This is a crosspost from my newsletter: https://news.hydromecha.website/p/opening-night

Tonight’s double feature includes a pair of major projects I’ve been talking about for a while.

The Funny Video

It’s done! Like I’ve mentioned in previous editions, this is for a very specific audience so there’s a good chance you might just find this more confusing than anything. If you’re familiar with Xavier Renegade Angel or other similar rapid-fire wordplay/comedy stuff this should be right up your alley.

I definitely learned a lot while making this in terms of animation, compositing, and editing. There are a bunch of useful techniques I’m going to be carrying forward to other projects I have in mind.

One of the things I was finally able to take a swing at was Datamoshing, which is a technique that takes advantage of how video files work to create weird glitchy effects. I used this awesome webapp called Supermosh, which you can find here: https://supermosh.github.io/

In regards to Blender, I also got to try out using the Wiggle Bones addon to automate some secondary animations in a few shots. Those same shots also used Auto-Keying for animating the main parts of the characters, which is something I want to try out more extensively to attempt to mimic GMod ragdoll animation. There was also a cool shader I found that I’m gonna try using for some future animations. I also found out you can use fisheye lenses in Blender (though it’s only available in Cycles) which I used for a few shots.

If there’s any interest in a more specific rundown on how I made something in the video, let me know! I could do a follow-up video later going over that sort of stuff if there’s interest.

The Funny Story

The last free member of The Demilich Brotherhood must face his ultimate reckoning: an irresponsibly large mortgage he cannot possibly repay on his own.

This is also out! You can read it over on my short stories Substack or on Newgrounds as part of The Literature Portal Collab, where you can find a whole swath of stories written by the other members of the collab.

https://stories.hydromecha.website/p/dave-the-depressed-demilich

Foodland

I’ve cooked a bunch of stuff since last time, pictured below:

In order, we have some gochujang-marinated chicken, chocolate-chip and oatmeal banana bread, mini bulgolgi patties, a taco-ish rice bowl, some waffles (which had some really nice aeration), a chicken parm-esque casserole, some proper bulgolgi, a big ‘ol slab of cookie with a creme brulee’d frosting layer, and a taco-esque casserole.

Here’s another picture of the creme brulee cookie so you can get a closer look at it:

And that’s all I have for now! I’ll see you again next time with another newsletter.

Have a good one,

-Hydro