catalogue ideas

Catalogue

Given a new project so here is one of the pieces I've created for it. I might add a long walk cycle underneath just to put it better into context. I've also finished the character models, MODELS! For the client project, will be working on the background this weekend.

 This are just the first 4 of the 17 I've created, going all the way through to modern age!

Anyway will update again when I can this weekend as I have to dash now

Witch Hagatha under the microscope - evaluation

So It all makes sense now as to why the animation evaluation didn't publish onto my blog, I just saved it, so it's a little late but that was just due to human error, here it is: With this project I spent a lot of time in the process and development of ideas and understanding the vital elements that make up a good animation. The final execution of the animation had gone through some changes, several in fact until I was satisfied. Had I had more time then the piece would maybe been able to include all the elements I wanted, but towards the end it was just having something produced to show that I understood the breakdown and process of character animation in 3ds max. I think I began to run out of time because I spent so much of it on the walk cycle. It was vital that I produced this well, I had put a lot of thought into the character of Witch Hagatha, I didn't want to have it ruined by poor animation. She couldn't have the standard walk because she was not built like other peoples in my class, she had character and she was big and heavy, she deserved to portrayed as such. I think I might have spent maybe a good month or so on her actual rig and walk cycle, perfecting it, showing her character. I thought about everything, down to the last detail, the bounce in her step the cocky swagger, the arms nearly lost beneath her shelf of a bossom. Every inch of her had a swing, from her shoulders to the individual fingers, I walked in front of the mirror hundreds of times taking notes sketching positions, I wanted her to look like a natural cartoon character. It didn't matter whether this was my first ever go at this, I had to get it right. Anyway Im really really happy with how she turned out, I may have added a little more bounce to her, but that is just me trying to be a perfectionist, I could haverobably spent forever on just that section. Another part of her character that needs some recognition is her facial reaction. I created her so she could have a whole range of expressions. Most of which I wasn't able to use in my short animation, but it deserved a mention due to the fact her face was modelled awkwardly, i didn't make life easy for myself at all in this project. She has one eye bigger than the other, her jawline is very slim which makes it difficult for the scream effect and 'o' shaped mouth expression, but I still accomplished all these feats. I really pushed her and my limits. She can wink, she can laugh, grimace, be thinking, confused, sly, feel rage, anger, sadness and all the subtle ones in between. The reason I created so many variations is because at first I might be able to use them all, but in the newer shortened version of the animation, I could only show a selection, for instance each time she flies screaming past the camera, each facial reaction is different. My most favourite bit of the piece though is when she is balancing just about ready to get onto the broom, breathing deep gaining the courage. I took so time on that section, from actually balancing her to the flicker of her fingers as she's about to get on. Then Hagatha's reaction to the broom unexpectedly shooting off with her. I might have sped up the actaully flying off up and away bit, but that Just me being picky. Although if there is one scene I would change it would be the close up of the finger wagging, it doesn't look natural enough, and I wished I didn't have to rush past it, time was very quickly running out. I also wished I could have shown more of the other elements rigs like the Broomstick and Hat, in the original version both of them were characters, but I had to just make the Broomstick a minor role and skip the hat all together. Overall I'm happy with the outcome, but the process to get there was difficult, I definitely challenged myself during this project and made many mistakes along the way, but I worked round all those limitation and produced something that I'm quite proud of. For instance I modelled Hagatha exactly how I drew it, and that was with bow legs. This made walking a bit of an issue as the knee was prone to weird twisting. Yet even though i made some pretty bad rookie mistakes, like her arms are a little short, the fact that fat characters are harder to animate, I had to create a neck for her as she doesn't have one in the drawings, or the fact she is has a wonderful oddly shaped body so rigging her was hell, I probably learnt so much more than what was intended, meaning my next animation will be so much better and I'll be able to push the limits even further creating better and better characters. Animations and cartoons are about pushing past the standard norms, blowing worldly limitations way out of the water and in this project I think Ive definitely started heading in the right direction in meeting those crucial requirements in becoming a good animation.

