3D Week by Week retrospective....

Week Ending 12/02

Have to have designs for a model that will be made out of clay. I will make one of Velvet Fist.

Week Ending 19/02

The clay model we will make is going to be made into a 3D model by being scanned. Sounds good. I have finished drawing for VF. She is MASSIVE. Huge arms, massive quads and enormous tits. Awesome.

Week Ending 26/02

Building clay model. Darren made the armature and at this point am just building up the mass around the major muscles. Rough shape only.

Week Ending 05/03

Much more detail in the model now. Can clearly see that is a muscled amazonian woman. Still lacking any real detail, but the shapes of the muscle groups are showing.

Week Ending 12/03

Finished model this week. Added clothes, kind of a sporting leotard. I had trouble with the hair and facial details so Darren was able to help out there. Basically she looks like Hulk's lesbian weightlifting cousin from the Ukraine. Awesome.

Week Ending 19/03

Scanning the models this week. My model is finished, but could still stand to be polished a little more. The scan looks pretty cool though. It's fun to see the model now existing in virtual space. The scan seems to have worked quite well, pretty much all the detail on the clay model has been captured in the scan

Week Ending 26/03

Have had to start building mesh around the scan of the model. I did not know that this was the process and am a bit stumped. I thought the scan of the clay model was going to be rigged, but aparantly we have to build a mesh around the scan. I have seen the process as akin to using plaster strips, like those used to plaster a broken bone, on a wire frame. Sounds simple enough. Of course as with everything in 3D it;s not the case. I am having a lot of trouble gaining good contact between the mesh and the scan. Every time I create a new strip it is incredibly difficult to stretch it down to the scan. THe scan has to be in 'live' mode so that when the vertices of the mesh are brought in it's vicinity they snap to the scan resulting in a tight 'wrap'. Sounds good in principle, in practice its not working for me. I have one strip aver the top of VF's head and although that isn't to bad I have to stretch that across the whole scan, and whenever I extrude out more faces I can't get it to snap to the scan.

Week Ending 02/04 - Holidays

Week Ending 09/04 - Holidays

Week Ending 16/04

Basically did nothing to the model this week. I can't get it to work. Will try again later.

Week Ending 23/04

Still minimal to no movement in building the mesh over the scan. I am not really sure how to do it. I know I need to extrude faces, and snap the vertices to the scan which has been made 'live' but it simply does not seem to work for me. Also I can see the tidy work of all the competent 3D guys and see my crumpled mesh and have so motivation to move forward.

Week Ending 30/04

Have had to pull my finger out and really start moving on getting the mesh completed. Until this point I had simply had my head in the sand, I was not really sure how to move forward. I was having a lot of trouble building the mesh around the scan. And because it was not working how I expected I took the easy route and put it on the back burner. But with only a matter of weeks until the rig is due (in an animation no less) I am so far behind I can't afford to be complacent. Apart from simply not allowing myself to give up, I'm not sure why it finally worked for me this time, but there was an element of the penny dropping. Though there was no one key element that now made sense, I was simply more able to build the mesh around the scan. It probably helped that I had digested what and why I was doing what I was doing. What ever the reason, by the end of the week where previously had been a small strip of mesh over the head of the scan, there was now a completed mesh... without soles on her feet. I had tried to fill the gap several times but it did not work. But I knew this would be a small problem, and was just so pleased to see a full mesh, blocky as it was, that I could begin rigging.

Week Ending 07/05

This week started working hard on rigging. I was well behind in getting this assignment completed so have taken all the lectures Jack had put on DVD and set down for a long spell at the computer. Basically every minute of lectures equalled about 5 minutes of work as I would have to go over each moment in the recording several times before I understood what was being done, how and why. It was good to finally gain some traction on putting the rig into the model. It is something that I had previously had NO understanding of at all, and it was certainly a sense of achievement being able to not only comprehend but put into practice. Seeing an arm, a leg and back move how they were supposed to and know that I had made it work myself was a small thrill especially given how negative a mind set I had against 3D and my ability to make it work.

Week Ending 14/05

Sent email to Jack on Monday of this week for assistance I had had with where I was at with rigging. However by the time I saw him on Thursday, by continuing on with the recorded lectures I had managed to get beyond questions I had asked. Basically I had competed the skeleton as far as I could go. Basically I had been able to get all the joints for for the arms, legs, back etc working including distributed rotation. I had included some fingers, even though the model had none, ditto for the eyes. Jack advised that since the model was absent of these items there was no need to rig them. I did not complain. The next step here confused me, as the skeleton (joints) I had so studiously spent the last week or so creating were deleted and then, with Jack's scripts a working rig that calculated the distributed rotations itself was dropped in. Why did I have to make the skeleton then? I think I asked, but my comprehension of what I was doing was pretty much maxed out so I wasn't able to understand the concept.

