I hope to get started on shooting Update 17 tonight, but there is a potential obstacle to that I have to wait to get out of the way first... Some of the last few days, I've worked on props, Rhinox's Chainguns of Doom graphics or what I want to do for certain scenes & scene changes. ^_^

Interesting stuff could do the same... But the supposedly unexpected is interesting, so...

I made layers for individual bullets, of varying angles; the shells flying off the guns; the guns, also from varying angles; etc., so all I need to do is remember I made the file of layers, put a layer where I want it & add Filters as needed. I'll see how I did this update.

I store them in vehicle mode. They look better that way.

I know TFWiki said, but I can't remember what it said... Stupid head injury screwing w/ my memory... >.<

Again, I have to say it, during Beast Machines Hasbro forgot what scale meant.   & forgot which were more important: drones vs. Generals.   Makes you wonder how they've stayed in business, doesn't it?

Some TFs make good use of their missiles. TransMetal Optimus (clubs & machineguns!), Silverbolt (integrated w/ his wings), RiD Sideburn (exhaust), while others actually do stay in place (BM Thrust & Strika -- not so much either Jetstorm --Vector Prime; Classics & Animated "Rodimus"...) Then there are catastrophies who are on hair triggers, like both BM Jetstorms... Tigerhawk was a mess! It's a crapshoot! In fact, the only problem w/ Tigerhawk was his flip up missile launchers (his wing missiles are fine); overall he's a great figure. I heard there was a dropped 3rd mode, which left the missile launchers in limbo... I have to keep his wings folded to keep the flip launchers from popping up when I don't want them to; the missiles are in Optimal Op's box I think.

At least I can come up w/ creative ways to link scenes, & when I can't I have my faction change panels... I have a feeling I'll be using both this update... Hopefully, I can wrap up this battle in a couple updates, reveal my new TF, & get the story to Arus soon... But we are talking about large scale battles, so...

Always better if you work on yours.  

Oh, they'll make money; just not from the collectors, unless they're utter completists.

   

My area is a crapshoot as to what waves we get when. Since Straxus is in the comic, you can assume it's from a Wave after him... There there have been several waves since.

 

Sorry for the long delay on this Update. Saturday before last I managed to do something. Then several days last week an uninvited family member was hanging around, ~_~' in the area I needed to shoot in. ">.<! Then we had Easter... & last (Monday) night I managed to watch the new ep. of Doctor Who (start of Series 6), ^_^ online (no cable & live in US), which didn't go over well w/ my head injury x_x (expected, but worth it).

The 1st half is 'shopped; but I still need to shoot the 2nd 1/2. I really can't see how any of you can figure out what I'm going to do, though.  

Oh, & I think I'm using a configuration of a figure this time NOONE ever does.  

Hopefully, I'll manage to get it all done by Weds., maybe posted by Thursday, unless my head injury lets me get a really good run going.

I did warn in my first post that updates could be sparatic...

 

Update 17: Preparations

Sorry this took so long, but unexpected, uninvited company, Easter & Dr. Who all got in the way. I still have yet to start the anime I got 2 weeks ago, but can now that I have this done.

Part of the delay, once I was able to resume shooting, was this was an extremely FX heavy update, & not just 'cause of the Vehicons.

Remember how Jetstorm & his Aerodrones ceased fire unexpectedly, for a moment? This update explains what happened!

Without further ado, Enjoy...

Update 17: Preparations



















































Note 1: I wanted to get a little practice w/ a dog fight before working on the mixed battle w/ Jetstorm. & since I had to get the Predacons to take off, this skirmish made the perfect test.

Note 2: There are a couple (maybe more, I'm not sure) of classic lines mixed in this one. Let me know if you caught them. The Jamming Tower is classic Beast Wars as well.

Note 3: Let me know how I did with Quickstrike's dialog/ accent? I'm not that great w/ misusing English, so his lines take a bit to phrase "right" [for him].

Note 4: Aerodrones don't shutdown quite like Cycledrones do when things are uploaded to them: they have a processor dedicated to flight, so even when Jetstorm's primary processor is busy w/ the upload, the flight processor keeps them all airborn.

Note 5: The panel where all the Cycledrones shutdown, completely by acicdent perfectly matches up w/ the panel before, where Thrust is talking. No idea how that happened (I 'shopped in the Vehicons using different methods for the 2 panels), but when looking at it in a slideshow type setting, it looks awesome!

Note 6: I DID NOT use Pol's environment speed blurring tutorial. I'm familiar enough w/ GIMP now, & have always been good w/ perspective & Vanishing points, that I worked it out on my own. W/ all the characters I have, don't expect it too often, as it's a lot of work cutting 'bots out for the blur behind them. However, the thought of doing this hadn't come to me until I saw Pol do it in Warring at Play, so I did kinda include it 'cause some of the comics I read have..

Note 7: I think because of the angle, the rotational blur on Rhinox's Chainguns of Doom didn't come out quite like I had hoped... His bullets & ammo, on the other hand, make the last panel I think.

Note 8: Another thing that delayed this update was many, many panels had to be 'shopped over multiple sittings. I don't like breaking up working on a panel, but my head injury forced me to this time.

Note 9: Also of note is that the battle for the Jamming Tower wasn't done chronologically. I make an effort to do all my panels in order, so that I know where everything goes in the one following, but I had to take additional pics to cut Primal & Waspinator out of, as the ones I did take were blurry, as well as adding panels for elements that came to me after I'd moved on. Let me know if you noticed any discountinuities between the Jamming Tower panels.

Note 10: Let me know how Waspinator & Optimus look in their flight panel.

