With the recent developments of Hasbro's G5 leak, I feel there's no better time to post this.
I've been playing around with the idea of a cartoon created with similar style to MLP, but with deep roots in politics.
The basic plot would be that humans are being waking up in a cute cartoon world, with their memories on earth intact.
Similar to LogHorizon or .Hack, the humans cannot escape the world and seem to have become part of it, bound by the rules of the world.
Unlike those however, this world is not designed to be an MMO. It is a very Romanticised world where nothing bad ever happens.
The creatures of the world have never experienced pain, because in order to harm, intent is needed.
Even in the case that someone falls, they would not be hurt because no intent to harm was given.
However, humans are not perfect. They shatter the very reality of this world. Bringing in new concepts/ideas. They end up shaping the world.
It is not, for the better. As we all know humans are far from perfect. So some humans try to make the world more like their previous one, some try to adapt to the world as it is.
The story would follow a group of "humans" who get stuck in the world and love the harmony/peace of it all. Not all humans are like this though, those unwilling to adapt hurt the world itself.
By trying to introduce politics/modernization to the world, they end up causing the citizens of the world pain and suffering.
Each episode of season 1 could start of cutesy, with a new main character being introduced each episode until around the halfway point of season 1. (Probably 12 episodes for the first season)
The latter half of Season 1 could introduce some humans who aren't so keen on this new world. They could each represent a different political view or economic system.
The citizens, being pure of heart, will not know the evils they are being introduced to and will blindly follow the villians. (Think Starlight Glimmer)
It will be up to the main characters to put everything back to normal, where no politics or economics are required for the world to function.
The first villian could represent Communism, as the ideal "Everyone is equal" is easy enough for the citizens to follow. As well as not shitting on Capitalism in the first real clash.
We'll want the normies to keep watching for more red pills.
Other episodes would deal with other political views and economic systems, pointing out the pros and cons of each.
Each clash would result in the world being mostly reset back to square one. Everything goes back to the romanticised view for the most part and the next episode can pickup from a fresh start.
Humans as a whole could have an impact on the world purely due to the way they think. "Aren't you cold?" "Aren't you hungry?" "Aren't you tired?"
This way of thinking would actually introduce new concepts to the world such as warmth, hunger, sleep, that the citizens never had to deal with before.
In their confusion, they will blindly follow anyone who is willing to "Make sense" something else they've never had to deal with.
The show would have a heavy blackpill theme to it, that we're not perfect and we make impacts with everything we do. But that doesn't mean we can't try to make it the best world we can.
The main cast would be willing to fight for this world, holding it together the best they can. While protecting the citizens who are having their entire world turned upside down.
1st/2nd Pic are some backgrounds I created in 3D to showcase that background objects/landscape can easily be created in 3D while retaining that 2D feel.
As you will probably notice with the trees in the foreground, it doesn't work on everything.
3rd pic is a puppet rig showcasing that you can easily handle movement of objects/puppets and object frame changes with a rig.
It wouldn't be a small task to take on, we'd need a lot of talent to come forth for this project.
I think it would be a good way for MLPOL to make a mark on the world, bring us all closer together as a community and allow some fishing without actually having to go out and fish.
We would need Animators, Voice Actors, Sound Engineers, Music Composers, 3D Artists, 2D Artists, Editors, Quality Assurance, Writers, etc.
This would not be a small project, we would require a good ammount of autism/talent. So I'm creating this thread to see how much interest this idea and if anyone has anything to contribute to the idea of an MLPOL cartoon.
The strawpoll is to get a better idea of interest in numbers, if you would help with this idea were enough people to join in, please post what you could help with in the thread.
http://www.strawpoll.me/14653366
http://www.strawpoll.me/14653366
http://www.strawpoll.me/14653366
tl;dr, I think it would be cool if MLPOL had its own cartoon, what are your thoughts?
/mlpol/ - My Little Politics
Archived thread
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To start off the talent bit, I'll just go ahead and say my skills.
I've been working with blender as a hobbyist for the past 9 years.
I'm more of a jack of all trades, I can work with animation, 3D Art (including some texture work), Editing, Rig creation and trouble shooting for blender.
I have a little experience with photoshop and Krita, though I cannot draw to save my life.
As for ideas for the animation itself, I think branching away from ponies Yeah I'm terrible is for the best. I think ponies could still be included in the cast, but we don't want a direct 1:1 copy of MLP here.
I think what Lauren Faust was doing, including mythical creatures and stuff, is a great idea. I also think each human should be stuck as a different animal, though duplicate non-main character animals would be allowed to exist.
