The third short story is out!

I am happy to announce that a new illustrated short story set in the world of Heroes of Bronze is now available!

"A Pathetic Piece of Freedom" is focused on Penelope, the wife of Nikephoros, and the narrator of the Heroes of Bronze The Memory short film.

This might be a hard one to swallow for some. The lifestyle of Athenian noblewomen in ancient Greece was very restrictive. They spent the majority of their time indoors, managing the household, raising children, and knitting. Anything beyond that was frowned upon by men...

I've chosen one such (not so) ordinary day in Penelope's life to narrate my story...

Young Penelope

An excerpt:

The two men stood facing each other – Nikephoros calm and composed, but bleeding from the forehead, arms and legs. There was a deep gash on his right thigh as well. He seemed to ignore all that, though. His eyes were locked on the stranger.

The slave was breathing deep and hard, battered and red in the face. He held the shiv in front of his body, sticking it dangerously close to Nikephoros’ face.

“Look,” he gasped breathlessly, “Nothing happened here, alright? I didn't do anything – just a bit of fun, eh? I barely even touched her.”

Nikephoros didn’t react. He just wiped the blood from his face. It left a long red smear across his cheek. Looking at him, Penelope had to shudder. She could almost see the furies, spreading their wings behind his back...

Hope you'll like this one, and don't forget, there are 2 more short stories waiting for you at my Gumroad page, or they are free to download for all my Patrons!

New Stories & Upcoming Courses

New Stories & Upcoming Courses

Hey there friends, Martin here!

Today, I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I’m currently working on. Apart from Heroes of Bronze, the majority of my time is currently devoted to a new, comprehensive course that I’m once again working on for CGBoost.com. And while my last course was a bit more technical, focusing on all sorts of ways to make environments in Blender, this time I am going to teach something different.

Heroes of Bronze & the future of the project

Heroes of Bronze & the future of the project

Hello friends!

after the release of the shortfilm, I finally enjoyed some rest. Also, I had some time to think about the future of the project. Already, I can tell you it will be an interesting year for Heroes of Bronze.

“The Memory” shortfilm is still going strong, with over 600 000 views and hundreds of comments. I am so glad that audience all over the world is enjoying the video! I’ll mention it again - SHARING and COMMENTING is the best way you can help the short film to spread. So thank you again for your help! 🤗 All the feedback just made me more eager to continue this project with more stories set in the Greco-Persian war period.

Heroes of Bronze shortfilm is done!

Let me invite you for a few moments into ancient Greece. At least, the way it lives in my mind… I’ve always wanted to depict this era in a more realistic way than 300 did, and yet, still capture the sense of wonder and larger-than-life events of the period. I hope I was able to achieve it with this first huge milestone of my project…

If you want to learn more about the story and history behind the shots, definitely visit this page:

A STORY COMPANION TO THE SHORTFILM

Along with the shortfilm, I was able to finish up a first breakdown video, condensing 4 years into 2 minutes. Hope you’ll like it!

For now, that is all from me. Enjoy the video, enjoy the breakdown and be ready for more news from the Heroes of Bronze project. Before that, however, I will get a little bit of long-awaited rest…

Chairé!

Martin

Heroes of Bronze shortfilm is coming in 14 days!

Heroes of Bronze shortfilm is coming in 14 days!

It has been a loong process to get to this stage. From the initial ideation and concepting, to creating assets and 3D pipeline, and finally animating, rendering and editing the shots - it took me about 4 years from start to finish. These past few months I’ve been able to work on it almost full-time, finally bringing the 6-minute short to a stage where I feel (somewhat) confident presenting it to the world.

Summer News! Entering the final stages

Summer News! Entering the final stages

Hello friends, long time no post, I know…

Though, as you may have surmised from my activity at Instagram, I have entered the final stages of postproduction for Heroes of Bronze. Everything from compositing to music and SFX is being done right now. I am preparing for the final stretch of the creation of this shortfilm project. And let me tell you, I’m growing more excited and anxious everyday 😁

There are too many updates to mention them all since I last posted a news entry. It is safe to say though that I’ve advanced A LOT over the months. Over 70 percent of the shots are now rendered and every day, I am progressing further and further towards the final result. A lot of tweaking and improvement is still needed, but I am on it, one shot at a time.

Christmas News! Rendering final shots + new tutorials and breakdowns

Christmas News! Rendering final shots + new tutorials and breakdowns

Hey there everybody, Martin here,

back with the latest news from the world of Heroes of Bronze. I am pleased to say that - besides the regular 3D grind - I’ve been able to make progress in some other, vital parts of the project. First music tests, which I will hopefully be able to reveal in the near future, are being made by my composer Richard Albert and I’ve been able to record some first voiceovers with the actress I’ve picked for the short film. More info in the following months.

Anyway, by far the biggest part of the current process is rendering and animating characters, compositing and generally putting everything together. And while this is the very final stage of video creation, I don’t dare give you any specific release date just yet. I want to make this really great, and if need be, I will take some extra time for polishing.

November News! New video, tutorials and story pages...

November News! New video, tutorials and story pages...

Hey there friends, Martin here,

many of you are probably wondering when is the Heroes of Bronze shortfilm finally going to come out. Well, the thing is, while the basic idea for the film remains the same, its actual look has changed quite dramatically recently. The reason for that is the fact that some time ago I’ve finally received my Rokoko motion capture suit and after a few months of tinkering, I learned how to use it to create shots… well, like this:

October News! Illustrated Storybook and Historical Reconstructions

October News! Illustrated Storybook and Historical Reconstructions

Hey there friends, Martin here.

I’ve been very busy with moving to a new flat, adjusting my computer setup, and a lot of other changes in my life. However, I found some time for Heroes. Let’s start with the biggest render. Architectural reconstructions are an important part of the project and only now I feel confident enough with Blender to really dive deep into this topic. And since I am planning to briefly show the Winter capital of Darius the Great, the magnificent city of Susa, I wanted to model it.