IP Incubator Club Thread 2013: Monthly-008: July 29-August 31- 2013

#61

Hi, while not a real 3d update I wanted to show you some of the rocks I have been working with; perhaps why I’ve been so captivated by the textures. Here’s an example:

I have done a quickie website for my new company Pierre de Chris (Chris’ Stones) @
Pierre de Chris
; there are more images there and some other cool textures. I’m thinking of making a texture dump; a bunch of photos that people could use for backgrounds, etc.

I have been pretty much occupied with this recently; the term “get crackin’” now has a whole new meaning… rush before the winter comes; get the job done.

I was able to finally get the particles to render properly and will post a video of all that stuff shortly…desperate to get back into 3d land and had fun building a quick website in a few hours, but only so many hours in the day.

Hope all is well

#62

CONCEPT NAME : Pole Force One
WEBSITE : www.combomash.com/pole-force-one/
PRODUCTION BLOG : www.combomash.com/category/production-blog/
CATEGORY : Video Game (OUYA, PC, MAC, Linux)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION :

In this tongue-in-cheek, co-op, beat 'em up game, you play as one of three sexy super-hero strippers as they travel the world fighting against injustices such as sex-slavery, violent drug lords, religious extremists, corrupt governments and greedy corporations. Along with the help of their trusty DJ and his robotic creations, you’ll be thrown into a wacky adventure reminiscent of many classics - such as Double Dragon, Streets of Rage and Battletoads - but with modern polish and gameplay.

STATUS NUMBER : 4
TEAM MEMBERS : 2

Chris Taylor - Concept Art
Grant Moore - Everything Else

NEXT MILESTONE : Kickstarter Campaign Launch, November 4th 2013

WHAT WENT RIGHT THIS WEEK

I’ve been working hard to finish up a rough draft for my Kickstarter campaign as well as determine all of the assets I will need to both make an impressive pitch and build a prototype. I now feel confident that I have a plan, but for the next two months I am literally going to be working on this thing day and night.

One key asset that I felt I needed was a “Pitch Bible”. Usually these are created for animations when they want to send it out to be produced as a series, but I felt that putting one together would serve me well in communicating my idea to fans.

Some of the concept art isn’t finished yet, but all of the written content and placeholders are done. If you’d like to get a good idea about what my project is all about, please have a look at these PDFs. (PLEASE, do not share them outside of this forum, I’m not ready to “go public” with these just yet.)

Pole Force One - Pitch Bible
Pole Force One - Pitch Bible (Print Layout, how it’s meant to be viewed but the other is easier on computer)

My plan is to print a few copies out once it’s finished and give them to a few places around town (nerdy bars, comic book stores, etc…) for people to read and grab a post-card with the URL to my campaign.

WHAT WENT WRONG THIS WEEK

I’m still working on a client project part-time and it’s not going well. To be honest it’s starting to interfere with this project and I need my full dedicated efforts to pull it off. Problem is, I’ve been developing it for over a year and am the only one making the project happen, so it’s difficult to just drop it… need to find a replacement for myself soon.

SHOW AND TELL

Other than the pitch bibles, I did some more work on prepping my social media and added an email signup form to my website.

#63

Hi Dolemite,

Thank you very much for the link. I am going to have to look it over and see what things I can incorporate from it. One thing I have learned is to build your connections/user base very early, which is not easy when you are making a mobile game because ideas get stolen easily.

I wish you the best with your Wrath project as well :slight_smile:

Thanks Again for the Help,
Rudy

#64

@Grantmoore: Please see my suggestion a few pages back to make everything easier. :stuck_out_tongue:

#65

I’m still working on a client project part-time and it’s not going well. To be honest it’s starting to interfere with this project and I need my full dedicated efforts to pull it off. Problem is, I’ve been developing it for over a year and am the only one making the project happen, so it’s difficult to just drop it… need to find a replacement for myself soon.

Wow your project is looking so cool. I have not played a good push button since Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim. ARe you going the 3d route or the 2d route.

Also I wish I had the skill set to help you out. I wish there were more artists who could help you in this endeavor. It has real potential. Your concept art is pretty sweet.

Have you tried posting around for help? How many 3d models do you need? What about a demo stage?

Also I have found some great success in marketing using FIVERR.com. Buying 2 or 3 gigs for Kickstarter marketing.

I’m trying to launch mine Sept 15.

Roberto…I was wondering given the fact that there is not 100s of these Incubator projects do you have any ideas how we can get community active in helping with Kickstarter. I mean on any given project is there a way to get at least 1000 people to tell 1000 more people about projects here. I was wondering how we can get people more active. Is there any prizes that even Cgtalk would be willing to add to a Kickstarter? Is there anything you can do to help us promote or any ideas where we can help each other promote?

My Project: I love Kaiju
What went right

Found the core to my story. The main villians motive. It was just blocking me for some time and I found it. :slight_smile: Now everything has fallen into place. Wow!