Note 11: Does anyone else use Optimus's "Flight Attack Mode" configuration? I don't often, but it was something I came up w/ back when my brother got the figure (he didn't care for it, so he eventually gave it to me). Strangely, the Vacuum Metal on TransMetal Optimus hasn't even scuffed, but somehow my brother managed to mess up his robot mode chest, exposing the underlying brown. @.@

Note 12: I haven't decided if I'll do a whole update for each battle w/ Strika & Jetstorm just yet, so I don't know if I'll be doing Jetstrom's battle next update or Strika vs. Grimlock. If you have a preference of which to see first, let me know.

Note 13: I had not originally intended this to be why the Aerodrones stopped shooting, but I think it fits.

Note 14: The battle for the Jamming Tower ran longer than I had planned, but I think it works out nicely. I had intended to do more of the battle w/ Jetstorm & the Aerodrones, but, again, the story ran longer than anticipated... I only included that last panel w/ Rhinox 'cause it was the 25th panel & the first thing I did for this update was work on graphics for his Chainguns of Doom & spent casings... & I had always intended to get back to that battle this update...

 

Interesting...  

I've yet to see Beast Wars, so I don't know how well you did with Quickstrike's dialogue.

 

Love it! Full-on beast wars love! I love how you replicated the feel of the darksyde's interior...with all the floating platforms and all. Blackarachnia getting a new shell program to keep her in line was a very nice touch indeed. I really like quickstrike's control panel-looked just like the kind of interfaces seen in the show. Megatron over-riding the vehicons was unexpected and awesome! And that line-"when serving bait, presentation is everything" That was a great line. Did he actually say that in the show? it sounds like something he'd say.

Turned out pretty good. I liked it. BTW, in the first shot of the maximals-is cheetor's head shopped', or can you actually turn it that way in beast mode?

i think you captured it pretty well. It's hard to know how to write like that. I'd say throw in a few "yee-haws" and your all good.

I bet. I have had a few instances where the panles just lined up so when i scroll through them on my computer-it looks pretty cool.

The blurrs looked pretty sweet to me. Pol's tutorial is pretty great-but time consuming. lately Have just been duplicating a layer, zoom blurring the bottom one, and erasing out everything but the bots from the top one. Still some work, but it's faster than cutting everybody out.

Yeah. That's one huge pile of spent shells! I wouldn't worry about the rotation blurr so much...it got the point across. I have been having trouble with this myself lately- I can't get Highbrow's propellers to come out looking how i want them.

I didn't notice any. But that battle was cool enough that my mind was preoccupied. I swear, I could hear the show sound effects for their various weapons in my head.

Looked pretty sweet to me. Maybee add just a little more blur to waspy's wings, but thast's a personal preference type thing.

Sadly-I never got that toy.

.
Hmm..well strika vs grimlock does seem like an epic confrontation, I gotta lean towards jetstorm cuz he is awesome.

Yeah, it works.

I know how that goes. Sometimes you just gotta stop and get it posted. That's why my episodes have been short as of late.



I must apologize again, somehow i missed for a whole week that you had responded.

Like I said-all the spent shells flying around and on the ground really are great.

Yeah, I do most of the time now anyways. Back when i first got them and the collection was still small-everyone was in bot mode.

I never understood it at all. I know the first "generals" were from early concept art-thats why they look nothing like the show. I mean I'm glad we got more show accurate versions....but why did they ALL have to be tiny? Then we get giant rattrap who is bigger than primal!

I do keep missiles when they can stor like that, or form part of the altmode. But on ones where that doesn't happen-into the parts box it goes. I have so many random missiles laying around. Lately i have just been tossing the missiles i don't need.

I love that toy. Sadly I missed the normal release. But i was lucky enough to find the black repaint at a kb toys just before they went out of business. Got it cheap too. So at least I have the mold. I toyed around with using him int he comic. Sort of a "shat-erred glass tigerhawk" sent by the vok to investigate Marty's time traveling. Plus I think it would be fun to try shopping the vok. But I just have so much already planned...

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Yeah. It's a movie line, so i guess they figure they can do whatever they want. General public will eat it up either way.

lol i always inteneded to get omega.....then somehow never had the cash for it...then he was gone.

Hmm..hard to remember what was after straxus...so many new toys came out this past year.

 

Forgot to note that I used a Dalek (as in Doctor Who, for those who don't know) Font for TM2 Dinobot, which I think fits him more than extremely well... & his voice did have a bit of modulation to it, like Daleks. I've updated my first post w/ details on the custom fonts I'm using for various characters. Forgot I had custom fonts, as they mix in w/ the normal ones that come w/ Windows once you install them...

T+C, you're missing out. Beast Wars is unique in TF shows, as the makers ignored that it was merely a commercial for toys (ignoring instructions, & Hasbro's toy bios, as they worked on the show), & the voice actors & writers gave everyone great, emmence characterizations... & It has a LOT of serious character development, as well as humor. There's a good reason Dinobot got into the TF HoF last year, & Waspinator made the final round of nominations this year.

Well, I forgot I was going to get back to Wheeljack's team heading to his lab (now less Grimlock), so we'll see where things go from there. I'll probably show some of one of the fights... & don't count Thrust out just yet...

Well, Beast Wars is one of my favorite series. It has had some of the best characterizations, characterizations so well defined, even I can pull them off.   I had to try to do it justice!

Well, since there is no floor, I had to do something... I'm pretty happy w/ how it came out... LOT of work cutting out/ drawing [black] around EVERYONE for it though! Before I even started the update, & before I worked on Rhinox's graphics file, I built Megatron his command chair. Didn't feel right for him to stand in the Darksyde.

Also, someone posted a link (after I had finished the panels of the Darksyde) to the source of the Nemesis backgorund/ panels, that Pol uses in WaP for the Decepticon base, in Warring at Play's thread for AndreaPrime101 to use for her comic, & I snagged them for myself...   Next time, I might actually show walls.   It had Ark/ Teletraan backgrounds too... So Autobot HQ may actually look like Autobot HQ, once one is built on Arus. ^_^ Too bad my printer doesn't work/ have ink...

