largento

Thanks, David! I hurriedly created the naked alien model yesterday. :-) It was a fairly simple model and he was very easy to rig. I'm hoping the design will be surprising to the readers.

Thanks, guys! Henrietta and Sneeze are disguised as aliens and are trying to free Greyhawk, so I can't have any aliens around, but hopefully the readers will get the gag. It's up on the front page today. I put in a line about a monkey and the last panel is meant to match the camera angle they used for those long shots in the movie. Now I gotta' figure out what today's gag is... [EDIT] Holmes, I do *not* have one of those in my room ...most of my stuff is in storage. :-)

Had some fun today building this! I needed Greyhawk to be bound somehow and originally, I was thinking some sort of energy chains or something "alien," but then it occurred to me I could do a King Kong gag with him being so much bigger than the aliens. I didn't go into huge detail recreating Kong's 8th Wonder of the World platform, but hopefully a few folks will catch it. :-)

Well, I hope whatever those reasons are they aren't bad ones ...and I hope he's able to get back to it someday. Some great work by all involved.

Thanks, guys! The 3D trick is pretty simple. Turn on Depth of Field on your camera and then adjust the layers. Here's the set up seen from the side: The middle one, the "focus distance" is the plane of your monitor. So, what's in front of it sticks out of your monitor and what's behind it is inside your monitor. That's really all there is to it!

Came across this again while searching through the forums. Anybody know what ever became of this project?

Thanks, Darkwing!

Thank you, Myron! It really does help my motivation to know there are people enjoying it!

Haven't updated in awhile! I'm really starting to feel the grind of doing the strip five days a week! This will be the real challenge in the end... fighting that urge to just skip a day because I don't feel like doing it. Luckily, I'm still getting a feeling of satisfaction from accomplishing each strip, so at least there's that reward. :-) I also feel like the experience I'm getting doing so many set ups and renders is going to be a big plus down the road when/if I get to do an animated version. It's funny, I do sort of have to be careful how far in advance I look up while I'm working. I need to be able to see far enough ahead to plan for things I'll need but not looks so far ahead that I get terrified about how much endless work awaits me! :-) Anyway, hopefully the readers are enjoying the strip and are blissfully unaware of how stressed out I get when it's crunch time and I haven't figured out a gag for that day's strip. :-) I'm really enjoying the sci-fi elements of the strip, but I'll confess I'm ready to get back to having fewer characters to pose and keep track of. :-)

Looking forward to it, Gene!

Haha! He is pretty similar! By coincidence, the original Flemm design did have him wearing a vest. :-)

Wow, Stian! Not only another exceptional model, but entertaining to see it magically model itself. :-)

Happy Birthday!

I did something similar to this a few years ago for a client where I had a butterfly fly onto the page, land and take off again. It was a Flash file that was placed on top of the page. Pausing the video on the page you linked to and right-clicking shows they're using a Flash file, too. I don't recall exactly how to do it, but I think there's a setting in the html that tells it to use a transparent background. [EDIT] Just checked. In the Publish Settings, select the HTML tab and under "Window Mode," select "Transparent Windowless".

Just a minor update. I'm spending some time towards the goal of setting up a production company and making The Wannabe Pirates a more formal undertaking. It's still kind of pie-in-the-sky, but it's not impossible. I really think this is the only path that will remove the barriers that are keeping me from being able to take it to its fullest extent. I just need to be able to create a compelling enough pitch to get money people to want to come onboard. If you're gonna' dream, why not dream big? :-)

I have definitely had some great help (Thanks Mark S. & Ken H.!) but actually "hiring" somebody on at this point, especially for no compensation would be something I'd be uncomfortable to ask of. Maybe this will change in the future, though. :-) I'm actually considering some options as to how to make the transition into the next storyline easier for me: 1) Find a way to run filler materials for a couple of weeks. This could consist of how-to's, behind-the-scenes, character designs, etc. that would give me time to get ahead on the next story. 2) Try to get far enough ahead that I have a two-week or more headstart on the next story. 3) Try to start on the next story *while* I'm working on this. In other words, try to reach a point where I'm doing the next story's strips alongside the current one's. 4) Solicit "guest artists" to contribute strips to run during the transition. 5) Create filler strips not connected directly to the storylines that could run inbetween (and not require building new assets.) I'm also considering the radical (pie in the sky) idea of setting up a production company and go looking for investors to make it possible to expand The Wannabe Pirates and make it commercially viable. The idea would be to set up a production company that would produce direct-to-dvd animated adventures along with the webcomic as a daily dose of the characters. I'm going to throw the idea at my brother-in-law's brother who is in sales. If he could get enough investment money (minus whatever cut he would take), I think it could be done relatively cheaply. Revenue could come from selling the DVDs, working out licensing deals with toy companies, etc. and book sales and advertising on the website. I certainly know a place where I can find some talented individuals who know A:M to work on them. :-)

Simon, have you tried changing the settings and then quitting A:M?

Well, first I need to find a way for me to be paid. :-)

Thanks, Rodney! You are correct about the use of Matcaps, sir! I'll confess to laziness and the crunch of the deadline in the eyes. I hadn't thought I would need the model yet, so when I realized I needed to do this, I had a very short time-table. He may get a bit of a face-lift when he appears again later in the story. This weekend is make-up time. Today's strip wasn't finished until after midnight last night and having no buffer is detrimental to a project that requires new models so frequently. Plus, I'm currently dealing with a part of the story where all of the characters are together in one place, which means more consideration for placement, posing, lighting, etc. than normal. And as I'm figuring out how to get to the ending (which should happen in August), I'm realizing that I have zero down time before I have to get going on the next story. I've got to get back ahead and stay there! :-)

Found myself suddenly having to introduce the Celestial Dragon into the story! I hadn't planned on showing it yet, but realized that just talking about it wouldn't work...

Ha-ha! That's great, Stian! Nicely done!

Somehow I think I'll make mention of it when it happens. :-)

The original story was published in graphic novel form in 1997. We are going to print a new edition of it later this year to sell. Universe On Fire will run first on the website and then be published as a graphic novel sometime next year. The contest in February gave away a signed copy of the 1997 graphic novel.

Yessiree, Chris. The new Greyhawk stories will be in color! We would have done the original in color, but after our first go round of printing color comics, we realized that it was going to have to be printed in black and white for cost concerns. Also, at the time we were beginning it, we didn't have the means to deliver the files to a printer! The first book was printed on my laser printer and those prints were given to the printer.

I think Rodney's posting from the future again. :-) Happy Birthday, David!