Here are the first seven episodes of a science fiction series that I've been making since 2001. I'm, primarily, making it as an excuse to experiment with special effects, but I'm, also, trying to tell a story. Note that it's being made under "nightmare conditions", since I don't actually own any video production equipment.

http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal01.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal02.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal03.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal04.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal05.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal06.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal07.mov

(Added later...)
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal08.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal09.mov
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal10.mov

Sliders gone to hell and back. I like it. The bluescreening has some left to be desired, and the monotone voice kills, yet it all adds to it at the same time.

Good job. What did you record with? Hi-8?

Thanks. I had to use my Ezonics webcam, which I use to capture the video directly to the computer, and an old, dingy blanket for the greenscreen. I have to rely on natural light from my bedroom window for lighting, which is why it's so hard to get the transparency right. I'd love to be able to afford some actual production equipment, someday, but, for now, I just have to make do with what I have, which is next to nothing. It's very frustrating, sometimes.

WOW!!! at first glance I didnt think too much but after you explain how you only used your webcam and your VERY VERY VERY limited equipment. I think you did a good job with what you have!!!

Thanks. :)

Hey man, Great Job working with what little you had. It's obvious that you are extremely creative and have some really good ideas about SFX. Maybe it's because I know that you did it with your webcam and an old blanket that I enjoyed it, but you deserve a pat on the back.

Man keep working on this stuff.

Oh and I loved your voice!

poke

Yeah, nowadays, it takes up to three or more months to make an episode (the last one took six), because I hardly ever have the opportunity to work on them, but, in the end, it's worth it. Thanks.

Episode 8 is now online.

Quicktime Format:
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal08.mov

Windows Media Format:
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal08.wmv

Great job. You are my hero. With the video equivilant of duck tape and bailing wire, you're making a TV show. Keep up the good work. It reminds me of Dr. Who.

Scott

Thanks, Scott. I remember that show. I used to watch it all the time, when it was on PBS here, in the middle '80s.

I just finished all 8 episodes and have to congratulate you on the series. I like the classic sci-fi feel. What software are you using for the graphics? Also, how many episodes do you have planned?

Keep up the good work and I look forward to #9.

Scott

I use Adobe Premiere for the compositing and special effects. I, also, use Animation Shop for special effects and 3D Studio Max for the virtual sets and CG animations. There will, probably, be around 15 episodes. There might be more or fewer, depending on how the storyline progresses and other factors.

Great lo-fi series! :)

truly resourceful to say the least - congrats on a fine job.

Thanks, it's appreciated.

I watched your "making of" clip and you said you had to depend on sunlight for your main source. You know I've seen work lights at hardware stores and autopart stores that are 500 watts and run between $10-20. You can take one of these lights and bounce it off the wall and/or ceiling and it should give you plenty of light.

Just a suggestion that might help you shoot faster instead of depending on mother nature.

Scott

I can't afford them. Like I said in the video, it's a no-budget production. Besides, they'd probably get very hot and just make the electric bill higher.

Steve, you could buy little $2.00 chrome lights and put 200 watt bulbs in them. That wouldn't affect the electric bill much, if any, and it wouldn't cost that much for the materials.

Poke

I'll stick with sunlight, for now. Thanks, though.

I've almost given up on it a few times because it's hard to do without the proper equipment, plus the fact that I never seem to have much of an opportunity to work on it, these days. I plan on finishing the series, though, no matter how long it takes.

You get an A for effort. A lot went into this, but it still falls short.

It's a learning experience. :) Naturally, it falls short in some areas.

I can't imagine what you might accomplish with a budget.

Nice job. Very creative.

Regards,

Hutch

Thanks. I wish I had a budget to work with.

Have you seen this new STAR TREK online series?

http://www.5yearmission.com/STNV_WEB_files/episode.htm

Just amazing.

A classic example of how a compelling storyline can overcome production limitations.

Looking foward to future installments. :P

I'm waiting for filming conditions to improve here, so I can finish episode 9. The filming environment has been less than ideal for most of the year, so far. Hopefully, it'll change soon.

I finished the latest episode up today. Here it is...