Location, Location Complete

Welcome into the dark and eerie cottage of the witch, now you know what it looks like on the inside of the sweetie cake covered house from Hansel and Gretel.



In Just a few days we have This

So this just shows how my Location, Location project is coming along. I've taken the roof off so its possible to see the layout more cleary inside. I'm hopefully going to have finished the modelling by tonight, so tomorrow can be based on lighting. Hopefully Roma will be around to help a little. Then render the finished thing on wednesday and had it in, well maybe leave it to render over tuesday night so I can just hand it in sooner or sort out any problems that may occur. Really really wish I had more time, just to develop the models more and have a bit more of a play around, not quite sure why all the deadlines are sooo close together especially as we have a month left with only a small side project to do, but oh well, it is just the way it is. I havent done too bad considering I've only seriously begun modelling and building for a few days now.

La Update

Taa daaa, getting there bit by bit, not as far a head as I like though.

Quick test Renders

Just some quick renders I thought I'd share with, just showing my progress, I'm planning to change the wooden beams to a darker wood, and the table should be finished by tomorrow morning, along with the chairs and then onto the fireplace. The fire place is going to be the hardest thing, might have to rethink that one, make it more oven like rather then so natural.

Update... Witch Hagatha and the New iPad

So my Silent Comedy story has had some radical changes due to time, body limitations, need for a better animation, and me being ill (Hence the reason for not updating sooner). Anyway I just wanted to share with you what I've created so far, I am literally now finishing up on the last scene, so I might hang on a little while before I actually show that, no point in showing half finished work when I'm sooo close to being done.
The story has been changed about 5 times now, I have three written up and two different storyboards, so you can see I've actually tried to work on some of them in my actual animation and decided no its not working. To be honest had I not changed it I might be finished by now, I've had a sneak preview of a few others and they havent concentrated on the story as much as me, its just about the animation, which is really good as that's all really Andy wants. I just can't be satisfied with that, I have to do every tiny bit, in fact there is a scene right at the beginning of my animation that I'm not quite happy with, and already thinking about re doing it all. Its very frustrating, but I havent got the time to dally, the longer I spend animating the more Roma's project, the Hansel and Gretel one, suffers.There is such a battle going on in my head, but I think I've made a decision because next teh area I'm choosing to do an in depth study in is Animation, its really important for me to get as much under my belt now.
Unfornately my poor little laptop couldnt take anymore, the powerful programs I'd been using like Mudbox, 3ds Max and Photoshop finally took its toll. So My grandparents and other family relatives have helped me invest in a new 32gb iPad 3 (birthday coming up), I know its not a great subsitute for a new laptop, but I am saving up to be able to build my own computer, so I'll be able to update it when ever needed, meaning that it'll never go out of date and will be a lasting thing. I feel there is definitely no point in buying a new laptop as after a few years they just can't cope. Which brings me to the reason why I have become an Apple Slave.
I can not afford a fancy flash imortal desktop computer just yet, but I do really need something for the summer while the Univesity computers are closed. It's ridiculous to not be able to do anything digitally creative for for 5 months. So after a good few months researching, and plenty of in depth conversations with my fiancee and family, I gave in. I'll use the iPad as a portable sketchbook, using "Apps" like Sketchbook Pro and Brushes, Autodesk 123d Sculpt, Moodboard Pro or Adobe Ideas,  Animation Desk and of course probably GarageBand or some kind of music creating app for my animations. I've aslo invested in the same stylus pen as David Hockney the Alupen, plus a hard case (don't want to damage something that costs more then my Bills). I hope this does help and change the way I work, which is very slow due to the process of transferring a rough sketch into a piece of digital Art work. I'll be able to create on the move which is the ideal thing, I understand there is a lack of pressure sensitivity but looking back I've struggled with that in my normal graphics tablet anyway.
Anyway I get it tomorrow, and hopefully I can hook it up to blogger and show some doodles or something, will also create some music for my animation. By the end of this week, we'll find out if it was a good investment or will it end up on ebay as part of a packaged with pen and case.

