Smoke & Mirrors, episode 6 of the SFM TF2 animation series – The Scratched Universe. This is Part 2 of the episode.
PATREON ► https://www.patreon.com/Blackimus
TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/BlackimusSFM
SIX months of development for this second part. This episode was really ambitious, difficult, tedious and rewarding to make. As always, I absolutely hated making the action scenes, so I hope you’re happy with the result. Although this episode was an incredibly difficult step in the channel, I am extremely proud of the result! This will not bring a new norm for future episodes in terms of video length, I’m not doing that.
With 383GBs of HDD space and 270994 frames, this is the most ambitious and biggest episode I’ve ever written, and it’ll probably stay like that for a long time. Though I am proud of the result, I do not want to do this all the time. It took 6 months to develop; the script was so big it made Word lag for a few seconds when saving; insane amounts of dialogue and voice acting. We finally reached the 1 hour long mark!
CREDITS:
1. Source Filmmaker and Team Fortress 2 assets – owned by Valve
2. Any and all custom content assets (SFM and GMod’s Steam Workshop; TF2Maps.net; mods.tf) used throughout the video belong to their rightful owners from the communities!
SPECIAL THANKS:
1. kits.ai; 15.ai; Überduck; Elevenlabs – used in the entire video;
2. HoovyTube – for his SFM workshop particle addons;
3. All my friends for helping me be motivated and push forward. You know who you are.
4. Every single person who’s helped me reach this far. I love you all.
VOICE ACTORS:
– Kirstin/Kirby – @kirbysuniverse (Instagram, Twitter)
(Voice of Cinder)
– Mitchell Hargis – https://twitter.com/TheYoungEphraim
(Voice of Terge and Heavy Guy)
MUSIC:
1. Area 51 – Black Combat 1
2. Area 51 – Blue Combat 3
3. Area 51 – Alien Base 1
4. Borderlands – Main Menu theme
5. Halo Infinite OST – Griffin’s Death
6. Royalty Free Music from TwistedTracks
7. Dying Light 2 – Demolisher/Goon Theme
8. Dying Light 2 – Joy of Parkour
9. Dying Light 2 – Empowering Yourself
10. SOMA OST – Jin Yoshida (obviously)
11. Dead Space – Welcome Aboard the U.S.G. Ishimura
12. JoJo Stardust Crusaders – Dio’s World
13. JoJo Stone Ocean – Weather Report Theme
14. JoJo Golden Wind – Coercion
#sfm #TF2Animation #TF2 #TF2Series #ScratchedUniverse #sfmanimation
source
Here it is! The biggest project I've ever done! 6 months of pure agony went into this. Consider subbing, and maybe share the word if you want to so we can reach more people.
PATREON ► https://www.patreon.com/Blackimus
TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/BlackimusSFM
Blackimus with another crazy episode! I love this universe that youve created, tf2's wackiness combined with everyday life, going to tours as a job etc. i just cant stress enough how much i love this. Please keep up the good stuff and thank you!
Anyone know the music playing at 35:21? Figuring its Royalty Free Music from TwistedTracks but Im not sure.
You did it Blackimus! I am so so proud of you for persevering, working, and most importantly, delivering! You stuck with it to the end. Take a break now, rest and recover. You did so much for us, and we are all very proud of you!
ngl u created another masterpiece… i seriously wathced it twice bcs it so goddamn good. im rly lookin forward for episode 7
58:37 did soldier just shotgun-pump a garand 😂
1 hour and 17 minutes this is a full length movie,that why is took so long
Is the pyro female??
After 1 hour and 17 minutes of pure greatness my man you deserve a good break. Please dont give up on the series its just too good to drop. Freakin love you and these SFM movies. Take a nice break and please keep us updated when you will start to make new episodes.
All of this, in under 7 months? You deserve a rest, but thank you
18:31 im no sure but i think this is the polnareff me of him getting teleported by dio back to the begining of the stairs over and over again.
Amazing work as always. I hope P-Rick will make an appearance again.
This was the best movie i have ever seen,thanks for the wonderful experience,and i and the rest of your subs await for your next masterpiece,take your time.
