Category: Video

Seeing as it is the most expensive and technologically advanced SpaceBase yet, it seems fitting that we take a tour of some of the latest gismos and gadgets available to its crew.  In this installment, we’ll focus on the Communications Room.

The Comm Room is of a fairly simple design, featuring at its center the communications window.  A top of the line Organic MicroCrystal Display augments the clear polyfiber window in order to render a WQSXGA (3200 x 2048) resolution image.  Streaming video calls are piped in through a specially constructed satellite array orbiting the moon.

A conference with SpaceBase: Beta or SpaceBase: Omega is as simple as navigating the HC6 interface on the comm room control panel using gestures, touch, or voice.  The latest HC6 OS has been specially designed by the software engineers at SUMO Inc. subsidiary InterTech.  The GUI allows for dynamic manipulation of data, video streams, and lunch delivery orders.

Around the room are controls for a variety of SB:I’s systems.  A pressure valve allows for emergency aquafication should computer AI subsystem fail-safes ironically fail to activate.

Door and security hatch controls respond to touch, voice, and motion using InterTech’s HC4 mobile OS.  To leave or enter a room, simply walk up to the threshold to open the doors.  Alternatively, you may touch the panel or simply say, “Computer, open door.”  Door panels also hold up to 2000 hours of music purchased from the proprietary Inter-Tunes store.

Finally, each room of SB:I is equipped with a euxygen system sensor.  Malxygen readings are taken once every four minutes and compared with the central scrubber system in the basement.  Hazard indicators will sound if malxygen reaches unsafe levels.

More animation tests next week?  Maybe!

-Mike

So we further delved into our non-existant arts and crafts background by starting work on the sets for SpaceBase:Infinity. As you can see from these pics, the Comm Room is starting to take shape. First came the color scheme:

As you can see, the walls were clearly more suited to be grey, in order to contrast the star-field we will show through the windows. And that brings us to SB:I The Making Of, Pt. 2…

I worked on scavenging parts for props/decor:

While Mike rediscovered his knack for high school trigonometry:

And look, we even caught Stack Dump hard at work crunching numbers as well!

-Steve & Mike

 

Last week, we spent three hours recording about 350 frames of animation for the “Quick fox” bit.  After some quick calculations, we realized that at 15 fps and ~20 minutes in length, the pilot episode of SpaceBase: Infinity would take us about 155 hours to animate.  If we average four hours per week, it would take us all the way through the end of 2012 to complete this first episode.  And keep in mind we haven’t even starting voice recording sessions yet… or made bodies for our characters’ heads… or built the sets… or purchased materials to build the sets…

And so, the corner-cutting begins.  Feast your eyes on computer generated mouths!

-Mike

Prior to rocking out to Minstrels and Company, we plunged into the depths of mouth-animation ocean, devoured no fewer than five fried cod balls (get your mind out of the gutter,) and were visited by the phantom hands.

In this 22 second scene, we have Cliff and Nat.  Distressed and out of breath, Nat is trying to tell Cliff that something is once again wrong with the dog.  As it turns out, a quick fox has jumped over him!  See if you you can count how many phantom hands were able to hide themselves during “recording” and then show up only when we try to render the whole scene!

-Mike

Sunday was another productive day for the SGP crew!

We managed to create the head designs for all of the characters. However, due to our lack of baking skillz, we left the heads in a little too long and some came out with cracks. We were able to patch them so not all is lost, plus now that we have the general ideas in tangible form it shouldn’t be too bad to fashion some replacement heads.

Throughout the day we did some filming and threw together the beginnings of our protracted making of documentary. Or maybe its a video blog (VLOG??). However you say it, I’m sure it will provide the masses with insights into our meticulous creative process.

Here are some work in process pictures for the heads:

-Steve

First we make the robot…

Then we animate the robot…

-Mike and Steve

The pilot script is complete.  We’ll be sending this word cloud out to the voice actors shortly so they can prepare.  Click to enhance.

Time to buy various types of clay and roll them into snakes.

-Mike and Steve

Well folks,

Another weekend has passed, and another writing session down. The script for SpaceBase:Infinity is coming along nicely, and should be wrapped up in the near future. Until we have something more substantial for you to sink your teeth into, take a gander at these cool “story board” drawings done by Mike:

As Mike stated in the last post, this whole project is a rather new undertaking for us. Continue reading SpaceBase:Infinity Update – Storyboards

We’re far enough along with our new project that at this point, I feel like we can reveal a taste and update what we’ve done without fear of us giving up in the next few weeks.  It is with this in mind that I can finally announce the new Small Glowing Pig production: SpaceBase: Infinty.

Continue reading SpaceBase: Infinity