Hard Luck Hank animation

Hi, I'm a novelist.

https://hardluckhank.com/

Every 2-4 years for the past...20ish years, I've looked into being able to make my writing available in visual form. For reference, the first thing I experimented with was VRML which was probably in the late 90s. Actually, before that I used line draw macros in wordperfect to create stop action animation... I tried working with Java3D; various animation programs like Cartoon Maker; I took some Flash classes and was horrified how terrible it was. And I investigated cinema-level tools and lower level programming languages. I even experimented with early versions of Unity as well as Unreal and Cry and whatever else. None of it was able to do what I was looking for, so I'd give up.

I worked as a computer programmer whilst writing. And I had a lot of friends in the visual effects industry because I live in Los Angeles. We used to play soccer at Electronic Arts vs. guys from Blizzard. So lots of games and post production movie people.

Maybe 1 year ago I decided to try Unity again. This was my first real deep dive into it beyond, say, making a cube in 3D space. I realized the tools were finally easy enough that I could use them.

This is a long preamble to saying I made a short animation and put it up on Amazon Prime Direct.

https://amazon.com/End-of-the-Universe/dp/B08LNJCMWP/

It's not great. But it was kind of a proof-of-concept. I wanted to do with animation what I do with books. That is, have one person make it. I had all sorts of resources offering to help me out. From voice actors and even professional animators. But the entire concept was to "self-publish" animation as a non-animator. And I managed to do it. It wouldn't have been possible without the Unity Store and the forums and random people on youtube giving tutorials and such.

I'm not an artist, in any way whatsoever, and I have an animated film on Amazon.

I do not expect to make any money. And it was incredibly difficult and time-consuming. I could have written a novel and actually gotten paid. However, the tools are there and they're only going to get better and easier. I'm a member of numerous professional writer's organizations and I couldn't get anyone interested in this at all. But to me, as a writer, this is pretty amazing.

I'll probably add a few more episodes as I get time. But I also need to eat, so there's that. But I want to thank all the people and Unity for bringing the tools and assistance to the plebians. This isn't a low budget feature. It isn't guerrilla filmaking. Ed Wood., Jr. and Robert Rodriguez had enormous resources compared to me. This is self-publishing and that was my goal. I commissioned three custom models and everything else was off-the-shelf using a personal computer in my apartment. If nothing else, it should be proof that people with actual artistic skills can do the same thing, only better. And I'm a consumer as well as a producer, so I want to see more creator content without backing from a studio or even a baby production company.

 

Hi
nice to know from you. you have the guts to adapt to any situation. All the best keep it up.