Chronocidal

Well, despite my appreciation of the series (movies don't even compare to SAC imo), I can see how this could go two ways.. either very good, or very, very bad... I think it'll depend on a few things.. 1. Soundtrack. JW might not be a great choice on his own, but if he stuck to the feel of the series, I could deal (just please not the movie soundtracks.. ). Now, if they actually do the right thing, and have a cross-culture team pulling from all sources at once (JW, Kanno, Origa, Gabriela Robin, etc) I can see the soundtrack being all kinds of win. Top it off with a good dose of Russian/Latin, and you could have a serious audio triumph. I don't quite know why, but the Italian/Russian/Japanese/English mixing of SAC music always gives me chills. 2. Use of CGI. I know this is meant to be a tech story, but if they overuse the blue-screening, it'll ruin it. The story is supposed to be set in a not-so-far-off future, so I hope they use existing architecture to some extent. 3. Actors. To tell the truth here, I'm not sure if it would matter if the Major was Japanese or not...it would obviously work well if she was, but given the styling of the show, do we know for certain whether the synthetic body she has is patterned after any particular ethnic group? The styling in the first GITS movie actually kind of reminded me of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture for the faces. Edit: Ok, nevermind about the CGI and actors then. Didn't know if 3D meant something like Shrek or not If they're going with CGI, they may just stick with the series voice actors then. hmmm.

Ok, awesome. I guess my question then is, are those hands actually going to work with input from some sort of hand control? If so, I can't wait to see more of how you do that.

Sorry to repost bits I mentioned earlier, but it got buried fast. The shot from Ranka's memory makes me think "escape pod." My guess at this point would be that Ozma rescued Ranka during that event, and got the military boot for it, or something...doesn't make much sense he'd get kicked out for saving someone, unless he completely neglected his orders. Also.. I think we're underestimating how big that vajra is. The thing it's attacking looks nothing like an aircraft of any sort... what it does look like is either a satellite (because of the big sensor dish on one end), or an entire space station. And I'm not talking MIR-sized, I'm thinking more like a star trek style starbase. The central core of the thing looks like it has rows of windows lit up, and could be anywhere from 15-20 decks tall.. and that's ignoring all the other parts of the structure. So, the impression I get is that that particular vajra, while it looks like the one that Alto fought, might be a vastly larger version. So, anyway, barring that Ranka is really some random alien or something, my guess is that Ozma got her onto some sort of escape craft. It could be related to his military history, but that seems unlikely to me. Whether Ranka's parents were killed on the station before she left is up for grabs still.. if Ozma didn't do it, they may have saved her, then stayed behind for some reason or another (can't tell if the explosion damaged the vajra there). The craft they were on was probably a research station of some sort.

For making the hands, you may want to start from a different perspective. I don't think you've really done anything that can't be fixed, but I'd suggest keeping the finger segments disconnected, or at least not with foam. It might also get tricky to size the way you're doing it; the girls may not be able to grip anything if their hands aren't big enough, and those fingers look pretty thick. I think what might work better as a base is just starting with a pair of ordinary gloves. Find a good size that'll fit the models' hands, then build the blocky shapes directly onto the gloves. That'll keep the fingers flexible between the segments, and help to make sure size isn't a problem. Btw, I'm guessing these are for the YF-19.. I don't know for sure how you plan to do the YF-21's hands, or if you're going with the joystick controlled arms idea. The YF-21's hands are more rounded than blocky if I remember, you may want to just use some bulky-ish gloves for those.

