December 31/09 FINAL ENTRY

Alrighty, I'm going to leave the website with my new Widget (above) which has all the vids from this site (under "Fan Vids"). Because the widget was primarily built for my blog, the resolution is 320x240. All in all, losing my files is probably a good thing, otherwise I probably wouldn't have given this Widget thing a chance. This widget will stay updated with any changes I make to the original so I think this is a good resolution to everything. Thank you for your interest. All the best!

ALL DOWNLOADS ARE DOWN

Apparently, where my files were stored through FileDen had a crash a few weeks ago and several accounts files were lost - including mine. They say that they're trying to recover as many accounts as possible but I've already tried contacting them about my account and I haven't heard a peep back yet. Needless to say, I'm not happy but I will try to be patient. If I don't hear back from anyone in another week, I'm looking elsewhere because that would be extremely poor customer service.

EDIT: December 3/09 3 weeks later and I haven't had one reply yet to my problem. That angers me more than the fact that all my files are gone that I've had there for over 3 years. I'm looking for a new host - don't know how long it's going to take me to rebuild though or if I should even bother.

EDIT: December 29/09, I've decided NOT to rebuild this site. Instead, I'm going to just stick everything on my blog since I maintain that more. I'll still keep the domain and everything in case I change my mind down the road (which I doubt) and since my awards and stuff are not going to be added to the blog site. So if you want to know what I'm up to, just follow the link to my blog, "Bridging The Expanse", in the left panel. Thanks for stopping by! :)

September 28/09

Ummm.... yeah. It's been some time since I've updated. :) I'm much better updating the blog (Bridging The Expanse) so if you'd like to know more currently what I'm up to, feel free to follow that as well (link to the left). Well since the last update, I finished another short - more so for the clothing design aspect than anything else. I didn't place in the competition - boo - but it's all good 'cause I learned a lot from the experience. Now I'm designing my own clothing for my projects and I'm really glad I started developing that skill. I've got a few film ideas brewing in my head, again the blog is more current. :) I'm really excited about where I might go with them so it should be good. Taking a page from the folks at TMU, I'm going to try to promote it as I go along with screenies, posters, trailers, radio ad spots etc. This is about as close as I'm going to get to being a production company so I'm going to enjoy it. As for the site, I've done a few more minor tweaks. I did away with the comment box on the 3D film page and I've updated the Streamed page with my favorite vids. All the vids have been converted to embedded DivX and I finally fixed the "Ronan" vid's synch issue. I deleted the couple vids I had up on Vimeo so that I keep all of my vidding stuff here, but allow my 3D films to be posted elsewhere as well.

Currently I'm just waiting for iClone 4 to be released so I can get moving on the next project. I have a dramatic piece, yes a departure for me, that I plan to get done first starring the awesome Goofparade. I'm not sure how it's going to come out, but I'm sure I'll take away something productive. Then there's my space flick that I'm dying to get going on. It's going to be awesome - I can feel it. I don't have a concrete plot yet, but I've got some keys scenes and moments already fleshed out to some degree. If I can pull it all off, I'm going to be one happy girl.

May 8/09

Can't believe I forgot to update this! Yes, my first 3D film is done and I'm so glad that the response has been positive! I'm still riding the high so I've set my ambitions even higher - I'm going for a feature lengthish film for the next one. I'm going to do it right - write the script, recruit a cast for voiceovers, custom props and terrains, rich soundtrack - you know how it is. It's going to be a hell of a challenge but I'm so looking forward to it. I've got the vague gist of the plot rummaging around my head. Got to nail down some specifics soon. I'm hoping to get samples from potential voiceactors so I can kinda build the character personalities around them. No sense in having a character that has a personality with a voice that doesn't quite jive well. Anyhoo - quite busy now with the course I'm taking, plus the script, plus the added language learning I'm putting myself through but it'll all be worth it in the end!

March 26/09

Alrighty, well I've been making some progress on my Pinhead challenge video despite the camera quirks - I'm almost 4 mins in. I'm finding it difficult to combine all elements of background ambience, dialogue and sound effects effectively. Peter Jackson I am not but hey, it's a learning process. :) I've been updating the site a tiny bit - added a comment box to my 3D Films page. Don't know if I'll bother with the other vid pages, but I might. I also updated my links to include some resourceful sites I frequent often.

I've also recently added Crazy Talk to my arsenal - what burns me is that I got it a couple weeks before they massively dropped the price for a sale! Grrr, argh! And I've been waiting since October for a sale before I would get it and just then decided I couldn't put it off any longer 'cause I needed it for the Pinhead project. Oh well, spilt milk. *sniff* Anyhoo, at first I got CrazyTalk purely for emotive control of the iClone avatars but I'm thinking I might also try to use it to spice up the Kawoosh! banners. I think the winners will get a huge kick out of it. Might as well get my money's worth, right? :)

February 25/09

Well, I've hit a bit of a snafu. As with most programs, little bugs tend to creep up here and there. Well, yours truly has found one and it makes working with the program really difficult at times. They're working on a fix - who knows how long that will take though. Where it really began to get me down was the damper it was putting on my ability to complete the project for the competition. I'll be honest, I was ready to throw in the towel on the project 'cause there's no way I can fix the problem. Then a friend convinced me not to give up and try to work around the problem instead. A bit of my original idea will have to be changed but I hope I can still make the rest of it work. :)

February 16/09

Wow - it's been some time since I've updated - need to stay on top of this thing! Well, what's been going on? Plenty. I'm throughly enjoying immersing myself in the 3D world. Between RL obligations though, it's a struggle to fit it all in to be honest. But when it works, I'm a happy girl.

