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The manuscript of the book has been handed off to Focal Press so they can work their editorial magic! The Beast is nearing completion (well, book completion, but more about that in a second), with only one shot left to lip sync and render. The music, which you’ll hear about in a later post, has been composed and delivered. I’ll be doing a final edit, color correction, Foley and export this week.

* I say Book completion, because I will continue to refine The Beast during the summer, even though I have to include a version with the book within the next few weeks. All of the instructional aspects of the animation will still be 100% valid with the version included with the book, but the final animation I’ll be releasing at the end of the summer enjoy a higher level of polish.

I’ve handed off the last chapter of the book to my technical editor, the excellent Andy Dolphin (andyd). The book also has a page up at Amazon.com, although it’s not going to be shipping until September. As for The Beast, there is only about 15% left to render and edit. Things are nearing completion!

I’m in the final stretch of writing the book. Next week, I write the rendering/compositing chapter, followed by the “final edit” chapter. Then, the manuscript goes to Focal Press, who edits, etc.

On the topic of The Beast,  I think it’s going to be a great learning tool. It’s not unbelievably complex like Elephants Dream was or (I’m guessing) Big Buck Bunny is, and I’m hoping the files and techniques will be accessible and useful to everyone who reads the book. In fact, a lot of the stuff I did in the animation were purposefully done in order to provide a teaching example for the book.

I’m getting frames back from the render farm as I work to clean and finish the animation for the 2/3 of shots that haven’t yet been rendered. There are some neat effects and some fairly simple but effective compositing setups for putting together scenes. It’s a lot of fun!

I added a little thing to the wordpress theme I’m using that rotates a quote or phrase in the site header. I’ve had a few people ask about the phrases, so I thought I’d present them here with their source:

“Feel the Love” — frequent statement of the Right Reverend Love Master Mr. James Markham

“Practically Perfect People Never Let Sentiment Muddle Their Thinking” — Mary Poppins

“Come on Party Puppies - Put Your Paws in the Air” — dog-lover’s bastardization of The Roof is on Fire

“Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Should Be A Convenience Store not a Government Agency” — this one’s just the truth, man

“Be Audacious Brave and Courageous - Against These Weapons Society Has No Defense” — the ABC plan from Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man — Read this book. You won’t believe it was written fifty years ago, as opposed to, say, last month.

“It’s Better To Do Something Bad Now Than To Have To Do Something Horrible Later” — Walter Slovotsky (paraphrase)

“See the Torus” — a vaguely anal insult (or statement of spiritual quest) for 3D folks and math geeks

“Oh Good, My Dog Found the Chainsaw” — Lilo (the little girl, not the bootloader or queue type)

“That Is The Sound of Inevitability. It Is The Sound Of Your Death.” — Hugo Weaving, Devouring Scenery

“w00t to the Ceiling Cat!” — LOLCats translation of “Glory to God!”