DEEP DIVE: One Two Three

It's time! For the weekly...

🐦🐸 TODEPOND TIMES 🐸🐦

The new video is out! It's called 📺 Screens in Screens in Screens! Thank you so much for the really kind response so far. I'm really pleased that people seem to be enjoying it!

Other than that, what's new this week?

Tode & Berd & Bot

Did you spot the scene that I was talking about last week? It took a really long time to render the 'dream-like' sequence, but I think it was worth it! It took a really long time to edit+make too, and it involved many overlapping layers of different 'shots'.

To control the 'camera' movement, I gradually changed two values: position and zoom. Controlling position wasn't so bad - I made every layer copy the position of the very top layer (so that they all 'move' together). Zooming was harder though. When I zoomed out far enough, the zoom value got way too low (around 0.1%). And this caused it to become too inaccurate.

Instead... I made each layer do its own zooming in/out. This means that... every time we get to a new shot, we can start from 100% zoom again - which avoids us getting to a ridiculously small zoom value. However, it also means that different shots don't zoom in-sync with each other, breaking the 'infinity' illusion. You can clearly see where one 'shot' finishes, and another one starts.

So... I wrote a small amount of code to make each layer blend its zoom value with the layers either side of it. This helps each shot to smoothly blend into the next one. You can actually spot a couple of places where you can see the shots get slightly out-of-sync in the final video. But it was smooth enough for me!

I've uploaded a video showing the full dream-like sequence at four different stages of development. This is what the four sections show:

🐸 Top-Left: The original plan!
🐸 Top-Right: The final plan!
🐸 Bottom-Left: Work-in-progress renders!
🐸 Bottom-Right: The final render!

Tode

So... the new video concluded the Missing Tode Trilogy! Tode is free! Tode is back! But there are some permanent changes too! Berd is also here!

And... the SandPond Saga logo is now handwritten!

I guess, to me - this all represents something. I try to channel whatever emotions/thoughts/feelings I have... into my channel. And I don't expect people to 'get' everything, or anything, from the symbolism. But hopefully - the fact that it does represent something - helps to make it all feel like "more than just" coding videos.

Maybe some parts might resonate too!

Tode & Berd

But anyway, what's NEXT!? Well, the SandPond Saga isn't just tode anymore. There are now two animal hosts at the helm!

In the next video, tode and berd are going to 'take turns' showing you how to make things in CellPond. And I hope that the huge difference in their approach+style is a little bit humourous. Tode is calm+wise+clean. Berd is loud+messy+keen. How could they possibly work together!?

To prepare for this, I've planned out all the things I need to implement in CellPond before I crack on with recording the video. One thing I've already done is... I've added visual borders to all the cells in CellPond. I think this could help to show-off the engine a bit better. For example, it lets you see some wacky fractal cell-splitting a bit more easily. I'm looking forward to making all the other changes now too :)

Thank you so much for sticking with me, and supporting me through another video release! I can't express how much I appreciate it, so thank you from the bottom of my heart! Have a great week, and see you soon! 🐸🐦