A Different Approach

First off, I thought I should let you know that yes, I am working on "The Phoenix Imperative".  As a Matter of fact, I managed to finish scripting two episodes and started the script for a third before starting this post.  Well, almost finished two episodes.  The scenes and dialogue is done, I just have to figure out the poses and animations I will be using.

And that more or less leads into the main part of this post.

Up until now, the way I have been doing the work on the episodes for the comic have worked for me quite well.  I would write down my ideas in a note book I carry around with me just for that purpose.  In it I would put episode outlines, thoughts on story progression, what characters I would be using and the parts they are to play.  Also included are a list of the various factions and organizations in "The Phoenix Imperative" and how they will interact with each other as well as with Cameron.  From there, I would type out the scripts on my computer, and then go through the long process of scanning through all the different images of the poses I have and chose the ones I need for each screen shot, and jot them down on paper so I know what I need while in game.

Having these three separate sources of information has not really posed any problems for me in doing screen shots, until now.  Normally, I have no problem remembering what lines of dialogue go with what images.  Keeping both connected in my head has helped with getting angles, lighting and some other details just right.  While doing the last three episodes, however, I lost that connection in my head.  I couldn't remember what lines of dialogue went with what poses and expressions.  I was constantly having to exit the game and recheck my script, then restart the game again and reset up the next image.  It was time consuming and annoying, to say the least.  Mind you, I blame this lack of connection on how much time had passed between when I finished writing the scripts and finally getting back to taking the screen shots.

My solution to this is rather simple.  I just have to add more information in the scripts, then print the relevant pages off for reference while I get the screen shots.  The scripts already contain the dialogue, initial scenes and notes on character interaction.  All I need to add in are the specific poses for each character in each image, as well as facial expressions.  Nice and conveniently all in one location, enabling me to put dialogue and poses together in my head, then transfer them to image.  I don't know why I wasn't doing it before...

And since I am here, I will share a couple of screen shots of Cameron pretending to be Vasquez from the movie Aliens.

The "New" Computer

Okay, so as I type this post out, I am going through the lengthy and irritating task of installing my games onto the new computer, which I was finally able to pick up earlier this afternoon. Yay!

Since most of you are worried about The Phoenix Imperative, I decided to install Fallout 3 first, then the DLCs, then Oblivion.  After that, I drag the backed up FO3 and Oblivion files into their new home, and re-install FOMM, FOSE, OBMM and finally OBSE.  Hmm, maybe FO3 Edit would be a wise idea as well.

Unfortunately, in the process of backing up the data from the laptop's hard drive, the screenshots I had of episodes 5 and 6 got missed.  So I get to have the fun of redoing all of those again *sigh*  On the bright side, I can actually retake all those shots again, possibly with better resolution than that of episodes 2, 3 and 4 :)  I'll find out soon enough, as I plan on doing some game play to see how things go.

I have already had an inquiry as to the specs of my "new" system on the Nexus, so I might as well post them here to prevent a string of "so Dru, what are the specs of your new system?" questions.

3.4Ghz cpu (single chip)
2 gig of ram
580 Gb of on board hard drive space
Operating System is Windows XP
ATI Radeon HD 5570 Video card with 1 Gb on board memory
19" monitor

Bad News Update

Since I have gotten wind of the fact that some of the readers of The Phoenix Imperative are starting to go have suffer from lack of new episodes, I thought I would share the latest news on my "new" computer system.

I went into the computer shop yesterday afternoon (Saturday) to see if it was finally ready or not.  It wasn't...grrrr.  The tower that the store owner was waiting for had just come in that morning, and he hoped to have it finished for me by the end of the day, or Monday  at the latest.  I told him I wouldn't be able to come back until Monday, so no worries there.  He is rather appreciative of my patience regarding the time it has taken to get this gaming until built (I commissioned it over a week ago) so he is going to through in a few extras like upgrading the ram.  Personally, I would like not to be paying anymore than I have for it, but I will take what I can get at this point.

Not only do I need this system for gaming and doing the visual work on The Phoenix Imperative, but my job search files and links as well as pictures of items in storage that I plan on putting up for sale are on the hard drive of the laptop, and I need to "slave" that drive to access everything.  Yes, I could go and take the pictures again, but doing so would be an expense in fuel I don't want to spend if I don't have to, and I am also not inclined to be hauling stuff out and in of my storage unit in this heat we have been experiencing here in Southern Ontario.  Temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees C with the humidex?  No thank you.

So, hopefully, I should have some good news to share with all of you later tomorrow!  Hopefully...

Bad News

As the title indicates, I have some bad news for you folks...

My laptop has turned itself into something less than useful.  Thursay evening, while I was doing screenshots for Episode Seven, the video card stopped functioning.  Being a laptop, it is not something that can be repaired.  Production on The Phoenix Imperative has stopped for now.

A friend of mine was kind enough to loan me her laptop for a while, but it doesn't even meet the minimum requirements to run Fallout 3, so I can't even redo Episodes 5 and 6, let alone finish 7.  *sigh*

All is not lost, my faithful followers!  Even though I can't really afford the expense, I have commisioned a replacement system to be built (desktop this time!), and if the cost doesn't creep up any higher, I will have it by the end of this week.  The hard drive from the laptop can be used as a slave drive in the desktop, so I will have access to all the images I have taken.  I might redo what I have for Episode 7, just so there isn't any sudden change in image quality half-way through the strip.