I thought so. I have stuff planned for that... Debating whether or not to try to show the actual installation... That's the good thing about the flow of time being meaningless to a group, I can pick & choose to go back to something irrespective of the time of the other group.   I promise to keep it all chronological.

Events aren't happening simultaneously between the AEG & Predacons (It's only been about a Megacycle -- maybe a few; not sure, & not too important, right now at least -- w/ the AEG on Cybertron, but it's now been a day & 1/2 for the Preds), but Megatron is treating the TransWarp Tracer's signal like a DVR, & watching the AEG when he has time, is bored or needs to know what's going on.

I tried to replicate it from my head. I had considered trying to duplicate it from a screenshot (if not out right copy it), but decided not enough would be seen to justify that amount of work; so I just added random buttons, like what would be seen, & then did a Transform to get it to lie down in 3D. Surprisingly, the Predacons' tech has been rather easy to make, so far, really.

Didn't think anyone would think of it, & hence intentially catch everyone off guard. My characters all are aware of all the media I am aware they have been in (I haven't read the comics, but am aware Drift & Straxus hail from them), & as such, since Megatron made the Vehicons AND always builds failsafes into everything (

Spoiler

even Tankor/ Rhinox, w/ a can't kill Megatron program

-- blacked out since some people haven't seen the Beast Era -- do remember to black it all out this time!; or just use the quote button at the bottom, & all the format codes will carry over...), it was only logical that he could retake control of them. ^_^ It also gives me a way to use the Vehicons even after I'm done w/ this Cybertron Arc, if I choose to.  

Yes, that was one of the classic lines I mentioned; it's from the end of Before the Storm:
(4 min. in exactly) YouTube - Beast Wars - Before the Storm - 3/3 -- should jump to 3:57.

Spoiler

Rattrap's "It's not ours to reason why, but to blow this joint before we die"

was the other classic line.

Spoiler

somewhere around that same time -- the site, mentioned below, says the following 2 parter,

.

Someone has a page up for Beast Wars Quotes, which I go to occasionally to make sure I remembered them right... It lists the eps. they're in too.

Yes, Cheetor's head CAN rotate about 90 degrees (think I found that out the first day I got him): that's the nature of multiple ball-joints (shoulder & elbows). Ironically, the head in the next panel w/ them is the one I 'shopped, rather than take a new pic & redo the whole thing (pretty sure I did those panels back to back, even though there was a panel in between, I think... Wanted to reuse the layer I had already cut out, THEN noticed that him keeping his head turned wouldn't be natural...). 'Shopped a leg as well, to change his flight profile. Didn't expect it to be done so well as to be undetectable, but there you go.

Didn't have any "yee-haw" moments, or I would've included one.

Quickstrike talks w/ a combination of Ebonics & cowboy, & I can't tolerate Ebonics from most people, but it somehow works for him...

I still can't believe how that came out. Viewing it on my computer, they actually look like they fall over, w/o any discrepancy! One I 'shopped strictly rows, the other I wound up doing multi-row groups (couldn't just rotate 1/2, I had to use a whole new source image), since I had to split the shopping down the middle for everyone to lean center-ward (had to flop 1/2), & I'm pretty sure there are different numbers of Vehicons too (didn't even think to count), but it all works out that it looks RIGHT when viewed in Windows' Pic viewers!

Well, since I was doing it w/ Fliers, I just had to make sure the pic looked right , as the fliers came from different pics. Before I do a blur, I run several lines across stuff to get the vanishing point, do the blur, to make sure it looks right, undo the blur & lines, then use GIMP's Repeat Filter option to redo it lineless.

For the Op/ Waspinator chase, I had to completely re-set up the fighting for the tower, as I made that panel/ took that pic AFTER finishing the rest of the update, less Rhinox. The pics I used for Op & Waspinator were taken closer to the beginning of the update. I had to reset up the Jamming Tower battle a lot, since it was done over several days...

I've duplicated layers & deleted out the excess too, this update actually...

Well, Rhinox does have a LOT of targets there... & I'm trying to show it's a drawn out battle... I'm debating if he runs out of shells or not... & he's had piles of ammo like that in the show too... REALLY glad I made that graphics file, makes stuff like that easy.

I think next time I'll use the flat blades (front view) I have for the Chainguns of Doom, & see if I can transform it after the blur to look right... That will probably work better...

I hear the voices as I do the panels, but not the sound FX. Well, maybe Rhinox's Chainguns of Doom... & if you don't see them, whether they're there or not is a moot point.

The original intent was to spend, maybe, 3 or 4 panels on the Jamming Tower (one, maybe 2 of actual combat), but the flow demanded a proper battle.

The layer box for those wings was a bit small, so blurring it more would've had the blur square off at the edges (I still had to delete some of the corners that showed), which didn't look right... I have a remedy for that next time (playing w/ options afterwards, I found a way to expand a layer to the full image size).

TransMetal Optimus is a solid representation of the CG model; & quite posable -- more so in robot mode than beast mode. I actually prefer his beast & flight modes over the robot... I also think his face has the same problem as Prime's Optimus: F-L-A-T.

I hadn't worked out why they froze (or I forgot why I had them stop... I think it was just for the joke), then the idea for Megs to retake control hit me.  

Well, I try to limit the updates to around 25 panels, to keep the toll on my head tolerable... I could've gone to 30, but 5 panels wouldn't be enough to properly show ANY of the battle w/ Jetstorm, so I just stopped w/ the cut to Rhinox, mostly to show off my ammo graphics... Though, I forgot the drop-shadows...   I added them to the graphics file once I realized, so now I can't forget. ^_^

& thanks for taking the time to reply to most of my notes. ^_~

Well, since I litterally have nothing better to do than watch TV/ anime, game (haven't for months) & look online, when I'm not working on my coimic, (when my head injury allows me to do anything more than just watch stuff) you can be confident I reply usually the same day, if not the day after, unless my headache spikes to severe for a prolonged period, which does happen more than I'd like -- granted, I don't like it at all, muchless that the headache appears to be permanent, just flucturating in intensity.

