Zack Moat

Coming Soon...

2011-09-26T20:52:00.000+01:00

As nobody has no doubt noticed, it has been quite a while since this blog has seen any form of motion in the way of posts. This is due to the great deal of kerfuffle over the past couple of months - however life is now slowly beginning to regain its once fairly steady pace and I am able to retain a certain sense of normality and routine.

To address the recent forsaken attitude towards my blog - I am in the process of reconstructing and updating this archive to act as a new hub for the art & design 'goings-on' that are occurring at an ever increasing rate at present, along with thoughts and reviews on what I am currently watching/playing/reading - however there may not be too many of these such posts as my new occupation takes up most - if not all - of my time.

And with that I'm to announce that I've successfully (or rather luckily) achieved the transition from life as a student to the hustle and bustle of the working industry. I've recently acquired the position as a Junior CAD/Graphic/Product Designer with Ideal Sourcing, a product company that supplies items to the international market along with there own sister company Ideal World - yes, the shopping channel....

Anywho I'll post up more info upon the reconstruction of the blog, along with some updated artwork.

Speak to you soon!

Character Allsorts

2011-06-10T18:07:00.001+01:00

Final Major: Illustration Ready

2011-05-25T01:19:00.001+01:00

Okay so - after a narrowly avoiding a near fatal incident that took up most of the day, progression with the stills in now back on track. Most of today was taken up by ironing out the creases in mental ray, and figuring out the best course of action in rendering the characters and their blocked out sets, in particular the 'now fabled' curse of Chernobyl Boy's fur.

I'm glad to announce that a number of the shots have now been successfully rendered and ready for illustration. I've rendered the shots out layer by layer using image based lighting. The main lighting effects will be illustrated in Photoshop, along with shadows and textures for the sets. The reason being is that this way I'll have stylistic control over the sets, ensuring that the environments in which the characters are set are fully illustrated and stylised around the characters, rather than the characters just simply 'blending in'. The illustration begins tomorrow, as does the production of the CD artwork and 'Making of'.

In the meantime, here is some screen grabs of the guys in action. There have been a few adjustments since these were grabbed but the base poses remain the same.

Final Major: Stills Development Update

2011-05-23T17:33:00.000+01:00

In doing the thumbnails for the individual scenes, I've come to realise a couple of things. Firstly; not drawing for a while can really make you rusty (apologies for the Chernobyl Boy's take on a 1978 Romero Zombie), and secondly that it would probably be best to reduce the number of stills to seven rather than fourteen. Having an image to each verse was an appealing idea, however after some thought and reading through the poem a bit (a lot) more, having seven kick ass still renders that correspond to 2 verses each would be more effective than spreading the visual aspects to thinly over fourteen, time constraints also considered.

This doesn't necessarily half my remaining work load, it just means that I will have double the time to focus on seven images rather than render fourteen images that will dwindle in quality as both time and my patience runs thin.

Here are the ruffs that I was happy with. I want the lighting to play a huge part in stylising the images, as to reduce the amount that I will have to composite and touch up in ye ole' P-Shop.

I'll have the final seven posted up tonight, along with the blocked out set for Chernobyl Boy's room.

Final Major: Illustration Concepts

2011-05-23T12:42:00.001+01:00

Now its crunch time. These scene concepts need to be fast, accurate and effectively work in alongside the two characters, giving an insight into a bright and colourful post-apocalyptic nuclear world - so no pressure.

Giving that I have a little less than a week to complete this, I feel that it 'should' be ample time to generate the book. The illustrations will be limited to square ratio and have a limited number of background props in, along with the characters themselves. I'm currently trying out something new to develop the scenes, and once again getting friendly with Photoshop - as we'll be seeing a lot of each other over the coming days.

So first up - Chernobyl Boy's home turf. I found that I'd already gathered ample source material, and am now getting down to developing some rapid, 5 minute a time thumbnail concepts, which I'll post up soon.

As a child of a radiation drenched earth, where better to base the designs of his home on, than Ukraine’s very own nuclear paradise; Pripyat.

Final Major: Fur Progression

2011-05-22T22:40:00.001+01:00

After some major tweaking and trial and error, I'm getting closer to solving Chernobyl Boy's fur issue. A big thanks to Alan with sending some helpful hints my way, and now I can further develop the fur effects on the character.

Following applying fur to the hat with reasonable success, I've decided to extend the use of fur to Chernobyl Boy's clothing trims. This has its pros and cons - the fur breaks up the clothing, giving the character more texture however the fur requires ALOT of tweaking (i.e. painting baldness over certain areas, getting the length, opacity, specular and diffuse on the fur just right etc.) - oh and the render time is pretty steep too.

The good news is that with Rocket Man almost complete, I can start thinking about his stills of which - providing the book plan goes ahead rather than two individual renders - there should be around three of them.

With time now running short, I don't really have time for much more tweaking. I still have lighting to consider, although I'm quite fond of using image based lighting if I can get hold of some decent HDR images. More to come.

