v-raemakes - Tumblr blog

[v-raemakes]

Even though I haven’t yet posted references for these characters, I thought it practical to go ahead and post these character valentines, since I made them for the holiday.

[v-raemakes]

The reason I have not been posting on here about my work is largely due to: 1. Forgetting about it.

2. Lots of my picture files are somewhere else and moving them over to here is going to be kind of a pain.

[v-raemakes]

Finished watching Motorcity...

I’d been meaning to check it out for a while as it’s regarded as a cult classic cancelled before its time. Not that it’s that old, first airing in 2012. Now that I’m done with seeing the full 20 episodes (that I found on an archival site) I thought I’d put down my musings.

Firstly, what art direction! The show is absolutely stunning in multiple ways. I found myself marveling at the gritty beauty of the background art. The animation is superb. Smooth and snappy where it needed to be. The 3D and 2D elements blend together incredibly well and the effects have not become dated looking. That can be attributed to the general style of the show pulling together all these elements cohesively. It’s all sharp, dark, colorful, and full.

The voice acting is top notch. They got some great talent onto this show. From the well-known to the lesser-known (at least to me). Nate Torrence as Chuck did a fantastic job. He voiced a character that’s screaming all the time and yet it didn’t become grating. I really enjoyed his character.

The writing was great, especially the humor! I found myself laughing all the time. The witty back and forth between the characters is something to behold and all of them have a real nice amount of depth. They’re memorable! One thing I must praise is the pacing of the show. The action is as high-octane as it needs to be, but the plot progression takes its needed time and nothing feels too rushed.

There were times that I knew what was coming and felt a bit of second-hand embarrassment, but some of that is from my own sensibilities and the constraints of the target audience and such. That only happened every few episodes.

I’m not a car person, never will be. But the passion put into this was apparent and I was easily swept into the aspirations of the characters and the general vibe of the show. You gotta love a good story about underdogs in a rough and tough world banding together for their dreams. The premise was fun and interesting. Though, easy to poke some holes into, heh.

I found myself wondering about resource management a lot in this underground refuge of a city. Food, mostly was something I felt curious about. We never see any hint of farmland, orchards, or cattle (except for Jacob’s greenhouse area). Fuel is another thing I was wondering about, but there is a chemical plant and cars are leaning more into sci-fi than realism in this show. 

It is a wonder to me why exactly some things are forgotten or were mysteries considering the current situation is only a single generation old. Surely there must be elderly who remember a time before Deluxe? Jacob exists! Why exactly is the state of the outside world so unknown? Mysteries, mysteries. Or, plot holes. Whichever suits your thinking better I suppose.

All in all, this was a fantastic watching experience. I am so glad the crew was able to create a satisfying enough ending despite the cancellation. Some strings got left untied, but not enough to quite count as a cliffhanger. And hey, filling in the gaps is what fandom is for! 

[v-raemakes]

undefined

As a celebration of my Bug Fables Animatic reaching past 3,000 views on Youtube, I thought I’d go ahead and post the first pass-through I made of it in Krita, basically my storyboarding process. 

Some info about how I make animatics and this specific one under the cut:

I like to export the rough storyboards to share with friends as a way to keep motivation going. You can see with it that a lot of the final product was conceptually solid from the very beginning, but some of the details changed regarding some angles/framing/poses, etc.

Adding the ladder to the bunkbeds, for instance, was something I decided to do later on. With the scene where Leif settles at the table and chairs, I realized that I needed the furniture to be flipped around in the room for the sketches since their locations didn’t make much sense at first. (Leif’s shadow crosses to the right, but the next shot he ends up on the left.) At first Leif’s reflection was going to be all warped in the ice, until I got the idea to represent his prior red-colored state before....you know.

When I animate in Krita, the very first thing I do is listen to the audio and then place frames during specific audio cues that I plan to actually draw on later, marking them with when certain words start or when certain instrumental beats happen. So that’s why there are words in the corners. Then I can easily start storyboarding with those little time-markers without needing to constantly play back the music from the start. Krita doesn’t play audio right sometimes when you start from the middle. So, by getting the markers down, I don’t have to fiddle with timing until I am in the polishing process.

If you want to know my favorite frame of the storyboard, it’s this:

I just like the way Leif looks here, lol.

[v-raemakes]

Dropping another AMV into an underrated cartoon fandom! This time it’s Secret Saturdays, an older favorite of mine. I had a lot of fun interpreting the lyrics of this song, but boy howdy this took a lot of work!

The theme of this AMV is the consequences that characters face from either their own, or others’ actions. Mostly it’s being angsty about how rough the Saturday kids have it, lol, filling in as the “lambs for the slaughter.” The “blood in the water” usually refers back to the fact that Zak is Kur (or death/injury in general). The “what’cha gonna do” sequences are mostly from episodes where a character made a decision of some sort. (Makes more sense with the video’s context.)

The bit with all the other Secret Scientists is mostly just how they change between seasons 1 and 2. Changing the “blood” in the water to a “bad blood” between the parties. Well, except for Francis that is...