I've been working with blender as a hobbyist for the past 9 years.
I'm more of a jack of all trades, I can work with animation, 3D Art (including some texture work), Editing, Rig creation and trouble shooting for blender.
I have a little experience with photoshop and Krita, though I cannot draw to save my life.
As for ideas for the animation itself, I think branching away from ponies Yeah I'm terrible is for the best. I think ponies could still be included in the cast, but we don't want a direct 1:1 copy of MLP here.
I think what Lauren Faust was doing, including mythical creatures and stuff, is a great idea. I also think each human should be stuck as a different animal, though duplicate non-main character animals would be allowed to exist.
God Speed to you Anon God speed
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Ambitious. Very ambitious. I like your idea. However ambition will you only take you so far. I'd simplify things to a good pilot. Maybe 11 minutes minimum. So, at least there's something off the ground to draw in more people. Noted; with keeping things simplier, I'd drop some of the ideology villian spiel. It'll get too formulaic and honestly intellectualism in cartoons piss me off if not done right. Instead, I would opt in for the dynamic of modernity vs tradition that's more subtle, yet easier to contextualise. In such, making the conflict of a force of change rather than a concrete evil. In a way, this will appeal to a broader audience and create a political message. Adding to it, the pacing doesn't have to be as slow. Character introduction can be drawn out from more than a sigle episode like in three, but it shouldn't take a series half a season to introduce the conflict. Keeping in mind, the process of gradually revealing the threat could be done throughout the first half in order to drive in the motivation for defending the order of the old ways whilst elevating the dramatic tension.
I'll tell you that I'm a rather decent digital artist known around here a bit. I'm interested, but schedules could be a constraint. I believe I could work in some time for this if it ever came to it. I'm glad that you're good at rigging because that will be the most helpful thing if we were to go with 2D animation.
I'll tell you that I'm a rather decent digital artist known around here a bit. I'm interested, but schedules could be a constraint. I believe I could work in some time for this if it ever came to it. I'm glad that you're good at rigging because that will be the most helpful thing if we were to go with 2D animation.
I can't draw unless you actually do want to make something in the style of My Lovely Horse, but I can write fairly well and compose music, I'm also pretty good at compositing graphics (read: I can use Photoshop) if that's helpful in any way. In any event I'm definitely interested in this project if you guys are serious.
If you need voice actors let me know. I can do a pretty good Jew impersonation.
>>96737
I'm inclined to agree with Canada that if we're all serious it would be best to focus on producing something short and simple to get started, maybe a five to ten minute short.
As far as the story progression goes, I've found it's better to just develop characters and their motivations initially and create a setting, then put everyone into the setting and just let the story work itself out. It's good to have a general initial idea of what you want the broader plot arc to be, but the details should be left vague so that the world can flesh itself out organically. If you sit down with an idea for a grand epic story and try to map the whole thing out from the beginning it usually ends up cringy and terrible.
Step one is probably to brainstorm a few characters and flesh out the setting. The initial short is probably not going to have a huge amount of content and ideally should be a short simple story, probably something light and a little humorous, that hints at the broader world without going into heavy detail about it.
I'm inclined to agree with Canada that if we're all serious it would be best to focus on producing something short and simple to get started, maybe a five to ten minute short.
As far as the story progression goes, I've found it's better to just develop characters and their motivations initially and create a setting, then put everyone into the setting and just let the story work itself out. It's good to have a general initial idea of what you want the broader plot arc to be, but the details should be left vague so that the world can flesh itself out organically. If you sit down with an idea for a grand epic story and try to map the whole thing out from the beginning it usually ends up cringy and terrible.
Step one is probably to brainstorm a few characters and flesh out the setting. The initial short is probably not going to have a huge amount of content and ideally should be a short simple story, probably something light and a little humorous, that hints at the broader world without going into heavy detail about it.
>>96710
Very interesting. The idea of the characters destroying the world around them is very sobering as they will come to realize the very existence of people dooms the world, if I understand the concept correctly.
However, unless the end goal is to remove all the characters from the world, the world can never be put back in a state with “no politics or economics”. Humans naturally need some form of order to keep themselves in check. Even anarchists agree to a form of order among themselves. And some form of trade will always exist as long as humans exist in worlds with limited resources. The goal sounds like it needs to be about the characters sealing any means to reach this world to preserve it from corruption.
It’s a good idea, but the story is going to need a lot of thought. I wish I could bring a skill to aid you in this project, but I have no talent in this field as of yet. Good luck.
Very interesting. The idea of the characters destroying the world around them is very sobering as they will come to realize the very existence of people dooms the world, if I understand the concept correctly.
