#17: Short Film Progress

Loooook! Stacy is done! She needs a little tweaking here and there, but mostly she's done! Look at her little bow legs and skinny arms. ;w;

#16: Short Film Progress

Set and props progress! The colors are just placeholders for right now, but I'm liking how it's turning out so far.

And the progress on Stacy's model! She's done except for her face. :)

#15: Short film progress

Progress so far: Stacy's house/shed/whatever and some props!

Revised Concept

I basically changed my entire concept from before, so here's a quick concept drawing and character sheet:

The story is about Stacy Crow, a gardener, who tries to plant her flowers but finds her flowerbed full of weeds! She tries to clear them all out, but there's one stubborn weed that just won't go away. Through all of her efforts, she still can't get rid of it. She eventually learns to accept the weed as beautiful, and it flourishes under her care.

The moral of the story is to accept differences: just because something is different, doesn't mean it's bad.

#14: Short Film Progress

My rough animatic! C: Still needs a lot of work, but I think it's pretty cool so far!

#13: Post your Short Film Production progress, research, etc.

Action sheet, character deisgn, color design, and set design for my animation! I'll post the storyboards once I format them properly.

#12: Final Project 2 Video

Final video for Project 2! I'm really pleased with how it came out. c:

#11: Post your Short Film Production progress, research, etc.

Some research stuff! Whenever I think of Skyway (ie. Lina and co.'s place), I always imagine this very sleek, modern, kinda crazy house. Renkin fashions himself and architect, and he's a very straight, business-oriented kind of guy, so I feel like he'd go for the straight lines and sleek design that modern architecture uses today. Other parts of the house are probably differently styled (like Lina's part of the house is probably very pop-arty, while Fargo's part of the house is probably very mechanical and messy).

But the main set for the animation would be the kitchen/family room of the house, since that's where Renkin reads his morning paper and has his cup of coffee everyday. I'd like there to be a lot of windows and natural light, so you really get the sense that it's morning, but the pallet of the room should be very neutral, to contrast with the vibrant colors of Renkin.

#10B: Post your Short Film Production progress, research, etc

So I've decided (for now) to go with my first idea (see previous post), but I'm going to simplify it so there's only one character to model and rig: it bums me out to not have Lina in it, but maybe for a future project! This here is a character sketch of Renkin: I'm trying to adapt his design so it's easier to model. Normally Renkin wears a full length tunic and has wings, but I thought that might be a massive pain to model, so behold! Pants! The main colors of his clothes will probably be muted colors, since he's a pretty saturated blue.

Also a color study of Skyway (ie: Renkin and Lina's place). Skyway's sort of modern, archetecturally speaking, so I always imagined it to have a really clean palette of creams, to contrast with Lina and co.'s really bright color palette.

Lastly, some more storyboards! I need to think of more things for Renkin to be annoyed by, but you get the gist of it. The conclusion shows a little note being floated in via balloon telling Renkin to come join the fun, and he decides to, thereby breaking his morning routine, but really living a little!

#10A: Post your Short Film Concepts

Just rough story boards at this point, but better than nothing!

Concept: Sometimes you need to break routine to truly enjoy life.
Premise: Renkin attempts to go about his morning routine, but keeps being interrupted by his roommate, Lina.
My first short film concept uses two characters that I've been developing for a while: Lina (who I've posted pictures of before) and Renkin (her roommate). The plot is simple enough: Renkin is enjoying his morning coffee and paper (like he usual does), while Lina goes back and forth planning...something. Eventually, she pulls Renkin away from his paper to show him that she's filled the entire backyard pool with gelatin. She goes to cannonball into the bouncy substance, but instead of springing off it, she just starts sinking into it. Renkin (who's used to these antics) goes back inside to finish his coffee while Lina flails in the mass of Jello.
I wanted to do something that was just sort of a silly animation versus the alternative: I'm pretty attached to Lina and her pranks, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use her in an animation.

Some character sketches and concepts of Lina and Renkin:

Technically both Lina and Renkin have wings (since they're demon-like creatures), but I might remove them for the sake of less-complicated character models, since they might be really cumbersome.

Concept: Patience is a virtue.
Premise: Chip attempts to procrastinate getting his work done by getting a cup off coffee, but the door out of his office is jammed.
My second concept uses the character that I'm using for Project 2--Percy--and the character I was originally going to use for Project 2--Chip. In this story, Chip's whittling away another day of paper work when--miracle of miracles!--the coffee maker goes off, signalling that the coffee's done. He tries to get out off his office to get the coffee, but the door is jammed. After several attempts to open the door to no avail, he realizes that the rest of his office is windowed. Cut to Percy (the intern) grabbing a cup of coffee as Chip barrels into frame through the glass window, sending shards of glass everywhere. Chip collapses in front of the counter, and Percy hands him a cup of coffee out of pity: Chip still perservering and reaching for the coffee despite his (probable) wounds.

