TET Project Updates - What Am I Working On Going Forward?

Since the last time I did a Project Update Post back in April I've become better organised by finally embracing Get It Done which is, in my opinion, the best of the many time management applications I've tried. #notsponsored.

Anyhow I amalgamated all my task lists into that app so, whilst I can't physically work on every project I've started, thought about, got bored of etc. They're all listed, and at least not forgotten.

So what am I working on over the next few months?

My YouTube Channels (The Extraordinary Tourist & TET Animations)

My original YouTube channel, The Extraordinary Tourist has recently had something of a makeover in order to clearly focus it on my two main interests going forward, Art and Skateboarding. I'm striving to release a video every Tuesday and Saturday and have mostly kept my schedule even if videos have been a day or two late.

The Extraordinary Tourist YouTube Channel.

I mention it here because the channel will feature some crossover with my TET Animations channel. Specifically some of the art I do there may end up featured in animation videos on TET Animations.

Speaking of TET Animations my goal is to release one video every Thursday for that channel focused on some aspect of animation. That could be anything from my own projects through to application reviews and tutorials.

I haven't got into that schedule with TET Animations yet but once I give the channel a makeover in the very near future, expect me to write more posts here featuring my videos from there.

Infinite Monkey Theorem

I am determined to finish Infinite Monkey Theorem which, like Random Testing Unit, went from being a short 1-2 week project to becoming an epic ball and chain burden that just keeps holding on.

I took another look at it, and started to animate more scenes just last week. I'm definitely going to make a push to finish it before I start on any new CrazyTalk Animator projects.

Bat Storm is Moving to iClone 7

I've given up on animating Bat Storm in Muvizu... in fact I've given up on Muvizu since the application won't let me register the license key on the copy I installed on my main work computer (meaning I can't access the character models to make Bat Storm unless I stick to the installation on my laptop that I hate using for animation).

As I reported in this post, I've started creating models for Bat Storm in iClone 7, a 3D animation studio app made by the same company that makes CrazyTalk Animator 3. I've had the full professional version of iClone for years and barely used it. The software is superior to Muvizu in every way, I've got way more content for it so it makes sense to use it for Bat Storm.

I want to make Bat Storm my next animated project after Infinite Monkey Theorem and will hopefully get some more time to develop the character designs in the near future.

More CrazyTalk Characters for my Reallusion Marketplace Store

One of the Random Characters
soon to be a CTA3 Character.

One thing I like more than anything else is character design. Not specifically coming up with designs but, when I randomly doodle something in my sketchbook that looks like it would be a good character for something, I like to develop it up into a character... and then see them animated.

Already on my Extraordinary Tourist Channel I've sketched up two random characters that I want to turn into CTA3, G3 characters for my store. I hope to work on them and others, so that I can slowly stock my store, make some sales, and see what people do with my characters that I don't seem to have time to animate myself.

Other Projects

As I said at the start I've got projects from almost every task list I've created in the last five years entered into my Get It Done task app, so I've got a deep pool of things I've started to draw from. I'll try to feed some of those older projects back into the mix as I get motivated again.

It will be challenging as I'm also working to grow Animation 4 Business and its work load which could be doing a lot more business if the guy who runs it would actually do some marketing and promotion... (that's me. I'm talking about me... and that's what I'm trying to do now).

---o ---o--- o---

For now, that's what's ahead in the immediate future. Hopefully making a video once a week will help with me having content to post here once a week too. Stay tuned!

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 ...

The Family Guy Method - Animating Talking Hand Gestures in Cartoon Animator

Once you start getting into character animation you learn pretty quickly that people don't just speak with their mouths. Hand gestures and movements play a pretty important part of how people communicate too. The problem is, animating hand gestures and movements is extremely time consuming... and who knows what gestures and movements should be used and when? In Reallusion's Cartoon Animator I use pre-animated talking character motions that I chop and move gestures around so the arm and hand movements 'feel' right based on my own understanding of body language (and I also act out dialogue to get a sense of what arm and hand movements I might make with what's being spoken). Recently I came across a video by the creator of Culpamland Extra , an online animated series, in which they briefly outlined how they animate talking using the Family Guy Method. I'd never heard of this, and if you try to search for it online you'll be hard pressed to find anything. So I...

Review: Animaker - 10X Better than other Online Animation Video Making software (#DIY)... or is it?

Animaker's bold claim, right on its homepage is that it's 10X Better than other Online Animation Video Making software (#DIY). Also featured on their homepage is a cool promotional video that's dynamic, full of charming lip synced characters, with high quality animation that matches perfectly to the story being told. If I could make anything even half as good with their studio, I'll at least buy that they're better than most of their competitors. Let's see if they live up to their tagline 'Animated Videos, Done Right!' Animaker is a flash based, cloud animation studio application that gives you access to an entire library of thousands of characters, props, backgrounds, sounds and more, to create almost any kind of 2D animated video. In fact they make the bold claim that theirs is the largest animated library in the world of any similar online application (it's not... or if it actually is, it's not as versatile as other comparable librari...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D...

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...

Software Review: CrazyTalk 8 Pipeline by Reallusion

Reallusion released the newest version of its CrazyTalk software during December 2015 and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a free copy CrazyTalk 8 Pipeline version after buying a truckload of Reallusion content in order to get the special deal. If you're not familiar with CrazyTalk it's basically specialized software for creating and animating talking heads quickly. CrazyTalk 8 extends the original capability of creating a semi 3D head from a 2D image to creating true 3D heads that can be imported into iClone and Reallusion's new 3D Character Creator (Pipeline version only).

The Ultimate Independent Animator's App and Resource List - Animation and Video Life

Image created with Cartoon Animator 4. Being an independent animator is not like a studio animation job. There's so much more to do that is indirectly related to the actual task of animating. Over the years I've sought out many apps, tools, and services that can help me achieve that one single task, expressing myself through animation. Below is my Ultimate Independent Animator's Resource List for 2024 (last updated Oct 2024). It started out as a list of free or low cost apps that could help you in every stage of producing either 2D or 3D animation, and then just kind of grew from there. You may not have been looking for a Time Management App as much as you needed something to get you started in 3D animation but when those commissioned projects start coming in you'll have a head start on maximizing your time. All the apps and services on this list had to meet two main criteria: They had to be useful and relevant to an Indy Animator/artist. The base app/se...

Animation and Video Life

Search This Blog