I’m doing some production math today: I created a list of every single shot in the pilot episode – there are 393 of them, omitting a few repetitions. For each, I listed all of the 3D model assets used. Then I wrote a little Python script to pivot this table and create a list of all 3D assets with the shots they appear in. There are 254 3D assets listed, ranging from the character “Georgiana” (118 shots) to the prop “Vegetables-Various” (1 shot).
“Lunatics!” is a big project. Trying to produce half-hour to one-hour episodes is a whole different thing than producing a 5-10 minute short. I’ve known for a long time that this is going to involve a lot of 3D assets, but it’s getting to the point where I need to know exactly how many, how hard are they to make, and which ones exactly?
Of the roughly 250 models we need, quite a few are simple objects that only appear in one or two shots. There are 77 models that are called for in 5 or more shots. My next step is to go through the asset list and give a subjective score for things like “complexity” and “importance” and “uniqueness” so I can decide which ones we really need to focus on creating.
I am also animating a “Teaser Trailer” which will come out just before our next Kickstarter, which we are starting to set up now. The rendering alone on this takes quite a few hours, which is why one of the line items on our Kickstarter budget is going to be to build a small dedicated render cluster for the project. Other expenses include some commissions for 3D modeling artists and animators.
