Blueshift City – Act 1 Complete

It was a long time coming.

Act 1 is finally complete.

Please let me know what you think

Milestone – All lyrics and melodies written!

Huge step reached late last night. All the words and melody for the words are completely written! So the rest is just recording for the first act. It’s taken a while to get to this point, it feels good to reach it though.

Lyrics Sample

Lyrics Sample

Sequencing time and animation notes

Not long now.

Progress Report – Music

It’s been a couple of months and I’ve written just under half the music required for the first act. It really is taking much longer than I anticipated. I thought I would share some of the music.

It’s quite lively high paced music which I think suits this opera quite well. Quite a high BPM and loud snares which just sound good.

I still want to complete the first act before the New Year. I’m doubtful though. Might be a Jan treat instead…

On Walking

The opera is taking shape and the end of the first act looks like it is within reach. The amount of work required to get this opera working is surprising.

This post is just a way of showing more the how-to side rather than the finished article.

I decided to cover an important part of the opera. Walking. As I am doing this opera almost frame by frame, it quickly became apparent that I would need a way to make them walk, sit, stand and a whole host of other things. I needed a way of taking a static picture of a character and changing it so that it looked like they was moving and walking. A walking generator was what I needed.

After searching online I found the perfect Walking Generator that is easy to use, malleable and works perfectly for 2D animation.

WCEdit Application

The way the character walks is entirely customisable within XML. After a bit of educated guessing and some trial and error, I was able to get my characters walking from entirely static images.

Sgt. Adams Walking

Jean strutting her stuff

The program is also capable of having characters walking towards the screen. I like that the program can do that but am not sure if it will be implemented in this project. It feels that a character walking towards the viewer could feel unnerving and change the opera from voyeuristic to an almost forced claustrophobic interaction. We shall see at any rate.

Hope to have another update as regular about my progress soon.

BlueShift City Update #3

Apologies for the lack of update. Updating this blog every month was the plan, but maybe every other month will prove more flexible and fruitful. Documenting these steps is useful.

Found him!

There is progress, of course. But it’s coming a lot slower than previously imagined. The second section of the first act (1-2) is almost done. The third section of the first act feels considerably shorter than the first two sections, but that will have be seen in time.

Landing the StarShip

This man looks dangerous!

Slowly, the opera is coming to life. It is doubtful that the entire opera will be completed this year. I will release each act separately, then once all parts are complete, it will be rolled into one super-long HD video. Here is just a taste.

Dressed to impress

BlueShift City Update #1

I’ve written a operatic script called a libretto that describes the story of BlueShift City in some detail. I’m just continuing to go over the main story and may make some minor changes to the main script but the idea exists in the most part, in writing. This opera has 3 acts. I’ve decided to further sub-divide each act into 3 parts to further aid storytelling and music writing for me. I’m currently working on the the first third of act one. I think by doing this sub-division of the opera, I would be better placed to judge timing and get a better sense of how things run and timing.

For a lot of the imagery and looks I only had to look at some NES flight sim games like Top Gun and and see how the cockpit was constructed so the gamer felt immersed in the game. I also looked at several space fan art to get some ideas about how lighting on planets should look and relative distance between different planets.

Below are some of the screenshots that have come about from some of the work I’ve been doing.

The Planets with the Starship barely visible

The Starship in empty space

Inside the Starship in the cockpit

Starship flown by a barely visible character first seen in BlueShift City Intro

I’m continuing my minimum monthly update schedule to record and log my updates and hope to show you more next month regarding characters moving. Something I’ve found to be somewhat tricky to try and resolve.

Engine Heart: Origin (Part 5)

Last post before the New Year.

I’ve completed the fifth video for Engine Heart. This completes this saga for the time being. There is scope to create more videos for this character, but I think my future interest lies in new projects for next year.

I’ve done quite a few animations this year and hope to continue with this next year. More stories with musical accompaniment using animations that remind me of my childhood.

Let me know what you think.

Engine Heart: Origin (Part 3)

Hi, it’s been a while. Had some job difficulties…but they seem to have resolved themselves quite happily.

Another video complete. Engine Heart part 3. The continuing tale of a man confronting love and the obstacles that get in the way. The music isn’t my best work. I had a ton of rough recorded ideas that just got wiped. Was so annoyed…but what can you do? That’s why you should always backup your data.

So below is the video. Let me know what you think.

New Video – Through The Motions

It’s been a while.

Been working on this latest video and it’s taken quite some time. Inspiration has been taken from the NES game series Ninja Gaiden to include movie style scenes around normal gameplay. It adds more to the video. I think. Closeups and thoughtful commentary.

This video includes changing from daytime to evening, ‘cinematic’ cut scenes and is loosely based on not having any money. It was the little things that took the most amount of time. Making sure the cut scenes were clear and embedding them into the story in a meaningful way.

The audio was originally created on a bass guitar then programmed into a Gameboy then recorded. The audio will be used in the next SoundCloud upload I complete. Getting better at this kind of thing.

Enjoy.

New Music Uploaded

Just uploaded a new track on SoundCloud. Click on the link below to listen. It’s a bit different to the first track I uploaded. It’s a bit different but that low tempo, introspective Synthpop thing is something I am interested in. Thought I’d try to write like that.

Soon there will be a video for the instrumental version of this track uploaded to YouTube and on here. The working title for my next YouTube video is Through The Motions.

The track was written and played on a Gameboy, an 80’s synth and my voice. Enjoy.