Monday, February 23, 2009

turnaround... sorta


So yeah when you try to animate a turn around in 3D in one day... the results aren't always that pretty. It was a good test of the rig though and I see what needs to be fixed... need to adjust the weights on the neck, I'll probably ditch that cluster in the chest that was causing all sorts of problems... and the knees were bending a little funny when the pole vectors weren't keyed right... but overall he works better than I had expected.

This was also a good chance to give myself a target render for the quality I want to produce... with raytrace shadows turned on this was about a 5 hour render. I like the look though so I'm going to aim to as close to this as possible... and maybe I can give myself about a week just for rendering....

rigging... DONE




3 whole days of blood sweat and tears... but Marv works! I faced a lot of issues... originally had a spline on the arms with a pole vector for the elbows... but it kept wigging out so I took a look at the pixar rig we used and set up the arms similar to that... about 16 blend shapes for the face... buckles on the feet will probably have to go since they go up into the boot in a reverse foot roll... had to shrink the belt a bit too to free up the hips a bit. So hopefully I can get the turn around done for Tuesday.... hopefully. Oh... and rig all the other models!

Monday, February 16, 2009

modeling is done





I'm also adding an outline shader to give things a little more cartoonish feel... I put some cloth attributes on the sail which oddly the outline shader doesn't mimick the movements... so I guess outlines don't work with any kind of simulation... so the sail is sans-outline. Not sure if I'm going to mount shields to the side of the boat... might detract attention from the characters in the shots looking up at the boat from the water.

On to rigging next!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

I dunno Marv...


So I've cut the story down to 2 minutes... it certainly works at this length and it's possible for me to go longer if I'm ahead of the production schedule I'm setting for myself... I should be done with the modeling this weekend and hopefully rigging will go by relatively painlessly... or at least less painful than my voice acting. :P

Monday, February 9, 2009

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Time flies when you're having fun... and when you're infectuous

So it seems when you catch a cold and don't leave your room except for the intake and outtake of liquids... you get a lot done fast. I give you... On A Slow Boat to VALHALLA.

... and of course my poster for Poland-
As you've probably guessed by now (because you're just that smart... and good looking too!) This is a follow up to my How Much Ye' Bench? final animation of last semester. I knew I wanted to do the vikings in 3D, I have a friend with a super sexy voice, so this is pretty much a result of that.

Synopsis-
So our old friends Marv and Lars, along with their cow Helga, have since set out to set on adventure. There's only one problem... they're dead. Marv is a stubborn guy though, he thinks that they deserve to go to Valhalla, the afterlife where all great Viking warriors go. The thing is, a Valkyrie is supposed to pluck those brave souls and deliver them to the great hall. After floating through limbo for a while they see a distinct female figure in the mist who claims to be a Valkyrie. Looks can be deceiving though, because just concealed under the water is the true form of this "Valkyrie" looking to eat lost souls. Can you say DRAMATIC IRONY? :D This sexy lady lantern fish guides them back to her layer while Lars becomes more suspicious. Marv refuses to listen to his friend... charmed by the female form and his pride as a viking warrior. Only when Lars is half eaten by the fish does he realize his mistake... and after beating her with Lars' freshly severed arm, they make an escape.

So yeah basically a bros before hoes feel good buddy film. :P Heh... but yeah themes of don't be blinded by pride and lust, and to always listen to your friends... or else your cow might get eaten.

let's look at some character designs!
Marv has remained basically the same... working in 3D allows me some more detail, but I didn't want to over texturize or lose the charm of the original design.... simply geometry, keep him animateable (I just made a new word!)


Lars has lost quite a bit of weight since the last animation. Heh... well actually I was kind of worried about animating the beard and I've also read that fat characters are hard to animate in 3D. I decided to make him a skeleton, but keep the armor to indicate how large he used to be... plus it just looks funny to have this big round shape with skinny little limbs popping out. Not having to animate lips on him will also be a time saver.

Lantern Fish is just what I've been calling this character... because that's basically what it is, just the lure is a hot fish lady. She's really just designed to take advantage of my friend's voice, although I did notice when I started modeling the face I started making her look more like my friend as opposed to the sketch. The huge boobs are either going to be really fun or a pain in the ass... we'll just have to see.

I should be pretty far along in the modeling come Tuesday... now excuse me while I do some outtaking.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

domo arigatou Mr. Roboto




reworked camera angles to focus on who you're supposed to focus on... and reworked acting on my guy to make him more of a jackass.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The power of three



three androids... one of which is malfunctioning and being repaired. :P