chillyche

The transformable Hero VF-1B with Strike Pack is currently sitting at 175K polys. This includes the cockpit interior. I think I can get that number down quite a bit, actually, although, it will also jump back up when I arm this sucker. Frankly, the model isn't the most efficient in use of polys; there are some areas that are over-detailed, and others that are under-detailed. For the QF3000, this is a background unit. It's plausible that if the model is cool enough, it might get some shine-time in front of the camera, but it needn't be something we highlight. If it's under 10k, it will probably not get too close to the camera, if it's between 10 and 30, it might. The cel shading is pretty simple. We start by making simple texture maps, rather than trying to make them photo-realistic, we just go with single shades. Then we apply the maps to a particular texture, and the renderer takes care of the rest. I have been drawing some panel lines directly in the texture, where there's not object detail, but the renderer takes care of lines where there are actual seams in the model. For a non-hero craft, I would expect that we could draw a lot more panel lines directly in the texture. A single texture is pretty convenient, but not necessary for this project. As for the capital ships: The only ships we really need to get close to are the Thurvel Salan, the Oberth, and the ARMD, which are already under construction. And even with those ships, we're doing base models, and then we will do some expanded bits with additional detail for closeups. Modeling the whole thing at a high detail level would definitely be ridiculous (although, very versatile, and, of course, very memory heavy). The rest of the capital ships will be seen more at a distance, and as such, need not be as detailed. The models in the HW2 mod are too low-poly to use, but models maybe twice or three times the poly count would do. Between 10k and 40k would probably be fine. Oh, actually, I'd like a decent Zent Picket ship and a Medium Scale Gunboat for a couple flybys, but again, any close-up details can be separate pieces specifically designed for a particular shot. Since this is a fan project, I understand that people may volunteer based on their particular interests. With that in mind, I would say, if there's a particular unit you'd like to tackle, please let me know which one, and we can get you started. I haven't heard from Venom in quite some time, so I don't know the status of his Nous-J, but that, along with Vinnie's VF-4 are the top priorities, as well as character models. If you're interested in taking over the Nous, let me know and we will figure that out. Otherwise, of the capital ships, the Medium-Scale Gunboat and the Picket Ship are the ones I'd like to see (besides the Thurvel Salan which is under construction).

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...mp;#entry690694 That's the list of assets as of a billion years ago. We still don't have much in the way of Zentradi units, outside of the Thurvel Salan which is under construction. I haven't heard from our Nous-J modeler in some time, either.

And my Episode 2 Ozma was way better than episode 1. Darn.

Oh yeah, and Jason, cool costume.

Great post. I'd love to see the pics you took. By even MENTIONING ISO it's clear you're actually a photographer of some sort. I'm excited to see people's costumes, even if they're just snapping off quick still in their living rooms, but the real impressive photos are the ones with locations, lighting (natural or otherwise) and actual photography. You can photoshop somebody's face all day, and without a good contrast ratio between key and fill, you're gonna have either harsh shadows or a flat boring surface. Maybe there should be a "how to take great cosplay photos" thread or something, with basic information like f-stop/t-stop, lighting design, and post. I nominate NOT me to write that up.

There's basically the VF-1 launch shots in DYRL. There's some detail of the bay door, and I believe I saw a model of the ARMD that identified at least two or three of those black holes as VF-1 launch bays.

The new eyes and mouth (particularly the mouth) are way better. This is a great pic, man. Good show.

Did you get the PE or the SE version? Because this thing looks rad.

Funny that the movie -- the SOURCE for the whole world of spin off stuff -- somehow messed something up. No canon but the first three films, I say. (Although, I was surprised how the prequels seemed to invalidate stuff in the so-called canon sequels by Timothy Zahn) ANNNYYYYWAYYYY back to Macross, right?

Ew. Who takes somebody else's nasal spray?

Here's an update for everybody. All of the actors have turned in excellent performances. There are a few rewrites that will be going out as soon as the SONG is finalized. Currently, singer and composer Helen Trevillion is taking a stab at our song. An orchestral composer has approached me and is eager to see some footage/storyboards to work with. I haven't hired him, per se, but I'd love to see what he's capable of. We brought an additional character design artist onboard, and she's been turning in really great work, so I hope to have some of those pieces on display soon. Akt_m -- we can always use more modelers. As of right now, many of our models are in a state of pseudo completion. I would love to have you aboard, professional or not. I am about to embark on a week long film shoot in Haiti, so I'm going to be off the radar, but when I return on the 15th, I will definitely update everybody with where things stand, cuz I'll have a week off before shooting continues in NYC.

Pretty sure those are boots. Please god, they're boots. Ah, her weepy picture does in fact suggest they're just boots. Why not kneehighs?