There are all sorts of meaningful tidbits I put in, so feel free to analyze!

[v-raemakes]

Hey Monkie Kid fans! I put in 8-9 hours of work into this amv for you all to enjoy! I wanted to make something exciting that uses at least one clip from every episode, all meticulously synced to a metal cover of The House of the Rising Sun. 

I thought the title of the song was appropriate for MK. Please watch! A HUGE amount of work went into the timing and I’d love to see what fellow fans think of it.

[v-raemakes]

Fae, adoption loophole

I’ve have the idea for a while about a protagonist who finds out they are adopted through a fae encounter. The story would go that one of the parents made a traditional deal, paying with their firstborn child, in order to receive a wish. The wish could have been something serious like saving the other partner’s life or something, but making a simpler wish, knowing the loophole, has potential. Anyways, the couple just adopts instead of having a child of their own to escape the agreement. It’s the fae coming to take the child away, only to learn of the adoption, that reveals everything.

It would only end up being the start of the plot. While it could lead to a character journey about finding oneself or something, there would need to be other major plot strings, something external to drive the story further. Some sort of convoluted custody battle within a courthouse of sorts would be interesting, especially as a pun surrounding the “fairy court” concept.

[v-raemakes]

Minecraft vs Terraria Building

Disclaimer: I have played Terraria much less than Minecraft, totaling at around 80 hours for Terraria versus my 10 years of Minecraft. But these are my observations. This isn’t bashing either, I enjoy both games.

Now, this entire post will set aside the major difference, that being the switch from 2D and 3D and what that entails. Besides from that, there are fundamental differences in the building experience that, in my opinion, make Minecraft’s more streamlined.

The first difference that you feel is the way that one works with resources. First, the gathering process for obtaining a good variety of building blocks is difficult for Terraria. There is a heightened amount of very specific biome blocks, including of course the varieties of underground biomes. Compare this to Minecraft, where one doesn’t need to look far at all for sand, clay, gravel, granite, andesite, diorite, and flowers, all basic building materials for variety. Terraria also needs you to cross either the Crimson or the Corruption, both very difficult areas, to reach the other half of the map for its biomes.

The progression required to obtain block types is a longer process in Terraria than in Minecraft, as more blocks require an increased pickaxe strength or other tools/stations (or fights) required to get materials versus a diamond pick only being required for obsidian, and a silk touch enchantment for very specific blocks, (some of which are craftable). In Minecraft, you can gain a vast variety of the available materials without the required extra progression. Progression in Minecraft is mainly used for making things faster.

The crafting is also different. Minecraft’s crafting is incredibly condensed compared to Terraria. You can make a lot with much less, both on the material side and the crafting stations. Some blocks and materials can be obtained through multiple crafting paths in Minecraft. Meanwhile, that isn’t the case for Terraria, and you need a large amount of different utility stations for specific items.

Minecraft has less blocks to work with, like a lack of furniture items and fewer block types, but that creates a nice balance with the obtainment and versatility of those items. (Plus, in my opinion, Terraria has a bit of a clutter problem all around.)

The second major difference is the safety aspect. In Minecraft, mob spawning in the overworld is ruled by light level, which allows the player to fine-tune their safety through placing torches or by sleeping in a bed to skip night time. Minecraft players are also able to freely switch between Creative and Peaceful in singleplayer if they wish. Terraria monsters constantly spawn disregarding light level. Beds can be slept in, but the silk for them requires a loom and cobwebs. Both items that aren’t that easy to get at the start, compared to wool in Minecraft. The special events preventing sleep in Terraria also exist. This inability to truly escape monsters disrupts the flow of building.

Terraria’s Journey mode is their option for an easier experience, letting you turn off damage and have an infinite supply of a material once you get enough of it. However, Journey profiles and worlds cannot be mixed with regular versions, which is inflexible compared to Minecraft’s amount of freedom. There is also the argument of having so much at ones fingertips ruining the experience.

Fundamentally, this is all caused by the cores of the two games being different. Minecraft at its core is a sandbox experience, and so the builder is more taken into account with its play. Terraria, meanwhile, at its core is a game about progression and PvE, specifically gearing up for hordes and boss fights. While the games have elements of both, the focus placed is what dictates the building experience.

Terraria does have some interesting aspects that boost it, like the ability to get flying mounts, rocket shoes, and grappling hooks. The existence of furniture and other decorations, and the uses of the hammer also add its own unique finesse. Terraria’s map system also means that you can get everything the game offers you in a set distance. However, in the end, the building experience for Minecraft feels more streamlined and facilitating of creativity within its limitations compared to the slightly more awkward, yet more expansive, building experience of Terraria.

[v-raemakes]

My first post is just of the graphics I have created to begin my personal branding. The cityscape is the banner for profile decoration, while the avatar of the toast-oise (toaster tortoise) is my new persona image.

They are going to be used until something better potentially comes along. Though it will be tough to top the futuristic city street, that took absolute ages to make.