Cia's Visit (Studio Release)

It's finally here! It's been a long time coming, but our studio release featuring Cia (with guest Lana) is finally releasing. We learned a lot with our new process, and while there is still much room for improvement, I am happy with this release. I am a bit of a perfectionist and this can lead to issues when it comes to artistic works. I see obvious flaws and things I would change now, but I also realize part of that is due to how quickly the team is learning and changing. AND, as this is a team effort, that also means we won't always agree with each other's decisions. If we went back to change things every time we saw something we disliked we would never release anything due to all these reasons. I understand that change is an important part of growing. I also understand the importance of delivery and backing up what you say. With that said, I'll list some of the changes I've seen the team make for the positive. Consider this a progress report for Dark Dreams from working on this video. You may recognize some of these if you follow us on our Discord.

Longer animations with more variation

Lighting with better understanding of controls and proper lighting techniques

Better quality color correction and color grading (and understanding the difference)

Faster speed with general animation and posing

More realistic movements in detailed animations

Better communication, even when that means uncomfortable confrontation

I know there's more I could mention, but to me these are the key ones that stand out. With that said, one key thing I want us to work on is our speed when it comes to our studio releases. While I don't think it was a mistake in removing the monthly deadline, it shouldn't take this long for a studio release. It's a given that we'll face hardships in our personal lives that prohibit us from meeting deadlines at times, but I still want to push forward with a sense of urgency. It provides a sense of challenge that felt lacking, as well as forcing one to make decisions quicker while realizing what one wants without indecision. Basically, I don't want unnecessary stress for all of us, so I won't set a deadline; I also don't want to lose all pressure due to lack of challenge, so this will ensure a level of enthusiasm is maintained throughout. Towards the end of this animation we were reaching a point where we just wanted to get it over with, and I don't want that to happen again. Now, on to the animation!

Maximum Resolution 

Lower Resolution

First off, let me thank Empathetic-One and Kaegantonovich for their great animation work. I animated the first scene, as well as putting together the scene build and background animations. EO animated the second scene and contributed to our lighting, and Kaeg finished the final scene and also added lighting. Let me tell you, color grading and VR conversion becomes quite challenging when you're working between three different artists with 3 different styles of animation and lighting! It was interesting to see how we all work in our own way, as well as picking up on the little nods to Legend of Zelda and Hyrule Warriors through scene building and animation. In the end, combining all 3 together was very rewarding. On the audio side of things I want to thank Spiral for their music and blending, as well as Laarel for their work on sound effects and ambience. These two have done a great job of handling the audio, and I would be lost without the both of them. Last but certainly not least, thank you to Secretary Karissa for her voice work. She's been doing some amazing things with her mic, all the while helping me with organization as well as offering up fresh ideas for Dark Dreams. Overall, we are a small crew, but we're learning quickly and we have lots of ideas to share.

A couple things to mention. Poll results and new polls will release sometime this week. I want to mention that we're temporarily putting Dark Dreams model releases on hold for a while as we are focusing on more pressing matters. I DO want to give back to the rule 34 and SFM community as much as possible, but our animation work has to come first. As I stated on our Discord, quality will be coming before quantity from now on. Once I feel we have a stable foundation for workflow, I'll reopen the possibility of model/prop/map conversion and building. Dark Dreams is closing in on our next goal of releasing animations on a weekly basis from the staff here. It will be challenging to release these animations weekly from staff, but with the extra income from your support I'm positive I'll be able to make it happen. I believe that covers everything I wanted to say! I have to get back to real life, but thank you all for your support, and enjoy the animation!

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