Just a pointless, fun topic for discussion

honesty time!
I'm not talking about trailers, teasers or dancing videos. I'm talking about a film with a story - beginning to end. It could be a 5 minute film, as long as it's complete.

I have to admit in the several years I've played with iClone, I've never completed a film. I've been working on one now for about a year (on/off) and up to version 3 now after a few major stuff ups which required me to start a clean slate lol I'm determined to finish this one though, it's the closest I've ever been. It's only going to be a 5 minute film (maximum) so I can actually finish one.

It is a little surprising I guess how few people actually complete films. So how many people here have finished a film ? And if you haven't why ?
Do you think that sometimes we just get too wound up in showcasing the technical features of the latest version of iClone and in the process lose focus in regards to actual movie creation ?

_________________________________________________________

Writing a good story is the hard part. It's relatively easy to get help about animation questions here but few like to share their story concepts before they are completed. There has been an upswing in the number of complete story videos lately and it's a trend we all hope will continue. It is true however that the vast amount of work we see on the forum is under a couple of minutes and consists mainly of tests and trailers.

I've attempted a few and am working on a new one now.

pete


http://www.youtube.com/user/peterblood50?feature=mhee

I've managed to complete 5 or 6 story based flicks over the last couple of years. I agree with Peter, writing is the hard part for me. I think the job of acquiring voice actors is also a road block for lots of folks. After you've done it a few times its a much smaller issue but can be quite daunting the first time or so.

I'll boldly raise my hand and say, "I have."

Check out all the Pinhead project videos.  The Pinhead projects tend to focus more on story and are less of a "technical showcase," though a lot of people do stunning work.

Here are three posts (with some spoilers), that provide comments and links to the latest round of Pinhead videos:

• https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost192090.aspx
• https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost192158.aspx
• https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost192166.aspx
• (If you open my video (last on list), please follow the link in YouTube to v1.1 of the video.)

There have also been other projects like a "Best Fight" contest and others I've seen, but my heart belongs to the Pinhead projects.

Maybe I should collaborate with PeterBlood and TheBiz.  I can spend weeks refining a story, and then they can spend months making a high-quality movie from the script.  I think I like that plan.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to collaborate like that.

Someone posted a request for iClone talent, and provided a rough concept of what the project was about.  Just for fun, I wrote my version of the script, which was more detailed and included some changes.

Lo and behold, my script was used by an iClone artist to create the video!

It was really interesting as a script writer to see my contributions appear on screen.  There were distinct differences in interpretation, which is as it should be.  (A writer should not "over-direct" the script.)  But there were other parts where I could totally see my contributions and changes to the original version.  It was the first time I had that experience, and it was really fun.

It's not my project, and it's not fully completed yet, so I can't say more than that yet.

.

---

iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
Laptop - Windows 10, MSI GS63VR STEALTH-252, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 (6GB), 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD

Typically whoever ( ICLONE or any other software user ) attempts a 30-60 minute animated film, he does it with a purpose e.g. for selling / playing on a TV channel. A channels will not consider the series unless they see a pattern in 6-7 episodes. They usually take decision when you submit atleast 13 episodes.

It takes atleast 12-18 months to do that many episodes.

Once you do that many episodes, you try and get busy in selling them. By then the mindset changes. You would have moved away from seeking peer appreciation to hardcore selling, because you have been waiting too long for the revenue to flow in.

So it's not surprising that you don't see completed long episode based animated films on this forum.

Sometimes I share my Title Music for my animated series here. I am holding the animated part to be submitted to the TV channels first. ( These are my personal projects after semi-retirement. My company does different set of creative work.)


Here's another Music Track for another Animated Series that I composed 2-3 days back. This is the instrumental version. The Voice version I am recording after few days.

This is about two sisters ( Joy and Jingle ) and JJ2 (a "poetic" Robot )


=================================
https://soundcloud.com/prabhat-mohanty/who-gonna-be-with-you-1
=================================

The lyric for this goes something like this....

When you wanna fun, who do you call
Chorus : Joy
When you wanna fix the bullies, who do you call
Chorus : Joy
When you wanna fire up the stage, who do call
Chorus : Joy
When you wanna somebody get you tons of gift, who do you call
Chorus : Jingle
When you wanna somebody sing you a song, who do you call
Chorus :Jingle
When you wanna somebody crack you a joke, who do you call
Chorus : Jingle
When you wanna somebody get you a cup of tea, who do you call
Chorus : JJ2
When you wanna a somebody rap a song, who do you call
Chorus : JJ2
When you wanna somebody drive your car, who do you call
Chorus : JJ2

hey...hey..hey....hey...hey...hey..hey....hey

ha...ha..ha..ha...ha...ha..ha..ha...ha

hey...hey..hey....hey...hey...hey..hey....hey

ho...ho...ho...ho..ho...ho...ho...ho..ho

We are Joy Jingle and JJ2
We are fun, we are the power
We teach baddies a lesson or two
hey...hey..hey....hey...hey...hey..hey....hey

ha...ha..ha..ha...ha...ha..ha..ha...ha

hey...hey..hey....hey...hey...hey..hey....hey

ho...ho...ho...ho..ho...ho...ho...ho..ho

We are happy three
We live a life worry free

We are special, not just some regular kids
We will take you on many adventures
we will show you many feats

Joy Jingle JJ2
Joy Jingle JJ2

Joy Jingle JJ2
Joy Jingle JJ2

Joy Jingle JJ2


Note : The actual lyric is slightly different with few more stanzas in between

What a nice topic! I am going to tell you a story...

