February Snapshot #2 + Ideas

Greetings and salutations once again! ^^ Here's a snapshot of some of the work covered since the last post. As mentioned I've been working on 4's to bring the scene together much quicker. This has been useful for correcting the timing of some shots and panels so it feels a bit tighter in the flow of things.

Patron, Animation & ...:

In other news, I've been developing my platform for Patrons and, separately, the workflow I go about projects. Producing animations is generally the most important aspect to everything when I consider ideas and changes. I definitely want everyone to enjoy the work as freely as possible while still allowing those who wish to support what I do a means to do so. Since starting my Patreon I've also launched a Ko-fi page (https://ko-fi.com/witte_konijn) and a shinies donation widget on my gallery page. I do have alternative considerations for avenues people can consider if they want to just donate a tip rather than commit to any monthly subscription. Additionally, there's the potential to offer a one-off purchase of source files and the like for interested viewers looking to tinker with the contents of the animation material itself should there be more traction for that in the future. Obviously there's a number of routes that I can proliferate work and accommodate the various means by which people want to support, regardless I'm just humbled to be in good company for my creative ventures ^^

...'The Flow':

Money stuff aside, I've wanted to expand my workflow to accommodate the ability to reach key milestones for this year. Among them, without question, is the overall improvement of the animations. As I make it a point to challenge myself on something new with each project whether it be anatomical studies or sfx. I'm always looking to see what new things I can incorporate into my toolkit of experience as I continue animating content.

Another milestone is accessibility to project formats, as it is currently structured, I have a tier-based Patreon system allowing for longer animations (availability willing) to be commissioned by Producer-tier Patrons. I'm still experimenting with some workflows that could allow a reduced workload in achieving these longer running times, but assuming some of these experiments carry some substance to the productivity, I may consider incorporating the method of animating on 3's for longer animations (What that means is that instead of the traditional 12-24 pictures a second you see in all the animations I've posted so far, I would be exploring 8 frames  a second.) The human mind usually blurs these images at rates equivalent to or quicker than 12 fps with persistence of vision, so undoubtedly it will look a little choppy but if I animated these projects in a manner that incorporates this feel intentionally I think I can pull off convincing animations that would still tell a narrative with enough vitality in the motion. 

Ultimately I want to be able to work on longer animations spanning 30-40 seconds since I feel there's so much more to tell in that amount of time.

All this might of course mean some shake up to how each of the Patreon tiers would benefit. One idea would be to allow 30 or 40 second animations to be available for commission to all Patrons while reserving a special VIP status to those who are active producer tier patrons - bumping their project up in the waiting list with a higher priority.

Beyond Patron privileges I might also consider doing some sort of 'discount' animation running a weekend (or week long) project for 5 second animations being done on 3's if that indeed works well in my flow. All this would be dependent on how complex and detailed animations get but its something I might realistically be able to incorporate in the commission offerings. 

Bearing in mind everything I've mentioned so far is conceptual and might not be implemented depending on how I think about the angles when I decide to make a transition. Which leads me to my final point...

Collaborations, Personal Projects & Expansion for a Team Partnership:

Making animations on various themes and exploring all the various niches of taste out there is what I love to do. All this was started just as a one-off hobby in my free pockets of time and, well, with where I'm at now, I can see steady growth and projection to interesting things if I cultivate it. 

Its nothing new to say that I'll be doing occasional rough projects over a weekend marathon, though I may consider doing a more involved personal project of my own between commissions to explore things that often aren't considered. This kind of thing scratches my creative itch and tends to draw interested parties who would otherwise not realize the potential of what can be animated in terms of themes and look. I'll still be working on commissioned projects so it might even go unnoticed when and if I do dabble. I often like to work on a project until they are either close to the end or at its intended completion for a screening. This allows me some freedom in the workflow while avoiding too much confusion with the interested parties, a lot of dialogue about planning the animation is still done but often with some hands-off time to work on it in a more focused environment and setting. 

Animation probably isn't the most popular medium to approach for many artists principally because its a lot of work and commitment to scratching out a narrative - especially if some people are looking to make an income. Often people will focus on a single illustration and enhance it beautifully to give it that extra appeal - driving a narrative explained in the composition itself. I admire these works very much and, at the same time, its something of fascination I have with seeing how something drawn would realistically move, or squash and stretch... etc. I love seeing stuff come to life and I would love to make more. So collaborations might be a thing if I come across like-minded creatives and establish good chemistry. Perhaps a partnership of sorts could be established for production of something along the lines of two projects per month.. who knows, its just me thinking out loud, time will ultimately tell. 

What I do know is that from where I'm at right now, there's definite potential for growth and improvement. If any of this piqued your interest and you want to chime in at all, You can reply in the comments below or just ping me on discord if that's your shtick (Witte_Konijn#7544). Thanks for reading through this extensive wall of text, it might be a lot to take in but its what I've been thinking about for medium/long term goals while I continue working on projects. 

So! Until next time!   (^o^)7