Episode 11 Update - 12/19/22 (Patreon)

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After a long vetting process, I have hired a new, talented 3D artist to work on Squad.  This one meets all of my standards and it seems he understands my vision completely.  In addition to polishing up the sets and getting them looking exactly the way I want, he's experienced in getting a lot of the more dynamic effects that I'm going to need later on in the process.  Thus far, Scenes B, D, and F now have pretty much everything they need in terms of set design and are looking exactly the way I need them to.  Scene A is currently under light construction and Scene C needs minor touch-ups.  So far, working with him has been a dream, albeit a tad costlier than I'm used to, and I hope to continue working with him.

One of my new animator hires has confirmed that he is prepared to start his scenes mid-January.  I plan to load a lot of the character work of Scene F on him unless I am surprised by the skill levels of any of the new hires.

One of my older animators, who worked heavily on Squad 9 and 10, is now returning for Ep11, and brining along an assistant.  I have already given him a lot to work on, and he's completing a good amount of the character animations at this time.  This guy is great at body mechanics work and I'll likely be using him a lot for the heavier action sequences.

However, I am still in need of more animators, and am currently knee-deep in the hiring process.  Here is my job post, which I have been floating around several animation Discords, as well as Twitter.  Feel free to pass it to anyone you think might be qualified, but be warned that I am quite picky.  I have, so far, gotten a great deal of applications (mostly from really underqualified people) and continue to sort through them.  At this time, I've narrowed my prospects down to five really talented applicants, who are all doing an animation test that I've sent them, to be completed by January 9th.  In the past, I've gotten some really hopeful prospects that have great resumes, but then, cannot follow through when I actually start working with them.  I am hoping that doing an animation test will properly vet people this time around.  I want to bring at least one more talented animator onto the team, but the more the better.  Character animation takes, by far, the most time in this whole process, and I've had to do the vast majority of it in the past.  I am really praying that I get some great people to work with this time around, and that things could go a lot faster.  That would be a dream.  Launching the episode by mid-2023 would be ideal, but we'll have to see how this part shakes out.

The episode is coming along now.  I'm still working a lot slower that I'd like, but I'm definitely starting to adjust to the changes in my life and getting things together.  I'm doing my best to chip away at this every day, but after the holidays are over, I need to make sure to wrap up all my direction videos so that I have material to give my animators.

I sincerely hope you're enjoying your holiday season.  I can't thank you enough for the funding you've given me.  I definitely couldn't afford these new hires without your help.  The set design alone is really shaping up the way I want it, so if I can utilize the rest of the money to properly fund the vision in the same way, I would be so happy.

Happy holidays, all, and thank you, once again,

Shipp