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news ::
status ::
epilogue ::
3D models ::
animation ::
aeon ::
forum :.
Update march 2008 : new 4th moon project on its way.
'4th Moon of Xyth' is most likely one of my largest projects, if not, the largest. The core of it all is a number of storylines in a science-fiction setting. I've gone as far as setting up a new set of physical laws for the reality this all takes place in,
as well as a rich and detailed background (see the 'epilogue' section which
deals with all kinds of background information).
Yet, so far i haven't succeeded in creating something that holds the complete story, but several attempts have been made to that end and now there exist several smaller projects that each show a part of the universe of Xyth :
Online comic v1 :
Not a real comic actually, it was a mix between written text and 3D imagery. Some of those images originated from the early days of the Xyth project and as such were outdated and didn't have the quality my more recent models have. Going back to all the old images and updating them would take too much time and i was already working on another project, for which this comic started to serve only as a storyline or scenario.
At one point there even was a complete trailer, using these older graphics which
evolved into a bigger animated project.
The 3D animated series :
Pretty ambitious it turned out to be. I had a lot of ideas for episodes, but i started small with a trailer. Soon it became clear that a trailer of proper quality, using my best 3D models would take 3-5 years to complete if i could spend 8-12 hours a day modeling. Who knows how long one episode would take if i were to continue doing everything by myself (modeling, texturing, animation, rendering, editing, sound edit, sound design, music, etc).
In the end i settled for a short teaser, which contained a mix of old and new material. I did get started on the actual trailer but so far it's far from finished.
The teaser can be downloaded from the 'animation' section, which also contains
some previews of the trailer.
Books :
Despite not being a writer, i wanted to give this a go instead of the animation
as it was clear that the animation would never be finished in one lifetime. I didn't use the same storyline as the one intended for the animated series, the book continues where the animation ends, more or less.
12 chapters written, worth 170 pages, which is about 30% of the entire first
book, another equal amount worth of chapters already have their drafts written
down and the final part of the book has its rough outline finished. So lots of
ideas and a nice progress thus far. The only problem is that i'm not much of a
writer. The text so far needs serious editing and i need to improve my grammar and spelling it seems.
For now, this work is more or less on hold. I'm not planning on throwing all this stuff away, it just needs a lot of work to make it actually readable.
Visit the 'Aeon' section to read what i've written so far.
Online comic v2 :
And thus we come full circle. I have some interesting ideas right now for a 'real' webcomic. It will use the 3D models intended for the animation, including those i still have to make. There will still be a fair amount of text in the panels as well, so the storyline itself (and in case i make a comic version of the book) will
be preserved properly.
When? I don't know yet. My time, as usual is way too limited for all the stuff i
want to do. A few more 3D models need to be made, the epilogue section needs
updating and the original storyline has to be checked to see what changes there are needed to make it comic-compatible. Then i can start sketching and only after that i can start making the real thing.
The 'status' page shows the progress of the project.
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Update february 2007
The models for the first shot of the trailer are finished (updated epilogue
entries coming soon). A wallpaper of these ships can be found on the 3d models
page.
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Update november 2006
The first teaser is now ready and available for download.
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Update october 2006
Almost one year since the last update, apart from the occasional updates to
the Epilogue - World of Xyth files there's not been much change to the
website. However, alot has been happening in the background.
First of all the scenario for a trailer is finished, but seeing the amount
of models this short animation will use, there's still alot of work to be done
before i can start animating. I wanted to release something before the end of
the year, tho, so i focussed on 2 models : Firewing and the Ca'anian
Dimensional gate, which are not completely finished, but in a state that
allows them to be used in another short animation. Several images of these 2
models can be found in the Epilogue entries.
This new animation is actually only a short intro, but it'll allow me to test
out several effects and of course see my 3D models in action. Several elements
from the upcoming trailer are actually used in this intro, but it's very likely
that these end up being changed alot before the actual trailer is released. I'm
quite sure there will be different versions of the intro, as it's my first real
animation since i started using more detailed models and better effects and some
elements might have to be changed afterwards.
At the moment i'm doing test renders and finalizing the animation. While the
final animation is rendering i'll work on the soundtrack for the intro. The
first version of the intro should definately be online by the end of november.
Also expect a small site redesign by then.
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Update october 2005
Welcome to The 4th Moon Of Xyth. Those that have visited these pages before may
notice the webcomic is no longer here. I've decided to take it offline for a
number of reasons...
Although i've been working on this storyline for several years already it's by
no means finished, not even the earlier parts as i keep on changing stuff. Quite
often i tend to change stuff that happens earlier in the story so i can build
upon it afterwards and provide interesting flashbacks for the reader/viewer. I
started making -what was supposed to be- the final version and gave it a bit of
a comic feel, which i planned to update often. And although the first bit of the
storyline is now more or less finalised, i did change some background details
and some of the models. All the images which were placed online were basically
outdated and keeping them updated to the actual changes would take to much time,
time that is better off being invested in finishing the 3D-models and the
storyline, as well as the important background stories and details.
The online version was also somekind of visual aid for myself to test out the
models and effects i was planning to use for the final animation, forcing myself
to update the online version periodically means that i had to continue working
on these models and optimize effects and such, but the was more work to be done
to the background.
The fact that the webcomic is gone doesn't mean there's no work being done for
The 4th Moon Of Xyth, i have been working on the background in such detail that
it will give me a solid base on which i can finish the actual storyline. At this
very moment an early -and short- version of what the animated version will look
like, actually exists.
What you will find on this site from now on, is the background information,
which has been here under the 'epilogue - world of xyth' title, and most of
these entries will also contain visuals.
Parts of the storyline -in short- will appear here as well, as soon as i think a
certain chapter is finished and worthy of being published.
Finally, several WIPs (work in progress) of models and effects, both stills and
animated extracts will be placed online as well, and, eventually, the complete,
finalised animated 3D sci-fi/horror series that is The 4th Moon Of Xyth.
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All pictures & site content (c) copyright 2001 - 2008 by Stijn Van Cauter