MANKILLERS

BACK AT IT

2009-12-12T11:40:00.001-08:00

After a well-needed break, I've begun rendering and writing again. and PS: Thank you to everybody that took time to post about the tough family time that recently took place. Know that I truly do appreciate it. Now....

What's in the pipeline?

-- a piece of commissioned fiction

-- the long-gestating Part III of The Siege

-- the long-overdue fiction prizes (nearly done with those) and then...

Remember the "things are gonna change around here" announcement from a while back? Well, a major blog/site reboot with a few new big changes is coming in the next few weeks/months. More info on that as it comes -- suffice to say, they're changes based on some friendly advice, some good, appreciated comments from blog friends, some really crappy comments from usually 'anonymous' blog visitors, and the sheer number of hours....make that days....actually weeks...it took to make the EVE creation movie (which I'm still trying to sort out the conversion of). Anyway, to quote the man, the times they are a'changin. Like I said, more on this later.

For now, check this out....a new Mankiller joins the ranks.

Fresh 18-yr-old graduate Lori Cardigan had just registered for her first community college classes when one night she went to her night job. She worked in the records department of Hallitron, a scientific think tank where her father worked as a geneticist. Little did anyone know that an ant infestation in the lab, previously undetected, had disrupted the flow pattern of an experimental open-air particle accelerator. The offending insects were vaporized...nearly. Only the tiniest chunks of their DNA survived, hyper-accelerated through the lab walls....staright into the recrods department. Lori received a high enough enough dose of gamma- and X-rays to knock her off her feet -- easily enough to kill a human instantly -- but she survived...and thrived. The insect DNA fused with her own, and within hours Lori saw enormous changes in her body.

Now, in times of great stress or with high concentration, Lori can shift, activating the insect DNA. Her small size belies her enormous power....Her shapely, small 5'1" frame erupts with dense, iron-hard musculature, giving her the proportional strength of a warrior ant, MANY thousands of times stronger than a normal human, making her one of the strongest Mankillers in existence, capable of incredibale physical feats like wall-crawling and leaps of incredibale height and distance.....her skin hardens nearly instantly into a steely exoskeleton, capable of deflecting bullets, protecting her from harm. Her lungs shrivel, and she breathes directly through her skin, making talking more difficult, but possible. Her vision dims, becoming blurry; however, she sprouts long antennae which give her super-sensitive awareness that we normally would call sight, sound, taste, touch, and vibration -- these antennae can detect a man's heartbeat through a brick wall, heighten her senses beyond the human norm, and can even be used as whip- and spear-like weapons in a pinch.

Lori usually follows her moral sense when in her superhuman form, aligning herself firmly on the side of law and order, usually her powers for the cause of good; however, theheat of battle increases every sense and desire she feels, and more often than not she gives in to her ferocious, insectile urges, and the authorities find her opponents in pieces. Her secret identity is regarded with cautious, reluctant positivity by the public, who are fascinated by her abilities, but fearful of her enormous power and her savage brand of power. Are you ready to be visited by the

FIRE ANT?

sabbatical

2009-11-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the situation is over now; there's been a death in the family and saying I'm devastated would be an understatement. I'm going to take some time -- probably a lot of it, I couldn't being to estimate it -- but the blog WILL be back.

And thanks for the good wishes from the last post, they're appreciated.
-D

PS: Go, right now, this instant, into the other room, hug your family, friends, and pets and tell them you love them. You don't need a reason; the fact that you do is reason enough.

real life interrupts

2009-11-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay of, well, everything. There's a big family medical thing going on right now.

More soon.

Happy Halloween from Styxx

2009-10-31T10:54:00.001-07:00

The Makillers' very own Godess of the Underworld wishes you a happy Halloween...until she gets her hands on you.

nearly there...

2009-10-25T18:53:00.003-07:00

there is a small chance I may get the finished version of the EVE clip up tonight...crossing my fingers.

EVE clip....with a recommendation

2009-10-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

All right....here's the EVE clip that has been taking me so long to put together...kind of.

In an effort to finally get it done, I ran long again today -- I'd rather wait and put out the complete, finished version, but it's been long delayed and I said it would be up tonight, so here it is...

HOWEVER....

It isn't done. About 70% of the way through it, the music cues, dialogue, and sound FX get pretty spotty because I'm not done inserting them, there's a short sequence missing its final visual FX, and there's two entire sequences that aren't in it yet, not to mention finishing touches like the closing credits.

What would I do if I were you? I would wait and download the finished, polished version, which should be up this weekend. But if you just positively cannot wait for it, here's the 'rough cut' bootleg version of it.

