Progress UpdateFirst off I'd like to apologize for not keeping my Patrons more well-informed about my project status in the past. I'm generally reserved with information or previews on my projects because I don't want to spoil the element of surprise. My animations are at their most enjoyable when seen for the first time and previews can make the end result less exciting.
However, I also understand that people really want to know what I'm up to. So today I am finally going to give a concise glimpse at what projects I'm working on and their current status, as well as a detailed description of each 'stage'. I hope you'll appreciate this transparency, at the very least.
The primary purpose of this list is to show that I'm generally working on many different projects at once. I'm not certain how often I'll update this list, and I cannot give an accurate ETA on any of these projects, but it should help provide insight into exactly what's going on. Since I juggle projects around, my release times can be unpredictable.
The Hazelnut flash, for instance, was put on a several month hiatus because I had gotten burnt out on the project after doing so much and needed to do some other projects instead. That's when I did the Filly Fiesta flash with Yoditax. Same thing happened with the Foul Sorcery flash, I got a lot done then put it on hold and worked on a quick Fluttershy/Luna flash. So even a project that's nearing the end of its production can get delayed for sanity's sake.This is also important to ensure the project doesn't get rushed or finished in a sloppy way, I want to make sure the end result is solid.
Sometimes there can be roadblocks related to a partner I'm working with; if they suddenly become busy or temporarily lose motivation, it can bring a project to a complete stop, forcing me to switch to another project in the meantime.
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- Currently Active Projects -
(in no particular order of priority)
Mystery Project (Humanoid)
- Currently Stage 5 - Early Animation
Sponty Project (Humanoid)
- Currently Stage 5 - Early Animation
Ponyvania Redux (Pony)
- Currently Stage 2/3 - Sketching & Vectoring
Fillyfuck Fiesta (Pony)
- Undergoing update based on survey data.
Cloptopia
- Undergoing major content overhaul.
Note: I may do some kind of "Trello" thing in the future. We'll see.
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The Stages of Project Development
1 - Concept Stage
I start all animations by writing down a basic idea of what I want to create. My new ideas are usually heavily influenced by survey information that I've collected in the past. After the basic idea is there, I start to brainstorm, usually with my animation partner. I generally want to create something that is quite different from my previous projects, because I want each animation to be something new and interesting.
My flash animations are inherently experiments, that's what keeps it interesting for me. For example there was an old furry flash I did back in 2011 (Taava's Conditions) in which the idea would be that the character looks male, but is later surprisingly revealed to be female. I found the reactions to this "reverse trap" idea to be intriguing, and wanted to do more surprising concepts in the future.
2 - Sketching Stage
Once I have a good idea of what I want to make, the sketching stage begins. It starts with some pose sketches to figure out what pose will work best with this kind of animation. Poses need to look good "in-motion", and need to show as much action as possible. Generally I have no issue with bending the rules of anatomy a little if it means I can show more of their lewd parts or get a more curvy silhouette.
3 - Vectoring Stage
This is one of the most labor-intensive stages, requiring the sketch to be redrawn directly in flash. In some cases the artist prefers to create a clean inked version of the sketch, then have it traced in flash, which adds an extra step but ensures a better end result. Not only does the character need to be drawn with vector, it also needs to be drawn in segments.
Drawing the character first then chopping it up into pieces is a complete mess, so it's ideal to draw each part separately and put it on its own layer. Flash's drawing tools are infamously terrible, which makes this stage a nightmare for most people. Thankfully I've used Flash for so long I'm just used to it.
4 - Rigging Stage
Once all of the pieces have been drawn, they are put into movieclips, along with facial-expressions, complex alternate outfits or body parts that might change the animation, and anything else. Their registration points (where the object is rotated around) are placed in areas that'll make it easier to animate. For instance you want the registration point of a forearm to be near the elbow or the wrist, not in the middle. This is generally a fairly quick stage, but that is mainly depending on the complexity of the project.
5 - Early Animation Stage
This is where the majority of my time will be spent. I don't feel that animating the basic character movement is difficult, although challenges do present themselves now and then, but it is extremely time-consuming. Generally consists of moving the parts to create key-frames and tweening them together.
The interesting part about animation is that you can always spend more time on it to make slight improvements here and there. Often times I will sit there for hours tinkering with a project to make it better, doing anything I can to make the animation feel more smooth and natural.
6 - Refinement Stage
After doing some basic animation I will almost always notice some flaws with the character's pose or one of the pieces. I often see areas that can be improved or redrawn. In some circumstances I will end up completely redoing sections of animation after making integral changes to the character's parts.
I usually bring my collab partner back into the project since they can clean up or add detail to certain areas to really make the project look good. This is also a great time to add more options to the scene, since I have an idea of what the basic animation looks like and I know what will and won't work. Waiting until I've done some basic animation can really help put things into perspective and avoid wasting time or double-handling.
7 - Scripting Stage
If animation wasn't the longest phase in my work flow, this would be. The branching paths from the Hazelnut Flash and the spell-book system from the Foul Sorcery flash were both created entirely from scratch and took a huge amount of time. Ultimately it's worth it, because these systems are what makes my games stand out, and people really seem to love the exploration element; to be given a choice, and not just clicking next until the sequence is over.
While not all of my projects will have super complex scripting elements to them, they still need the basics like a preloader, title screen, toggleable options, music control, dynamic camera zooming, expression controllers, dialogue pop-ups, basic scene progression, sound effect prompts, and more. Luckily this is the most fun stage for me, as I love writing code.
8 - Late Animation Stage
This is the end game, where I will be adding frame-by-frame animation wherever needed. Facial expressions and liquids are usually where most of the frame-by-frame goes, but sometimes I'll get crazy and add frame-by-frame in other places too. I will also go through the animation itself and add finishing touches arbitrarily.
This stage is honestly a bit daunting for me, because although it seems like the project is nearly complete: I can end up spending a lot of time doing last-minute refinements or even complete overhauls. For instance I may redraw the face several times to make sure it looks just right. I tend to mirror or flip the animation upside down and watch it to help me spot flaws. This is also around the time I send an alpha version of the project to close friends or fellow content creators to get some feedback.
9 - Audio Stage
Audio must be added last because it dramatically increases render times, making it a chore to work on. Generally this is where I'll pick a music track and add the sound effects. The music track will often be edited to fit the flash's purpose better, or even created from scratch just for the flash in rare instances.
Many sound effects are re-used from older projects but I occasionally create new sound effects. Getting good moaning sounds can be problematic, so I often leave them out entirely to avoid putting the project on hiatus when it's so close to being finished.
10 - Testing and Release
This is the pretty much stage, and it's usually only relevant if I've added some complex scripting elements that need to be thoroughly tested for glitches and mistakes, but even simple flashes can have huge mistakes in them. When you work on a project for countless hours, it can be easy to overlook obvious problems, so it's really important to make sure the project is thoroughly tested.
When it's ready for release I make the teaser images, write up the posts, slap it on my sites, and usually nervously pace around in my house for the next 30 minutes and hope I don't get an email or private message telling me that there's a critical issue with the scripting and I have to quickly fix and reupload it. As I'm typing this now, my heart-rate has doubled just thinking about it. Phew.
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Thank you for your continued support, much love~
- Mittsies ♥
