This month, I published the 2nd part of a history for Lunatics Project, which covers the immediate inspirations in 2011, getting together the elements for the project, and recruiting the first person besides my wife and myself on the project.

This is probably going to wind up as part of a book I plan to write about the project, techniques, and software.

https://lunaticsproject.org/2023/08/06/project-history-p2-vision/

#LunaticsProject #OpenMovie #FilmFreedom #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #Film #CreativeCommons

Making visual effects for animation is tricky! You don't really want it to be completely realistic.

You want it to be *appropriately* realistic but stylized to go with the rest of the animation.

Also, there are no photos from this angle and time in the sequence! (This is meant to be from the final moment of burnout on the pod stages).

#LunaticsProject #Animation #MastoArt

@lunatics

Creating this is the subject of my recent #LunaticsProject / #FilmFreedom screencasts:

https://tv.filmfreedom.net/video-channels/ff_screencasts

If you miss the "Lunatics!" art I used to post more often, I post that on my "Lunatics Project" Pixelfed, now (although I do boost them here, still). I decided that was a more appropriate platform. It's all on the Fediverse, still:

https://px.filmfreedom.net/lunatics

#LunaticsProject #OpenMovie #MastoArt #Blender #NPR3D

Among the tools we use on "Lunatics!", one of the least well-known is #PapagayoNG . The "NG" is for the pure-Python version of the software which was forked and maintained by @morevnaproject . This version was easier to adapt to our needs:

https://morevnaproject.org/papagayo-ng/

It's an editor that helps to time lipsync animation to dialog.

It's a big time-saver!

#LunaticsProject #OpenMovie #Animation #Lipsync #OpenSource

Soyuz on the pad, just after sunrise.

Because launch vehicles tend to launch towards the East to take advantage of the Earth's rotation, the Gagarin-Start pad in Kazakhstan does 'face' eastwards, with the support equipment on the west side, which makes this shot work out nicely.

From "Lunatics!" ep.1 "No Children in Space".

#LunaticsProject | https://lunatics.tv
CC By-SA 4.0

#MastoArt #OpenMovie #Animation #CreativeCommons #Blender3D #NPR3D

The outside of the (fictional 2040-era) train station in Baikonur. Aside from the covered platform, most of this looks like it does today.

Some great hard-surface modeling by Sathish Kumar and Chris Kuhn on this one (and some 'background' set modeling by me).

From "Lunatics!", ep1: "No Children in Space".

#LunaticsProject | https://lunatics.tv
CC By-SA 4.0

#MastoArt #Blender3D #OpenMovie #Animation

Hiromi and Georgiana Lerner, arriving at Baikonur in April, 2040. The train station is a fictional upgrade to the real one.

A lot of "billboard extras" in this shot. Making the on-Earth parts of the story have realistic numbers of people in them was one of the challenges for this pilot.

From "Lunatics!", ep1: "No Children in Space".

(Reposting this to the new account).

#LunaticsProject | https://lunatics.tv
CC By-SA 4.0

#MastoArt #Blender3D #OpenMovie #Animation