Ep1 Pt4 Bat Storm: Financial Crisis on GoAnimate

It was a long time coming and a whole lot of thinking time too but Episode 1, Part 4 of Bat Storm: Financial Crisis is finally here. This is the exciting conclusion.

Of course, if you haven't seen Episode 1, Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3, clicking those links will take you to their respective blog posts where you'll find that episode.

In this final part, Bat Storm and Bat Flash follow the clues and close in on their man. With the reward money for the safe return of the missing girls back in their sights it seems financial prosperity will soon be theirs... or will it?

Ep 1 / Pt 4 Bat Storm: Financial Crisis by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Part of the reason it took so long for me to make this fourth installment was finding a 'family friendly' motivation for James (a.k.a. the Jokester's employee Jokester). I didn't want this episode to go down that dark path where the two girls got hurt in any way so I came up with this idea that the Jokester i.e. James had, at some point, met each girl and convinced them to go on a 'fun adventure holiday'.

Knowing how precious parents can be with their kids James anticipates a reward will be offered which he will then collect when he shows up with the girls at the police station in his regular street clothes. Hence all the time the girls have been missing they've been having a lot of fun in order to stay co-operative.

Don't analyse James' plan too closely. I know it's riddled with plot holes and not thought through particularly well. I'll put it down to James not being a master criminal. I mean, he panics when he sees Bat Storm instead of holding his ground and feeding Bat Storm the story he was going to tell the Police.

The other difficulty I had was laying down a trail of clues for Bat Storm to follow in order to find James. In the end they get lucky but at least it's 'believable lucky' as they were already in James' neighborhood.

Back in my post on part 2 I eluded to some proof that I made up this script as I went along. If you look at the Jokester in the hospital scenes in Part 4. Take a close look at his face - and compare it with the Jokester in the hospital in part 2 you'll see that in part 2, it is actually the real Jokester at the hospital and not the James Jokester.

Back in Part 2 I had no idea of the events in part 3 and especially not in part 4. If I had the Jokester at the hospital in part 2 would have been the James Jokester. I didn't make the James Jokester until I started work on Part 4.

Again there's not too much custom flash work in this apart from James' mini van, which I also used in Pimp My Ride, and a new version of the bat grappling hook so Bat Storm could spin it around and then throw it.

I'm surprised no one so far has picked me up and wondered how Bat Storm suddenly is holding a grappling hook? I'm hoping most people just assume he pulled it out of his utility belt - as Batman would.

Over all I like how this part came together. With so many characters it could easily turned into a confusing mess but everyone's story seems to wrap up nicely. I particularly like how I was able to bring Super Charge and Charge Girl back into the action in a way that made sense - due to having already established that Super Charge is not only watching Bat Storm's movements but actively interfering in his ability to fight crime.

Although I haven't really met my original goal of writing a long episode quickly (the whole episode was meant to conclude in January!) I do think I've shown I can write a good, funny story for a sitcom length cartoon. However, I don't think I'll really have proven this until I have a few more episodes complete.

I had a great time making this and I do intend to write a second episode. After all, I bet you're itching to find out if Bat Storm buys that truck!

Comments

Eight 2D Animation Apps For Your Phone or Tablet Mobile Device

M obile productivity apps have become so capable that they can be great alternatives to their PC/MAC equivalents or serve as great tools in their own right when you're away from your desk. While some apps simply mimic their desktop counterparts, others offer well thought out, touch-friendly interfaces that are easier and more fun to use. Every so often I check out what's available for 2D animation for Android devices, since that's what I use, that can complement my workflow with Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 5. Some may be available for Apple devices as well. Below I've listed six free (F) apps (with optional paid (P) upgrades) on the Google Play Store that you might want to explore. Some are just fun apps on their own while others may be useful as part of your workflow on bigger animation projects. Not all are exclusively animation apps and could be used on any production. JotterPad (F/P) The name JotterPad makes this sound like a notepad application but it's ...

Infinite Monkey Theorem Animated Short - Part 5

Scene 2 from my storyboard, Infinite Monkeys. Work on my Infinite Monkey animated short is definitely back on track since my last update and my previous part 4 post . To get things moving again I've decided not to spend time creating a final draft storyboard that uses all the actual props and characters. This is something that you'd generally do if you were planning to show the storyboard to someone else for feedback. At this point I'm not planning to do that so I'm going bypass it and create and animate each scene as I go, saving a bit of time.

