Rant #032 Wednesday, April 21, 2004

The backend code has been updated for the entire site. In particular, a PSD text-extraction tool (an automatic method of taking the comic text out of the original photoshop files for 2214 and storing it in a database) is completed. I'm still in the planning stages of exactly what to do with the comic text.

One idea is to offer a text-only version of the comic for anyone who follows the story and cannot readily access a computer... using a cell phone or a PDA instead. I'm still working on that.

So here's the debate: Flash, Illustrator, or Photoshop? Which one should the original artwork for 2214 be drawn in? I've been using Photoshop so far, but the disadvantage is that the tablet mapping isn't vector-based. That means if the drawing is zoomed out to, say, 25%, any lines I draw at that zoom level are going to be jagged when I zoom back in. That's because the tablet maps to actual onscreen resolution, not the overall image resolution. Boo! I mean, it's probably time to upgrade to Photoshop 7. If you have a good solution to this problem, please let me know. Having to zoom in so close to do the line work really slows me down.

There's a new sketch in the galleries, just a quick one I did in like, 10 minutes. It was more of a test of some tablet adjustments more than anything else. It seems more comfortable to draw with the tablet at an angle, resting against the edge of the desk and my lap, as opposed to being flat on the desk. Just a matter of preference.

Again, that's for voting for 2214 on Buzzcomix . We're rapidly gaining ground, and it's because of your help ^_^

Maya. 3D modeling / rendering software. I just started experimenting with it today... that's going to be quite a challenge to learn... quite complex.

That's all for now!

Rant #031 Saturday, April 17, 2004

Vote for 2214!

You may have noticed the site acting weird over the past few days. I was updating the interface and backend code... but the task is done now. Thank you for your patience.

At one point, the site was actually validated to be HTML 4.01 Transitional, according to the W3C validation tool, but upon testing the "valid" version of this site in other browsers such as Mozilla and Opera, it broke. So... I changed it back. I'd rather have "Invalid" HTML that works in as many browsers as possible. Web standards, bleah.

So, yeah, there's a whole new rant system in place now, to replace the old news posts. Lynx is going to entertain you all during the week.

Thanks for voting for 2214! At this rate, you've helped a lot, and hopefully 2214 will continue to improve in its ranking on Buzzcomix. I would like to thank you for your help, as well as encourage you to continue voting. :)

Amid all the updates and code changes, if you find any bugs in the site, please e-mail us and let us know what's breaking.

Thanks!

Rant #030 Monday, April 12, 2004

Vote for 2214!

Hola! While Ravenna stuffs her face, I'd like to give you the usual weekly updates.

First, the Extras Sections have been updated with all new navigation. Also, there's more information on Kaperth, and the Pandora guide has been revised a bit. It's also funny to note that in the character bios, the eye colour of some characters doesn't match the descriptions in the bios. Apparently, I'm colorblind or something :P

Yet another song has been posted to the MP3 Section , so feel free to check that out if you have time.

Last, I'd like to ask a small favour. If you enjoy 2214 as much as I enjoy making it, please click on that Buzzcomix banner up at the top. To spread the word about 2214, it would be very helpful to place in the top 100. I need your help in order to do that

I've also updated my admin tools. That's all for now!

Rant #029 Thursday, April 8, 2004

A few changes have been made to the site.

If you haven't noticed yet, the Characters section has been changed. You no longer have to re-load the page to view each character; instead, they are all presented in a tabbed page.

Additionally, there are new tabbed sections for drawing tutorials and convention reports . I will add more to these sections later.

Check out the music section . I recently created an orchestrated version of "New Black Car" by July For Kings . This is posted on the site with permission, ? 2004 July For Kings.

Lastly, if your browser is 5.0 or above and is having trouble displaying the tabbed sections, e-mail me. I am aware that Netscape 4.x and below cannot display those pages correctly... but I'm designing for 5.0 browsers and up... sorta.

Rant #028 Sunday, April 4, 2004

There is yet more new music in the Music Section .

Not much new to report on this week. I spent some time creating more music and such.... but other than that.... nothing.

Hmmmmm. Well, nothing to rant on, except that I've pre-registered for Anime Central, and it's going to be great to go again this year.

I bought one of those USB Flash-memory key drives. Those things are cool. 256MB on my keychain. Nifty doesn't even begin to explain it.

As far as the animation project goes, there hasn't been any new work done on it this week. Hopefully that will pick up again soon.

Rant #027 Monday, March 29, 2004

New Music!

Check out the Music Section . There's two new songs in there. ^_^

Also, some major career changes are going to take place soon; I'll keep you posted.

Rant #026 Sunday, March 21, 2004

Well, I took more time on the comic this week; so it doesn't look slopped together (hopefully).

The animation is still coming along well; it has already gotten to the point where the earlier scenes already look bad compared to the more recent scenes I've added. That means I'll probably go back and re-do some of them; just to improve the quality.

That reminds me, one of these days, I'ma go back and re-draw chapters one and two, maybe everything that's not in colour. That, however, is a lot of work; and it's not on the list of things to do at the moment. But it sure would be nice to get that done.

That's all for now!

Rant #025 Sunday, March 14, 2004

Animation Coming Along Well

It is challenging to be a one-person animation studio. Even so, I've been busy this past week putting together animation clips for the 2214 music video project. So far, so good. Doing detailed animation is a LOT of work, and I mean, there's no way to truly grasp just how much work it involves until you actually try to do it. Needless to say, starting it out was really overwhelming, but fun. So much fun, that it's been hard to walk away from, even when my drawing hand hurts and my arm is cramping.

Whew. It was even so engrossing that I almost forgot to update the comic! Ph34r not; I'll budget my time more carefully in the future.

That's all for now!