Nick NiCad - Community Project

#1

[left] Prologue[b]

           [/b]    [color=Silver]I have a personal project that I've been developing off an on for a couple of years now and honestly, I'm just flat burnt out from it and need to step away. Like most I've made one of my first major projects scope way too large and the biggest issue is that I put so much time into it that I just cant and wont scrap it. 
           
             So in the midist of this downward creativity dilema, I've been trying to find something that would help me [b]rekindle [/b]my creative flow and have fun doing CG again. With this in mind I've decieded to produce a very [b]small community project[/b]. This project is open to anyone at any skill level that would like to participate. 
           
              The goals for the project is simple. Keep it very [b]small[/b], [b]manageable[/b], [b]fun[/b] and [b]finish it[/b]. Along those lines I've revamped a script I wrote years ago and created a story outline to match my goals. The entire short works out to about five main scenes and that's it. [/color]

[/left]

#2

[color=Wheat]Nick NiCad - Mini Production Bible [/color]

Copyright ©Anthony Hollis 2006

LEGEND

A. Genre/ Influences

B. Story Synopsis

C. Shot List

D. Characters

E. Sets

[b][color=Wheat]F. Help Wanted

[/b][/color]

[color=Wheat]A. [ Genre / Influences ] A mix between Batman Beyond, The Power Puff Girls and The Incredibles. * Nick NiCad is a dark but sometimes-gullible crime fighter for Lithium city.[/color]

[color=Wheat]B. [ Story Synopsis ] Nick NiCad is surveying Lithium city as always and protecting it from criminals that are attempting to steal its main manufactured resource, which is Lithium X. Lithium X is used to run the city’s highly advanced computer network system which in itself runs the entire metropolis. [/color]

Nick NiCad receives a distress signal from the Mayor that his old nemesis [color=LightBlue]Solar Flare is wrecking havoc on Main Street and his presence is needed.[/color]

After arriving upon the scene he finds Solar Flare destroying everything in his path. At this point Solar Flare attempts to finish off Nick by throwing a massive rock fireball at him, after that attempt yields nothing he beckons Nick down to the surface for a good old fashion brawl.

The two face off and lunge at each other, but as they are about to collide Nick NiCad’s wrist watch goes off and distracts him just enough to get clobbered by Solar Flare.

After finding himself half dazed and still out of it the Mayor is explaining to Nick that one of the secret lithium warehouses are being illegally cleaned out by none other than [color=LightBlue]Dark Nucleus. And by the time Nick NiCad can regained his composure Solar Flare has gotten away as well.[/color]

Back at the secret warehouse Dark Nucleus and his henchmen are loading an empty oil tanker with large quantities of Lithium X. During this time Solar Flare joins up with Dark Nucleus to assure him that Nick NiCad is now out of the picture for the time being.

We end the story with Nick NiCad flying desperately towards the factory to stop the evil villains in their tracks.

[color=Wheat]C.[ Shot List ] [/color]

EXT: Rooftop [Nighttime]

In this scene Nick NiCad is standing on the rooftop of a tech building looking over lithium city listening to the night sounds. He receives a distress signal from the Mayor on his wristwatch and is informed that there is trouble and his help is needed immediately.

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc01Med over the shoulder view of Nick NiCad hunched over on a ledge observing Lithium.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc02 WS Start pan of the city skyline L to R.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc03 XCU of wristwatch chirping[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc04 ZO Med profile of Nick looking at a holographic display of the Lithium city mayor.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc05 XCU of the holographic image of the mayor and his dialogue.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc06 WS of Nick NiCad flying towards the screen in to a XCU of his face.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc07 WS of Nick NiCad from behind flying off into the distance.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq01 sc08Fade to Black.[/color]

EXT: Main Street [Nighttime]

In this scene Nick NiCad meets up with his enemy Solar Flare who is destroying cars and buildings on Main Street. Nick prepares to stop Solar Flares evil destruction and subdue him.

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc01 WSbird’s eye view of Solar Flare blowing up vehicles on Main Street and citizens running and screaming for their lives.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc02 CU of Solar Flares face as he begins powering up to deliver another destructive blast.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc03 ZO to Med of Solar Flare still powering up but suddenly distracted as he spots Nick NiCad above.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc04 XCUof Nick NiCad with a surprised look as a deadly rock fireball is heading his way.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc05 WS of Nick NiCad punching the fireball rock and shattering it into pieces.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc06 CU of Solar Flare grinning as the fireball is destroyed.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc07 ZO to WS of Solar Flare beckoning Nick NiCad to come down and fight him.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc08 WSof Nick NiCad standing in the middle of Main Street Wild West style as he is facing off to Solar Flare (Debris is still burning in the near distance)[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc09 XCU of Nick NiCad’s face showing anger[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc10 XCU of Solar Flare’s face showing anger[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc11 WSof Nick NiCad flying fiercely towards Solar Flare[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc12 WS of Solar Flare flying fiercely towards Nick NiCad[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc13 XCU of Nick NiCad’s watch chirping[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc13 WS of Stars and Smoke debris due to Nick NiCad getting clobbered by Solar Flare.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc14 CU Nick sitting up against a building in a daze and the holographic image of the mayor.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc15 XCUof the holographic image of the mayor faded out with dialogue and Solar Flare getting away in the distance laughing.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq02 sc16Special screen dissolve to next scene.[/color]

