The Wannabe Pirates

[KenH]

Great scene! I assume the soldiers are posed with a pose. The hands look a little stiff.

[largento]

Thanks, Ken!

 

The solution I came up with was to create a pose in an Action and then export a model from the Action. I then imported the model into the model of the bench and duplicated it until I had the bench full. This seemed like the quickest way to do it.

 

You are right that the hand pose is a little stiff, but it seemed an unnecessary level of detail when you consider just how small they will appear in the online strip.

 

I might do a close-up reaction shot, but that would be a situation where I would be creating new poses.

[itsjustme]

Thanks, Robert!

 

Still working on the chapel set, but here's what it's looking like. I realized that having the Earth appear large in the windows would kind of suggest stained glass windows.

 

 

What you have so far already got a laugh out of me, Mark! Great stuff.

[TheSpleen]

Looks great!

[largento]

Thanks, David & Gene!

 

It's fun having a set to work with. For awhile now, I've been making use of some simple wall models.

[NancyGormezano]

Still working on the chapel set, but here's what it's looking like.

 

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something purple"...Can't beat them old fashioned weddings!

 

Flemm makes a truly lovely bride.

[KenH]

If only the bride was blushing, it could have been so perfect! And a fan! Didn't Amidala have a fan to hide behind? Maybe I'm imagining it.

[jimd]

excellent shot brings a smile

[largento]

Thanks, Nancy, Ken & Jim!

 

LOL, Ken, I don't recall Amidala having a fan (that wasn't attached to her head or her back.) :-)

[largento]

Here's a fun thing I'm building for tomorrow's strip: The Great Intelligence's Attack Module!

 

 

I've been wanting to build this for awhile now. It's part chicken-walker and part War of the Worlds Tripod.

[KenH]

Looks great! Simple yet extremely effective. Can see improvements generally.

[TheSpleen]

I like it.

It needs a headscarf and an eye patch.

maybe a wooden leg.

[largento]

Thanks, guys! I ended up changing the scale to make it more threatening.

[largento]

Next weeks' strips feature Flemm in Space! I've been looking forward to this part of the story for a long time!

 

I hadn't intended to, but with Toy Story 3 out, I thought it would be fun to give Flemm's space suit a bit of the Buzz Lightyear look. I even Frankensteined some pieces from the Spaceman model that was on the Extras DVD. :-)

 

 

I am rapidly approaching the end of this story! I was shooting for 200 strips, but one of the sequences I had planned ended up getting thrown out because I thought it would slow down the ending. I've plotted out the story ending with strip #185, but I may add a couple as I go if gags occur to me. Today's strip is #169.

[KenH]

Looks great! Love the details.

[itsjustme]

I hadn't intended to, but with Toy Story 3 out, I thought it would be fun to give Flemm's space suit a bit of the Buzz Lightyear look. I even Frankensteined some pieces from the Spaceman model that was on the Extras DVD. :-)

 

 

LOL! Fantastic, Mark.

[KenH]

I wonder if he'd look "better" if he had his normal colourful clothes on the inside of the dome?

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

Ken, I was going to keep his collar, but it ended up looking kind of goofy, so there's a black turtle-neck kind of thing in its place.

[TheSpleen]

He would whup Lightyears butt

[Rodney]

"To infinity and... um wait... are we lost?"

 

He looks great Mark!

[jimd]

another cool one Mark

[Paul Forwood]

He looks terrific, Mark! I love those proportions.

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

The Toy Story nod comes in today's Wannabe Pirates strip!

[Gerry]

Nice looking suit and that logo on his chest is hilarious!

[largento]

Thanks, Gerry!

 

I worked up the cover art for the book version of this story. I think it came out pretty cool:

 

[robcat2075]

Thanks, Gerry!

 

I worked up the cover art for the book version of this story. I think it came out pretty cool:

 

 

That looks exciting!

[MJL]

Mark,

 

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the strip(s). I don't know how much encouragement you get for your efforts, emotional and financial, but I want you to know the the Wannabe Pirates is one of my first computer stops as I begin my day. Every day. Sometimes even before the (gasp...) A:M Forums. Blasphemy, I know, but there it is. My CD will be released soon and if the cover isn't too risqué I'll talk to you about an add.

 

Please, keep up the good work.

[largento]

Thanks, Rob! Let's hope potential buyers think the same!

 

Thanks, Myron! I really appreciate your saying that! Yes, right now there's very little validation for my effort, but I persevere hoping that will change down the road. I do think the CD cover is a little too risqué for the Wannabe Pirates page, but I'd have no problem with an ad that just showed the racked pool balls. We sell our ads through Project Wonderful. It's fairly easy to set up an account and they are sold via an "infinite auction." Which means, you put a maximum you want to pay and for how long, etc. and as long as someone doesn't bid higher than you, your ad is displayed there. It's pretty cheap to advertise via Project Wonderful and you can set up "campaigns" that will put your ad on as many websites as it can. Our ads start at 5 cents a day. I would say that you will get a lot more hits on your ads if you do show the girl, though. :-)

[KenH]

Looks great! The only crit (as usual) is the lack of white water around Flemms ship.

