Thomas M. Watt's Blog, page 5

2023 Early Self Destruction

Happy New Year!

I saw an intriguing video this week by youtuber “Why Files.” His channel is excellent and I watched it grow from 100,000 subscribers to 1,000,000 in one year. He credited much of his growth to the popularity of his YouTube shorts, which eventually influenced the Youtube algorithm to recommend his long form videos.

I am still animating the 30 minute episode I’ve been working on. Considering the success of the Why Files, I am contemplating putting out Youtube shorts on a weekly basis. This would add more work but if I can keep the animated scene simple it may be to great benefit.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little comic. Don’t worry about Ricky too much – he’s that over analyzes everything.

General Thoughts

I’ve got 20 minutes to write this before I attend a work required class. Not enough time to do anything of significance but maybe I can get something out there.

I hate watching days pass as I continue to work on my current project. As I’ve noted throughout, the belief in what I’m doing for the current episode is based in what it may provide for me in the future. I came to a realization that frequency and quantity of content is a better predictor of success than quality alone. If you make a perfect song as a no name artist, you may not have anyone to give it a listen. Pop stars, on the other hand, will have their bullshit replayed over radio waves until even the non-complicit listeners know the words. Film and novels are no different – there are tremendous stories out there that nobody has ever heard of, and maybe never will.

I think about Van Gogh a lot. We all know he was an insanely talented and tormented artist. But what amazes me most about Van Gogh is his inability to sell a painting. He lived in his mind, constantly improving his craft with a non-stop output of material. But his personality was abrasive which I believe led to a lot of personal rejection. I believe Van Gogh thought that strangers would see the magnificence of his work without having a personal relationship with him. Today’s “influencers” are the polar opposite – they don’t produce a product, they’re personality is the product. For me it is proof that the majority of people value social status over the invisible truths – beauty, love, faith. Today Van Gogh is universally praised as an artistic juggernaut because it is the accepted social norm of a view. In his day, I’m certain the common man would respond to his name with a “Who?”.

All this is to say I believe in my current project because it should enable me to produce more content faster in the future. I can return to making music and include a new track in each episode. I can reuse the characters I have already designed, programmed, and replicated in multiple perspectives. The show itself is about ambulance workers – so I don’t see why each episode shouldn’t include an ambulance and a hospital for 75% of the runtime. That means I can reuse backgrounds, which again promotes efficiency.

The lag I have experienced is related to this repeatedly. Reusable background are created in multiple perspectives, as are the dynamic assets within them (passing vehicles, phones, chairs, desks, etc.). But why design one vehicle in 3 perspectives, when you can simply change the color and create 10 vehicles in 3 perspectives? This same thinking applies to everything. Why create a picket fence for the scene at hand and not save it as a PNG with alpha to be reused later? It’s millions of small tasks like this that drain the day. I do not enjoy any of it but stand by my philosophy.

A few days ago I ordered some studio monitors (aka speakers). Last week I purchased a new focusrite interface that will allow me to mix in surround sound. I am extremely excited about this possibilities this provides. Even if I should start mixing other filmmakers work, that might produce better long term results than spending more hours at the job I currently have, which is unrelated to any of this.

Any way, it’s time for me to head out now. Hope all is well and you find joy with your day.

Merry Christmas!

Paramedic Robot Comic #2

I’ve got 18 minutes animated for episode 1 and am nearing the finish line. I’m apprehensive about what the future holds as I still have to do the audio, sound effects, and music. My major new year’s resolution will be delegating jobs to others and disciplining myself to tight deadlines. In the meantime I’m going to accept that creating anything from scratch will always require more time than dragging and dropping the same asset in the future. I’ve enjoyed making these comics and have established a customized template. I intend to create one of these a week and devote no more than 30 minutes to the task. Hope all is well.

