Monday, March 15, 2010

Good afternoon everyone! As promised, here's the latest status update on Sands of Fire Part One. And so far, it's looking good... really good! We've been working like mad dogs last couple of weeks and this weekend we reached our first Milestone in the 5 years of its production. We have finally wrapped editing and this means we are almost ready for release :)

We call the current version SoF1 RC1 (Release Candidate 1) because some minor things still have to be fixed (like framing issues, bad timings, visual artifacts, etc...). But these are rather small adjustments and don't take a lot of time to be fixed and we are hoping for a SoF1 RC2 soon after. We are also looking into the music with our composer Justin R. Durban and this will probably take a few more weeks.

I also have more details concerning the release format. We have decided to go for 3 different formats. First we will have a HD 720p streaming version on Youtube (without subs), Second is a flash version in lower quality on our main site (also without subs) and last but not least, we will have a MKV (matrosjka) version ready to be downloaded on various hosting sites. Why did we choose MKV and not WMV or AVI? Well, we wanted to have the best viewing experience possible and because we wanted soft-coded subtitles we decided to go for MKV (which is a losless container to support HD codecs and multiple subs). It's an all-in-one solution to the subtitling problem we faced. Rather to have a hard-coded solution we are going for soft-coded subs and it makes it much easier to convert.

So this being said, I have a request for all of you. I'm currently working on the English translation and will have it ready in a couple of days (prolly this weekend). I want the subtitles to be available in as much languages as possible. Therefore, I'm still looking for people that are wanting to help out on these subs. I'm currently looking for Spanish/Portugese/Polish/Swedish/... people that can translate from English. There's only one requirement though. You need to have a bit of knowledge about military commands and tactics. So anyone wanting to help out, drop me a note and I'll get back to you!

We have already people translating (so don't apply for these):
- English
- German
- Dutch
- French

So if you feel up to it, mail me!

Ohhh, and if everything works out the way we planned... Sof Part One should come out beginning of next month. Can't wait to show it to you guys, we are very excited about it and we hope you're too!

Cya soon!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Also, mkv is (besides mp4 and avi) one of the few containers to support x264 encoded videostreams ;)
Hope you are going for a x264 solution since it's by far the most advanced codec until today.

Btw, I don't get how you say you are ready for release while you claim you'll need some more weeks only few sentences later.

Anyways, looking forward to it.

StRuPiE said...

Yes, we're definitely looking at a x264 solution. Btw with ready for release, I meant we are done editing. We only need to add/fix things (like the music). That's why we have these RC1 en RC2. The way MS does it :)

VishnuSixDix said...

Heroes!

Anonymous said...

*shock* sof alive!!!1

Mooney said...

FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!

CANT WAIT FOR THIS.

Johnny Fortnight said...

Can't wait guys ! been following the progress since the beginning lol

Domidragon said...

Pha, cant wait. following sof since 2005!

greez

StRuPiE said...

Yeah guys, I know... it's been a REALLY long time. But this time it's the real deal! This movie (part one) will come out in a few weeks! The release date will be announced one of the following days...

Unknown said...

wOOOt SOF KICKING!

VishnuSixDix said...

so.

I've seen it, and it's everything I hoped for (after seeing the trailers)

Best machinema ever! ;)

Gravehunter said...

Aye, the RC was looking great! They have done an awesome job. Let's kidnap little_donkey & strupie so they can keep working at part 2 without having to worry about anything else :D

pancho bullit said...

I really cant wait, i have been following SOF since i was 15 (the xmas trailer). I am now 19 with a car, motorcycle, good job and a house. Gosh a lot happens in 4years!