Quicktime format
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal09.mov

Windows Media format
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal09.wmv

Hooray! Now you have two weeks to get part ten done ;)

You were using an actual green sheet for parts of this? Looks like a green outline around some of the shots. At least half the person's clothes don't get keyed out, though.

The physical interaction (pushing/shoving/falling) is pretty good too. Is it hard to plan shots like that? Do you storyboard or similar?

Can't wait for next part. http://www.stevenrichards.com/images/smiley_bounce.gif (and buy a lightbulb /nod )

Geeze Zen, where do you come up with the code for these crazy icons?

This is some very interesting seriers you have going on ..Very imaginative work!!

You were using an actual green sheet for parts of this? Looks like a green outline around some of the shots.

Yep, the sheet was only used in a couple of scenes, near the end. It works better with Lieutenant West's jacket than the blanket, but not that well with the clothing of the other characters, for some reason. I plan to use it more, in the next episode.

The physical interaction (pushing/shoving/falling) is pretty good too. Is it hard to plan shots like that? Do you storyboard or similar?

Nope, I don't storyboard. It's not that hard to do, though. It's just a matter of having enough footage, sychronizing the action and editing.

This is some very interesting seriers you have going on ..Very imaginative work!!

Thanks.

Thanks, Scott. I remember that show. I used to watch it all the time, when it was on PBS here, in the middle '80s.

Haha.. That was cool Steve.

keep up the good work.. What version of 3ds max do you have?

Was that actually a 5 3/4 disk you used to access a portal?

OMG.. my mom still has a 286


Green Towell screening all the way my friend.


Get vegas video.. it works better then Adobe After Effects. better feathering from what i experienced.

I use 3D Studio Max 3.0. It's old, but it's about the only version that will run on my computer, without making my hard drive race.

I'm not sure what you mean by the 5 3/4 disk. I use a remote control as a prop to do that, but there was a 3.5 floppy disk in the sixth episode.

Premiere works well enough for me. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Just wanted to encourage you to keep going. This stuff is great! Someone compared it to Dr. Who and I totally agree. It's got the heart if not the production value (something the "established media" seems to get backwards all the time).

Good luck with the next episodes.

One suggestion, if you set up a website, you could solicit donations through PayPal. I for one would gladly donate in hopes of seeing what you can do.

Thanks, I've got a website, but I wouldn't feel right about asking for or accepting donations. Besides, I don't use banks, so PayPal wouldn't be an option, anyway.

I use 3D Studio Max 3.0. It's old, but it's about the only version that will run on my computer, without making my hard drive race.

I'm not sure what you mean by the 5 3/4 disk. I use a remote control as a prop to do that, but there was a 3.5 floppy disk in the sixth episode.

Premiere works well enough for me. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I was drinking a bit :D I know you used the remote controll to enter the portal.. i just had a brain fart. the 3.5 looked like one of those acient 5 1/4 disc they had when I was in highschool.

I got max r6 so i guess its a large improvment. If you go to 3dcafe.com they have lots of free plugins for max3 like a paint template that lets you use a paint program to make some cool textures.

BTW.. how did you do the electrical effect like the lightning bolt coming out of the remote. Was that done in video post in max or did you photoshop it in?

I use Jasc's Animation Shop to load the scene, then I paint the electrical effect in, frame by frame. It's a good program for things like that.

I hate rotoscoping, i tried to animate me throwing a fireball, and just too many frames...got about 1/4 of the short 10 second clip done..lol

You're doing a LOT with what you have, wish we could get you a budget!

Heh, I don't even know how to rotoscope or even what it is. I've heard of it, though.

rotoscoping is the fancy term for editing one frame at a time :D. Very interesting. What software do you edit with?

Ah. I use Premiere for general editing.

Heh, I don't even know how to rotoscope or even what it is. I've heard of it, though.

I believe Ralph Bashki help perfect the concept. He would take live actors and paint in each frame to make them look 3D cartoonish.. Like Cool World, The orriginal Lord of the rings, American Pop and my all time fave WIZARDS!

he did some kinky x rated cartoons too.. like fritz the cat.


anyways I have JASC too. I love that . Ever video tape the sun rizing then import it in jasc and only import 1/100th frame.. its a cool effect speeding up the sun.

