2nd Assignment - *FINAL*

I am done with my scene...for now. Class 3 is coming to a close. It has been a HUGE learning experience. These past three months I have learned so much, not just in animation but with the Maya program. So here is my final scene for Class 3:

In Class 4 we will start to polish this even more and add in facial controls to give it more experssive...uh...expressions.

After next week, we get a week long break. I am not sure what to do during that week. Should I avoid animation all together so I can recharge my batteries? Or should I keep chugging along and working on other things like modeling, rigging, and lighting? I really want to give this scene some real ominous lighting. I have the books. We will see what happens.

A Bit of F-U-N!!

So I've been experimenting and trying to learn new things in Maya. I have been sculpting and modeling figures and stuff. I tried rigging a rough model of Leonard but it was getting too complicated. It didn't help that it was the middle of the night and I was really tired. So that didn't go so well. I am still working on "The Hindenburger" episode here and there. It's always lurking there on the back burners. Leonard and Merlin will be needing a plane of somesorts for this episode so I tried to make one. It's a bit much for what I had envisioned, but it may just work out. Here is a model rotation of what I did in a few hours.



So once I finished that up, I had another idea. I sort of got the idea from what I remember seeing in "Kung Fu Panda." When I first saw the trailer, one of the scenes that cracked me up was when Po landed on Tai Lung's head and they showed it in slow motion. In traditional 2D, that would have been very difficult because you have to draw all those extra frames moving the character at a fraction of an inch. I realized in computer animation, all you have to do is add more frames between the keys and you get the same effect.

So here's what I came up with...

Poor Bishop.

"Crazy" Week 10

The semester is almost up. I just finished week 10 and starting week 11. The bad news: I didn't put that much time into my scene this week. It's just been a weird week. The good news: I'm on vacation and now have plenty of time for my scene. I decided to take my last week of vacation for the year during the last week of this assignment. I really want to get this right so I need to focus. So it looks like long days and nights here in the studio.

So here's my shot for this week. I used my mentor's notes as best I could. I added more overlap in the body and really tried to lead with the hips. I still need to work on the hands at the end. But all in all, it is coming together.

Week 3 - First Spline

Here's my first pass at splining. I was working on this for quite some time when I realized it didn't have to be perfect. So I did my best. I still have two more weeks to get it just right.

Week 2 - 2nd Blocking

In week 2, we are to do a bit more blocking. I did not add too much because I want to keep some of the "moving holds." I do not want this to be like my first scene of the semester. Stewie was moving all over the place. It was too busy. Here I am trying for a more subtle approach.

This semester we do not have too much control over Bishop's facial expressions. We can only control his eyes, eyelids, and jaw up & down movement. Next week I start splining the scene. That is when it gets interesting.

I have also been reading and learning new things available in Maya. I started getting into modelling and set building. Just yesterday (actually about 2:00 this morning) I learned how to texture and paint on Bishop. So to go with my "crazy" scene I gave Bishop a Joker look. To add to his craziness, I gave him an eye twitch now and then along with a head twitch to match. It has been so much fun learning new things. My creativity is now able to come to bloom!

Animation Mentor Showcase 2008

Leonard & Merlin - Take 1

THIS IS HILARIOUS!!

Full Shot Blocked Out

Week 7 - First Blocking Pass

Here's what I have been doing all day long. This is my first pass at blocking for my dialogue scene. I still have the last few seconds left but I will work on those later tonight.