Uploaded August 2010 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Folks of the world, it seems I am done with this piece. Or, at least, reached a phase that can be shared. This is my "other project" that I've hinted at so many times, probably unnoticed by mostly everyone.
Unbelievable, but it took me more than half a year to make! I shot the first pictures on January 23! And even so, it's more of a test, rather than a full-fledged short movie. I originally wanted to make a stop-motion short that depicts a canon event from the Bionicle storyline, but it turned out it would be really hard to find suitable backgrounds and make it look underwater-y.
So, since I don't have any functioning softwares specifically designed for animation, I turned to Sony Vegas and it's keyframing abilities. It worked, and so the animation was born.
I am aware of the fact that it looks awfully crude at places, and that the animation models could have been tweaked as well. I also know there is inconsistency between the short stop-motion sequences and the keyframe animation, as well as the appearance of the characters themselves between shots. Especially the coloration pf their body parts! But this was just my first attempt at the method, so expect my future projects (if there will ever be any) to look more polished. For one, I'm not planning to use any more set photos for the characters.
The voices could use more work too. I had to use my voice for all the characters (even the Gadunka and the red beast), and my acting abilities are far from good. Still, I envisioned Hydraxon having a cool, calm and serious attitude, which I hope I managed to convey. If anyone has trouble understanding the over-modified sentences, refer to the subtitles.
As for the event the clip depicts, it's obviously the death of the villain Nocturn. No detailed description was provided by LEGO, only that Hydraxon killed him when he was trying to break out of the Pit, so I had to create a scenario of my own. I chose the ocean floor as a backdrop partly because it gave me more freedom than the inner chambers of the Pit, but mostly because it would have been difficult to animate the breathing-gear for these water-breathers. As you can most likely tell, the hastily drawn breathing gadgets that do appear in a few shots were only added later into the animation.
To make the scene more canon, I decided to include the awakening of the Mata Nui robot, since I knew it happened around that time (most likely prior to this, but what the heck). Since I don't know which part of the robot the Pit forms, I left it ambiguous. And in case you're wondering what the red beast is, that's the sea behemoth that appeared in one of the books and in a comic. I threw it there just for fun.
That's all, folks. You don't have to like it, but are free to do so. CCC (comments, compliments, criticism) are appreciated.
Last but not least, I'd like to tell the computer I used and Vegas to FUCK themselves for freezing all the time and crashing at around 80-90% completion during rendering, even after everything was set for optimal efficiency. I would have been finished months ago if they functioned properly.
Folks of the world, it seems I am done with this piece. Or, at least, reached a phase that can be shared. This is my "other project" that I've hinted at so many times, probably unnoticed by mostly everyone.
Unbelievable, but it took me more than half a year to make! I shot the first pictures on January 23! And even so, it's more of a test, rather than a full-fledged short movie. I originally wanted to make a stop-motion short that depicts a canon event from the Bionicle storyline, but it turned out it would be really hard to find suitable backgrounds and make it look underwater-y.
So, since I don't have any functioning softwares specifically designed for animation, I turned to Sony Vegas and it's keyframing abilities. It worked, and so the animation was born.
I am aware of the fact that it looks awfully crude at places, and that the animation models could have been tweaked as well. I also know there is inconsistency between the short stop-motion sequences and the keyframe animation, as well as the appearance of the characters themselves between shots. Especially the coloration pf their body parts! But this was just my first attempt at the method, so expect my future projects (if there will ever be any) to look more polished. For one, I'm not planning to use any more set photos for the characters.
The voices could use more work too. I had to use my voice for all the characters (even the Gadunka and the red beast), and my acting abilities are far from good. Still, I envisioned Hydraxon having a cool, calm and serious attitude, which I hope I managed to convey. If anyone has trouble understanding the over-modified sentences, refer to the subtitles.
As for the event the clip depicts, it's obviously the death of the villain Nocturn. No detailed description was provided by LEGO, only that Hydraxon killed him when he was trying to break out of the Pit, so I had to create a scenario of my own. I chose the ocean floor as a backdrop partly because it gave me more freedom than the inner chambers of the Pit, but mostly because it would have been difficult to animate the breathing-gear for these water-breathers. As you can most likely tell, the hastily drawn breathing gadgets that do appear in a few shots were only added later into the animation.
To make the scene more canon, I decided to include the awakening of the Mata Nui robot, since I knew it happened around that time (most likely prior to this, but what the heck). Since I don't know which part of the robot the Pit forms, I left it ambiguous. And in case you're wondering what the red beast is, that's the sea behemoth that appeared in one of the books and in a comic. I threw it there just for fun.
That's all, folks. You don't have to like it, but are free to do so. CCC (comments, compliments, criticism) are appreciated.
Last but not least, I'd like to tell the computer I used and Vegas to FUCK themselves for freezing all the time and crashing at around 80-90% completion during rendering, even after everything was set for optimal efficiency. I would have been finished months ago if they functioned properly.
