The Official Stormscape Creations Blog

Happy Holidays

2008-12-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

In light of the change in direction that my work has taken, I've decided to do something I thought I'd never do. I'm going to release a script.

As my holiday gift to you, I am posting the partially completed script for The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Three. That's right, partially completed, so its going to cut off half way through, but what is there should resolve most of the "WTF?" from Chapter Two.

How to read it:
>> indicates a camera cut and the description of the shot.
Bold Text indicates dialog, or a scene description.
Italic Text indicates action.

The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Three Partial Script

It is still my hope that I will actually complete this movie some day, but I don't know when that will be, so here is my thanks for your patience.

Happy Holidays!

PHP, CSS, XHTML, and a lot of Mountain Dew

2008-10-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

Alright so I'm kidding about the last one.

So you're all probably wondering what I've been doing all this time. The new Moviestorm project is coming together slowly from several angles. Currently, I am working on the website where this new project will find its home. I have a domain name and a skeleton site up and running, with most if not all of the photoshop and layout work done, as well as signing up to display "Ads By Google." Now for the hard part; I don't know the first thing about MySQL.

On another front, I've been saving funds for the dual purchase of Sony ACID Pro, and Particle Illusion. And learning how to use both. Original Music and Original Special FX are both part of the plan.

On another front, I have the first four episodes of the series scripted, though I've been in programming-mode and haven't worked on them in a while, though with my track-record, I want as much of the writing done before I officially start, as possible.

On yet another front that I haven't really explored as much as I should, I've been toying with Moviestorm itself, getting a feel for the program. There are more limits than my imagination would like, but them's the breaks. It is a new product and additional features are being patched in all the time. I've also made a point to invest in all the content packs available for Moviestorm, assuring the maximum possible library of assets.

And all in between I've been doing my share of scattered ADD behavior. Well, sort of. I've been playing a little WoW (to level inscription), I've been working on a couple of old writing projects, and vastly enjoying my PS3.

A Great Paradigm Shift

2008-08-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, that script for The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Three sure is taking longer than I thought it would. It is already far longer than the script for chapter two, and barely half done. Unfortunately, the promised release date of September is officially a no-go, as The Thaenor Chronicles (as well as all other WoW machinimating) will be taking a back seat to a massive new serial project.

Why? Several reasons.
Firstly, with the passage of my 19th birthday, it has hit me that I really need to look to my future, and machinimating in WoW precludes ever profiting from my work.
Secondly, I truly feel I can take my art to a new level with this new project, not only creatively, but with a business model I have an excuse to invest in more complex tools.
Lastly, once on its feet, this path will leave me with enough free time to finish The Thaenor Chronicles. Believe me, I want to see the next movies finished more than you do.

This new serial project will be created using the Moviestorm engine, and will run one 10-minute episode every two weeks for twenty episodes per year on a dedicated website.
The target launch date is January 5th, 2009.

The Showdown

2008-07-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the mind-blowing sound design of Caruu, the first installment of Showdown is complete, and up on Alicia's youtube page. We had a lot of fun making it so look out for more in the future. Maybe. If we feel like it.

As for the third chapter of the Thaenor Chronicles, real progress is being made on the script. The outline has grown and refined into something truly epic, and I really think once finished it will be a disappointment to no one. Hang in there, the wait will be worth it.

A Little Machinimating on the Side

2008-06-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today I have a peek at something neat for you. What if you could see into the future, into a crossover? Well actually you can.

Alicia Palmer and I are trading back and forth on an improvised machinima dubbed "Showdown" in which Zemeth in his final incarnation, faces off against Soulin, from Alicia's series The Order. We're doing this unscripted, mostly for fun, so I don't think you could consider these events canon for either The Thaenor Chronicles or The Order. (Or maybe it happens some time after my Chapter Five, who knows.)

"I don't need your charity."

Dnnnnn Wah Wah Wah SHOWDOWN

Flying Fists.

On another note, the script for Chapter Three is still crawling forward. I'm not sure of the schedule yet, but I do know for certain that come hell or high water I will have Chapter Three done and out before this year's Blizzcon.

No News is Good News

2008-05-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Its gotten a little quiet around here, hasn't it.

The script for TC3 is progressing slowly but surely. As is becoming a trend for me, the writing seems to take longer than actual production. I'm handling this project with the utmost of care; I want TC3 to be the best movie it can possibly be.

