General Information & Updates:

Production: Updates

UPDATE: February 17, 2010

What's black and white and read all over?...

It's been more than 36 months in the making, but Aether is FINALLY going to be making it's debut, in time for Anthrocon 2010. As many of you loyal [and understandably-annoyed] followers have been keeping your ears to the news-beat looking for more, I have this little tid-bit to show. This is the working cover for volume 01 of Aether. As of this writing, this is the final piece for production. Since August of 2007, we have sorted through and artworked over 1,200 unique pieces of art, submitted by more than 300 artists world-wide. Composing over 141 spreads (282 pages), the final book will measure 8-1/2"w x 11"h x 7/8"d, and will be completely full color. After an intense struggle to build the book, I suffered an ill-prepared drive-crash and lost everything, forcing a re-build. I have certainly had my work cut out for me. But for those of you who have stood by, and for those of you who thought for sure all hope was lost, I again state my deep appreciation for sticking with me, and watching this project grow, albeit it slow and silently. One-man shows are tedious. My second-to-final step now is to re-proof everything one final time, and then to upload everything to the printer. Currently, Aether consists of over 141 spreads, saved in multiple layout files. The average file-size for each PDF is approximately 600 Megs, for a total, collected size of 21.68 Gigs. A quick note about the intent of the cover: Aether is intended to be more than just a furry art book by a furry artist for other furry artists. It's a hopeful goal to aim for greater appreciation from outside interests, and thus try to be a little more inviting. In short, something that does not turn people away. (Inevitably, this will happen anyway). This design is intentionally minimal and graphic, and plays on today's current design trends of drama...

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3430307

I encourage you to take a look at the following downloadable PDFs of the book, chopped here into three sections.

SEE THE PENDING CHANGES LIST

HAVE A COMMENT? FIND AN ERROR OR TYPO? NEED TO RESUBMIT SOMETHING? EMAIL ME HERE

UPDATE: December 16, 2008

Hello Hello Hello!

For all interested parties, I have posted the last third of Aether below!

Aether d'Animaux • V01 • Build 2008-12-16

Part 1 (of 3)
http://intrinsikdesign.com/.../AdA_V01_Mock-Up_20080613.pdf

Part 2 (of 3)
http://intrinsikdesign.com/.../AdA_V01_Mock-Up_20080921.pdf

Part 3 (of 3) NEW!!
http://intrinsikdesign.com/.../AdA_V01_Mock-Up_P3_20081216.pdf

These links point to low-resolution PDFs and will require a suitable PDF viewer to open.

NOTES ABOUT PART 3:

This last section of the mega-overdue Aether volume has a few more holes than the previous two sections. You will note that many of the trailing submissions do not have the Descriptions attached to the images. This PDF is a few days old and many of those missing descriptions have already been updated. I'm working down the page, spread by spread, and the more time intensive task of grouping, organizing and setting imagery has been completed.

NOTES ON EACH SECTION AS A WHOLE

Please note that these PDFs reflect the post-HDD-crash builds (with modifications) and show the remaining holes currently being filled;

Images with "FPO" (For Placement Only) over them are images that were unrecoverable after my HDD crash and/or their resolutions are below ideal print quality (300dpi). Description info shown in Magenta (pink) reflect information also lost in the HDD crash.

REMAINING TASKS

The only remaining task at this time is filling the holes left by the crash. I have been contacting many of you seeking your gracious assistance to repair these holes. I have been at a bit of an impasse as to how and when I will deal with artwork/descriptions that are not recovered. My opinion is that I would rather print "missing" artwork using the 150-dpi versions that I yet retain just to represent that artist and his or her work. Works that therefore risk printing blurry would be noted with an asterisk pointing to my printed apology for the lost high-res versions. On the other hand I absolutely hate the idea of running an artist's work at less than premium conditions and perhaps some artists would rather their piece not even appear if the quality is not up to par. I completely agree with both views. Of course, if the solution is to remove artwork it will of course affect the layout of the book on a spread by spread basis. I feel there are few enough pieces (in the scheme of things), that this can be quickly managed.

