Winter Break!

Alright, the quarter's finally over. By the far the most grueling I've had so far, and it's probably not going to get any easier from here on out, but I'm up for it. Now that I'm on break (hah! break, they call it) there's still plenty to be done. Rig fixes, texture fixes, animation fixes, portfolio fixes....the works. I'll have animation reel updates in a couple weeks hopefully, as well as some new animation and rig tests. I also want to cut together a rigging reel, just for kicks. On top of that, my car could use a little TLC, as well. Boy that's a lot to do. This time, I don't have any media to accompany the post, but I did come away from Fall quarter with a nice quote from Professor Charles daCosta: when someone or something gets you feeling inadequate......

"Be Better not Bitter"

Finished Model

Here's the finished model of my character for my senior film. I've finally decided on a name for him: Rupert. I modeled him myself and I think he translated nicely from the character designs I did. I also paid very close attention to edge flow as well as proportions. A few proportions were changed a bit from the character sheet, but only for appeal. He's already UV'ed but the textures still need to be painted. Next up for him is rigging. The rig is going to consist of stretchy/ bendy spine, arms, and legs, as well as a facial rig, probably driven mostly by joints and blendshapes, and maybe a few clusters for the mouth. Now I need to force myself to take a break from senior film for a couple days to work on some animation as I've been skimping a bit in that department. I guess I just really want to see the character I modeled moving..... Enjoy!

Force Animation Turn-in

Here's the final turn-in version for my force animation. This is for my 3D Character Animation 2 class. I still have a few pops/ glitches to work out in certain areas, but for now I need to focus on my senior film for a bit, so it'll have to wait a few days.

Still goin'!

Alright, alright.... I'll admit it's been awhile, but I haven't forgotten about this little commitment quite yet. Actually, I've been hard at work getting settled into my classes for Fall quarter at SCAD, which is why I haven't posted recently. My senior film is coming along nicely, and I'm currently finishing up pre-vis. The story has evolved quite a bit since I first thought of the idea. Though, unlike most of my other ideas, instead of becoming a story I loathe after it evolves, every new iteration actually makes me a bit more excited to be working on it. Right now, I'm just itching to start modelling/ rigging to really begin to see the piece take form. I've been talking with quite a few people about different aspects of the production, and I've got a good idea of what I want for sound and aesthetic/ design. For sound, I'm pretty sure I've settled on a quirky, Thomas Newman type soundtrack (think American-beauty...kinda). Lots of Xylophone/Marimba and strings. Design, on the other hand, I'm looking for a textured, digitally painted look for the environment, mainly. I want to achieve this without painted textures though. How much of this idea will transfer to the character, I'm not sure. I think keeping a more refined texture for the character and his various props may add a nice bit of contrast between the elements. I'm doing this, and trying to keep up with my other two animation classes, among rig explosions and other things, so it's been a pretty brutal quarter so far, but nothing too unusual. For now, here's the 3D pre-vis for my senior film as well as a rough, unfinished blocking 2 (with some gaps) for my Force Animation for my 3D character animation 2 class.

Back to School.....

Well it's finally that time of year again..... The past couple of days have been spent packing, driving, and unpacking once again in preparation for the big senior year. The last few weeks of the summer were spent on basic color designs for my senior film, as well as putting the Volvo through it's paces to prepare for the 640 mile trip to Savannah, GA. Also, my '74 Nova (currently under heavy restoration) has had all the metal work completed and is waiting to be soda blasted to get the old paint off, thanks to the wonderful help of my brother. I wouldn't have even touched the Nova this summer had it not been for his help. Now it's just time to try to get settled in before classes start on Monday. 3 studio classes for the quarter should keep me plenty busy/ stressed for the quarter, not to mention working on my senior film. Hopefully, it will also yield a few reel-worthy pieces in the process. Anyways, here are a few very rough color sketches, just for some ideas. Back to unpacking!

Final Character Design and State Inspection

Phew! It's been a long week. Most of the week, I ripped my hair out trying to get my character design finished for my senior film. For the most part, the design is finished thanks to the help of many opinions from friends and family. I got to the point where I was drawing practically the same face over and over again, but they were all different. I went through quite a few renditions but finally got what I wanted. I still have a good bit of development to finish up, like color keys, set designs, aesthetic discourse, etc. It's a good bit, but hopefully I'll make quick progress. My parts did arrive for the Volvo, as well. As of now, I've only replaced what was absolutely necessary, since my car failed MD state inspection the first time around. Fortunately, it PASSED! I thought replacing the rear shocks would've been the hardest thing to tackle that day. Turns out, it was replacing the front license plate brackets instead, which required dismantling a good portion of the front of the car and a few extra hours :( I also have to continue maintenance with the rest of the parts I have, which could be a couple days of work... Then I need to begin gearing up for the trek back to school in a couple of weeks. Until then, here's the final character design!

Characters and Car Parts

Haha! Success...kind of... I haven't forgotten about my blog quite yet! Well, more character development is at hand. I've gone through a few designs (not a ridiculous amount by any means) and I've got a reasonably close idea of what the character might look like in the end. Again, I won't reveal too much yet, but the designs I posted hopefully will convey the proper ideas without explanation. That would certainly prove whether the designs are working or not! They're still not finalized but they should give an idea. I've gotten some opinions and I believe I may be on the right track, but who knows...
On another note, tomorrow, a slew of car parts will arrive on my doorstep, for a serious tune-up to my "new" '87 245 Volvo. She's not a sports car by any means, and I didn't buy her for that reason, but I'd be surprised to find anything more practical. Yes, when I called this blog "Tinkering with Motion", it wasn't strictly animation related. My gearhead side occasionally comes out to say hello.