Final Major: Update

2011-05-22T00:47:00.003+01:00

Time for the long overdue update. Progress on Chernobyl Boy has finally reached the fine-tuning stage, toying around to get the render settings just right and establishing some atmospheric lighting.

Rocket Man is around 95% complete, with simple blend shapes for a bit of facial variance and basic skinning suitable for posing. There needs to be a slight overhaul on his textures, however other than that he is about ready.

Chernobyl Boy is steadily getting there, with a few minor adjustments to be made to his textures and a slight alteration to his geometry (eye size etc). His blend shapes and simple skinning are also complete and working ok with just a couple of things to clear up before he is at the same stage as Rocket Man.

The one major issue with Chernobyl Boy at the moment however is the fur effect to be applied on his 'ushanka' (hat). The fur in the image below is working with a straight 'Lion Mane' preset, however when this is applied to a straight plane the fur renders out perfectly and is fully under control. This is the last major hurdle (I hope) before I can start getting the book together, and I really don't want to have to apply some shoddy texture with a major bump map to simulate fur.

So far so good - with a few days left to go I'll try to update the blog as much as possible with any and all updates over the coming days.

Final Major: Project Update

2011-05-05T00:48:00.000+01:00

An overall update on Chernobyl Boy. Modelling is now all but complete, with some minor alterations to be made. The next step is to lay out the UVs, which should be fun. This is now the best opportunity however to fully realise the illustrative textures I want to achieve in order to 'dilute' the CG of the characters. I've got a pretty good idea of how I'm going to achieve this, so results from the 'test-bed' are to follow.

Here are the current turnarounds for the Chernobyl Boy and Rocket Man, I'll post up the wireframes and such when the textures have been finalised.

Chernobyl Boy WIP Turnaround from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Rocket Man WIP Turnaround from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Final Major: Texture and Style Inspiration - The Backwater Gospel

2011-04-27T20:06:00.000+01:00

With modelling of both characters nearing completion, I've been giving some more thought into the style and texturing of Chernobyl Boy. From initial considerations I've wanted to use highly stylised textures that would compliment the designs of the characters; i.e. weathered and worn textures for C-Boy and clean, retro-superhero textures for the Rocket Man.

Two animations crossed my mind when thinking about how I would develop the textures. Both from the Animation Workshop; 'The Backwater Gospel' and 'Captain Awsome'.

The Backwater Gospel from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

Rocket Man portrayal.

Captain Awesome from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

Final Major: Quick Progression Update

2011-04-26T01:00:00.003+01:00

After a short gasp of air, its now time to take the high dive and back into the deep end. I'll keep this post short and sweet, with a quick update on the status of Rocket Man. I'm relieved to say that modelling is now approaching completion. Of the two characters, R-Man is the most finished. All that remains is to define various aspects further, such as his face and the overall muscle tone etc. I'm also looking to recycle some aspects for use on C-Boy, in particular the goggles - maybe squaring them up a little, enlarging them and applying an aged, weathered texture to them.

Here is an image of R-Man's current WIP, and with the bulk of modelling for Rocket Man out of the way expect a Chernobyl Boy update tomorrow...

Final Major: R&D - Felt/Velvet Texture Experimentation

2011-04-15T15:49:00.000+01:00

Testing with the mia_material shaders is going well. I've been playing round in the Hypershade in an attempt to nail the materials for Rocket Man. I'm hoping to create some velvet or felt like materials that would commonly be seen on superhero interpretations in the 60's and 70's, such as Christopher Reeve's 'Superman' and Adam West's 'Batman'. I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

Christopher Reeves as 'Superman'

Messing around in the Hypershade has provided me with much needed confidence boost in terms of connecting render nodes and overall use of the Hypershade in general. The next step after finalising texture development is to successfully apply them to the character models.

Final Major: R&D: mia_material_x shader

2011-04-14T20:22:00.001+01:00

Starting with the basics; presets for the mia_material_x shader using mental ray and image based lighting. Although I've used mia_material_x shaders briefly before - I hardly scratched the surface in terms of the potential results that could be attained using such shaders.

It was suggested that I take a look at a tutorial on the CG Arts Tutorial blog in order to get to grips with the shaders. In the coming days I'm going to experiment with the shader while completing the models for Chernobyl Boy and Rocket Man.

Final Major: Modelling WIP Turnarounds

2011-04-13T14:34:00.003+01:00

C_Boy Head WIP Turnaround from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

R_Man Head WIP Turnaround from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Body WIP Turnarounds from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Final Major: Book Reference - Lost and Found

2011-04-07T16:06:00.002+01:00

I haven't read the book - however I have seen the short film and I love it. I've got the book on order, and will be looking into other children’s books for influence on presentation. Now production is well under way, I feel its time to revisit the sketchbooks with some watercolours, inks etc and really got to work on how C-Boy is going to be presented.

