Underpants Away! -2- (Production Update)

[BiggsTrek]

Hi TMU,

It's been a while since I posted an update on 'Underpants Away! -2- A Land Down Under (Pants)', although I have shared a little with those in the TMOA chatroom and a few PMs to others. Thought it was about time I "went public", lol

Progress of late has been very very good. I quite surprised myself! Actually got almost 5 scenes complete (in AMM) in a few days (miraculous for me, I know!) and am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Pretty happy with what I've done so far, too. I think that helps a lot for me to push forward. Nothing worse than working on something you don't like. Luckily that's not the case here!

Right now, I'm still not sure if this will be a TMO/TMU release or just a TMU release. That's up to the powers-that-be over at TMO. If they don't fix the Charts by the time I'm done in AMM, then I'll take the easy route and edit the movie externally. Of course, if they come through and the Charts unfreeze, then I'll edit in PP and release on both sites. (Plus I'm assuming Ken can fix the weird sound problem on TMU...?)

Honestly, I suspect it will be a TMU release only as they (LH) haven't responded to my threads/posts/PMs about the Charts problem and I've done about as much as I'm prepared to do to get their attention.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Thong Boy's Thong looks pretty snazzy (as snazzy as a chubby man's thong can look, anyway!) plus I've done a fair bit of overlay work to make the movie look as "fresh" as I can (without relying on an external edit) and a bit of set dressing, too.

:clap: Underpants Away! :clap:

BiggsTrek.

[Howitzer]

Oooh, exciting stuff!! Will be keeping my eyes open for this on both sites!
(I'm having similar thoughts as to whether to experiment with OE)

I'm going to watch the first again now :D Woo!
Underpants Away!

Howie.

[TheFlyingDuDe]

YAY!
Biggy, I´ve waited for this since the day UPM 1 was released and actually I´m not kidding my little brothers ask me everytime we phone if UPM 2 is out already. They/We just loved the first one. =)
But hey no pressure for part 2 ;)

[kuroken]

(Plus I'm assuming Ken can fix the weird sound problem on TMU...?)
It's picking up the subsonic rumble when UPM speaks....that's why Cosmo howls when you record the lines....

When you're ready to release, or even before if you want to test it, catch me on Skype, I'll switch the encoding to Mencoder, and we'll see how it goes (mencoder is okay, ffmpg is the newer and better encoder - not even sure what visible/audible difference there will be - possibly none)

Or....I think I can probably scrape your vocal cords without invasive surgery, if I can find a scalpal that's long enough, and I do take insurance....plus a drive up to Atlanta isn't too much to do to make you happy...

Dr. Ken

[Norrie]

It's picking up the subsonic rumble when UPM speaks....that's why Cosmo howls when you record the lines....

When you're ready to release, or even before if you want to test it, catch me on Skype, I'll switch the encoding to Mencoder, and we'll see how it goes (mencoder is okay, ffmpg is the newer and better encoder - not even sure what visible/audible difference there will be - possibly none)

Or....I think I can probably scrape your vocal cords without invasive surgery, if I can find a scalpal that's long enough, and I do take insurance....plus a drive up to Atlanta isn't too much to do to make you happy...

Dr. Ken

Biggs. Be aware that Dr Ken scrapes vocal cords the long way (if you know what I mean).
.
I think he is used to hearing the TMOA hosts talking out of their....

film sounds great :)

[BiggsTrek]

Thanks Howi, TFD and Norrie!

Ken, you aren't going to wear that Surgical Thong Mask I saw a picture of, are you?

*gulp*

(I need guppi to post a link...)

[Chris62]

Can't wait to see it.
:001_rolleyes:

[piotrtheman]

Can't wait to see it.
:001_rolleyes:

Same can't I...

[BiggsTrek]

Thanks chris and piotr!

--

Progress is steady on the latest Episode (2). And with TMO being totally screwed up and no LH action to fix it (or even acknowledge it), I'm definitely not going to bother releasing it over there (even my head can only take so much bashing against a wall...)

--

For those that need a refresher (or missed it on TMO), I have uploaded both the original UPM Movie and the first episode of Underpants Away! on TMU.