Oh One more thing Steve... May I have your permission to link your episodes on another BBS. I want to show my friends it. 3DCafe.com, maybe you're already a member there.

Sure, go ahead. I've been to the site before, but I don't think I'm a member.

lots of great tutorials there for 3ds max.

we are getting together and making video tutorials now in avi format. thought most of them are for r4-r6 im sure you can get some basic help from the guys there.

Im just a beginer so I make tuts for people starting out. But this one guy is going to show me how to use Character Studio. if you invest in CS you could make some background characters for your long background shots. Also Poser 5 is a good character maker for background scenes. you can blue screen them in. ;)

Hey Steve.. i was looking at the url.. is this a free place to store media files? or do you have to pay for it?

A fan donated the server space. I'm not sure if it's his server or someone elses, so I really couldn't tell you. I don't think it's open to the public, though. Sorry.

My dad wants to set up a server for some new product hes gonna start selling, a dedicated server to just multi media, he told me to tell you guys we can all store our videos there, its not live yet, and it might be a few before it gets set up, but ill definitely post the URL, whenever it happens.

An on topic note, Steve, i did all those shots in your room/apt/whatever right? with a greenscreen(sheet/blanket :) )?

Do you use 3d layers to chromo key the green out and add in the fake BG afterwards?

Yeah, all the shots were done in my bedroom, most with the green screen. I don't use layers, I just adjust the transparency of the video in Premiere, either using the "green screen" tool or the "chromo" tool.

So Steve.. how did you time your dialogs/lines like you did without talking over the other guy?

Most of the time, I just said the lines for the other characters in my head, then started talking again. Other times, I had to fix it in editing. It's tricky, sometimes.

I was only successful at downloading episode 2, but the super slow pace and monotonous dialog was starting to grow on me. These guys could be talking about changing their coffee brands they're so mellow! I dig the special effects too and the "inside the spaceship" hum.

Sometimes, the server is slow. Sorry about that, I don't think it happens that often.

Hey Steve.. check this out. Im learning Character Studio on Max6. you should update.



using a poser model I imported it into 3D studio max as a 3DS file, attaching a bone structure and animating it but applying a material called "Ink and Paint" so it looks sort of hand drawn.

http://home.comcast.net/~tr0g/cft.wmv


i also have a shitload of bip files which are prerecorded motion files for the bones.

I used one to make this guy fight.

here it is in 3D with shadow

http://home.comcast.net/~tr0g/fi.wmv

Nice.

heres another i made from poser parts. I really need to learn to box model humans.

but i still did this in max

http://home.comcast.net/~tr0g/ad.wmv

It took me almost a year and a half to get it done, but Episode 10 is finally online. I finished final editing on it a couple of hours ago.

QuickTime Format (17.4 MB)
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal10.mov

Windows Media Format (16.0 MB)
http://www.trinitydesigns.scsuk.net/sutton/portal10.wmv

Runtime: 17:06

ROCK ON STEVE!

I love the Portal.

Another great episode! Nice work!

All of this talk and posts about "The Portal" I mean what is this about!?

So I DL the latest episode and watched some of it... I have to say that now I have to go DL ALL of them and watch it from the beginning.

THIS is how independent film is... take what you have and make something great. From what I saw, it's really cool. I mean you, yourself playing all the acting parts, that's amazing. AND what's even more amazing is that you're not running with a large budget, little budget, or ANY budget for that matter.


since "The Portal" only has 15 episodes with only 5 more to go... what's the next project? Looking for a little funding?

What would you do with $5000?

Another great episode! Nice work!
Thanks.

since "The Portal" only has 15 episodes with only 5 more to go... what's the next project? Looking for a little funding?
I'm not sure what the next project will be. It's probably going to be several years, before all of the remaining episodes are made and the series wraps. I might try to do some smaller projects before then, though. As for funding, I'm not really looking for any. I'd feel like I would have to pay it back, eventually, even if the funder said I didn't have to.

What would you do with $5000?
I'd buy some real production equipment.

I found it very interesting. I was was impressed. It must of been time consuming, but fun.

It's very time-consuming. Some parts are fun, others are just work. The end result is worth it, though.

Wow. I agree with scottspears. It instantly brought back memories of Dr. Who.