Shub-Work 01: Update

Sorry I haven't posted anything on Friday the 11th I was busy finishing up on a model I have been putting off for a long time, and it is an updated rig of my character Albert. 

Don't worry I will have a playblast of the rig in action very soon.

*I have finished the Previs to show off the new rig and Blend Shapes*

The only difference this model has when compared to his older model is that now Albert has an FK/IK switch on both his legs and arms. I did have a lot of problems when updating this model for instances some how the mesh was not connected to the rig so I had re-skin the entire model again.

Also the blend shapes controls did not work so I had to reapply them to the head again, but when doing that a few of the blend shapes did not operate properly so I had to make a new set.

Example 1 of old Blend Shape working

Example 2 of old Blend Shape not working

To make things more trouble some both of Albert's eyelids also were not working so I had to remake them too. The good news is that I found some helpful tutorials on how to make cartoon eyes in maya.

*Here is the Previs*

Yet besides all of these set backs it was all worth it in the end.

I might take a break from this and start finishing on my fanart for my sister. Hopefully it won't take me this long to actually start working on animating him.

Transcription part 19: Pre-Vis Walkcycle and Turnarounds

Here is some pre-vis of my transcription project. It consist the walkcycle of Albert and his turnaround from texture to wire frame as well the turnarounds of the set.


Plesae leave some feedback thank you

Transcription part 18: Making of and Technical Paper

Here is my 'Making of' of Albert showings his creation to the designs of the set. Hopefully this will give you some idea of the world Albert is in.

Making of Albert 2

Here is my Technical Paper which will show you the creation of Albert's eyes in much detail.
Technical Paper 3

Please leave feedback

Transcription part 17: Albert Coloured Version and Silhouette

Today I have coloured my character Albert. I purposely chose the colour brown as the main colour for my animation to focus around because to me it feels Victorian. The tricky part was to find the right amount of shade of brown for most of my character's clothes. I did two coloured pictures of Albert, one of him lying on a table to give an idea of the setting he is in and one with him just standing to see the colours used on Albert more better.

First Picture Albert Lying on the Pub Table

Second Picture Albert Just Standing

I have also done a silhouette to see how dramatic Albert's shape is.

Please send feedback :)

Transcription part 16: Albert's Final Build and Company Logo

Last night I was finishing on making the final design on Albert. The only changes that are done to him is that his sleeves are loose some what and he has a texture in the inside of his body that resembles a untucked shirt and a unbutton waist coat and blazer. I first finished making his body construction to see the different shapes used in making his overall appearance. Then I made the expression sheet to highlight the main faces he is going to pull.
I have also made his turnarounds to see him from all sides and his updated modelling map to represent his 3D version.









Today I was designing the logo of my company named Shubtastic Studios.
The first design is that the 'S' will look like it's one but in reality there are two 'S's overlapping each other. The studio 'T' is also the underline for the Shubtastic part of the logo.
The second design is that the bottom 'S' is hanging over the top 'S'while the rest is the same. Although it doesn't look it there are meant to be two different fonts, the 'Shubtastic' word is meant to be more curvy and bubbly so it looks playful but the 'Studio' word is meant to have a more serious font to show I am also serious about my work.
Please send feedback if this is a good idea.

Transcription part 15: All the Modles I Have Made So Far.

For the pass two weeks I was finish making my character and the objects. I am almost done making Albert just need to sort out a problem I have come across. The problem is when I try to edit the inputs in my character's head an error message comes up saying 'Error: Object 'row1' not found'. If anyone knows how to fix this please tell me. Other than that almost all my models are done, just need to make the key, bottle and the tile for my character to walk on.



The Lamp post will have a special rig that will control most of the Controlers on the centre pole so it can bend smoothly.








Albert's door won't have a UV map because I was planning to use one colour for the door and bronze for the letter box, door nob and key hole.

Transcription part 14: New Chair Map and Finished Character Model

*NOTE TO SELF: need to post the construction designs of the new chair*

Last week I had a meeting with Phil and I shown him my modelling maps, he liked all of them except my chair. He said it looked too generic and it doesn't show Victorian, so I did some more research on Victorian pub chairs and I actually got a very good idea for my new chair design.

New Chair Map

I still carried some of the chair's previous design like the curved legs and the back, but the overall appearance has changed drastically.


Once I have finally finished making all the modelling maps I then started modelling my character.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3 Front

Stage 3 Front Wired

Stage 3 Back

Stage 3 Back Wired

Stage 3 Head Wired

Modelling my character didn't take too long but it was very tricky especially the making the hands. You would think making mitten hands would be easy but it wasn't, at least to me. The reason why is because I wanted to give it more than one movement like having his pinky risen when holding the bottle or opening the door. Overall I am pleased of how it turned out, next step is to set up the UV map and rig it

Transcription part 13: Final Albert Construction Sheet and Modeling Map (Hopefully)

Today I did some editing on my character Albert. I added a neck on him so his head doesn't look weird when he moves it and re-did his texture on his body, this time I added a waist coat around his body. The reason for his change on his clothes is so he looks more Victorian but I still wanted a sense of messiness so I made his shirt untuck and having his blazer and waist coat unbuttoned. His hat is meant to be slanted a bit, but I think I will do that when I make him in 3D.

Transcription part 12: Final Set Designs

Last week I had a meeting with Alan about my sets designs for my animation, he told me they do not resemble anything Victorian and I should research on some Victorian objects, which I did. I have redesign all the objects except the bottle because when I was researching Victorian bottles they all look the same with slight differences for example the neck has a smooth merge down the body, but I didn't want that I wanted the type of design where the body and the neck are different from each other.

When I was redesigning the Lamp Post I still wanted the three arms look but I thought instead of having the bulbs in a cage I could put them in a dome on each arm so it gives the Lamp a some-what person appearance. Which I believe works well with my animation since it is going to dance.

Lamp Post Design Set 1

Lamp Post Design Set 2

Lamp Post Front

Lamp Post Side

For the table I wanted to give it a unique appearance for the legs, and while looking for some images of Victorian tables I found some with four legs connected to a small pillar underneath the table. I really like it and I thought I could apply it to my table.

Table Designs

Table

For the Chair I had to do a lot of research on it finding what would be the appropriate for my animation. I ended up with a merger between a stool and a chair. I don't know if the Victorian era had that but to me it works because it will make my character look short when sitting on it which is what I am going for.

Chair Designs

Chair

For the pub door I thought making it big the door big with a glass window on the front would give the door a bit of class. While the house door is meant to look normal with some detail.

Pub Door Designs

Pub Door

House Door

Transcription part 11: Character and Object Designs

I have done some more fleshing of my character just have to plan out his colours and the texture for his clothes but more or less he is almost complete.






I have also design some guide maps for modelling the objects for my animation, the objects are the lamp post, chair, table, beer bottle and door. I have shown this to Alan but he said they need to look more Victorian since this is the time-line my animation revolves around.
The reason why the lamp post does not have any lamps on the two arms is because I was planning to edit them through photoshop by duplicating the centre one and placing them on the arms.

Transcription part 10: Designing my Final character and Street Lamp

Here some more character development on my character Albert, I was trying to find a way to add his neck and keep his round shape. I don't know why this gave me some trouble but I think I am getting there.