In other news, patch 2.4.2 seems to have screwed up modelviewer's ability to read armor textures, so it seems that the machinima community as a whole might be forced to a standstill until an update/fix is released.

In other, other news, my short, An Azerothian Faerie Tale, is officially gone from youtube (the pricks, they are) and I've been told there are problems with bitrate on the archive.org download. So, here is a nice&fast filefront download of the movie for you.

Oh Balls.

2008-05-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

It would seem that one of my storage drives kicked a few days ago. (IE crashed, died, went bad, said "FU! U NO SOUND FX" and spit on me...)

Nothing immediate was lost. My entire sound effect library was on that drive, but I can recover most of that from original sourse. All of the material that went into making any project that isn't The Thaenor Chronicles is just GONE though(TC has my other drive to itself). Looks like there won't ever be a director's cut of Netherwing - The Movie after all. A few other things were lost--that drive is where I tended to save random crap--but nothing all that important.

Still, this is a proverbial kick-in-the-shins, and I suppose I'm lucky it happened between projects.

In other news, you need to watch this. Right now.

Writing Chapter Three

2008-04-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, TC2 has been in the spotlight for a couple days now, with mixed reviews flying every which-way. To my surprise, the voice acting is catching a lot of flack; so much so that I've had concern from my actors that they'd be replaced. This will not be the case. I'm not going to replace anyone just because a bunch of random commenters are making blanket "u sux" statements.

I also feel that most of the blame for this is in fact on me, for the less-than-awesome writing prevalent in Chapter Two. Unfortunately, I originally wrote chapter two with the thought hanging over me that I was going to have to cajole my classmates into reading these lines I was writing. I was writing for kids, not actors, because at the time I hadn't dared hope I would actually have willing actors. I'm very grateful to every cast member for their interest and performance(in both the acting and professional sense).

So, on to Chapter Three now. There is a LOT of plot to explain, and a LOT of new material to introduce, and rather than dumb the writing down, I can craft to my heart's content; hopefully give my actors something vastly better to work with this time.

I would also like to say, I'm not going to rush Chapter Three. I will be working on it at every opportunity, however, and thanks to my awesome cast, there will not be a year-long hiatus like there was last time. Look forward to seeing Chapter Three out somewhere around this September.

TC2 in the Spotlight

2008-04-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

/cheer

The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two

2008-04-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

And a day early at that. The movie you've all been waiting for is finally here.

On Warcraftmovies

On Youtube

From Filefront

Enjoy!

Screenshot(s) of the Week #4

2008-04-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

A hint? A clue? Foreshadowing for sure.

...

Shadowform isn't just for looks.

Epics for everybody!

Out in ten days!

Trailer for Chapter Two

2008-04-01T12:38:00.001-07:00

Volla! You can download the trailer, or just watch it below.

State of the Movie

2008-03-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

Everything you wanted to know on the progress of Chapter Two but were afraid to ask.

The WIP currently clocks in at 12 minutes and 19 seconds, with 17 pages of script completed and 8 pages still to go.
So far the movie includes 246 background files (images/video from mapviewer) , and 542 foreground files (images/video from modelviewer).

I'm planning to release a 90 second trailer for the movie any day now, with the final release date of the full movie (brace yourselves) pushed back and finalized at April 16th.

Eating My Words

2008-03-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

So I patched. Yup. And good news for anyone else who was afraid of the same thing I was, nothing's gone wrong, model and map viewer work fine, except that mapviewer crashes in the Magisters' Terrace.

So. Yay. What with the cake and eating it too.

Bonus screenshot!

The Big Patch

2008-03-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

So. Today.
Patch day.

Fury of the Sun Well.

For what may be the first time, there is loads of new content I'm excited about, and I have a character or two at 70 in a position to participate.

However, I've promised you guys a movie by April 10th, and that was going to be hard to meet as is. In addition, it would be a bad idea to risk any bugs this patch might cause with the model viewer, at this time where were I to say I am using it frequently, would be an understatement.

So I will not be patching, I will be working. Chapter Two has seen too many delays already.

Now I bid you adieu and do some QQ.

Screenshot(s) of the Week #3

2008-03-23T07:59:00.001-07:00

Are Zemeth and Siubhan having a moment?

Bugs. Lots of bugs.

At least they have a full group.

Screenshots every week until release!

Internet Bad, Effects Good

2008-03-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

I would simply like to state simply that Verizon DSL sucks slimy murloc ass. Luckily my host plans to switch to high-speed cable soon, being just as fed up with having to call tech support on a daily basis, as I am.

