TET Project Updates - What Am I Working On Going Forward?

Since the last time I did a Project Update Post back in April I've become better organised by finally embracing Get It Done which is, in my opinion, the best of the many time management applications I've tried. #notsponsored.

Anyhow I amalgamated all my task lists into that app so, whilst I can't physically work on every project I've started, thought about, got bored of etc. They're all listed, and at least not forgotten.

So what am I working on over the next few months?

My YouTube Channels (The Extraordinary Tourist & TET Animations)

My original YouTube channel, The Extraordinary Tourist has recently had something of a makeover in order to clearly focus it on my two main interests going forward, Art and Skateboarding. I'm striving to release a video every Tuesday and Saturday and have mostly kept my schedule even if videos have been a day or two late.

The Extraordinary Tourist YouTube Channel.

I mention it here because the channel will feature some crossover with my TET Animations channel. Specifically some of the art I do there may end up featured in animation videos on TET Animations.

Speaking of TET Animations my goal is to release one video every Thursday for that channel focused on some aspect of animation. That could be anything from my own projects through to application reviews and tutorials.

I haven't got into that schedule with TET Animations yet but once I give the channel a makeover in the very near future, expect me to write more posts here featuring my videos from there.

Infinite Monkey Theorem

I am determined to finish Infinite Monkey Theorem which, like Random Testing Unit, went from being a short 1-2 week project to becoming an epic ball and chain burden that just keeps holding on.

I took another look at it, and started to animate more scenes just last week. I'm definitely going to make a push to finish it before I start on any new CrazyTalk Animator projects.

Bat Storm is Moving to iClone 7

I've given up on animating Bat Storm in Muvizu... in fact I've given up on Muvizu since the application won't let me register the license key on the copy I installed on my main work computer (meaning I can't access the character models to make Bat Storm unless I stick to the installation on my laptop that I hate using for animation).

As I reported in this post, I've started creating models for Bat Storm in iClone 7, a 3D animation studio app made by the same company that makes CrazyTalk Animator 3. I've had the full professional version of iClone for years and barely used it. The software is superior to Muvizu in every way, I've got way more content for it so it makes sense to use it for Bat Storm.

I want to make Bat Storm my next animated project after Infinite Monkey Theorem and will hopefully get some more time to develop the character designs in the near future.

More CrazyTalk Characters for my Reallusion Marketplace Store

One of the Random Characters
soon to be a CTA3 Character.

One thing I like more than anything else is character design. Not specifically coming up with designs but, when I randomly doodle something in my sketchbook that looks like it would be a good character for something, I like to develop it up into a character... and then see them animated.

Already on my Extraordinary Tourist Channel I've sketched up two random characters that I want to turn into CTA3, G3 characters for my store. I hope to work on them and others, so that I can slowly stock my store, make some sales, and see what people do with my characters that I don't seem to have time to animate myself.

Other Projects

As I said at the start I've got projects from almost every task list I've created in the last five years entered into my Get It Done task app, so I've got a deep pool of things I've started to draw from. I'll try to feed some of those older projects back into the mix as I get motivated again.

It will be challenging as I'm also working to grow Animation 4 Business and its work load which could be doing a lot more business if the guy who runs it would actually do some marketing and promotion... (that's me. I'm talking about me... and that's what I'm trying to do now).

---o ---o--- o---

For now, that's what's ahead in the immediate future. Hopefully making a video once a week will help with me having content to post here once a week too. Stay tuned!

Comments

Eight 2D Animation Apps For Your Phone or Tablet Mobile Device

M obile productivity apps have become so capable that they can be great alternatives to their PC/MAC equivalents or serve as great tools in their own right when you're away from your desk. While some apps simply mimic their desktop counterparts, others offer well thought out, touch-friendly interfaces that are easier and more fun to use. Every so often I check out what's available for 2D animation for Android devices, since that's what I use, that can complement my workflow with Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 5. Some may be available for Apple devices as well. Below I've listed six free (F) apps (with optional paid (P) upgrades) on the Google Play Store that you might want to explore. Some are just fun apps on their own while others may be useful as part of your workflow on bigger animation projects. Not all are exclusively animation apps and could be used on any production. JotterPad (F/P) The name JotterPad makes this sound like a notepad application but it's ...

