In the second week of February, an unexpected but welcome call from AD Vision set things in motion again. They wanted a new 3D logo for their videos, and our demo tape had impressed them enough to give us a try. Since the Toaster was out of the picture, I was unable to do it in LightWave, so Jerry did it using Infini-D on the Mac. I, meanwhile, acted as the liaison to ADV, and continued working on the newly re-storyboarded \bDaughter.\b
\b\c04New equipment\b\c00
The money this venture brought allowed us to invest in some new equipment. At a computer show on February 12, we purchased a couple of new hard drives and a DAT backup drive (which was, unbeknownst to us, horribly overpriced even at the time), which theoretically would allow us to animate without space limitations. I also bought a scanner with personal funds, which freed me from having to depend on Jerry to scan my cels at his work. It seemed that we could begin animating again in earnest. (This was particularly encouraging since I had been reviewing the Don Bluth animation, and was experimenting with facial distortions, trying to loosen up my style, and it was around this time that I made what I considered a paradigm shift in facial expressions.)
\b\c04Anime Sac brings opportunity at AX95\b\c00
On the 11th of March, Russ Isler approached us at an Anime Sacramento meeting. He was in charge of providing opening animation for Anime Expo 95, and was apparently so far behind schedule that he was looking for someone who could take it over in the remaining time. We eagerly accepted the challenge!
It didnÆt take long to come up with a subject for the short. In the spirit of DaiCon, our namesake, we decided on a parody of the DaiCon 3 & 4 opening animation shorts. While Jerry storyboarded it, I worked on designing the various enemies to pit against Annie.
Fortunately, we didnÆt have to look far for the music weÆd need. Louie, who until now was practising animation, revealed that he also did music. So, after demonstrating his ability with a silent copy of \bThe Enemy Is the Pirate,\b he got to work composing the themes.
\b\c04More apprentices\b\c00
While we were in the process of animating, Louie brought in Ray and Ken, who were in an animation class at college, and we began instructing them in our methods while getting as much done as possible.
\b\c04Annie May is butchered\b\c00
Still, as May arrived, with the two of us working full-time jobs, it became clear that we were very short on time, due to computer glitches and equipment failures (probably partly due to the summer heat), not to mention providing on-the-job training, so Jerry began making massive cuts to the storyboards and denying the use of pencil tests. Many shots that would have been fully or even \bsomewhat\b animated ended up as stills or were done with "sliding layers."
We had several 3D models of well-known spacecraft in LightWave format, including several versions of the Enterprise (clichΘ, sure, but why not?), the Babylon 5 jumpgate, a Klingon Bird of Prey, and a Macross mecha, amongst others, and we wanted to use them in \bAX95 Annie May.\b With the Toaster down, however, there was no way to get them transferred from the AmigaÆs hard drive. Thus, Jerry did the 3D animation in Infini-D, using supplied models. I, meanwhile, was in charge of animating all of the non-Annie roles.
With all the glitches in Photoshop 3.0, I was making slow progress in cel-painting, so I turned to other possible avenues. I began painting cels in my off-hours at work, with the grudging permission of my crotchety old boss at PIP Printing, but this dubious privilege was revoked without warning after a few days, for no apparent reason. (PIPÆs "special thanks" credit was removed in the re-mastered version of \bAX95AM.)\b An upgrade fixed the problem soon afterward, but not in time for this project.
\b\c04Chris OchsÆ $100 donation\b\c00
In the flyer we circulated at the Æ94 cons, we invited people to make donations to aid us in our efforts. We received three or four $10 donations, and surprisingly, a $100 donation! The donor, Christopher Ochs, was well familiar with the concept of viewer-supported programming. This extra money was highly appreciated.
\b\c04Arrival past midnight\b\c00
We had finished laying the video down to tape a few days before the convention, but the sound still needed to be added. We were asking a lot of Louie and Nasa by giving them so little time to compose properly synched music, but they did it, and Louie gave it to us on DAT the night before the con. This would have been fine, but a brand-new DAT deck mysteriously erased much of the first track (too bad the write-protect tab wasnÆt switched). Thus, our hands were tied until the day of the con, when Louie arrived again. We all went off to the local cable station, where we begged some time with their equipment, and we repaired the damage with a taped version.
We arrived at AX95 some time after midnight, and were met by Russ and Paul shortly after stepping off the elevator. They were visibly relieved as we handed them the tape.
It premiered the next day at the opening ceremonies. The audience reaction was very encouraging, and there was much applause at the end. Early the next day, we set up a table in a secluded little corner of the con (the only space available) and offered copies of the video for sale. We ended up selling out in the first few hours, having only brought 60 copies, never expecting the demand to be so great!
\b\c04AnAm95\b\c00
We brought more than enough copies to AnAm95 (around 200), and with the help of a few friendly people such as Robert Miles, we got it screened a few times. Sales were good, but not as frenzied as last time.
We were also asked to host a panel on producing animation, something neither of us were really ready for. It mainly consisted of describing our methods at the time, what we used to make \bAnnie May,\b and some info on our fan works, which we followed with a rather awkward question & answer session.
\b\c04Project A-Kon\b\c00
Also at AnAm, Robert Miles introduced us to Meri Hazelwood of Project A-Kon. She liked the video, and liked the idea of having opening animation for the next A-Kon, so Jerry and I met with her to discuss the idea.
About a month before the cons, we had decided that I would work on another short \b(The Item)\b while Jerry storyboarded the next \bAnnie May\b video \b(Paranatural Protogenesis),\b and it seemed that we would provide \bThe Item\b for A-KonÆs animation. But there seems to be some confusion on this issue, as Jerry claims that we had only promised a revamped \bAnnie May.\b