Paramedic Robot Comic #1

Paramedic Robot Update #2

Just a quick update – finished animating a major scene that features the above. It was a real pain creating all the background characters. The nurses were a special challenge, as I plan to feature them regularly. 5 different head positions and 4 separate body views is no quick task. I hope to make some major progress in the coming weeks and have this episode wrapped up shortly. One of the major philosophies driving the project is the belief that I will move faster in the future and do not wish to return to fix anything. In other words, animate main characters right the first time, then grab and load the asset in each subsequent scene. Anyways hope your Thanksgiving went well and will try and have more here soon.

To Those Who Dig

A young man frightened his friend when he started to dig. He was convinced he had been blessed with a vision by God, directing him to the location of a ancient treasure chest. He set out to the hills in the early morning and did not return until the late evening. At the end of the first day, he did not find his treasure. His friend scoffed When the young man returned, but was relieved to see him back.

On the second day, the young man dug an additional 8 feet down. His friend was disappointed that he was still stuck on the vision, and asked when they would be able to hang out again. The young man informed his friend that he would not cease until he found his treasure. At the end of the second day, the young man did not find his treasure.

As the young man dug deeper he ran into a problem – the depth of the hole was too great to efficiently transfer dirt and rubble to the surface. The young man set into town to borrow a machine. At the end of the first month, the young man still had not located his treasure.

It was not enough to simply borrow the machine, the young man would discover. Operational challenges impeded his progress. The young man requested operational manuals which he studied in the library. At the end of the first year, he had not found his treasure.

The dig site had become something of intrigue to the rest of the town. While his friend went off and got married, the young man had somehow managed to dig a site with enough acreage that the town’s own mayor came out just to believe it with his own eyes. The mayor informed the young man that the location was perfect for the town’s new amusement park, and the young man’s knowledge of machinery would serve him well as the lead technician. The young man agreed, as long as he was permitted to dig further onward for his treasure. At the end of 5 years, the man still had not found his treasure.

He continued to dig relentlessly, even inventing new machines to assist him in unique challenges. He began filing patents and selling his own inventions to government contracted paleontology organizations. He had grown distant from his friend as the years rolled on, but knew he had children of his own, along a mortgage and lawn that put the other Johnsons to shame. Ten years passed and the man had not found his treasure.

In the twelth year, four months, and three days, the man found something – it was not gold, but it was black as death and runny as syrup. The man had struck oil in a location that he had purchased for pennies. He had never drilled for oil before, but was grateful to discover he was more than prepared to lead a team and purchase the right equipment. His oil business boomed – and soon he had sites throughout North American and even Venezuela. After 15 years, however, the man still had not discovered his treasure.

20 years went by when the man’s friend spontaneously decided to pay him a visit. He himself had fallen on some difficult times. Infidelity had led to the dissolution of his marriage, and that event had its own destructive role in his work performance. He never understood why he had cheated on the woman he had promised his heart, but also knew he his desire to cheat had been suppressed for far too long to write it off as a spontaneous act.

The friend was astonished to learn the man he grew up with now owned the largest skyscraper in all of New York, and the journey to his office would include 3 flights of stairs, 80 stories of elevators, and 3 separate ID checks. But when he entered his office, he saw something that made him forget all the other extravagant sites.

Smack on the desk, in between the friend and the man, was an unmistakable treasure chest – just like in the stories. It had already been pried open and featured gemstones, gold, and rubies. The friend dropped into the seat and placed his hat onto his knee.

“You found it,” he said, shaking his head.

The man nodded and grinned.

“Was it at the same site? You know, right where your vision told you it would be?”

“Oh, no,” said the man. “It was discovered in South America. We were excavating a new drilling site then rammed right into it.”

His friend was silent momentarily, then scoffed. “Jesus. You really had my heart racing there for a second.”

“Why?” said the man.

“Well, I suppose if it was at the site from your dream, that would have meant your vision was real. I suppose I would have to rethink some of my own beliefs. No offense, but I mean, I read the news – you’ve drilled all over the world. It only makes sense you finally found something, it was really just a matter of time. “

The man smiled.