Test Renders of Hagatha

So here is a scene render, finally got all the props and the broom character, I don't know wether or not to add a a cat rig to the broom, so I might do that tomorrow. Anyway I can finally start really animating the story out tomorrow. Although it will be the altered shortened version. Anyway below is her walk cycle just a little longer:

I love shes sooo bouncy

Hagatha's Walk

So here is a short clip of her walking:

Test Render of Hagatha

Here is just a test render of Hagatha, just so I can see how she looks when moving. I've just done stills for the time being as they're just a test. More of an update for myself as its been a few weeks since being able to work on this project. I'm actually pretty happy with where I left it. I can't understand why I was getting so frustrated at the time with it. First time walking animation she's doing great.

Just needs her hat and eyes, and we'll be well on our way.

Pirate Camp - The Evaluation

Done! Here it is complete, so thus begins its evaluation;

When I first begain Maya, I expected to build everything in 3ds Max but soon realised how important it was learn Maya from the very beginning, no shortcuts. So everything has been created in Maya, it took a little while becoming accustomed to the interface and the loaction of all the tools, but i quickly was able to build my custom shelf and the Loft tool became my best friend. Below is a screen shot of my scene set up with the layers (also very very useful) along with the custom shelf I made for myself:

Anyway enough of modelling and Maya itself, I soon began my endeavour to understand dynamics and how it is used in Maya, and what a tool, some really very very interesting effects and they were so quick to master once you'd spent the time understanding it. I did spend a lot of time understanding it, I knew how really important it was to not just follow a step by step tutorial, but to understand why certain features affected the dynamics and what each element was. I did this with the help of Stuart Christensen and Pat Imier they didnt create tutorials for people just to follow and not learn, but more tutorials on helping you understand and learn why. This was so much more beneficial, and it shows, when I built the full scene, I built the fire right at the beginning with a step by step guide, I then came back to it and re created the fire again and added it later to my animation just to show my learning progress, you can really see the difference. The thing I am most proud of though is my shoreline, I know its not perfect but I made that from my own knowledge of particle dynamics, something I could not have done with the initial understanding. There are no tutorials, so guides, nothing, I could have chickened out and left it, but where is the fun in that. If I had more time I might have been able to play around a little more with it, but I'm happy with how it turned out, it isjust particles being emitted from a curve around the island, with a gravity and radial field applied.

The most fun to make was the opening sign at the beginning of the animation, making the cloth rip apart and flutter in the wind. This was the last thing to be made, and it really shows how much I had picked up by then, like the modelling of the rope around the outside, how the stretchiness affects a very poly filled ncloth.

Out of all of this, I now understand why the industry used Maya instead of 3ds Max, what it can achieve is fantastic. It is most definitely the thing to learn and i'm quite excited to do so, my crash course this week as been invaluable to me and to others that I've helped. I hope this short animation even with its unique twist, shows at least some of what I've learnt, unfortunately I couldnt fit it all in, I've learnt too much. For a first time go at the programe I can happily say I am quite happy with what I have achieved and I was still able to put a creative spin on it too, not just a boring scene walkthrough that just hits the criterias. But something a little quirky and interesting that brings it all together.

 

WHOOPAAH

I know its on a black background, but I'm playing around with fluid effects in Maya and this is what I came up with. I'm getting quite into this now. Can't believe I've been tring to put it off, what a fool I've been. Really enjoying this software, Maya is definitely creeping up to Max now, anyway I think I will defintiely be using this in My Pirate Camp, as I've also animated it to change as clouds do. Determination is the key. 

