Captain's Blog 22.08.09

Episode Five is out at last.


A new update to the Odyssey website as well, giving some background detail to the episode (as there are for the others). And, I'll be on R&K Sunday night (once again... one day I'll get that pesky Ken to take this chain off my ankle...), discussing the events of Ep5 and where it takes the Odyssey universe.

Two more episodes to go in Season One...

Captain's Blog 10.08.09

Been a while since I last updated; with the TMU birthday celebrations, work, working on Episode Five and so on, it's been a bit manic :)

Any road, Tom and I launched the first Annual TMU Awards this weekend (named "The Ollies", in honour of the great reviewer of TMU days (thanks to K4 for the idea)).

Nominations are being sought from all registered TMU Forum members; there are 45 categories up for grabs, with some nice prizes up for the winners (not least of which are shiny forum badges and hopefully some in-game Olly props as well!).

To cast your votes, go HERE and complete the form. Submit it once filled out et voila! Job done!

First round votes need to be in by 31 August 2009; the top 3 in each category will be posted, and the second round voting will take place. The top nominated in each category will be judged the winner.

So, if you're a TMU member, pop over to the voting form and give us your nominations!

Captain's Blog 12.07.09

Finally got around to stitching all of the Finale pieces together into one long movie; it clocks in at 1hr 35mins all told!

Uploaded it to BlipTV but (after taking nearly 8 hours to get it on there, due to several issues), it failed to convert to Flash, so I can't embed the buggering thing anywhere :(

Oh well; it was more of an experiment to see how it worked out than anything else, so no biggy. It clocked in at 545mb (just too big for Vimeo as well...). The sound quality isn't great (as I had to re-encode the 5 completed files; I binned the Magix files and shot pieces ages ago to conserve space, so couldn't re-do all the pieces again), due to the audio tracks being encoded twice.

Any road up, it's here for those who have an interest in such things (it's just the 5 finale pieces all as one long movie; no additional material).

UPDATE: I finally got the host I wanted! I received confirmation tonight, so have moved the full site for (hopefully) the final time! It can be found HERE.

Captain's Blog 08.07.09

Work proceeding slowly on Episode Five... slowly but proceeding :) Done some initial shot work on Episode Seven for the exterior scenes and some mod work for Season Two.

New content added to the Odyssey Website (moved to ANOTHER host due to potential issues); check it out if you're so inclined :)

Should be appearing on Roger & Ken this coming Sunday to discuss "Castaways", so don't be afraid to Skype or PM Roger any questions you might have about the episode in specific or the series in general... or, indeed, anything at all (there's an hour to fill, after all, so it's best we have something interesting to talk about!).

There's no rest for the wicked... :)

EDIT: 11 JULY 2009: Grrr... the new, super-dooper webhost decided to stop working this morning, so have gone back to the 425mb one for now (buggering thing...). Apologies for the unconwenience...

Captain's Blog 04.07.09

Odyssey: Episode Four is released.

An Odyssey Aid Team, on their way back to the ship after delivering medical aid to a distant colony, is forced down on an unexplored world.

There, matters are complicated by their need to work with some unexpected “visitors”; a situation which is not made easy by the feelings of the Aid Team’s commander, Lieutenant Commander M’raal...

Please enjoy and comment!

Now work commences to Episode Five... aiming to complete the current season by November or December at the latest.

EDIT: The new and improved Odyssey site is available now here; please bear in mind that it's a free host site and there's a bloody annoying Google ad banner smack across the top of it (unless you have Firefox and NoScript tuned to turn off googlesyndication, in which case it doesn't bother you). Please feel free to make suggestions or throw ideas into the mix for this as it will accompany the series as it goes along. Once the site is fully complete and all the basic details are filled in, I'll be moving it to a better host.

UPDATE: I've also mirrored the site HERE (better, as there is no honking banner; just one pop up when you first surf in, apparently), so will probably transfer the site to this host for now.

Captain's Blog 02.07.09

Odyssey Season Two Writers Wanted
In order to “spread the load” a bit next season, I’m looking for 2-3 outside writers who fancy taking a crack at an episode or two to free up some time for me to concentrate on other projects and not drive me mental trying to do 7 scripts in advance again! Plus, it gives the series a “shot in the arm” to introduce new ideas, concepts and a fresh pair of eyes to look over the universe.

I’m open to pitches and ideas for 45-50 min single episodes (initially) from interested parties. Please be aware that, due to the arc-based nature of the series, I may ask for some tweaks and rewrites here and there as part of the process and a brief synopsis of the idea, cast list and basic episode plan as part of the decision making process.


Advance notice of the post I'll be making once Episode Seven pre-production is underway; with a couple of extra scripts "in hand" and some fresh ideas, it will enable to me to take a breather a bit and not have things so manic next year!

Episode Four is cracking along nicely; 12 more pages to complete shooting and then the clean up/edit etc to commence. With some luck (and a following wind) it will be out sometime between this weekend and next (dependant on how fast things get done). Then, it's all guns blazing to pre-prod on Ep5 (pre-credits teaser and first scene already shot and awaiting VOs for that, so have a slight edge on that one).

It's all go Chez Cave at the moment!

Captain's Blog 01.07.09

Quick visit to say that the teaser has been released for Episode Four, "Castaways".

(Scuttles off to carry on slaving over a hot keyboard...)

Captain's Blog 27.06.09

Finally made some time to create the new Odyssey website; there's not a lot on it at the moment, but it will be added to over time as Odyssey develops.

Episode Four (formerly Episode 5) continues to develop; had all the lines in from everyone now but the wife (who is completing hers over the weekend), so it may come out earlier than expected.

Well, that's enough waffle; back to work!

Captain's Blog 22.06.09

So much to do, so little time...

Working on not one but TWO Odyssey episodes at the moment (due to not knowing which one I'll be able to get out first; Episode Four is the next one slated, but due to RL issues, one of the regular cast may not be able to complete their lines before the "deadline" date. As a fall-back (and because I already had all the guest lines in and the two regulars who were needed for it were available and happy to "step up to the plate"), I am prepping Ep5 as well. That way, if I don't get the needed lines in for Ep4 in time, I can pull the old "switcheroo" and slot "the artist formerly known as Episode 5" into the Ep4 slot and vice versa.

Not ideal, as that puts three arc-heavy episodes together with no breaks (and requires a subtle rejig of the Doctor's lines for Ep4, due to the events of Ep5), but it's do-able without screwing things up.

It DOES mean, though, that if I DO get both lots of lines in in time, there could well be a double episode extravaganza for Odyssey fans, as Ep5 could well come out early (I might be a tightwad, though, and hold it back to it's proper release date at the end of August if that happens, as that gives me more time to work on the script for Blackstar in the meantime).

Another week off coming up, and am planning to get as much footage shot and effects stuff done then as I can in preparation.

Episode 4 (or 5...) marks the halfway point for Odyssey Season One, and a subtle shift in the emphasis of the series begins, leading into the last three episodes and the finale, which will continue in Season Two.

Season One "Shadows Lengthen" is coming to an end; Season Two "Twilight Begins" is soon to commence... and Season Three should contain some shocking revelations about the arc story and the Allianceverse... from an unusual quarter.

Stay tuned to my dribblings and the production threads on TMU for more as the time nears...

Captain's Blog 05.06.09

Bah, humbug.

Ok, so it's not Christmas, but the sentiment is there.

Dragged away for the weekend to a wedding, and not getting back til late Sunday night... and then back to work Monday morning. Oh joy; exactly how I wanted to spend my 2 days off...

Oh well... I shall catch you wonderful space cadets later no doubt!

Captain's Blog 03.06.09

For anyone who missed the prattle about Roger's acting and appearance in Episode Three, Ken's complaints about the lack of airtime Carpenter gets, writing the characters based on the actors, some bumpf about upcoming episodes and a little sneak info on Blackstar Rising, you can catch the download here.