March 2023 Summary

HIGHLIGHTS:

Finished and linked the PLSS asset for Lunatics. Took a number of cost-saving steps.

I also re-evaluated whether the cloud infrastructure approach is working, or whether it would be cheaper to transition to a co-located server.

PRODUCTION:

The PLSS prop is now ready and linked. I still need to rig the “space bunny” with a ragdoll rig to complete the animation in SU & LA for Lunatics S1E01.

Did some searching for materials for the projects I plan to use in my “Filmmaking wih Kdenlive” book.

I’ve stopped writing articles directly on Patreon, moving to writing updates directly here on the Production Log, and more significantly, I’ve started making screencast videos of production and development work. I decided to switch from “real time” to doing more accelerated videos with voice-over commentary. I think this results in more useful videos.

Also, I’ve substituted a public “Monthly Report” video for the private “Monthly Summary” videos I was producing before. Since I already produce a “topical summary” video with all my worktime at 60X compression in order to compute time breakdowns for management, there just isn’t really much use for the monthly summaries.

I do plan to write more articles for release here on the Production Log, but haven’t had a lot to write about that isn’t covered by the videos below.

OPERATIONS:

The costs of cloud hosting the virtual studio site run to about $50 to $100 per month. I was able to find a co-location service in Dallas that would cost us $69/mo, plus the cost of building a server. I estimated that’s about $1000 for what we want, and if it lasts 5 years, that’s about $17/mo, or a total of $86/mo.

And this is for an objectively-better platform, without the management and performance complexities of relying on remote object storage for primary data (we’d likely still keep backups in object storage).

MAINTENANCE:

Repaired failing ceiling lights in our studio.

HOME:

This month, we had Spring Break, car maintenance to deal with, and CoViD in our householdĀ  (not SO serious, because we’re all up-to-date on vaccinations, but still no fun).

 

March 2023 Report

Screencasts from March

“Hero” Prop

PLSS Pack Wireframe

Proxy Prop

Control Panel “Hero” Prop

Upgraded PLSS Prop

Prop in Shot Animation File
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Terry Hancock is the director and producer of "Lunatics!" and the founder for "Lunatics Project" and the associated "Film Freedom" Project. Misskey (Professional/Director Account) Mastodon (Personal Account)