Production Notes
 
Episode 1 Rocketmen Vs Robots
Episode 2 Rocketmen Space Patrol
Episode 3 Rocketmen Timecube
Episode 4 Rocketmen Zero
Episode 4
Episode 4 Continues from Episode 3, where Dr. Monacle
is now trapped in the mysterious white void


Jul 27 2004:
Episode 4 is now 15 minutes and 30 seconds long.

This scene is the first encounter with the killbots for the rocketmen, as you can see they are using normal automatic rifles to fight the killbots. This won't be entirely too successful, unfortunately.




Jun 19 2004:
I finally update the site again :)

Oh yes, episode 4 is now 11 minutes long and about 1/3 done.


Standard issue rocketmen laser guns:
so very, very, useless.


Dr. Monacle and Crewman Red square off with the plasma gun

May 2004:
Dr Monacle's bad hair day


Dr. Monacle has not had the best of luck these days.


The white council

Apr 2004:
Episode 4 Filming Begins

After a slight hiatus following the release of Rocketmen 3, I began writing the script and creating some of the models and sets for episode 4 in March. Filming officially began on Apr 4 2004:


Episode 4 takes place on a terraforming colony planet.
Pictured here is the orbiting space elevator station used to
shuttle the large quantities of materials down to the surface.



The crew's quarters are kept meticulously clean

Episode 3
In Episode 3, The rocketmen pursue Dr. Monacle to his new hideout on the Garbage Planet,
where he is building a new cyborg army...


Nov 2003:
End Fight Scene

Once again I've come to the end fight scene, and I've also written the entire script (more or less) which means that there's only about two months more of actual filming, and then adding sound effects and music to get episode 3 done. Almost time to start thinking about episode 4 ;)


The climax fight scene will take place on the upper tier of the reprocessing rig


This was the last major set that I had to model for episode 3, and it took about 3 days in total to build the smaller details and to plan camera angles.


Of course, it will be a little more crowded than this during the fight scene ;)

Oct 2003:
> 12 minutes done

Despite life's numerous annyoing distractions, I have been able to keep up the pace of production to an average of 6 seconds of 'film' a day, this is possible thanks in part to having three computers to render on, as well as having spent a whole month prior to filming creating the sets that I would need. (it's amazing what you can get done when you write a script ahead of time)

Interestingly enough, my film is now over 12 minutes long and about 1/2 done now, depending on how much I add to my script before I am finished. The rocketmen characters are not difficult to animate (esp. now that I've been at it for a couple of years) and rendering in layers also speeds the rendering process along considerably.


"Uhhhh, what's cooking, Doc?"


Buzz off...


(karaoke:) ...know when to walk away... know when to run...


"Hasta la vista, m@th@r*@*@er"

Sept 2003:
7 minutes and 1/3 done

Making films is getting easier and easier, Episode 3 is over 7 minutes done and after only about 4 months of work. I suppose it helps a little that I now have a pentium 4 1.2 gHz, and two p3 500 mHz in my renderfarm, which greatly speeds the filming process.


It also helps to be able to 'recycle' meshes and even whole scenes from previous films and other shots.
'Optimization' of the workflow of a scene leaves more time for character animation as less time is spent on modeling, rendering, and compositing (I am also leaving the sound and music til the end, except for dialog which is necessary to get the timing of the shots)


Oops! Look out, the surface of the garbage planet is undercut by numerous gaps and caverns, the crust can give way without warning!


...Which begs the question of exactly how it is that these gigantic recycling rigs manage to crawl about on the surface without falling through?...

Aug 2003:
The evil Dr. Monacle

Now, a film wouldn't be terribly exciting unless there was something for the Rocketmen to do once they arrived on the Garbage Planet. Luckily for us, Dr. Monacle is up to his old tricks, creating a new cyborg army out of the other humans that captures, as well as the unlimited raw resources of the garbage planet.


Just in case you couldn't tell that Dr. Monacle is evil, he has pointy horns on his helmet.
Here he is showing off his new freeze ray gun which was found lying amongst the garbage.

July 2003:
Filming begins!

Episode 3 will feature a much larger cast of characters, some of whom made a cameo appearance in Ep.2 as the civilians being chased by cyborgs. They are as equally unfortunate in episode 3 ;)


Drinking and flying is a bad idea...


...a very bad idea...


...please don't drink and fly.

Episode 2
Episode 2 continues on from the defeat of the Killbot forces and the destruction of the killbot planet,
following our two heroes as they uncover a new menace: the nefarious Dr. Monacle...


Mar 26 2003:
Compositing layers in After Effects

This scene ended up being composited from 36 diffferent layers and is one of the most complex shots in episode 2 (aside from the cyborg fight that is) The shot was originally rendered in 4 layers: Sky, City Background, Cyborgs and Civilians. The other layers in the composition are required for smoke, laser, fire and sparks effects plus some trickery was needed to get certain actors to walk 'behind' some of the mid- scenery.

Luckily most shots aren't this complex :)


Click on the image to get a full screen grab of my After Effects session while compositing this shot.

Mar 25 2003:
Episode 2 is nearly complete!

I'm working on some of the few remaining shots. Except for the scene pictured below there are no major action shots left to render, just a few loose ends to tie up.

Making an animated film is actually a lot easier than it seems. All you have to do is:
(1) Come up with a plot premise
(2) Write a script
(3) Model the sets and characters
(4) Animate the scenes
(5) Render into layers
(6) Composite layers and effects
(7) Edit the shots into scenes
(8) Rework any shots you screw up for some reason or another
(9) Soundtrack
(10) Music
(11) Compile and compress for distribution (ie DVD or Divx or realplayer etc...)

Simple ;)


The residents of rocketmen Capital City are not entirely enjoying the company of their cyborg guests.

Mar 07 2003:
I have been busy putting the finishing touches on the cyborg fight. The film is now mostly done, except for a few scenes. Our heroes Captain Green and Crewman Red will be traveling in the time cube:

("a few scenes" has a way of becoming quite an undertaking, btw)


Jan 13 2003:
The cyborg fight scene

I'm currently working on creating part of the climactic battle between the rocketmen heroes and a horde of evil cyborgs. Having watched a healthy dose of The Matrix, Equilibrium and The Killer Bean, it's time for some fast paced action scenes.




I'm animating this as a single action sequence, with the background mesh as a separate file. When the action is tweaked to my liking, I'll export the cameras into the scenery file and render in multiple layers,


Several action shots, these are just test animatics created as I add in more cyborgs and extend the action.

Dec 15 2002:
The Abandoned Rocket Base

The hardest part about being a evil super-villan is finding a good hideout to build a top secret lair in. The Rocketmen universe is conveniently littered with old abandoned mines, military bases and other forgotten but heavily fortified locations.



Rocket silos like this one were once used to house and repair small and medium sized rockets. Once a planet is cleaned out of killbots, these underground bases become unnecessary.




One of the numerous rooms excavated in the underground base.


The main entrance to the abandoned rocket base. The Crusher robot is on guard to greet you.

Nov 16 2002:
Exciting.. Speed... Action... Explosions

Can't have a movie without a "car chase", or in this case futuristic "ground runners"




Nov 12 2002:
The film is now over 5 minutes long, and about 1/5 done.


Captain Green and Crewman Red are being given an assignment by the Colony Commander.

Sept 31 2002:
Ok, it's been a while since I last updated this page.


Here's a little test render, our heroes are going to run into some of the local wildlife.

Aug 12 2002:
Asteroid action:


A magnetic clamp extending from this rocket to retrieve some floating space debris.

July 31 2002:
Set design

I have been designing more of the interiors and locations for my film, as well as writing (slowly) a script.


Our heroes from episode 1 return to battle killbots and man eating plants.


A second mining colony location. Note the scenic background, rendered with Terragen.


Inside a colony transport ship


The living quarters for the mining colonists.

July 8 2002:
A still from a test animation for the new killbots:



July 1 2002:
Work has begun on Rocketmen Episode 2

Here are a few location test renderings for the new film:


These unfriendly fellows were found floating amongst the debris of the killbot planet.


These transports are commonly used to transport civilians and cargo in the outer colonies.


A rocket fuel mining outpost. These are susceptible to frequent killbot attacks.


Some colony planets require the construction of geodesic greenhouse domes.


Episode 2 will feature a prominent space flight sequence inspired by the classic video game Asteroids.

Episode 1
 
2002.Feb.07: Missile Attack on Killbot Army
2002.Feb.17: Killbot Army in Smoking City Ruins
2002.Apr.03: Attack on the Main Reactor




  
2002.Feb.07: Missile Attack on Killbot Army

 In this clip, a volley of missles are launched at the invading hordes of killbots. This clip was created by first animating the main action elements in 3D Studio Max: camera motion, and movements of the characters and missle arrays. The frames were rendered in RLA format, which can store extra information such as 3D depth, surface orientation and transparency.

The sequence of RLA frames was then imported into Adobe After Effects where the compositing process begins. Here is a frame as rendered out of 3D studio max without the launching missles, glow from the fireballs, or background action (ufos and jets flying in the sky)

The 3D channels of the RLA frames were used to create a glow effect which only illuminates the foreground, and which also appears to come from the right of the frame. This glow effect was added overtop of the original frame to correspond to the flashes of light that would be produced by launching missiles.

The missiles were created entirely in After Effects using particle effects. Each missile is a combination of several layers of particles. Motion tracking was used to match the position of the smoke and fire to existing camera movement.

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2002.Feb.17: Killbot Army in Smoking City Ruins

 In this clip, the killbot army is emerging from the smouldering ruins of the city streets. I haven't figured out exactly where this will go in the movie yet, as it requires a rather large explosion to explain all the smoke, fire and destroyed buildings.

This clip was created almost entirely in Adobe after effects. A simple 3D perspective was applied to an asphalt texture jpeg, and then a layer of dense drifting smoke was added overtop. I then created the destroyed buildings by simply hand-drawing them in paint shop pro, and blurring a little once the layer was imported into after effects.

The advancing killbot army was created by first rendering a row of killbots, each from slightly differing angles, and then compositing them into the 4 x 4 grid to the right. The 'Card Dance' effect was used to split the layer into 16 individual killbots, which were then arranged and animated to make them appear to advance towards the camera. The two gaps in the grid are necessary to prevent unnatural overlapping of the 'Cards' which ruins the 3D illusion.

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2002.Apr.03: Attack on the Main Reactor

 This scene is built of of numerous layers rendered individually in 3D Max and composited in After Effects. The animated gif to the left shows how several of the layers interact to create the final scene. Rendering in layers permits easy changes to specific elements without having to re-render the entire scene.

This scene involves the advancing killbot army which is about to reach the main reactor for the city. Interesting that main reactors seem to always be in conveniently attacked places, such as out in the open and near large populations. Well, I think we all know what is going to come next ;) ...

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Characters in Episode 1

Captain Green , Commander of a two man rocket. He spends a lot of his free time scrubbing the drain tunnels, punishment for disobeying orders, crashing rockets and botching missions.
  

Crewman Red , Under the command of Captain Green, he carries out all the dangerous tasks and menial labour. Has been chased by killbots, attacked by tentacle creatures and engulfed in gelatinous cubes on numerous occasions.

Sargent White is in charge of surveilance and monitoring operations. If you are sent out on a recon mission by the Sargent, chances are you will meet up with some killbots.
  

Admiral Gold , Commander in chief of the Rocketmen, he is never happy with the progress of the war with the killbots, especially when his homeworld is directly attacked as a result of the incompetence of Captain Green.

Killbots are programmed for one purpose, to kill humans. They repeat their program out loud over and over again to remind themselves of their goal. They also have laser beam eyes.
  

Evilbot is The leader of the killbots, his only purpose is to see the eradication of all humans.

Gelatinous Cubes lurk on many rogue planets, waiting to engulf and digest rocketmen who are killed or separated from their patrols. They are impervious to laser fire and can re-assimilate themselves when destroyed.
  

Sets in Episode 1
 

  
Rocketman Capital City. This view of the capital city was created early in the production of the film. The majority of the 'buildings' in the city were created using the terrain object in Bryce 4. Two overlapping city grids with different textures give a greater sense of variety. The larger buildings were created in 3D Studio Max, and serve to create a greater sense of realism.
 

   
The observation deck exterior shot was also created in Bryce 4, and is featured in the introduction of the film. I wanted to convey a futuristic theme right from the beginning of the film, and the best way to do that is with strange and impossible architecture, jets flying around in the distance, and of course monorails.
 
On the killbot planet:In this scene, Captain Green and Crewman Red have crash landed onto the Killbot planet, and are making their way towards human life signs that they have detected in the distance. They are about to encounter the local residents: Gelatinous Cubes, who are hungry to engulf and digest unwary humans. Luckily our two heros have brought along the plasma gun, the only defense against gelcubes.
  
 
The planet battle:In this scene, a ground assault force of rocketmen have been dispatched to the Killbot Planet. Admiral Gold and his council of generals has grossly underestimated the strength of the Killbot forces, however. This proves very costly for the doomed troops.
  
 

   
The killbot factory: Deep within the Killbot Planet, numerous factories work continuously to produce Killbots. If their almost unending numbers weren't bad enough, the Killbots have recently adapted defenses to the weapons and tactics employed by the Rocketmen.
 

   
Giant Electromagnet:The killbots use these giant electromagnets to pull rockets out of orbit and crash onto the surface. The metal from captured rockets is an excellent raw material for manufacturing killbots, The captured humans are fed to the gelcubes. One theory contends that the gelcubes created the killbots as a means of obtaining easy meals.
 
Laser arrays are used by the rocketmen to defend settlements, cities and space stations against killbots and killbot ufo's. Unfortunately they use up power cells quite quickly and are at best only a good second line of defence in combination with manned rockets and jets.
  
 
Rocketmen jets are used anytime killbots are encountered on a planet. These trusty one-man open cockpit models have become the mainstay of the rocketmen defences.