[largento]

Thanks, Ken! A valid crit (as usual). I may paint some in. My initial attempt to actually include the ship in the render of the water didn't work.

[TheSpleen]

Thanks, Ken! A valid crit (as usual). I may paint some in. My initial attempt to actually include the ship in the render of the water didn't work.

It is not in my video but I experimented (with great success) grabbing the waterline ring of splines on my boat and added a fluid to it.

The effect actually worked not too bad.

it spewed water right at the waterline.

[jimd]

real nice!

I like how you set up that transition from ground to space

[largento]

Thanks, Jim!

[largento]

Wow, I'm careening towards the end of this story! It's sort of tying up quicker than I expected, but once you get to the climax, there really isn't a point in prolonging the ending. Which means there's only two more days of strips before the end!

 

It seems crazy to think that the end is here! I started working on the first strip at the beginning of August of last year. It's pretty much consumed my time for most of a year now.

 

It's weird, too, that I'm almost a little depressed that it's coming to an end ...but of course, it's not really ending since I'm moving straight on to the next story. But I've been almost dragging my feet working on these last strips... like I don't want the end to come as soon as it is.

 

I'm going to give myself 4 weeks to get ramped up for the next story. There are new characters to create and story elements that need to be sharpened and/or figured out. After all of this space stuff, I'm really looking forward to getting back to the ground again.

 

To keep the website alive during that time, I'm going to run little making-of/how-to's/behind-the-scenes strips so that the space won't be empty ...and of course, new pages of Greyhawk will continue on Saturdays.

 

One of the fun things I'm looking forward to in the new story is getting to make use of Cutthroat Jacques. There just wasn't room for him in Curse of Greyhawk Island. He's the only major character that I haven't gotten to really "act" with. I'm going to add a couple members of his crew (one was modeled a long time ago) and give him a new ship. This new story is basically the one that I was previously working on for the animated version and means I'll finally get to make use of the characters that Ken H. modeled for me last year!

 

September 1st will mark 3 years since I started working on the Wannabe Pirates! It's hard to believe it, but I have this thread to look back at and remind me of all of the work I've put into it. I'll have more to update since I'll be getting to model new characters again!

[TheSpleen]

Thats awesome! tons of top shelf work too!

Congrats!

[MJL]

You have created an extremely viable entity(s). Keep on keepin' on. Love the Wannabe's. :wub:

[largento]

Thanks, Gene & Myron!

 

I doubt I would've gotten this far without the encouragement and support from this forum!

[jimd]

yeah, good job excellent work !

[KenH]

Whoohoo! Wannabe's forever!

[largento]

Thanks, Jim & Ken!

[Gerry]

Mark, this all looks great but I have one small crit of the book cover. Because the authors' names are so far apart they appear to be referencing the adjacent artwork, like it's the names of the pictured characters. Could you center them above the title with something like "Mark Largent and Mark McCrary present"? I think it would tighten up the design somewhat. Otherwise nice work!

[largento]

That's a good call, Gerry. Thanks! I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle the credits on the cover, but the "present" is a good idea.

 

I'm actually now considering reformatting all of the strips into comic book pages to try the graphic novel route. If I do that, the cover will be oriented portrait rather than landscape.

[Gerry]

In all other respects I give the cover high "Marks".

[largento]

Ouch, Gerry!

 

Modeled a new character today! Here's one of Cutthroat Jacques' crew ...I'm calling him "Ballast."

 

[TheSpleen]

I love your designs!

[KenH]

He belongs on Jacques ship! So they bring Ballast on the ship when they want to submerge? You gotta do a skinny one now. Or an old one that has spent his entire life serving Jacques. Oh and a bit of grime might complete them.

[largento]

Thanks, Gene! This is the first time that I've created a character with no neck.

 

Ken, I was thinking more in the sense that he was dumb and heavy. :-) He's based on a generic pirate character that I drew for one of the original title cards for the home movie version of The Wannabe Pirates. It's in the very first post of this thread. The one with Flemm being forced to walk the plank. McCrary drew a version of him in the webcomic, too, but he put a shirt on him. I liked the idea of him being bare-chested with the cliché anchor tattoo.

 

The other crewman, Nash, is indeed skinny and was modeled back in January of 2009. You can see him in this post. Once Nash is rigged and textured, he'll have a scar running down his face and his left eye will be permanently shut. I think Nash is the only character I've modeled based on a character that McCrary designed.

 

The parallel would be that Nash is Cutthroat's Mr. Sneeze and Ballast is his Poco Boco. Nash is more weaselly and Ballast is the muscle.

 

[KenH]

Ah January 2009....the days when pre-jungle Martin used to post.

 

Those two look at home next to Jacques. The scar will look great.

[largento]

Yes, it's like those old wildlife documentaries where the mama bear makes her cubs climb up a tree and then runs off and never comes back. We're all cubs sitting up in a tree asking WTF? :-)

[largento]

Starting today, I'm going to be running a tutorial of sorts for how-to make a 3D webcomic (which is really just how *I* make a 3D webcomic.) It's going to be in comic strip form, so that I can still have a gag a day, but I do plan on covering most of the things I do in actually creating the comic, so that might be of interest to some folks...