Minor: Reflective Statement

I am pleased with how my film is progressing - I can see the path from my current position to my complete film. I have found some parts of this project very challenging - particularly with getting the flow of my film set.

My abilities in Maya have improved a lot this past term. I know that I have been slow, but I can feel myself speeding up and I am pleased with what I have made. I have been able to successfully translate my drawings into 3D, my model looks the way I want it to and the texturing has really helped bring my character to life. Figuring out the toon shader for my model was tricky but rewarding and my confidence in terms of using my knowledge of Maya and figuring out problems has grown a lot.

I am aware that I have not completed all of the things that I set out the finish for this submission. I had intended to complete a pre-viz and the facial rig for my character. At one point I considered creating rubber hose rig in addition to the main one. After changing my audio and rethinking my film, I realised that I didn't wouldn't need this.

I have found developing my story to be the most challenging aspect of this project. Even though I was pleased with my output from Premise, I struggled with taking it further. I haven't made a pre-viz, and I will need to do this quickly and effectively to create my film, but I have made some steps towards it.

After many attempts, I am much happier with my new audio. Having started to experiment with combining 2D and 3D, I now know what I want for this film. My 2D effects concept shows how I plan to use 2D animated backgrounds and character animation to show feelings, without needing to make physical changes to my character's body. I will continue to build on this and link in the animated textures I have been experimenting with in Maya. Working across different software and with elements such as displacement maps, that don't show until rendered, has meant I need to keep a strong image in my mind of how things will work together. It is exciting to see the results of this begin to appear. As I have not finished my pre-viz, I have also not made a shot list or reached out to a composer.

At some points in this project I struggled with knowing and committing to what I wanted and needed to do to make this film work. I didn't stick very well to my schedule and I spent too much time on things that I already knew how I wanted, rather than on the harder task of pushing new ideas.

I am pleased with the work I have completed, though I wish I had done more. I had expected to become better at working in Maya but was still unsure how well I would be able to deal with the technical challenges - I remember being frustrated in the past at not being able to realise my concepts in 3D. Throughout this project I could feel my 3D skills improving as they were tested and I am excited to continue producing this film and learn more as I do.

Minor: Submission Post

The Making of  'None of This'

The Body - Turnaround

2D Effects Concept

Minor: Visual Update

I have been working to my new audio to figure out how I want this film to progress visually. I now have a strong idea of what I want my film to look like and how I will create the impact I am looking for.

This video shows how the 2D backgrounds could be used.

Minor: Textures and Effects

This post is some of the work on textures and effects that I have done. It is in my 'making of' document already and I will also post it here.

I have rendered my character with different shaders - one with a grey Standard Surface and one of each colour Toon I will use.

I will likely adjust the red shader - I need to find a balance between it being bright enough and it still showing the character's shape.

I have also created a version of my character with sections missing from it. This involved editing a duplicate of my character model and attaching it to the original with a wrap deformer. As this was quite a quick process, I will be able to make a new version with different pieces missing if I need to.

The new model follows quite well with the rig, though there is some issues on the flat red surfaces.

This is a render of my character's waist in a the side bend shown above. The red Toon hides the distortion quite well, and I will be using an animated texture on these sections.

I have tried using fractal and noise nodes plugged into the displacement on the red shader, as I have done previously with a section of the foot.

I am pleased with the effect so far and will continue to experiment with different options.

Minor: Turnaround Update

Minor: Head Controls and Eye Look Rig

I have created the head controls and eye look rig.

Minor: The Making of 'None of This'

I have created my 'making of' document for the Minor Project. 

Minor: Pose Test

I am going to include some poses of my character in my art of, and I may do a short video to demonstrate my rigging progress. Here is a render of my first pose test.

Minor: Turnaround

I have rendered the different passes to make my turnaround. I have made one on a black backdrop and one on the green of my film.

Minor: Turnaround Test

I have playblasted a test shot for my turnarounds. I wanted to do this before I rendered anything, to make sure that the pose and speed were acceptable.

Minor: 'Making Of' Pages 1

I have taken some renders of my model for the 'Making Of' document and started arranging them. I haven't sorted out the spacing yet - I want to tailor it to the more complicated pages first, and then make it the same throughout.

I haven't decided if I should have the wireframes over the shaded models, or without the model underneath.

Minor: Body Rig

I have completed the body rig for my character. I had to redo the pose space deformers due to a mistake I made, but they are working now.

It took me a little while to work out the IK set up for the individual toes, but I think I have got it working well, and I've also added channels on the foot controls for Toe Curl and Spread.