Amante56

So here's a little something I figure can help me keep track of what still needs to be done. The first half is basically a quantitative tracker of how much of the whole thing is finished whilst the other half will have more detailed updates regarding the project. The bold text are the individual sequences of the video.

Progress Tracker: 56.37%

Completed Minutes: 8:00

R01 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

R02 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

NM01 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

NM02 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

CoH01 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

NM03 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

DotF01 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

DotF02 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

DotF03 (CTS) - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

DotF04 - 100%
Storyboards: 1000%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

CoH02 - 100%
Storyboards: 100%
Character Animation: 100%
Special Effects Animation: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%

DotF05 - 83.75%
Storyboards: 90%
Character Animation: 75%
Special Effects Animation: 90%
Backgrounds: 80%

CoH03
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 0%

DotF06 (RsD)
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 75%

CoH04
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 0%

BrS01
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 40%

WV01
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 100%

WV02
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 100%

WV03
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 100%

CoH05
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 50%

ToH01
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 0%

EpL01
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 40%

EpL02
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 0%

EpL03
Storyboards: 0%
Character Animation: 0%
Special Effects Animation: 0%
Backgrounds: 0%

Journal entries:

9/12
I don't usually mind getting a bit of a cold or even a minor flu once in a while. I always saw it as my body pressing the emergency stop button if ever I push it too far to accomplish something. What I really don't like is if it's something that can't just be solved with a bit of rest. Point is, I developed an abscess and had to get poked with a a sharp piece of metal to get it out. So, in total, I spent about 2 weeks, with the first half of that time taking one type of drug to essentially get it to the surface and the other half with another type of drug to help it heal after being drained. That was two weeks of basically being confined to a bed. Sigh. I suppose what's bothering me is that after laying out the individual sections of the video up there did I realize just how many big ol' 0s there are.

Anyway, I'm pretty much back to normal now which is also why I've been able to release more pages of the Song of Silence.


Also, I've been getting back to animating again. On the bright side, what I've been able to finish so far looks real good, which in turn means that the full video will not only match the teaser in animation quality, it'll probably even surpass it. Okay, so I guess the time spent resting was a nice reboot for me.

I guess that's all I have to say for now. Here's to hoping I can get this out before Star Wars 8 hits theaters.


9/30
Heeeeey! Look at those numbers go up. So according to that tracker I'm a fifth of the way through. Honestly, when I was listing those things down I was thinking I would have completed less than that. Things are progressing quite well and the project is moving along nicely. Still hoping to finish before Star Wars 8 and I might be able to make it.

Anyway, something non-DotF related, did you know I bake? Well, now you do. Started last December with brownies, I liked it and kept making stuff. So a friend recommended me to his coworker since it was her daughter's third birthday. They said they wanted it princess themed so I managed to whip up this:


The last one I made was for my grandmother's birth day earlier this month, quite a step up, if I do say so myself:




Also, they asked for cupcakes:


They liked it! They even said that whenever a family member's gonna be having a birthday they gonna contact me instead of just buying a cake. Yay!

So now that you've read through all of that, have a prize. This is an extended teaser of the confrontation at the temple. I placed the beginning of the fight again that way  you can see how the whole thing flows. If the main teaser shows off the tone, this gives you a gauge for the quality of the actual duel. Enjoy!


3/12

6 months since my last entry. I'm doing great at this!

As you can well imagine, Part 3 is taking far longer that I had ever thought to complete. Part of the reason is simple the fact that it is FAR more complex than anything else I've made. Another reason is that I simple can't find as much time to devote to it as I did my past projects. After all, life must go on and ultimately this is a side project. Incredibly rewarding and fulfilling, but a side project nonetheless.

Nevertheless, I'm actually really happy with how the whole thing came together. This is by far the closest this has gotten to what I envision. Which is probably a good thing for the rest of it. Now that I've said that, time to explain '3-1.' It's been almost two years since part 2 and the fact that the completion of this just kept getting pushed never really sat well with me. To that end, I pulled together what I had and released it. It is still something and where it ends is a good spot to cut things up. If this were being broadcast this would be the perfect time to insert an intermission.