Well, I've laid down some goals for myself for the next year. I've been trying to figure out how to mesh my animation passions with my job as a teacher. I've determined that in order for me to push myself forward in this field as well as stay relevant to my students, I've got to expand my skillset. As a result, I'm making it my priority to become proficient in three programs - iClone, Moviestorm and Google Sketchup.

iClone is my platform of choice. Realistically though, if I were to propose a 3D platform to a school, free is the way to go, therefore Moviestorm. To be honest, I've heard a ton of good things about Moviestorm and I know they're coming up with some nice improvements. It's something I really should stay on top of regardless. There's nothing to say that I should limit myself to just one platform. Then there's Sketchup which has the potential for so many applications both within and outside the animation field. It just makes sense that I sink my teeth into it.

As for my personal projects - I've got not one but three projects juggling at the same time. Yeah, I know - it would be better to just focus on the one, but tell my brain that. The ideas just won't leave me alone! So there's the one I started out with - "Jactura". Then along came this Pinhead competition so I'm like, it would be great to compete and the prize is awesome. An idea came to me within 15 minutes so I couldn't let it pass. Then this song was stuck in my head and along with this song, and idea for a third project started to flesh itself out. And there you go - three projects plaguing my brain and my computer, lol. To be honest, I think the last two projects will be done before my initial one. Pinhead has a deadline in April and the other is intense but a whole lot simpler to animate than "Jactura".

As I'm hoping to hopefully use these projects as a portfolio of sorts, I find I'm somewhat concerned about the macabre nature of my projects. Each and every one has a dark nature to it in some sense. I don't know if it's just the way my mind works or just what I find interesting to work on. But hey, you can't control inspiration. It is what it is. Let others worry about the happy go-lucky stuff. If this is my niche, this is my niche.

Anyhoo, I plan to update more regularly with my progress. I promise. Really!

November 30/08

Grrrr! Argh!! Well, this wonky site just deleted just about all of my entries on this page. :( Poof - gone! Not happy. But so goes the evolution of my site - complementing the evolution of my vidding hobby. I'm now in the process of developing my filmmaking skills from scratch. Vidding was a joy - an experience I wouldn't change for anything and still haven't totally abandoned. But 3D Filmmaking - I know this is where I ultimately should end up. Creating my own narratives and animations - completely making my ideas come to life. Complete (more or less) ownership over my works - the need for paranoia over copyright issues severely diminished.

I've always had the passion, but now I have the tools I need to make it a reality. It's been a bendy road - I thought I was set with Antics. Then when they cut of their consumer base I was so let down - I wasn't sure where to go next. Then I found iClone. I wasn't sure if it was for me. It was more expensive than I thought I could support, especially with the add-on packs - some of which would definitely be needed. But in the face of giving up on the dream or forging ahead, I went for it and I'm so happy I did. The capabilities of this product is awesome. Antics had it's perks - some of which I feel are still better than iClone, but overall, I can do tons more with iClone than I ever could with Antics.

So my very first production is in the works and I really don't want to half-ass it. I have no qualms about putting in the time to tweak it to what I really want (to the best of my ability). I have no idea how long it's going to take me but keep your eyes peeled - I think you're gonna like it! :)

September 24/08

Ok, so I know I still haven't finished those four banners - they'll be done by the end of the week, I promise! As for the creative front, I'm sinking my teeth into Antics 3D and working on my first 3D movie. The script is all done, I've got a few voice actors willing to lend me their pipes so it's going well. Building the sets and animating everything the way I want it is not an easy task but I'm enjoying the challenge. I've got 2 sets built already and I've finished a whopping 6 seconds of rendered footage! Impressive, huh? :) Plenty, plenty more to do though. I think it will end up being 5 minutes or so. I hope to have it completed before the New Year. We'll see. I've also got to get a vid done in there somewhere - it's been way, way too long.

I'm also considering switching my streamed vids from Vimeo to an embedded DivX Player on my site. I don't know if the quality will take a hit, but I think I'll feel better if I don't have to worry about Vimeo's usage laws. I might however still use Vimeo to distribute my movie when it's completed since I would legally own everything in it.

EDIT: I'm LOVING the look of the embedded DivX!! The quality is awesome! Definitely the way to go. Bye, bye Vimeo!

August 12/08

Someone hand me a cup of coffee... So I've been working for the past 3 days on banners - that's it. From I woke up 'till I went to bed. I am officially bannered out. :( But at least I got through the banners from the first two challenges - yay! 12 down, 4 to go. Those are for another day, lol - I need a break.

As for the site, I've got my vid award links back up and I've got 'Zombie' up and streamed. I don't know when I'm going to get to my next vid though I'm really itching to do one.