Did anybody notice the title of Poli's VF25 art? "Work Related Stress" Ha ha. And Anime, your celebratory picture is hilarious. Excellent titling. (critique: the leg which recedes feels like it should be more in the shadow, with fewer white highlights)

I know, right? It's crazy. I didn't ever really have a sense of how much I couldn't breathe until a few years ago I did some acupuncture and it cleared me up like whoa. But eventually that wore off. And was hella expensive. The Afrin is out of control though. I would recommend you don't go too crazy with it, though. I find that sometimes it irritates my sinuses or something. Not right away, but like the next day I wake up, and weird things are going on in my nose. I'm basically reserving this stuff for whenever I have to do voice work. Anyway, with luck, today I'll finish my lines for Ep 2. -Che

It's pretty good. It's cool that you're taking feedback and altering the picture. If I were going to tackle that picture, I would probably try a couple of things. One idea might be to arch Misa's back a bit more -- that would tip her head back a bit, and would require Hikaru to be in a slightly more active position. It would be a more dynamic pose, but it might be TOO dynamic, depending on where in the evening you're going for. Another idea might be to have Hikaru kissing her neck, so that she can turn her face slightly towards the... er... camera (creepy... now I feel like voyeur). Without switching what you've already got, you might try wrapping Misa's arms around Hikaru in such a way that she's grasping his shoulders (her elbows would be at his ribs, about), if you can visualize what I'm poorly describing here. I don't think my art is polished enough any more to articulate this, but maybe I'll do a sketch to illustrate it. Oh, and spread her hair out over that pillow more. What I like is that you've described the scene in a way that isn't explicit. With a few tweaks here and there it could be very tender. The coloring would do a lot for mood and atmosphere, which I think is important, and difficult to convey in line art without heavy use of black ink.

Moving cameras in stop motion = AWESOME. Many props are now yours.

OT for the most part... I guess I might have to mess with XP 64-bit. The problem is I need access to as much ram as possible for aps like 3ds max and After Effects, and the 32-bit OS's don't give me anything above 4GB (in my understanding), so, I gotta play with fire. Meanwhile, hopefully I'll get the rest of my lines turned in tonight. And, Jason -- the ice field stuff has impressed all of us. I can't wait to get finished with stupid RL jobs and get to work on the character models.

Yeah, that 64-bit processor/OS combo will give you access to all your RAM beyond the 4GB mark, which is a nice thing. For audio, you might not truly need it, but it never hurts. For Aria, I tells ya every time I load up one of those scenes with tons of floating space debris, I start cursing my decision to not stack ram like crazy. But whatever. I still owe Hik a couple of lines. I was definitely more in the Roy Fokker spirit for this episode... let's hope that it works for Ozma.

Oh I hear you... my decision to stick with this cheapy thing was less about wise fiscal decision making and more about simply being unable to bring myself to buy something "middle of the road". I kept coming down to: "If I buy a new mic, it has to be useful in a professional capacity... but... I'm just doing a personal project here... but... must be pro... not consumer... maybe prosumer? no... wait..." and by the time I wrestled with that decision for days, I realized I couldn't afford much of anything, so, what I got will do. I did, as I mentioned, build the popper stopper, as well as make a little tiny booth out of 4 18" foam sheets that kill a little bit of the echo, but since I can't actually get INTO the booth, it's sort of a stop-gap measure.

I got some Afrin nasal spray before I recorded the Ozma lines. Worked wonders, cleared my chronically stuffed up nose in a matter of seconds. I also built my own popper-stopper for my mic out of a 59 cent pair of stockings/hoisery and a 1.29 6" embroidery hoop, and just set that up in front of my mic. DIY, man, DIY. I also have the crappiest mic ever, it's like 10 bucks, or something. Sucks. I have a Shure SM58 and SM57, but both are XLR connectors, so it doesn't really do me any good on a computer without a better audio interface. I looked into XLR-to-USB adapters and everything cost more than I was willing to spend. Oh well. Hik does a good job of equalizing people's audio anyway.

I didn't have much experience with the newer metal gear games (I wound up with an X-Box and missed out on all that fun), but I got what you were saying immediately. Didn't really bother me in the dub here, but it's something that I do want to work on in my own performance. I want to discover another authentic voice, rather than just imitating something. I hope I can improve upon my existing work without changing the character too much as the voice evolves. One thing I discovered, is if I knock back a guiness or two first, my voice naturally gets a little deeper and surlier. But, maybe also slurier! See that! Same letters, just rearranged! That, my friends, is because I'm a frakking wordsmith. What.

Okay, I gotta step my game up. The leads have AGAIN totally killed it, Hik. It's great to hear Mippa and Cristina showing down again. Aside from being good choices for the characters, their voices actually compliment each other well, so it's a good choice just from an audio standpoint. Rashinban as Alto is a masterstroke. Everybody is good, but Bladeblur really gave me something to strive for on the next episode. I think he found the perfect balance between gruff japanese warrior voice and gruff english voice (without sounding too... what was the phrase used? Metal Gear?). As you know, I think you do awesome work, and that was a joy to watch and be a part of. If I had anything I'd ask you to work on for the next episode, it would be that that sometimes the main dialog felt a little buried under either music or ambient sound/chatter. That, and some of the music dissolves were a little more chunky than in DYRL (I understand that DYRL has all the music available, and for Frontier, you're sorta doing a hack-job with what IS available, which sadly, isn't everything). You know I'm not playa-hatin' on you, though, of course, since I love it, and can't wait to see (and participate in) episode 2. DIE YOU DAMN MONSTERS!

See, I thought the joke was that Alto was kinda fem and the EX Gear is basically a valk-girl suit already. Ah, the internet allows us to bring our own context to things... and wackiness ensues.

Hey, thanks, Schizo, seriously! I'm excited to be working with such an all-star cast as an actor. I've already had the pleasure to work with some of these folks on Macross Aria, and I admire and respect their talent very much.

Ha ha. Too much.