Well - welcome back!  After a renewed interest in getting this to work, I went about trying to find a solution to my technical problems.  With a real spitfire mindset, I was even considering the purchase of a whole new laptop - when I stumbled across the answer.  I won't bore you with technicalities, but after trying a new capture card and doing some online research, I became convinced that it was Vista... and possibly just Service Pack 1.  So, even though the service pack had solved some other problems for me - I took a chance and uninstalled it.

And holy cow on a revolving stick it worked!  So yes, I am here to say that my ability to create stop-motion animation has returned... and with it production on The Creation.  I put it all aside months ago because of the technical issues, because I didn't want to practice and perform tests if I couldn't actually make the movie, so I will be starting with tests and experiments.

I'm really thrilled that I can be at this again - really very freaking thrilled

I'll talk to you soon!!

So...now what?  Well, I'm at an in-pass with this project.  Yes, my schedule has filled to the brim recently with a summer class, but that's not why production on this short has been halted.  The technical problems of the previous blog entry are what's bogged me down.  I need to be able to capture the images through my laptop so that the movie's action can move throughout my house as the story dictates - but that is where my difficulty is coming from.  So, for now, this project is going to be taken off of the Current Projects list.  I am really eager to work on this, so I am hoping to find a resolution to my problem that isn't monetary - and soon.  I'll be thrilled to put this blog and this movie back on the front page again after I fix this problem - but until then, production is on hold.

Hopefully returning soon...

I worked hard this past week, making sure I finished all of my homework, so that I could spend the whole weekend (at least, a good part of it) working on The Creation.  I was successful, and this morning, Saturday morning, I jumped out of bed looking forward to finally starting it all.  As one can usually surmise in a creative situation, though, things didn't quite work out as I planned.

I discovered a free stop-motion recording program a few years ago, and after receiving a new card for my laptop and some epoxy for my puppet in the mail this week, I figured I was ready to go.  This free program, though, has been most uncooperative all of a sudden.  On my laptop, it constantly freezes and hangs and gives all sorts of interesting program code errors - so now I'm stuck.  The testing and puppet-making was going to be tricky enough, let alone these technical problems.  My only other alternative now, it seems, is to purchase a different stop-motion program, which with my academic discount (God bless 'em) will be about $270.  This actually isn't too bad - I love stop-motion and plan on working in it for the rest of my life, and I've promised myself a reward after completing each school semester...so this will be it.  I was having a hard time deciding between rewarding myself with a Wii (Super Smash Bros. and Mario Galaxy) or a PS3 (GTAIV) anyways ;-)  I'm eyeballing a certain stop-motion program to purchase, but I wanted to try the free demo first - just to get a feel for it.  Of course, as wonderful as this day has been so far, the trial program worked even less than my original free program had and I had to force it to quit.

So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a tuna sandwich and watch a movie.  Animation is tough - I need a break

Well, this is where a life-long pastime comes to fruition.  I grew up making stop-motion movies.  Legos, GI Joes, Godzilla, Barbies...they were my stars.  Some of my most creative work making movies as a kid was on these stop-motion movies.  Here I am, though, once again starting on this old well worn path - and for the first time, I'm doing it properly.

The beginning of this production journal is not going to be very specific to the short, however.  First, I have alot of testing to do, but I think this is a perfect place.  This is the first stop-motion movie I've made since I was about 14, and I'm finally putting the Legos aside, and dealing with wire, tie-downs, and other genuine stop-motion tricks of the trade.  I have a very small amount of experience with these things (from simple tests I've done over the years), but for my first true outing into this world, I'm taking my time to prepare myself properly.  The Creation isn't going to be that intensive as far as stop-motion animation goes, so as soon as I reach the necessary level of technical skill, it will begin.

But, hey, it'll be a process...and that's part of the fun