With that out of the way, I thought I'd talk a little bit about one of Sony Vegas' most powerful tools(masks), and how I've used them to invent a new effect. If you've played WoW (and I can only assume you have) you may have noticed the trail left in the air for a moment when a projectile spell passes by. I had never actually seen this replicated with model viewer footage, so I came up with my own solution.

I cut the trail out of a solid color layer, adjusting the mask points to until it looked right.

Then, imagine my delight when I discovered that Vegas masks are boolean.

With a little animation of a second, negative mask, I suddenly had an ice trail that looked remarkably similar to the one in-game, and thanks to the flexibility of masks, I can tailor it to just about any shot.

With every little discovery like this, I grow to like this program more and more. I don't care what the After Effects proponents say, Vegas ROXORZ.

Screenshot(s) of the Week #2

2008-03-16T12:43:00.001-07:00

Riding through the desert.

Zalek bringing the arcane hurt.

Terrac, about to receive the hurt.

New screen shots every Sunday from now until release!

Screenshot of the Week #1

2008-03-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Zemeth hangs out in Darnassus with some of his Night Elf pals.

New screen shot(s) every Sunday from now until release.

The Thaenor Chronicles: Progress and Plans

2008-03-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to those who have turned in their lines on time, I've begun actual editing on The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two. I'm still waiting on a couple people to send me lines, but things are looking like I'll be able to make the April 10th release date.

As I get into it, I'll be posting new screen shots every week along with a progress update.

In the mean time, however, I'd like to talk about where The Thaenor Chronicles is going in the future. Each of the five chapters is meant to showcase a distinct segment of events in the lives of the main characters. The following may or may not contain spoilers, so read on at your own risk.

Chapter One - The first of the five is quite simply the origin story. Zemeth is "rescued" as a small child and separated from his brother, Zalek. Zemeth grows up tormented and out of place among paladins, while Zalek lives the life they both should have had; that of a successful, well-adjusted Mage of Dalran. We see how Zemeth inevitably cannot live that life.
Chapter One was essentially the very first machinima I ever created, and it shows. I fully intend to do a redux once the series is complete, or when Northrend becomes available, because I very much want to film the opening of the redux in the real Dalran, not a recolored Silvermoon.

Chapter Two - The second of five that you're all waiting for right now, is focused around the idea of Zemeth becoming a whole person. In this chapter Zemeth has something that he's never had before and wont have again for a long time; he has family in the Night Elven trio that more or less takes him in. In Chapter Two we see Zemeth living this new life and being relatively happy and content.
However, Chapter Two is also where we start to see hints of the real story, as a backdrop to Zemeth's good life beginning to deteriorate due to forces beyond his control. Zalek doesn't get much face time in this chapter because he's still living the good life, but he does get one very kick ass action scene, though it ends up being a futile gesture. Chapter Two ends with Zemeth's death, and marks the transition between the first two, almost seperate stories, and the continuous third, fourth, and fifth.

Chapter Three - With the third of the five we move into the present day. The world has changed and Zemeth's pseudo-family is disparate. Yet in Chapter Three, Zemeth is reborn through the grace of Elune. He has trouble adapting to this changed world; he is alone again.
Chapter Three is essentially the action movie. Lots of fights and cool effects as Zemeth copes with his changed world in less than healthy ways.
A new main character, Kico, is introduced along with a villain that wont really effect any of our characters, other than Kico, until the very end.
Meanwhile we see the reintroduction of a character that was glimpsed in Chapter One, Illis Amara, who has changed over the years as much as Zemeth has. We see a much-less-changed Zalek searching for his brother's body and we see he and Illis team up. Doubt about Illis will be a big thing here; is she a badguy or a goodguy? We learn that in either case she will be antagonistic to Zemeth, which will put difficult decisions in front of Zalek.
The Script on Chapter Three is already 2/3 complete. This chapter will be technically and artistically as far above Chapter Two as Chapter Two is above Chapter One.

Chapter Four - The fourth of the five will be by far the most dialog-heavy and the longest of the chapters by a considerable margin. Chapter Four is the character drama, and the love story(s). All the major characters begin to thread into one-another's lives, new characters are introduced, and conflict is everywhere.
Mysteries are revealed, loyalties are tested, and the Zemeth vs. Illis plot line comes to a head. With the conclusion of Chapter Four most of the characters' issues will have been resolved and the understanding of the big picture will almost be complete.