I have a layer for a small pile of ammo, including some flying from the gun, & 2 for the shells (one angled, one straight), & adjusting the spacing & using the individual shells as brushes, I can litterally DRAW in a pile of ammo now. ^_^ But, I have to remember to keep making the pile bigger until this battle is done...

You know, Rhinox's Chainguns of Doom have to have a TransWarp pocket for their ammo cartrages.

At least they did Strika right the first time (give or take size & color)... Too bad Obsidian never got a Deluxe or bigger, he REALLY deserved/ needed a large, complex toy. Maybe when Beast Machines get's to a milestone anniversary, we'll get a better Obsidian? (wishful thinking, I know).

I read a rumor that Prime might get a Beast Era equivalent/ spin-off in the Beast Wars Group... It's merely rumor & speculation right now, though. That would explain Airachnid some.

They have been getting better at integrating all the parts... Especially w/ CHUGRU.

Even incomplete as he is, he is an awesome, pretty accurate representation of Tigerhawk. I'm considering trying to work out a way to work him back into my main story... & an idea JUST hit me... But now to see if I can 1) remember it later & 2) get it to work when I get back to the Beasties...

Well, little kids will beg for movie toys at any rate... Especially now that they're engineered for little kids to be able to deal w/... Which makes less than NO sense, since the movie will have at least a PG-13 rating!  

Omega is kinda questionable too... A battle ship & crane, really? That can link for a "train" mode, seriously? @.@ But his combined form (aka robot mode) does look nice, & he is, technically, a Headmaster...

That's why I was comfortable admitting he was after Darkmount's wave:   'Cause even knowing that, there's been several waves, w/ questionable distribution practices, since, even if you just look at Generations... Include Reveal the Shield, & I could've gotten ANYONE...  

 

No worries. I plan on picking up Shout! Factory's Beast Wars box set, so I'm definitely planning on watching it and see what the series is like.

 

I wish I could say something logical about this, but I don't. Still I do think its coming along nicely.

 

Soo true! Beast wars is definitely worth the time. With shout factory about to release the show on dvd-now is the perfect time to jump into it.

The nature of having so many plotline ongoing I guess. It must be hard to try and fit everyone in.

Yeah, for sure. I wouldn't even be a tf fan if it wasn't for beast wars. Sure I had the toys when I was real young, but I had only a few very vague memories of the actual g1 toon. Beast wars brought me back. I'm just sad I came in at the beginning of season three. I caught most of season one on re-runs...but I have yet to see pretty much all of season two. This shout factory release cannot come soon enough for me.

Yeah. He definitely need his command chair.

Awesome. I had the ark ones at some point, but i haven't had a working printer in a few years now....I just don't have any real need for one. Those are awesome backgrounds though.

That could be interesting-

Spoiler

the show always portrayed the shell programming in a very phsyical way

you could let the imagination run wild with it.

Well it looked pretty darn close to the show to me. Good job on it.

Yeah, so awesome. And so....right. Vehicons just make for the perfect army...especially when he can pull the strings like this.

Awesome. There was just so many great lines in that show.

Man that is awesome. I have never once thought to try rotating his beast mode head like that in all the years I've had him.

True. I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about it.

Yeah. The voice acting pulled it off. Because it could have been pretty stupid coming from most people. I hate trying to even think of dialogue like that. I had quite a hard time when I had the rotf twins in my comic. Skids turned out pretty different than in the movie lol

Awesome! I love it when something like that happens.

I never really bother with finding the vanishing point I just kind of wing it. Most of the time, it works out okay for me. But that kind of blur is real easy in photoshop. You just move a little cross-hairs over a box. The box represents the picture...and the cross hairs is where you want the center of the blur to be. Then a slider controls the amount of blur and it's done. Lol-Spell check just caught me. I kept typing Blurr and not blur.

It happens sometimes. I had a heck of a time setting up those starship bridges every time I did an update. Highbrows layer too...making sure all the random junk was in the same spot.

Hmm...Didn't he run out of shells in the show? I can't remember either way now.

It's worth a shot.

Mainly I could hear rhinox's guns and cheetor's blasts.

Glad you gave it one.

Oh I see.

Yeah. I never did like his robot mode on the show too much. I thought the beast movde looked cool with all the chrome blue.

Another perfect stroke of luck then.

I usually shoot for about thirty panels, but lately it's been close to twenty or less.

No problem.

Oh I see. I will just have to try and remember to keep checking.

Now That is an amazing and handy feature to have.

yeah pretty much. I don't even want to know how many round per minute he gets with that thing. lol

Yeah, we can dream. Such an awesome character. The toy was tiney, the wrong color, no hands, weird legs....and a cannon in an...unfortunate place in bot mode. I don't know how they missed the shot on him when all of the other drones from that era were pretty decent.

Thgat would be soo awesome. It is time. Heck, it's been a decade now. Plus the whole "Prime and BB vs Megs and Screamer is really kinda getting stale." Don't get me wrong, I love when a new optimus toy comes out. But I think it's time. Especially after all the dotm hype comes and goes.

Yeah.

Sweet, I would love to see him.

Yeah, this happens a lot though. I had aliens and predator toys when I was a kid. Despite being too young to see the movies and only knowing what the packaging told me about the universe. The main issue here is that tfs have been toys for so long..and now they are marketing these movies to a different audience than their usual demographic.

Yeah. But his sheer size was sure impressive.

Yeah, that is still a lot of figures.

