe I SHOULD give Valk. Chronicles a chance after all...

F L A S H N E W S
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Professor Layton 4
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I've got about 3000 frames left to animate at about 30 fps. I want more lines from Ty though and I'll be seeing him tonight. I should work on not listening to the audio a thousand times before I start animating because then all the jokes wan and grow dull and I waste motivation on working on the project. But after this nice break, I've returned pretty nicely to this 4th episode. I think I'll be more motivated once Luke makes a return too.

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The Love I'm Searching 4
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I passed the half way point in February, but the file has gotten mad corrupted. So, I'm using back up .fla's to piece together a working file to continue from. The whole process takes about 3 hours, but it's just so troublesome when it happens. I finally decided to--FOR NOW--split the animation up into "slices." I'm thinking 5 slices should do it, each with 1/5 of the animation allocated to a stable and relatively much smaller .fla file. Doing this will even let me post some of the finished slices on my DA account so you guys can see bits of what I've been working on for so long. I'm really proud of this piece so far and how it's coming out.

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BABY: I Love You
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There are A LOT of songs with "Baby, I Love You" in it. xD

I've gotten some character models done and I have a pretty good idea of how I want the animation to start and finish. Middle parts are still kinda iffy in my mind. I won't officially start this project until The Love I'm Searching 4 is at 80% at least as to not spread myself too thin.

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Pick UP Act 3
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I'll only have 6 minutes to tell a compelling story that can completely describe what Blue Box is as a company, get Patrick back into the story, introduce a series of new characters, and still be interesting to newcomers to the Pick UP series.

It's possible.

But I can't attack this animation like a music video like I had for the first two Acts. I'll be drafting a script before i really start. Right now I'm brushing up on some indie films to develop a more poetic style of telling this story.

Comments

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joe-spink 2009-03-17 14:48:36

some people think ur work is not animated well i think its done well the storys of each episode makes me laugh so much. Hope to see some more of professor layton.

Vert 2009-03-17 14:59:27

Huge congratulations for being accepted into Georgia Tech! It's an excellent public university! Top 10 in the US, last I heard.

<glee>

In related news, I've been accepted into a PhD program (at LSE), so I'm pretty happy too... but I can understand the daunting feeling of actually doing a PhD! It's a big challenge that's going to fill up a lot of your life for a long time, so it's normal to feel things such as inadequacy, awe or even a little scared at the prospect (and sometimes all at the same time). At least, I certainly do.

Regarding Prof Layton, by all means try to spice things up! And make it fun for yourself. After all, complex and dificult animations can be very rewarding in their own right, but sometimes it's nice to just mess around and have fun. So if you enjoyed making it, great! And judging from the reviews, you can ignore my opinion on the less-funny-than-previous-Laytons aspect, I'm probably just a grouchy old man...

Oh, and I can't wait for Pick UP Act 3! I'm a big fan of the previous chapters, I'll be anxiously waiting for what comes next...

Skaijo 2009-03-17 14:59:27

I appreciate the your wisdom on the matters of graduate school greatly. That's exactly how I feel right now. Hey! I visted LSU during one of my visitations. I saw Mike the Tiger and everything (they also had a nice collection of living oaks, which I used to do research on back as an undergrad).

I'm trying to do different things with all my projects so I don't get bored animate--this includes animations that are even in the same series. Prof Layton is literally a do what feel goods kind of thing, so it may not always be an increasing amount of the same exact kind of comedy. Ideally, I'd like each Professor - (insert character) to have a unique kind of relationship and joke style.

Pick UP 3 will take a different style too. I'd like to take a more narrative approach this time around actually write a script before I do the animation. That's my challenge for this project.

I appreciate you sticking with me this far. :3

Covalent 2009-03-17 15:36:43

Hurry for your "soon to come" (if I can say :P) PhD!

I finished Fallout3 yesterday and I just can't stop thinking about it, it's so awesome, same for Fire Emblem!

I really like your work (which I only discovered 4 months ago) is really nice despite the critics about the animation. The jokes are there, the mood too, I really like it. Keep going!

Skaijo 2009-03-17 15:36:43

I appreciate the love! FallOut was awesome--there's SO MUCH FRIGGIN' STUFF TO DO! I'm like 40 hours into the game and I'm still approaching unique dialog and missions. :3

Covalent 2009-03-17 15:37:17

I meant Hurray!, not "hurry up" :P

Kweaks 2009-03-22 20:09:33

Loved the Professor Layton movies. If you need any extra voice acting just throw me a pm.

TheGamr2005 2009-03-23 00:08:57

Awesome! I can't wait to be able to jump back into the world of Pick Up! It was such an interesting tale with twists and turns abound.

Skaijo 2009-03-23 00:08:57

Ha! It's AWESOME to still hear from you. If you still have the patience to hang around, you'll be working with TW (from the Prof Layton animations) in the next episode.

TheGamr2005 2009-03-27 02:46:56

I can't wait!! Pat was always one of my favorite roles because of the awesome way the story of Pick Up was presented. And don't worry, Skaijo, I have plenty of patience. PLUS, working with TW will be very fun indeed. I wonder how far along Pat has progressed festering his "hatred" and "will to destroy" to power up that sword that Hickory so graciously left him. He's got some butt to kick and a sister to save!

Skaijo 2009-03-27 02:46:56

What I'm hoping to do is improve on the series by allowing the third episode explain a good deal of the background on-goings in the world of Pick UP without actually having to go through a bunch of flashbacks. You and TW are going to take a tour or Blue Box and, by the end, Pat will hopefully gain some insight at who's really the root of all his problems.

Vert 2009-04-02 11:58:49

Just a quick correction. I've been accepted at LSE, the London School of Economics and Political Science. Remember, I live in Brazil, so to me, going to the US or going to England involves a similar amount of effort/hassle.

I think your doing fine with the Layton series. If the main idea is to have fun and to mix things up with every new episode, then go for it! Its always important to enjoy yourself doing some animations, else it'll get stale quite quickly...

Regarding the whole "you sticking with me this far", hey, its a pleasure and privilege. The latter because I really do feel you're a talented artist, and the former because of how I usually enjoy your movies!