We got there!...almost

Well. I got it done. A long story short...I am pretty happy with the final animation. I feel I have gained some valuable knowledge from this project, and I look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the next assignment. I STILL have to do my animatic...but that's for another post.

A bit of self criticism now. My texturing and lighting needs a lot of work! I am grinning with great gratitude that I got it to turn out as it did. MY modelling I am happy with. Animation was fun... but there is still a lot of work to do!
Anyway, let me know what you think please! Enjoy:


The Librarian from Jaz Worrell on Vimeo.

Ps. The storyline isnt that strong...

Animation has Begun!

Here are a few renders from a few scenes. So far everything seems to be going well, and I am happy with the progress. I currently have about 40 seconds of footage, so not too much left to render. Time to sort out my animatic!..Anyway...let me know what you think:

Environment: Library

So im still trying to go with the 'cartoony' style...hence the material changes to my robot.
The Library modelling, texturing and lighting in progress:

1...2..3...Rigged!

I blasted out the rigging tonight!, Now he has a Spine, Hips, Eyes and Mouth!...hopefully I can post a little animation soon:

Edit: Also been playing around with textures for a more 'cartoony' style. =)

Meet the Librarian

Update: Material and Lighting Tests:

Well...there have been some major changes to my robot since I last posted on here...the main being the head as I was having a lot of trouble making a spherical based model look good. Ive been through a LOT of designs...but I think I am finally happy with something like this. I'll make a few more tweaks im sure, but for now its good. =)

So we had the leg / foot rigging seminar today and I thought it was time to start adding life to my bot.
Here are some screenshots of me rigging the badboy: (Problem is now...he doesnt have elbows...)

Sketches and Planning

I'm actually having a lot of trouble hand designing my robot. So far I have found it a lot more interesting and productive creating the bot in 3ds max...as I think i find it easier to conceptualise my ideas on screen than on paper.

Regardless...I Have been sketching...and trying to formulate some kind of storyline for the poor little guy. He is going to be a librarian by the looks of things...although building a library is not something i am looking forward to. Perhaps an office or 'home library' maybe a little easier.

Either way, here are some screens of some of my sketching, storyboarding and modelling:
(Will be adding more over time)

(A storyboarding page from my sketchbook)

(3DS Max Modelling Practise)

Mood Boards

So Ive started to manifest a collection of images that will relate to my storyline. Images that inspire me, textures and camera shots. The first is a moodboard of robots I like, and perhaps with some features that I will "steal", and personalise. The second is based on the environment I would like to create...in this case, an old fashioned library.

The Game Design Competition

My Entry: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/215198

Edit: I got a little bored with this so finished it up and submitted it to the website. Hopefully I will get an email soon to confirm entry and we can view it on the BBC site! =)

So I got an email yesterday about a game design competition for Doctor Who. I was pretty shocked as we only have until Monday to send in a complete design so knew I had to get straight to work. One of my main goals this year is to enter as many competitions and go to as many events as possible ( As i missed a lot last year)... so not taking part was never an option. Last night I got to work and made the spaceship for 'Mission 2'. Some basic modelled renders can be seen below:

Craft Me A Bot!

So after an entire summer of me and my macbook, I had no access to 3ds Max. This morning I thought I would mess around firstly to see if i could still model...and secondly as a little test of some robot designs I had in my head:
















They're not very well made, but you can at least see the concept that i was going for. Now these designs are very simplistic, but certainly something I can build upon to craft something that I really love. I plan to model the environment from the character, so further development is necessary.

Bots and Bananas

So we need to start developing and creating some ideas for the 'Bots and Bananas' animation brief.
Ive drawn up a few concept sketches (im still fine tuning the drawings), so have some basics ideas, but still nothing solid.



My research into slap stick comedy...if im honest was pretty boring, as i dont find it comical at all..however i did find some reoccuring themes that may be useful within my own piece. Chaotic music, simplistic environments and 'black and white' may help give the final animatic the effect I am after.

Maya, Maya, Maya

So this is what happens when I have no Internet to distract me. It's just me and the programs already installed on my macbook. Why not get some practice in for Maya?

One of the tutorials to mesh model a helmet. =)














Plenty of mistakes, but first time using the program and I learnt the basic Interface as it is slightly different to 3ds Max. Job Done. Next.

Status:

VISUAL ESSAY
17/05/2010 - 100% "YAY!!! Finally finished this badboy!"

