Spent most of this week working on Face to Face. Mostly getting the lighting fixed. I was going to have it set in another Underdark Drow Temple type scene, but in the end it's more like a campsite mishap. Maybe Karlach got tired of their fighting and stuck them together. Maybe it's a joke situation they woke up in.  1/5 is finished fully now though, with no snags so far.

    In other news, I bought Mizora (BG3) made by @SFMModelMaker, a model creator I praise a lot and for good reason. All three of these BG3 girls are models of theirs and they really are fantastic in every way. Eventually I'll get the rest of their models.
    I have an idea for her already too, of course. If only I could shut my brain off a bit to focus for awhile.

    Lastly, does anyone recall that FemShep animation with Krogan? The one that came out all grainy and shitty for quality no matter what I did? Well, if I could get it rendered and compiled better, would anyone want a rerelease of it? Poll below.

    Face to Face is a project, like a lot of other ones, that is based on an image I came across not long ago. I save tons of things for references like that. This one kept popping up in my head, so I'm running with it. It's a bit more sensual than the typical animation I create, with more subtle movements and theme, so don't expect either of them to be getting rammed, slammed, pounded or grounded.
    While Lae'zel is unaware of who she's bound to, Shadowheart gets to glare at her offscreen captors and viewers (you).
    This will have the face to face angle (example shown), a breast to breast angle (example shown), a both hips angle, and then each of their hips/butt regions separately.

    In other news, my would-be passion project with January van Sant from Resident Evil: Resistance is on a hold. I still can't sort the drumming drummer for shit, and it has me more than annoyed. Rather than just scrapping the entire project, as I am very tempted to do, I'll pause it til I either sort another method for that bit or actually get skilled enough to do it well enough. The project was meant to reengage my interest again, not annoying the hell out of me with my shortcomings.

    Face to Face will be a Tier 2 (Supporter+) release when finished. I'm going to try to sort some extra bits for Tier 3 and 4 as well again. Even if it's just some finished single fame shots. Maybe an alt outfit style, not that either is wearing much.

    Tuesday, I took a break from Black Cat Cafe to poke at and test a Chun-Li model. Not sure if I'd talked about her before. Perhaps, perhaps not. At any rate, she's an amazing model by @Source_Guru, one of my favorite model creators. A lot of my best models are from them. You all have been seeing their name in the credits and will continue to do so for a long time.

    So Chun-Li has legs. Everyone knows this. It's probably the #1 thing about her, right? So I set her up in a nice position (Sancus 2 style pose) for a little animation. Meant to be just a loop, it's already full length for her theme song from Street Fighter 6? I think 6.

    She's not synced to the music. I just ran with the animation and some variations on the speed/style as it goes a long, then thought "Hey, let's throw her theme song in here...." and just extended it to fit. I'd thought about various outfits, and I might still do that, but this was the one I liked most. I also nearly did the tied big toe thing, but eh. I don't get that concept, personally, so it's not a thing I care about doing. I might add that into something later though.

    I know, I know. "But Zjera....you need to focus! Stick to something! FINISH AND RELEASE SOMETHING!"

    I am. This is all I worked on this week, and it will be ready by next Saturday. It's already in the final stages for pre-render checks; smoothing things, fixing lights a bit more, etc. As I've always said; sometimes things just go so well they pop out quick. This was one.

    Small quick video showing some examples of the machine power levels and motions in Black Cat Cafe. Vaginal 1-5 and Anal 1 only so far. The anal ones, the spins that is, seem to go odd when the dildo moves around as well. Trying to figure out why. I might have to just make them all spin together instead of the interesting way shown in vaginal 1-4. Vaginal 5 is when Anal 1 kicks in. Anal 1-5 Vaginal stays the same. At level 5. So there's still 9 levels basically in total.
    The overlays of the power level/name plate area will be visible throughout, in that faded see through aspect. The camera will be different per segment, so it's not going to always hinder any kind of view. The odd jumps in things like lighting is due to the examples being reset on a camera that is the same for all motions. The lights are set for the angles they were meant to be on, so they pop around. Also that's why Vaginal 4 shows her side and not the machine. That specific angle didn't show the machine at all, so it's not really moving there. No need to animate what isn't seen, after all. Later segments will show that though so it will be then.
    Still coming up with names for the donators. Some are 'serious' style names. Others are just fun for fun sake. Should any of you be on the Discord and want a name added to the list of potential, feel free to let me know. I did the same thing, in a way, with Pound-Her's names.
    Also, that's a music example as well. The intro has its own, the credits probably will too, but that's the main music picked for this one.

    January van Sant's animation is coming along as well, though not much to report on it this week. The drummer is still being a bitch, but most everything else is cooperating. She has some nice wiggles, expressions and breathing animations, pre-refinement. Not sure where to put a third 'band member'. Maybe just an over-the-shoulder style angle long enough for concept. Probably that.

    Hope you enjoy the little example video.

    Guitarist is now fully animated throughout the project. I'm pretty pleased with it and yes, it's a zombie. I thought it would be fun/funny/fitting to have zombies playing the instruments. Think about the movies where the one zombie was being taught to do the blocks in the slots and such or Shaun of the Dead with them being somewhat domesticated. Why not make them musical? I thought about just some generic Umbrella people. Guards or techs, but eh.

    The part that holds her in place is still not created, thus her still kinda floating in the air. Also, the drummer turned out to be a total nightmare to animate. Not sure what/how to go about that section. Fought with that a lot this week to no avail.

    It's a shorter song, so the focus stays on her. It's also pretty damn flashy with lighting, so it'll have that warning on the start again. I kinda miss the way I did early intros. Might go back to that as well.

    Sadly her hair has no bones to animate anything past the back of her ears, so I improvised and used clips to keep her hair pulled back out of her face and somewhat stationary. I think it works well. That and the lighting makes it look natural for the lack of movements despite the motions.

    Still no name for it. Something will pop up before the end though I'm sure, once the effects and the rest are there.

    Nothing else specific worked on this week. Some new ideas, as always, to try to distract me. Jotted down for later potential. I do still wanna make something of that Cassie Cage workout concept. Christmas 2025 stuff is being sorted too, haha.