Chapter Five - The fifth of the five, the final chapter, is more or less a war movie. The characters have come a long way to get here, and now finally they are faced with something truly larger than their lives. Chapter Five will be the pinnacle of combat-effects in the series, with massive battles between bizarre creatures and supernatural combat. The last of the loose threads will be tied up, along with the inevitable yet surprisingly non-violent confrontation between Zemeth and Zalek, and Kico's final revenge against her brother's murderer which also happens to save the world(Zemeth helps).

So that is where I plan to take The Thaenor Chronicles. Once the series is finished, I would also like to take the whole thing, and instead of creating a stand-alone redux of Chapter One, redo that part of the series and then merge the entire thing into one massive full-length movie.

But for any of that to happen, I need my voice actors to turn in their lines so I can finish off Chapter Two and beyond.

Wow, long post. And the WoW servers still aren't up...
Remember, next week, screenshots!

Casting is Complete

2008-02-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

The E-mail went out this morning. Now I'll have to sit back and wait for lines.
I set the deadline for March 3rd, and I plan to spend the whole month of March hard at work.

I hope to have The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two out on April 10th.

ZOMG is that an actual release date? Looks like it could be.

OMG how did I miss THIS?

2008-02-13T22:45:00.001-08:00

Apparently back at the end of November WoWinsider.com did a brief article on Netherwing - The Movie.

READ IT HERE

I don't know how I never knew about this, but can I just say, COOL!!!

Casting Woes 'n Stuff

2008-02-10T09:20:00.000-08:00

So here we are at six days until the audition deadline, and happily, I have an actor in mind for almost every part.
The exception would be the lead character, Zemeth, who is the only role I don't know how to fill. He's received fewer auditions than any of the other characters and I had a very specific idea of what I wanted him to sound like. Guess I'll just have to wait and hope.

In an ironic twist, I have more auditions for the parts of Siubhan and Casidhe than I know what to do with. There are two or three voices each that I could cast and be happy with. Perhaps I'll keep them in reserve for characters that appear in later chapters. (Here's a little spoiler: The story doesn't start getting really interesting until Chapter Three.)

In other news I've been putting together a Character Compendium over on the forums. Check it out. I'll be adding to it as I think of stuff.

What you all've been waiting for (almost).

2008-01-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Happy (late) New Years!

I'm happy to announce that I'm back to work on The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two. I'm seeking voice actors through the wonderful Voice Acting Alliance.

Click here to view the Thaenor Chronicles page on Voice Acting Alliance.

To celebrate, I've thrown together a little teaser for youtube.
Watch it Now!

So very overdue, The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two is now going to get made at last.

Fubarius Returns

2007-12-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

The artist who's work inspired me to get into machinima in the first place has emerged from retirement for one last movie. Read about it here, and see the teaser here. Here's hoping his departure is accompanied with one hell of a bang.

In other news, The Thaenor Chronicles will resume production "soon" once I've worked out a few technical and life issues.

Netherwing Wins 2nd Prize

2007-11-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

If for some reason you haven't already, slide on over to one of those links to see to your right and watch Netherwing - The Movie, the Drama Category 2nd place winner!

I also got my first spotlight! (Edit November 22nd: Netherwing - The Movie now is "Recommended." Yay!) Now its time for some R&R, before heading back to the much-delayed The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two.

Netherwing - The Movie

2007-11-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

At long last, after a month of hard work, I am proud to present my contest entry: Netherwing - The Movie.

Playing through the Netherwing questlines in World of Warcraft is the most fun I have ever had in the game. The first moment I got blown off my mount by a giant ball of lightning, I knew, I had to make this into a movie.

Of course, therein lay the problem of how to condense a two-week quest-line down to a 15-minute movie, but I am proud of the result. Some things were changed, some things were cut, but all in all, I think it turned out well.

The music used in the movie primarily from the Black Temple game music. I have to say, I'm glad for it. It is some of the best stuff the composers at Blizzard have come up with.

"Netherwing - The Movie" has now been submitted to Warcraftmovies.com for The Fabled Few contest in the Drama category. Cross your fingers with me!

Progress. A Vegas Timeline.

2007-11-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

After hitting the ten-minute mark, I decided I'd show you what my Vegas timeline looks like.

My contest entry is being done in Vegas an Vegas alone. No other editing softwares used.

