Episode 11 Update - 05/02/25

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As of a few hours ago, the Scene D animation is now complete. I checked my other scene files, and I couldn't find any major mistakes or errors. This means all character animation for Episode 11 is complete. This officially concludes the "production" stage and marks the beginning of the final stage - "post-production".

I have already sent off Scenes D and C to VFX, and they are in-progress. As well, all the "face" work on my end is complete and the artist is now working on the final draft that will be seen in-episode.

I'm currently rendering out every scene in its current state. After I post this, I'm going to carefully knit all the scenes together into one long sequence that establishes the episode's exact timeline. This copy will serve as a guide for the sound, which will be sent off to my sound and music people.

While my sound people are busy crafting everything, I'm going to go through the entire episode with what I call a "camera" pass. I usually animate the entire episode with very specific camera angles, then at the end, after the animation is complete, I'll re-frame every shot with a slightly more precise camera that takes into account subtle character movements, as well as adding focus and depth of field. I've been doing this since Episode 9, and it allows me to get really cinematic shots with characters that are built around the initial camera position. During this process, I'll probably also make those tiny polishing adjustments with the character movement where needed, depending on what's seen on-screen. This process should be very straight forward, and when I watch these sequences, I can see exactly what it needs, but since this is a 30 minute episode, it's just... a lot... After that, I'll light, then render, then tackle the very last of the special effects. I'm actually wondering who will end up finishing first - me or my sound guys. In any case, giving them the sound copy now will give them ample time.

So this is the home stretch. I want to get this finished in May, but I'm not sure if I can do a Spring release like I intended. I still cannot seem to predict timelines accurately. Some stuff has taken way longer than it seems like it should, while other stuff proves far easier than expected. In March I was a total mess, but in April I started really picking things up and am in a much better place. Life is a series of hills and valleys, I guess. I just hope things continue to go smoothly. I won't try to make predictions just yet for a release, but this is most definitely the final leg of the journey. Thank you all for sticking by me, and for the outpouring of love and support. I really do cherish you guys and your giving me the ability to do this, even when stuff takes far longer than expected.