Hello Blender Artists. I’m very impressed with all of you so far. I came here looking for volunteers, and ended up being overwhelmed and intimidated. I love this site.
I guess I will get into the project. Baby Playt (pronounced plate) is a red alien, born alone in an underground room lit by candles. He has flashes of memories of a time before his birth, as if he once were a completely different person. He recognizes words, thoughts, and concepts that normal babies cannot. This is only the beginning of what torments his baby mind, as he randomly and uncontrollable FLICKERS through time and space to random locations and unknown times. He wanders through life, wondering if this is a normal thing for everyone, but deep down he knows that something isn’t normal about him. Not even slightly.
Baby Playt is the first section of my first novel, Book of Playt, which can be found free on Smashwords, and can be purchased on Amazon for $.99. I will also provide free PDF links at the bottom of this post. The Book of Playt has seven sections to it, all of which I would like to eventually see animated. Playt is the first book of a trilogy which I’ve dubbed the Lys Trilogy. Lys is the dimension in which this all takes place. Each book brings the readers into the eyes of a different superbeing, allowing them to witness everything in their lives, from birth to death. The books are condensed, and the second one is already written, while the third has been started, and then put on hold for the moment. The written books need editing for serious publication, but I’m willing to put that on hold as well, because the important part to me right now is spreading the word and getting Playt’s name more well known.
What I ask of volunteers is that they are willing to realize that this isn’t a job, and I am not your boss. There are no real deadlines, but if it seems as if you have taken an excessive amount of time on a project I may give it to someone else. This is meant to be a learning experience, and even though I use the word volunteer and this short movie is meant to be free, any money I make in advertising I plan to pay a reasonable percentage of to anybody who has offered their talents and helped me out. This is also meant to add to your individual portfolios and abilities. I encourage any of you to use tutorials if you don’t know how to do something but still want to. I’m open minded when it comes to assigning small projects to contributors, and if you have something in mind that you want to work on in order to perfect your abilities, I also encourage that. Hopefully this project will help get your name out there, as well as mine.
I have learned a lot in Blender, but I am no expert by far. My renders are mediocre at best, aside from the ones I did while attending The Nature Academy through Blender Guru. I have much to learn, but right now I don’t have the greatest computer to work with. I communicate best through Facebook, and I will link to that, but if that method of communication does not work for you then let me know. Through a Blender group on Facebook I have met my new friend Gustavo, who seems very dedicated to this project, and has already helped me out considerably by doing small projects which will be used in this short film. Baby Playt is intended to be no more than about 20 minutes long.
What I will need:
Pretty much all of my original blender assets have been lost, and I am actively doing what I can to try to get them back. I have concept art for several things, although I will provide any information or sketch anything if it is needed. I have not written up storyboards, although I can do that when needed. I will need not only voice actors, but also some of the musically talented to provide any assistance on making an original score for the movie. Sound effects are very important as well. I am very open minded about this project, but I also do have a specific vision. There are moments or times in the book which may seem irrelevant at first, yet they become more relevant after Baby Playt. Other things could probably be cut. I will have all say over the final render, but I’ll be open to suggestion and critique. I suggest we keep all of the project files in a dropbox/googledrive/skydrive, or anything similar where all assets can be accessed by anybody involved in the project. I do have a website and webspace that will available to me until at least June, but after June my subscription expires, and if I don’t have any money by then I will have to lose the website. It was suggested to me that I accept donations, but I haven’t yet dealt with anything of the sort.
I’ll need modelers, riggers, animators, texture experts, and pretty much every resource I can draw from. Any asset submitted should be submitted with a text file giving consent to use the asset, contact information (for if any money is ever made through advertising), and the name you want to be provided in the credits.
Here are links that may help in your decision making process, as well as images of reference that I have on hand.
But first I’ll link to the youtube video of my latest render before having to move.
Links:
Website: http://www.playtsouncil.com
Personal Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/playtscouncil (be aware that what I post may be filtered in respect for the illusion of professionalism)
Lys Wikia: http://lys.wikia.com/wiki/Lys_Wiki (Work in Progress)
Free PDF of Book of Playt: http://www.playtscouncil.com/playt.pdf
Free PDF of Book of Ynk: http://www.playtscouncil.com/Ynk.pdf
Images:
Playt’s Council (pictured from left to right from the back, Red Playt, Kid Playt, Old Playt, Teen Playt, Baby Playt, Fat Playt)
Talac
Warrior Playt
More images can be found at my website linked above, http://www.playtscouncil.com
Video: