Bicycle Surge Playing Cards

[SeanWhelan]

Hey Guys,
I love the new site layout. Has a nice visual feel to it compared to the .net one in my opinion.
I've noticed a lot of decks have been hitting Kickstarter recently and almost all of them are amazing pieces of work. I'm creating this thread not to come explain that another Kickstarter project is launching but I would like to showcase to you my work in process. This will be my second deck in production but won't hit Kickstarter until February.

This deck is called Surge and will follow the Galvanic storyline. It will focus more on the darker side and will showcase the Villains the Galvanics have to face. Now going into these projects, I know for a fact they are very different then most custom decks on the market. These have more of a sci-fi theme to them rather then cards to perform with for your average magician. However, playing cards and animation have always been my two passions so I am excited to be doing this again.

Why February though? Well not only because so many decks are launching all at once but I am focusing on two things for this deck. The custom artwork themselves AND a visual 3d animated short film. This short film will run roughly between 5-7 mins and will explain the storyline, the Galvanics and how the Surges came about.

To get you guys interested, below is a link that shows test footage of what I've been working on these past few days alone. This will be the opening sequence to the short film. Please keep in mind this is a quick in-program render and is not the final product. A lot of animation still needs to occur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=652_KcEJU10&feature=plcp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now this sequence will open up into a field of stars and the Galvanic will fly across as seen as above. My goal of this short film is to really get the audiences attention for the amount of work that is being put into this, the story, the 3d models, the animation and the deck designs.

I also attached an image of what the earth will look like rendered. During post production I will be adding clouds and just before the Galvanic gains momentum, he will be basically catching on fire (Basically what something looks like when they reach earths atmosphere)

How will it end? The vision I have on paper and in my head is to have the closing sequence revealing what the Surge will look like as a Galvanic strives to survive a battle sequence.

I am putting 110% into this animation, rendering, sound effects etc etc. I will also be updating this thread throughout this entire process as months roll on. I will post teaser images, more animation renders as seen above and more of the artwork. I won't reveal too much as the puzzle pieces will fall into place once you see the film.

Also! For those who haven't seen it, I attached the back design of what the Surge deck will be : D

I would love as much feedback as possible and I am truly looking forward for this project. Thank to everyone who took the time to read this and what the video clip.

Thank you!
Sean Whelan
3D Artist

[Russell]

I was wondering when you were going to make the trip over here, welcome! I can't wait to show us what you have in store for 'Surge'.

[SeanWhelan]

Thanks for the welcome Russell I really appreciate it. I love this site. I visit it everyday but have been busy to respond to most of the threads. Really love the new layout.

[max]

Welcome back, Sean! Nice to meet you again

Don't let much time pass before updating your info about that nice (and green) surge deck

[Evan]

Hey Sean,

The Surge deck looks awesome so far!

[SeanWhelan]

Here is another behind the scenes look at the trailer. This image is the second scene in the video where the Galvanics look over what has been left behind. It's up to them to protect the earth in which these people walked on.

This is a quick in-program render. In the animation process we call it the blocking stage: camera is rigged and animated for the right movement and placement, character is in place, main animation is complete, scene objects are created and placed in the right location and the lighting is 50% complete.

Whats next on the to do list for this scene alone?:
- creating and applying textures to every object that you see
- complete the animation rig on the Galvanics (more will be placed looking at the tombstone further into production)
- tweak lighting
- create clouds
- create more tombs to give it a never ending tombstone site

More to come for the next few months! : D

[decksparadise]

I can't find a better word to say than awesome.