UPDATES | 2022: What Do We Do? (Patreon)

So, for those who might not know, this craziest thing happened last year that affected the whole world. That's right, I am speaking of the new game called Among Us that dropped, plus the- wait, that was 2020? Wasn't that last year? ...What the hell do you mean it is Twenty-Twenty-Two?

So, yeah, that happened. A lot of sh*t happened during it too. Got a corgi named Tux. Started doing Vtubing on Twitch. You folks got a new Discord to vibe in. Stubbed my toe at least three times. But I know a lot of things didn't happen during it too, which some of you may have also noticed.

What should we expect for 2022?

As of now, Patreon is my main source of income, followed by Twitch. I found that the weekly to bi-weekly updates for Patreon and the 4 day streaming schedule fit best into my life, while also taking care of a new dog, running a small business, and generally just surviving (which has gotten a lot harder as of recently for a plethora of reasons, some of which I won't be sharing because it is not my place to cause you grief or for me to use this platform as a soapbox of sorrow. I have a therapist for that.) I am finding success in Twitch, which I am genuinely happy with, due to how much effort and time one puts into it when the camera isn't on. It allows me to stream artwork directly to you, plus content that I couldn't do before (like games) because I felt every time I tried to relax that I should be working instead, and any time I attempted to recover led to stress, lack of sleep, and unhealthy living. Which I had to stop.

Animation has become difficult for me. Not only does a few seconds of animation cost me a day's worth of work, it also becomes more tedious the more details and armature bones I attempt to work with. Every additional detail can cost me a work's day of time to make. The reason why I put that much work into it is because I force myself to produce higher quality content, whereas I may be able to put out a mediocre piece faster but I have no pride in it, and usually makes me feel worse. However, thanks to my experiences with Twitch (and other sources), I am finding a much better method that will save me time, headaches, and allow me to focus on the aspects of the animations I value the most. This solution is motion capture.

Vtubing as Raskus the Turian is a very simple version of the technology, where the only thing being captured is a few generated points on my face and the body moves with it, and a different hardware/software to track the hands. Think of it similar to what you could see in a VR Chat environment with someone who has a headset and hand controllers. This amount of data can be great for sitting at a desk streaming content where accuracy doesn't need to be pristine and the lower half is as lifeless as a ventriloquist doll, but is limited to just that. 

Which is where a motion capture suit comes in. The suit would be a full-body track suit that allows the pc to real-time record motion data of the wearer, transposing it onto a 3D model and allowing details like hand tracking, face tracking, realistic movements, and more to be natural and simple, leaving details such as environment work, hyper expressions, and props for me to focus on. For example, this is the same technology Acheroth employs for his bipedal animations (and you can tell the quality shows), and studios use for CGI and game animation. 

The only issue with a mocap suit? Prices range from $5k to $30k. Yikes.

TL;DR - How does all of this pertain to me as a Patreon member?

Content wise, a small change. I will be putting larger humanoid animation projects on hold until I am able to fund a motion capture suit. During this time, I can still focus on other projects such as the Andre the Dragon animation, Blender art courses I have enrolled in, Blue Fang graphic novel, 3D rendered still pictures, general 2D art, Twitch content, and more. 

A portion of anyone's subscription on the Silver+ Tiers will be going to help fund the suit, in hand with the bit goals I have active on Twitch. So although you may not be seeing as many big animation works, you will be helping fund more quality and quantity ones in the future, as well as allow me to improve my work as a content creator with the other mediums and courses. I will still keep some work exclusive to Silver+ members for the sake of fairness, of course.

With the right tools, I know I can fulfill my potential and grow as a creator, allowing me to deliver the quality content you deserve. I couldn't have done any of it without your support. Thank you, sincerely.

I look forward to growing with you this year.
~Mietere