EXT: Secret Lithium Factory #15 [Nighttime]

This scene depicts the outside of an off the path factory with Dark Nucleus disguised oil tanker parked outside.

[color=LightBlue]Sq03 sc01 DA of the Lithium Factory with a giant oil tanker in the front belonging to Dark Nucleus[/color]

INT: Secret Lithium Factory #15

In this scene we see Dark Nucleus managing his henchmen as he secures and prepares for illegal distribution of lithium X.

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc01 Pan L to R in the warehouse showing henchmen for Dark Nucleus preparing to load containers of Lithium into the tanker.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc02 Med Dark Nucleus overseeing the operation.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc03 WS of Solar Flare flying in from a roof top window.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc04 XCU Dark Nucleus turning quickly to see whom it is.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc05 Med of Solar Flare landing and standing next to Dark Nucleus.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq04 sc06 WS of Solar Flare and Dark Nucleus Laughing hard.[/color]

EXT: Skyline [Nighttime]

This scene depicts our battered and bruised but not out hero flying ferociously to stop his enemies.

[color=LightBlue]Sq05 sc01 Med Nick NiCad flying towards camera.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq05 sc01 XCU of Nick NiCad showing anger.[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq05 sc03 Fade to Black[/color]

Credits:

[color=LightBlue]Sq06 sc01White Box Letters “
To be continued?”[/color]

[color=LightBlue]Sq05 sc02 Run Credits[/color]

[color=Wheat]D.[Characters] [/color]

[ul]
[li]Nick NiCad [/li][li]Solar Flare [/li][li]Dark Nucleus[/li][li]Mayor of Lithium[/li][li]Secondary Citizens[/li][li]Henchmen of Dark Nucleus[/li][/ul][color=Wheat]Name: Nick NiCad[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes: Very strong for his size, uses a jet pack to fly, posses martial arts skills.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality: Loner, Rogue. A little gullible and it takes him a second to catch on butonce he does watch out.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: Pretty Women.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Name: Solar Flare[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes: Powered by the sun and can burn just about anything he wants.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality: Wants to be in front of the camera all the time and loves westerns. Solar flare will never duck from a challenge but it has to be a showdown type atmosphere for him to enjoy it.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: Dark Clouds and Interiors with no solar panels.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Name: Dark Nucleus[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes:Evil, Ambitious, technically savvy and very intelligent.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality:Ex Millionaire Tycoon that lost a bid to supply the city with a power source called Diaxciam.The deadliest of enemies to Lithium city and Nick NiCad.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: Will not fight if the numbers are not in his favor.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Name: Mayor of Lithium[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes: Makes all the decisions for the city of Lithium[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality: Always nervous and panics at ever turn. If it wasn’t for Nick NiCad he would have stepped down and turned the city over to Dark Nucleus a long time ago.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: If he cannot contact Nick NiCad he is liable to do something stupid like give in to a villains demand.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Name: Secondary Citizens[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes: Everyday people, Bankers, School Teachers, Seniors, and Children.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality:Happy when things are going well, panic stricken as if the sky is fallen when the villains strike.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: Instability.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Name: Henchmen of Dark Nucleus[/color]

[color=Wheat]Attributes: Cybernetic drones capable of incredible strength and speed.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Personality: Built to serve Dark Nucleus at all cost. Motto is built in, loyalty or termination.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Weakness: Corrosion.[/color]

E. [ Sets ]

[ul]
[li]Rooftop [/li][li]Main Street [/li][li]Secret Lithium Factory [Exterior] [/li][li]Secret Lithium Factory [Exterior] [/li][li]Lithium City Skyline[/li][/ul][color=Wheat]Set: Rooftop [/color]

[color=Wheat]Description: Rooftop of a building that has a large helicopter landing pad on it. Regarding the visual it isn’t really necessary to see its actual structure due to the camera angles so the rooftop itself and the city skyline that surrounds it will suffice.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Set: Main Street[/color]

[color=Wheat]Description: Two streets that meet with a very wide intersection with lots of vehicles on the main road. This is definitely a business district with little shops, banks and such making up the area. Buildings should like they are futuristic and belong in a city called lithium.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Set: Secret Lithium Factory [Exterior] [/color]

