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Ok, keeping this for the record. This is my process of getting the look I want for  the comic book:

There is a problem with the add-on with blender 2.93 and later. You can download a version here which corrects the issue, until they correct it upstream.

Download patch

Just a quick timelapse of a couple of poses I worked on for the comic book. The first one is the character standing on a ledge and the second one the character jumps. For the jump I used the skyscraper "the Rock" jump as reference.

My process is to

• create all the poses on the timeline as a first pass
• Then go back place the cameras and do the facial expressions in the second pass.
• Render the frames
• Finalize the comic book

I'm continuing work on a couple of projects. I'm working on Ad-Hoc trying to get the comic book done. I was hoping to be quicker. But no such luck. Work has been a time suck. Not getting enough time to work on the project. I'm also working on a series of short animated films with a bit of a religious slant. I don't know where that'll go, but I'd like to get it done along with Ad-Hoc. I'll try to make a 2 min animated film every month. Probably not gonna be so steady, but it'll be nice to have a goal to shoot for.

In the meantime, as I was ramping for that 2 minute short, I made a couple of tutorials. They're more like reminders for me, because I tend to forget how to do specific things when I don't do them for a while. So it's a good way to keep a cheat sheet. Here they are:

I've been working on my project. It's been slow, but I'm moving forward. I'm going to be doing a video and updating this blog. Here is the outline:

1. Introduction:
   1. I'm a story teller. My passion is to tell stories. Yes not so many people read them, but doesn't mean I'm gonna stop.
   2. My storytelling journey started when I was 10 years old. Probably earlier. I was inspired by young adult novels, back in Egypt. From there I started writing similar type of stories.
   3. When I came to Canada I continued. I was inspired by Star Trek and wrote a star trek novel.
   4. Then I got involved in the church and eventually started serving the Youth. The next step of my storytelling evolution was to create plays with the kids I served.
   5. In 2004 I took the next leap and started making movies. That's when I was introduced to Blender, back in its 2.3 days. Thanks to Andrew Kramer for introducing me to Blender. I kept making movies until 2018.
   6. That's when I shifted and wanted to create an animated film. For some reason, I had a hard time coming up with a story, but eventually I wrote a feature script, followed by a short, which I'm currently happy with. These stories have their roots in thoughts and stories I've written about in the past. This seems to be my ammo. I come up with a set of ideas and I keep pursuing them over the years in different forms. If you surf this site, you'll see what I mean.
   7. Anyhow, after I had my script I shifted my attention to story boarding. As I was doing the storyboard, I was struck by the idea of comic books. Why not create an amalgamation between a comic book and a movie. My reasons started out being pragmatic. Actually animating everything will take a tone of time. However, I found that I can create my storyboard relatively rapidly. It's definitely suited for a one man job.
   8. I started going around and looking at comic books. Now, I'm not a comic book nut, but as I started reading some comic books, I found that I like them quiet a lot. I actually really got into one titled Namibia.
   9. What I found great about comic books is the combination of text and visuals. You can tell a story quiet effectively that way. Now I'm considering adding a different dimension to that. Actually filming parts of the story and integrating it in the comic book.
   10. This will require a bit of a combination of skills. I'll use my software skills to modify a comic book reader to also play videos. So this is the road I'm on right now. Create a comic book/movie hybrid. We'll see how that goes.
   11. Although my reasons started out pragmatic: finding a way to finish my project in a reasonable amount of time, but it evolved into a creative decision. I can create a new medium for storytelling. An audio/visual comic book.
   12. Now this is not an audio drama comic book. It's a comic book with sound effects/sound track + movie elements. It combines all the different elements I enjoy working on, but in a way which allows me to finish the work in a reasonable amount of time. At least that's the hope. Time will tell.

Working on rigging and clothing the Gemma character in preparation of animating the first scene of the short.

Here is one frame from my first shot of the short

Here is behind the scene of  that shot (IE out of Blender view port)

I've been working on a short film to introduce the feature. You can follow all the details here: Short Film

I decided to go with a future timeline of the world of the feature script. The feature script can then be told through the eyes of the main character in the future world.

One of the technical difficulties I've been considering in this incarnation of the short I'm working on is it's gonna be an amalgamation between a live shoot and 3D animation. I don't mean some 3D animation integration in live shots. No. It'll be two storylines, one told in 3D and one told in live animation. It'll be best to create the 3D characters to look like the live actors.

I'm thinking of using a few tools: meshroom (AliceVision), meshlab and MB-Lab. Basically, do 3D scans of my actors. Clean up the footage and bring it into blender. Then manually adjust the MB-Lab model to match the actor's 3D scan. I'll probably need to play around with it to see if it'll work. Theoretically it should, but we'll see.