As a certified genius (see Facebook IQ test) I hate that I struggle not only with the practical elements of how to make Maya do what I want, but that I sometimes don't even understand why I am asking it to do certain things, I choose to believe it's because I am to advanced, like before ADD was 'discovered' restless kids were often thought to be to advanced for the rudimentary classes in school. I choose to label myself this way and then I feel better and justified in my remedial Maya skills.

There were however some issues with the script in its application to my model so Jack took a file to fix before the next class. I will draw up the key poses of the animation I will do when the bugs are worked out of the rig. The animation will be of VF falling and landing athletically, flexing, then realising she is naked and effeminately hiding her body.

Week Ending 21/05

Got fixed rig from Jack at start of this week (17/05). There had been some issues with the deformation and joints. I think probably not enough influences as because I was behind had not finished deformation befoe controllers were added. This was also becuase I was unfamiliar with the exact production flow as I did not really understand what each element was doing. In all honesty I'm still not entirely sure. I am still a little confused by the process of setting up the 'skeleton' (joints?) and then deleting them all to add the 'rig' (controllers?). My understanding is that the skeleton is added to set the parameters of each unique model. Then the deformation rigging should be completed so that it can be seen that the deformation rig is working in tandem with the joints to move the puppet as expected. When this point has been reached the actual rig can be put in, and for this to be done the skeleton needs to be deleted (?). Like I said, I'm still a little iffy. But at least have a vague comprehension so if I had to do it again (which dear Lord I hope I never have to!) would at least know what step I was at.

Anyway with Jacks fixed rig (he also could not resist tidying up my clumsy modeling, which was great 'cos VF now at least resembles a human of sorts) I was able to block out the poses for my animation. I have tried to go with very dynamic stances, for interest and because VF is obviously an incredibly powerful and dynamic character. Getting most of the poses was not too much trouble (getting her in the squatting position was not easy I have been told this could be because the IK and FK handles do not work well for this movement) but figuring out the movement between the poses is not something I am looking forward to. I will work out the pose between the poses and keep doing this 'til the weight transference between the poses looks right. Then I guess I have to work on the timing between the movements.

Week Ending 28/05

Finalised animation of the character. I had pretty much all the poses I wanted, and the weight transference between them was close, but there were timing issues. This was rectified quickly with the assistance of Jack by simply stretching and condensing the time between the frames in the timeline. I was familiar with moving the frames in groups but was not aware of this function of being able to scale the length of the selection. It is something I will take advantage of in future, as I had found getting the poses difficult but achievable, but moving them around was more difficult, even though I knew in my head the approximate timing I was after.

Jack was able to help me get the animation to a point where it was acceptable. The rest of the assignment was to get all the supporting documentation ready to hand in. This included all the tracking documents of how the project was to be backed up, and how the files were to be tracked and named. The other guys included copies of what they handed in for the production bible. But given my bible was for a 2D film I wrote new tracking documents specifically for the 3D assignment. These were not exactly what I used in the creation of the animation, but a tidied up version of what I learned was required. So they are a hybrid of what was done, and what was learned and represent what I believe I would use should I make another project similar in requirements.

This was all handed in along with the maya files of the animation, the model and the rig. This journal makes up the final piece of the assignment. As can be seen this has been entered on one day, but is representative of the work flow, frustrations and success I had in the assignment.

End of Semester Summary

Well the end of semester is here and with it comes the end of pre-production. After creating the production bible I finally feel like I have a handle on the pre-production process. This is something that I’m sure should have sunk in much sooner, but for what ever reason the flow of the process was something that had eluded me a little til now. I think part of this was because of my lack of familiarity with all software and hardware involved with the process; therefore time estimates for the work remained an impenetrable concept.

Through this pre-production phase however I have aligned myself with After Effects. It will be the program I will be using for the bulk of my production. As a result I have been able to get my head around the work flow I will be using and therefore been able to conceptualise how the piece will be constructed.

This pre-production also involved working out data storage, render times and asset management. This forced me to assess the project from a perspective I have until this point steadfastly ignored, as a result for the first time I feel I have a handle on how to quantify the project from a purely numerical perspective. This has greatly aided in my ability to break down the creative elements of the film, how long they would take, how much they would cost and how much space they would take up.