 

Not so much getting everyone in as much as it is the Chapter will be MUCH longer than the first 2... Wheeljack's lab & the 2 remaining battles alone require 3 updates, & I still need to get to WHY they're on Cybertron: the Wrecker they need firepower from, & I'd rather not have the Dues ex Machina of them showing up to save everyone...

Not that I had any idea how long a chapter would be when I started...

I've been a fan since G1 & remembered most of it when I finally got the DVDs w/ my FIRST paycheck from a steady, non-college job (didn't hurt I also caught the "G2" reruns w/ the Cybercube transitions). Also got ALL of Robotech w/ that check.

I've been good w/ building blocks of all kinds since I was in Kindergarden, but it took a few attempts to get the chair right, for him to fit, & all done in a way where it wouldn't fall apart: turned out less was more.

I'm intending to use them digitally. Open one as a layer & play w/ it till things look right. If I remember I have the instructions to MAKE actual brushes, I might have to try to make an Ark Brush & Nemesis Brush... & maybe officially convert some of Rhinox's ammo into proper Brushes (copying something automaticlally makes a temporary brush of it).

If I do it, I'd stick fairly close to the show... It's the issue of "do I want to try to tackle trying to 'shop the necessary machinery &/ or schematic".

I did try to line it up w/ some of Quickstrike's legs... Surprised noone commented on his Snake-head keeping an eye on the discussion... That wasn't easy to balance for the shot...

I'm trying to balance Beast Wars & Beast Machines for Megatron & the Maximals from both. Leaning MOSTLY Beast Wars, but there are some elemenets of Beast Machines I did like, like Rattrap's hacking skills & Megatron's Vehicons.

I know, & I intend to use more when appropriate. ^_^

I'm pretty good w/ Physics in addition to Computers, & when I saw how the arms came together for the head, w/ the ball joints, I just had to see how much articulation that allowed for. I like that he has up & down head movement too, albeit not as much.

Considering how things have been going so far, how could even you think I'd forget Cowboys yelled "Yeehaw" periodically? I think I actually considered it in the panel I didn't do of Quickstrike jumping on Waspinator, but felt I should skip it to keep the update w/in my limits.

The Question w/ that is: was it the writers who made him an evil cowboy, or did the actor improvise it in the beginning/ audition?

I considered trying it w/o a vanishing point, but they're so easy for me to find I might as well use 'em. & GIMP seems to be similar to Photoshop regarding blurring at least... & I noticed you kept adding the extra R.

Well, there wasn't much to this battle to set up, so it wasn't hard to keep replicating. But the Darksyde is one time I'm glad I'm 'shopping everything, as it'd be easier to black everything out than make sure every little detail is right.

Yes, there was an ep.,

Spoiler

I think right before Rhinox went to track down Optimus's Spark from the Matrix -- Op dies in nearly every series, so it isn't that much of a spoiler if you didn't quite watch ALL of Season 1

, where he did run out of shells.

--isn't using the Quote function so much better for getting all the Formatting right?--

I've used Transform like that a few times, just not w/ a blur effect.

As long as I can hear the show voices in a comic, I'm happy: it usually means the characters are written well/ close to the shows'.

To be fair, there isn't a whole lot you can change to go from Gorilla to humanoid robot... I'm surprised there are as many changes as he has... & if you think about it, his TransMetal Transformation is the exact opposite of his original form's.

The toy's Beast Mode lacks knee & head articulartion, but is otherwise decent... & I'm still not sure why the one I have has nearly all his blue intact; as I said, his robot mode chest is scuffed up some. @.@

I have a lot of those, don't I?

I found out w/ the impromptu Drift/ Bludgeon battle, mining more than 30 URLs doesn't sit well w/ my head... At least the old way I mined them... Not sure about the new, quicker way.

I understand that most people have a life they have to live... I miss mine...

I'm sure Photoshop has an equivalent. GIMP has a Brush field set aside for what's on the Clipboard. Now to play around & work out how to add Brushes to the Brush options...

Not enough that one ep., obviously.   (I want to say that was Coming of the Fuzor's 1 when he ran out... But that's Season 2 ep. 1)

Well, most of that technically applies to ALL the Vehicons: too small, wrong color, weird legs... & Strika's hands are quite odd (they're molded into the forearm).

You just like upgrading the Primes in your comic... No, them reusing the same characters does get old... At least Starscream is different, & Bulkhead is still rather new. Though, I'm not sure how Beast forms will look w/ Prime's CGI.

The question isn't IF, it's WHEN & HOW OFTEN. & I don't plan to just have Vector Prime go back for him...

Hasbro isn't marketing the movies to a different Audience; the audience just grew up: it's the same audience from the 80's the movies are targeted at... & poorly, how Bay's treated them... Especially the DotM toys...

He is BIG... That's part of why he hasn't been in my comic...

I know.  

 

It happens, It can only be a good thing, as it means a fuller-more fleshed out story.

I never caught the g2 reruns when they were on. I think I was into the Ninja turtle fad too much by that point.

I used to be pretty good with legos. Then I went through a long phase of not having any. I recently got a bunch back from my brother-leading me to realize I'm not as good as I once was.

I have some brushes I have added that are handy. My lightning, fire, and smoke brushes. That smoke brush being the most useful one of all. I made it from the one in the tutorials thread. I used to mess around with explosions a lot-and i could never get any two explosions to come out the same. Now I just paint in a blob with that smoke brush, add my fire glow effect, maybe a blurr and it's done.

Yeah. That wouldn't be too fun to deal with, but it could turn out very nice in the end.

Ha- i missed that. I'm afraid my poos quickstrike is too worn out to even hold the snake arm up at this point.

Well, you seem to be doing a great job of it so far.