The short film I would highly recommend, beautiful visuals, great shots and and overall gorgeous visual style.

For more info on Studio AKA, visit: http://www.studioaka.co.uk/

Final Major: Rocket Man Update WIP

2011-04-04T23:38:00.000+01:00

Rocket Man progression has proceeded as planned - surprisingly. The base mesh is almost complete, in preparation for the creation of the normal maps. I'll be venturing into unknown territory, however after messing around with Mudbox for a while I'm now sort of familiar with the UI. I'm planning on doing the same with C-Boy once his base mesh is finished.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy Update WIP

2011-04-04T23:30:00.000+01:00

Time for a much needed update. Modelling has now commenced and I've almost completed the base meshes for both characters. While modelling I've finalised the designs for both Chernobyl Boy and Rocket Man and begun to produce the final turnarounds, gesture and expression sheets and prop designs ready for posting and their development in Maya. Here are a few screen grabs of the C-Boy working in progress - I will post up final base mesh images when the R-Man is also complete.

Final Major: Character Developments

2011-03-25T01:07:00.001Z

Now in the fine tuning stage, ironing out all the creases. Adding a splash of colour has really helped both characters progress by suggesting what elements could be improved or set aside. The characters are getting closer - just a few more tweaks...

Final Major: Rocket Man Design Developments

2011-03-18T00:39:00.002Z

Developments with the Rocket Man and his new U.S. attire. While I plan to take a more 'militarized' approach with his design, I'm currently hoping to develop the stereotypical superhero aspects, then to throw in the more practical objects i.e. flight jacket, webbing packs etc when I'm happy with the result.

That said though, I am liking the archetype superhero approach, so the whole concept of making the Rocket Man seem more practical as a hero may be dropped in favour for the body-suit and ‘pants-over-trousers’ look.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy Design Developments

2011-03-16T23:20:00.006Z

The last remaining 10% of Chernobyl Boy is all about refinement, making him into the 'orphan with a dream' that I want him to be. Although the changes made will be quite minor, I've got to get them right in order to make the Chernobyl Boy really appeal to the audience. I want the reader of the book to really feel for the boy, taking notice of his situation by reading beyond the story that is laid out in front of their eyes to find that the Chernobyl Boy is just a lost orphan in search of a future and a family to call his own.

With these final refinements I feel that the next step is to develop the final design turnarounds, gestures, expression sheets, props and apparel details. This will of course coincide with the developments of the new 'Red, White and Blue' Rocket Man, and all should be ready for next week for final refinements and Maya.

Final Major: Rocket Man U.S.A

2011-03-15T22:53:00.003Z

In terms of the 'iconic hero archetype', the role of Rocket Man as the idol of Chernobyl Boy has taken a new and potentially more exciting form. Rather than being the classical Russian hero, Rocket Man is now to be a hero of democracy, liberty and justice; the Rocket Man is going to be a true blue American superhero.

Being of Russian (or Ukrainian to be politically correct), having the Chernobyl Boy be ultimately betrayed by an American idol is much more sinister than being betrayed by a Russian one. Using this approach also allows making more of an impact in the story in a political sense, for example as was suggested by Phil - America is very much thought of the land of dreams and opportunity, when we all now know that America is in fact a far cry from the paradise that it makes itself out to be. Also having a Russian youngster being betrayed by America instils hints of 'Cold War', conflicts, along with the use of missiles that could hint at topics such as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Although these topics won't be directly addressed, they will remain as 'Easter Eggs' for the reader of the book to find at their own stead.

However back to the current subject at hand - the development of Rocket Man. I sketched up a few quick thumbs to consider some possible approaches to the new U.S. Rocket Man. While the design of the Rocket Man will remain similar to previous developments, there will be obvious changes in his colour scheme and apparel. One of the new primary focuses brought forward is to develop the Rocket Man into a 'Father Figure' for the Chernobyl Boy, and a perception from the boy's standpoint of the prospect of growing up. When we were all young we all had delusions of grandeur about growing up, believing that anything would be possible when we grow up. It would also be great to instil this into the two characters and the story, adding yet another level for the reader to stumble across.

With a new path to traverse in the development of the Rocket Man, I should have all preliminary thumbnail sketches sorted for him shortly to progress onto developing the final designs for both Chernobyl Boy and Rocket Man

Final Major: Biting the Bullet

2011-03-12T00:48:00.004Z

I've been thinking about giving in and trying out ‘Alchemy’, however having seen what it is capable of, I'd rather not use a new piece of software to re-discover designs for Rocket Man - not with my annoying habit of proliferation. However along with avoiding any over complication of a design that at the end of the day will most probably end up being quite simple, I feel I have enough to work with from my 'home-made' transformer-like silhouettes mocked up using basic rocket shapes, giving me a mixture of forms both heroic and villainous. I'll begin hacking them up to get some more stylised, higher quality shapes and get the results posted shortly.

Sad to say it, but chaos is something I don't have time for at the moment...

Final Major: Progression Update

2011-03-11T00:10:00.006Z

I've quickly mocked up a 'mind map' of sorts in order to square away ideas and thoughts that have been jumbled in my head for the past week now. As suggested, it defiantly makes things clearer when its all set in front of you. Rather than write about the individual topics, I'll let the graph to the talking.

Now with a fully operable Maya, it's full steam ahead.....once I clear out this damned contract renewal on my house...

Anyway back to more pressing matters - there are also a few more Rocket Man roughs. Following these thumbnail sketches I decided to go take a few steps back on the Rocket Man design and I've begun to formulate designs using silhouettes using Russian rocket shapes. I'm hoping to post up the entire process from initial shapes right through to a final Rocket Man design. The Chernobyl Boy is more or less done, aside from a few tweaks here and there and as soon as both characters are complete, final designs can be formulated and modelling can begin.

Final Major: Rocket Man Development

2011-03-07T23:00:00.002Z

I feel that I've now found a Rocket Man Design that I'm happy with. I've decided to depart from the sleek, futuristic Rocket Man look that I was previously going for in favour of a design that I think could be finished to a high standard if I play my cards right. The sketches below were my attempt to break free of the previous design, in search of something that could link the Chernobyl Boy and his hero. The Rocket Man is now tilting toward a more practical route, and following these rough sketches I got together a quick influence sheet ready for further development. While the design of the Rocket Man will be a little more detailed, I am still going to apply a striking, heroic colour scheme of reds and yellows, and replace the sleek figure of the previous Rocket Man with that of a typical heroic idol, i.e. square features all round...

Final Major: Rocket Man - Research and Development

2011-03-05T16:01:00.002Z

In terms of design, I'm really looking to make the Rocket Man a true Russian hero - a real idol. With the Iron Curtain now rusted and broken for the past 22 years now, Russia tends to keep itself to itself nowadays - however for development of the Rocket Man I'm looking to use influences from the glory days of the union; in particular how the Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were portrayed.

Considering the current design of the Rocket Man, it was decided from the outset that his colour scheme would consist primarily of red. I'll develop his current design to give him a more authentic Russian appearance; a strong squarer jaw line? Mouth smaller than average and slightly higher on the face? Added winter gear? A burly moustache? I'll get some developments up, along with Chernobyl Boy asap.

As the Autodesk Educational Creative Suite ordered won't get here until the end of next week, it gives me the that remaining time to finalise all design work, branding and the story - this way I can throw myself into Maya as soon as it arrives.

Final Major: Rocket Man - Character Roughs

2011-03-05T00:12:00.001Z

Still in the early stages with the Rocket Man, however I think I may be able to get some interesting silhouettes from him. I'm going for the typical Rocket Man stereotype; heroic gentleman clad in light plate armour sporting an oddly shaped winged helmet for aerodynamic purposes - or to look snazzy, who knows?

I'm also looking to add a hint 'cosmonaut' somewhere in his development, attempt to make him a true Soviet Hero worthy of the union. He is after all is the key element that leads Chernobyl Boy astray and as Phil quite rightly pointed out, he needs to be and idol - something to be worshipped. I feel that looking at how the people of the USSR portrayed their leaders may help in developing this aspect.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy - Character Roughs

2011-03-03T18:52:00.006Z

Although I've considered various different styles and approaches to the design of Chernobyl Boy, I'm pretty sure which of the designs I'm going to develop.

While I'm quite fond of the 'Penguin' design of Chernobyl Boy (middle right), the design I'd like to develop has more potential in terms of the 'post-apocolyptic nuclear winter' than the chubby Chernobyl Boy has - although the penguin design seems cuter and more relative to someone who sits around watching TV all the time. I'm really trying not to proliferate - I think I've just about learnt my lesson after 3 years or so.... ^_^

The design that was considered with the first thumbs will - I feel - be the one to take forward (top right). It has more of a 'russian street-kid' feel to it, which is kind of what I'm going for. I've also considered using a more abstract design; however I'm in favour of the more 'toonish' sketches thus far.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy - Weekly Synopsis

2011-03-02T15:49:00.003Z

Now with the story set firmly in place, I've considered what I will need done by what time in order to get 'Chernobyl Boy', completed to the highest standard possible. I'd love to say that I could avoid any fuss in the future by compiling a 'schedule' of sorts - however I seem to have broken my 'fuss' quota already for this project, hopefully meaning that this project will be devoid of and more tedious nonsense form this point onwards.

As I've spent the first 5 weeks of this project fussing, I essentially have 12 weeks remaining including Easter - however as I am planning on creating a children’s book as the final 'artefact' for this project, I have to more or less finish around two weeks prior to the deadline in order to allow Blurb to work there book-weaving magic. This knocks the total time I now have to complete this project to around 10 weeks. No problem...I'm hoping.

