Friday, May 13, 2005

particleIllusion too!

YAAAAY! I finally got the actual non-demo version of particleIllusion! I also made a short clip with it, but it's 12.1 MB so I'll save it for a compilation DVD or something.

After Effects

After effects finished downloading before I got up this morning, and I can definitely say it's WAY more versatile than Flash. Especially because I can import what I've done from it into a Flash movie, and vice versa (though I wish I could get something that worked better than Camtasia Studio for a reasonable price.) My only problem is that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I'm learning bit by bit, and I finally finished a 10-second movie. You can view it at this link, which is pretty small considering how high-quality it is.) After I learn how to use it, for DVDs I may completely switch to just After Effects and particleIllusion, leaving Flash for web-based toons.

One more thing: I said I would introduce my characters, so I'll start off with Nicholas, as he was first. Or maybe I'm a little biased as he was created in my likeness. XD

NOTE: I am having trouble getting the picture up here. I'll edit this post later with his image.
This is one of the three main protagonists, Nicholas. Despite what most people who have read my comic books think, he IS NOT ME, as I made clear in Survivor: Folletto Island. He is a character BASED on my qualities who lives in a universe parallel to ours, which also has several other people who live in our universe or based on people who live here, including my sisters, my parents, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Probst, Howard Stern, and Nicole Kidman's evil clone.

I was wrong!

Well, I thought Aqua Teen Hunger Force was made using Flash, Photoshop and particleIllusion, but it doesn't actually use Flash at all. I assumed it was as it looks like it is, and quite a few other shows on [adult swim] are made with Flash. Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers, Sealab 2021 (I think, though I could be wrong as I was about ATHF), Home Movies, and maybe some others I'm forgetting. I am currently downloading the trial for Adobe After Effects, which is used in lieu of Flash, and from how it's described I can see it's going to be great. Unfortunately, it probably won't be finished until after I go to bed.

So far, I have only my CafePress shop I made to buy my own products from listed as my website, at http://www.cafepress.com/enthalpy, but I'd prefer to have my own domain soon. At least a .TK domain. However, I'd need to find a free host with good uptime and great bandwidth allowance. HAHAHAHA, like that'd ever happen. XD

I feel I should probably post information about the characters my stories revolve around, along with pictures, because at this point anyone that might possibly be reading this blog other than me (a.k.a. my father and whoever else he sends the link to my blog out to) would have no idea what Nicholas's Weird Adventures is. I will post some information about these things tomorrow probably.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Background Information

Well, I've been working with new effects in Photoshop that I learned from tutorials on www.good-tutorials.com, and I can do ATHF-style backgrounds quite easily. I'll probably do my backgrounds William's Street-style from now on. Here's an example of an Aqua Teen Hunger Force-style house that I made from scratch:

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Monday, May 09, 2005

Salutations, Nicholas.

I'm mainly just talking to myself right now, as I haven't revealed that this blog exists to anyone else, and this is mainly just for myself anyway. I tried a blog before and promptly stopped after two posts, but I think this will work out better as it is mainly a production blog as opposed to a blog about my life. I will post every once in a while with content based on Nicholas's Weird Adventures, a.k.a. Enthalpy. So far, I am working toward hopefully getting my characters on TV. I've submitted a pitch board to Frederator Studios for Oh Yeah! Cartoons's new season, though they're getting hundreds if not thousands of pitches and, while I may have as much of a chance as anyone else, it's like a lottery. I've recently gotten a DVD burner, which works spectacularly, as well as Particle Illusion. In the mean time before/unless I get on TV, I intend to start actually getting into animating Flash movies about the characters Nicholas, Udesky, Charles, Piggly Oink, occasionally maybe Ambrose Kerry, and perhaps a cameo of Tom. I am very experienced at Flash, though I've not really gotten used to animating these characters. I've only really put them in one full Flash movie, and that was my Alexander the Great report at Trinity Valley, not to mention it used different character models. My current ones are much better and much more versatile, as I've gotten a drawing pad since then. Once I get used to them, I hope to get up to the animation quality of, say, Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.