Sunday, May 4, 2008

3D Modeling: Robotic Animal




The last assignment in modeling is to design, model and rig our own robotic animals. We are free to do anything we like as long as it is half organic and half machine.

We were shown many examples and the animal-side of most were simply an empty shell where the machine dwells. I didn't like that - I want my animal to have a mind and a personality, it is a machine and yet it is not an empty shell. So I made my rabbit the driver of a machine tank.

Concept design:


Stills:



Saturday, May 3, 2008

Composition: Mood, Movement & Meaning


These are the last 3 composition assignments and the description paragraphs the drawings are based on. For previous assignments, I was always unconsciously drawing everything covered in the paragraphs, making a more complicated yet unfocused composition. As a new challenge to myself, I tried to pick only a few elements to focus on, in order to make a more focused and compelling composition.


The private office was everything a private office should be. It was long and dim and quiet and air-conditioned and its windows were shut and its gray venetian blinds half-closed to keep out the July glare. Gray drapes matched the gray carpeting. There was a large black and silver safe in the corner and a low row of low filing cases that exactly matched it. On the wall there was a huge tinted photograph of an elderly party with a chiselled beak and whiskers and a wing collar. The Adam's apple that edged through his wing collar looked harder than most people's chins. The plate underneath the photograph read: Mr. Matthew Gillerlain 1860-1934.
Derace Kingsley marched briskly behind about eight hundred dollars' worth of executive desk and planted his backside in a tall leather chair. He reached himself a panatela out of a copper and mahogany box and trimmed it and lit it with a fat copper desk lighter. He took his time about it. It didn't matter about my time. When he had finished this, he leaned back and blew a little smoke and said:
"I'm a business man. I don't fool around. You're a licensed detective your card says. Show me something to prove it."



"Don't you know a police siren when you hear one? Get out of that car!"
I got out of the car and stood beside it in the moonlight. The fat man had a gun in his hand.
"Gimme our license!" he barked in a voice as hard as the blade of a shovel.
I took it out and held it out. The other cop in the car slid out from under the wheel and came around beside me and took what I was holding out. He put a flash on it and read.
"Name of Marlowe," he said. "Hell, the guy's a shamus. Just think of that, Cooney."



The first blister popped, bled.
The soil lay rock-like beneath the heavy frost, and his shovel worked scarcely better than a child's toy. Still he kept digging, pausing only when his hands grew too cold to grip the handle, or when a fit of coughing took him, doubling him over to spit thickly on the ground.
His foot brushed against the gunnysack lying next to him, producing a muffled thud. Take a breath, man - don't kill yourself in the doing.
He sat down on the small pile of fresh-dug dirt, pulling the sack closer to him. Gentle, now, his trembling hands doing their best to forget the cold, forget the strain of digging.

Character Design: Challenge




This is only a challenge given to us in character design, is to try and draw in someone else's style. Drawing in someone else's style is commonplace in the work environment, and as a challenge to myself I decided to draw Terry Lennox again in the styles below:




Character Design: Creature Design




The last character design assignment is to design a creature or an animal. I chose the Kirin/Qilin because I've always wanted to do my own version of it. I did some research and apparently chinese Qilin versions are more ox-bodied, while japanese Kirin are more deer-bodied. Seeing as the Qilin is good creature I figure that the deer body would better resemble the kindness factor.




Friday, May 2, 2008

3D Texturing: Kitchen


This is my first attempt at textures and shaders so it is a poor job I have to admit. Anyway, we were given a reference image and the 3D scene file of the kitchen, and were asked to recreate the reference image.


My kitchen, textured according to the reference image below.


Reference Image

Thursday, May 1, 2008

3D Animation: Pendulum & Jump


We didn't have many 3d animation classes this term, as a result we don't have many assignments. The jump assignment was especially challenging as I have barely animated before, not to mention in 3D. I used a jumping reference video to do the animation, it could have been better but I'd already spent almost 10 hours on it.


Pendulum


Jump

Photoshop: Toy Box Textures (New & Old)




Our last photoshop assignment for the term is to make UV textures for a new and an old toy box. We started by cleaning up some scans of each side of an existing toy box, and then putting them together to make the new box UV. Afterwards we destroyed the image to make the old box UV.



Classical Animation: More Line Tests


This is the rest of the classical animation assignments we did for term 1. The walk cycles look simple, but both of them posed as two of the biggest challenges in term 1. I learned a lot from these assignments.


Week 4 - Whip Cracking


Week 5 - Walk Cycle (Side View)


Week 6 - Walk Cycle (Front View)