If you haven't realized it yet, I have a full feature script: Christmas on the Run - version 02

I'm also working on a short based on the script: Short Film

We did a read through of the script as well. With the help of Momona Komagata we setup a read through with a few nice folk. If you have 2 hours and 50 minutes available, you can watch it here:

We weren't able to read through the entire script. We had to skip a section because it was taking too long.

So what exactly did I learn? A few things:

The script is pretty long due to very long descriptions.

I think this is the primary issue with the script at the moment. I spend a lot of time describing action and details which I think slows down the pace to the reader. For an example let's look at:

http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Blood_&_Treasure_1x01_-_The_Curse_of_Cleopatra.pdf

This script has excellent action description. It's fast paced, keeps the reader attention and uses vivid language to paint the broad strokes. Then it lets the reader form their own mental imagery. I think since I took the verbose route by trying to explain every little detail, it sort of had the opposite effect from what I wanted. Painting the broad strokes is actually the writing style of two of my favourite authors: Michael Crichton and Andy Weir.

Let's look at an example.

A tense moment as the PMCs coordinate their defense. We stay with Dr. Castillo and Max, huddled in the darkness. The dull thud of FOOTSTEPS is carried deep through the tunnels, coming closer and closer...until--

Other wordly glowing red eyes alight in the darkness. WTF?

Then...plink!, plink!, plink!

FLASH! BANG! the grenades detonate in front of the PMCs. FROM THE SMOKE: a dozen red laser-sights reach into the room--

The PMCs fire brakka-brakka!--

Dr. Castillo peers out to see the PMCs taken out one at a time by precise fire from silenced submachine guns.

The laser-scoped ASSAULT TEAM advances into the tomb. The otherwordly glowing red eyes are from their night-vision goggles. Their faces covered by balaclavas.

Their lasers criss-cross, searching for more armed targets. Satisfied, one puts up his hand--ALL CLEAR!

As the smoke swirls, the MEN part to reveal their LEADER, who--in his own mask and night-vision goggles--strides into the tomb. He takes it in, sees something missing.

What struck me most about this is the use of simple words like "plink", "FLASH", "BANG", etc. Simple words which portray sound and imagery we're all familiar with. Avoids having to go into detailing the action and surroundings.

I'll try to incorporate that in my next draft.

But for now I want to concentrate on the short.

Short Film

I've been thinking about how to make the short. All the animated films I've scene are exactly that: films. But what if we provide more of a "gaming experience" to the audience. Basically the movie plays and the audience has control over the camera, within specific constraints. For example the camera has to be a specific distance from the character. So it's even possible for the audience to simply wonder away from the action to look at other things.

This means the surroundings have to be built more completely, as opposed to building only for the frame.

Would that be a more immersive experience?

Pros

• A novel idea. I haven't seen it done for scripted movies.
• Can work with virtual reality
• Doesn't preclude making a standard movie

Cons

• Will it be an immersive experience?
• More work as all the animation has to be polished. It can be seen from any angle.
• Camera angles portray emotions. That could be lost in this medium, but could it be replaced by the immersive experience?

Technical Work

• All the animation, texturing, etc will be done in blender
• Everything will be exported to some intermediary format (fbx, etc)
• Scene will be imported in a game engine like Unreal/Unity/Godot
• Exported from Unreal as a game.

I think I'm gonna try that. Since we're doing something new, let's experiment.

I don't know about you guys, but I spend a good portion of my day doing paid work. As much as I have a dream to do whatever I want, the reality is that I have to make money so I can feed my family. Therefore, work satisfaction becomes very important. If you're spending 8 to 10 hour days doing work and you feel unmotivated it becomes a weight hard to bare. I keep thinking and analysing what exactly would makes me enjoy work? To be honest with myself, it is doing what I want when I want, or as close to that as possible. Obviously, I can't just not do what the company needs me to do, but at least I'd like to feel like I have my say in how things get done.

Today, I had this weird argument with my manager, who just happens to be my age. He just got into the position of managing the Lustre team a couple months back, because the previous manager went to google.

Just to give some context. We have a hardware lab which we use to test our software. We can, supposedly, reserve machines in there and then use them for testing our changes. The lab is horribly managed. So I took it upon myself to tell my manager that the lab needs to be managed better. He asks, if I'd like to manage some of the machines there. Again some context, my manager has a dry and weird sense of humour. I ask him, are you joking? He responds: No I'm asking. So I tell him, I don't mind. I can help out if needed. Then somehow the conversation changes into how I should concentrate on my tasks and not bother with other work. I'm like, how the hell did the conversation go down that road. I didn't start by saying I want to manage some of the machines in the lab. I was just telling him it's hard reserving machines, and since you're the manager, it's your job to handle this issue.