[color=Wheat]Description: A blatantly out of the way looking facility that is reminiscent of the old factory mills back in the 1960’s with three smoke stacks coming out of the roof.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Set: Secret Lithium Factory [Interior] [/color]

[color=Wheat]Description: Once inside this factory you could see how the outside would fool you. Highly advanced production facility ran by the latest and greatest hi-tech machinery.[/color]

[color=Wheat]Set: City Skyline[/color]

[color=Wheat]Description: Large Skyscrapers and buildings that would put you in the mind of the post-tech era at its peak. This set should convey that it is very Sci-fi heavy.[/color]


[ [color=wheat]Help Wanted - [color=white]Open Positions[/color] ] [/color]

As stated earlier this project is open to the community to participate in as you will. There are no time constraints or obligatory commitments. The only thing I ask is that if you select something to do that you would post your progress in this thread. If you cant finish an item, lose interest or something else comes up then no harm no foul…been there done that.

Having gone through this before and now learning from hindsight, I dont mind if more than one person actually works on the same item. Energy is energy and it’s the birthplace of creativity as far as I’m concerned. So interested parties can choose to work on what they feel regardless of if someone else is doing it. This breeds opportunity for growth by communcating tips if you feel yours is lacking.

Collab projects are about growth and a sense of accomplishment on all levels. Anytime spent doing anything CG releated is not a waste of time or skill. So again, dont worry if someone else is modeling, animating, etc something that you may have wanted to try…have it. We will sort out what’s what in the end…The goal is to just have fun.:thumbsup:

Positions Available:

[color=PaleGreen]Storyboard artist - From experience I’ve seen that this position hardly ever gets filled when listed but I’ll list it anyway. More than likely I’ll do it. :twisted:[/color]

[color=PaleGreen]2D Concept Character Designer - Choose any character from the character list and read the character oultine infor along with Genre/Influnce section of the outline.
[/color]
2D Concept Set Designer - Choose any set from the Set list and read the set info in the outline and the Genre/Influence section of the outline.

3D Modelers (Set Locations)
[color=lightblue]Software: Whatever your comfortable with.[/color]
[color=wheat][color=lightblue]File Format: [/color]OBJ[/color]
[color=lightblue]Info: [/color]Depending on what’s available concept artwise use that as a base and the Set info in the outline as a visual guide.

[color=PaleGreen]3D Modelers Character & Prop
[/color][color=lightblue]Software: Whatever your comfortable with.[/color]
[color=wheat][color=lightblue]File Format: [/color]OBJ[/color]
[color=lightblue]Info: [/color]Depending on what’s available concept artwise use that as a base along with the character oultine information and Genre/Influences as a visual guide.

Character Animation:

[color=lightblue]Software: Lightwave has to be able to read the animation file.[/color]
[color=lightblue]Info: [/color]Depending on what’s available concept artwise use that as a base along with the character oultine information and Genre/Influences as a visual guide.

[color=lightblue]**The short will be rendered in Lightwave. If you would like to do any rigging or CA work just make sure that Lightwave can read the file. ie. MDD, FBX, etc.[/color]

#3

Clear and precise, the way it should be done. I hope things get rolling, i’ll be watching this with great interest.

#4

Well you have been hanging around here for a long time , so you should have a good
idea of how things go in here. You have my support and will pop in from time to time
to see if there is anything I can help with.
It’s gonna take me awhile to read all that stuff you posted.

Best of luck.

#5

Psyk0 - Thanks for your comments, much appreciated :slight_smile:

BOY1DA - Appreciate the support. Between you and Shirow specifically I’ve been able to learn quite about managing collabs. Hindsight is 20/20. Patience is paramount.

#6

As the week moves forward I’ll post more concept images which will vary from character to non organic. At this stage things can and proably will change as most of these will be very rough and exploratory.

Rough Character Concept - SolarFlare

#7

Nice start on the concept art :thumbsup:

#8

After a lot of thought I’ve decieded not to reinvent the wheel for some things and cannibalize others. I’ve been working with a long time good friend and concept artist already on a previous projects. These are a few of the characters that I have rights to and havent used yet (3D Modeling wise)…so why not use them here :shrug:

Anyway, this will get me off to a good start because it gets the bulk of the main character concepts out of the way. Now, all thats left concept wise is the Mayor and a few secondary citizens.

Aside from this I still need enviornment concept art. If that doenst happen I’ll post or use reference images as guide and ad lib from there…no biggie :twisted:

[b]
Concept of Main Character Nick NiCad
[color=Yellow] REMOVED

[/b]
Concept of Solar Flare
[/color][color=Yellow] REMOVED[/color]
[b]

Concept of Dark Nucleus
[/b][color=Yellow] REMOVED[/color]

Concept of The Henchmen of Dark Nucleus (Can be modeled with variations for variety)
[color=Yellow] REMOVED[/color]

#9

Softdistortion - Thanks bro, although…its not my specialty I appreciate the comments :slight_smile:

#10

For now the best way for me to convey how I imagine Lithium city is going to have to be through reference images. During the time I created the idea and wrote this short story a few years back I collected a lot of reference material to help me visualize what I actually wanted.

