11 Second update.

Today i've been beavering away, looking for suitable rigs and making props for my pro granny skateboarder scene. I looked at a few rigs, both different variations on the well known Morpheus and Norman rigs for Maya. I want to stay with Maya for the rest of this module, see what I can learn before we kick off with the major project next module.

I looked at a few rooks from this site, HERE, posted by Rachel in the MACHARACTER Facebook Group. I tinkered with a few, but to be honest, I much prefer using Morpheus, thanks to the Mime task, I'm used to it. So I've decided to modify my own. I've also been building the necessary props, i.e helmet, skateboard etc. I have plenty of skateboards around here for reference, so modelling one wasn't an issue. I still need to fully model the scene, I'm still unsure with where to go with it...

I'm not sure how to go about texturing stuff in Maya, so Scott is going to show me few things after class tomorrow. But I at least am able to begin ploughing on with animating the shot now.

Here's a teaser.

Ther personalities are there, but I think the added textures and costumes will really bring the characters home. The pro just doesn't look elderly yet. Well, best be getting on.

The Retro Rollers.

Just a small update today. Been working out the scene layout for the ii second club piece.

I've decided the pro's skate team should be called something like 'The Retro Rollers', I can't think of anything better at the moment, so it might stay that way.

Anyhoo, I want the scene layout to look something like this

The shot will open on the right side of the scene, just revealing the tent material behind them. Then as the pro moves to the left, the camera will follow, finally revealing the team poster, security team, and finally the half pipe beyond.

11 second club cont.

I want to go in the direction of the long suffering PA for the 'Mrs Crawley' character. A few ideas were tossed around about whether she should be a wannabe skateboarder, or a fan, but after a discussion with Kristian, I settled back on the idea of the PA. I think the contrast between the cool, calm, pro, and the flustered, wreck of an assistant just works better.

11 Second Club

http://www.11secondclub.com/

The next part of the Acting for Animators assignment is a 2 character dialogue piece, courtesy of the 11 second club. The clip can be heard at the link above, the the transcript is as follows.

Voice One: "Please don't think we're ungrateful for your enthusiasm, Mrs. Crawley, but there comes a time when things are best left to the professionals."
Voice Two: "But I...."
Voice One: "And now I really, I really must go. Good day."

I've started planning my scenario and character profiles, basically, the 'Pro' is a 76 year old skateboarding badass, about to perform to thousands on her best selling skateboarding stunt show, and the other character is her ever worried, daughter in law, who would rather face the crowd herself than see her aged mother in law perform such dangerous stunts on a nightly basis. She needn't worry though, the pro can handle it.

I've started tinkering with some designs too, I think i've pretty much got the pro sorted, and will have the "Mrs Crawley" character done by tomorrow, as well as the beginnings of a storyboard.