From there, I go into this rant:

First of all, let me ask. Do you see some negligence in my work?
Second, I think it's a mis-statement to think I'm the customer's first point of contact. Take a look at the customer ticket, before you say that.
Third, I think i have said this several times, my career goal is not to be an [Software module name] engineer for the rest of my life (which seems to be what my manager and my manager's manager are okay with. And I don't know what more to do to clarify to them that it's not my career goal)
Fourth, I think I have displayed that I can help out in different areas without letting my work slide. I derive my job satisfaction by being involved in different areas.

Here is the problem. The whole discussion started by me requesting him to look at the lab reservation system and make it better. I'm not interested in getting involved in that. He asks, if I'd be interested in managing some portion of the lab. I tell him, ok sure, why not. He backtracks and says, well that's not my job. No shit Sherlock. I never said it was my job. I was just trying to be a good team player and help where it's needed.

Then from there he somehow starts implying that I'm a big customer's first point of contact, which is absolutely false. I did a lot of work on a project for this customer and the particular ticket I'm referring to in my rant was opened and assigned to someone else, but the architect asked me to help that person test his changes, because I've done it before.

It's a messed up conversation.

Going back to the work satisfaction point. I don't mind my job. I have a good measure of control over what I do. And it appears like the best thing to do is not to talk to any of the managers and just do the job that needs to be done. I think they are good people, but bad managers.

I have gotten quite good feedback from Zac Fudge and Momona Komagata on the script. Here is an overview of the changes I'm considering for the script: Script Updates

I watched a video yesterday:

I thought Curtis Holt made a good argument about the trade off of making your hobby your job, and the risk you might end up hating your hobby. But as I was watching through it, I realized he was really talking about younger people; single with no one relying on them having a job which brings in a steady income; a category I fall square in. Now I have to put a note here. I know nothing about Curtis. I'm merely saying his argument pertains to the group I mentioned, at least in my humble opinion.

I've always enjoyed writing, but I never thought I could make a living out of it. And I grew up in a culture and an environment which encourages young people to pursue more "concrete" careers, like engineering or computer science. And I did end up being a computer scientist. I can't say it was a bad decision. I've been employed (knock on wood) since I graduated. And I enjoy my current work. But sometimes I think, would I've been more satisfied if I had pursued a career in the arts. Maybe become a filmmaker at the end. However, when I sit back and think about it I can see two major paths towards that goal, had I pursued it from my college days. 

1. I would've had to pay my dues, work small jobs, and climb the ladder from there. Maybe end-up being a director for hire.
2. I would've specialized in a field, say sound engineering, or lighting and sort of stayed stagnant. 

The truth of the matter is if you look at film crews you find people who had made a career of being a 1st AD or a 2nd AD or some other job on set. And sitting here right now, having the benefit of 20/20 hind sight, I know I would've hated my life if I had taken option two. Not saying people who choose this path are wrong. Absolutely not. It is a personal journey and success shouldn't be measured by decisions others make. It should be measured by improvements and forward steps you make in your own life.

With option 1 I'm forced to ask how likely is it? Yeah, I know the idiom, if you work hard you can achieve anything. But at what cost? At what cost would this path have been? My private life? My family life? Having worked on sets, the days are long. They can go up to 16 hours. And if my goal was to become a director, then I would have had to dedicate my life to that goal until it's achieved and then I can pull back. I'm just not sure if that's something I would've enjoyed. And really at the end, you're working to bring someone's else's vision to life. And there is nothing wrong with that. I help people bring their vision to life when I help out on set. I think we have to pay it forward. We have to help and prop each other up. But as a career, I'm not sure if it would've made me happy.

At the end of the day, I decided to keep my hobby a hobby and become a Software Developer. I've made movies which are largely obscure, but they are my ideas. I have written novels. I have written short stories. And who knows maybe one day something I do will make it big. But I don't think that's my goal anymore.

I come now to my main point.  The journey to achieve a goal is more satisfying than the goal itself. But without the goal there can be no journey. Whether it is a hobby or a career, setting a goal and putting your utmost effort into achieving it is all anyone can ask for. When it's all said and done, I can look back at the journey and feel that I have accomplished something. That I have trudged the road less travelled. Don't let people tell you just cause you're making movies, or whatever else, as a hobby, then you're not a professional, you're somehow less. Those people are haters. They don't know the meaning of being a professional. A professional is a person who sets a goal, plans and never lets up until the goal is achieved.