Toolkit 3 || Tutorials Part 4 - Mel Scripting

Mel Scripting

Part 2: Building a Shelf

As an extra exercise instead of downloading software I decided to set up a shelf for my preferred normal map generator which is found online;

For the icon, I went to the source code for the website and located their favicon.

Part 3: Random Placement

I can see how this would useful in creating random shapes for all sorts of situations, like bubbles or asteroids. Usage of the 'rand' and 'float' could come in useful for other things like making random movement in joints by using the transform.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 9 and 10

Testing boundaries, an important note; most real life poses don't work very well in cinematic sense, especially with cartoon characters. it is really important to experiment and understand the limitations of the model, by attempting the most extreme poses you will discover a lot about the model, and begin to apply artistic license where necessary.

A lot of issues arise when you try to base the moom pose solely on a reference, because the moom has different proportions to an actual human, it is better to study the reference image first and then model based on your memory of it. This way also helps to focus on Maya and any issues in the viewport.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 6

When creating the pose I should pay attention to their center of gravity because with balance poses like this, it matters to avoid a floaty sort of look. Also while making this pose I was caught out by the limitations of the model as the leg folded in on itself, next time I do this I will make sure to remember these experiences. Perhaps after posing the spine I will focus on the more extreme limbs before working on the others to save time from fixing it afterwards.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 8

I think there some poses that this model wasn't meant for.

Toolkit 3 || Tutorials Part 3 - Rigging Techniques and Mel Scripting

Rigging Techniques
Part 8: nCloth Attract to Matching Mesh

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This one didn't work as well on my home computer, the simulation animated differently because of the frame skips, which was interesting... I should probably upgrade my graphics card but then I'll have to upgrade my motherboard too and then I'll have no computer for a couple days.

Part 15: Object Exchange

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Mel 1: Practical Mel 
Part 1: Creating an Interface

This is a sample of the template I did, it has some informal language in it to prove that its mine.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 7

This time I've used a karate picture as a base for this pose, although I wasn't able to reference said image, you can see how I've developed my abilities by positioning the spine first before anything else, so the rest of the rig wouldn't be distorted. Even if I make mistakes however I should be able to work with it, since the pose is never completely accurate because of limitations present in the character rig.

Toolkit 3 || Tutorials Part 3 - Rigging Techniques

Part 6: nHair Dynamic Rigging Part 1

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Part 7: nHair Dynamic Rigging Part 2 

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Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 3

A post I missed over the term, I didn't use a reference for this one either as I just wanted a figure sitting down on the floor. Unfortunately I spent too much time getting him to sit, and didn't realise the importance of adjusting the spine first in my rush to get the hands into position. I need to recall how to use my mental filter to look at the things I need to work on first without getting distracted by non details, also to do things in order would definitely get my speed up with minimal error. When starting out with any character rig, it is important to play around with it a lot so you can get a feel for it before actually making animations and renders, that's what I bring forward from these exercises.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 5

This lesson I decided to practise my silhouettes, but without a reference maybe it took longer than it should have. Next time I do this I'll make sure to bring some stuff that I want to recreate, and maybe look at some other classmates work, so I can get some inspiration.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || 3D Modeling the Boy Part 6: Fixing Geometry and Other Things

This is my original mesh, it requires more geometry, but the current structure doesn't allow it because the edge loops aren't going where they need to go. I wasn't aware of this initially until it was brought to my attention. 

This is the face geometry with a wireframe to show the fixes made to the mesh prior to smoothing. The nose resolution has been increased to better suit high quality animation, and other parts have more vertices in order to better support animation. I hadn't realised the knock on effect that the structure had of distorting the smoothed mesh because of all the points with more or less than four edges, so this is definitely something to bring forward from this project. 

