sprockets Character animation exercise by Steve Shelton an Animated Puppet Parody by Mark R. Largent Sprite Explosion Effect with PRJ included from johnL3D New Radiosity render of 2004 animation with PRJ. Will Sutton's TAR knocks some heads! Learn to create your own tool bars! Behind The Scenes: A:M and Animatronics
sprockets
Recent Posts | Unread Content
Jump to content
Hash, Inc. - Animation:Master

The Wannabe Pirates


largento

Recommended Posts

Very original alien! The back of the head could be smoother, but I'm sure there are plenty of fpps to contend with. :)

 

Thanks, Ken! I can't take any credit for the design. This is an alien design that was in McCrary's very first version of Greyhawk back in 1985!

fpps? I'll see if I can't smooth things out there. In the comic he has a sort of chrome hat/helmet that I've resisted putting on him, if I can't get it right, maybe I'll stick it on to cover it up. :-)

 

 

It's odd how the shadow behind/above the parrots is shaped like a candle shield!

 

The room is octagonal which I'm guessing is why the shadow's shape is different. This is definitely a case of fantasy lighting. :-)

 

 

What sort of material is the green on the alien's head? It has a velvet look that doesn't look like default.

 

No, it's not the default. I discovered it when I was messing with the dragon model. I thought it gave him a kind of kermit the frog look. :-) It's a material called Scales2. It's either in the default materials or from the Extras DVD. I found out that if I put the scale very small (like 5%), you get this look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope so, Andy!

 

Here's #26!

 

part_026_01.jpg

 

I'm hoping to get 2 more done today. I'm behind this week. I had a lot of Greyhawk writing to do earlier in the week and was visiting family for most of yesterday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow

If i might make one general comment.... too much symmetrical posing is making the characters stiff. For example, Flemm's shoulders are always exactly horizontal.

 

What sort of material is the green on the alien's head? It has a velvet look that doesn't look like default.

 

No, it's not the default. I discovered it when I was messing with the dragon model. I thought it gave him a kind of kermit the frog look. :-) It's a material called Scales2. It's either in the default materials or from the Extras DVD. I found out that if I put the scale very small (like 5%), you get this look.

 

Great find!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, jimd!

 

The book is still aways down the road! On November 2nd, these strips will begin running five days a week on the website. Once I've finished this story, I do plan on having a book printed, but I'm still about a year away from that, I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Admin

Mark,

One of the most enjoyable aspects of your strip is that I have no idea whats coming up next (well... besides monkeys and general silliness of course).

 

With most strip storylines I'll tend to think 'I saw that one coming.' Not so with yours.

The artwork is compeling but its the episodic storytelling and not knowing whats about to occur that keeps me coming back for more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Rodney! I hope the audience at the website will feel the same as you!

 

I've had a fondness for doing something like this for a long time! I remember having a conversation with a business partner back in the mid '90s about my wanting to do an adventure story with cartoon characters. I just like that idea... and with this, I'm getting to do that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We haven't seen the half of the trouble it's going to cause yet!

 

Here's #33 with a big nod to Monty Python...

 

part_033.jpg

 

 

I'm going to call it a night and do #34 & #35 tomorrow. I'm going to make #36 an oversized recap strip with the Storyteller recapping the story so far using images from previous strips.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much like Charlie Brown never got to kick that football, Flemm can't be approved by the Parrot Review Board. If he ever was, he wouldn't be a "Wannabe Pirate" anymore. :-)

 

Not that he'll ever stop trying... :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much like Charlie Brown never got to kick that football, Flemm can't be approved by the Parrot Review Board. If he ever was, he wouldn't be a "Wannabe Pirate" anymore. :-)

 

Not that he'll ever stop trying... :-)

 

He could always come up with a lesser quality substitute...something small and angry/unpredictable on his shoulder would be great. "Nobody else has a mouth-foaming spider monkey...it could be my trademark."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

 

In my thinking the whole Parrot thing is a case of "having is not so great a thing as wanting." He wants the validation of the Parrot Review Board to be a "real" pirate more than he actually wants a parrot. It's sort of the endless quest. If he ever got the goal, the story is over.

 

David, monkeys are a whole other thing in the Wannabe Pirates. They are seen as being evil and are involved in something big and don't really interact much with people... except for Flemm who, unbeknownst to him is becoming the one human they view as a threat. Let's just say that in the future Flemm is going to have to deal with certain monkey assassins. All of this is upsetting to Flemm because he is completely fascinated by the monkeys and thinks they are funny and cute.

 

Myron, a painted chicken is Flemm's go-to-substitute for a parrot. He used one to get the job in Henry Morgan's treasure and chickens play a significant role in this current story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Andy!

 

I'm afraid there's not going to be much of anything to see for awhile.

 

Although I was hoping to build up a 10-week buffer for the strip, I'm going to have to settle for 7-weeks. My freelance work has pretty much dried up and I've got to spend some time focusing on getting some money coming in or else I'm going to be in big trouble.

 

It's going to be tough not to work on this! I've really been enjoying the process, but I really enjoy having a place to live and food to eat, too. :-)

 

If anybody knows of anyone who might benefit from my talents, let me know. It looks like there's not a whole lot out there right now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Homeslice!

 

I'm missing it, too. I couldn't completely stay away and after a bunch of problems with our host server (and the site being down 3 days), I decided to move forward with redesigning the site for the relaunch at the beginning of November.

 

The site was in desperate need of having the Wordpress/Comicpress installs updated, so it was pretty much a do-over. At least I was able to export all of the posts and comments and import them into the new one. I even found out how to make it so that it's located at the root directory, rather than having to go to another directory.

 

Most of this Wordpress stuff is a mystery to me and most of the knowledge I've gained doing websites over the years with html is useless. It's a game of digging through all of the files and trying to guess what does what.

 

Still some more things to do, but wanted to get it up and running *before* I started promoting the relaunch.

 

Clicking on the banner in my sig will take you there, of course. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...