Happy New Years everybody!

I have a New Years present for everyone, that being, episode 3! Weskershouse from The-Ward Productions has also given everybody a New Years present with Episode 7 of Days of Our Lives: Resident Evil!

You can watch them here…
Episode 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXksvSNmWqc
Episode 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oCNuuboOfA

So there they are! What everybody has waited so long for.
I apologize for the delays, I promise episode 4 won’t take so long to get out.
Thanks for the support everybody!

I probably should explain why it’s October and there’s still no sign of episode 3. I guess I misjudged time and ended up being unable to finish it before I moved. So, it’s only now that I finally got my desktop back that I am able to finish episode 3.

I apologize for yet another delay.

Episode 3 is nearly done! The script is complete, all thats left is getting the lines recorded and we’ll have it released by this weekend.

I’ll also be uploading ep3, and the finals of ep1/2 for download to the website. Along with that, the first episode of the new machinima series I talked about previously will be released mid-late September.

Hey all! It’s a very hectic month for me as I just got my wisdom teeth out, all the while packing and getting ready to move out.

Okay so first off, episode 3 is looking good. The deadline won’t be missed this time around, it’s really awesome seeing the final touches being done. When you start an episode you usually have no clue how the final product is going to look. I started this episode nearly a year ago, so it’s been through so much development at this point that we’re making sure it’s up to our standards. With episode 3 nearing completion, I’ve already started on ideas for the next few episodes. I can say I’m very psyched to get to work on the next episodes!

Second off, I gotta say, I never knew people appreciated RCS so much. First a MySpace fangroup, now subbed episodes of Raccoon City Stories! Check it out here! Props to Berumi and her translators for their awesome work.

Finally, the new machinima is near completion, and episode 1 will be arriving  soon after episode 3 of RCS is released! I’ll also be uploading the updated versions of Episode1/2/SE1 of RCS on the site. So August is going to be a busy month for us at Barley Productions!

So I’m in the midst of my fourth or fifth move within a year and a half. So the updates on here have been lacking, but we still plan on having Episode 3 released by the end of August at most. We also plan on having the new horror-survival machinima released too. So keep checkin’ in.

A kickass fan named Caitlin has created an awesome MySpace fangroup for DOOL/RCS.

http://groups.myspace.com/wellthejokesonyouthatsnotmycar

So if you have MySpace and are cool pants, you should totally join.
It helps me and Shaun know we still have fans who havn’t bailed on waiting yet. XD

Edit: Some people are having trouble with that link. If it doesn’t work for you try this one.
http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=107878677&Mytoken=8769A50E-0E3E-4647-84214CE18D43299C28361017

So it’s June… Nearly July, annnd episode 3 still isn’t online.

Episode 3 is very close to being finished, the problem is, right now me nor Shaun have the means to work on it. It was meant for a April/May release but we ended up getting very busy and when we did get time to work on it, the project corrupted. Coupled with the hardware and software problems I had towards the beginning of the year, that also pushed episode 3 back. When we started episode 3, we never intended the wait for it to be so long, our original intentions was a Christmas release. Obviously, we missed that deadline.

Once me and Shaun get the time to sit down and really work on it, we’ll have it completed, no doubt. A lot of factors have caused it to take this long to be pushed back. Personal things, hardware/software problems, finding the time to work on it, etc… I can promise that RCS is not dead or forgotten about. It’s been something we’ve been trying to get too but due to our busy schedules we keep having to push it back.

I will say the wait between episode 3-4 will definitely not be as long as the wait for episode 3 has been, we never intended for it be this long. I log on daily and read all my comments and messages so I know people want another episode. My goal is a summer release, I can’t be more specific than that, even if I wanted too. I may not have 10,000 subscribers, or even 1,000 subscribers, but I appreciate the small amount of subscribers I do have and I hate the fact you guys are STILL waiting for episode 3. So I’ll try my best to make sure it’s out sooner than later.

Thanks for sticking with us this long guys!

I’ve had no updates for the past while due to a somewhat busy schedule and the fact that once again my software seems to be hating my existence. I spent the past few days re-recording and re-cutting footage because Sony Vegas decided it didn’t want to load certain videos anymore.

This of course is in relation to episode 3, but on that note, things are once again on the progress train. Yay!

No real big news today, I added a FAQ page to the site. If you have any suggestions for questions to ask in the FAQ, leave em in the comments. Episode 3 is coming along steadily, right now I’d say it’s about 60% done. So I’m hoping for a May release.

Other then that, I re-uploaded the Special Episode now with annotations. I’ve also been doing the final revisions to episode 1 and 2, so I’ll be uploading them soon too.

I get a lot of YouTube comments and PMs asking me “Wheres the next episode?” or “Why do you take so long to make an episode?”
While I will admit, we have been a bit slow on the progress train, each episode is a bit more then just saying lines and slapping footage together.

• Setting Up: Before I can do anything, I gotta set up a timeline so that I know what to record and how to move the characters so that when we put lines in, it makes sense and reflects the respective characters.
• Filming: Getting the RIGHT footage can be a hassle, whats the point if the shot of Claire running down the hall if shes running into the wall for 10 seconds. Getting that perfect shot can be pretty time consuming and tedious. Some shots in RCS take literally dozens of tries to get perfect. This becomes even MORE tedious since when doing shots of both characters in an area you need to make sure everything is the same on both ends, like items and bodies. (At one point theres an item that dissapears between shots in Episode 2)
• Converting: I gotta convert that captured footage over for use in Sony Vegas. This is just time consuming and annoying.
• Editing: After that, I gotta put all the footage together, editing is actually quite fun, but can be pretty damn time consuming. I mean look at this cluster fuck right here. Thats the first 2 minutes of episode 1. Each episode literally has 18-25 tracks, for a 10 minute episode, thats quite a bit.
• Music & Sound: Next I gotta get music and recreate every sound for every movement, area and action. I’m a bit of perfectionist when it comes to music, I like the music to reflect the scene, especially with shot changes.
• Writing: Once the episode is put together, the script comes next. While I did setup a timeline and a baseline script for filming, we always write a second version of the script for when it comes to the final edit. This is actually the longest of all the steps. Since writing RCS is a joint project, it doesn’t mean we literally can work on it every waking moment, let alone be free exactly when the other is free.
• Recording: Next is the line stage, this part can be fun and tedious all at the same time. The lines usually need to be perfect, or else they’re no good. Sometimes the first take on the lines will be perfect, sometimes it can take literally 10-15 takes before you get the one you want, and even then it’s not totally perfect. Then you have the issue of finding time between yourself and the voice actors to get those lines too.
• Finalizing: Once writing is done, I put out a rough draft, review it, fix any mistakes then finally it goes up on YouTube.

So… An episode literally takes about a month of dedication before it’s released, and even then it’s not perfect. I’m still releasing updates on my website to episode 1 and 2. I just released the Christmas Episode with annotations for download.

So on that note I won’t leave you completely in the dark on episode 3’s progress. We’re getting there, we’re hoping to have it out in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

- Andrew