16/05/2010 - 90% "Had a very productive day!, Almost there..."

14/05/2010 - 85% "Getting Bored of this now..."
The Essay is now at a stage where it COULD be submitted...There is a flash Intro, Flash Swfs for each Practioner and Pages made in Dreamweaver. ( Minus the referencing as I'm doing something a little different for this)




















This is now literally the core of the work as from now on I will be adding additional features...both functional and aesthetic to create a complete piece.

Hopefully it should turn out pretty nice as I still have good time!!! =)

FLASH QUIZ - 100%
14/05/2010
I completed this back when we were doing online environments. If I get time I will go back and add some extra stuff into it.

SHORT FILM - 100%
14/05/2010
The short film was recently fully edited by the editor..^^
Done.

VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS -
20/05/2010 - 100% "Its been rendering for almost 7 hours, about 33% done...see you in the morn'n cowboy"

18/05/2010 - 95% "Modelling is complete!, Lighting is In, Cameras are set, Just Materials to Finish!"

14/05/2010 - 70% "Seems to be going well"

Im still pounding away on this one. 3 of the 4 rooms are modelled, but im yet to start the 4th...and I will still need to add materials, lighting and cameras.

PRESENTATION - 100%
14/05/2010 - "Yeah..."
28/05/2010 - "One year down, two to go!"

18 Days Eh?

Cool, so my presentations on the 28th May...which gives me 18 days to finish my 3 assignments, and 15 days to complete the visual essay. Thankfully, im well on track!

Heres a couple of screens of what I've been working on with regards to the essay and the 3D Lair.

VISUAL ESSAY

It's coming along pretty nicely. Im about 70% of the way through without referencing. Just got to get on with it really.

VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

Im just trying to get all the modelling complete before I start adding some serious textures...And OMG!, I impressed myself with the Helicopter!...fun to make, but its going to be a nightmare to map!

3 Rooms down, 1 to go!:

Lair Entrance

So I finally decided to start my superhero lair after the past few weeks of practice.

I thought I would give something different a try in comparison to the 'blocky' style castles I have attempted in the past...so opted for a rocky and unstructured approach. SERIOUS experimentation with materials here!

Here is an image of one of the intital renders of the entrance. =)

My Inspiration came from the Art below, entitled "and the gate opens" by Tony Holmsten. Check him out here on deviantart!

A Lil' Detail

Messing around in 3DS Max. Seems to me that a little detail goes a LOONNG way. =)
I was going for the Town Hall / Market Square style composition.
Ive opted to use no materials again as I'm still practicing using the right settings etc, but I'm pleased with the finished look.














































So I recon ive probably played around with 3ds enough now to finalise some designs for the superhero lair!

GOOD Morning Postman!!

• 3ds Max 2010
• Maya 2010
• Softimage 2010
• Motionbuilder 2010
• Mudbox 2010
• Sketchbook Pro 2010

Visual Essay - Test Flash Page

So I've been working on some ways to display my visual essay over the past fortnight, and I've been asked to show something at this weeks tutorial. My plan is to create a flash-based interactive website that feeds the user through my thoughts and experiences to ultimately choose Virtual Environments as my pathway for years 2 and 3.














CLICK ME TO SEE A TEST FLASH PAGE

To create this small sample extract i had to use the following programs:

• Adobe Photoshop CS4
• Adobe Flash CS4
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
• Audacity
• iTunes

The practitioners I have chosen for this project are:

1. EA GAMES
2. PASCAL BLANCHE - Character / Concept CG Artist
3. ZORRO DESIGNS - 3D Arcitectural Designs

Remember, this is just a trial to see what works and what doesn't!

Let me know what you think! =)

My Citadel

So I loaded up 3DS Max this morning, (As sadly I only have 7 days left of my trial) and this is what manifested!

To be honest, this was pretty neat to create! The only limits I had was my imagination and I just kept adding more and more. It did get a little boring in the end though, so I might try this again but in a different style.

I present to you My Citadel =)

Flash VIsual Essay

So I didnt really make any worthy models yesterday, so instead decided to work on a structure for this flash essay. After a WHOLE day of messing around with different styles / themes / animations, I still have nothing im completely happy with.

Thankfully, Ive now found most of my images..but this is not going to be easy...

My Cartoon Park

The lighting on this was A NIGHTMARE. Probably took me longer than the actual park. ;) - Still not that happy with it.