Want to know how I determine the monthly movie length? READ ON! (long read)

(attached is page from GLab 48 which is in all your rewards RIGHT NOW!)

Short version:

Question came in about how I determine the length of the monthly animated movies each month.

Answer: Two big factors determine the length:

• The production values (SFX, VFX, Animation Load, dialog, VO actors, processing, etc)

• I am currently the only person doing the work (plus I handle all other various admin duties)

Longer Version

Had a question come in from a longtime friend and fan and I thought it might interest all of you to hear my answer. 

The question basically came down to how I determine the movie length each month. Specifically, what determines how long a movie is? If you checked out the older movies you will remember they were black and white line art. The times on those movies averaged 10 minutes, maybe more. They were also at a lower resolution than they are now. Another thing to remember is there was no voice acting at the time. 

Fast forward to today. We now have movies which are fully voice acted, done in full color, and are basically 2K resolution. In other words the production values have gone way up and so did the time required to make a movie. Larger resolution movies with more moving parts also take longer to process and render which leads to longer iteration time at the end of the month.

I want to add something very important to remember. The only person working on all of this is your old pal Ready. There is no one else doing the movies, no one else doing comics. There is nobody else but me making all this content. I am also the person uploading to social media, processing the videos, answering comments and questions, and basically taking care of the Ready Art Empire. haha I don't say that to garner your pity, I state it only so you understand the facts. 

The length of the movies is entirely determined by my ability to create and produce a movie in a month. The factors I listed above such as voice acting, scope and a bunch of other little factors all figure into the process. 

“But Ready, why aren’t the movies the same length they used to be?” 

That is a great question, and you would think somehow everything balances out and I could just still create movies 10-15 minutes or longer each month. That is just not the case at the current level of production. Also, as long as I'm the only one working on this it's not likely things can go longer without some animation and production help. 

“But Ready, can't you just hire a whole legion of animators like Studio Ghibli?"

I do hire people from time to time. I currently have two voice actors I work with. Over the years I've hired sound effects people and other voice actors but on the schedule we have it's out of my budget to bring in a bunch of people to create longer monthly videos. 

"Where do comics and other art factor in?"

I set aside time each month to work on the comics and other miscellaneous non movie related art. This could be things like recoloring or redrawing stuff, this could also be little contests or having fun drawing a fan art character. Some people may wonder why don't I just cut all that out but I feel it's important to keep that going. I love doing comics and I want to honor those dedicated people who supported me way back when. Also, I feel it's helpful to take a break and switch things up from animations each month. It helps keep the ideas fresh and the artistic flow going. Please know movies take up most all of my working month! Everything else is really second to that.

Where do I see things going in the future? 

As we bring in more friends and fans I want to keep upping the production. What that means is yes, the movies can get longer if I can get help. The only other way movies can get longer is if I take longer to make them. That's a possibility too! For almost five years now we've had monthly movies coming out regularly on the last days of the month. That's a pretty nice record. I'm very happy you were here to help me achieve that goal. If people would like to see longer movies under the conditions I've listed above I'm OK with taking a month or two months or longer to make a longer movie. 

Remember folks, every single cent you support me with goes right back into making you more art and animation. I'm doing everything I can to bring you more art and more work! Bringing you quality often times means reducing the volume. Just know I make conscious decisions to keep you informed and to keep you happy. I am doing my best to maximize the enjoyment of my work. 

Hope that helps some people who are curious understand. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask below in the comments. 

Stay awesome and LOVE YOU ALL!

-Ready