Short Animation
 

Hello all, I'm new to the forums, shall i introduce myself...

alright, my name is Dale Rostron and I am currently in the final year of a three year BA(Hons) 3D Computer Animation Degree at Swansea Institute. The final year consists of creating a short film, taking it from pre-production to modelling, texturing, lighting, rigging and animation.

My Short and as yet untitled film revolves around an inept cat burglar trying to steal the world's most expensive diamond from a museum. It is a comedy that focuses on the character's numerous failed attempts to acquire the diamond.

The film has began to move onto the modelling stage which i hope to finish this month. I thought i'd post some of the work up here to get some crits.

A front profile render of the character
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/images/daf...rofilesubd.jpg

A Quicktime turnaround of the finished (model wise) character can be seen at www.rostoons.co.uk/movies/daffturnaround.mov

nice
 

That looks pretty damn good. I'd like to see him when he's textured/colored. I especially like how it isn't overly complicated, yet still impressive.

Update, started modelling the Diamond display case. The case is mostly finished apart from the pedastal for the diamond to rest on and the laser alarm system, and possibly a lock.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/images/displaycase.jpg
Display Case

Update on the case, added a display rope and a plinth for it to rest on

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/displaycase02.jpghttp://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/displaycase03.jpg

I love your modeling style. This is really really cool!

Mee too! very nice, has a good cartoony feel too it. :)

thanks for the kind words..

I'm definately going for the cartoon style, just need to figure out how to make the rest of the room :eek:

Good stuff Rostoons,

My wife convinced me to quit my soul sucking job and do something that made me happy so I started my BA(hons) in computer animation in September. It's all about conventions of this and foundations of that at the moment, very interesting and necesary stuff but it is nice to get an insight of what is expected as a third year student. I look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,

Mat.

I've started to move onto modelling the rest of the museum, kind of taking this as i go as i wasn't particularly happy with my prep designs. the back space is going to be filled with a staircase and direction signs, possibly some cameos for my other models as well as art exhibitions.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum02.jpg

rooms and lighting...
 

hi there,
remember you can "cheat" if your not too sure about
the rooms' lighting...
ie: loose the focal depth, or just on the "Action"
or use a Smoke, in the background, to create an atmosphere
of the Scene....
Just something I would consider, as the Storyboarding
develops along... saves Time as well

carry on the great work, impressive too.

thanks for the advice grocer, i am still modelling in the background but i may use some form of fog or distancing to keep the attention on the foreground.

some updates:

I've modelled some staircases in the back room that will not be seen up close but as background objects.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum05.jpg

and some shots of the room including spot lights and skirting boards

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum04.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum03.jpg

Although I like your modelling style very much. The stairs seem a bit out of place, mainly because no museum (nor other building holding such gems) has such impractical use of space (but that's just my opinion as an architecture student :confused: )

greetz Django

testing your renders...?
 

just a tip...
even when doing some test renders,
try to render from the area that the camera is going to be,
ie: from the storyboard.
cuz, you will start to get the idea or see where an item
needs to be or not, and especially where lighting should be
and the amount of lighting, etc...
sort off: planning ahead, for the next step in the workflow.

still need to see some textures in there, (eventually?)
but l will look forward as to how it all develops.
keep it going.

Grocer.

Its looking really nice, I like the cartoony look to the model and especially the surroundings.

I have sent you a quick PM, if you have time I would reeeeaaalllly appreciate your views on the questions I have passed your way.

Cheers! :beer:

I'm about 99% finished on the modelling of the museum so i decided to apply some materials as a rough draft of a colour scheme, they will be replaced with textures, just thought i'd have a bit of a play

The first shot is also the first shot of the museum in the film

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum06.jpg

And the second shot represents where the camera will be when Daff (the main character) enters the scene suspended from the skylight.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/museum07.jpg

thats really cool!

I personnally at the moment feel incapable of that style of cartooning so I end up with cartoony charcters with detailed objects around them

I love the wonky cartoon style you have, nice one.

Cheers,

Mat.

yeah great style! looking forward to seeing more....i hope u will be including some kind of lazer lights to protect that. :attn:

Really nice. can't wait to see final movie. sound like a lot of fun. Also thanks for commenting on my project.

Cheers

Gatzalf.

Back again
 

it's been a few days since i last updated but here we go...

I took a break from the modelling side of things to focus on rigging, (the institute had a visit from some guys from codemasters that inspired me to get the animation started, or at least set up the character).

The rig is now finished and to test it i crudely skinned it to my low poly character (no weights or flexor deformers yet).

so here is the first test of the rig...the stairs pose!!!

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/pose01.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/pose02.jpg http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/pose03.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/pose04.jpg

Nice, looking good!!

Cant wait to see more!

thought i'd return to modelling, time for some chainsaw action!

this'll be my last post for a few days as i'm taking a short break with some mates to the lovely city of Edinburgh.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/chainsaw01.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/chainsaw02.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/chainsaw03.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/chainsaw04.jpg

and a short turnaround. WARNING for dial up users the file is about 7Mb in size

www.rostoons.co.uk/movies/chainsawturnaround.mov

great detail and nice n smooth. love the turn around well done pal!!
P.s thanks for the comments on my mp3 :D

I like your scene idea. Maybe a suggestion, since you made the doors a cool shape other than the normal rectangle and are going for the cartoon look, make the windows crooked, and the stairs more dynamic and cartoony.

Great work. Keep it up.

thanks everybody for the kind words...

regarding the windows, i'm not going to change the skylight windows in the museum as they are going to be important in the film.

however, i will be adding some 'wonky' windows to the bedroom scene which is currently in development.