Rather than slap out a massive 10 week schedule, I am going to evaluate and adapt my situation week by week while keeping to the standard CG pipeline. I've never worked well with schedules. As 'Chernobyl Boy' has officially begun as of yesterday evening, I am allocating myself 2 weeks for pre-production and rather than wait until all of the pre-production work has been completed, I'll throw any fully finished pre-pro straight into production and continue any remaining pre-pro work alongside. This will allow me to get into Maya as soon as possible. I am looking to complete all of the modelling and texturing in 2 to 3 weeks, giving me ample time to create any environments and rig the characters.

By the end of this week, all of the roughs will be completed, along with branding. Both Chernobyl Boy and Rocket Man will be ready for final developments and orthographic images to be completed next week, along with the thumbnail concepts for the environments and layout for the book.

The Story has pretty much been completed thanks to Phil polishing it over, it just needs a few tweaks here and there to make it ready to be sent to a voice-over artist. This will also be in the pipeline ready to be sent as of next week, as I look for a suitable voice to read my poetic kids story.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy - The Breakdown

2011-03-01T23:20:00.000Z

Time to pick up the pace. Now with a 110% certain route to take, I've got a lot of time to make up for in terms of visual design work, so the first port of call is to post this breakdown of whats going to take place over the remainder of the project.

Of the three stories and character proposals that I've presented, it has been suggested that I pursue the 'Chernobyl Boy' concept, which I'm really happy with as it has the most potential in terms of visual and character development. The stories of the 'Bullet Kid' and the 'Sad Addict' could be dealt with at a later date as a personal project.

In terms of 'Chernobyl Boy', I've considered and compiled a list of required elements for CG development of the narrative:

- The characters to be fully realised in CG are to be the protagonist; Chernobyl Boy and the secondary character that plays a pivotal role in the story; the Rocket Man. The name of the Rocket Man will change with some more in depth research, however for the moment the current name is suitable.

- Both characters will fully rigged to allow for full mobility and the creation of test animation such as walk cycles. Both will also have facial blend shapes applied to. While the characters won't be animated but posed for high definition renders, their faces need to be capable of expression, so they may as well be capable of facial animation although only still will be needed.

- Following further consideration, the method and visual stylisation of the environments must be applied in production. As of yet it is undecided as to whether the CG characters will be set in digitally painted backgrounds or fully rendered 3D environments accompanied by matte backgrounds.

The next task will be to mock up some nice, bold soviet-graphic influenced branding. Initial character sheets for both the Chernobyl Boy and the Rocket Man will follow, exploring character silhouettes and possible styles and approaches. I'll also post up a summarised schedule to follow once I have more of an idea of what needs to be done by various times.

Final Major: Bullet Kid Rough Story

2011-03-01T14:02:00.000Z

All three roughs are done. The characters have been considered and I'm now ready to make up for all the time I've lost by tiptoeing around ideas. This third story is to be the first in the trio. It follows the journey of an old robot, who in his post-apocalyptic world no longer has a purpose and feels that he has no other choice but to return to his former production line. On his travels he ventures over a dead world, through deserts full of old oil rigs, forests burnt to the ground and cities that have been bathed in nuclear fire.

Kapsule Kid

Being a old weapon, the character for Bullet Kid will - coincidentally - be based on a bullet or tank shell. His role was to be fired from a cannon over enemy lines, to land, activate and carry out his orders. Being a tool that was used in the downfall of the world, he is to be incredibly weathered and battle scarred.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy Roughs

2011-02-25T19:32:00.001Z

With all three of the initial story idea now done - the third of which I'll post up once I get my Scribd account sorted - I've started to properly consider the character designs. I won't throw out any final designs until next week after I've cleared a few things with Alan and Phil, however I've mocked up some thumbnails; here are the initial sketches for Chernobyl Boy.

Final Major: Sad Addict Rough Story

2011-02-24T15:15:00.002Z

With two out of three stories written, this is to be the final book in the trio. It follows the tale of the Sad Addict, a character who faces torture and experiments with a beaming smile.

Sad Addict

As he becomes addicted to the torture, I'm going for a wasted druggie look, along with the beaming smile of the happy face mask he wears. I've got an initial thumbnail in a previous post, but chances are this design will be dismissed at some point.

Final Major: Chernobyl Boy Rough Story

2011-02-22T22:31:00.001Z

The first rough outline for the 'Chernobyl Boy' has been done, and I've begun to develop more of an idea on the visual style I'm after. Here is the draft narrative, all set and rhyming ready.

Chernobyl Boy

Chenobyl Boy Influence Map:

Rocket Man Influence Map:

Below is the original narrative written for the child. While the new rhyming draft has quite a bit cut out, the core narrative still remains similar.

Act 1: A Child is watching his favourite tv show about a Rocket Man, who flies everywhere riding a rocket fighting the forces of evil. In the show the Rocket Man flies to his home 'Sanctuary', the tower city where all dreams come true using his rocket. The child has always dreamed to go to 'Sanctuary' and live with his hero in the tower city in the middle of the ocean, but knows it is impossible to get there. He picks up his teddy and goes out to play.

