Still blocking around and without the bird rig.
This dog rig is from AnimationMentor.com
It’s got some great face controls.
This shot wasn’t bad because I had planned to get close and really be about the bird, and just the dog’s face. I barely had to use the body controls, and none of the legs were positioned.
…and […]
I think the message here is its ok stumble.
It’s about not looking or trying so hard.
Certain things will happen unexpectedly
and thats oh-K.
This shot is more complicated than it looks. Just like drawing hands, posing hands take a lot of time and require a lot of detail. To get the seed box correct, there are actually two. One is attached to the hand and one is attached to the cage. I also wanted the cage […]
I’m blocking the scenes that have other characters in addition to the bird. This Scene took less time than I thought it might take. The fun part was referencing seven different hunter characters. Alternating the timing of each hunters’ arrival and also the direction of each was important. Obviously, I need to block in […]
This is what I would call first pass blocking. Most of my key poses are in place, and for fast actions like these I went and added in some of the breakdowns.The face and fingers I went and keyed although these will need refinement later. The big thing that changed was the location of […]
I’ve harped on my students about video reference, and even some of my better ones insist on skipping this step. There are so many things that happen by doing the actions you are animating over and over. Little things like little personality quicks that surprise you . Its very difficult to imagine and picture every […]
If you ever feel that you
can’t do something,
remember…
Layout for me, being the only one working on this project is used mainly for camera angles. This ensures that the compositions worked out in the storyboard also works in 3D, by checking the scale of the characters and props and generally seeing if things are going to work. Nothing here is set in […]
Here is the latest animatic…
I really sped some stuff up and added some sequences
that I think help with the overall nonsense.
I was watching films and tv with dream sequences, and invariably, the begin and/or end with a mid-shot of the character’s reaction. I despise films that force-feed or pander to an uneducated audience, but perhaps […]
Well, the cage is shaping up nicely
and I’m happy to report that it’s working well.
Working through the bleendshapes, I had to pay special attention to get the eyes working . The shapes to get the lids close I’ve found particularly difficult. Right now it looks like most of the shapes are built and working. I’m having some deformation issues where the blends aren’t working if you rotate the characters […]
Even working on these through the weekend, I’m only about 90% through the needed blendshapes. Somehow, a handful of verticies on the character’s face aren’t symmetrical, making it a little tricker then just flipping things and renaming.The extra high-res geometry is really slowing down the files, and I’ve been crashing a bunch all weekend. One […]
I love scripts. Scripts in Maya are little programs that you install that make little interfaces in the program to make the program do things that it should already have programmed into it, but doesn’t because the creators of programs want to make your life difficult. Some scripts put ten steps together into one step […]
In the process of building the bird rig back in December, I made a large mistake out of ignorance. I created the blendshapes for the face controls on the rig in the low-resolution version. This seemed simpler to me as you model with a smaller number of shapes. There isn’t a way for those controls […]
From the fortune archives…..
A reminder that
all the answers are within.
Today, I’ve been trying to let the animatic story settle in and make sure its still working. In the meantime, I’ve been taking inventory. I’ve been modeling props and backgrounds needed for the film. I’m not much of a modeler, but the props have been relatively simple and are mostly complete now. Eventually, I may […]
Based on feedback here, via e-mail and on another forum,
here is the latest animatic…
Even though I added some sequences
the overall timing is around the same length.
I think its a lot funnier and
reads clearer with the latest additions.
These are things that were changed:
added a long shot to show the cage door is unlatched
faster pacing of “peril […]
Here is my second pass at the animatic.
Is anything confusing or not reading well??
For me this stage is everything. It is crucially important. This is finishing the film without actually doing all of the work. All of the big decisions happen at this stage. Now is the time to do any editing thats needed. This […]
Here is my first pass at the animatic.
Anything confusing or not reading well??
So now I can judge:
overall story pacing and timing
camera cuts and leading the eye from cut to cut
composition and framing
transitions from scene to scene
contrast of movements from scene to scene
contrast of space- do I have a variety of flat space and deep space?
There […]
Another way to deal with stories is to explain an incident or event,
usually some kind of change in the main characters normal routine.
Possible incidents..
a journey is completed
a problem is solved
an item is acquired
a decision is made
on opinion is reversed
Some people will also think about Themes.
It seems to me that stories often have themes
that the writer […]
In searching for story ideas, I return to the animator and actor that really looks deep down and asks.. who is your character. I really like the notion that the character drives the story. My thinking is that not just any old character could do what your main character ends up doing. That personality and […]
So Today I went to the Natural History Museum of LA County. The first Tuesday of each month admission is Free! whooo! I had never been to this museum before, and it’s the largest natural museum in the Western United States. I cruised through the majority of the museum in about 3 hours. Perhaps because […]
Something to ponder…
Why is it so difficult to start something?
The fear of not being accepted?
The fear of the unknown?
The fear of commitment?
The fear of change?
The fear of failure?
The fear of … ?
Fear motivates us all for good and for bad.
What is fear motivating you to do today?
