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I've had several people reach out to me asking how I did this project.
I've always believed in idea sharing. I wouldn't be in sports if people didn't help me get here.
I spent hundreds of hours putting this together, and here's how it went ...
[THREAD]
I've always believed in idea sharing. I wouldn't be in sports if people didn't help me get here.
I spent hundreds of hours putting this together, and here's how it went ...
[THREAD]
As with any large-scale project, laying a roadmap is a good first step.
To get the highest quality imagery to work with, I used my sister's old laptop to play Backyard Baseball.
I figured out the dimensions the entire draft board was going to require.
To get the highest quality imagery to work with, I used my sister's old laptop to play Backyard Baseball.
I figured out the dimensions the entire draft board was going to require.
The first box was checked.
I figured out I was going to have to draw a landscape (1920x720) background and place each player on the board individually. If I utilized a landscape video, I could animate movement on a 960x720 screen.
I used Adobe Illustrator and got to work.
I figured out I was going to have to draw a landscape (1920x720) background and place each player on the board individually. If I utilized a landscape video, I could animate movement on a 960x720 screen.
I used Adobe Illustrator and got to work.
I noted which players sat next to each other and at what frequency they animated.
I started with the backdrop and then moved on to drawing each Backyard character individually. I remember sitting in a coffee shop in January already regretting my decision.
I started with the backdrop and then moved on to drawing each Backyard character individually. I remember sitting in a coffee shop in January already regretting my decision.
I made my way through the Backyard characters and began drawing Tribe players.
My first was Francisco Lindor, followed by Hosey.
The issue all along on finishing this to completion was not knowing what the (at the time) 26-man was going to look like.
My first was Francisco Lindor, followed by Hosey.
The issue all along on finishing this to completion was not knowing what the (at the time) 26-man was going to look like.
I ended up drawing 5 or 6 extra players that were never used.
Once I got the landscape video with all the animations (the one that was used for the final project is below), I drew the overlays (arrows, etc.).
I used Adobe Premiere Pro for the video portion of this, btw.
Once I got the landscape video with all the animations (the one that was used for the final project is below), I drew the overlays (arrows, etc.).
I used Adobe Premiere Pro for the video portion of this, btw.
What you don't see in that video above, is the players I believed were going to be in the lineup, were on their own individual layers, so that I could hide them once they were drafted.
I exported individual landscape videos per pick with the layers drafted hidden.
I exported individual landscape videos per pick with the layers drafted hidden.
I had a separate project file for the video with the overlays and animated the mouse and player ratings on the screen.
I had a player card file as well where I had the illustrated player card and could easy swap in the player being drafted and flip on/off the baseballs.
I had a player card file as well where I had the illustrated player card and could easy swap in the player being drafted and flip on/off the baseballs.
After each pick was, I had the draft boards animate up to reveal the pick.
One of the creators of Backyard Baseball was kind enough to exchange emails with me and helped me identify some fonts, and he was SUPER helpful.
That was dope.
One of the creators of Backyard Baseball was kind enough to exchange emails with me and helped me identify some fonts, and he was SUPER helpful.
That was dope.
I animated the left-to-right animation. An issue I discovered with the mouse and that animation was that they weren't smooth animations, rather skipped along, so each frame was an individual movement (left-to-right was 4 pixels at a time).
I drew the team photo page and flipped in the right players on Opening Day, and the same goes for the lineup page.
We shot the Tito video in Spring Training (no, he didn't a CD drive in his laptop -- he slid it underneath). He didn't know what Backyard Baseball was.
We shot the Tito video in Spring Training (no, he didn't a CD drive in his laptop -- he slid it underneath). He didn't know what Backyard Baseball was.
We didn't finalize the 30-man until Opening Day, so that was stressful. I had set up the final project file to just be plug and play, so that streamlined the process once I got the 30-man.
Hundreds of hours later, I clicked send on the tweet and felt a sense of relief.
Hundreds of hours later, I clicked send on the tweet and felt a sense of relief.
This is the condensed version of months of work in the midst of a pandemic with uncertainty of whether Opening Day was actually going to get here.
Shoot me a DM if you have questions!
Shoot me a DM if you have questions!