Whilst my comprehension of the project from this perspective is still rudimentary it has given me confidence in going forward with the project. It has given me a way to track my progress from a point of view other than just story telling, which up til this point was the only way I could assess my work. I’m excited by this development because it has given me some insight as to how I may be able to produce work post TAFE in the professional world. Given my limitations as a visual artist (my story telling and directing abilities are naturally unparalleled in the known universe), knowing how to break down a project into what elements I will need other artists to create, how long it would take etc gives me some confidence that I will be able to create projects of my own after graduation. I was genuinely fearful that my lack of skills would prohibit this and so for this alone I would rate my pre-production this time around a great success.

The success of my pre-production from an artistic standpoint however has probably been less of a success. As I have been gabbing about incessantly throughout the blog, and this summary, I am unhappy with all of the artwork I have created. I have been reticent to get my class mates to assist too much despite their superior ability, because I can not return the favour in kind. I wrote a few scripts for the guys and was able to parlay that into some character designs and colouring, but I was left to do the heavy lifting on much of the remaining work. Whilst the other guys would have made much lighter work of this, as I said I would not have been able to offer much service in reciprocation, given my drawing, animating and compositing skills are so basic. So rather than have the ledger heavily in my favour, and take precious time away from their projects I struggled alone, like a martyr, against the harsh elements of my inferior artistic abilities. I’m so thoughtful that way.

But despite my pre-school drawing ability, I am feeling confident that my final piece will be something that I’m not repulsed by, if not even proud of. Again this is because I am comfortable in what elements I will have to produce. Given I am able to break down the project into smaller pieces, I can choose to start with those elements that I know I can do well, therefore gaining in confidence and quality as I go. Also given I am committed to using After Effects I look forward to learning the program and utilising its functions to greatest (ahem) effect and polishing my turd-like art into something almost palatable.

It is still a long way to go, but I feel I now have a decent map which should lead me at least in the general direction of my final destination.

Last Week of Pre Pro

So the last week and a bit has been all about madly getting all the elements together for the submission of the production bible. Most of the time has been allocated to the 'production office' i.e. all the paperwork elements involved in film making. So there has been budgeting, scheduling, file management and naming and data storage calculations and requirements.

There has still also been much artwork to create, finalise and sort. So designs have had to be cleaned up and composited for model sheets, and expression sheets. Final decisions have had to be made about colours, design elements and props to do with environmental designs and characters.

As mentioned previously the art work creation has been a much harder slog than the production office work. That again is because I find the organising and decision making far easier at a 'bigger picture' level. Deciding the exact shape, colour and placement of a coffee table in a room is far harder when I have to draw it than it is working with an artist who can 'riff' a dozen different designs in 10 minutes, and moulding their work to fit what I think is the right feel of the piece. My point being that I find 'steering' far easier than 'generating' when it comes to image creation. Of course I concede this could simply be whining.

The completed bible is however a great document that is an excellent map of where I am going, and where I have come from. It is also motivating to see how much work has been generated even to this point. Especially considering I know I have less art work than my class mates (see above) and yet there is still a lot of material which goes a long way to defining the piece.

Video Blockand updates

Last week video block was filme and submitted. Given it is for the animation I did not shoot the static images from the opening sequence. Also given there is not much movement from either of the characters was able to double up the shots and just copy and paste. Was useful for getting some framing with live action and movement in the frame.

Am now moving to some of the 'paperwork', of finalising production pipeline, budgets and file naming and set ups. I'm actually looking forward to this as I like working in clean organised spaces, which includes the virtual. Having everything tidy and organised will help me know exactly where I am at and where to move next.

The organisation of all files and work flows will help with the work I still need to complete for my production bible. I am behind in the creation of artwork for the bible, but this has been as much about a crisis of confidence in my ability to create images as it has any kind of procrastination and lack of direction. I am still very uncomfortable in creating the images to the level i want, but I have to remind myself that I was in a similar position last year and ended up being very happy with the images I created. I think I need to just relax and not expect them to come quickly. I also need to know more detail when creating the drawings, as I find when I start there are still certain things I don't know about the characters and environments, and I need to know these things in advance, as I don't seem to be able to come up with ideas on the page as i go. I need to know where I am going and draw it, rather than start and chuck ideas on the page.

Animatic and other things

Week just gone completed my animatic. As with everything else it was a struggle. But managed to get it together with the voice overs, as it was almost pointless without the characters and the narrator. Was also able to include some of the music which has been written for me.