It has a little more depth and now to add all the fun scenes.

What went wrong

Still looking for a 3d modeler and it hasn’t panned out. I’m looking for a good 3d modeler to help raise the funds for Kickstarter and want to show their stuff off in the video to add to the videos power.

#66

@CGIPadawan - You sir are an idea machine, would be fun to throw ideas around with you at the pub haha. I’m too far in right now to make any drastic changes, but as soon as I get the funding I’m going to do a second round of pre-production to nail the concepts & overall design and at that time, will absolutely take these ideas into consideration. Just need the $$$ to pay someone so I can get it done properly :thumbsup:

@banman7 - Thanks! Scott Pilgrim was pretty great, I hope I can make my game at least as fun as that one. I actually have tried to get help on this project many times, I think I’ve gone through about 4 or 5 concept artists that created mediocre results and were impossible to get in contact with. Even my current artist seems to be taking a long time to even respond to emails… long story short, finding people who are motivated to volunteer on a project (even when you offer a percentage stake in profits) is VERY difficult. A lot of people romanticize the creative process until they’re actually faced with the work. Which is why my #1 focus is on getting funded… that way I can pay people who freelance for a living and actually get some results.

I’ll have to check out Fivver… maybe I can find a few cute girls who would be willing to dress up like my characters for the Kickstarter pitch video! :applause:

Oh, also I finished up an early design of the logo. Eventually, I’m going to actually make it in 3D as a proper high-res neon tube logo… but for now this will do. It’s animated, but YouTube isn’t allowing uploads right now so I’ll have to wait until next post to share.

#67

@banman7 - Thanks! Scott Pilgrim was pretty great, I hope I can make my game at least as fun as that one. I actually have tried to get help on this project many times, I think I’ve gone through about 4 or 5 concept artists that created mediocre results and were impossible to get in contact with. Even my current artist seems to be taking a long time to even respond to emails… long story short, finding people who are motivated to volunteer on a project (even when you offer a percentage stake in profits) is VERY difficult. A lot of people romanticize the creative process until they’re actually faced with the work. Which is why my #1 focus is on getting funded… that way I can pay people who freelance for a living and actually get some results. I’ll have to check out Fivver… maybe I can find a few cute girls who would be willing to dress up like my characters for the Kickstarter pitch video

I know the feeling. I’ve had a similar problem. I have had some great modelers come on board but I can only offer them a very limited amount of money and for some reason some of them have been unable to hit the nail on the head. The characters don’t look like they should or they redesigned them. They looked good but not usable.

Then there are the volunteers and they don’t last too long.

Between the 2 situations I can get at least 1 great usable model but then they get a job or something else and are unable to help. Then the next artist can’t match the style of the first so now I’m stuck with models that don’t look like they belong in the same universe.

So then gotta start searching again. Booo!

Fivver definately has some very cool gigs and I’m sure if you provide the outfit there are some models who would wear it. But those gigs for Kickstarter seemed to work. I did one for a friend and he got a ton more hits. So hopefully it will work for me. :slight_smile:

Here is one of my fiverr buys. :slight_smile:

//youtu.be/nRx27msPwi0

Not bad for 5 bucks. :slight_smile:

#68

Well, I was thinking my latest suggestion… the “21 Jump Street” suggestion… was actually to REDUCE the waste because there would be no real need to junk any of the “PG-15” work your volunteer artist had been doing. You would have to take it forward, but nothing as aggressive as “trash everything”.

The Toyota Way is to make sure you don’t waste anything. And since it’s there already, my suggestion was to really use it all.

Oh and yes, I may be an idea machine, but it would serve you well to occasionally poke around the stuff and let it rest for a couple of days. Not everything I think of holds water. :stuck_out_tongue:

#69

@banman7 - Wish I had some free time so I could help you out, but I’m swamped with my own project. I’d say try your best to present whatever assets you have as a positive, in your campaign make sure you label them as “early prototypes / test art” so people understand that you’re trying things out. The different styles isn’t great, but at least you can present them as if you were just testing different styles, be creating in your explanation.

Also, that video is pretty good for $5! What do you mean when you say “buy advertising”? Like, do you pay someone to make a video like that and they have a bunch of followers or something that end up hearing about your project?

@CGIPadawan - Oh yeah, I hear you, I’m trying my best to present what I have in the best light. If it’s really not working I’ll definitely be considering “re-labeling” them, I just don’t want to lose what little traction I already have.

Another little fun update (I’ll write a proper one in the next thread), I worked a bit more on the logo and made a better promo banner. I think if I can present everything I have in this style, it would go a long way to capturing that “ambience” you were talking about.

