Pyro Video Update!

     Hello, and welcome to my Patreon post! Somewhere in the process of making SFM shitposts, it appears that I have achieved an elementary grasp of animation. The GIF attached to this post features what is probably my first serious full-body animation? It feels like I've been avoiding any kind of "run" or "leg" animation up until this point, but I've learned recently that utilizing IRL video reference + pose-to-pose animation can make seemingly any animation happen. I've even gone for some cartoony elements in this video because it's Pyro! (you may notice that he seems to "bounce" as he runs)!

     I'm definitely very excited for this video as I think it raises the bar again in terms of animation, graphics, and gameplay. Amazingly, Alaxe (mentioned in my SFM behind the scenes video) has volunteered to help me with some custom models that I'm sure will wow people, some examples being that he put facial flexes on my Pyro cosmetics and is making Pyro's Angel/Devil dolls animateable for me!

     In terms of overall progress, I've definitely run into a couple delays but I'm hopeful for a speedy finish. Wow I actually can't believe it's been 3.5 months since the Sniper video... hopefully this video will be done in a month at most! Moving into this new place hasn't been totally ideal for a couple reasons, but it's certainly been a good learning experience in what I need to do to be my own boss and work optimally. 

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     For anyone interested in the more personal stuff: I got into a bit of a rut recently (seems like there is always a guaranteed rut when making a big project lol) where I was like "what's the point of anything waah." After a bit of introspection I've realized that if I'm not being directly challenged in some way, I lose almost all motivation. Sure, I WANT to spend an hour a day learning After Effects, but I almost never do it... UNLESS I remind myself that it's not SUPPOSED to be easy. It's a challenge I set myself, and doing it is a "victory" in a sense. There's no point in doing something for me if I can't fist-pump at the end and be like "hell yeah I did it." This is probably an emotional loop that I got from all my investment in competitive games and caring greatly about the "win" at the end.

     If you want to apply that kind of mindset to something you've been putting off, time yourself! "Challenge" yourself to focus 10-30 minutes (you decide a number based on your attention span) ONLY on the thing you need to do. Focusing throughout the entire time period is the "victory," and upping the time you focus gradually is incredibly gratifying. Just don't expect to be doing these focused sessions all day long, as they're harder than you'd think! Doing these focused sessions has set up a nice little emotional loop that gets me excited to work. Look up the "Pomodoro method" for more on that. 

 ♥