Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Update #3

Good evening folks. Welcome to your Friday. Here's another update on progress :)

So it's the end of week 3 on Random Divinity Bullshittery (part 3). And here's a breakdown:

• Week 1 - Pre-production work. Trying to plan a decent comedic structure.
• Week 2 - Principle cutting. Producing a 25 minute rough cut.
• Week 3 - The first week of animation work. Which averages about 5 minutes a week.

With that in mind, here's a shot of the timeline:

So I've managed to fully animate the first 5 minutes of the timeline. Despite there being about 20 minutes left, my instincts tell me it's shorter then that. Probably more like 17 minutes. As the rough cut tends to become tighter as the individual comps are processed. And the gaps of dead air are steadily reduced.

This is no doubt going to keep me busy for the next solid 4 weeks at least. With each week aiming to complete about 5 minutes, with some faster bits where auto-tracking is feasible. And slow bits when it's not. Usually dependent on how many particle or shadows are in the scene.

So for this opening week of animation, the party has been making their way through The Swamp outside Fort Joy. Battling skeletons, selling their equipment, and generally falling victim to Quebec's pranks with those damn Teleportation gloves - which remains a running gag for the rest of the series.

In the end I decided to drop Wendigo to the cutting room floor. As despite being fairly important, she does slow the comedic pacing horrendously. Her dialogue is lengthy with absolutely no comedy whatsoever.

Additionally, this episode will feature the first true introduction to the Gods of Rivellon - the mysterious glowing entities that seemed to rescue the party in the opening cutscene.

As such, whenever the gods are referenced in the text, I plan to briefly flicker an orb on the screen. A subtle clue for the invested viewer, to be paid off later when the gods appear in the Hall of Echos. Appearing from these orbs.

Each orb is slightly different. Being custom made After Effects compositions. This is Amadia's orb - the goddess of magic. Appearing briefly at the gates to her shrine.

For now though, the editing continues. Keyframing work will crack on. And by the end of next week I should have 10 minutes sorted. The typical length of your usual bullshittery :)

Have a lovely weekend everybody.