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.
That being said, I am getting there, slowly but surely. And seeing the newly rendered shots, I am really glad I took the extra year to improve my pipeline and rework the short film concept. Now it all looks much closer to how I’ve hoped it would end up. Well, just have a look:
Sometimes, though, both of my computers are busy rendering and all I can do is to sit down and think about the bigger picture. Meaning, the overall Heroes of Bronze story. I am writing a script for it, taking it from the very beginning - the origins of the Greek revolution against Persian Empire, ten years before the events of the Battle of Marathon.
Accompanying the story are various illustrations, which, hopefully, one day, I will put together with the text and make it into a book. Here’s one of the very first ones, a snippet from the beginning of the first part of Heroes of Bronze titled Waking the Giant.
City of Naxos, 500 BC
…Cries above the clay roofs. Crowds massing on the streets. Bright red spots of burning fire. A revolution was underway. A large group of people gathered around a pyre in the lower town. A single man was dragged out in front of them, badly beaten. A Persian, by the look of his clothing, a rich one at that. He was forced to the ground, facing a tall man with a maul in his hands. "My king will know of this...," he growled in rough Greek through his bloodied lips. "You will all pay..."
The Greek man in front of him sneered, then exclaimed so that everyone could hear: "Let him come! You think we're afraid of your perfumed majesty?"
A loud cheer erupted from the maddened crowd. Cries of hatred, cries of violence. Coughing with pain, the Persian only laughed in response: "You will all die, you mad dogs. Your city will fall, your women and children -"
He didn't get to finish his sentence. In that moment, the wooden maul hit him square in the face. The leader of the crowd towered above the writhing figure of the bloodied man, his voice calm and dangerously low.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But I know one thing - YOU will be the first one to die. Give my regards to lord Hades... or, whoever the fuck rules your underworld. Kill him!"
Without a moment of hesitation, the bloodthirsty crowd plunged upon the man. Their leader, no longer interested in the screaming Persian, frowned and his gaze wandered up, towards the top of the city hill. Towards the rich houses of the aristocrats."I've had enough of this!" he spit on the ground, then shouted: "Everyone, follow me!"
Of course, there is even more story posts at my Instagram, so follow me there, if you haven’t already :-)
Finally, this month, I’ve been able to finish my Character creation tutorial series on youtube, which is now freely available. Enjoy this breakdown of my whole characte pipeline!
Also, there is a whole new course available at my Gumroad!
And with that, I wish you all very Merry Christmas and happy holidays. See you next month, with some new content!
Chairé!
Martin