My last remaining task beside the critical endeavor of hole-filling, is to draft the introductory letter and add the Artist Contact section. The Artist Contact section was originally conceived to include an index of Artists and which page(s) their artwork is displayed on. However, so much has changed with my naming-convention system because of the crash that it will take too much time to re-engineer and I've already blown about 300% more time than I ever intended.

Covers and frontispieces have been selected.

In the end, the book will be uploaded to LuLu.com in the form of PDFs. Their system allows only for PDFs and does not use native formats (ie .qxd, .indd. etc). At this time I am estimating a total of 20 high-res PDFs. Right now, the High-Res PDFs that were generated for the links provided above are almost 2-Gigs each.

Once again, as I feel that I have been given more support than I could have ever asked for, I feel incredibly blessed and happy with all of the artists and designers who have contributed, supported, volunteered or participated in Aether thus far.

Aether has had an incredibly laborious beginning, riddled with more than its share of bad luck. But I consider these hurdles as testaments to both my conviction and to the art genre that I love. Again, thank you all. I could not have done any of this without you.

Enjoy! and Happy Holidays!
-Kross' / Brian


Production: Updates

UPDATE: March 19, 2008

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WELCOME! HELLO AGAIN!
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Aether d’Animaux, that anticipated-by-many, all-but-forgotten-by-a-few first edition of juried Anthropomorphic and Furry artwork has finally, turbulently rounded another corner on its path to publication. What had started as a highly ambitious yet simple idea has developed [predictably] into painstaking labor wrought with a plethora of production snafus. Though we are all familiar with how Life’s many obstacles threaten to delay all of our dreams, Aether’s production has felt improportionately burdened. Aether has experienced a great many trials along the way, many of which being a general failing of time. But more critically, Aether suffered a serious blow when the prime hard drive that stored all of the artwork failed in what Aero Data Recovery, ESS Data Recovery, and Drivesavers all called, “the worst head crash they’ve every seen.” More information about this below.

Despite these many set backs, I am still beyond pleased with how the book has developed into something spectacular.

My long silence, a product of poor time management, has surely been a source of concern for all involved. The assorted genres and fandoms have long been plagued with deceit and drama, and I struggle to avoid that pitfall.

Long overdue, I am initiating a series of email updates meant to parallel my various web posts and blogs regarding Aether’s progress. I want to make sure that all parties involved are receiving the news posts as they happen, particularly those who do not regularly visit the various watering holes.

First on the docket:

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DOWNLOAD THE LATEST MOCK-UP!
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Long, long overdue, a fairly sizeable document has been sampled from the Master document for you to peruse. This mock-up is complete in its look, needing a few various plugs to fill missing details.

I have supplied a link to all active participants via email to a PDF showcasing 57-pages of the near-complete 312-page full edition.

Please note that this link is being distributed only to those individuals who participated in Aether. This is not a production-ready file, nor is it intended for sharing or distribution. The completed book will be made available after all neessary amendments have been made. This advanced edition is a courtesy ONLY to those who submitted work.

If you submitted work and you did not receive emailed instructions as of today (March 19), contact me.

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ABOUT THE MOCK-UP
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In the PDF, you will notice the following:

• All categories are represented (in part).

• Some artwork has a magenta “FPO” pasted over it. “FPO” stands for “For Placement Only”, and in this case means the image it is covering is low-resolution or missing entirely. These missing files are entirely due to my hard drive failure, and I am working to restore them from various sources. Individual artists may be re-tapped to resubmit if a suitable back-up version will not work. I still have 90% of ALL artwork saved in a backed-up, 200dpi version that I saved for layout purposes only. These files are not necessarily ideal for publication, but can be used as a last resort. Each image is considered individually for production quality.
I cannot apologize enough for this disastrous and frustrating loss...

• Some description information is “greeked”, and does not describe the actual iilustration. The fake information currently in place is nothing more than a placeholder for style and size, and the real information is being filled in as we speak.

• Some descriptions are in magenta. These descriptions are left incomplete as the original Entry Forms were lost in a massive hard drive failure. Individual artists may be re-tapped to resubmit their forms if suitable back-ups cannot be restored.
I cannot apologize enough for this disastrous and frustrating loss...