As for the rest of it, I'm hoping it gets done before the end of this year, but considering how derailed this first half got, I'm just gonna go ahead and say no promises. I won't stop making this, that I can be sure of. At this point I plain feel obligated to since it's gotten this far, wouldn't be right not to leave you with a conclusion, after all. For the 'when' though, we'll just have to wait and see. For all I know fortune smiles and I get both the time and the drive to bring this all home.

If you've read this far and have stuck with me since, my sincerest thanks. Honestly, I never stopped getting inquiries on whether or not this was going to be finished and it was nice to know that there are still plenty of people looking into this project. Even with the upload of the trailer and the posting of the title card I still got quite a response from an audience that I am so glad is still here after so long. Seriously, you are all very awesome for sticking around. As such, have this link. You deserve getting this a bit early. Thank you so very much.

There is something else I am working on on the side of the side project. Whether or not I'll finish and release it is another thing, but I probably would try my hand at it since it's a very different aspect of animation that I've not really displayed yet on any of my videos. No details on what it is as I kinda want that to be a surprise should I ever upload it. Anyway, thanks so much for reading.

Spoilers abound for the Friendship Games

2017 is the release of the first MLP theatrical movie.

Now, besides the various production related guff, why release it so far from the date they announce it?

To those who've already watched the Friendship Games, we've already seen that portals to the other world CAN open. By the way, that movie was fun. A bit of a pacing issue. It's pretty obvious they were trying to squeeze in so much into their tiny time slot, but regardless it was enjoyable.

Beyond that, Hasbro's entertainment plan for 2016 already dropped in the possible 4th movie: Legend of Everfree. I'm not going to bother speculating what it could be about and just go by the title. That means that the Humane 7 will be dabbling into portals again?

Now think of the time-frame. That comes out in 2016. The movie comes out in 2017.

This is pointing to the idea of some massive intersection of the two dimensions. So I guess that means we end up with a Mane 13? That's gonna be confusing.

But there's a bigger reason this might be the route their taking. One word: Marketing.

Pony purists are going to hate this next statement, but releasing a pure pony movie to theaters is probably going to be a disastrous idea. Besides the stigma that our cute ponies get from plenty of people, those not into, or even aware, of our fandom will probably find it hard to relate to our pastel equines. After all, that's why you see more movies about people than you do about animals. If I'm aware of this, I'm sure the execs are too. They may end up losing a huge chunk of their potential audience. Which means they're gonna have to sprinkle in some humans for the other people to enjoy. But of course, they can't just plop people down into the pony world.

Enter Equestria Girls. After all, why else would the past three movies build up such a connection between the two worlds?

So does that mean we'll be getting the massive crossover of the worlds that I've always wanted? If so, this should be an interesting thing to build up.

Gosh it's been a while since I've done of these things...


Anyway, if you've been paying attention, you would know that Skating Grace has been released.

You can watch it right here, if you're so interested:



This one was difficult for a number of reasons, but I'll spare you the rambling.

So now the question remains, what am I gonna do next?

If you've been paying attention, the last two things I released were based on the archery and skating events for the upcoming 'Friendship Games' movie. I was planning on releasing something for the motocross (seriously, what kind of high schoolers do motocross for a sport? Well, you definitely can't call that stereotypically girly.)  Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to release in time for the movie, especially since it involves more than just Adobe Flash and moves onto Autodesk Maya for me to achieve the effect that I wanted. I may revisit the concept, but for the most part it's scrapped.

Frankly, I've been wanting to do something different lately. Something so far from canon to give myself a break of sorts. So what better way than a crossover?

This one was already revealed at the end of Wondercolt Archers, but I figure I'll reveal it here as well.



The new Star Wars movie is coming up and you know what that means! Lightsaber animation! Because why not, right? I've been meaning for more action packed stuff as practice for such movements.