K, is this speculation, or actual info? Cause that would explain Ranka's voice having an effect.. but it also opens lots of other cans full of worms. The shot from Ranka's memory makes me think "escape pod." My guess at this point would be that Ozma rescued Ranka during that event, and got the military boot for it, or something...doesn't make much sense he'd get kicked out for saving someone, unless he completely neglected his orders. Also.. I think we're underestimating how big that vajra is. The thing it's attacking looks nothing like an aircraft of any sort... what it does look like is either a satellite (because of the big sensor dish on one end), or an entire space station. And I'm not talking MIR-sized, I'm thinking more like a star trek style starbase. The central core of the thing looks like it has rows of windows lit up, and could be anywhere from 15-20 decks tall.. and that's ignoring all the other parts of the structure. So, the impression I get is that that particular vajra, while it looks like the one that Alto fought, might be a vastly larger version. K, can of worms time though.. if Ranka is pure Protoculture, how did Ozma wind up saving her? Assuming she was on that space station, how did she get there? And best one yet... if Sterne is Protoculture, I'd like someone to explain how his fighter and the VF-25 look so similar. I'm hoping against hope it's not another "lost and never heard from again" fleet that an enemy picked up Valks from. Edit: before I forget, I remember someone mentioning that Alto's gear doesn't stay attached to him all the time... I think that's on purpose. When he gets in the VF-25 at first, his gear immediately starts interfacing with the plane itself, locking him into the controls, and keeping him in the seat (combo control/restraint system). When he jumps out, the system must have a crazy-fast release mechanism to disengage him from the plane. Remember, since the pilots wear their gear, they don't need ejection seats, which is why Alto still had a place to sit after the other guy ejected. I'll have to watch all that again, and I don't expect it to be completely worked out yet.. it seems like a really complex system.

Thank you for that, I almost died rofling.

Wow.. no subs needed, that was awesome, the falling up part especially.. I expected him to catch her yes, but wow, still much more intense than I expected. I had to pry my hands off my desk after seeing that part. K, about the singing.. in Zero, Sara was actually able to make things happen by singing (who could forget the naked with floating rocks scene?), and I think it even triggered that flying rock thing they got on. The aphos definitely responded to her voice at various points. So, here's a funny thought.. is that voice like a source of power? We can't really say that the aphos blood is the controlling factor here, since for all we know, Ranka has no relation to it (unless by some awkward coincidence zentraedi blood turns out to be the same thing, or she's a distant relative of Sheryl's ). So that basically leaves spiritia as the source, or some form of it. I hope they take a more scientific approach this time if they go that route, but I'm interested to see what they come up with. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the aphos blood is reacting to the sound and generating a type of homing signal. Now, the blue blood has me confused. Even the aphos had normal looking human blood, hence the transfusion for Mao, which gave her some wacky powers to boot. Seems to me that the protoculture had a good thing going with that blood formula. Why would they change it? Either the vajra were designed differently for a reason (maybe operating in deep space?) or they may pre-date any known pc technology... or they may be something made by someone or something else. Oh, one last thing... Mikhail's glasses.. they weren't entirely gone in his flight gear.. I don't know if it was some animation glitch, but in several of the frames he only had a lens over his right eye.

Well, we could always argue that he didn't get the threadcount right on the material... Looking absolutely awesome, I'll have to get you a copy of my YF-19 mesh to pose him in. (provided you want to build a cockpit for it.. it's not done yet)

ROFL I'd recommend you keep the paramedics on speed dial for this one. Completely awesome though.. if I had the skills/software, I'd probably be making a similar Nyan rave as I type this.

Well.. here's an idea.. I'd guess you probably haven't saved the scraps from the existing parts, but as you build the rest, keep a copy of the patterns used to cut out the parts (if you haven't already). That way someone here might be able to duplicate the designs. Someone might even be able to make a 3d model pattern to distribute. If all the parts are basically made out of flat pieces of foam, it shouldn't be hard to make a simple computer model of it.. Of course, that also means we could attach the pieces to computerized girls, and the CG valk girl revolution would begin.

Worse perils actually.. Kanno tends to be a fan of writing songs in languages that don't actually exist. I think half of the music in Mac+ was that way, especially the stuff at the end concert.

About the low-poly-ness of the graphics, remember this is a weekly series. Using models of that detail level probably reduces production time drastically, since it seriously simplifies shading/lighting calculations. Cel-shaded rendering isn't anything simple either, so the less detail you give it to work with, the faster your renders are going to complete. What I find interesting is that the graphics actually look simple enough to possibly run in real-time, as in for a video game. I wouldn't put it past Bandai to be simultaneously developing a game or two to coincide with the series, using the exact same graphics models to save on production. So, they may eventually make a game that looks almost identical to the series, which wouldn't be a bad thing at all to me. Macross F for the PS3 anyone?