Act 2: The Child skips and plays through the war torn-streets, strewn with debris and craters. He is used to the streets, as the tv shows he watches always have blown up buildings and explosions, so the child thinks nothing of them. He eventually reaches the cliff side, and look out to the ocean, seeing the silhouette of the 'Sanctuary' tower against the setting sun. He wishes he could fly over to the tower with a rocket of his own, when a distant sound of cannon fire attracts his attention (Kapsule Kid using the bullet drone cannon). Next to the source of the sound, he notices an unused SCUD missile launcher, complete with its own rocket. His wish has come true and he excitedly runs over.

Act 3: He jumps inside the launcher and notices a big red button that reads 'press to launch'. He presses it, which starts the countdown timer. He quickly climbs the rocket and holds on tight. The child has a beaming grin on his face as the missile takes off with the child atop it. He drops his teddy just before the launch, and the missile blasts off into the sunset. An immediate explosion follows and the blast can be seen it the reflection of the teddy's button eye.

Possible Alternatives:

-Boy is a RockeMan fanatic, with brand clothes etc. The toy that he carries is a RocketMan Teddy rather that a Teddy bear, making it a bit creepier when the boy blows up on the back of the rocket.

Final Major Project: Green Light

2011-02-21T17:57:00.002Z

So with no more delays and without further ado,

I'm to write three short stories,

all which relate to,

a number of topics both dark and grotesque,

what could come of these stories,

is anyone’s guess.

I will sketch up three characters and take their designs higher,

for eventual modelling in Autodesk Maya,

they will feature in stories that tell of their tales,

where they seek out their dreams,

and where all of them fail.

To finally get moving is really exciting,

so I'll stop with the ranting

as I had better get writing,

I've got my ideas straight that much is true,

So I'll say no more

as I've got work to do.

Following a discussion with Phil, I've now - finally - found my commission. My aim remains to create 3 character oriented children’s books that address more serious topics. Although the story ideas have changed quite substantially since their previously corresponding posts, they still hold true to their core themes and tragic endings. Now with a clear aim, I can begin to churn out character concepts, influence maps and the like that will actually be of some use and make up for the past three weeks that seem to have dematerialized into nothing.

I have the base narratives sorted, so now I need to refine the stories down to their bare essentials and translate them into three light, poetic stories. Phil introduced me to a website that hosts a number of Tim Burton's short stories, which will be of great help in writing my own. As the rather strange introduction to this post shows, I've also decided to experiment with a more poetic form of writing, also exhibited in Tim Burton's works. The way in which they are written not only makes the stories seem all the more charming regardless of their grim macabre, but they give them borders and boundaries - limits that the narratives must not stray from, which is useful for me as my mind tends to wander a tad...

These stories can be found at: http://homepage.eircom.net/~sebulbac/burton/home.html

Final Major: Narrative 3 - Human Wasteland

2011-02-19T20:38:00.002Z

The third narrative is set in the nuclear winter wasteland, where the characters Tallman and Kapsule Kid are moving toward a light on the horizon; 'Sanctuary'. They reach Sanctuary, which is advertised as a huge tower where dreams come true, set on a single island rising out of the sea. They both get inside expecting to find all kinds of wonders but find it has been destroyed along with everything else in the world. Now stranded in the tower, they are trapped here forever, ending similarly with the sun setting over the horizon.

The visual references for their world will be taken from abandoned towns and cities. Two that came to mind were the city of Pripyat in the Ukraine, and Gukanjima, Hashima or 'Battleship Island' in Japan.

Pripyat

Gukanjima (Hashima)

The Loose Character Narrative:

ACT 1: Introduce Tallman and Kapsule Kid, wandering the wastelands. One day they find a leaflet advertising the 'Sanctuary', a vertical city tower where all dreams come true. Kapsule Kid hopes to find more of his kind and Tall Man hopes to finish his unfinished business there. On the bottom of the leaflet it says to follow the light, after which they look up beyond the wasteland to see a bright light on the horizon.

ACT 2: They journey throughout the wasted cities and debris from the human war long past. Tanks and helicopter are strewn across the streets. They eventually meet the sea and the 'Sanctuary' tower on a solitary island across the ocean, but can't reach it. They look across to find some old bullet drone cannons; once used to fire bullet drones like Kapsule Kid into enemy territory, and use one to fire themselves into the building.

ACT 3: Now inside the building, they search the tower but find it has been destroyed by bullet drones like kapsule kid, which all are all scattered lifeless throughout the building. Now stuck in the tower, they find a ledge and watch the sun set into the sea.

