Chrono Trigger Flash Series

[teh Schala]

In the Chrono Trigger 10 Year Anniversary Thread, I brought up an idea that seems to be getting support: a series of Flash movies telling the Chrono Trigger story, using the game's graphics (and possibly including brief cutscenes, if time and resources allow) and incorporating voice acting instead of text dialogue, with Chrono Symphonic as the soundtrack.

The basic idea is that we would release 1 "chapter" of Chrono Trigger at a time, so the first episode would be "The Millennial Fair."  We would progress continually, telling the story in an almost Red-Vs-Blue fashion.  How often these episodes would be released remains to be seen.  That'll depend on the number of Flash animators we can get, and their respective skills.

Hopefully we can get organized and release the first episode by the time of Chrono Symphonic's release, which should help advertise Symphonic.  If I remember correctly, I *THINK* Symphonic is supposed to release on September 29th?  The exact day of the 10-year anniversary, although some think it may be August 22nd.  Either way, whatever.  A simultaneous release would be awesome if we can pull it off.

So THIS is the thread for organizing the project!

We need at least 1 Flash animator,
1 person to help in the beginning with ripping sprites from the game (and I mean EVERY animation of EVERY sprite), along with the relatively brief task of extracting maps from the game, probably via Temporal Flux.
Several voice actors and actresses,
A couple of writers to expand the script a bit and make things a little more conversational (Example: What would Crono & Co say to each other when they behold Zeal for the first time?)

For starters, that Flash animator is the most important deal right now!  Please talk to animators that you know and if they love Chrono Trigger, see if they'd be interested in working with this.

Hopefully soon after that, we'll be able to begin casting, while the writing will be taken care of simultaneously.

[Legend of the Past]

No art skills 'cept for writing, but like I said, voice-acting is something I'd like to try...

And... I dunno if I'm talented in writing... Dan, am I good with ideas?

[Luminaire85]

Reiterating my desire to be involved. I can definitely help with finding/ripping CT graphics and script development.

My flash experience is with the SWiSH family of flash design software. I had originally thought that this would not be useful toward this project, but I just got an updated version and am attempting to evaluate its usefulness. If anyone has access to other/better flash software, I would be willing to learn how to use it.

[teh Schala]

I have no idea if Swish is useful for this or not...  Let me ask you this...  Can you put an animated sprite of Crono on a scrolling, repeating background?

[Specter]

Here's what I can contribute to the project:

The piece you're looking for most is in my possession, namely Flash MX Pro. I'm currently a Flash n00b, but a quick learner (taught myself Photoshop), so I'd be glad to do what I can to help the project along (to-do list and IRL permitting, of course). I've got some experience with a similar Macromedia software, Director, so hopefully it won't take too long to master the basics.

Sprite editing skills. You need a new pose or an entirely new sprite (for instance, sprites to represent those of us working on this project), then I'm your man! I'd demonstrate the latter with a sheet I made for a friend,... but Sheezyart's down right now and I'm not on my home comp. Will rectify that ASAP.

Like I mentioned above, I taught myself to use Photoshop (7.0, for those who might ask). This means that, what with Flash MX being Adobe compatable, sweet special effects = very yes. My primary proficiency isn't in drawing, however; rather, my talent lies in CGing other people's lineart and sketches. So if we can get an artist who's willing to even just sketch[/b] frames of animation for cutscenes, I can make 'em look professionalistical!

Writing. I love writing. Do a lot of high-description roleplaying, I do.

Have a brother who's an expert at improv and voice acting. No guarantees, but I might be able to get him into the mix.

So,... um,... one question here . . . is Crono still gonna be a mute?

[teh Schala]

Crono WILL NOT be a mute!  We're going to take as much info as we can glean from his actions and emotions (including subtle things such as when he shakes his head in astonishment at something, etc) and try to sketch out a list of character traits that would match well with his character.  From there, we'll use those as guidelines to writing his dialogue and in directing his voice.

Flash MX Pro is EXACTLY what I was thinking of.  Let's see if you can animate Crono's sprite, walking, with a scrolling grassy background (so he's just walking on grass).  The background needs to repeat and have him continue walking for as long as the SWF is displayed...and to do it with as little processing power as possible so the SWF won't be jerky or slow on lame computers (like mine).  That'd probably be a good start.

As for having an artist who's willing to just sketch frames of animation, that's VERY much in the realm of possibility!  See if you can make a decent single frame out of this sketch.  How detailed do you need anyway?  In other words, how "complete" does the sketch need to be?  I would like to have little 10-or-15-second cutscenes for introducing each of the major characters, it's just a question of financial capabilities, etc.

If you need a way to host your SWFs for now, please let me know and I'll get you set up to use Jullinar.com, one of my servers.

[Luminaire85]

I agree that Crono should not be mute.

I'm glad that someone has Flash MX Pro, because while I think we could make SWiSH work, I imagine Flash MX Pro would be easier in the long run. I'd be willing to experiment with it, if someone would hook me up; otherwise I'll just contribute in other ways.

[Claado Shou]

...

I don't think that using Chrono Symphonic as your ST is going to make this a "Red vs. Blue" kind of thing.  It'll make it more of a "movie cut into a bunch of parts" thing, which then will be very serious and such.  

But even so, I shouldn't be the one giving permission for the music's use.  I would recommend asking each remixer separately over at OCR for permission.  Seems to me that would be better, since it is, y'know, THEIR music.

Good luck though.  I'll be watching.  *hides*

~.C.S.~

[teh Schala]

Actually, I didn't mean Red Vs Blue in relation to Chrono Symphonic.  I just meant it in terms of every now and then -- be it every week or every month or whatever -- we release a new episode in a continuous series.  But yeah, definitely not a comedy like RVB.

Do I need to wear anti-flaming gear before heading over to OCR?  I've heard nothing but bad stuff about that community...

[Legend of the Past]

Do I need to wear anti-flaming gear before heading over to OCR?  I've heard nothing but bad stuff about that community...

So have I, but I woulden't call them bad without my own experience... Still, ZeaLitY and everyone else are trushtworthy guys, so I'd be ready, just in case.

[Hadriel]

I haven't actually been registered at OCR for very long, so I wouldn't know that much.  I'd wager that since it's a large forum, it has a great deal of knotheads.

[Legend of the Past]

I haven't actually been registered at OCR for very long, so I wouldn't know that much.  I'd wager that since it's a large forum, it has a great deal of knotheads.

Obviously. Look at Chroicles. It has about, what, almost 2000 registered users? And about 0.005 precent of them have more then 10 posts.

[SilentMartyr]

I posted in the other thread expressing my want to voice act, but I need a mic. Where can I pick up a cheap one that works?

OCR isn't a bad community, they just don't take kindly to dumb people. If you went there asking for music permission use you should be fine.

[teh Schala]

So far I have a "Yes" from 7 of the 15 people...  Just doing it through PMs.

As for picking up a mic, I would suggest Radio Shack.  Just tell them you need one that will record decent quality without popping on every "p" sound you make.  There will usually be music and other sounds to cover you up, so the quality doesn't need to be crystal, just decent.

[Lordchander]

Obviously. Look at Chroicles. It has about, what, almost 2000 registered users? And about 0.005 precent of them have more then 10 posts.

Tell me about it. Same goes for here, there are so many users  that have 0 posts counts (like pages of them in the memberlists). Though I cant really talk, when I first started, I was on 0 for DAYS, then got a few posts in, then took off, not long after I met Legend!

Oh, happy days.