Hey everyone, we're back with another update on the project! A lot of things have happened in the past month, so much so that we're just now getting the opportunity to update all of you.
How did our IndieGoGo do?
For starters, we launched an IndieGoGo campaign at the beginning of this month. It kind of didn't work out as we had hoped, as we made only 11% of our goal. However, as promised, we are planning to add those people who have donated into the "Special Thanks" section of our credits, and give them a special place on our website (currently under construction as of this posting). We are also planning to make our donations to the charities we selected later this week.
What Happens Now?
A great figure of science fiction once stated, "there are always possibilities."
We want to make something clear to you guys: we are NOT giving up on this project, not when we've come so far. However, due to the circumstances surrounding our IndieGoGo campaign, we have decided to push back the release date of the Prologue to September 7th, 2018. This new release date will ensure our 3D team has enough time to bring about the digital assets we need to finish the Prologue, in addition to purchasing the gear necessary to make it look as good as we can possibly make it. Perks will also be shipped out shortly before or after this date.
A New Team Player
Speaking of 3D team, we have a new addition to ours! We would like to give a warm welcome to Barry "Baz1701" Chapman, a 3D artist who has done work for Trekyards and, like Michael Wiley and Hayden Aeries, has also worked with modifying the game Star Trek Bridge Commander.
We are very excited to have him aboard and can't wait to see the fruits of his labor come to life!
Status of Voice Overs
In addition to getting a new team player, we've also gotten some work done on the voice acting side: Tom Gore and Grant Patrizio have both finished their voice work for the Earth-Link Origins Prologue; in addition, Robert S. Benjamin has also finished recording his lines for our forthcoming full series trailer!
This means that we have only two characters left to voice before all voice acting on the Prologue is finished. Quoting Owen Wilson, "Waaaaaaaaooooooow!"
Sweet! So What's Going To Happen In March?
We will be putting the funds we have collected from our IndieGoGo towards purchasing a Perception Neuron motion capture suit; this will help us streamline our character animation, in addition to making it look really freakin' awesome. Until we can acquire full funding towards purchasing one, however, we will be placing a hold on character animation for the time being.
Again, this does not mean we are giving up on this project. The purchase of this motion capture gear will make any further character animation nearly irrelevant (save for pre-visualization purposes).
Instead, we will be focusing our efforts on building CGI models for the project. Michael Wiley has begun work on a starfighter-type ship, while Barry Chapman has begun work on a ship to be featured in the full series, as well as our full series trailer.
We hope to have additional details available soon, but for the time being, we hope you'll stick with us as we march right on into spring!
All our best,
-Chris K