
Support an open source animation feature film made with Blender - hendi_
http://gooseberry.blender.org/
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AnotherDesigner
These open movies are great technical demos for Blender but I haven't been
impressed with the writing. The stories have been flat, emotionless, poorly
paced and lacking in any kind of mass appeal. I'd love to see Blender put out
a movie with the depth and complexity of a Pixar film using open-source
software. They need a message and a story, something brave and ambitious. So
far, it seems like the stories have been written to demo features they're
working on. It's really a waste of the amazing talent they have working on
these films and the abilities of this software to be used for storytelling.

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frozenport
I don't think the OSS model works for creative works, if everybody can agree
on the vision, one would expect it to be bland.

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doesnt_know
I don't think that has anything to do with the "OSS model". The
management/leadership dynamic of FOSS projects can differ from one another
just as much as closed projects do.

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huskyr
I think this is really awesome and just donated.

Some tips that might help to get even more supporters:

* There should really be some kind of 'Tweet this' or 'Facebook this' link at the end of the payment process.

* It's not very visible that you don't need to enter your home address at the registration page.

* The 'Bronze', 'Silver' and 'Gold' sponsor pledges are only visible at the donation page, not on the main site.

* The homepage could explain better why you're writing 'film history' by donating. The headline is 'Support an open source animation feature film'. That sounds a bit tame. Why not use a headline like 'Be part of the world's first feature-length open source animated movie?'

* Tell us more about the movie. How many minutes will it run? Who are the main characters? Who will voice the characters?

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httpteapot
* Bitcoin donations

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s_tec
Bitcoin pledges would be great, but that option isn't available. They only
have PayPal and wire transfer, with credit cards coming "in a few days".

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gregschlom
This looks gorgeous!

I've started learning Blender recently. I had some previous experience with
3ds max and was afraid of the learning curve, but I must say I really like
Blender so far. After I picked up the shortcuts and configured it to work
properly with my MacBook Pro's trackpad, it's a really pleasant experience.

So if like me you're considering whether to give Blender a try... go for it,
don't be afraid of what people say about the learning curve. It's worth it!

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lalos
If rendering is taking a while be sure to check if people still release
optimized Blender builds for OS X. I used Blender 5 years ago and I remember
the optimized builds where worth it.

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gregschlom
Thanks for the tip! I'm using Blender to create artwork for a 3d game, so
rendering isn't too much of an issue for me, but will definitely check this
out. A quick Google search did turn out a bunch of alternative builds for OS
X.

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knowuh
I love blender, but I don't think Ton's rationale for not using kickstarter is
compelling. Although blender.org gets some page-views, it's the same audience
of people who already know about blender. Kickstarter would have introduced a
new demographic, and provided more traffic to the blender.org page. Blender is
an awesome project, with serious momentum, but I am worry sometimes about
Ton's hubris.

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jordigh
Heads up, bitcoiners: next week you can also pay with bitcoins:

[https://twitter.com/tonroosendaal/status/443231580778004480](https://twitter.com/tonroosendaal/status/443231580778004480)

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guyht
I came here to ask this exact question. Bitcoins will be on their way next
week.

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bayesianhorse
I'm looking forward to improvements in video editing. Blender is already a
very good solution for video post-production but it could be better.

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nathos
Lightworks seems promising, and they announced they would be going open-source
over 3 years ago. Sadly, it still hasn't happened.

Last I heard, they said it would happen after a Mac version is released, but
it's hard to find more info.

[http://www.lwks.com](http://www.lwks.com)

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zanny
Aw man, no bitcoin donor link. I would have thrown some money at this if I
didn't have to go through wonky fiat transaction sites I don't use.

500k Euros is absurdly low for an animated film. I'm worried that by not using
a popular crowdfunding service they won't have the visibility or at least
retention to reach their goal.

I do think this is the future of film - no, information - creation in general.
It is just missing investors insurance in case the project fails to get mass
market appeal. But it lets us just toss that outdated corrupting copyright
regime we have right now.

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bhouston
Blender is an established and well known and loved product with really decent
PR mechanisms so they don't need the visibility one gets on Kickstarter
generally, although Kickstarter's fees are relatively low so it probably won't
have hurt much.

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zanny
It isn't really about availability, I'd attribute it more to laziness - once
you donate to one project on Kickstarter it is painfully easy to repeat on
another half dozen. Having to go through payment forms here might turn a huge
portion of potential donors off.

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philjohn
Any idea about voice talent casting? Those of us with acting skills, but not
3d modelling skills, would like to get involved too.

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cordite
After all the hype, I was pretty disappointed in Sintel. It felt more like a
tech demo.

I hope this changes.

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shankysingh
Hey @cordite Do check out their latest work, like Caminandes, It might just
change your opinion :) Caminandes Episode One :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOhiWY7XmoY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOhiWY7XmoY)
Episode Two:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4C82eyhwgU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4C82eyhwgU)

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matt_heimer
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty but with a sheep! Looks cool though.