HAH MAYA

I'm winning!! So I began to modellling my pirate scene in 3ds Max, (cheating I know). Anyway Andy came over and soon put me back on the right track and told me how important it was to use Maya. Well the quick chat did the trick and from just being able to create a sphere and box, to now having learnt how to use the 'create polygon tool', 'extrude', 'interactive split tool', and 'Bend' tools succesfully in just under a few hours. HAH! oh and not forgetting the importance of deleting construction history. Anyway really pleased myself as there are no tutorials online about how to make a palm tree, I figured it out myself, best achievement of the day. Well anyway going to carry on with the trunk of the tree now.

FINALLY

Well Hagatha is finally back in 3ds Max, taken weeks to figure out what was happening with the seams, anyway, after a lot of trial and plenty of error, this is officially the best outcome of all my hard work. There are elements of course I'd like to improve but for animation and progression purposes I am happy with this. It does do something weird when rendered though, but I think that is mainly to do with materials. I can sort that later. I no longer have the patience to faff around. I just want to move forward!

2012 Showreel

So here it is, my first ever go at making a showreel, theres a lot that could be improved, but there is plenty there that shows the hardwork. The most important thing is how much I have come along in such a short space of time, and this really shows that. From having nothing for two years to suddenly being able to pull together a 2minute showreel, I wish I could add more into it showing my knowledge of all the programs I know, like after effects and Maya, but this will do for now. It can only get better as my own skills improve, i also think that my next one will be more conceptual based this one is all about what I've learnt my next one will be me not having to rely on that but show all the things I can accomplish. I have added my sketches onto the DVD just not into the Showreel, I have a good idea of what I'm going to do for that too when I get there. One step at a time though.
Anyway as promised here is my baby, can't wait to watch it grow:



Also want to apologise for the flickering I uploaded the wrong version to Vimeo, but u get the jist.

Showreel Menus

So here are the Title menus I have made for my Showreel DVD, I'm quite impressed with myself as I learnt Adobe Encore quite quickly, thank goodness!  Anyway I will be shortly sharing my actual showreel with u shortly, just though I would add my menus. I like how I've incorporated my work onto the pages in a non too evasive way, they're there subtly in the glass baubles. Again another thing I taught myself. I am getting there, I have almost begun to conquere 3ds max. After this I will also add the turntable video of Hagatha in Mudbox.

 Above is the main page, simple stylistic, straight to the point. And below is my extras page which has the full length film 'The Chess player' and also a slideshow of my sketches, as I feel that is very important to show if I'm slowly heading into the direction of concept artist.

I have also included a contact page, for further info. Being in Digital Multimedia I thought it was very important to use just digital forms of contact. Eventually I will change the Hotmail account into a web address, but for the time being it will do.

Tweaking and Playing

So I've re done the UVW Map to Hagatha, along with re doing her model in Mudbox. It was very flat and bland and I couldn't figure out why, but after a few discussions I realised that I hadn't been using my original design as a reference but just doing it from memory. Anyway by doing this it looked flat and dull, so I've gone back into Mudbox and started from scratch. So here is the difference now from the original image:

Original above, Below the Tweaked.

She is getting some real shape now in her torso, the "shelf" is more obvious and so is her stomache and bulge. The tweaking has just begun, this may put me back a little bit but there is no point in doing things in half measures.

Morning Play

Just been playing around with a tutorial by Andrew Kramer, it taught me about subtle ligthing and shadows.Still in the playing stage of the producion logo. Mini projects keep me learning new things. Especially the shadows I can use within a scene. Anyway I might do another. Will keep you updated

A helpful bit of Visualization of Hagatha

Just did a quick video of Hagatha, just to help me visualise her better. There are some flaws, but I'm going to leave her alone this week, before I start over workign her and lose interest. Bad I know, but I have to move and progress otherwise it gets stale quick. Anyway I'm currently working on a mini project for myself using 3ds Max. Its going to be my production logo, Kvasir Productions. Anyway its going ok modelling wise I'm about to start animating.

here is the title....