This isn’t finished (need to improve the style, better audio and stick the final logo in there right at the end), but I figured having some “flash” would help my campaign. It’s just a stock template I found and altered to my own needs… work SMART, not HARD! :smiley:

//youtu.be/ohWHNcanKXk

#70

Here’s our newest update. Sorry guys if I haven’t been able to comment on your projects in the last few weeks, I didn’t have much free time with everything that had to be done for our latest grant application + Kickstarter campain. I’ll try to find some time as soon as this is all over!

CONCEPT NAME: Le Gouffre

PRODUCTION BLOG: http://legouffre.com/en

CATEGORY: Animation

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Le Gouffre is an 8-minute animated short film about two travellers who embark on the amazing journey of crossing an impossible gap. We are working full-time on this film, living on our own money, and we are basically trying to tell a great, dramatic story for everyone while creating a unique look that blends hand-painted textures with realistic animation.

PROJECT GOALS:

Win festivals, then make a big hit on the internet and gain the visibility and credibility that will allow us to eventually be able to live on telling our own stories.

STATUS NUMBER: 10

TEAM MEMBERS: 3

Carl Beauchemin - Animation and Rigging
Thomas Chrétien - FX and Compositing
David Forest - Animation and Art Direction

START DATE: July 2011

ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: December 2013

WIP THREAD: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=153&t=1085457

WHAT WENT RIGHT THIS WEEK:

We’ve been very busy working on the financial aspect of the film lately since we’re still missing some money to pay for the music and sounds. The producer we have met has been talking with his contacts to try to have us some deals for the post-production (like cheap sound studio rentals) and it seems to be working nicely so far. He also wrote us a recommandation letter which we included in our latest government grant application. This is the third time we’re trying for this one so we feel our chances are slim, but he assured us they tend to really favor projects that have been sent multiple times, even on feature films. Plus, he helped us rework our budget and some other stuff, so that was nice.

Also, we’ve just finished working out our Kickstarter page and have sent it for approval. If all goes well, we should go live September 9th!

WHAT WENT WRONG:

We’re still losing precious time we could spend on working on the film and that’s a little frustrating, but we soon should be free to go back to our normal schedule. Also, Carl has to work another week at the animation studio that hired him because of a misunderstanding. Next week he’ll finally be back with us full time!

SHOW AND TELL:

Here’s a new logo I made for the film title:

Not much else to show this week, but a teaser is coming soon!

#71

@Frotze - Awesome, everything you’re doing sounds like you are making progress. Remember, time spent going after funding is not time wasted… without it, your project cannot get completed (or would take significantly longer). Glad you kept in touch with that producer and could get some help, definitely looking forward to you Kickstarter campaign, also the logo looks awesome. Keep it up! :beer:

#72

This is why I think we should partner up more often with Comic book artists.
The Creator of the Scary godmother is now creating her own line of dolls based on her iP.
check it out:

http://comicsalliance.com/jill-thompson-scary-godmother-fashion-doll-kickstarter/

#73

Executive Summary:

  1. Instead of a Kickstarter Campaign for one project, she has one entire mini-project (ie: Merchandise) PER LINE of Kickstarter incentives. The product you get at 1 USD is totally different from 5 USD. The Dolls mentioned in the title of the campaign are actually only available as the 50 USD incentive and a few other incentive levels, but otherwise each line item is actually a totally different thing: An Art Book, a Comic Book, a Tattoo pattern, etc.

  2. At the highest level you commission her to work on something totally unrelated to Scary Godmother. So effectively this is a kickstarter campaign not really for Scary Godmother but for a “season” of Jill Thompson work.

She has effectively turned Kickstarter into a Point-Of-Sale system.

Very good idea. :slight_smile:

#74

CONCEPT NAME : Pole Force One
WEBSITE : www.combomash.com/pole-force-one/
PRODUCTION BLOG : www.combomash.com/category/production-blog/

@grantmoore3d,
I really like the missions in your bible. I feel I will enjoy this game. Good luck with your kickstarter. Hope the new artwork is coming well :thumbsup:

CONCEPT NAME: Le Gouffre
We’re still losing precious time we could spend on working on the film and that’s a little frustrating, but we soon should be free to go back to our normal schedule.

@Frotze,
Well, if you get the finance you can surely make up for that lost time.

This is why I think we should partner up more often with Comic book artists.
The Creator of the Scary godmother is now creating her own line of dolls based on her iP.
check it out:

http://comicsalliance.com/jill-thom…ll-kickstarter/

That’s quite cool. Definitely something to consider in future. The cost involved is too high though.

#75

Fantastic link, this really helps illustrate the value in building a strong IP.

I think it’s really important to focus on building a story, characters, personality over an individual product because not only will it help to build a better piece of media (whether it be film, game, comic, whatever…) but from a business perspective, it makes it so much easier to create mixed media and generate revenue from your ideas and work. Who would have thought a doll from this project would have so much interest? Don’t forget, you can monetize your IP’s in many different ways, don’t get caught up in a single medium.

#76

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