I also have another animation simultaneously in development with the Star Wars one. This is actually an old concept that I originally wanted to do a long time ago before I learned how tedious animation is. Of course, now I've reached the point where in I can do it.

My oldest watchers will probably remember when I released this little thing:


This is literally the third vector I ever created. After this one, I ended up making it a series of images of the rest of the Mane 7.



Now the models have been rebuilt and optimized for animation.



So stay tuned for 'Duel of the Fates,' 'Attack on Equine,' and even more awesome stuff!

And thanks again for all the kind words everybody. Seriously, you guys are all awesome.

EDIT: Minor change regarding the rules so that I can better track any participants.

So as I'm sure you're aware, three weeks ago I released my 'I Kissed a Girl' video. If you haven't watched it, you totally should, I'll embed it at the end of this journal.

Anyway, it was Adagio and Rarity accidentally kissing. I'll be honest and say that I don't ship this. Yet through the power of hilarious irony my own video has started to get me to ship them.

Now, as with anybody else who ships, seeing works about these two would tickle me pink. Sadly, I found a surprising lack of these kinds of art.

That's why I have decided to host a little contest.


1. I want you to draw something involving these two.

I will not place any limitations to this little contest. It can be as cute and innocent or intimate and sexy as you want it to be. They can be humans, ponies, sirens, gryphons, trains, it doesn't matter. As long as it's obvious that it's them then that works.

You don't even have to watch me or anything. Anybody can join this. Although it would be nice if you could spread the word.

The only real requirement is that you favorite this journal. That way I can at least keep track of who plans to enter. So basically, no favorite then your entry is disqualified.


2. The chosen winner will receive 400 points from me.

I will judge the piece based on concept, execution and technical skill. It can be traditional, digital, raster, vector, felt-paper arts and crafts, whatever you so please. As long as it's an image, of course.


3. There will be a second winner who will receive 300 points.

BUT, I will not be the one to decide this. I will select the top 5-10 submissions and they shall be placed on a poll on my page for the public in general to decide. Hey, it'll give you a bigger reason to spread the word.


4. Deadline is June 10, 2015 because reasons.

So what are you waiting for? Get to drawing.


5. To submit, attach your entry as a comment to this journal. If it's NSFW, please use a link and not a thumbnail.



If you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to ask whether through comment or note.

Also, I'm admin of another group now:

We try to bridge the gap between the pony and human worlds. You should totally join up if you're into that kind of stuff.

UPDATE: Teaser image for next animation as well as art piece at the bottom.

Happy International Labor Day, everybody!


Anyway, first thing's first: It seems my time spent here as an MLP/EqG artist has finally come around. Close enough to my 1 year anniversary here to boot. XD

To think that April last year I submitted stuff like this:

And this was graciously accepted into .


And now I do stuff like this:

And I'm now an admin of that same group.

That's not even counting the animations I've started doing.

That is so awesome.


Thank you so very much to everyone who's chosen to follow me these past couple of months.

I know I don't usually show it, nor do I usually say anything in comments, but seeing those names in the fav/comment feed really gets to me. And believe me, I pay attention to those lists. It's actually really nice to see that most everyone who follows me does in fact favorite my work. I love you guys, seriously.




Now for the second topic of this journal.

The Shadowbolts of EqG 3: Friendship Games.

If you follow me on Tumblr then you would have already seen these designs:


This is my interpretation of the show-version of the Shadowbolts inspired by whatever information I could gather from the promos and toys.

These are the references used:
SBRef1
SBRef2
SBRef3
SBRef4
SBRef5
SBRef6


I'm posting this here as a bit of explnation as to why I design them this way as well as a way for anybody who has other interpretations/information to share so that I may consider and likewise modify my versions. Friendship Games is fairly far away, but that doesn't mean we can't start playing with their designs. As an aside, they were actually pretty fun to put together, especially since they have a fairly clear 'uniform' theme for Crystal Prep. _{And the fact that I myself have a bit of uniform fetish.}

I'll be going through them left-to-right, top-to-bottom.