NOTE: You have to use hjsplit to join the files: the clip, even in DIVX mode, is far too long for rapidshare to take in one pass.

Download hjsplit from any shareware site. Download EVE files .001 and .002, run hjsplit and click 'join'.....the DIVX file will then appear.

So if you just can't wait, here it is.
http://rapidshare.com/files/291901390/EVE_rough_cut.divx.001
http://rapidshare.com/files/291902257/EVE_rough_cut.divx.002

leaving some stuff out

2009-10-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Argh! In the effort to get the quasio-final EVE product out tonight, I've decided to leave a couple of complex FX gags I had planned out for now. They're cool, but only half done. So, consider it a bonus: Ther ewill be a 'Director's cut' in a few days that will be a little longer and have a 'teaser' ending....

anyway.....finishing up the clip now. It'll take a while to export, then convert to DIVX, then upload to the Web....but it'll be up tonight.

adding the last few dialogue and music cues....

2009-10-11T17:43:00.001-07:00

12 hours....11:59:59.....11:59:58......11:59:57....

2009-10-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

counting down....

2009-10-10T19:19:00.001-07:00

T-minus 23 hours to CyberEVE initiation......

EVE is almost operational

2009-10-10T03:19:00.001-07:00

99% of systems online, unit functional.....New Cyber EVE animation world premiere in....

39 hours. (9pm Sunday)

an INCREDIBLE new story

2009-10-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

I received a great email the other day....genre author extraordinaire Martin Kane has created an amzing story based on the MK version of the Baroness....and it is a great, great GREAT story. We are truly blessed to have such great writers visiting the MK universe and helping to contribute to its pages....Thank you Martin, you're the best!

Enjoy, everyone!
http://rapidshare.com/files/289101700/Baroness_-_Changes_by_Martin_Kane.rtf
or
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2c3ec978617762e067cd7f7bd65f7eef0d90027626e2bc3e3e34c0a955f98962

rendering, plus some FX work

2009-10-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

rendering the last EVE clips now, plus working on some tricky FX that are taking a lot of time (there's gunfire in this animation, and I'm working on some cool visual FX fo rit.)

More soon!

Scarlett's got a new look

2009-09-27T13:55:00.001-07:00

So while I'm waiting for EVE to render, I'm thinking about the prizes for the fiction contest (one which was about one of my favorite MKs, Scarlett), and I thought...hmm....how about I change up our favorite clandastine govt agency's red-headed super assassin? What if she were able to make herself even more powerful than before?

Maybe she'd look like this. What do you think?

neckbreak repost

2009-09-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

here's the three neckbreak montages, re-upped by request.

http://rapidshare.com/files/285776911/neckbreak_montage_1.mpg
http://rapidshare.com/files/285787382/neckbreak_montage_2.mpg
http://rapidshare.com/files/285792585/neckbreak_montage_3.mpg

and yet again

2009-09-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

more rendering....but EVE is close....down to the last few renders now...

and yet more rendering...

2009-09-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

rendering...again

2009-09-19T10:06:00.001-07:00

rendering...

2009-09-18T23:05:00.001-07:00

sigh*......

Andressa Vieira

2009-09-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

OH...MY....GOODNESS.

It's rare to come upon a sight so incredible it makes your jaw drop and your mind go blank. I give you one of those concepts: Andressa Vieira. (she's earth-shatteringly beautiful, yes, she has a site, and no, it isn't open yet -- but when it does, I'm joining).

Ummmm....Warner Bros. wants to make a Wonder Woman movie. Do they know about this woman?

pics!

2009-09-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

delayed again...so here's a bonus

2009-09-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

Still working on the EVE animation....so here's a 'behind the scenes' clip or two, so I can have at least something to post for everybody....

this was a quick, just for fun render from a while back -- it's not edited together, so no sound FX or the like...It's footage of Rebelette (courtesy Mike Shoemaker of badgrrlz blog fame)...she does a neat little flip. Nothing special, but it's neat to see the first few steps of an animation....

http://rapidshare.com/files/277499369/Rebelette_flipping_.divx
http://rapidshare.com/files/277499305/rebelette_flipping2.divx

more soon!
D

still rendering...

2009-09-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I have today off from work, so I've got the PC rendering once again. These mutiple figure clips take a loooong time!

Updated animation link list

2009-09-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

really loving LADY SHIVA

2009-09-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Way to go, DC. What a great character. She's well drawn (obviously), but she doesn't have superpowers, per se, she's just the BEST martial artist anyone has ever been, period...and EVERYBODY is afraid of her. Her dialogue, her demeanor....it's awesome. Even characters like Batman have an obvious "Oh, shit" moment when she shows up. AWESOME.