Some sketches and character concepts for Percy and Chip:

#9: Project 2 Model with Texture

This is what I have so far with Percy's textures: I wanted to keep him simple, so most of the textures are just lamberts, but I'm having a really hard time UV Mapping his face, so hopefully I can get some help on that today in class and then finish everything up.

And now we have the textures mostly done! The eyes are just a placeholder, so I need to change those, but I was able to lay out the UV for the head after much frustration.

#8: Project 2 Design

Here's Percy's model so far! I need to smooth out some things, and add the eyes and eye-tufts, but I like it a lot!

The prop for this animation will be an oversized magnifying glass (which you can see in the previous post in the action sheet). Basically, Percy will be searching in a dark forest for something, and then come upon a large tree. He'll look around to make sure no one is watching, and then--since he's a woodpecker--he'll peck at the tree (his one secret shame!). It should be pretty simple but still really cute; I'm excited to build the prop and background!

#7: refined design

My character design for Project 2! Percy is a woodpecker, and also a low-ranking police officer, so he tends to only get little, inconsequential cases (but he gets really excited about them anyway!). His prop is a cartoonishly proportioned magnifying glass.

#6: Post an idea or sketch from your journal + Project 1 Revised Video

Another sketch of Lina this morning, this time a little more formal (but still wearing her trademark choker). If appearances don't tip you off, Lina is, in fact, a demon, but she's no where near your standard concept of demons with all the fire and brimstone and stuff. She's just a gal who loves a good prank (and really, who doesn't? At least in her philosophy). She tends to bug her housemates with her shenanigans, but she knows when to put the antics on the down low for a more serious event (like something where she would be wearing an outfit like this, maybe).

And also, my revised Project 1 video! The walk cycle is much more natural now, and the lighting is better; I'm happy with the results!

#5: Final Project 1 Video

My final render for Project 1! I'm really proud of it. Could probably use some tweaking here and there, but as a whole, I rather like it.

#4: Post an idea or sketch from your journal + Render Finished Model with Texture

I figured I'd post two drawings this time, since they're both the same character (and only one one of them is properly in my sketchbook for this class!). Lina's actually a character I've had for a while now, and she's part of a comic that I'm intending on starting next summer (I wanted to start it this semester, but with all of my other work, I just can't balance it), but I also thought that her design is simple enough and her personality is just so conducive to a one-minute short that she'd make an awesome candidate for that project!

I did both of these drawings with Microns and Sharpies. The Sharpies are kinda streaky after scanning them in, but they actually look pretty nice on paper; it's rather surprising.

And finally, my final render for Project 1! The burlap texture is all fixed, and there's a bump map on it too, making it look really nice. c: I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

#3: Post an idea or sketch from your journal

Just a couple of sketches from my journal: A side view of my character for Project 1 that I used to create the model in Maya, a headshot sketch of one of my characters--Layla Alexander (she's a space pirate!)--and then a little doodle of a bird-cop-vigilante character (who is currently named Mr. Tweetums, though that might change). I kinda drew him as a joke between friends, but I kinda like him enough that I might want to use him for Project 2!

And here's my final model with textures! I need to fiddle with a couple of things still, but I'm really pleased with the result!

#2: Project 1 Final Character Design

This was the final design that I chose for my character walk cycle animation! I thought that the pointed legs would be the most interesting thing to animate, and I just like the design of the character overall.

And here's the final model of my character! It still needs textures: the organic parts are going to be like cloth or burlap, while the mechanical parts are going to look like chrome. I'm really excited to start animating!

#1: 3 Possible Character Designs for Project 1

So, in designing my characters, I wanted to keep them simple enough that they wouldn't be excruciatingly painful to model and animate, but I also wanted to differentiate them all in someway; specifically through their possible walk cycles.

The first design is actually based on a character of mine from a comic I've been writing for a while, but this little guy is a little more simplified for the sake of animation (since facial animation is too complex for the allotted time). He's basically half-rabbit and half-robot construct: his legs are entirely metal, but they're still extremely light, so his walk cycle would be very bouncy. He would almost walk with a skipping motion, having a good amount of "hang time" in between each contact point. He's also supposed to be very childlike, so the walk would feel very lighthearted and airy: he should almost leap off of the ground at each contact, and shouldn't stay grounded for very long.

I initially thought of something like a satyr for the second design (and tested a few colors on it out of curiosity), but I opted for this lumbering shadow creature instead. In case it's not clear from the sketch, its torso is actually disconnected from its limbs, so there are iron rods supporting his body. As shown in this creature's slouched position, this guy's much more grounded than Mr. Robo-Bunny: his walk is more of a shuffle, each leg movement takes a loooong time, and it should seem like a massive effort for him to take a couple of steps. Also, the gear embedded in his back should spin as he walks. NIFTY

 Last but not least, there's this little darling! I really wanted to play with different kinds of legs, and so I went for the really pointed, insect-like legs for this last one. I can imagine her walk cycle being either these very deliberate steps (like a ballerina on point), or almost skitterish, like she's try to keep balanced while positioned on a single point.

And then just a little group shot doodle to finish it all off! Look at these cuties. They are too cute.