Progress Report, $2 Tier Discord Info, 24/01 - 25

Hello everyone, and welcome to another progress report.

The Ivy project is once again in the works, after a long period of me not touching it where I was headed towards burnout, I've finally found what feels like proper work-life balance with the new schedule and will continue to dedicate every Thursday of the week specifically towards large project work. With today's push I managed to finalize all core and lip sync animation, leaving only detail animation of Scene 1 to resolve, before I can move on to Scene 2 and onward. It remains to be seen whether I will opt to go back and include fluid dynamics as that stuff still needs further testing, but suffice to say I'd very much like to. The pace of work is significantly higher from what it was back when I tried my hand at this last time owing to all the things I've learned of Blender since then, and I am, frankly, quite happy to be back on track even if my motivation for the project isn't extremely high. I endeavor to give it the time it deserves however, as I'd abhor to have poured so many hours (and so many hundreds of dollars - with more still required) into it without it being given its just due, so there's work to be done still, for sure. Know however that I'm back on the ball regardless (particularly as my neighbors appear to finally have stopped renovating after 1+ years of drilling) and will be actively working on this going into the future once more. I am in that sense very motivated to get it done.

On February 1:st we'll also see the Discord changes, as mentioned earlier, where the $2 tier (Customer) will get basic access to the Discord. With "Basic" it means no channels with content will be available for view, but the social ones and the announcement channel will be open for interaction and viewing respectively. I understand this plainly does not interest people (heavens know I myself am in more discord servers than I have time for) so below are some instructions for how to choose what creator's discord servers you want to stay connected to and not:

Settings -> More -> Connected Apps -> Discord

Here you will see a list of the creators you back and whether you are connected to their Discord via integration. Connect and Disconnect as desired.

To reiterate: unless you switch my Discord access off here you will continuously be receiving a Discord invites (provided you have connected your Discord to your Patreon account) to my server, even if you'd prefer to not be in there. Sadly the integration is a bit of a blunt tool in this sense, so we as creators aren't given much leeway to handle things ourselves outside of the Discord server bot's automated function.

Again, this will be on February 1:st, so I'll be able to warn folks ahead of time a few more times before the hour strikes, but there's only so much I can do without it annoying people.

Some more model work also got sorted this week, with Sheeva from Mortal Kombat 9 soon to be added to the roster. Her rig needs just a little more love before she's proper serviceable, but I've gotten her into a decent shape so far still. Katherine Proudmoore's model also got a little more love, but needs more time before she can join in properly. I know I said I would slow down the model intake by being more discerning with who I accept into the roster, and these two ladies simply make the cut by heavily interesting me, personally.

The EDI comic has also seen some progress, with the script for Scene 2 finalized (or at least written to completion in its first draft). Once Scene 3's script is sorted, I will begin the process of making proper pages, starting with Scene 1 of course, and then try to stay 2 chapters ahead in terms of script-comic page dynamics. This to not run out of material until the comic is finished, and perhaps more crucially, to have a method to the madness.

The Scenario of the month is in the works and, barring any incredibly disruptive events, is slated for a release on Monday the 27th.

TL:DR:

- Ivy Project is once again in the works.
- Basic Discord access for the $2 tier comes February 1st (read about how to opt out above).
- More model work, nothing finalized though.
- EDI comic script has now reached Chapter 3.

And with that folks, it's Friday, and time to recharge my batteries before the weekend long-haul. Thank you, as always, for your continued support and for all of your kind words. It genuinely feels like I've hit a stride this year, finding my footing properly, so I hope you'll enjoy what I have in store for you ahead. Please do take care of yourselves out there, as well as each other.
/DH