The first animated movie I was involved in was a project I did with my mother, who was a visual artist. My father's contribution was building a simple animation stand. We had an 8mm camera that could do frame-by-frame as recorder. We used cut-out figures and moved them over paper. Very low-tech, but it has a story .It's about 4-minutes. We create a kind of script first with the length of the various scenes, etc., so we did plan.

We completed it in a few weeks over the Christmas vacation, finishing in the beginning of 1971. several years ago I had it transcribed to video and then more recently I put it on YouTube. As there is no dialog or narration I added subtitles for clarification. There is sound in the form of edgy electronic music that I created. There was no stripe on the film, so the music played via a tape recorder that could synch the projector. It didn't work too well... But, I like the project, not because it's very sophisticated, but because it shows that you can do things with primitive means. You just need the drive.

Anyway, for the brave, here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtMiYs_2qIM.

I never expected to revisit animated films, because I was more into music. I was involved in a few animation projects as film music composer, so there was some animation in my life. It never became a career, and I eventually ended up in the IT industry...

Many years later, by chance, I discovered Flash and found that you could now do animation on your computer. Just like home studios for music you could have one for animation! Around 1999, I enrolled in a multi-media production class and was taught 3D-Studio Max. There was also a course in Adobe Premiere. I like to work at home rather than in a lab so I invested in student versions of the software and a Dell workstation. One of the student projects I did was a short computer-animated movie, called Water Worlds. It had a story actually and I remembered being complimented for that, that it was more than just "eye candy".

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqpeQ0IXjf0.

You're still there?

Besides a few student projects I didn't do much with 3DS Max. I guess I still dreamt of being a famous film composer... Anyway, I worked my way through a series of 3D animation software programs: Animation Master, TrueSpace, and then Poser. Poser was the first program I could do something with and I created one unpublished animation. Long render times, by the way...

Are we there yet? Almost...

In mid-2006, I came across iClone. I don't know how actually, but in August 2006 I bought iClone 1.52. Animations had to be done in a separate Motion Editor, so there was no real-time feedback and I didn't do much with the program.

Then came version 2 with everything built in, and so much easier to work with. From then on I started to create many tests, but it wasn't until 2009 that I made my first story-based animation in iClone. It was based on a radio play and about 25 minutes total... Since then I have produced one or two movies a year, usually up to 15 minutes in length. But always with a story.

You can check out my YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/zuijlen.

But why... That's worthy of another post...

---

I've been knocking-out @ least 4 iClone Pinhead  Clips each year, since iC1.5.

Unfortunately those who do Produce completed clips, don't get the attention they deserve from other Forum Members, some of whom appear to spend some considerable time in indulging in mindless drivel & Flame Wars, rather than submitting completed Clips. Others just can't be bothered to comment, although they "might" view some clips. 

Pretty discouraging, IMO.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      REALLUSION FORUM ANNUAL PINHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECTS.

       New Pinhead Website & Project to be announced in September 2015

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an excellent topic.

I have owned Iclone for many years but have only just managed to make my first film and there are a number of reasons why.

It took me a long time to build up enough assets props/characters/animations to make something and I think this is an issue as it is an expensive business if you do not have the time/ability to make your own

I was a bit daunted by all the functionality within Iclone and despite playing with it a bit I tended to fall back on the "easier to use" but "limited" Muvizu. Muvizu gave me the confidence to publish my videos and learn the trade a bit before I stepped up to Iclone.

Voice actors are an issue but the emergence of services like FIVERR.COM and the willingness of members of this community and others (such as the Voice acting alliance) mean that this should not be an issue.

But time is probably my biggest issue. My film was only about ten minutes long but took me about 6 months to make. Don't know if I'm particularly slow or not but there is a lot of work involved.

I also do think that Reallusion could support their film makers a bit more as if the videos are good enough they will sell more products at the end of the day. It's a crying shame when you look at the view counts at some of the great movies made. I am sure that Reallusion could have a dedicated youtube channel to promote the best content which is "advertised" in the correct way to get more views.

I was lucky enough to have my first film, There be Monsters!, accepted to several film festivals and even win a couple of awards.

We also have a new film called Christopher Wren Builds a Cathedral due for release in a few days. While that film is live action, the opening credits and a number of transitions were done in iClone.

Regards,

Tom

There Be Monsters!

I have not completed an iClone film yet. Well, anything I would consider a film, anyway!

As to the why? Self-doubt and lack of focus, I suppose......