Update 53: Spark

Hello all!

So, been a while. I think this is the first time since I started doing these updates that I've missed a month.

It's not like the thought didn't occur to me before to skip a month, when there's not a lot going on, but I usually find -something- to talk about. 

In this case though, with the last update falling in the middle of the month, I found myself in a position where there really wasn't -anything- to say, and I was feeling pretty down about it.

As you're all aware, my plan was to start on the remake of Mechanically Insistent Pleasure. After a short break, I sat down to listen to the voice work for the first time since receiving it sometime in early Jan.

Unfortunately, it didn't really fit into what MIP was. The piece had a lot of subtlety to it, and the performance I received was anything but. 

That is by no means a critique against the voice actress, Pixie always delivers top class work. I can only blame myself for not adequately directing the scene.

I tried to rethink how I might approach the situation but found myself at an impasse. I wasn't happy or excited to proceed with the project as I didn't really see anything new or unique in it. The plan involved building it into a bigger arc in the future and sliding some hints as to her situation, but with all that said, it just felt a bit too misaligned to the situation I wanted to set her up for.

The idea was to try to make the best of assets I already had, that, I think, was an incorrect impulse.

In this case at least. I sat with the problem for… longer than I'm proud of. I try not to beat myself up when I find myself in these situations, self-deprecation doesn't help one get out of a creative slump after all, but time was passing rapidly and I didn't really know where to go next.

I'd gone from 'This set is ready and I just need to animate it' to 'blank slate.'

So I decided to scrap the project, at least in it’s current form, and think on what else I could use the voice work for with Lara, something a bit… harder (aye aye)

By this point in the month, I’d come up against an event I was attending: Annecy Animation Festival, which I was due to attend within a week.

So, I decided I needed an actual break.

When you live in the area where you work, it's harder to find that than it might seem. 

Sitting in the same environment trying to force myself to become creative wasn't working. A shock to no-one. 

Naturally, it seemed logical that stepping away from the space entirely might help, and immersing myself in the boundless creativity on show at such events seemed like a good way to do that.

I’m glad to say that it did help! More on that later, but before I left, I moved on to the edging lab plan and started preparing the set and model, starting with Black Cat at the clear ‘winner’ of the polls last month.

I’ve used some new genitalia on this model which has an actual foreskin. It’s one that’s been suggested before, and I was hesitant to include it as it didn’t entirely match the stylised nature of these models, but we found a way to make it fit nicely.

At this point where I was preparing and refreshing the edging lab set, looking for opportunities for quick wins and tuning, I had another thought.

What would it be like if you were in the box?

It’s a thought that planted a seed, that before I knew it had flourished into a grand idea I found myself -genuinely excited- to work on.

This was refreshing, and engaging to me, it was the first time in a -long- time I'd found myself this excited to engage with a project. Before I knew it I had a script outline and started modelling a revision to the set.

This fit nicely into my plan to return to A414 this year. I noticed a couple of comments from those who were excited to see him again, and I know I’ve been an absolute tease with where I was going with that storyline for a long time now. Perhaps I have edged you for too long.

I try to remain true to my word, however, and besides planning, life and other issues getting in the way, I

do try my best to stay on target, present realignment of previously declared goals aside of course.

I ordered the voice work and set this all up to be ready after I'd returned from Annecy, and immersed myself in the frenetic world of witnessing world premieres of some of the finest works to come out of the animation industry.

Seriously, watch “Lucy Lost” the instant- it becomes available. Blew me away.

Not only was the trip relaxing (in the way that queuing up for hours in 36C heat can be), it was inspiring and rebooted my creativity in a big way.

I noodled out an excellent idea of where to take Lara to in the future, as well as fleshing out a development on what’s going to happen to Gwen, when she finds out what the deeper, darker segments of Cirimani are like.

Those ideas will all require modelling, which I am excited to get to, but for now, I have plenty to get on with, working on the edging lab: Rivals edition, along with my imagining of what a first person experience in such an environment would be like.

The voice work for A414 landed today, and since it’s a first person, non facially animated presentation that I can animate mostly from my own impulse, I expect to make rapid progress, alongside the rivals editions.

Just to note, keeping in theme with what A414 is supposed to be (self insert) -he- is not voiced.

The person directing the show is.

I’m still noodling out exactly how to approach those situations that feel rewarding and engaging to me. I have rough ideas, but if rushing forward has taught me anything, especially with recent experience. 

This is not something to blindly charge into.

The discovery of excitement for a project again has reminded me of why I started these projects all those years ago. It was just me thinking ‘yeah that’d be fun to experience, I should make it.’

Somewhere along the lines I got distracted with making everything more grandiose from the last. 

Keeping things simple, hot, and exciting to work on is a direction I’m keen on exploring more, a set doesn’t need to be insanely detailed to get the right feeling to it and communicate the message I want to send.

I know a male bodytype is not going to be the most popular, but sometimes I gotta do something for myself. I hope most of you have faith that the chances of me awaking a new fetish in you is likely greater than providing a disappointing outcome.

A thought to leave you all with, being a fixed point of view scene, the A414 is a situation where it -could- be rendered in a VR experience. I’ve received a few requests along those lines in the past, but I’m curious just how many may be able to make use of it.

The idea would be to release it as a separate version, it requires some additional work, but thanks to all the work I’ve put into the hardware side, that is mostly a passive issue.

Oh! Also I finally figured out what was causing the breaker to tip (that UPS was faulty, as I suspected) so no more being woken up by an upset UPS at 2am.

So, overall, a bit of a slow start, some lulls, but I find myself with a generally positive outlook for the future. 

That’s all, ciao for niaou!