masterdansdojo
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WIP November 2021
🕑 Added 2021-12-02 17:06:13 +0000 UTC
Hello once again loyal Patreons!
It's time once again for another monthly breakdown. As I look back to see where we were last month I noticed that I never actually posted it! That was right when the new computer arrived and I was finally able to put the models to work it seems that having written it, I then forgot to put it up so we're we've got some ground to cover!
First of all the new computer arrived finally after numerous delays, right at the end of October. There have been a few teething issues getting it setup & everything copied over but it's been fully operational for a few weeks now with no issues & I've even been able to render some stuff too. The jump in performance has been amazing, which is to be expected going from a 1070 to a 3090!
Blender animation is taking some getting used to. The models are so heavy that Blender still has a hard time with them despite the hardware and my biggest issue has been getting 24fps playback when previewing the animation. There are a number of hoops I have to jump through in order to get it, but it has been achieved (just about) and so FINALLY I'm actually animating for Kingdom Hearts Round #3, which I'll get to in a moment. But first:
October was a very Medli month while I waited for the computer to arrive, both for her animation and her model. The model had a massive setback when I discovered the the rig I was using couldn't be played back at a speed about 2/fps under any circumstances so she had to be quite seriously re-built. Luckily the majority of the work that I'd done could be copied onto the new model so it wasn't a 100% disaster, but still costly in terms of time.
I've managed to get through testing a few of her outfits now, having finished testing each one I then do a little post showing a successful pose:
It was during the Hooters shoot that I discovered the rig flaw so there has been a little quiet spell for Medli during her rebuild but that's all done now & I'm working on a simple cushions and curtains set to show off the next outfit I'm testing, the Gerudo outfit.
Now I've got her caught up to her pre-rebuild state I should be able to get through the next few outfits relatively quickly. There is only one I'm worried about not quite working right but I think the others are sound, but she should be ready for release in a month or two. One advantage from her rebuilding was I had to take her back far enough that I could add outfits again and took the opportunity to give her one more so we now also have Punk Medli alongside Gerudo Medli:
So there was an upside.
On the animation side I managed to get a fair bit done during October. I made it up to the end of the section I had been working on & chosen all the sound clips for the everything so far. They have all been put in place and now I'm going back and animating in all the facial animation & corresponding body stuff to match. Once this is done I have one more gap to plug at the start and I should have about 5 minutes straight through, which is probably more than half. Not sure how the second 'half' will pace out, but it won't be longer, that's for sure. I want to keep this one tight.
However, once the new computer arrived I decided to shelve the Medli animation again for a couple months to focus on her model & the first KH video. Then once they are both done (which should be by the end of the month) I can dedicate all January to getting it really hammered out. I know this animation keeps suffering from being relatively low on the priority list, but everything else has been slightly longer and more complicated than expected. Once I've cleaned my plate a little bit I'll be able to give it my undivided attention again, but I really needed to put the new machine through it's paces first. She's still coming though & the model too. That's not getting put on hold & will be done as soon as possible.
So that's the Medli half of things, but on the other side of the coin we have:
The Kingdom Hearts projects! So once the new machine arrived I was able to put Aqua through a proper series of tests to make sure she was in full working order and long story short, she wasn't. This was how I discovered the rig issue with Medli. The roll back for Aqua wasn't nearly so bad though, because Medli was a lot further along. As a public model there is way more organizational stuff I have to do to make her easy to use that I haven't done for the KH girls. There is a 'point of no return' that I'm not stepping over foe the KH ones. The version of Aqua used for the animation isn't quite the final version. In fact I have a sneaky suspicion I need a complete do over for her because she's very inefficiently built & I think she can perform much better. But this one works well enough so I'll worry about that later.
But the lessons learnt in getting Aqau & Medli sorted have allowed me to bring some of the other girls in since I've streamlined the process quite a lot at this point and it doesn't take as long so now we have:
All of whom are coming along nicely. The final (and lonest) step for all of them is adding the physics rig to their hair, which means assigning a bones chain to each individual lock of hair. Riku has 104. But I'm getting there. Aqua, Riku, Kari & Namine all have their hair rigged & I've started Xion, because she's the next one who'll need it. Then Sora. Or maybe the other way round. Doesn't matter, they'll both be done by then.
So a plethora of models ready for action, as you'll see through December as I have seven girls (well, six & a bit) ready for the Xmas lingerie photoshoot you guys requested. Invi isn't as ready as the others & might not feature in as many pics accordingly but other than that the main six girls should all be good to go. In fact I've worked with all but Olette & Invi now & I'm pleased to report that there have bene no major issues.
But there's more. We've also officially started the first KH Round #3 animation, Aqua x Riku - Thighjob which I've bene working on these last few weeks. There are going to be 4 shots, with 4 different poses & today I pretty much finished shot #2. Here are some stills from the first two shots:
I need to fix the lighting for shot two because it doesn't work from this angle then enable the physics on their hair & Aqua belt sash thing. Doing that will murder any chance at framerate at all so that must always be the very final thing it seems. But shot 1 is totally finished and can be viewed right here:
https://redgifs.com/watch/excitedgoodviperfish
It's taking some getting used to, it's a much more complicated process than SFM & I'm still getting used to it so this may not be my finest work, but it's far from garbage either. Just room for improvement is all.
This whole video isn't super complicated & there are no transitional shots so the rest shouldn't take that long to complete. I'm pretty confident this'll be wrapped by the end of the month. Since I'm finishing each shot & rendering as soon as it's done there will be much less render based downtime (hopefully).
And of course, the most important part of the breakdown, the Eldar Narn update. You'll be delighted to know that things are getting ever closer to the end. I'm done with Kala & Meredhel's little chat as Myrill has just shown up to signal that it's time to leave so now all that is left is a quick conversation about using a secret passage to return to the castle & then the taking of it. The passageway & the dungeons on the other end will need to be a new set, but a very very easy one so I'm not expecting any serious setback there. Will it too be done by the end of the month? Probably not, but end of January is much more likely. Got too many other things I want to finish this month so Eldar Narn will have to wait.
And there we go, that's what's been happening for that last tow months. October was pretty shitty but November was sweet as all hell. It's great having the new machine & being able to get some real work done after cock teasing everyone with these new models for the last year it seems. Still, where here now & the great content machine is all fired up. Should be a triumphant end to the year! So have a great December, a Merry Christmas, some kind of New Year & I'll catch you all in 2022.
Take it easy my dudes,
