The working script for episode 2 is done, so now it's on to storyboarding the episode's scenes. These are the only thumbnail/layout work I do before final art, but I can get away with leaving them really sketchy because I'm the only person working on A*. It'll probably take around 70 or 80 of these quick little cartoons to cover the action in the episode. I make adjustments to the script as I go along with these and find what's working best in terms of actual staging.

I'll try not to show anything really spoilerish, of course, but I just can't resist showing *something* of what I'm working away on, so...

Don't you hate it when your boss keeps sticking his big nose into your work?



I've found that it can be productive for me to work out character design during the storyboarding phase: doodling around and trying a bunch of different looks in these little cartoons.

But the boards for episode 2 are all done, so today it's time to get serious and start on the actual final art for scene 1!

I wonder what this person is shouting:



"THIS IS FINAL ART!"?

I think at just halfway through the final art for scene 1 of episode 2 I've already got more frame-by-frame hand-drawn animation than in the entire episode 1. That isn't actually saying much, but it's something I hope to be able to do more and more as I go, as opposed to just tweening things around the frame with automatic tools, because it's the carefully managed irregularities between drawings that give animation its unique sense of life.

Hand-drawing animation frame-by-frame is pretty labor-intensive if it's a complex shape, though, so I have my little cheating single-in-between technique where I use just a single frame with a hand-drawn "motion-blur" shape in between the start and end shapes:



It can be surprisingly effective if done right. Huzzah for cheating!

... Huzzah!

Don't worry, all the cool people cheat ;p

One frame from a *very* rapid animation:

What a silly face you're making, Vero!



Whatever could be the matter?

Had a minor inspiration over the weekend and whipped up a slightly more dynamic title sequence:



Since A* doesn't have a pre-loader and instead starts playing instantly while it is downloading, part of the title sequence's job is to suck up time while your computer pulls down enough of the episode's remaining animation that it won't have to pause mid-episode in order to keep up with downloading the data. This modified title sequence is over twice the bandwidth of the old one, and just a tad longer, so it isn't as effective as a download buffer, but at least it's a little more interesting to watch. (I think?)

One thing I don't want is to have animation in A* do the typical cartoon "bouncy" thing. I had to resist the urge to make the asterisk bounce outwards a bit after it sucks in the black cover to reveal the logo. :o

I really like the new logo.

beautiful!!! I like it!