However, unless the end goal is to remove all the characters from the world, the world can never be put back in a state with “no politics or economics”. Humans naturally need some form of order to keep themselves in check. Even anarchists agree to a form of order among themselves. And some form of trade will always exist as long as humans exist in worlds with limited resources. The goal sounds like it needs to be about the characters sealing any means to reach this world to preserve it from corruption.
It’s a good idea, but the story is going to need a lot of thought. I wish I could bring a skill to aid you in this project, but I have no talent in this field as of yet. Good luck.
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>>96737
>Start with a good pilot
Didn't want to autism too hard into something we wanted to change as a community
>Drop the ideology villain
>Shouldn't take a series half a season to introduce the conflict
I wanted hints at it in the first half, but this idea can always be come back to for later seasons if we get that far.
I agree that we should keep it simple.
Most cartoons actually do this anyway. Keep the plot simple for the first season, if the first season went well and you are renewed, actually throw in your plot in the second season.
Leave enough room to close off the series with the second season assuming you don't get a third.
>11 minutes minimum
Even with 12 episodes in the first season, 11 minutes per show is a lot of work. No way we'd be doing the 22 minute run.
>>96741
A short would be a good way to start.
I didn't want to build any characters or plot or anything like that aside from a very basic idea of what could be a foundation for it.
I'm not a writer. I'm an artist, so I'll leave the writing up to those who can write.
>>96737
>I'm glad you're good at rigging
I've tried to setup blender in a way that is friendly to the animators, though it will still take some getting used to.
I opted for blender because 1. It's what I know and more importantly, 2. It's FREE.
The render method is GPU rendering, so even people on older hardware can preview/render frames. (I'm on a GTX 970 myself)
I can personalize rigs for each asset pretty quickly, the eye rig was probably under 10 minutes for the actual rig.
I also created a standard node group to use on the lighting for the background (It's all faked, no actual lights used) so that we can have a uniform looking background.
Minimal textures are required, if any for this.
Blender itself can also be used for the editing phase as well, reducing the amount of programs that our team has to learn.
A few related webms.
>Start with a good pilot
Didn't want to autism too hard into something we wanted to change as a community
>Drop the ideology villain
>Shouldn't take a series half a season to introduce the conflict
I wanted hints at it in the first half, but this idea can always be come back to for later seasons if we get that far.
I agree that we should keep it simple.
Most cartoons actually do this anyway. Keep the plot simple for the first season, if the first season went well and you are renewed, actually throw in your plot in the second season.
Leave enough room to close off the series with the second season assuming you don't get a third.
>11 minutes minimum
Even with 12 episodes in the first season, 11 minutes per show is a lot of work. No way we'd be doing the 22 minute run.
>>96741
A short would be a good way to start.
I didn't want to build any characters or plot or anything like that aside from a very basic idea of what could be a foundation for it.
I'm not a writer. I'm an artist, so I'll leave the writing up to those who can write.
>>96737
>I'm glad you're good at rigging
I've tried to setup blender in a way that is friendly to the animators, though it will still take some getting used to.
I opted for blender because 1. It's what I know and more importantly, 2. It's FREE.
The render method is GPU rendering, so even people on older hardware can preview/render frames. (I'm on a GTX 970 myself)
I can personalize rigs for each asset pretty quickly, the eye rig was probably under 10 minutes for the actual rig.
I also created a standard node group to use on the lighting for the background (It's all faked, no actual lights used) so that we can have a uniform looking background.
Minimal textures are required, if any for this.
Blender itself can also be used for the editing phase as well, reducing the amount of programs that our team has to learn.
A few related webms.
>>96742
>the world can never be put back in a state with “no politics or economics"
Hence the line
>Everything goes back to the romanticised view for the most part
>for the most part
No problem anon, although you may not have any skills that directly relate to creation of assets, extra eyes are always helpful.
Test groups/Quality Assurance is just as important as any other job. Even a Hollywood movie can be shit.
>the world can never be put back in a state with “no politics or economics"
Hence the line
>Everything goes back to the romanticised view for the most part
>for the most part
No problem anon, although you may not have any skills that directly relate to creation of assets, extra eyes are always helpful.
Test groups/Quality Assurance is just as important as any other job. Even a Hollywood movie can be shit.
1. I haven't seen ANY 3D pony animation that I enjoyed watching so far. I don't have high hopes for this project because of that alone. (haven't seen the movie yet, but that's going to be on another level anyway)
2. The premise isn't unworkable, but idk if you want to fill an entire series with it. Also, do think about what kind of message you're sending. You need to be REALLY thick on the nuance if you want to avoid "Nature good, humans bad"
3.