If you study the above image, you may be able to guess at what this movie is going to be about. I'm getting ready to reveal that soon, so expect that post sometime in the near future. I want to make sure there are plenty of screenshots to go with it.

Just one Screenshot

2007-10-26T12:49:00.001-07:00

Capturing and editing on my project for the contest is progressing nicely. The details of the movie are still going to be a secret for a little while longer, but I thought I'd share one screenshot of the main character.

This is Scryer Arcanist Zeinok Felstar.

The Fabled Few

2007-10-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to make a post until I was sure my idea would take form, but it has. I'm happy to announce that I am indeed entering WCM's contest in the Drama category, with a brand new project.

I'm only in the scripting stages right now, but the idea I had is taking shape rather well on paper. I'm not going to give any details just yet, however. Suffice it to say that this project will be completely unrelated to any of my previous movies. It will be a stand alone presentation, which is just as well given all the rules one has to follow to be eligible. Not being able to use my rather extensive library of movie and game soundtracks to score this project will be my biggest obstacle. My largest worry, however, is cramming everything into the 15 minute time limit. That and finishing by the deadline of course.

I've recently installed Sony's Cinescore, and I'm hoping I'll be able to learn enough about it to compensate for otherwise only having Warcraft's music to work with. I must say, I'm extremely glad I invested in Sony's royalty-free sound-effects library, so I don't have anything to worry about on that front.

I'm debating at this time where I should film the backgrounds. Normally I would use MapViewer, but in this case, the movie takes place primarily in Shadowmoon Valley, which looks downright horrific in the MapViewer. On the other hand, filming in-game will require modifying many shots to work around NPCs and mobs, which I'm not sure would work to well. I love that MapViewer exists but its so dang finicky that sometimes you wish you were forced to work with the game. If 90% of the backgrounds filmed weren't blurred out anyway to simulate depth of field, this would be 9 times worse. High-rez, full-color, anti-aliased imagery from in-game drastically outshines the poorly shaded jaggy MapViewer. Gotta love a good gaussian blur.

Now, if maybe there was someone reading this, who could show me how to set up a private server and remove all NPCs and mobs...

But alas, it is a competition, and I must rely on myself.

Anyway, I'll be doing all the voices myself, except for one or two lines that I'll get my sister to read off. She has the attention span of a hummingbird, and the personality of a little fluffy dog on weed and speed, so that should be fun.

The project has only a working title at the moment, which I'm not sure I'll keep. It was funny actually. The idea for this movie sprang into my head fully-formed while I was playing WoW, a day or two before the Fabled Few contest was actually announced. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. That I'm entering a contest with it means I might be slightly less lazy about it, but I wonder how it might be different if there was no contest. I would have made the movie either way. Ah well, it's going to rock, and that's all I need to know. I promise. I vow that there will be an acceptable level of Uberness.

I'm excited about this project. A high-quality stand-alone movie full of action, intrigue and what I hope is good writing, and I get to use my new 800X450 render format since it doesn't have to coincide with anything and Youtube is not the primary distribution method.

The Contest deadline is November 12th (Please send me LOUD e-mails if they change it or something.) Look forward to a preview and screenshots on November 10th!

Never Stay Tuned 2.5 and The Thaenor Chronicles Fan trailer

2007-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Never Stay Tuned 2.5

Using the same audio as the original trailer I made way back when, Alicia R. Palmer has created an original fan trailer for The Thaenor Chronicles as a part of her project.

And it's awesome.

Side Project: "How To Mage"

2007-09-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

If that sounds familiar, you've probably come across a series named "How To Paladin." Lets just say the resemblance isn't a coincidence. Here is "How To Mage," the result of 40 hours without sleep and acute boredom.

There's a little something at the end for Thaenor fans.

Site Updated and Expanded

2007-09-24T02:58:00.000-07:00

In the interest of creating a consolidated web presence, I've added a navbar to additional pages and an all-purpose direct contact link. A direct download page is planned, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Also, keep an eye out for Alicia R. Palmer's latest project, which includes a fan trailer for The Thaenor Chronicles.

Two Brand New Scenes Added to the Script for The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two

2007-09-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

Since there isn't much I can do except reread the script over and over, I decided that there was a noticeable lack of meat to the middle of the story. I'm currently scripting two whole new scenes that add a little exposition and some much-needed character development.

