Reply To: COLLAB2021 – HQ – Stylized Fantasy Environment

Guys I have an idea, now hear me out:

This is above top secret, Kent specially cannot find out about this. If you read this you’ll probably be committing the highest of treason, so I understand if you want to stop reading right now. Bear in mind, if you continue reading, you do so at your own risk.

It felt good to see such a positive reaction from the internet of the DOG animation, didn’t it? One of the things I’ve seen is how people while seeing the video think it can’t possibly go on further, only for it to keep going on and on, more and more detail keeps pouring in, then when the outside is almost assembled people think that’s it, it’s over, it cannot go to the insid….. oh my god it does even go to the inside of the tractor! this is crazy! even the inside!

Now, we have been instructed to stick to the artwork, it is intended to function as our client and our job is to capture the essence the concept art transmits. There are veterans here from the First Great Collab, it was a brutal seven months endeavor, not for the faint of heart, and the FGC culminated in the greatest of victories, mainly because the soldiers that participated in it were selfless and noble warriors that went beyond the call of duty. So I say, is it too much to ask to go beyond it once more? 

Is it too much to ask more than a still image render that mirrors the artwork? Don’t you want an animation that takes you around the house, it’s lush beauty, the boat on the river with its whale captain, the rocks, the trees…. but then the door opens up, and there’s a whole interior that feels alive as well; Tables, chairs, books, kitchen, bedroom, beds, desks, couch, lamps, bottles, paintings, rugs, etc; you get the feeling that someone lives here by a radiant rich atmosphere. Is it too much to ask to go beyond what the DOG accomplished? If this Second Great Collab is to be a great victory, it can’t be less than the first.

Kent’s hands are tied up, he has too much on his plate, he has to manage a crowd too big, like a sheep herder where every sheep wants to go it’s own way and it’s his job to keep the herd united. He has to stick to the rules. There are people from beginners to veterans, it’s too broad and the goal is to help beginners mostly. 

All I’m saying is, it is the job of us veterans to make this Collab greater than the last one. If we start TODAY making all kinds of assets for the interior we gain an extra month where this thing can be alive as alive can get. It can’t be left for after the Collab is over, morale always goes down after the job is considered done, no, we have to start now. We are disobeying a direct order here, overstepping our duty and our General. It’s like George Lucas making A New Hope and then some of his team branching off without his permission to make The Phantom Menace in parallel, it’s not a pretty picture, I never said this was a charming task.  

The interior of the house can be a gold mine of detail. It’s not an easy job, but neither was the DOG. We could use the old DOG headquarters outpost on Google Drive to store our top secret files, it’s been abandoned for decades now, no one will be looking for us there. And this time we can’t let good old boy Adrian here be the sole over-accomplisher, he has competition this time around.  

Make no mistake, this is an operation well outside the boundaries of what is permitted. Don’t expect medals or a ticker tape parade, if we get caught our governments will deny any knowledge, our lives will be ruined. We will be doing this at our own expense. Talk to your families, say your goodbyes, you won’t be seeing them for a while and they won’t understand your sacrifice. If Kent happens to stop by your work station, just tell him you are “oh just working on my warm ups daily practices”, repeat that over and over, that is to be your mantra. I know it is hard to lie to our commanding officer, but it’s for the greater good.

So, is anyone in?