>bringing humans to equestria that aren't anon
2. The premise isn't unworkable, but idk if you want to fill an entire series with it. Also, do think about what kind of message you're sending. You need to be REALLY thick on the nuance if you want to avoid "Nature good, humans bad"
3.
>bringing humans to equestria that aren't anon
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>>96816
>. I haven't seen ANY 3D pony animation that I enjoyed watching so far.
Lemme fix that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24ybxyfOQRk
>. I haven't seen ANY 3D pony animation that I enjoyed watching so far.
Lemme fix that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24ybxyfOQRk
>>96816
>3D Pony animation
It's not, it's 2D Puppets with 3D backgrounds where required for sake of time saving.
If you haven't seen any pony animation using this method that you liked, then sorry to say, you don't even like the actual show.
>You need to be REALLY thick on the nuance if you want to avoid "Nature good, humans bad"
Point is to not avoid that.
>bringing humans to equestria that aren't anon
>Implying equestria
>Implying they aren't anons
Different world. It isn't equestria, the humans getting stuck in the animal bodies could very well forget stuff such as their names or everything other than basic human needs.
>3D Pony animation
It's not, it's 2D Puppets with 3D backgrounds where required for sake of time saving.
If you haven't seen any pony animation using this method that you liked, then sorry to say, you don't even like the actual show.
>You need to be REALLY thick on the nuance if you want to avoid "Nature good, humans bad"
Point is to not avoid that.
>bringing humans to equestria that aren't anon
>Implying equestria
>Implying they aren't anons
Different world. It isn't equestria, the humans getting stuck in the animal bodies could very well forget stuff such as their names or everything other than basic human needs.
>>96818
I never actually did clarify that in the OP, so sorry for that. But rest assured, it's the same animation method that My Little Pony uses, just with a different program that allows for using 3D for faked backgrounds.
South Park has literally done this since episode 2. (Though I think they only used the puppets at first)
https://youtu.be/m_zf1aBDD38
"From Animation Magazine, July 2002
Eric Stough, Animation Director, South Park
How do you keep costs down?
South Park is based on construction paper replacement animation. This style is more simplistic than traditional hand-drawn animation, but it is very labor intensive. The use of computers makes it more efficient because things don't have to be cut out and glued together. Instead we use and reuse files from previous shows. The scripts for South Park are written days before a show airs, allowing the content of the show to stay topical. The speed of computer animation allows the animators to get the show on the air.
Do you send any work overseas?
All of our animation is done at our studio in Marina Del Rey [Calif.]. Our animators work on every frame, animating 12 frames a second. A lot of our animators use the computer's tools to fill in inbetweens for walk cycles and head bobs.
What software/hardware do you use?
We use Corel Draw for design and Maya 3.0 for animation on a Windows NT platform. Occasionally we'll create new textures using Photoshop 5.5 and we composite shots using Composer and Digital Fusion."
I never actually did clarify that in the OP, so sorry for that. But rest assured, it's the same animation method that My Little Pony uses, just with a different program that allows for using 3D for faked backgrounds.
South Park has literally done this since episode 2. (Though I think they only used the puppets at first)
https://youtu.be/m_zf1aBDD38
"From Animation Magazine, July 2002
Eric Stough, Animation Director, South Park
How do you keep costs down?
South Park is based on construction paper replacement animation. This style is more simplistic than traditional hand-drawn animation, but it is very labor intensive. The use of computers makes it more efficient because things don't have to be cut out and glued together. Instead we use and reuse files from previous shows. The scripts for South Park are written days before a show airs, allowing the content of the show to stay topical. The speed of computer animation allows the animators to get the show on the air.
Do you send any work overseas?
All of our animation is done at our studio in Marina Del Rey [Calif.]. Our animators work on every frame, animating 12 frames a second. A lot of our animators use the computer's tools to fill in inbetweens for walk cycles and head bobs.
What software/hardware do you use?
We use Corel Draw for design and Maya 3.0 for animation on a Windows NT platform. Occasionally we'll create new textures using Photoshop 5.5 and we composite shots using Composer and Digital Fusion."
Bump for the people who have no life and are on MLPOL christmas weekend.
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>>97781
I fall into that category, but I think it will be comfy being here. But lets give a thought and small prayer to those stuck on 4chan during this Christmas and Heart's warming.
I fall into that category, but I think it will be comfy being here. But lets give a thought and small prayer to those stuck on 4chan during this Christmas and Heart's warming.
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