The Shape Our Reality Takes Trailer is Here!

We are happy to announce the album trailer for The Shape Our Reality Takes from To Say The Least is live on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube so you get production progress in your shorts feed.

To Say The Least's Album Trailer Release!

We have been working hard away at To Say The Least’s new album, The Shape Our Reality Takes. The album release is next year, but you do not have to wait that long to hear a sample. You can watch the trailer release on Thanksgiving 2023 at 7 PM EST! Follow the link below and hit the notify bell to get a reminder when the video drops.

Click Here to be taken to the YouTube page.

So Much Progress

We have been working away here at Smells Like Revenge. To Say The Least has been in the studio getting music recorded and animations are underway. The countdown to release will be here before we know it!

Spring Test Render Round Up & Music Preview!

Hey everybody,

We have been working hard on our upcoming project, and album called The Shape Our Reality Takes. The band To Say The Least is writing an album and Smells Like Revenge Productions is creating a video for each of their songs. Here is a round-up of some of our AI-accelerated animations with a little taste of the music that is to come. All of these models were designed by a human but the rendering process has been enhanced with AI. These images are rendered at a low resolution and upscaled with in-house software designed and coded by our artist and software engineer Blake T. Ellender. Follow along at www.smellslikerevenge.com for more information. A new version of this software is being developed now to be shared online for free. Check out the video below!

Back To Bastion 13

We’re back! Today we pick back up with a post continuing the development of models for The Shape Our Reality Takes. The Shape Our Reality Takes is an upcoming album from the band To Say The Least. It will be their first full-length album and will be accompanied by visuals being developed here. In this post we return to Bastion 13. Bastion 13 is one of the last remaining cities on earth. It’s central skyscraper and concentric walls of towers house the leadership of The Guiding Light, the powers at be within this world.

Adding Dramatic Lighting

We need to light up this mega tower. Each segment of the Bastion 13 tower is the size of the Empire State Building.

Safety First

Each of the towers will get a safety light so spaceships don’t get snagged.

Pushing Back the Fog

Here and in the last shot we adjust the fog to a more natural level

Lighting the Wall's Turrets

Each turret or tower of the walls of Bastion 13 acts as the housing to the networks of industries that span underneath. They also act as flood barriers to fight against the ever-rising tides. As water levels rise the walls have become damp slums full of disease.

A Pressure Cooker

Bastion 13 is a ticking time bomb. The sea is encroaching and raw materials are running low. The Guiding Light’s physicians do their best to sedate the public but this can only work for so long.

The Czar - Part II

In this post, we continue the costume design for The Czar.

Reshaping The Dress

The mermaid cut of the dress felt a little out of place. So first we will update the shape of the dress.

Trying Different Fabric Combinations

Adding Fabric Physics

At this step, we have already added fabric physics but they need to be refined a little bit. Now it is flowing in a way that is much more satisfying.

Fixing the Sleaves

To balance out the dress we increased the size of the dress Cuffs and better fit the sleaves.

Adding More Drama

This character is heavily inspired by portraits of Mary Queen of Scots. The dresses in these paintings often featured a split front with a panel of white fabric behind it.

Adding Structure

The Finished Costume

Here we have the completed costume for the Czar. Next, we move onto texture painting.

Adding the Skin

Next, we adjusted the skin to a natural base color.

Texture Painting The Face

Next, we will paint the caked-on powered makeup.

The Czar Now

Here we tie up the Czar’s Modeling for now. This is the last post before a short break for the winter holidays.

The Czar - Part I

Today we are sharing progress on the Czar. She is another important character in To Say The Least’s next album.

Sculpting The Face

With this character, we have already made a lot of progress based on the development of Audrea Rose. This means for this character we are taking a little bit different workflow.

Drama Con Flama

The Czar is not exactly someone you would want to have over for dinner. For this reason, we tried to make her look as severe as possible.

The White Base

For the Czar, we are going to develop a white-powered makeup look. This makes this character a little difficult to ensure it is not hitting the uncanny valley. So some sculpting may need to be redone once those shaders are developed.

Mary Bloody Mary

The Czar is inspired by two different women, Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth Báthory. Both of these women are suggested as the real-life origin of the Bloody Mary Folk Tale. Of course, this means we need hair that defies gravity.

Refining The Hair

Adding Sideburns

Adjusting The Hair Color

Setting The Eyes

Poofing Out The Hair

The Beginnings Of The Czar's Dress

There is still a lot of work to be done on the Czar but a good amount of progress has been made. Next, the character will require painting and further outfit development. The placeholder dress fabrics will be updated as well.

Audrea Arcanum - Part II

In this post, we pick back up on Audrea Arcanum.

Texture Painting

To give Audrea a little more life, we will paint a few layers. First, we will add skin tone differences.

Evening The Tone

Along with redness, freckles and rouge are added.

Adding More Makeup

Final Looks

Here we have Audrea’s final look put together. Throughout the project, these looks will be refined as needed by the scene.

The Look From Afar

Finishing The Outfit

Finally, we top off Audrea’s look with some stiletto boots.

Some Lighting Fun

Adding some mood lighting and beauty shots we can start to see Audrea coming together. We have one more main Character to create for you before we move on to a different phase of production.

Audrea Arcanum - Part I

Next in our character lineup for, The Shape Our Reality Takes, is Audrea Arcanum. She is an important leader in Bastion 13. She is acting as the right hand for the Czar who is heading the mission to Onoda 63. After we finish up the Character lineup. We will circle back to work on Bastion 13.

Audrea Arcanum

Audrea Arcanum is an important leader within Bastion 13, as such, we have gone with a regal and militant theme for her design.

Pauldrons for Days

One of the main features of Audrea’s dress is the heavier-than-life pauldrons.

Refining The Hair

Before we continue the design for the pauldrons though we have to get that hair out of the way.

Experimenting Around

The first iteration was a little too close to just a dress with shoulder puffs so there was several iterations to get to the final shape.

Refining the Sleeves

After getting the pauldrons down the sleeves need to be adjusted.

Audrea For Now

Audrea still needs to be texture painted and rigged. We will pick back up on her design in our next installment.

Askrin - Part II

Here we continue the design for Askrin. Askrin is a rebellion leader within Bastion 13 for the upcoming, The Shape Our Reality Takes.

Askrin's Emoter

Askrin’s design picks back up with a few finishing details.

Texture Painting

To give Askrin a lot more life, skin imperfections and natural color variation are painted onto the character. Additional touch up will be done depending on scene requirements.

Emoter Rigging

Askrin’s Emoter is rigged so that it can be animated to display various expressions.

Context Testing

To ensure that Askrin fits in with the world he is designed for, we update the testing scene with a new background.

Finishing Touches

To top off Askrin’s look, we add a backpack.

Askrin For Now

For the most part, Askrin is done. Updates will be made during the rigging process and as needed for different scenes.