“What are you going to buy with it?” Asked the friend.

“Hmm,” The man said. “I don’t know. I never really thought about that.”

His friend stood sharply and his hat fell to the floor. He grazed his fingers over the gold and jewels and gazed into the sunlight bouncing off the gems.

“Never thought about it! What the hell were you thinking about all that time?” He shouted.

The man plucked one the gold coins from the pile and flipped it into the neurotic grasp of his friend.

“I don’t really know,” said the man, “I guess I was just thinking about how to find it.”

The man turned his gaze to the window and down to the congested streets 80 stories below him. He sighed.

After 20 painstaking, backbreaking years, the legendary man still, had not found, his treasure.

Paramedic Robot: First Stills

I found myself at a crossroads following the completion of “Doctor with the Red Houseware.” I felt it was the most I could do without a reasonable budget.

I knew my next project would require a budget and would ideally be a feature. I felt that going door to door asking for investments would be a painstaking process. I decided rather than enter into a venture that would consume time & emotion, I would be wiser to dedicate my efforts toward expanding my current audience. A large scale audience could be used for leverage when the time came to request funding for a project.

I started thinking about animation and methods I could use to expedite the process while still delivering a marketable product. But no matter how I organized the production, I accepted the fact that the initial development of a variety of assets would require time and dedication.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I am resentful of how long its taken me to get through episode 1. Because I utilize different camera angles for the same thing, I had to create separate character portraits for front, rear, left and right profile views. It sounds simple on the surface, but when you include things like watches and sheers on one wrist or in one pocket it rapidly complicates things – especially when the hand with the watch is capable of holding a variety of objects. Now keep in mind watches have a top and bottom, and I have to apply the same “grabby hand” to all 4 profile views.

I am relieved that I have completed the most time-demanding tasks for the project and can finally begin moving with efficiency. I have developed 13 minutes of animation toward the first episode and the production continues to move faster. My goal is to complete 1 scene in one day. My hypothesis is that if I can develop a new episode each week, or every other week, I will reach an audience. So many bloggers, how to instructors, and reviews gain in popularity due to their ability to constantly produce more content. If you set out to create entertainment for consumers, you typically discover that a quality product is far too demanding to produce with that frequency if you do not have a bankroll.

So I just wanted to provide a brief update for any who cares. I hope that I will be able to post a link to episode 1 here soon. More importantly, I hope to regularly provide new content within the coming months. As the volume of assets grow in my library, so does the ease of building a new background. Hope to update you soon.

Robot Paramedic – First Look

Don’t worry about the mouths or eyes. They look funny because multiple expressions sit atop one another.

I’ve been tirelessly designing an animated web series that I intend to launch before the end of the month. The show is a buddy comedy about Blue, a salty paramedic and Ricky, his enthusiastic robot trainee.

The first episode will be about Blue realizing Ricky was not engineered for immediate success. They will experience their first real call together and it will put Ricky’s to-the-moon expectations through the meat grinder.

I have no intention or desire to be an animator, however I do view it as an effective media for storytelling. I can utilize skills and abilities that I’ve learned through filmmaking, music, and writing to produce short episodes with a high standard of quality. The cool thing about animation is you can constantly reuse assets – facial expressions, backgrounds, character actions. The larger plan is to produce episodes on a weekly basis that allow for greater time efficiency. Once the ball is rolling I hope to write a feature length script. As I build an audience for the show I can use that as leverage for other projects.

Hope all is well and I look forward to updating progress for episode 1 here soon. If you haven’t seen Doctor with the Red houseware yet, feel free to click the link and check it out on TUBI.

Admiral Byrd Video

After a few weeks of learning a few programs, I finally completed my animated project on Admiral Byrd. I hope to start an animated series on short stories soon. Please enjoy the video and check out “Doctor with the Red Houseware” on Tubi.