Ken, I wish I could tell you what 'soon' means, I wish I knew myself. All I can say for certain is that they are in the final stages of post production work and working as hard as they can to put this thing to bed.

Ironic, I was looking at this page the other day to see if I missed any updates. It's nice to hear the the film is still in progression! I can't wait to see it!

Good luck Ron, that stinks about your computer. Hope you get that replacement and it works out, I sometimes hate how technology fails at the worst times too.

Naaaaaa... these guys are good. :)

That's great Ron. I'd be reluctant to cut up a puppet too, especially doing a long distance shoot where you won't know if the director will want a second take. Can't wait to finally see those shots on the big screen......or DVD....whichever they choose in the end.

I've already comped all the shots where that's important. There's just one shot where I have a worry about exposure but, it should be fine.

I'm so excited to see more animation! You're work is amazing and has inspired me! You can do this Mr. Cole!

Ken - Yes, I suppose it's OK for me to say publicly that I'm animating the puppet with the six arms. She's not fighting (yet) but any animation with her is tedious! That's because the six arms make it difficult to find a place to grab to turn her torso and mostly it's because of the tips of the six swords. Any move I make with this puppet affects the positions of the tips of those swords, so to make the animation as smooth as it needs to be, I need to check and recheck the tip registration many times before shooting a frame. That's hard enough to deal with in a shot where she has both feet planted on the floor but, while she's walking... that just get's crazy! I don't think there's any chance of another preview being released any time soon. The effects will take a long time to composite and produce because there are layers of effects that all need to be completed and compiled into every frame. There will also be digital matte paintings, set extensions and atmospheric set 'enhancements' which will also need to be put into most shots so, don't hold your breath while you wait.

I'm not sure what the release date will be but, I'm sure it will be this year.

Oh OK - I thought it was because of a mis-understanding on how the page is laid out. I know I made that mistake on the puppet making group myself :)

Sounds very encouraging, like they know how to make the most of your work and help you to help them! That's the way I would go, with a couple of tracking shots so it doesn't ALL look like Ken Burns, but most of the dynamation shots leaving the move until after the critter's comped in where possible. I've been in situations where I was assured of certain things that would make my task more do-able and in the rush it didn't happen that way - I'm certain you, and anyone else who's done freelance, would know all about that! And I was still expected to deliver, despite the conditions being totally different, and probably a week sooner and with a few extras thrown in at no extra cost. And if I didn't I was the villain. So it's hard now to feel confident that things will work out as promised unless I've worked with the people before. You've taken a leap of faith, and so far it looks like it will work out. Let's hope it's a big success and you can build on it for future projects. Establishing a working relationship with producers who "get" what you do is like gold!