During that time the story board images from a Batman Beyond series was perfect. So I have posted them below to give you an idea of what I’m leaning towards. As long as the buildings have that type of feel and design nature to them I’m fine with it :). The rest is just up to your imagination as there is a lot of room for creativity.

#11

Well, the characters are more or less defined at this point. The only thing that is left is the Mayor which in reality is only going to be an head and shoulder shot at best. The secondary citizens dont even require concept art since they can look pretty much like…secondary citizens :twisted:

At this point before “I” even begin to start mucking around with polygons the storyboard is next on my todo list. Once the storyboard is complete I’ll post the an animatic which will hopefully give me a good feel for the timing and length of the short.

#12

From the looks of it, it does not seem that small…

I mean for example, the “Fetch” project takes place it one location a back yard,
with one human character… but yet just to complete one shot took a great amount of work.
So with that said… be prepared to spend a very long time living with this.
I’m sure you know this…

Anyway everything looks great so far. Looking forward to seeing what the very first few
shots will be , when you do some story board stuff.

#13

Boy1DA - I guess I should have defined small :slight_smile: but in the grand scheme of things it is small compared to others except for Fetch which would be Micro in comparison :twisted:

But your right, it will be around for while and it depends on the help I get or dont get. No rush though, but I’ll keep it steady.

I’ll post the storyboard stuff as I go along before I finalize the complete animatic.

#14

Hey Kid-Mesh, Nice to see another fine collab starting. This looks like a nice project and as BOY1DA said it looks a little larger than the small project you stated at the start :stuck_out_tongue: but I imagine the movie itself will be short, however the work involved to realise the dream looks like it will be large enough. However you are in the right place for help, as long as you keep on top of things.

It looks like an interesting story too, nice characters as well. Will be nice to see them animated. I will see if I can help out during the project, however I am still swamped with work at the moment and Fetch gets first priority if there is anything urgent needing done. Although Omar is like a little 3D factory and generally if it needs doing he just motors ahead and does it :stuck_out_tongue:

I have been away from 3D for a month or two but I am getting back into it again so perhaps I will try one of the chars for fun, if you use it you use it if it sucks then no biggie. Might be useful somewhere.

Anyway Good luck with the whole thing and I will keep popping in from time to time to see how things are coming along.

Later

#15

The freak - Thanks for popping in bro :). Yeah, the animation itself is realitively short but when it comes to cg is anything small? :twisted:

Trust me, I tried to keep it short and compared to the usual stuff I come up with…this is by far the smallest idea I’ve had. But by all means if you want to take a crack at one of the characters then go for it. Dont worry if it does seem up snuff…I just want to give people a “reason” to model and grow. So if it gets used then great if not then what have you lost? Nothing…growth is inevitable. :slight_smile:

#16

I prefer your concept style over the 2nd batch (no offense to your friend) but eh that’s just me ;). Still that should be just as good to work from.

#17

PsyK0 - Hey dont gas my head up like that :scream: because you would set me back a week or so by having me re-sketch it all out.

But at this point I’m willing to give some artistic license to the modelers just as long as its similar or close enough to the concept art. Since the whole theme is a battery/energy thing ala Lithium city and Mr NiCad himself. I felt that the characters suits/uniforms could help sell it.:twisted:

But hey, compliment taken as I do love to draw anyway

#18

I’ve spent some time over the last two weeks finalizing the actual dialogue script for the short and tweaking the storyboard scenes. The storyboard is taking a little longer than I expected because I’m being picky about it.

Anyway, I also found some great software for voice acting work at www.audio4fun.com I’d have to say that it’s not bad for under $100 dollars and works pretty well.

This weekend though I’m looking for a bit of a change of pace so I’m going to do some 3D character modeling work too. I hope to have a few pic’s of one of the 3D characters posted sometime this weekend.

EDIT:

I’ve also been thinking about creating a 3D pre-viz instead of finalizing the actual storyboard. Which in the end I think I just might do anyway.

At least this way I “others” will have a better idea of the shots and whatnot. I truly believe things would be better translated this way. There are just some scenes which are “hard” to convey in a small 2D square :twisted:

#19

Glad to see the project is still rolling. Looking forward to see character progress :thumbsup:.

#20

Project isnt dead, although by the looks of it, two months flew by…jeez.

Anyway, looking to become a lot more active, even if I have to finish this myself. :twisted: