Monday 30 May 2011

Brief and Tracked

It's a long'n - but it's mostly pictures. SO YAY!

Here's the storyboard for my NEW negotiated brief:






It's a pretty lame joke, but I think it works.

Here's a character sheet for the watch:


I decided on a combination of old analogue-looking watch and a digital one. There are some really cool looking new digital watches, but they look so new and different that they lose the instant 'feel' of a watch. I decided not to give him a mouth because it would make his face too noisy, and I think I can make him emotive enough via his eyes and body language.










I really like this one.









So I went with the old-school circular face, but with an old-style blue digital LCD display. Retro.

Also I originally had the man standing in front of a bus stop, but I realised that it made him look like he was waiting for a bus as opposed to the watch, but I couldn't have him standing in a void, because then there'd be no real context.
The whole sketch should be about 30 seconds, short and punchy. I quite enjoy animating little sketches, they're enough work to keep you busy, but not too much that you get bored/frustrated with the project. E.g:







It also lets you stretch your animation muscles without getting too bogged down with realism or the commitment of a long project or decent writing.


I've also found this big ol' piece of doodles lying around on my computer. I think this was all done at various days at 3AM, so it's all a little weird.

I like the tube-nose guy's tubular nose.

Toady I've been doing some speed modeling using the initial technique this guy uses:


Using an initial profile and then curling the edges round to meet in the middle:
So here's a poorly-constructed raptor. This is what I get for not using a reference. I should have made a Fentil creature, instead.



Profile


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Extruded profile


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First wrap


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Filling the gaps


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Edge loops and eyes


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Chopped off the end of the tail because the polygon layout was bad. Also, the eyes are looking a tad less retarded and I added more edge loops across the body.


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Extra limb and tail segments. His mouth polys are looking pretty ugly. I will probably have to re-sculpt it in the same way I did the tail.

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More will come shortly.

Also, once I get them scanned in, I have more sketchbook drawings and doodles.

E.g.

All in biro.
(This is the song)

It's such a beautiful song.

I'm also trying to get more work done on Fentil stuff, as I've been neglecting it a lot lately. Here's the block colours of a pair of Cloverhead Tailfeeders at a nest. One of which is laying eggs (not yet drawn)



All Fentil vertebrates lay eggs, which in the majority of cases are leathery, ribbed and tic-tac shaped. The egg itself is almost like a separate organism - with a beating 'heart' to keep the baby alive and provide fresh oxygen. When the baby of these cloverheads hatches, it will consume the egg for nutrients.
Baby vertebrates look nothing like their parents. They have a weak endoskeleton, and so rely on an outer layer of dermal bone for support/protection of their bodies. They retain this skeletal set-up until they grow big enough to ossify their internal skeletons. At this point (roughly a few Fentil years) they enter a cocoon and digest their exo skeleton and harden their endoskeleton. When they emerge, they more closely resemble the adult cloverheads.
Other types of Vertebrate such as Pouchbacks and Shankbats do lay eggs, but the stage for the young is incredibly small. Pouchback calves skip the exoskeletal stage entirely and remain soft and vulnerable in the parent's pouch until they are big enough to strengthen their bones. Shankbats spend their exoskeletal stage in their eggs, and emerge as miniature adults, ready to fly.

Isn't life fascinating.

I will add more sketchbook bits once I get them scanned in.

Watch stuff:


By the Brothers McLeod

And some stuff to do with tracking and motion capture. They're not particularly new, but they're interesting:

This one is really good, but it seems a little uncanny. It's not they eyes, though, I checked the eyes. I could perhaps be because it's a floating disembodied head....
Nah.


I had no idea that they used facerobot to do the faces in Dante's Inferno, no wonder I was impressed by the pre-rendered cinematics. Also, warning, the guys voice is a tiny bit annoying after a while.


This is pretty interesting for tracking, it's what made me decide on the essay topic, but I have to be honest, after looking for research I may have leapt before I looked.
Again, annoying voice.


This guy again.I really love his animation. Not a lot to say really, just enjoy it.


I love this bear's voice. Also, what is it with cereal mascots and breaking into people's houses.
Srsly.


I still haven't seen this film. Animation looks good though. Voice - not so much.


This one is just kinda weird, but well done.


And more from CorridorDigital. I love their work.


AND before I forget (If you've managed this far).


Meet Chellow by ~leksbronks on deviantART


meat cello by ~Asheh on deviantART

That's right. Meat Cello fanart.
I'm flattered. It's crazy. I'm almost some kind of minor internet celebrity. Almost. ish. Kinda.

Monday 16 May 2011

Just a quickie

DONE!


Now that I've finished that first shot, it's swiftly onto the next one.


Also, MORE SKETCHBOOK

DA has decided to stop giving a URL for original image files, making my regular way of embedding things almost ruined. But I found a cunning way around it, and I'll be damned if I use the DA embed thinger.


Will she say yes? Poor SkullBlob hopes so, lest she break his little hearts. Let's hope Mr Cupid is in a profitable mood.
Also, I think it seems to be mandatory for me to include some abstract, wide-eyed character running and buzzing on cocaine in the corner.



The guy in this is somewhat symbolic, i.e. he represents the principle that no matter how hideous someone may be, when they're in love they give off a radiant, happy glow.
And just look at how happy he is.
I quite want to colour this in all kinds of fantastic colours. Also, I like that guy's synthetic muscles.

I've really got to stop scanning these at such a high resolution.

Right, it's 5AM, so I think I'll call it a night.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

It's been a long time...

...So long, in fact, that the Portal 2 reference is probably a bit old.
(Although, if Portal fans have taught us anything, it's that Portal references never get old)

DON'T you even say it

Since Easter, I finished doing rigging for The Little Helper. My final rig was the old man's face.

He seems happy about the result

Although rigging has been a pain in the spine, I've enjoyed learning about it, and I've definitely improved since I started.

Now I'll be working on Inbetween. My first shot is the Gypsy King being carried through a crowd, throwing petals at the swarms of people.

Rough lines


Clean Lines


I'm really happy with the way his body sways with each throw of petals.
I've still got some hair, petals and a feather to stick on the Gypsy King. I'm looking forward to doing some lovely overlapping secondary animation. My favourite.

Also since my last post, I've done some digital doodles.


This is Mr Geraldine
Mr Geraldine is an unfortunate fellow. He's tall, awkward and unusually yellow.
But that's not the source of his bountiful woes, the origin of that is down to his nose.
Growing from his face is an arm with a claw. At the base of said arm is a hungering maw.
Everyone he meets comes to sad ends, as the arm on his nose eats all his friends.

Not sure how I came up with him, but he doesn't like that thing on his face.


Poot Cloud.


This guy appears in my sketchbook multiple times. I liked his design so I gave him a Photoshop upgrade.


Rough design for a spacesuit/EVA suit. I've got some better designs on their way.

FINALLY here's some of the best bits from my sketchbook so far:













I haven't done enough 'proper' drawings, most have been little doodles and ideas. It makes me happy to make some decent art in my sketchbook.

Finally, some stuff to watch


A lovely short film called "The Silence Beneath the Bark".
It has a wonderful, graphic style, letting the creatures mesh with the painting-esque backgrounds.


This one, Nuri, is just disgustingly cute.


This. Creepy. The stopmotion is beautiful, though. Especially the morphing.


A trailer for an old film "Triplets of Belleville", which looks really interesting. I like how they made the cyclists look a bit like horses, emphasizing that racing spirit. Also, that song is really catchy.


Girl Wallet

So there you are.

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