我喜歡整個項目，它比 2022-2023 年的大多數電視節目都要好得多。你需要為此獲得一個獎項！
Damn, that was pretty badass. The Distorted Soldier captain, Heavy Guy's new powers, the supercharged V.A.C. team, and our new glimpse at the walkers' leader (and the three merc stooges). Such cool character designs. I wonder how Fixer and the gang will factor into this new world of superbeings… really looking forward to the next episode!
God damn Man, its get better and better, keep it up, and Hope episode 7 comes faster than this one 😂
I like your videos
20:18 That slap was personal
I have so much to say about this episode. Apologies in advance.
First off, the general stuff. My guy… over an hour long??!! The dedication. The drive. The SFM spaghetti. My lord it must have been equally rewarding as it was a pain to complete this in this quality. There’s subtle grain and noise in the backbone, as well as a slight reverb with the voices that hammers home how desolate it is. The subtitles glitch and shift rather than fade in when the more powerful Distorted shed their disguises. Micro-expressions in facial animations. MORE VOICE ACTORS!!!! Hearing Turge’s voice, then Cinder, and then Heavy Guy’s end of episode internal monologue! I expected VAs in your Slice Of Life series, so I short-circuited when they started talking in TSU. Your script and dialogue is stellar already, but the VAs did a fantastic job adding subtle tension, joy, and in Cinder’s case, fondness, to their voices. And let’s not forget the fight scenes. This entire episode was action on action with a sprinkling of humor and reprieve, so your choreography really took center stage. Each episode it just continues to improve, both with physical head-on action and the stands. This episode opened up stands’ potential and abilities, and in Heavy Guys’ case… I’ll get back to that in a moment.
Next up, the title. Smoke and Mirrors, by definition, means when something is intended to make you believe that something is being done or is true, when it is not. In Part One that meaning was pretty self explanatory. It’s an introduction to a character literally named Smoke who doesn’t look the norm and story beats such as power malfunction when in reality it’s an ambush, and we’re ‘V.A.C’ when in reality we all have stands. But in Part Two it goes absolutely wild. Intentional or not, there’s some internal smoke and mirrors happening. Fixer, who, when talking about Railway United, lies about his own situation, because of survivors guilt, I bet, but clouding the truth to himself and others nonetheless. Smoke, lying to Cinder about their current situation, for her good, but still a lie. K.I.A seeing the death of his VAC Allie’s in the shape of this new team he has become a part of, only finally removing that clouded vision (literally seeing his eyes not obscured by the hat) once Smoke is finally a part of the team, and saying goodbye to Ace.
Alright, if I don’t stop talking about this it’s going to be multiple paragraphs of allegory. Moving on to the specific characters.
Heavy Guy is getting some pretty stellar advice and a power boost from a downright nasty looking Oni. I sure hope this doesn’t come back to bite him in the future. And the absorbing of the souls of other defeated Distorted, while pretty cool, is also somewhat ominous. Very glad to get his backstory that he’s always had his stand, which makes this whole ancestry/bloodline thing fascinating, but I also worry about the future implications with his apparent immunity to the flash. I theorize that he wasn’t immune, but we’ll see.
For KIA, saying ‘going through some stuff this episode’ is an understatement. In the beginning, with the camera stare down, I was wondering why he reacted the way he did. Then I realized that the soldier is wearing the same helmet as the VAC Heavy in Episode One, and also holding a mini-gun. That’s not a coincidence, that’s full on psychological warfare, and I think the Distorted know that. Honestly, this entire two parter has really fleshed out this dynamic between the Distorted and KIA. They more than recognize KIA, they’re profiling him. Really makes me think of how long he was fighting Distorted solo until now. The team is helping him move on, which is great, I just hope it doesn’t turn into a full blown self-sacrificial streak. The whole “See you soon, Ace” and him pushing himself so far that his healing factor doesn’t stop the effects, purple-eyed, moments are really beginning to sound some alarms in my head.
Smoke. You really didn’t HAVE to do the character death set up. You didn’t HAVE to make me really care about them and their relationship with Cinder, delve deeply into their background, and all the little troupes that scream from anyone versed in watching anime “WE’RE GOING TO KILL OFF THIS CHARACTER SOON.” And then you drove an arrow through Smoke’s head. I screamed in real life. You made me scream, and then laugh when I realized Smoke had switched the damage of the arrow with a health pack, like you showed with the mini-gun earlier. You mad lad.
