March 2026 Summary

   2026-03-31  Leave a Comment on March 2026 Summary  Posted in Summary

Lunatics Production

This month was mostly focused on production work for Lunatics. I recreated the TR-2-A shot that transitions from the train wheel (after fading from the full Earth), across reflected landscape with camels, to Georgiana Lerner’s face looking out the window of the train.  Then I assembled this with the rest of the scene with the existing shots. I re-rendered with an updated railway set. I composited those files and re-assembled the whole scene in Kdenlive. There is still one remaining problem in the scene, which is some missing lipsync.

Work-in-Progress Assembly of TR-Train Scene

This is nearly complete visually. The soundtrack is still temporary. Most of the diegetic sound is here, along with the background music, but not the voice-over, and the sound will probably be tweaked some more.

 

Train wheel with flower in front.
It was important to me to recreate the look from the original version of this shot, though many things have changed with the source files since then!
Georgiana Lerner looking out of train window. Hiromi is seated in the background.
The updated TR-2 shot is much more consistent with characters and animation style, as well as being at the correct 1080p resolution.
Camels reflected in train windows.
Unquestionably, the trickiest part to reconstruct were the reflections of the camels grazing along the railway.
Train viewed from the side, looking down the tracks.
The upgraded train pullaway shot (TR-4-A) now includes painted clouds, and the distant track is extended, although this increased the render time by a lot.

 

At the end of March, I began working (finally) on the remaining shots that need to be recreated in the SF-1 file — the character action in the Soyuz in the Soyuz Flight sequence at the end of the episode. I look-tested and created what I think is a good effect for the “sunbeam” shining into the spacecraft. Most of the effect is done with compositing, so I’ll actually be able to tweak it more after animating and rendering.

Sunbeam shining into Soyuz spacecraft.
Look test of the sunbeam, to bring it up to date with current Ink & Paint style. Note that a texture has been used to add dust illuminated by the beam.

Actually animating the sunbeam effect, and then completing the other shots for SF will continue into April.

March 2026 Timelapse – Finishing the Train Sequence

 

March Video Logs

Video Log 2026-03-06: Train Shot – Part 2


Going into the beginning of March, I’m still working on that same train shot, but I’ve made many improvements.

Video Log 2026-03-14: Train Shot Finished?


The train transition shot (TR-2) is finally done — well, pretty much, anyway. I could probably tweak it some more. But all the hard problems have been solved, and it’s usable as-is.

Video Log 2026-03-26: Train Sequence Finished?


Okay, it’s almost the same name as last time, but now I’ve assembled the whole train sequence!

Video Log 2026-03-31: Tooning a Sunbeam


In the last few days in March, I needed to do a little more look-testing to find out how to update the shot of the sunbeam shining into the spacecraft.

 

 

 
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Author: Terry Hancock
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)

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