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CURRENT DEVELOPMENT
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Current tasks pending for Aether’s completion include the following:
• CURRENT TASK: Relocate and Replace all affected artwork due to the hard drive crash (approximately 300 pieces)
• CURRENT TASK: Relocate and Replace all affected Entry Forms due to the hard drive crash.
• CURRENT TASK: Re-enter all description information for all entries included in book (approx. 700 remain)
• Proofread the book for consistency of layout, spelling errors or misplaced artwork/descriptions.
• Collect for print.
• Submit to lulu.com, await proof.
• Proofread lulu.com’s proof, make changes if necessary, approve.
• Sales begin.

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SOME ARTWORK and ENTRY FORMS HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY LOST
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ARTWORK AND ENTRY FORMS HAVE BEEN LOST for all entrants whose public name (real name or pen-name, as it was listed on your Entry Forms) fell between the letters “J” and “Z”. The hard drive crashed mid back-up, and I only retain “A” through “K”. This ONLY affects those artists who submitted exclusively via FTP. If you submitted works or entry forms via email or post mail, I still have your files.

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HARD DRIVE CRASH
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If you are interested in knowing more about the hard drive crash and what steps were taken to correct it, please see this post:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/308835/

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SECURITY RISK?
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Though no one has asked, I am certain, as a fellow illustrator, that many artists may view this hard drive crash (and the guantlet it traveled) as a potential security risk; not only to their private information contained on various forms and spreadsheets but also for the potential mis-use of their artwork. I feel a strong need to take this opportunity to say that the nature of this hard drive crash completely and utterly destroyed all information; not only was the data scrambled when the magnetic heads touched-down, but it was literally scraped from the surface of the disk when the heads crashed into the platters.

Since my constant vigilance for participant security is partly why I had so few back-ups in the first place, I am both happy (and dejected) to say that there is zero risk that any sensitive information has been misused or obtained by any third parties. All remaining information and artwork is secure.

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PROACTIVE ABOUT RESUBMITTING?
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If you are interested in re-submitting artwork and Entry Forms to replace what was lost in the crash, please feel free to contact me, or do so via FTP and/or Email. Submissions may be uploaded via FTP (contact me), or sent to: brian [[at]] intrinsikdesign [[dot]] com

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GENERAL INFO
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Specific posts regarding Aether’s various stages of development are available on public message boards, blogs and journals at the following locations:

• Aether Web Site: http://www.intrinsikdesign.com/clients/aether/
• FurAffinity: (THIS GALLERY)
• LiveJournal: http://krossbreeder.livejournal.com/

If you are interested in knowing more about the project and do not want to wait for updates or journal posts, please feel free to contact me. I will be happy to answer your questions.

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THANK YOU!!
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Thanks again to all involved, and to all for their faith and participation. I am pushing as hard and as fast as life will allow, and I vow nothing less than an excellent finished product!

Sincerely,
Brian / Kross

Production: Moving Forward!
UPDATE: February 20, 2008

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Drive Failure IV: Conclusion
UPDATE: February 17, 2008

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Drive Failure III: The Saga Continues
UPDATE: February 14, 2008

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Drive Failure II: The Sequel
UPDATE: February 11, 2008

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Drive Failure
UPDATE: February 01, 2008

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Aether Notes
UPDATE: December, 2007

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: FINAL STAGES.
UPDATE: September 21, 2007

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Production: Almost Complete!
UPDATE: July 31, 2007

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

Nominations Posted
UPDATE: March 27, 2007

The nominations for the 2007 edition of Aether d'Animaux have been tallied, and the full list of nominations can be found here: [LINK]

[JOURNAL ARCHIVED]

>> The official Deadline to submit entries to Aether has been lengthend to January 1, 2007. You may submit as many times as you wish, within reason. You do NOT have to create new works! Existing works are fine!

>> Due to increased activity with Aether and the Aether FTP site, it has become difficult to connect in order to upload your materials. If you are having difficulty connecting to Aether FTP, you would be advised to wait and try again in 15 minutes or so. Or, you are also welcome to email the works to brian@intrinsikdesign.com. We can accept up to 10-megs per email.