Image via Wikipedia

Now that Blender 2.57 has been released – a stable/production-worthy version completely re-written from the ground up — more people are considering it for their projects.

I have been tinkering with it for years, and am now using it for Crawler,  so I had planned to write an article about how I learned this amazing (and free) piece of software, but it looks like Blender Cookie beat me to it. They just posted the Blender Community Starters Guide, a comprehensive guide to the who, what, where, when, and why of learning Blender. Of course I recommend Blender Cookie itself as a good starting place for training. They have free streaming video tutorials covering most topics you need to get started, and plenty more for advanced users. They also have exclusive content for a modest fee. If after visiting their site, as well as the others on the list, you still don’t know what Blender’s all about, maybe you should consider another line of work (or hobby). 

Blender 2.5 Screenshot

Related articles

• Blender 2.57 Released (talesfromthecellar.com)
• Get a Daily dose of Blender Knowledge (dreamsgate.wordpress.com)
• Blender 2.5: Blend File Preview (mostly3d.wordpress.com)
• New version of Blender released, learning curve no longer a brick wall (thenextweb.com)

Rob Long at Smash or Trash Indie Filmmaking published a detailed article that documents the long journey that we at Timewarp Films have traveled in our quest to complete Don Dohler‘s last film. It’s been a tough road, but the end is in sight.

Timewarp Films is pleased to announce that Brian Anderson, the owner and operator of ADF Studios, has joined the post-production effort for the long-anticipated Crawler.

Anderson brings a fresh perspective, and a much-needed dose of enthusiasm to a project that has been on the back burner for longer than I care to admit. But Brian is hitting the ground running, which allows me to shift focus to completing the final edit, sound design, and other post-production activities — confident that his VFX tasks will be completed.

On Sunday, we had our first production meeting. We watched the rough cut of the film in order to assess the scope of tasks involved. What immediately struck him while watching was how the film has an X-Files feel to it; something I never noticed. We brainstormed about the potential for additional scenes for the creature that will help round out the story. This was something Don and Joe had hoped for during pre-production.

After viewing, we discussed the workload. There’s a lot to do, but we agreed it’s well within our reach. We will start with an updated creature design. Much of the original concepts will remain, but given the improved technology, and Brian’s fresh take, I think we hashed out some great ideas. More on that in a future post.

I’m very excited to have Brian on board. He brings to the table an extensive resume of freelance work, including the visual effects for two feature films (Ninjas vs. Zombies and Ninjas vs. Vampires), as well as a reputation for speed and quality.

One additional piece of news. When we discovered several gaps in the musical score, Justin Timpane, who composed the original score, offered to add additional tracks and re-mix existing ones.

My buddy Rob at Smash or Trash posted a very nice write-up about the projects we at Timewarp have going on. Check it out here.

timewarp films, filmmaking, horror

A while ago, an artist posted what he called a “mood map” along with his latest creation. It was filled with images that served as references, but also as inspiration. I thought that was a great idea. So, I decided to do the same for the redesign of the Crawler. This is what I came up with.

I know a lot of folks–cast and crew, as well as Timewarp fans–have been wondering when (and if) it would ever be finished. Well, the FX will be completed, and I’m shooting for the end of this year.

A lot of work has has already been done, and some FX are in the can. But one thing I plan to do is rework the look of the creature. While Don and Joe were okay with it, I was never completely satisfied. And I think now that my skills have improved and the tools available are simply amazing (I’ll be using the current version of ZBrush–check out the mind-blowing gallery), I want to go for something that will WOW people. Don always said that the creature would make of break the movie, and I don’t want to let him down.

Over the last few months, in addition to finishing Sealed Fates, I’ve been ramping up my CG skills to get ready. I hope to have the new Crawler ready by sometime in June, then fully rigged to animate by August. That leaves several months to do the rest.

I plan to post updates as much as possible with stills, clips, etc. So, stay tuned.

vfx, don dohler, crawler, zbrush, cgi

Last week my friend Rakesh (back center of the picture), a fellow FX artist and Goju karate instructor left for the west coast. Even with free long distance, e-mail, and occasional visits, I’ll still miss him.

We met through a Lightwave user group several years ago, and became fast friends. The group sort of fizzled out, but we had so much in common, we continued working on and discussing CGI on our own. In fact, I recruited him to work on Timewarp‘s CGI-heavy feature Crawler. Work has been slow-going, but he’s made progress–and he insists he wants to keep working in spite of the distance. I’m holding you to that, bud.

One day about 4 years ago, we discovered that we were both long-time martial artists, and he was an instructor. The timing couldn’t have been better for me, because I was in between schools and looking for a place to train. His school, a Kodokan flavor of Goju Ryu located in D.C., was run out of a small activity room in an apartment complex. It was a little bit of a trek from Rockville, but worth it. At that time, there were only 3 regulars, including the two of us, so the small space suited us. And it was great training again.

I actually came from a completely different style, Shorinji-Ryu, a Japanese style (Goju is Okinawan.) Boy did I have a lot to learn… or, rather, unlearn. But Rakesh was up to the challenge of dealing with an old warhorse that was a little set in his ways. And with the help of the other instructors, Josh (bottom right), Jay (back, second from the left) and Vu (back, second from the right), I was able to make the transition.

Thursdays became a night-long ritual of training for 2 hours, then dinner (where we’d talk about movies, computer geekery, and Goju, of course), and then more chatting by one of our cars. There were several nights that I didn’t get home until 1 or 2AM. That made for an unproductive Friday at work.

