linking and posing workflow

I have been linking my Ebil files using the import>link command and it has its limits, but I am getting use to them, or learning how to use them. I have Ebil modeled and rigged for this project (may revamp for a later episode.)
workflow:

1. Open my current ebil .blend file with my rigged and skinned Ebil.
2. Select all of the elements I want to pass down the chain (model, rig ,rigify bones and custom shapes)
3. Create a group for all of these objects(CTRL+G) name it something useful.
4. Open new .blend file
5. import>link the group from the current ebil.blend
6. import>link or append the rigify script for the U.I.
7. select the rig and create proxy
8. Create pose library for the rig.
9. Select the proxy rig and the mesh and create a new group name it something_poses
10. save file
11. Now I can link that group into my scenes and animate

If I need to update the model or rig I edit the current .blend. If I want to add or edit poses I edit the *_pose.blend

Quick render of the current Ebil rig.

Animatic Workflow (After Effects vs Fusion 7 vs Blender)

Shiny Shiny New Toy! Software!

Recently Blackmagic software made Fusion 7 free with only a few restrictions. This excited me as a free motion graphic alternative to After Effects (AE). I have been trying to stay focused on Ebil, I have been avoiding new software so as not to take away from my production time with Ebil. I figured I would use Fusion to build my animatic as a learning project and get my animatic done. It took me a lot of hair pulling to get the swing of things. I could have done this in about 30 mins or less in AE. I've never used a node based compositor before. The user community on Fusion seems tight lipped. I guess all the pros using it are busy being pros. Whatever the reason (a hot topic on the forums) there is a huge lack of free Fusion tutorials online. You can easily find the basics if you want to do VFX compositing or 3D importing. But I failed to find any tutorials I could follow to give me the skills to load a sequence of images (storyboards) and time them out to an audio file. After many hours of struggle I did manage to load the files into nodes and chain them together. However Fusion 7 lacks the ability to display the audio clip alongside my visual clips in realtime (or I could not find it).

Animatic Fusion 7 comp

After a week of struggle I decided to pass on Fusion 7 for the time being.

Back to Blender (Bender 3D 2.73a)

So it hit me. Blender has a sequence editor already built in. So I took my frames into blender, and I was able to create a sequence in a matter of minutes. Granted I do have years of experience with Blender, but I have never used the sequence before. I did need to watch a few tutorials on the ins and outs. These were very easy to find, and there were dozens more available if I need them. 

Animatic Blender comp

It was a very simple matter to import my audio file and sync it with my storyboard renders.

So for now I will continue to work within Blender.

Project notes:

Making progress on Fart Demon using volumetric texture. Decided to avoid physics sims for this short. I will cheat and use censor bars to comically melt my crowd. This should take a huge amount of time off production (R&D, simulation, Render overhead...)