First off, Lemon Zest. She was one of the easier to put together. Her school uniform is plainly displayed in Ref4, right beside Twilight. The only real issue here were the colors. That whole mess with the gold/white or black/blue dress a couple week ago was completely stupid, but it did show that you can't always trust the colors in a photograph taken in unideal lighting. As such, I used her doll in Ref2 to verify the colors of her dress.

But then her hair comes into play and things start conflicting. Ref1 is the promo picture and clearly shows her with green and cyan-ish hair. Likewise, the big cutout of her in Ref4 shows similar colors. But then, even when adjusted for possible color distortion, the image of her also in Ref4 shows green and yellow-ish hair. Her doll reflects this. Then I noticed the cyan only appears for her anthro-form and is possibly restricted to it, hence my final version of her uses green and yellow.

As for her Cutie Mark, I based it off the symbol on her helmet from the cutout in Ref4.



Next up is Sour Sweet. The easiest. Her colors, up to and including her eyes, are available in a color-correct picture of the packaging of one of her dolls. The only real issue here would be dressing her in her school outfit. Ref5 has right behind the presenter. The colors, though faded, still clearly are hers so the only thing here was translating promo-art to show-art. Her shoes were taken from her doll in Ref2.



Next up is Sugarcoat. At the moment there is no official reference for her school outfit which forced me to take a few liberties. If you notice, the other Shadowbolt's outfits draw inspiration from the Wondercolt's casual outfits. Examples being Sour Sweet and Applejack's top and Sunny Flare and Sunset Shimmer's leather jacket. As such I based Sugarcoat's jacket off of Rainbow Dash's but with a more formal, school-themed flare. Since she's also a biker I figured it best to give her leggings and boots, which were likewise based off Sunset's boots from the My Past is Not Today short.

As for her hair, I did a simpler version of the one shown in Ref1 following some of the stylistic patterns between Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare's appearances in Ref1 and Ref4 and 5 respectively.

Her Cutie Mark appears to be on her cheek in Ref1, but O cannot tell what it is. Even after magnifying and enhancing it as best as I could there still wasn't enough information for me to figure out exactly what it is. Help with this would be greatly appreciated.


As for Sunny Flare, the shape of her hair and her school outfit are quite clearly displayed in Ref5. The most reliable source for her colors are from Ref1. Since the transition from promo to show tends to de-saturate the colors, that's pretty much what I did for her. Her boots, which I have to say must be and absolute bitch to lace, are taken from her doll in Ref2.



We all know who Twilight is, what her colors are and her general appearance. Really, the only thing I had to do for her was put her in a new outfit which is something I've already been doing since I started doing vectors a coupe months ago.



Lastly, the character I have not done. Indigo Zap. There is literally nothing available about her. At first I thought the leftmost doll in Ref4 might be her, but after closer inspection I came to realize that that's just Lightning Dust dressed up as a Shadowbolt. For that, I just blame early marketing errors especially since that was obviously a preview shot for the upcoming dolls.

A more reliable appearance of her is in Ref6.

That's the best I've got. The only thing we know about her is that she has violet hair and, what looks like, yellow skin. Beyond that there is still nothing yet. This is the reason I didn't draw her yet. Anything I make at this point will still amount to nothing more than an OC. If anybody has something relating to her, a comment or link would be really helpful. Thanks.


So that's about it for the Shadowbolts. If you have anything to add or something to say about my version of the designs, please go ahead and comment.





Now for the other stuff.

Third animation is in the works. It'll be the first of a set of three. Not spoiling anything about what it is specifically, but I'll say that I'll be taking first dibs on driving the Friendship Games hype train.



As an aside, I've held a bow and arrow before and I know how to fire them. I have no idea how they're supposed to hold them, though when the tail of the arrow is THAT massive.

For more preview images and the like, follow me on Tumblr.

Oh, and for additional teasing, my stuff always tends to have an accompanying song. This one does too.

In particular, I'm using this:


Yes, it's a waltz piece for a reason.