Yeah. I guess I should have realized it was possible. Of course, I barely ever handle that toy anymore. Mine has a slight wear issue. The chest plate that arms are connected to is very loose. So it's quite hard to get him to stay in beast mode without that part and thus his whole head drooping towards the ground.

I don't know, I just figured I'd go all "better safe than sorry" and mention it just in case.

Hmm. I can't remember now-did Scott McNeil voice him too? If so, it may have been a case of just find another voice type that was different from all the other he did on that show.

Yeah, I seem to be getting brainwashed by typing Blurr so much for my comic.

Yeah, that's for sure.

Yeah

Spoiler

I knew optimus died. I do remember seeing part of the episode where rhinox brought him back.

At any rate, I have long since learned everything that happened. I just haven't seen some of it yet. Like I said. These dvds cannot come soon enough for me. I will have to go season by season though. I do have season three on dvd. Don't need it twice. Unless there is some kind of amazing bonus features on. That MIGHT make me bite, but probably not.

Yeah, for sure.

It could work.

Yeah. You have no issues on that front. I think I just remember the weapon sounds so much because at one point I had most of them saved for a failed stop-motion project.

Yeah. I have the repaint of the original, the weird tenth deluxe primal, beast machines deluxe and then blast punch. They all somehow do it differently. Though blast puch primal is literally just stand up and flip heads.

You must have just gotten lucky with a good batch of chrome.

Yeah  

Yeah, that can always be a pain.

I have to remember now. I know there is a fast and easy way to make a brush. I haven't done it in a while.

Yeah, the were all too small, but at least the cycle and tank drones looked decent.

Yeah, this is true. lol

Yeah, that has the potential to go either way.

Awesome.

Yeah, the weird part for me is most of the ones I want are only for comic use.

 

True, but I had planned to be on Arus, say, before Update 10... Then Chapter 0 (called that as it wasn't supposed to exist) pushed the Reveiw (always expected to be 4 or 5 updates of actual review) back to starting around Update 8 (due to 2 updates of set up & ACO-like kidding around), & my forgetting a figure in a shot forced Chapter 2 onto Cybertron... But it is all working somehow. ^_^

I was into TMNT too. Managed to watch both & several other shows as well.

I got started on Legos. Accidently learned I memorize my sets when I had to move a piece, burried inside (to the extent that I had to disassemble the entire rear section, as the piece that needed to be moved was a whole column, w/ another moving bit attached), one connection over (due to poor instructions & extreme precision for interacting moving parts) one time. I've gotten a few Star Wars Lego sets & they are amazing! The last one I got before my money dried up was Anikin's ship in Clone Wars: the Twilight: 1/2 Technic, 1/2 traditional, some new parts (the standard for most Star Wars sets it seems)... & a bit of "Automorph"! I also dismantled a set to successfully try to build a robot from the back of the box's "also possible" area (I only had the single pic to go from), & when I got tired of it, rebuilt the complicated (300? piece), multi-section ship w/o going back to the instructions.

Before my accident, my memory was a step down from Photographic (called Retentive), but it's been shot by the head injury. x.x I used to notice almost everything going on around me, but now I'm lucky to catch everything I'm actually focusing on.

Most of my effects are only 2 or 3 steps, so I don't bother w/ brushes, as they often very in color or the Brushes used to make it are fractal (namely just the Sparks Brush; I suspect it's fractal, as it isn't just a repeating image - look at Skyfire's "flame", as it's just the Sparks Brush -- varying sized glowing orbs -- intended to simulate a nuclear reaction for his propultion). I use the same Sparks Brush, w/ Smudging, for my fire, & a different kind/ degree of smudging for Vector Prime's Safeguard's energy beam.

If I wanted to (don't) I could disassemble my Lego Millenium Falcon's (935 or so pieces) top & use it to make a round device, but it'd be a bit big for her...

I figured since Quickstrike was infatuated w/ Blackarachnia, & since his Snake head is useless for using an interface, that he'd be spying.   A little foreshadowing of him going after her like he did in the show...

I have no idea how I am, though... I figured dialog would be a problem for me, at least as much as humor... Neither seem to be that tricky...

Mine has the same problem (loose chestplate/ droopy beast head), but I found a remedy! At least on mine, the shoulders catch on the beast legs section. If you pull the chest panel down to where it droops, so long as yours shoulder ball joints are still holding friction, you can tip the beast head back up into position.

Well, had I had a place to appropriately put a "YeeHaw", I would've.

I don't know if Scott did his voice either & don't feel like checking either Wiki. He did a lot of talking to himself, that's for sure... Especially between Dinobot & Rattrap.   I wonder how much of that was improvised, & how many nicknames slipped out & were kept?

Even w/ my head injury/ memory problems, it seems like you've said that before... The first time you noticed you were misspelling blur...

That happened 2 or 3 eps into Season 2.

Spoiler

Op was dead at least an ep. & 2/3

in Beast Wars. The entire plot form Before the Storm through Coming of the Fusers Part 2 was pretty good, in fact. It was at least a 5 ep. arc, w/ a cliffhanger in the middle!

& I thought Shout Factory was releasing the whole series as a Box Set? Is that not what they're doing?

I know it would work, the question is how it'd look.

Again, I'm not sure how.

I never got the original Primal 'cause he was out of scale & expensive; I didn't get any from Beast Machines 'cause they looked & transformed stupidly, to me at least (why make TransFormers w/ impossible to replicate transformations?); & I didn't get the 10th Anniversary 'cause he didn't look accurate enough, though, had I gotten him, I could use the Axalon in my comic to have the rest of the Maximals follow the Preds, but since I didn't, they aren't going to. Gotta have a character cut off somewhere!

Something is keeping the blue intact... The Optimus tampograph? is partly gone/ faded away, & very few, tiny bits of kinda metalic white(?) -- invisible to the camera -- show through, but that's really it.