Fixer, as stated above, is going through some very self-deprecating thoughts as well as survivors' guilt. He’s trying to swap around what actually happened, to others and in his own head, to try and relieve himself of his guilt, when in reality falling asleep might have saved his life. There was nothing he could have done in that situation without losing his own life, and he is really having a hard time coming to terms with that. It’s going to break him down if he doesn’t address the feelings head on. Which, for a guy like Fixer, is a bit ironic.
The Special VACs. Hoo boy. Their abilities are INTERESTING. I don’t have much more to say, yet. Have to see them in action a bit more before I can rule out if it’s assisted by technology, innate abilities, or a mix of the two.
Finally, some extra things I noticed. Very nice to see some characters who already became Distorted appear in Smoke’s flashbacks. Veerus makes their reappearance, as well as a few other big bads, including the top of this Distorted hierarchy, we’ll get more info on all of them later I assume. Also the fact that THEY’RE IN ACTUAL SPACE. And creating some of those Distorted artificially. The drop pods make much more sense now. You’re feeding us the breadcrumbs. Excited for it to all come together, eventually. This episode deserves you the highest praise and a well-deserved break.
That’s it for my rambling. Hope this makes any sense at all. I’m going to grab a drink and watch the entire series again just to see what other pieces I can put together from this.
I can't wait for more of this… It has me interested.
terge and skippers voice actors are the best and most accurate voices i heard
When the alien says parancsnok it actualy means commander in hungarian
This is probably the most creative use of stand powers I've ever seen a personal project use. I adore it.
HOW THE HELL DOSE THIS GUY NOT HAVE 1M SUBS AT THIS POINT YOU SEE THEASE ANIMATIONS?
Not to get all worried or stressed but how long will ep7 take to be made
hot damn im kinda hyped for the seventh
🤩 wow
Lol I saw a lot of borderlands references, the music when demo was talking about the badlands and at the end zero was spy.
Heavy guy has unlocked the Hanma blood and has evolved into Yujiro hanma( or Baki because of the stance 59:32 ?) also, great work Blackimus!!!!!! I really thought I was watching an actual Tv series from the awsome story writing and character development of the characters
Nah heavy actually has grar 5 now
I feel like soldier can do a ultrakill reference.
mf doom
It's so funny that I decided to check in after 4 months and I'm 2 days off from the moment you release episode 6. I can't believe this over an HOUR. You went and made a whole movie and I'm gonna have to give it the viewing experience it deserves. More to come soon 🙂
Communication Relay 227
Event Log 9/25/64 00.10
– – CONFIDENTIAL VAC FILE – –
00.10.54 Unauthorized personnel detected at perimeter. Security forces notified.
00.12.43 Connection lost with ground facility. Reconnecting…
00.13.21 Connection reestablished with ground facility.
00.13.23 Received priority alert, code red from ground facility.
00.13.27 Establishing uplink…
00.13.54 Connection failed. Retrying…
00.14.13 Connection failed. Retrying…
00.14.27 Connection timeout. Operator terminal unlocked. Maintenance check requested.
00.16.13 Unknown armed individuals detected at uplink facility. Security forces notified.
00.22.40 Internal sensor telemetry desynced. Reconnecting…
00.23.17 Connection failed. Retrying…
00.23.48 Connection failed. Retrying…
00.24.07 Connection timeout. Maintainence check requested.
00.24.32 Uplink facility disconnected from ground facility primary generator. Entering low power mode…
03.11.03 Uplink facility on-site secondary generator activated from operator console.
03.11.48 Diagnostic checks completed.
03.11.49 Establishing uplink…
03.12.01 Uplink established. Transmitting priority alert…
03.12.56 Transmission complete. Logging event for operator review…
– – CONFIDENTIAL VAC FILE – –
Unauthorized viewing is punishable by prosecution.
If I could have a question added to the QnA I'd ask…
"How did you come up with the various Distorted Variants like the Bulwark, Bruiser, Whimmers and the like?"
Loving this series keep up the fantastic work ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This distorted virus needs to end
Don't know how I never heard of this series before, thank Kirby's Universe for introducing a whole new group to your amazing animations.
Plot twist: Jumpsuit was Fixer's stand all along
So i just came across part 1 and 2 of ep6 and im already fucking hooked!
The action is great and the flow of the sfm is really solid!
Also really like how you handled Smoke and thier identity :3
W