After months of work, the fifth of seven installments in "Robots!" is complete! It will go live on the Nightly News at Nine YouTube channel this Saturday at 9 AM Central time (click here to see that time in differnet time zones). I'll be having a small contest right when it goes live so tune in for the chance to win a(nother) pinchbot. See the video below for more details.

6 of the $100 backers have their minifig cameos in this episode:

• Nick Johnson
• Luke (friend of Nick)
• Anthony Robeson
• Will Stroh
• Michael Maksoudian
• Harold Taylor

I had a lot of fun making their minifig likenesses and figuring out how to incorporate them into the animation in a way that reflected the individual's wishes and my storylines. The additional constraints forced me to be even more creative and resulted in some fantastic scenes. 

I'd also like to take a moment to let you all know about another Kickstarter project you might be interested in. David Pagano is one of the best LEGO animators out there and he is making a sequel to his best known film. He's got some amazing rewards (like having a brick-built version of your head in his movie), so I urge you to check it out and support him. He's only got a week left to raise the last 33% of his goal.

Now that this episode is finished, it's time to start work on the next one. My new estimate is that "Robots!" will be complete by September. I will be moving then, so that deadline will help put a fire under me to complete it.

Thanks again for your support!
David M Pickett

This Tuesday marks 1 year from when this project was officially funded. I want to thank you all for your patience as I work to complete the animation. It has taken much longer than I had originally hoped, but I have made a lot of progress recently. The next segment is 83% animated, it should debut sometime this month. I wanted to share a short clip that highlights the first two cameos by minifigs of $100 backers.

Anthony Robeson appears as the scholar on the right and Harold Talyor appears as the arcobatic racecar driver. 6 of these cameos will take place in "The End of Sports", the other 12 will happen in the remaining two episodes.

Thanks once more for your support!
David M Pickett

Here's a quick progress update on "Robots!" I have begun production on the 5th of 7 installments: "The End of Sports.". This is the installment where the minifigs cameos by the $100 backers will begin. I have 6 of them planned out for this one, the other 12 will happen in the remaining two episodes. Here's a look at one of the first shots from "The End of Sports" which I shot using a new camera lens your donations allowed me to buy!

If you missed it when it released in September, here is the previous episode, "Robots! Robots! Robots!" This two minute animation took over 100 man hours of animating time to create over the course of 3 months. That's almost as many man hours as all of Chapter 1 in a quarter of the time!

This animation is the most complicated one I have ever produced. The sheer number of characters moving on screen at once meant I needed a lot of help from friends to animate it. Because it is one continuous camera shot, I needed to be extra careful to make sure the camera stayed in one place relative to the action. The new animating software your donations allowed me to purchase was vital in this regard as its onion-skinning features allowed me to put the camera back perfectly when I inevitably knocked it out of place.

Thanks again for your support of my time-intensive art!

David M Pickett

See the event in your local time here: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Premiere+of+Robots!+Robots!+Robots!&iso=20110923T18&p1=64

Hello backers,

Here's a quick update on the progress of "Robots!" Last week I passed the half-way mark (animation on part 4 just reached 50% and there are 7 parts altogether). Now that I'm back in the animating groove (with the wonderful new equipment your generous donations allowed me to purchase) the second half should be finished much faster than the first half.

I recently designed the minifigs of the $100 backers (see picture below). I can't wait to start animating them into scenes and discovering their on-screen personas. They will start to make appearances in part 5, which I will hopefully start filming later this month.

Here is an updated timeline based on my current estimates

Part 4 - "Robots, Robots Robots!"
In production - (over 70 man-hours of animating time logged so far)
Here's an exclusive SNEAK PEEK of the first half
Expected Completion - Mid September

Part 5 - "The End of Sports"
Expected Completion - October

Part 6 - "Police Show Commercial"
Expected Completion - November

Part 7 - "The Orange-Green War Continues"
Expected Completion - December

DVDs finalized and shipped out - January 2012 - Happy New Year!
Thanks for your continued patience through this process. Stop-motion animation is quick to watch, but slow to make.

With endless gratitude for your support,
David M Pickett