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.

Rossini Progress WITH NEW AUDIO

Boom. Right, I think I'm nearing the end with this one. I've marched ahead after getting the all clear for the new ending, and am now cleaning up in spline. I've added the new audio from tuesday's studio session, big thanks to voice actor James for his brilliant ad lib performance, it's even better than the last one!

I still need to go back in and animate Rossini's muttering at the end, as well as more to his fingers, and generally iron out the curves some more, but I like where it's at. Feeling good.

Contrast

Brenda Chapman posted this link on facebook earlier today. It's all about how the use of contrast, be ti through mood, colour, texture, whatever, can really help tell a story in both still image, and film. As i'm starting to lay down ideas for our final project, I found it full of handy little snippets of inspiration. Check it out.

John K and Ren and Stimpy

I love John K. I love Ren and Stimpy. So here's a little window into John K's creative process on creating his cult classic series, 'Ren and Stimpy'.

Unfortunately, embedding is disabled for this one, watch it here.

Yet even more Linear progress.

Yet another post! This must be a record... ANyway. The first 200 or so frames of pretty much tidied linear. Sure i'll end up going back to, but I want to press on for now. Rossini seems to have developed a bit of springiness, Not sure if I like it at this stage, but I'm going to follow this new route and see where it leads me. Anyway, more later.

March 30th Progress

Okay! So I think I'm just about done with stepped, here's what we have so far...

I think I'm happy with the timing, the end needs work, mainly where Rossini walks off, and I think the part where he dusts off his arms needs work. I do like how he picks up his box however.

So, next we jump to linear, the result? Well uh, judge for yourself...

Elbows. Elbows everywhere. I'm pretty sure I can fix them by wrangling with the Up Vectors a bit. I was constantly hopping between IK and FK on his arms whilst animating them, so I guess some bizarre vector behaviour is to be expected. Welp, I know what I'm doing tomorrow, see you all then.

Christmas Viewing - The Gruffalo's Child

After the 2009 BAFTA and Oscar nominated adaption of the popular children's book "The Gruffalo", by London based studio Magic Light Pictures and German studio Studio Soi, this years adaption of "The Gruffalo's Child" was top of my holiday viewing list. I've always admired Axel Scheffler's illustrations that bring author Julia Donaldson's woodland adventures to life, and the art direction on the film adaption really does do justice to the source material. Both the characters and environments have been crafted with the same rustic, yet refined aesthetic of the original illustrations, beautifully supported by soft, yet confident lighting. Any screen shot is easily just as pleasing to look at as the pages of the original book.


Faithfully crafted sets and characters, beautifully lit and rendered make for a wonderfully appealing treat for the eyes. The animators did an excellent job at bringing the varying cast of characters to life, with Subtle, yet believable performances throughout. All to often I find many an independent short, commissioned for a prime time slot like Christmas day for BBC One to be overacted, but not so in this case. The star performance of course comes from the Gruffalo's child herself, a brave little up and coming adventurer, with just the right childish nuances make for an adorable show.


Constantly curious, the inquisitive Gruffalo's Child leads the audience on a magical, night time, woodland adventure. This isn't a glossy, pristine, blockbuster style production, like most over cg productions, it has a down to earth, hand crafted feel. The animation itself also feels very hand made, and almost has a stop motion feel to it. It may not be the biggest, flashiest, production, but by no means has any less care or attention gone into it. If anything, to me feels a lot more approachable, almost homely, familiar even, a generally more well rounded production than many a recent cg theatre release in my opinion. That's what "The Gruffalo's Child" has to be one of my favourite productions. Definitely my favourite of the year.


Familiar, lovingly crafted, and downright entertaining. The Gruffalo's Child is a winner with me!

Walk part the third

More changes after todays feedback session. Added a little bit more bounce to the hips, toned down his gestures a wee bit, and worked a little more on the fall recovery.

Ball and Tail updated

Finished animation, just needs an ambient occlusion pass adding.

Walk part the second

More progress on the walk cycle assignment, still a few bugbears to deal with. Some slight snapping of the legs have been pointed out to me that need top be addressed, and i'm not to happy with how his spine seems to snap back to violently as he regains his balance.

Walk, part 1

First part of our walking assignment. More breakdowns are needed, and perhaps a little more delay before reacting to the phone call.

Balls updated

Okay, rotation has been added, both balls animated, i think a bit more needs adding when the balls come to a stop, maybe rock back slightly instead of stopping dead, but good progress I feel.

Ball early test

Early tests for the bouncing ball exercise. The tennis ball.



No rotation added yet. A few timing issues at the top of the balls arcs need to be addressed, and the golf ball of course needs animating.