Litterally, in my case...

I tracked down the instructions for doing it in GIMP one day, & put them in a file related to the comic... I just need to feel like making a brush & track them down...

The Jetstorms look decent too, the Deluxe just little like his animation model.

Don't get the wrong idea here. The "WHEN & HOW OFTEN" means 'IF I can work out getting him to Arus believably' you'll see him more.

I only get figures I think are cool or are complicated to trasnform (preferably both). Once I talked someone into getting me a TF because it was more unusual than anything... Didn't like the official characterization that got. My comic isn't going to change that, but it does make wanting certain ones I already wanted stronger.

 

I think it has worked out a lot better this way. Now you have actually managed to flesh out all the characters a bit before we get to Arus. No small feat, considering the size of your cast. And i makes getting to Arus a big deal in itself.

Well, I tend to be single minded when I get "into" something. My memories of G1 were very hazy. I think I remembered more of the gobots cartoon than I did tfs.

Dang. That is intense. I have some star wars ones, but they are all the early ones that first came out like ten years ago. Not that any of it would do me good anyways-the parts bin I got was missing all the mini figures. We suspect our other brother has those. I think the best thing I have made lately was that HK tank for the comic...and even that wasn't the best. It served its purpose though.

That really sucks.

Hmm...I have a sort of star field brush that is like that.

Yeah that would be a lot of work.

Nice. See, you think of everything. I don't think you have to worry about characterization.

Awesome. I am going to have to go find him and try it. I'm pretty sure his shoulder ball joints are still good.

I just looked it up. It wasn't him. So I wonder if it was the creators idea to go with that voice for quickstrike then. There isn't any mention of it on the wiki. Regarding Scott- I always wondered wether he had actual conversations with himself, or if the recorded rattrap and dinobot's lines at separate times.

Yeah. It happened before. I just happened to catch it again this time.

Like I said, I can't wit to see it.

That's the great thing about shout factory. They are doing both! The whole series box set, and each season by itself. At twenty bucks a pop for one season, it will be cheaper for me to just get the ones I need and not the whole set. Plus if goes like their g1 releases did, I will only see the separate seasons in my area anyways. I never once saw the box set for g1 when it was out. I just wonder if season one will be split into two sets due to it's lenght, like they did for season two of g1.

True.

Man, I forgot he came with the axalon-I'm going to have to find that thing. The first beast machine primal was weird. Very inaccurate-but his beast mode also looked kinda creepy. Blast punch was tons better despite the simple transformation. I just can't stand all the orange on him.

I know it's quite simple in photoshop-I just can't seem to remember right now.

This is true.

Well anything featuring him at all can only be good. Even the show barely used him at all. Granted, that was do to them getting the show cut short with very little notice.

Well, sentinal prime looks very cool in enginerring, but i don't think I will be getting him. It's been a while since I have gotten a leader figure. I don't think I will be getting any more leaders. Size and cost are becoming too much of a factor for me. The others I want for comic reasons like I said. And the funny part is most are recurring characters that I want. Voyager Ironhide, deluxe screamer and ratchet mainly. I will probably pick up shockwave and megatron too.

 

Nice it all works out storywise, but I still don't know how that happened, considering everything is winged & I'm using the show personalities as best I can.

Before my accident, I was a wiz at multitasking, not so much now. I have TFs, TMNT toys, a few Batman movie toys (though I wanted one, I never got the movie 2 Batmobile that could split... nor just a black Batman... I have a yellow, diver? type Batman... still looks cool...), Legos (mostly Space themed), some Hotwheels (though, those were probably just bought for me & I didn't really ask for any -- I know when I was REALLY young, dad got me a Hotwheel track bigger than I was), a, now damaged, SDF-1 -- I didn't know what it was for YEARS, & Voltron, which has always held a high place in my collection, desptire having few toys. Now I can combine Voltron & TFs... & may throw in some Robotech later. I probably have some other toys (I know He-Man stuff is in the remaining Toyboxes), but these are the ones I was really into.

Like I said, I've always been into building w/ blocks. A few times, when I was in Kindergarden, w/ the large cardboard bricks, I built the large city near here, including it's landmark that most would think impossible to build out of free standing rectangular blocks, close enough to get the teacher impressed enough to snap a pic.   Once I hit 7 (old enough for Legos), my parents started buying me Lego sets... I modified the first one I got (nearly all black w/ some yellow) into a cool looking Batwing after a while, by removing the wings, cockpit, & one of the engines & combining them; it looked like a Bat & everything, & at least one variation of it (I'd occasionally reintegrate the original ship) had the flip out machine guns.

I never did get the set I kept asking for, though: the Multicore Magnetizer (should be long out of print now): A huge M-tron mining vehicle w/ a magnetic crane, 6 HUGE (bigger than minifigs) wheels, a bunch of figures & a bunch of equipment that hid/ stored in the vehicle... I eventually modified a small set the dog that we used to have chewed up a piece on into a mini-version of sorts.

As to Star Wars Lego sets, I have a few from the different "waves". (X-wing; Y-Wing -- think it came w/ a Reble base; B-Wing -- also came w/ a small base, they're both linkend now; a V-wing, I think; one of Vader's Tie Fighters; a Jedi Starfighter; an Imperial Shuttle; & a few others). You can tell the engineering is getting more complex w/ them. The Twilight (882 pieces) & Turbo Clone Tank (801 pieces) are some of the most complicated I have, mixing in Technic to get panels to lie flat, rather than build the walls like usual... both are quite hollow; more complicated than the 935 or so piece Millenium Falcon I have. The Tank has bits that let the front, & maybe rear, wheels turn (they might be linked, it's been a while since I've messed w/ it). The Twilight, has a release button to drop the bottom wing (it seems to be a large, Cargo inspired "predecessor" of a B-wing... & the front is hinged to lower (manually), & you can see the pilots eyes in a gap representing the window!