Final Major: Narrative 2 - TV on the Brain

2011-02-19T20:37:00.000Z

The second narrative addresses the effects of television on the mind, and how ultimately it melts the brain down and influences the thoughts and perspectives of people. The story takes two characters; Bleep and T-Blob and a giant wall of televisions, streaming hundreds of shows right to T-Blob; a man who has been entirely 'rotted' by the effects of TV. The only part of him remaining is Bleep, who has become a separate character in his own right. He flicks through the channels in order to find something intellectually entertaining, and finds a commercial advertising the 'Sanctuary', a tower city where the most intellectual of minds strive to build a new world. Bleep sees the door, yet is unable to reach it as he is connected to T-Blob. He gives up and continues to watch TV, eventually becoming a gelatinous mush like T-Blob. On a single TV screen, the sun sets.

I stumbled across these commercials advertising 'Hulu', an online channel that streams tv shows over the internet. They have a comedic twist, however they do raise the point that tv 'rots your brain', even though the producers have looked at that fact from an advertising standpoint.

Hulu Commercials

The Loose Character Narrative:

ACT 1: Introduce T-Blob and Bleep, watching the wall of televisions. T-Blob lies motionless watching the TVs, and Bleep sits on his head with the remote control flicking through the channels. He channel flicks day after day trying to find something interesting when one day he finds an advertisement for the 'Sanctuary', a vertical city tower where all dreams come true. Upon seeing commercial, he sets the remote control down on top of T-Blobs head and decides to go on a journey to the 'Sanctuary' tower.

ACT 2: Bleep turns to see the door and packs his suit case. He pats T-Blob on the head and heads for the door. He almost reaches the door when he is stopped suddenly by the lead that connects T-Blob to Bleep. He pulls and he pulls and eventually he breaks free. Excited at the prospect of getting to 'Sanctuary'; the place where all dreams come true, he runs to the door, but just before he leaves he hears a new and exciting show on the television wall, taking up all of the TV screens. The show looks exciting, full of action and adventure, diverting Bleeps attention.

ACT 3: Bleep climbs back onto T-Blob's head and sits down to watch the programme. Bleep stares at the screen in a trance, watching the show and forgetting about 'Sanctuary'. Now enthralled by the TV programme, Bleep begins to deform and grow fat like T-Blob as the television begins to melt his mind. Eventually Bleeps becomes a husk like T-Blob, forever watching television. The TV programme ends with the sun setting over the horizon.

While this narrative is based solely on the characters, both the narrative and in turn the characters could be considered in other contexts concerning the effects of TV. I have other ideas to consider, however I feel that this short story could develop the characters best concerning the topic on which they are based.

Further Reference:

http://www.eruptingmind.com/effects-of-tv-on-brain/

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/research_documents/reports/violence/tv_violence_child.cfm

Final Major: Narrative 1 - Human Experimentation

2011-02-19T20:36:00.000Z

The basis on which the 'Sad Addict' Characters is centred on focuses on Human Experimentation. Initially I developed this character based on insanity and mental instability through the use of drugs, however upon reading more on the experimentation on humans during the Second World War, I felt there was more of an opportunity to develop this character and it's place within it's own world. There needs to be more in depth consideration into the narrative concerning human experimentation, as being such a dark and deep subject I need to tread carefully when translating it into a children's literature format.

I'll post up the information found in order to develop the character, although for the moment here is a short video showing the effects of LSD on soldiers performing fire manoeuvres. Not really relevant but kind of amusing to say the least.

The Loose Character Narrative:

ACT 1: Introduce the Sad Addict as a man in his asylum cell. He is experimented on in a bunker by the remnants of mankind with new drugs and medicines. The torture he endures has made him permanently depressed and deformed, so he constantly wears a happy mask. The horror in his mind only further breaks his already brittle mentality, reaching a peak where it seeps into the happy mask, merging the man’s face with the mask, creating the Sad Addict. The only thing that maintains a minute amount of sanity within the mind of the Sad Addict is the view from his barred window; a giant tower on the horizon of the ocean known only as 'Sanctuary' and his dream of escaping and travelling there one day.

ACT 2: One day the there are a series of bangs and screams that can be heard in the building. The lights begin to flicker erratically, as the Sad Addict moves to his cell door and peers through the peep-hole. There are bullet holes in the corridor walls and debris strewn all over the floor. He makes out the shape of a few bullet drones breaking down a distant door and pouring into a room, followed by a scream and a quick burst of gunfire. While the Sad Addict watches the attack unfold, a bullet drone is fired through his cell wall, creating a huge hole.

ACT 3: As the smoke clears, the Sad Addict peers through the hole in the wall of his cell. He sees the silhouette of the 'Sanctuary' on the horizon. Aware that his dreams are now within reach he makes a dash for the hole to escape. As he moves out, the bullet drone activates and notices the Sad Addict escaping. With his dreams in sight, Sad Addict reaches for his dream and hears a gunshot. The sun sets over the horizon.

(Alternate ACT 3: When the bullet drone blasts through the cell wall, Sad Addict is trapped and killed. Following his death, his soul materialises as the ghost character Tallman, who's 'unfinished business in to reach the Sanctuary. The bullet drone that killed him is introduced as the Kapsule Kid, and the two set off to reach the 'Sanctuary', continuing in the third narrative)

This alternate ending most probably won't be used, as the story of the Sad Addict doesn't necessarily reach a conclusion, but continues over to the Tallman and Kapsule Kid story. See this narrative in a later post.