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 4

While I was making this pose, I was tempted to add a facial expression, but then I thought not to, since the exercise is about posing not emoting. Still, the final result has a sort of expressiveness behind it. In the future I need to remember to turn off the controls so I don't get unwanted shadows in the scene.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || Some Production Art and Animated Experiments

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I was thinking about animating the characters of my animation to see how they might move in terms of their habits or in the case of the ghost, how to shift and change form. The timeline window in photoshop helped me realise some of these movements when I was animating my production art. If I were to pursue this exercise, the final animations could benefit from the study and look less mechanical.

Toolkit 3 || Tutorials Part 1 - Photogrammetry and Rigging Techniques

Photogrammetry

Option 1 (Static match) - Non Compositing (Single Pass) Integration of Objects

Rigging 3: Rigging techniques

Part 1: Basic Squash, Stretch and Volume Preservation

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Part 2: Conditional Squash and Stretch

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 2

I missed the session, so I timed myself, this is the result. 

When posing cartoonish characters like the moom model here, it is important to note that the pose isn't going to be accurate because of the large spherical head and lack of clothes. Instead it is important to use your artistic integrity to fill in the gaps according to natural posture. You can see this distinction by the way I've posed the arms around the head, because it and the hands are larger, a compensation was necessary in order to convey the correct pose.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || The Room and The Blank Space Part 1: Thumbnail Sketches

I fashioned these thumbnails after a theme of escapism. There are a few key props to consider; the computer is the impetus of conflict in the story, being the boy's key form of escaping real life but after the ghost makes contact through it, the red door becomes important as it represents escape for the boy. Both should be treated as key focuses while scene building. 

Also I began to consider the representation of Outside in the story. A green field is often seen as a metaphor for freedom, so this could be a possible alternate ending. I added a tree, just to see what it look like, though I'm not sure if it will stay. 

Please let me know what you think of these ideas in the comments, input is greatly appreciated.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || 3D Modeling the Boy Part 5: Summer Progress Update

Over the course of the summer I have made some progress on one of my models, obviously it isn't done, but I will go over some of the developments as to make a record for future reference.

First of all the eyes have been remodeled as to more resemble an actual, albeit enlarged, human eye, which will give me more range of expression. This point is especially important since the animation has a horror aspect which covers a range of emotions.

The eyes were made using an old blender tutorial I used a few years ago called 'Creating Pixar looking eyes in Blender'. The eyelashes have a transparent blinn which can be seen in the viewport for reference while modeling, and has another arnold standard surface for rendering. I attempted a skin texture, but the sub surface scattering has made it look faded.

I think the normal maps for the hoody have worked out pretty well, I haven't done the underside of the hood on purpose so the difference is more obvious. The shoes and socks went through the same process. The oversized aspect of textures lends itself to the model, as it give a sense of scale.

From this point I want to work more on the hair strands at the back of the head, the skin textures, and generally just cleanup everywhere. after that, I'll start skinning everything. At some point i want to start working on the environments, so expect progress updates on that too.

Toolkit 3 || Moom 5 Minute Posing 1

Pukey moom I did in 5 minutes. The silhouette could be better, and I could have spent more time improving the facial expressions.

Toolkit 2 || Submission Post

Autodesk Maya || Jetpack Jones Tutorials Part 5: Skinning and Rigging

After the skeleton was finished while I ws skinning the fingers my home computer began crashing while adjusting keyframes, so I looked up solutions, found out that my graphics drivers were to blame, then I reinstalled them. 

Made a mistake, had my vertices parented to different bones. This caused a sort of drag when the bones are moved. Made a new save after I fixed it.

Arm and spine is now finished.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Premise 2018 || 3D Modeling the Boy Part 4: Eye Remodeling

An experimental texture was applied here on the hair to see the potential results for future reference. 

I realise that this model looks a lot like a doll, probably because of the glassiness of the eyes or the flatness of the skin. The best thing I could do at this point is to just remodel them into something more realistic, but to do that, I need to make another orthograph.

Done, now to apply it to the face...

I will work on the topology a little bit more as I go ahead, but I think this worked out well. The next things to do will be the hair and the eyebrows.