Animation Onward (Patreon)

(Tons of animations below text.)

Mace's running attack displayed above.  We can't very well have it be the same as his idle attack, now can we?

General production update here for those curious about what's happening under the hood.  I'm gonna post a big fun mess of images after the text.

Comic:  The champions making all this happen, you the backers, have been understanding and generous in allowing us to pause Volume 5 updates (Prelude is still updating).   But I'm hungry to post more pages.  I'm planning to begin again in mid-March, we have some shiny new pages in the pipeline.

Tectomic:  The Vivid Show, 'Tectomic,' is also in production.  The lore is settled, scripting underway for season 1, and we have a rudimentary animation production pipeline working better than I'd imagined.  

Background plates are being hand-painted, and we have a highly talented CG-artist and animator volunteering to help with vehicles and weapon animations, which will be modeled and then cleaned up to appear as traditional animated elements.

One frame of cleanup will be shown below, to give you an idea of how sharp these guys are.  Suffice to say, my hair is standing on end.

DK Video Game:  The storyline will have the same characters and scenes as the graphic novel, but since players can actually interact and change things, there will be some major new directions the story can take.   

I want a playable demo for Mace by Megaplex in August.  I've got about half of him animated- colors in the works, but Liz won't let me show frames that haven't been given the Stripe Treatment yet. (We gotta do two versions of every Mace animation, depending on which direction he's facing.)  

Anyhow, animation set A is in the pipeline- Crawl CrawlToCrouch CrouchAttack Idle IdleAttack IdleToCrouch Jump JumpAttack JumpAttackDown Roll RollIntoCrouch Run RunAttack RunToIdle RunTurn Struck StruckDown

I'm going to finish Set A and hand it off to our gamedev for integration, while I jump on Volume 5 pages for mid-March updates.   Once I get a buffer for V5, I'll hop back and complete the Mace animation library-

I don't have the list in front of me, but stuff like treading water, swimming underwater, throwing items, carrying, rope swings, ladder climbs, stuff like that.

Overall plan with the DK Video Game:  

I feel like I need to animate at least a full character to set the bar on production value.  I want something I can point at and say, 'like this' when pulling in new talent.

With Mace running we can share a playable environment, and invite more interest.  Hopefully with enough of a boost for me to start paying & hiring animators to get Namah, Bast, enemies, and the rest of the game into production.

Master Plan

This of course, fits into the overall master plan for Vivid Publishing.  I want to build a full-on production company.  Comics will be the ground floor, the place for any author to show what they got.  Comics that perform well enough, build a real readership, can prove themselves and go to the next level:  

Vivid is building experience and contacts in both tabletop and video game development, and now in show animation.  So successful comics will have the ability to flower into branches that optimize their content offerings.

Because a meritocracy lets the best creators shine, and brings you the best possible content.  As the internet sanitizes itself and massive corporate entertainment monopolies pander ever-more-softly, I'm determined to provide a sharp, glimmering counterpoint for people to enjoy.

But I'm beginning to ramble- just wanted to share a quick insight into what we've been up to!  (Also continuing commissions from the Big Commission Queue, and planning for June 25th Couchcon.)

Without further ado, have a pile of unorganized pencil tests and art.  

First crack at the Mace running attack- it didn't feel punchy enough.  Plus Bast and Namah might get some flying kicks in the mix- but who other than Mace would just bash through headfirst?  Executive decisions- had to go that route.

Sample cleanup frame from TECTOMIC...  The guys helpin' us out are SHARP AS HELL.

Some of those stretch / squash frames look absurd on their own.  But when it goes by in a blink, the result is a bouncy, fun time.

Hangar-bays in the Vivid Battlecruiser (blast doors will be on a separate layer.)  Pre-digital effects background painting.

Just as a final note, thank you again to everyone fueling our work!  You folks are supporting my time, and I'm giving it everything I've got.  But I want to do more, faster- and if we can grow, I can build a team that can turbocharge all of this.  So if you know anyone who might enjoy the same things as you, give them some free reading:  https://dreamkeeperscomic.com/Intro.htm 

Happy to create for all of you, thank you for reading and, soon to be, watching & playing.

-David