It’s about 4 years since I joined, and our school has really grown. Among the regulars are Sampak (bottom, second from the left), Johann (back left), John-Joseph (back right), and James (bottom left). We also have several part-time students and two more black belts. And we added two more weekly classes on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Sometimes we train outside on Saturdays if the weather is nice.

Of course, the activity room has started to show its size, or lack thereof. As I said, it’s small and we share the room with 2 couches, a treadmill, and 3 tables. It’s not so bad when we’re all doing the same thing, but we often get in each other’s way when we branch off. And don’t get me started on the parking. But that doesn’t stop us. After all, we’re Samurai. Inconvenience matters, not.

But the absence of a friend does matter. I’m sure we’ll feel the effect, at least for a while. It’s certainly the greatest challenge to our Samurai persistence. But I think I speak for all of us in wishing Rakesh Sensei well, and we look forward to his occasional return for a class.

A lot, actually.

First, and foremost, I became a daddy. ZOMG I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT! She’s so tiny and sweet and cute and…okay, I could go on for hours. Suffice it to say my wife and I couldn’t be happier.

And did I mention she’s cute?

Anyway, when I’m not feeding her or changing her or just holding her for the hell of it, I’ve managed to find some time to work on several tasks, some for Timewarp, some just for me.

I submitted a full-length script to Final Draft’s Big Break Competition. The deadline was June 15th and I just squeaked in at the last minute. Many thanks to those who proofread and offered feedback; I missed a few embarrassing typos.

I’ve heard mixed things about screenwriting contests in general, but I wanted to give it a shot so I could see how my writing compares to other potential screenwriters–at least in the eyes of the Big Break judges. If I place, I’ll be ecstatic, not to mention the nice prizes they offer. And if some A-list prod. co. is interested in the script, awesome! Final Draft, in case you’re wondering, is one of the premiere screenwriting packages on the market. It’s used by many industry professionals, and is my software of choice. “Just add words,” is so true.

I’ve also been working on the Dead Hunt DVD set due to be released this summer (We’re hoping to have copies for sale at Horrorfind in August). This is the most ambitious DVD project I’ve worked on. The 2-disk set will have 2 audio tracks for the feature (including commentary), a stills gallery, alternate endings, bloopers, making of, and even an Easter egg. I have a few more tweaks, then it’s off to the presses. For those interested, I’m again using DVD Lab Studio for the authoring.

Finally, I’ve started research for a new feature I’m writing for Timewarp (while I am a wannabe Hollywood screenwriter, I do write for our low-budget film company.) I’m looking into the world of Military Special Forces, so to say the film will be action-oriented is an understatement. But don’t worry, it will have plenty of suspense and horror as well.

And for those eagerly awaiting news about Crawler, fret not, for my team and I will be picking up the pace once the Dead Hunt DVD is completed.

Since Don Dohler’s passing last December, we at Timewarp Films have been contemplating our next steps. To that end, we’ve been holding (and will continue to hold) monthly production meetings to discuss our goals, plans, ideas, gripes, and whatever else. You can read about our new production staff, and some of our initial plans here.

Needless to say, we’re all excited about our future prospects. While I can’t go into details, I would like to mention a little about what’s on our slate.

First, we will continue to work on Crawler, and plan to complete it soon. We’re finishing the last two scenes with the monster, about 7 or 8 shots, and then we have some miscellaneous FX shots, one scene to cut, some sound effects, and maybe a little tweaking (though we’re not messing with Don’s edit). That’s it!

Then, our first new project is a 3-part anthology, with a common theme threaded throughout. A first draft is completed for the first segment, and we’ve cemented the ideas for the second and third. We’re hoping that working on 3 short films will help our new team develop a synergy that will carry over into our upcoming feature-length stuff.

Speaking of feature length, we have 5 potential projects in the queue, all horror/thriller oriented: A zombie/action movie, a vampire movie with religious elements, a serial-killer movie, a supernatural thriller, and vampire movie that begins during WWII. That’s enough projects to cover the next 6-8 years. So we’ll definitely be busy.

Featured in this shot are actors Darla Albornoz and Justin Timpaine.

Only two more scenes to go. Yipee!!

Last week I finished what I called the “pivotal” scene. It’s pivotal for two reasons. First, the good guys face off against the creature for the first time. Second, it was the most challenging scene to complete. Ironically, though, the shot I expected to be the most difficult of the whole film, a shot that required a major on-screen alteration to the creature, lots of tiny particles flying around, and direct interaction between an actor and the Crawler, only took a day to complete.

While working on the scene, an issue that came up a couple of times, including the shot shown above, was dealing with continuity problems. It’s hard enough dealing with them when editing, but when you add into the mix the placement of CG elements after the fact, it opens up a whole other can of worms, or Crawlers in this case. Since we didn’t initially plan to use CG for the Crawler, we hadn’t planned the shots to the level of detail needed for adding CG. We basically winged it. Luckily, however, we decided to film with traditional editing in mind, as opposed to the style adopted by many newer Hollywood directors, the long, motion-filled shots with no cuts. The traditional way uses frequent cuts from various angles: wide, mid, closeup, etc., while maintaining proper stage direction. Thus, a lot was fixed in editing before we even got the CG elements. But, as you can see in the above shot, while Darla and Justin should be looking directly at the creature’s eyes, it appears that Justin is looking at the creatures throat (if it actually has one); they have two different lines of sight.

Oops.

I dealt with this by making a choice: I set to Darla’s line of sight. Since she’s holding a shiny canister, she draws the eye more than Justin. Well, okay, she’d draw the eye more anyway.

Most of the continuity problems we faced were minor, and for some I did my due diligence as a post-production artist and “fixed them in post”. The rest we’ll live with as all filmmakers do.