Rigging

Back for a new year!

Summer is now over, and I'm back for my second year at uni. Really excited for what's to come! Didn't really get up to much in my 3 month or so break. Practiced on maya quite a bit, and did some drawings in my sketchbook - mostly when I was out and inspired by something I saw.

I'm into my second week now, and have been given two projects - both which excite me very much. For the one, I had to choose one of two options for a project; Pre-Production or Post-Production. This was a very easy choice. I opted for Post-Production, as this interests me a whole lot more, and includes a few sides of the industry that I'm interested in, such as editing or adding the special effects or any computer generated imagery to a film, and compositing. We've already began learning how to use Nuke, which I find a great piece of software and easy to get the hang of.

The other project we're in groups of three, which were chosen by one of our lecturers. I think this is great, to work with people you're not familiar with, as this is what it will be like in the industry. All we've been given for this is this script:

'Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No'

Now this has to appear somewhere in the animation, whether spoken or a visual seen somewhere (such as on the side of a truck). It has to be between 60-90 seconds in length, and before Christmas we need to have an animatic completed, as well as the usual stuff like storyboard, story, designs, sound etc

I look forward to getting started on these projects as soon as I can. I'll need to sit down with my group sometime and discuss and plan what we're doing, and share any ideas. I'll post stuff as I go along, so look out for them :)

Our Title Sequence

 The music was created by David Arkenstone. The song is called 'The Quest'. So all credit goes to him.

Overall, fairly pleased with it. I know there isn't any actual animation in it but Richard Morrison wanted us to use live action footage, and we didn't want to be too complicated or add anything unneccessary. We were going to have an animation of Smaug's eye at the very end in a shot of a cave, and we did go ahead and create that. But once we added it in it just didn't look right, and was too cartoony for our liking. And unfortunately there wasn't really enough time to make a better version. With the titles we didn't want to animate them or go over the top, just simple fade in/fade out. Pleased with how we got it to fit with the music, I think that works well. And he use of the black screen helps to build tension I think. So, all in all, I think it works quite well as a title sequence. It isn't as good as I wanted it to have been, but I enjoyed working as a group and felt I came away from this with knowledge.

Example Of A Title

Just an example of one of the titles we used. I wanted a hand-drawn, un-even textured look to them. Just a simple font, nothing too fancy or complicated, that would fit in with the theme of The Hobbit. These were made in Photoshop and saved as GIFs. In the post production stages we wanted them to stand out more so gave them a very slight drop shadow, which helped significantly.

Logo Design Ideas/ Concept Drawings

This isn't my work, but Andrew Skelton's (who is a member of our group working on this assignment). The drawings just give you a rough idea on how the finished title sequence will look, and what we're aiming for. As in a way this was our own take on The Hobbit, we decided and thought it would be best if we came up with our own font and logo. Andrew made some brilliant designs, and while we haven't fully decided which one to go for, we like the idea of Smaug (the dragon) wrapped around the 'O'. But then we went further and thought how great it would be if he was animated, so his wings go from a flight to folded position, and his tail swings and wraps around the 'O'.

Did the filming!

Went off to do our filming on Wednesday :) Took a train up to a place called Luxulyan Valley, near Par. Great location, full of trees and foilage, and away from any roads or settlements - just what we needed. Spent most of the day there, just taking everything in and shooting as much footage as we could - pretending we were hobbits by keeping the camera low at all times. Got some great panning scenery shots too! All in all, a very productive day. Came back with what we wanted, played around with the footage a bit in After Effects, and next week is when we go into post production! :) Well on our way.

Back for a new term! :D

Wow sorry this post is so late! Really should have done this earlier haha :D

Anyways, this terms project is to create a title sequence based on one of the five briefs we were given. This is a group project, and we decided to choose the brief which needed to us to select a radio show, imagine it's being created for film or television, and make a title sequence for it. In the end we chose the 1968 BBC Radio adaption of The Hobbit, as we came up with a great idea as to what to do.

We had to pitch our ideas to Richard Morrison, who if you're unware of him, has worked on many title sequences including those for Sweeney Todd and Enemy at the Gates. Seemed like a great guy and gave us some really great feedback. We took a lot from our presentation to him.

So basically, our idea is to find a wooded/forest location and film footage as if we are a hobbit, so keeping the camera at a low height and just explore the woods and walk around the trees and scamper around the foilage. The title sequence is going to be as if your looking through the eyes of a hobbit (first person) as we want to show the audience what the world is like and how much bigger it seems to a hobbit. There will be some sort of narrative, but I don't want to reveal that just yet :) Let's just say it's going to have a bit of journey from one thing to another, and we're going to use the camera to set the mood and feelings of the hobbit. We're set to film sometime this week, and then next week in post production we're going to edit together the footage and play around with it, adding effects and the credits. We'll most likely colour grade it as well, to give it more of a fantasy look. We have the music sorted, and it pretty much the typical style you find in fantasy films, so it goes really well!