I hate being broke. I kinda want an Imperial Star Destroyer, but don't have anywhere to put a Lego set that HUGE! There's also an AT-TE that attaches to a Republic Drop Ship that'd be nice to have, but again, huge... I have a feeling the AT-TEs, & ultimately AT-ATs, are supposed to "originate" from the Turbo Clone Tank... There's a lot of AT-AT in it's design, it just has wheels, instead of legs.

Yes, it does.

Fratals are everywhere, it just takes Math Geniuses to initially find them. Someone proved that Forest tree placements are fractal & can now estimate how much CO2 a forest can absorb, as long as they know how big the forest is, just from a small sampling of trees.

Because they're simple Algebraic equations, just repeatedly plugging the last answer into the next itteration, it makes for using less memory for making cool effects in computers too. ILM found it makes simulating fire & lava nicely, & w/ fewer processors.

Well, the top isn't composed of that many pieces; it's just too big for Blackarachnia... Might be about the right Size for Megatron, though... Not that he'd ever allow ANYONE to mess w/ his programming he didn't program himself.

Glad you think so. I was just imitating his behavior from the series though...

I think the Dinobot/ Rattrap arguments that didn't include others probably were done all at once. It'd be easier for Scott to keep the argument "real" sounding. The question is, can he switch between the 2 voices that fast?

I know US shows tend to go a single character at a time for voicing, but Japan does it in groups as the standard. Some US companies try groups for certain things, like conversations that have a hard to replicate feel to them.

Who knows how it worked on Beast Wars... Maybe Shout! will have some Commentaries?

It's happened A LOT.

I saw the Matrix Box set at a Best Buy not far form here a while back, but I already had the individual seasons, so I didn't need it.

& I doubt they'll split Season 1. G1 Season 2 was over 50 eps. & was split in the original DVD release. BW Season 1 is only 26 eps. Sometimes, at least w/ anime, rereleases will use the same disc content as the original release, just boxing them together (I know Full Metal Alchemist did, I have 2 discs for vol. 10, due to getting a boxed set to finish the series, overlapping ONLY disc 10). To keep costs down, unless Shout is adding extras, they'll probably just release them the same as the originals.

The orange & simple transformation would've kept me away, even if they did replicate his impossible transformation perfectly...

The show barely using him makes his characterization harder to do. Tigatron wasn't around all that long either... Still debating how much of his unexplored Powers I want to play w/.

If I can find the money, that Sentinel will be mine. His Voyager looks like a joke compared to Leader, as it should, considering the size & price difference. The only other movie toy I'm considering is one of the Megatrons, to see how his trailer works mostly. That does make for an interesting transformation...

 

 

well I'm kinda lost...

 

I've added a link at the top of the post w/ the rules for using Vector Prime that skips to the top of the Usage Rules after the update. It is clearly marked, & noted in the first post.

Lost? I've done my best to keep things straight forward. The only thing I even tried to hide was Tarantulas being involved before I revealed him. What are you lost about? I'll try to get you unlost, though I still don't see how you could be lost... I've also done my best to indicate time when I go back to the Preds, which is almost like an "at the same time" thing, w/ TransWarp tech & all... (almost since time isn't quite in sync between them)

Granted, if you've missed key points of Beast Wars & some of Beast Machines, a bit may not make as much sense as it otherwise would... Though I do try to explain what I didn't think is self-explanatory...

 

Ignore what I said, I'm always slow on catching up the plot. but nice action going on here.

 

 

Not the best idea, Blackarachnia, however desperate you are to get offworld...

KP: Yeah, join the club.   I tend to estimate 20 and end up with 40...

(but, hey, "#80 IN A FOUR ISSUE LIMITED SERIES", right?  )

 

Oh, trust me, she knows EXACTLY what she's doing here.   Exactly!   I have plans for that Shell Program.  

Well, then it's good I never said how long a chapter would be then. I had expected Chapter 2 to be like Chapters ZERO & 1, & be about 6 Updates, though... Past that already, & I still have the Wreckers to introduce... Had I not already said Chapter 3 would start on Arus, I'd call this the end of the chapter & make the next Chapter about the Wreckers, but I already said Arus is Chapter 3, & I have at least 4 Updates before I can be sure anyone will land there.

At least, as Ecto said, my characters have been flushed out already. & everything is working together well, if not how I planned... The curse of winging stuff, I guess...

  *facepalm* Either that story got WAY away from them, or they planned it to sell more books...

 

New Sig, as a Preview to Chapter 3, since it's still a bit away (at least 4 Updates):



Let me know what you think.

Obviously, those blacked out were 'shopped,   as were Rhinox's Chainguns of Doom & Rattrap's backpack (not going to be in the comic, too much work  ), but those aside, the only other 'shopping was removing the stuff attached to Starscream & Rhinox's head's (also won't be done for the comic, but a Sig does deserve the extra effort... Especially since I had to cut everyone out anyway). Voltron & Bruticus can be locked in combat like that naturally... But it's a pain to keep them there; I actually had to move them to the table the review was on to keep them stable.

Sorry "Chapter 3 Preview" (under Megatron) is distorted, but that's the price of compressing the file size to comply to TFW requirements. I do have a High Quality version, but I didn't upload it to my storage site. If anyone would like me to post the HQ version here (over 200k, I think), just ask.

I've gotten 2 of the anime I got 2 Saturdays ago watched. The remaining one is a full series, so I'll just be starting it before resuming working on the comic; I promise to start working on the next update soon. Enjoy the preview until then.  

I considered putting the Wrecker they're searching for in the Sig/ preview, but decided against it for 2 reasons: not really any room & he has a unique silhouette.

& had I managed to get the other priority figure I want, the new Sig would've been QUITE different.