Final Stretch

Robiety is in about as good of a shape as it can be at this point. With a couple weeks before graduation, there's still a lot of animation to finalize in the next week. The movie won't be done by any means. Over summer I want to spend time doing some nice backgrounds as I had done over Christmas break; I was really happy with the way those turned out and I can take my time on them with no rushing around.

I do want to put in sound effects before senior reviews on May 2nd, just so the movie engages more than one sense and keeps people interested. Music may be added at a later date but that hasn't been a main concern of mine. Animation and colors is top priority.

Updated Work Reel

Robiety Work Reel 4-11-11 from Jeff Yandura on Vimeo.

Those daring to dream ideals must dare to share them as realizations, lest they remain so.

Robiety is the story of evolved social systems like our own, and of the ordinary individual encompassed by them. The daily grind takes both literal and figurative meanings for Sector 51's S.I.M.B. (Standard Issue Maintenance Bot) as he struggles to differentiate himself in a unified, rigid society steeped in efficiency and perfection. Working to perpetuate a civilization believing to have achieved its technological apex, he, like his fellow citizens, strives to obtain scant upgrades that enhance his status in the Robiety. With the lofty goal of attaining that one screw or bolt that elevates him to the upper echelons of Sector 51, S.I.M.B. carries out his redundant existence until a freak work accident changes the perception of his reality forever. An errant malfunction leads to dangerous, yet wonderful concepts in stark contrast to those shared as ideals throughout his world. The imperfection in his programming, S.I.M.B decides, may not be such an imperfection after all. An attempt to share this dream with his colleagues and loved ones also held captive by the monotonous existence of Sector 51 proves both daunting and inspiring. Robiety is the tale of an individual's realization, discovery, and struggle, detailing the pertinence of a utopian societal conflict when juxtaposed with our own.

Keeping On Keeping On

I managed to fix one of two monitors by replacing the capacitors so I'm happy about that. It's been quite a few years since I've worked on a single monitor, so I have to change up my workflow to accommodate between school and home.

Over the weekend I managed to get roughs in for the waterfall shot and began tie-downs and cleanup on the villain's cloak. It took me about a week to get the cloak right, having a bunch of different fully drawn attempts before I scrapped them and began anew. It looks really good now, so I'm just finishing cleanup before I send it off to my assistant, Jake, for coloring.

Speaking of Jake, I got back the work I sent him last week which entailed color and rough inbetweens for a couple shots. At first I thought he didn't do anything because it played and looked fine. Then I remembered I only did keys on these shots! It looked as if I had animated it myself. It blends in so well and I'm really pleased with his work.