Anyways, many apologies for such a long awaited post! Will update as much as possible on how we're progressing :)

Concept Art

These needed to have a Gulliver/Lilliputian theme, where characters or objects are out of proportian with other things around them. Pretty happy with them!

Finished 3D Environment

Here is my completed kitchen! I must say I am pretty happy with it! Definitely my favourite assignment to date, and can't wait to do more modelling!

Flash Project Research

All these photographs are taken by me. Wanted to find some inspiration for my animation, and to help me create it. So went out with a camera and took LOTS of pictures (these shown are only a few of what I captured haha...may have got a little carried away!). Sorry for uploading them so late, just been pre-occupied with other stuff! :)

Maya Modelling Continued

Just carrying on with the kitchen in maya. Given some of the objects colours and my textures. Still have a way to go but as always just wanted to show how I'm progressing :)

UPDATE

Here I have added a few more of my textures, and have inserted some lighting. Still a few more things I need to texture/colour such as the blinds and washing machine, and sort out the texture on the rug. There's also shadows to contend with and I'll need to adjust the lighting a lot more, but overall it is getting there! :) I am really enjoying this project! Definitely something I want to do more as, and CGI modelling has always been my thing ever since I was little!

Maya Modelling Continued

Been working more on my kitchen in Maya. Haven't got much left to do before I can start on textures and lighting. Just need to finish the washing machine and bin, and make the items on the surface :)

Flash Project Animatic

My animatic for my Flash project. This isn't exactly how I would have wanted, and as you'll read below, I came across a few problems and didn't have the time to rectify them. As you can see I have done the camera shots, a few expressions with the eyes and eyebrows, wing movement and added the dialogue. I would have liked to have added more movement and some different lip synching just to more clearly show what I'm going for, but you'll see this in my animation. The dialogue is me reading from a rough script I wrote. I may make one or two changes but overall that is what will be said in my animation. Obviously for the animation I will have proper voice acting and not me talking in a cheap mic with bad quality haha. I intended from the start to make my animation funny, and hopefully you find it raises one or two slight laughs! I have a stupidly funny sense of humour, so it may just be me who finds it amusing though! There are many animations which are very simple, but what makes them is the story and how it's all put together. And that is the path I am heading towards. :)

UPDATE
I had a few problems with my animatic :( I don't know, maybe I've just over done it lately and made myself overly tired or something, I don't know. Yesterday I literally worked 12 straight hours on projects and stuff so maybe that's it. But I just can't seem to get it to work properly, and I need to hand it in by tonight.

The general jist is that the shots shown in the animatic will be in my final animation, and there will be lip synching and reactions (such as when the one character says "ewwwwwwwwwwwww") using different eye and eyebrow symbols. I will be using camera movement as well, in the beginning (it will focus on the character to the right and zoom out to the whole screen) and at the end (where it will zoom in on them and sort of pass them to focus on the buildings in the backgrounds). There won't be that much body movement with the characters, with mostly just them moving their wings. Most of the time their eyes will be focused on each other, but at the start the character to the right will be looking down. I hope to make up the lack of movement with the animation of the eyes. I also plan to have the clouds slowly move across the sky, just to add that extra detail. And regarding the sound, I will use the same script but with better voice acting and quality, and by further adding background noise (by going into town and recording birds and the wind and passers by, etc)

Flash Project Pre-Production 3

This is my finished background and two characters. Pretty much all ready to animate, but I have to start on the animatic, storyboard and touch up and finalize my script first. You've probably noticed that my background is different to the one that I intented to use at the beginning. I pretty much just had a change of heart. I felt the original background was boring and didn't have much going on, and I really wanted some simple foilage and the chance to add some blur effects, which I wouldn't have been able to with the old one. Hopefully you agree that this new background is much better and more effective. As there only going to be three shots in total (the one shown and the other two close ups of the characters) I feel this background will complement that also. By this I mean with my old design, the close up shot would just have in my opinion a boring background of roof tiles. And this would be the same for both characters. While for this background, the backgrounds for the close ups will be different for both characters, and also I can still have the clouds animated. Anyways, I hope you like! :D

UPDATE

Changed the colour of the tree trunk and gave it a linear fill style. Thought it would improve it slightly.



UPDATE

Here are my other two close up shots :)

Flash Project Pre-Production 2

I'm now starting on my animatic, and so far have began making one of my pigeon characters. I thought the easiest way to do this was to import a saved PNG of the early design of the character, so then I could trace over the top of it on a new layer in Flash. Just thought I'd show you what I'm doing so far! :)

UPDATE

Here I have just finished creating the parts of this character, and have now coloured and symbolized them. All simple stuff, but I want to show my processes anyway.

UPDATE

And here are my now two completed characters, both all symbolized and each symbol on their own layer.

UPDATE

These are revised versions of my two characters. I've changed the colours to have a linear colour look, as pigeons have different shades of greys and whites on their feathers, so I thought it would suit them well.

If possible, please can I have some feedback on which of the two colour variations I should go with. :)

Maya Modelling

Really enjoying this project so far. About a month back we had to take pictures for reference for modelling, and I chose my kitchen, as I thought it would be a great choice with the angle and the shapes on offer. (I will upload my photo when I find it!) And today I've began to model the kitchen units, washing machine and bin (obviously they aren't completed yet) First time modelling and I have to say I'm pleased with what I've done so far.
UPDATE

Here's my photo reference!

My loverly kitchen haha!

Flash Project Pre-Production

These are my character designs for my Flash project. From the get go when I read the brief and saw the theme was "My life at Falmouth", one thing popped to mind: pigeons! Few weeks ago I had a very funny encounter with pigeons, so I that's why they popped to mind. I'd also thought they would be fun to design and create in Flash, and possibly pose a challenge when animating them!

So above are my designs for the pigeons. I wanted a cartoony look to them, and to look like pigeons...but also not to, if you know what I mean haha. I think my favourite is the bottom right. Once coloured in greys and whites, it should look like a pigeon...but I like the fact that it isn't EXACTLY like one. Because I'm going to have two of them in my animation, I will differentiate them by subtle colour changes and possibly change the size of one slightly.

I have inked my two favourite designs (I know they aren't that great, still getting used to my tablet!) and shown colours which I will be using. Below them are my two set designs. I want them on a ledge talking whilst people walk beneath them. I think having the people adds more detail and I can also then add recorded voices and crowds.

These are my basic designs, and once I have chosen which pigeon design I want, I will then ink it again (but better) and add colour, which will then be my final design which I will use when I create them in Flash. Can't wait! :D

This is my turnaround! Decided to go with this design in the end as I thought it was overall a better design and is more of the look I wanted from the beginning. Next thing I'm going to do is ink the character (this time much better...hopefully!) and add colour. That will then be my final finished character, which I will then make in Flash!

This is my basic finished designs for my two pigeon characters. I didn't want to differentiate them to much, because I wanted to get the idea across that pigeons can look all the same haha. But obviously I had to change them slightly, so I decided just to have one slightly thinner and taller, and with a lighter coat. His hair is also different, as is his position of the eyes, as I made them a little closer.

I wanted the designs to have sort of a rough, somewhat childish style to them (as if they look hand drawn) and this is what I want, and will carry on into photoshop. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. Of course I would have liked them to be slightly better in quality, but as I've stated, I'm still practising with my tablet, and trying to find the perfect set-up for me in photoshop, which I haven't quite managed yet! :)

This is just a rough idea on how my animation will look and what my background will be. I've decided to have them on a pipe near a roof of a building, and I've messily just displayed what sort of colours will be used and to mark out the window, tiled roof, brickwork etc. Still don't know whether or not I shall add passers-by underneath. Depends on how much time I'll have. I'd definitely try to add them if I can and if it goes well. I might decided later on that it may not be suitable or something. I'll add the final environment once I have done it, but I do know what I want for it.

Well, I've had a couple of fun days doing this! Can't wait to put it all into Flash and start animating!

Photoshop Sketch

My first ever drawing using a graphics tablet in Photoshop. I just wanted to draw a simple human figure, and as you can see from the screenshot, I began with a skeleton and then moved onto sketching the basic figure on a new layer. Once I done that, I started inking. This is all I've done so far, and will continue on it by adding more detail (such as the face) and adding colour, and will upload the finished drawing.

It is my first drawing using a tablet, so excuse the fact that it isn't the best drawing in the world. This is purely just getting used to the tablet. I do need time and practice, which I am doing at the moment. I spent most of today just doodling on Photoshop, and overall this one took about 10-15 minutes. I absolutely love drawing this way now, and will keep on drawing with my tablet and hopefully get better and better! :)

Maya Lighting

Experimenting with lighting and shadows in Maya. Found this very fun, and possibly a route I could venture towards. I learned and am now familiar with the different types of lighting, including spot lights, ambient lights and directional lights. Before this I was already aware of things like materials such as Blinn and Lambert. I also practised with the penumbras and drop offs with shadows, which determines how hard or soft you want the shadows to be .

There are two types of shadow in CGI
 - Shadow maps (very fast, more of a projection than a shadow, complicated)
 - Raytraced shadows (mental ray, easy, high render times)

The two images above just show how lighting affects the different materials assigned to the four objects. I am aware that there isn't any shadows (which I'm unsure why, because they should be there; will check back with that later!) bounce light or transparent shadows, unfortunately I just didn't have the time to include them. But overall, I very much look forward to more lighting in the future...very fun! :)

After Effects Smiley!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03R3dnUPQEc