Interview with DesireSFM
There are occasions where, at best, I haven’t been able to understand the appeal of something and at worse, been dismissive of it. But then you’re shown something that almost forces you to understand the appeal. That’s what happened when I saw the work of, DesireSFM. I was more-so the former in my feelings of animated porn - never dismissive but just assumed that this was one of those things that wasn’t for me. I came across his Twitter and saw clips from, 'The Golden Grain' a part of the 'Corruption of the Lodge' series. The animation was incredible; no repeated loops, or clunky movement. Instead, it was like a live recording where every frame seemed to subtly or dramatically differ from the last. The sound design and voice acting was incredible too and again added to the production value and overall immersiveness of it.
This is almost a follow up to the review I did of Triana Devine, another animated content creator in a different way. DesireSFM was gracious enough to grant me this interview, to further my understand of this art form.
(May' 2023)
The Premium Reviewer: What age did you realise you were an artist and in what kind of things were you initially drawing or creating?
DesireSFM: I started making films (not porn) when I was still at school. But it never went beyond a hobby. Although, I even won a small film prize once. In my early 20s I also made video game movies as a hobby before I discovered animated porn and thought: Hey, you can do that too.
TPR: Your Twitter bio says you’ve been creating NSFW animation since 2016, why did you pivot into this style of animation?
DSFM: As for probably many other NSFW artists today, 2015's “Bioshag: Trinity” was the eye-opener for me as it was the first video game porn that could generate big buzz outside the porn scene and thus also reached me. This film made me want to try out 3D animation and after about a year of training I dared to show my work in public for the first time.
TPR: I’m not super knowledgeable about the process of animation, so can you please explain the process of you making these animations, including what Source Filmmaker is? And how does it differs from creating traditional animation.
DSFM: Source Filmmaker has an animation technique that doesn't seem to exist in any other software, called Motion Editor that does without the work with keyframes, but that would probably be too nerdy now. Apart from this, SFM is unfortunately nowadays a completely outdated software that is also no longer maintained and is being replaced more and more by Blender in the scene. But it was still very important, because it is much more beginner-friendly than Blender and accordingly gave people completely unfamiliar with the subject, like me, a chance to learn how to animate.
When animating, I like to rely on real porn-references, so that the timing of a pose is right, for example. Once you have the rhythm, you go from there into the details. A little more momentum here, a little less power there and of course jiggle, jiggle, jiggle.
TPR: I remember hearing, a few years ago, that it took/takes close to a year to animate an episode of the Simpsons. How long did it take you to complete your recent project?
DSFM: In the past only a few months, but my last film took me almost 2 years with interruption. The demands of the audience, but also of myself, are increasing, so more and more details and more elaborate animations are needed. But I don't see an alternative to that either, because if you don't push boundaries, the work gets boring for me very quickly. I like the challenge and above all the feeling of having created something new that was not possible for me before.
In the future, however, I would like to return to shorter development cycles by keeping runtimes around 10 minutes, as working on just one project over such a long period of time can really wear you out.
TPR: One of the most impressive parts of The Golden Grain was the sound design. It sounded like most of the sounds/foley were made from scratch and not from a library pack. If you were the sound designer, can you please explain that process too?
DSFM: Almost all sounds actually come from online libraries, soundpacks and commissions. Apart from the voices, of course. For those, we have a wonderful scene of superb voice actresses. I usually provide them with draft renders so that they can find the right rhythm for their recordings, or adapt the animations to their voices in story scenes..
TPR: I love that you have commented on your focus being to create longer form content with structure and a story, which can be definitely seen in the 'Corruption of the Lodge' series. You even have taken the steps to add foreign subtitling too, which will help to further it’s reach.
Have you got bigger aspirations to maybe have a full studio with other animators and creatives, in the future - or what are some of your future plans?
DSFM: I already work with others. For example, I know great people who write the scripts for me, because as a non-native English speaker I prefer to keep my hands off this part of movie making.
But apart from that, I'm very bad at handing in work. Animations, lighting, sound, editing - I do it all myself, which is actually stupid. But I just like having complete creative control. Unfortunately, I haven't yet discovered a middle ground that is acceptable to me.
TPR: You seem to have a great fanbase that supports you not only on social media but monetarily, via your Patreon.
What advice can you give to people in the creative field, trying to garner an audience that supports their creative endeavours too?
DSFM: No one should ever ask me for tips on social media. Outside of Patreon and discord, I only use Twitter and I post there maybe one time per month because I feel like I'm annoying people if I post more tweets. I'm probably old-fashioned in that respect, but if I don't have anything relevant to say, I'd rather keep my mouth shut.
What saves me here is that virtually everyone watches porn and accordingly one's own work is uploaded almost by itself on all possible platforms and thus naturally finds distribution. SFW artists don't have this luxury.
TPR: From afar, it seems like this subsection of the adult community is quite community orientated and collaborative. It seems to be less cliquey and more supportive - at least from looking on Twitter.
Is this an an accurate representation and if so, do you think that this is born out of the need to collaborate or is it something more wholesome?
DSFM: Overall, I think we are blessed with a very friendly community that is not only extremely motivating but also gives really constructive feedback. I know that there are also corners of the R34-internet where you immediately get hate if your own work doesn't correspond exactly to the ideas of the person who is giving the hate, but you can also fade out these corners quite effectively.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case on the internet, women have a much harder time than men in the scene, because far too many guys simply can't behave. Fortunately, this doesn't apply among the artists themselves. Here, as in the gaming industry, people help and appreciate each other wherever possible.
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TPR: With technology becoming better and more accessible - and with the growing capabilities of AI, do you think your work could become affected negatively or be more beneficial to you, in the future?
DSFM: I don't think our profession will still exist in a few years.
Of course, many people try to defend art against AI copies, but the masses won't be interested in whether a human or an AI is behind an animated film. And as fast as AI has developed in the last two years, it won't be long before humans can no longer keep up with AIs in animation. Especially in porn, where most people really don't care about things like story and such.
But you can also look on the bright side. In a few years, everyone will be able to create their own favorite porn at the push of a button. That's almost utopian, I would say.
TPR: What’s your favourite content you've made or been a part of, so far- and where can readers get it?
DSFM: Actually, always the current one. In this case, "Corruption of the Lodge - The Golden Grain".
You can find it everywhere on the internet, but of course it would be nice if people would support me for future movies on Patreon.com/desiresfm. or follow me on twitter.com/desiresfm for (rare) updates. ;-)
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