March 2023 Update Newsletter

Hello again! Sorry for tripping Gimberly.

Here's an update on everything I plan to do in March and beyond, plus a little post-mortem on the legs video. Let me know what you think!

Animating LEGS Post Mortem

So this video ended up being a doozy! While I feel like I have found my video-making groove over these past few months, I hadn't yet tested it with the tutorial-type video like Animating Arms.

As you can probably guess, this video basically ate my February for breakfast.

The catch with Animating Arms was that I made that video over the course of several months, since it was before the channel had started. I took my time with it, added and removed sections, re-recorded voice over, got people's feedback and thoughts, and was careful with the final product.

But after that, I did the Selick analysis and the Gimberly origins video, which I've since realized were a lot simpler in execution. If this channel was entirely those videos, I could put out a lot of them no problem.

The Animating Legs video? Several minutes of raw animation, a bit of 3D motion graphics, clip hunting... it was tough! I pushed myself harder than I have in a long time, because I was basically making something like the Arms video but on a deadline.

While I'm happy to have the video done and out there (not having it done felt like an albatross around my neck for the past several months), it meant that I didn't take the same amount of time and care I afforded my Arms video, which I find a little frusturating.

So here's the plan going forward.

The Plan Going Forward

This is the plan going forward.

(yes i'm doing a portal 2 bit)

Let's make shorter videos for a while, (6-8 mins or so) and start building a buffer of short videos.

Then, while the buffer has videos queued, I can work on a long video, like the Animating Legs video.

This allows me to check for errors on longer videos, get feedback, and even post them to Patreon early for additional feedback. I realize this is probably what most Youtubers do, but you have to understand I'm still hilariously new to all of this.

I'm at the point where I'm fairly confident I can get a shorter video done in just a couple weeks or less. This is exactly where I want to be with the channel, as having a fully-animated video out on a consistent basis is basically my entire reason for wanting to do Youtube.

Media analysis, commentary, quick tips, whatever -- there's a lot of smaller topics I would love to make shorter videos on. And then I can load those in a cannon to fire when needed, and Patrons meanwhile can watch them early.

TL;DR: Animating Legs was tough on me -- let's start building a buffer of shorter videos so that I can give longer videos the time they deserve.

So What's Coming Next?

My plan is to put two to three short videos in the buffer, and then work on a longer video. The longer video will be the 100k QnA.

A poll will go up shortly for $5 and $10 tiers to vote on some ideas. These'll be in that poll!

• Learn 3D Software with your Local Library: Mentioned in the previous newsletter, this is a PSA about free access to Lynda.com through your library.
• What Program Do I Use? Maya vs Blender: This isn't really a Maya vs Blender video, more like advice to not worry about what software to use at a beginner level. Two hammers might be different brands, but they're both hammers.
• Flash Games (Nickelodeon Clickamajigs, Postopia, etc.): For a while I've wanted to stream old flash games, but they could also work really well for a video too. In particular, I wanted to look at Nickelodeon Clickamajigs, and Postopia's advertisement games (much of which is lost media)
• Choppy Animation is Sometimes Better: I wanna make a video about how good animating on 4's looks.
• The World of Animation Smears: Animation smears are cool! Let's make a video about them.
• Rhythm Heaven Minigame Ranking/Tier List: I'm throwing this in there as a dumb video I wanted to make eons ago that might fit as a shorter video for exactly this purpose.
• A video on Rain World and Procedural Animation in games (Suggested by Erik Richter): Procedural animation is a really interesting topic that doesn't get talked about quite enough in the Youtube space. It's not something I'm terribly familiar with, but I'm good friends with a few people who basically do it as a job and could help!
• A video on 3D Toon Shaders (Suggested by Alamarus): A quick video on toon shaders and the basic idea behind them. This wouldn't go too in-depth as some professionals might (for ex. I'm not a shader expert, so I couldn't tell you how to do Arcane-style shaders or something) but I can definitely get into the basics behind them and the way I use them.

I'll definitely do whatever tops the poll, but it's likely I'll pick one or two to do regardless based on how I feel they fit into a schedule.

One more video I plan to do: A video about the Best Animated Feature Film nominees at the Academy Awards. The nominees this year are unusually good, and I've seen every movie nominated except one. So I figured I'd make a short little video about it!

I have something planned that is super simple and I'm pretty sure I can knock out in a very short amount of time -- that'll probably be the first video in the queue, and then it's locked and loaded for the day before the Oscars actually air!

Upcoming Patreon Exclusive Stuff

Here's what I'm hoping to get done for Patreon:

Extra Videos

The current plan for Patron-exclusive videos is two a month! One at the start, one in the middle of the month. No set dates or times on those, I'll adapt them to my schedule, but that's what I think works best!

The next one is gonna be a dumb little reaction/dunking on Cryptoland. Afterwards, we'll do a poll on what ya'll wanna see next.

Discord Book Club

This is something I mentioned in the Discord a while ago, and I'd love to get it started this month! Basically, I want to hold a "book club" where we agree on a piece of media to watch, and then come together to talk about it.

I've added a voice chat to the Supporter role on Discord, and I'll get started on setting up everything that's needed for it. I'm not sure how to decide on content -- polls?

Early Videos

If the above wasn't clear, any videos I make that get put into the buffer will go on Patreon immediately. This'll be an additional benefit for those in the $5 and $10 tiers. This might mean you see videos a few days in advance, or maybe a week or more. Who knows!

$1 Doodles

I loved doing the $1 Doodles so much that I wanna do them regularly as a perk for the Patreon! I plan to make them a base perk of literally everyone who joins the Patreon, and ship them with store orders!

Since this wasn't a set in stone perk when everyone reading this signed up for the Patreon, you can request an additional doodle that I'll eventually get done on stream!

Additional Stuff

Update on "Oh Canada! The Short Films of the NFB"

• Script: 100%
• Voiceover: 100%
• Editing: 60%
• Art/Animation: 30%

This video is getting farther along! Mel is done with adding art, so whenever she's done with editing and I finalize the edit, I can get started on animation. It's a little behind as Mel learns the editing needed to make it, so I'd say it'll be more likely done in late March/early April.

My plan is to give the background a red/white checkerboard, a Canadian Mountie costume for Doodley, and Gimberly a lumberjack costume. Expect to see all that sometime later in the month!

Shop and Merch Update

This is basically the goal for the week. My current plan is to get the shop online this Friday. There's still a lot to do with packaging design, backing, cards, organization, and etc, but it should be doable within this week.

Anyways, PINS!

BRUH I'M SUPER PROUD OF HOW THESE CAME OUT

The Doodley one is kind of insane to hold in real life. The screen printed outline makes him look like he's pulled straight out of a video. It's WACKY.

That pretty much does it for merch for now! Anything else I do for a little while will be really small, like a new pin or sticker design every now and then. I don't expect to add any new types of stuff to the shop for most of 2023 -- what I have now is very easy to ship and fits in small packaging.

I mentioned this in the previous newsletter, but just know that all merch funding comes from my own pocket, and always will be!

Updates on Additional Supporter and Ad Revenue Funded Things

Just wanted to mention something: no progress here yet. I had a snafu at the bank (need to track all purchases for taxes and etc.) and once that's solved this Friday, I can start making purchases, commissioning people, all that jazz.

Basically, later this month I'll get started on these things, funded by you guys:

• Commissioned Gimberly Emotes
• Video subtitle translations
• Improved stream BRB screen

More Shorts

I'm still kind of torn on Youtube Shorts.

On one hand, I feel like everything else with the channel is becoming higher priority, and some people are really not a fan of shorts.

On the other hand, they perform incredibly well and are a huge part of getting to 100k so quickly.

I feel like they're necessary and I want to keep doing them, but they're a tough fit into my schedule!

I think what I might do is spend a weekend just making a bunch of shorts, and then release them slowly over the next few weeks. I have an idea for a few, and of course I can always convert main videos into shorts.

Let me know what you think!

Recap

If you read all that, thank you! If not, no worries. Here's a recap:

• Animating LEGS was tough on me -- let's start building a buffer of shorter videos so that I can give longer videos the time they deserve.
• All shorter videos in the buffer will be on Patreon early!
• Poll on what shorter videos to make to follow soon.
• Meanwhile, work on the 100k QnA begins.
• A quick video on the Best Animated Feature nominees soon.
• Two extra videos a month for Patreon is the current extra video schedule.
• Discord Book Club in the supporters channel!
• Trying to get the shop online this Friday!

Thank you for supporting me! I appreciate people's patience and excitement for everything I'm working on, it means a lot to me. I'm hoping to get tons of stuff done in March and April.