While reading, I had the thought that the script seemed in to much of a hurry to get to the ending and because of that the ending didn't have nearly the impact I want it too. In addition, the timeline itself felt far to compressed. I could imagine that there just wasn't enough material for the viewer to grow attached to all the characters, so I figured out where the gaps were in the character's emotional journey and timeline, and made plans to insert two entirely new scenes.

The first scene is a dialog/suspense scene taking place in the northern Hinterlands, and in addition to filling in a gap in the story, this scene will reveal the first foreshadowing of where the plot of The Thaenor Chronicles is going in its future installments.

The details of the second new scene are still a little unsure. My thoughts are that it will be a small bit of visual exposition, probably involving a flashback or two to show some of what took place during the three years between Chapter One and Chapter Two. What exact form this will take, I can't say yet.

I am now approximating the running time for The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two, to eventually be somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes. Of course this is only a rough estimate.

Two more screens from The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two

2007-09-15T06:30:00.002-07:00

I've reached the point now where there isn't much more I can do until I have voice actors, so unless that happens soon this will be the last update (at least, on this project) for a while. I'm still waiting on my friend, but if you know or are a voice actor who's into machinima and is reliable, you may just be my hero. That's right. I'm asking for help.

Zalek going invisible. In the interests of not spoiling the plot, that's all I'm going to say.

For the same reason, I'm just going to let you guess.

My thoughts on "Machinima For Dummies"

2007-09-15T06:30:00.001-07:00

While I'm sure there are a few who might be insecure about the notion of learning anything from the "for dummies" series, I must say that their Machinima installment may very well be the holy grail of literature on the subject.

Both concise and thorough, Machinima for Dummies was written by machinimists and it shows. The boys at Strange Company know what they're about. And I must admit to the little thrill I felt when I reached the "Advanced Machinima" section and the first chapter was a full 24 pages on World of Warcraft. I actually learned something about the model viewer I didn't know before.

Another feature of this book is something some readers will love and others will hate. Instead of having seperate chapters on each game and seperate chapters on theory and on programs, Strange Company wrote it all into a mix that, in my opinion, flows very, very well. The book moves through storytelling and film theory into in-engine production through editing in Vegas, Adobe Premier, and a few other programs, moving through legal and pro content creation just as promised, with no skimping.

I think we machinimists have found our bible. Once you're able to ignore the big yellow "For Dummies" printed on the cover, "Machinima" is one of those rare products that is everything it was advertised to be and more.

And a Footnote: For beginners, all the nessesary tools really are included on the disc. Trial versions of fraps, vegas, modelviewer and everything else you could think of, including nearly everything (the movies, especially) mentioned in the book. I feel like I've struck gold with this thing. Never have I been less disappointed with a product.

The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two: First scenes - Screenshots

2007-09-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Here are three preview screens from completed scenes in the opening of The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two

The first is from the brief reiteration of the climactic scene of the first chapter, which I felt was important enough to very briefly recap. Now the shots that make up this recap that encompasses the opening credits (about fifteen seconds this time. I got the message from last time, people) are completely new, original material, not reused imagery from the first chapter, as you can see if you've watched the first chapter.

Here we see the introduction of a new character, Casidhe, who was glimpsed in the very last shot of the first chapter. This shot is from the opening action sequence.

In the end of the first scene, the three main characters, Zemeth, Siubhan, and Casidhe, leave the Feathermoon forest by hippogryph. This was one of the more challenging shots, and I'm still not entirely sure I've finished tweaking it.

Script for "The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two" completed

2007-09-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

After a long wait where I took a bit of time off to work on my writing career and side projects such as "The Fall of the Twisted Lady: An Azerothian Faerie Tale," I finally sat down and set to work on finishing the script for the second installment in The Thaenor Chronicles.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, what are you doing reading this blog? Anyway, you can get the first chapter here. The Thaenor Chronicles tells the tale of the two brothers, Zemeth and Zalek, who are the last surviving members of the Thaenor family. A long and powerful line of Dalrienian wizards.

With the script completed, the primary obstacle at the moment is securing voice actors. I have a friend who manages that stuff, as I myself am useless at the whole "other people" thing. The quality suffers but sometimes you just have to work with what you have. It pisses me off sometimes though. These non-professionals are, well, non-professional. In other words, undisciplined flakes. I get a headache just thinking about it.

The script for The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two weighs in at 17 pages and once voice recording is complete, I am confidant that my editing skills have risen to the level necessary. Screen shots and updates are coming.