I have been working on the film, although my updates haven't been that frequent (will change in the coming weeks).

so for all those that are remotely interested, i'm currently at the skinning stage which results in a lot of :headbang: and :angery: so i thought i'd share my happiness by posting some screens of my lovely rig.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/rig01.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/rig02.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/rig03.jpg

Back to Modelling
 

Righto, the skinning is finished and between setting up animation tests i've decided to get the bedroom scene modelled before my assessment on Monday.

This'll be the third attempt, the first being a detailed animatic version, the second being an awkward attempt at a cartoon style as seen here:

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/oldbedroom01.jpg

This is the third (and hopefully final) attempt thus far. Still got a bit to do but intend to get it finished by monday.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom01.jpg

As always Crits are welcomed :p

Hey there Rostoons,

what was wrong with the awkward cartoon style (apart from the obvious, that it was awkward)? As a viewer, I think the third one is good but the awkward one is better.

cool work , i wish my parents afforded to send me to a 3d school / university to learn maya. My dream that one day i will be part of a team modelling for a film but i think this will never happen :(

Keep up the good work. ;)

Happymat

Personally i think the cartoon style comes across as being a bit too forced, more so than the following scenes. Also I think it comes down to personal preference. The room is used as a 30 second setup for the character's motivation to rob the diamond (the room is to be filled with newspaper articles on famous robberies) mainly added to satisfy my dissertation (don't ask) and I decided to have it a bit more serious in tone than the remainder of the film.

Thanks for the crits though, i'm probably going to have a fiddle with it and stylise it a bit after the 'foundations' are laid.

Masteryoda

Thanks for the kind words, and without sounding too corny, don't give up on it. There's always a way somewhere, just keep practising. What i've learnt is that animation companies don't really care that much about education, more about talent, and many studios will train people to use the software if necessary.

Update:

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom02.jpg

Very nice work, and lots of it too!

I was looking at your character's skeleton to see what techniques you used. Tell me, what are you using to hold the eyes in place or are they a part of the model's face? Also, I noticed the 2 extra bones at the hip joint. Is this to help you simulate a pelvic so the character can walk with a swagger? I also noticed that you used bones on the spine to give you something to bind the skin to. Sort of like ribs. Do you find this necessary? I've tried that technique and found that binding the skin directly to the spine, without the extra "ribs", worked very well for me. To be honest, the extra bones that I used created a skin weighting nightmare.

I like your work very much :beer:

I think you're right about personal preference. Perhaps the wonky room is a little busy, if you're only using it for 30 seconds it might detract from your character animation. For a more serious tone you're right to go for the third one.

Hope your assesment goes ok,

Mat.

Velusion

I created the skeleton using a tutorial as guidance, obviously adjusting it to suit my needs. The tutorial is in the Learning Maya 6 Character Rigging and Animation book. The eyes are constrained to two locators that are grouped together. this enables each eye to move independantly as well as together. The eyes are also grouped together and this, along with the constraint group, is parented to the skull joint. This way the eyes always move with the head. The extra joint above the back root is used as the base of splineIK and always controls of rotation in the pelvis and allows the back to twist without affecting the legs. The extra joints protruding from the hips were created to move the pouches on the character's belt. On the subject of ribs, I usually don't bother but in this case it provided a nice definition and allowed me to keep the structure of the characters chest and abdomen.

Happymat

Thanks man, my only problem is that I don't think i have enough work to satisfy my lecturers at the moment, oh well, i'll see if i can blag it through. The final assessment is at the end of may so this is only an interim.

Also, i took a break from modelling to create a fun little pose. Possibly an idea for an advertising poster with the background being replaced with the diamond case in the museum.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/amboccpose02small.jpg

Large version can be found here

very very nice work !!

Thanks Rostoons, I'll keep what you said in mind :) Keep up the good work, Their really cool, love the character you designed.

I'm an update machine today.

Here goes, modelled some curtains, the TV and the Lamp, also applied some basic shaders to give the scene some definition

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom03.jpg

and during a break decided to make a colour version of the pose (textures not finalised)

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/colourposesmall.jpg

Again large image here

Nicely done rostoons,

I really like the way he is lit, a definate possibility for advertising with text on the left.

Take it easy,

Mat.

The Modelling is now finished, the planes on the walls are to be posters of diamonds and newspaper articles about previous robberies. the planes on the table are going to be blueprints for the tools and the museum case.

http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom06.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom07.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom08.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom09.jpg
http://www.rostoons.co.uk/wip/bedroom10.jpg

Hello Rostoons,

it looks like you've been busy! Very nice,

Mat.

Hey Rostoons

Very good so far. I tend to do a bit of rigging (understatement) so I thought I'd ask...

I take it this dude has facial expressions, how are you controlling them? I may be able to give you some advice and add a very simple yet more user friendly control for the rig

Jay

Thanks Jay, I actually used your tutorial to help make the jacket (though mine was a bit rushed).

On the side of facial expressions, I set about 35 deformers as blendshape targets and applied these to a deformation buffer before applying them to the character's head. I have some pics but am not working on my computer at the moment (waiting in uni for my interim assessment at 12).

The jaw rotate options, the tongue options and the controls of the eyelids were also set in the blendshape window by adding attributes to curves and using the set driven key. Therefore all of my characters expressions can be created using the sliders in the blendshape window.

Unfortunately as time is pressing on I probably do not have the time to change my controls, but I am eager to hear your methods as they may prove incredibly useful in future rigs. Cheers :beer: