Progress Update #35 (Patreon)

Hello, dear supporters!

Let's get to it.

Why the quiet period? I put my head down to really get after the update, and my posting schedule got a little messed up.

There was also one fairly significant detour: I spent almost three weeks coding and testing workflow scripts for my production setup. Several slow, tedious parts of my workflow had been annoying me for a long time, so I finally decided to automate them.

Basically, I traded a few weeks of this production cycle for faster production going forward.

Which leads me to my current predicament: I won't be able to release the update in August. The actual scene work is mostly finished, but I won't be available next week, and I simply won't have enough time to render the remaining animations before the end of the month.

Ironically, if I hadn't spent time making automation and "speed" scripts, the update probably would've been out already. :) Harder today for an easier tomorrow and all that jazz.

I don't regret the detour, though. The scripts have genuinely transformed my workflow. By my estimates, they've cut my animation work by roughly 40–50% and posing time by around 20%. That's a substantial improvement, even if it wasn't enough to make up the lost time during this production cycle.

Since most of the update is already done, I'm expecting it around the second week of September. But, as always, treat that as an estimate rather than a blood oath. :)

Hopefully the next production cycle is where all these improvements really start paying off. Between the new scripts and having less "day job" work going forward, I'm very curious to see what kind of production speed I can manage next time. :)

Some samples from the upcoming Update:

Thank you for being understanding and for continuing to support the project.

Onyx