QFT I think they're seriously mixing the classic love triangle formula though... they've got enough characters for a love dodecahedron. My guess is there's going to be a lot of pairing off somewhere in the series. The white haired character at the end I'd guess is either Zentran or Meltran from the ear shape.. same as another main character interestingly... The design of the purple plane is too similar to the VF-25 to be a complete enemy, but I would guess maybe a serious rival, or possibly someone from another group like SMS with their own fighter designs (the company making the VF-25 could make multiple models based on the same basic frame). Then again... really crazy idea. Besides the white hair, that character looks an awful lot like Alto (same girlish figure too). Would be interesting if they're related, maybe brothers, or possibly old kabuki acquaintances.. the ears go against it, but maybe they're half brothers.

Actually, what's funny about the VF-25 transformation (at least the one posted before in gif format) is that the timing for some of the motion is off by a bit.. if you watch it frame-by-frame, some of the parts actually merge in the hip area. I'd guess the keyframes just aren't in synch for all the parts. It moves fast enough that it's barely noticeable though.. I only found it trying to understand how the legs are mounted.

I always wondered how she might look with round pupils... wow. *drool*

You know, I'm barely resisting the urge to paste a witty caption into that pic of the VF-25's head.... is that head inaccurate, or does it really have that mouth shape? It looks like it's smiling, or maybe trying to swallow something whole.

Those boot shots are definitely in the movie version as well, they're shown during his skywriting sequence when he first gets in the YF-19.

Oy, all the frontier references are making me think of Oregon Trail... although, naming it the VF-25 Cholera, or even the Dysentery, might actually scare some people.

Ok, if it weren't for the Trek symbols on the lightposts, I'd chalk this up as shots from an Imperial academy for a new Star Wars film. The darker uniforms with the caps especially. Aside from that even though, those don't look much like uniforms.. just a uniform color. You can see a shiny emblem on the darker ones, but the styling is just.. not there, I guess. Without the jacket, it looks like they're just wearing red versions of the ST:TMP uniforms.. one piece jumpsuits with a jacket. Actually, now that I think about it, it's an awfully uniform color.. I wonder if the costume designs haven't actually been finished, and they're going to digitally alter them later on? I doubt it, since that just seems ridiculous, but since they're already using blue for the big background...hmm. Btw, someone needs to inform JJ about the origins of the Starfleet logo. It wasn't the Enterprise delta until after TOS. Before then, all the ships had their own logo. I don't even know what the Starfleet logo looked like before then.

I though there was a Crusader VF already? I'm not sure though, might have been Star Crusader, similar to the Star Mirage, another non-canon VF design.

No, for that they need to talk with ERTL.. I've got so many TIE Fighter models piloted by Panzer drivers, it makes me want to cry. The TV jumpsuit wouldn't be too hard to come up with just by painting a generic figure I'd think... maybe if you used something like a WWII pilot, then pasted on a modified DYRL head?

There's still a few sword or knife names you could use.. X-3 Stiletto F-86 Sabre F-102 (Delta) Dagger I've always wanted someone to actually use Rapier.. there was an F-108 Rapier, but it was a prototype escort fighter for the original XB-70 Valkyrie, and got canned shortly after the mockup stage. Seeing the relationship to the original, I'm surprised we haven't seen it used already (except in the Wing Commander games). Could always go for oversized stuff, and call it the Claymore, but meh.. would fit a bomber better I think.

Well, just thinking out of historical aircraft... I think the only ones not named for existing aircraft are the Excalibur (unless I've missed some aircraft named that somewhere) and the Nightmare (not counting any non-canon planes). Dunno if it's been said before (haven't had time to read all this yet), but we've had Lightning, Thunderbolt, and Sturmvogel all from WWII, aside from the original XB-70 Valkyrie. If I were going to pick a name from WWII era, I'd say go with Corsair. The origin of the word lends itself nicely to SMS being an independent military contractor I think, since it comes from an old French word for pirate, or more specifically, a privateer from the Barbary Coast. Seraph works well too, but while it fits the plane fine, I don't personally think it goes as well with the mercenary aspects implied so far. If the design is used by the entire fleet, that's not really an issue though.

Ooh, I definitely remember how much those went for back in the day.. I'll never forget the brick I almost shat when I first saw how much ANY VF-1 cost back then. I only really discovered Macross around 1998 (when I finally discovered where the Joke Machine I got at age 5 came from), and I remember seeing Valk prices easily going into the hundreds just for the bootlegs, let alone the thousands for the originals. Those were dark times indeed.

Okay, I know it's a common translation issue.. But the first time I read that I seriously went, "WTF... VF-25 Broccoli??"