Creating an AI Digital Avatar and Voice Clone of Myself with Free and Low Cost AI Tools

O ver the years I've looked at various ways of creating and animating a digital avatar, from simply creating a character for Cartoon Animator and voicing and animating it myself, to creating a live motion capture ready Vtuber avatar puppeted and voiced by me in real-time. In the last year or so, making photographic images talk, using AI and AI voice cloning has really progressed. To the point where I wondered if I could create a photographic AI avatar of myself, complete with my cloned voice, that I might use on some of my videos? Creating My Avatar: Artflow To create my avatar image, as far as I'm concerned, Artflow.ai is the best value AI site for creating consistent digital characters (or 'actors' as Artflow calls them). That's pretty much their entire focus. Artflow's actor model training user interface. You get your first actor for free, 100 free credits per month (which equates to 100 still images per month - get an additional 50 credits if you sign...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D...

Five AI Generative Image to Video Tools For Animation You Can Try Free Right Now

The Emo Girl Character created by Start Animating. A I generative video isn't new but it is the next big thing in the visual imaging space as various development teams work to perfect the generated output. Just like generating still images AI video sometimes struggles with physics, arm and hand movement, and the general structure of things. However it is getting better and, as is the catch cry of all AI development, this is the worst it will ever be, because it's improving fast. If you're an animator one current potential use of generative AI video is to animate your key frames, as opposed to generating something entirely from a text prompt. Starting with an image helps to keep your characters and art style consistent across AI generations. With that in mind I tried five, free image to video AI generators to see what their potential might be and whether they can handle cartoon style characters well. Note all but the last entry on the list do not create any sound with the...

The Ultimate Independent Animator's App and Resource List - Animation and Video Life

Image created with Cartoon Animator 4. Being an independent animator is not like a studio animation job. There's so much more to do that is indirectly related to the actual task of animating. Over the years I've sought out many apps, tools, and services that can help me achieve that one single task, expressing myself through animation. Below is my Ultimate Independent Animator's Resource List for 2024 (last updated Oct 2024). It started out as a list of free or low cost apps that could help you in every stage of producing either 2D or 3D animation, and then just kind of grew from there. You may not have been looking for a Time Management App as much as you needed something to get you started in 3D animation but when those commissioned projects start coming in you'll have a head start on maximizing your time. All the apps and services on this list had to meet two main criteria: They had to be useful and relevant to an Indy Animator/artist. The base app/se...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 2 - Inochi2D Session)

In part one of my deep dive into the free VTuber software, Inochi2D , I focused mainly on Inochi2D Creator, which is used for rigging your character avatar in the correct file format for use with Inochi2D Session, the puppeteering part of the software. The two sides of the software are still very much in development and the documentation, particularly for Session, is very thin on the ground. To the point where I don't think I could even do a comprehensive tutorial because I'm not sure I'm even doing things right, and the software could change significantly in a single update. As a result, in this part of my Inochi2D deep dive I'm changing tact from presenting my finished Cartoon Animator TET Avatar, and will be summarizing my experience of getting Session up and running using OpenSeeFace as the recommended webcam motion capture software. To do this I will be using the TET avatar I created in my review of Mannequin , since that can be exported as a full, ready to go r...

Krita AI Diffusion - Generative Image AI For Krita is Seriously Useful, Powerful and Free (If You Can Install it Locally)

Generative AI sequence of a woman in a business suit. From sketch to refined image using Krita AI Diffusion - by TET G enerative image AI, where you describe an image with a text prompt to an Artificial Intelligence model and it produces a new image based on your prompt, is gaining a strong hold as a tool for many artists. Krita AI Diffusion brings generative AI image tools right into your favourite free and opensource, graphics editor, Krita. Not only that, if you have a computer with decent specs (and at least 10GB of hard drive space), Krita AI Diffusion is completely free. What If I Don't Have a Powerful Computer? If you're in my situation, with a computer that was around before anyone in the mainstream had even heard of generative AI, you can still access Krita AI Diffusion for free, using a cloud based AI server, Interstice and 300 tokens, to get you started. Once your initial tokens run out, purchase 5000 more for 10€ (approx US$11.00). Tokens never expire. I would...

Animation and Video Life

Search This Blog