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 2 - Inochi2D Session)

In part one of my deep dive into the free VTuber software, Inochi2D , I focused mainly on Inochi2D Creator, which is used for rigging your character avatar in the correct file format for use with Inochi2D Session, the puppeteering part of the software. The two sides of the software are still very much in development and the documentation, particularly for Session, is very thin on the ground. To the point where I don't think I could even do a comprehensive tutorial because I'm not sure I'm even doing things right, and the software could change significantly in a single update. As a result, in this part of my Inochi2D deep dive I'm changing tact from presenting my finished Cartoon Animator TET Avatar, and will be summarizing my experience of getting Session up and running using OpenSeeFace as the recommended webcam motion capture software. To do this I will be using the TET avatar I created in my review of Mannequin , since that can be exported as a full, ready to go r...

Prome AI Sketch Render Tool - Your Tradigital Clean Up and Colorist Artist for Character and Background Design

Random character head, Biro sketches drawn by TET (left). Render by PromeAI (right) using Prome's Sketch Render tool set to 'Comon:Cartoon, Render Mode: Outline'. W hile I don't do New Year Resolutions, one of my plans for the year ahead is to do more of my own art. Specifically character design drawn in an actual, physical sketchbook. To that end, I have been spending the last half hour of most days drawing a page or two of random biro sketches in my sketchbook and posting the pages to my Instagram account (this link will take you to one of my posts). These sketches are mostly practicing my skills because I don't really draw regularly anymore. Here is a tip, if you do this kind of sketching, and push yourself to keep doing it, you will see many drawings that could be taken further, even if you don't have anything they're suited for just at the moment. Which is where my second favorite AI Image Tool (after Leonardo.ai ) PromeAI comes into play. PromeAI ...

Wonder Unit Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software for People Who Can (or Can't) Draw

Wonder Unit Storyboarder. As an independent and solo animator I'm always tempted to try and skip storyboarding my animated shorts because they're usually only single scene sketch comedy type jokes. As a result I have many unfinished projects that kind of petered out due to having no clear finishing line. Storyboarding your productions, no matter how small, gives you a step by step guide of every shot that needs to be completed (no planning shots as you animate). It also allows you to create an animatic that gives you a rough preview of the finished production. In short, you shouldn't skip storyboards as they, generally, increase the chance of the project being completed. Disclaimer - I'm Not a Fan of Storyboarder Upfront, Wonder Unit's Storyboarder is not my preferred storyboarding software. However it's completely free, has a number of very compelling featu...

How to Become a Virtual YouTuber (VTuber) - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar

Young TET VRoid Avatar in VSeeFace. In a previous YouTube video I demonstrated how you could use a webcam, Cartoon Animator and its MotionLive 2D Facial Capture system to create a virtual avatar that you could perform live during a live stream. Unfortunately the motion capture performance of this system is very average to say the least, and is even more expensive if you want to add hand motion capture via a Leap Motion Controller . This lead me down a rabbit hole of seeing what other solutions are out there, where I bumped into the world of the VTuber or Virtual YouTuber (creators who puppet and voice an on camera avatar instead of appearing on camera themselves). Specifically VTuber software, which has been a real eye opener for how expensive and far behind Reallusion's upper body motion capture system actually is. The VTuber world is heavily entrenched in the world of Anime so you'll see a lot of 2D and 3D avatars in this style. If fact, if an Anime avatar is your thing, y...

Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 Released - Not So Crazy Anymore

If you're the kind of 2D animator that needs to get high quality work out fast then you should be taking a serious look at Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 because that is the key feature that informs almost everything this application is capable of. Formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator 3, the release of Cartoon Animator 4 (CA4) reveals an application that goes out of its way to make high end 2D puppet rig and motion graphic animations easier to create quickly, and as intuitively as possible. That's not to say there isn't a learning curve but another great strength of CA4 is that you won't get lost in a sea of icons, tools, menus and more. The initial user interface is less complicated and more logically laid out than one may have used to put together a powerpoint presentation.

Animation and Video Life

Search This Blog