Underpants Man: The Movie (http://www.tmunderground.com/watch/4b5afe8428a4a024feb0/Underpants-Man:-The-Movie)

and

Underpants Away! -Episode 1- Below The Belt (http://www.tmunderground.com/watch/f8a370206f111127c0db/Underpants-Away!--1--Below-The-Belt)

:flowers:

[BiggsTrek]

Progress continues steadily (slightly delayed due to some marathon viewings of Heroes. But that's another story.)

I only have a couple of short scenes to make up in AMM then it's on to a brief stopover in PP where I'll put in the VOs and export for proper editing externally.

With this in mind, I will need ALL VO's in before I can continue in PP (within a week). My VAs can expect some "friendly reminder" emails in the next few days (you know who you are... muhahaha.)

[Nukester]

My VAs can expect some "friendly reminder" emails in the next few days (you know who you are... muhahaha.)

Biggie Biggie Biggie, as long as you're not hiding in their backyard bushes and trees whilst reminding them then that's fine :huh: (I think :18:)

Can't wait for the next chapter of my favourite TMU Superhero!

:nuke:

[sisch]

My VAs can expect some "friendly reminder" emails in the next few days (you know who you are... muhahaha.)


*ahem*....... :sweatdrop:

Great news, Biggs! ..... have to run now......:scooter:

you'll get them as soon as my nose is un-stuffed, promised!

[Donekardio]

Same can't I...

I agree:w00t:

[BiggsTrek]

Greetings One and All!

Here's a little update on the progress of Underpants Away! - Episode 2 - A Land Down Under (Pants)...

Well, I have finally finished up the AMM portion of the production. Scarily, I ended up with 54+ minutes of raw footage. Not normally a problem, as I would usually edit it down to its final length (around 20 mins) in PP, but as I am now doing the editing externally (and exclusively) that means I need to EXPORT the entire 54+ MOVIE! (Not very good planning on my part, I'll admit. Next time I'll do a scene at a time.)

Anyway, the really good news is my new PC kicks butt, and last night I exported that 54+ minute beast in HIGHEST resolution without a glitch. The animation is smooth as silk, too. I was impressed.

Now don't get too excited, as I have to do it all again (the export) with the VOs in place for the purpose of lip synching (the above export was merely a test). I don't expect any problems in that area, however. It just takes time and organization to get 'em right (as we all know). (Plus need I mention I am still waiting on some VOs from some lovely VAs? Including me and my wife... *hint hint*)

This morning, I played around with Chromakey for the 1st time (well, 2nd, but it failed miserably as I was testing on lowres files). For those that want to see some sneak previews of what I've done, download the small test files below (right click, Save As... they're only 1 meg each)

http://biggstrek.googlepages.com/Blue01-BridgetGreet3.wmv
http://biggstrek.googlepages.com/Blue02-BridgetBow.wmv

Came out pretty good for my first attempt at this, I felt. Bodes well for the other effects that I'm planning. Means some static overlays I made up now get scrapped, but it's all a learning/developing process, right?

Anyway, expect an update towards the end of the month as I delve into the editing process, sound design and musical score.

Should be fun!

UNDERPANTS AWAY!

BiggsTrek

[Donekardio]

Very good BiggStrek:35:

[sisch]

Those chroma key scenes look very good, Biggs!
I can hardly wait for this episode!
Plus I promise I'll redo those vo's for you next week - my nose is slowly getting better, and I'm starting to sound like me again.... hehe, I'm rather glad that I'm not the only one behind schedule vo-wise.... :wink:

[TheHappyIsland]

I can't wait to see it!:001_smile:

[BiggsTrek]

Several weeks later and I have received almost all my VOs from my wonderful cast. Plus I have put them all into PP for the purpose of getting lip synching to work (the VOs, not the VAs... ;) ).

When I tried to export the full 56 mins (unedited), TM crashed on me after the audio pass. Major bummer... Nevertheless, I tried again with NO audio pass and it worked flawlessly, complete with (silent) lip movements (I wasn't sure if that was possible - to get lip synching without doing the audio pass - but it is!)

So now I have a very long (and very large - 1.2gig!) wmv file to play with in Sony Vegas (and add all the VOs yet again, *sigh*) and cut down to something more watchable (hopefully 20-25 mins max).

I also need to redo my own lines as the audio quality was sub standard (compared to most of the lines from the other VAs). I'll have to steal my wife's PC for that as it now does a much better job than mine (don't ask why, I have no idea).

But I shall soldier on, and hope that I get most of this done before the arrival of my new toy... iClone.

Underpants Away!

BiggsTrek