I'm really looking to link the three stories in some sense, to make all of the characters belong to the same world. I'm hoping to do this by using a single goal, or macguffin, for all of the characters in the form of the 'Sanctuary'; a tower city paradise where all dreams come true. None of the characters however actually reach the tower and their dreams, contrasting the traditional happy endings of children’s stories.

Further Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_human_experimentation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6256185.stm

http://listverse.com/2008/03/14/top-10-evil-human-experiments/

Final Major: Narrative Topics

2011-02-17T23:29:00.001Z

To conjure up some basic narratives, I've decided to take a few relatively grown up topics and bring them together to compile a few tiny 3 act stories. Like a Mr Men book, I'm planning to create a short narrative for each of the characters and illustrate the book using CG stills.

The subject areas I've considered aren't all grim; however I plan to portray them in dark worlds that would contrast the childish presentation of a kid’s book. I'm going to look into topics such as mental health, drugs, politics, warfare, current affairs, life and the universe on general etc, and in doing so I can develop 3 loose narratives based solely around their corresponding characters.

I've been playing around with some character ideas; however I'm also looking favourably at developing the initial characters I put up in a previous post, knowing that I'll most probably get a slap round the back of the head for doing so. Keeping up with the ruffs for the moment...

Final Major: Dr Seuss - Designs For Death

2011-02-16T17:56:00.002Z

Theodor Seuss Geisel, or perhaps better known as Dr. Seuss needs no introduction. His children's books are know the world over, however his success in children's literature has somewhat overshadowed his early cartoons drawn during World War II. They cover highly political issues of the time, such as the possibility of all Japanese-Americans being potential traitors. He also drew for the US treasury, sketching cartoons to advertise US war bonds.

There has also been a number of connections made between his wartime cartoons and his illustrations for his children’s books, which has also raised some controversy in the true topics of his books; such as 'Yertle the Turtle' who is unsatisfied with the stone in the pond that serves as his throne. He commands the other turtles to stack themselves beneath him so that he can see further and expand his kingdom. This story suggests that Geisel pokes fun at those who would 'take over the world', making fun of leaders such as Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini.

It is this contrasting style I'm looking for, in using such a comedic style to address a topic that held significant importance at the time. While my aim may be something a little more expressive, with topics that may be a tad darker that the ones Seuss addresses, the contrast between the style and topic with how the topic is carried out is what is important.

Final Major: Mr Men

2011-02-15T22:21:00.000Z

While the narrative won't be the main focus, it still holds quite a prominent place in the development of the characters, as every character requires a story. The narratives will be set out in a similar fashion as a short children's book, with large images telling the story and a few words or sentences on each page. I immediately thought of the Mr Men books when considering references, in that the books often have a single character and a story that revolves around that character. The books comprise of a few pages, each having a line or two that describes the action seen in the illustration above. It is this kind of framework I'm looking to work to, telling the short story of the character over 5-10 pages, with the focus being on the illustrations.

http://www.mrmen.com/uk/

Final Major: 'Twisted' Children’s Books

2011-02-15T19:58:00.000Z

Finally an idea that seems stable and has a huge amount of potential if I play my cards right. Following a discussion with Alan today, he highlighted the importance of finding a 'theme' and I now think I've found a pretty stable anchor point.

I'm going to develop 1 to 3 children's books that are influenced by dark or 'more grown up' subject areas. The project will still remain very much centred around character design, as the narratives will be solely based on the individual characters. The character/s will be designed as per and fully realised in 3D rigged and ready for animation. While the only animation I'll be doing is walk-cycles and the like, rigging the character/s will aid in the creation of the still images that will be used to illustrate the book/s.

I would love to make 3 books that each focus on individual characters, however as I've pretty much wasted the first two weeks of the major I'll need to evaluate my situation carefully. The old 'less is more' phrase also comes to mind, so I'll consider where I could take this idea in relation to what is actually achievable with the time I have left. While its not the end of the world, I still need to tread carefully as to not fall into the same trap I did with the Minor.

Final Major:....and on to Plan D.....

2011-02-14T23:52:00.001Z

I've resurrected some personal works from one of my blogs long lost in time. I'm hoping to discuss these ideas as I'd really love to develop these further but throwing them into a full on character design pipeline realise them fully in 3D, possibly in their own unique environments. I'm really pulling my hair out now in coming up with something unique, however I feel that in developing these characters I can achieve that.

No more cutesy sunshine and butterfly mumbo jumbo, I think its time for something a little more 'adult'.

Final Major: Okay so......Plan C.......

2011-02-13T00:35:00.002Z

Once again, I've cast aside all ideas, burnt them, nuked them, thrown whats left into the Large Hadron Collider, reformed the particles into a rotten yet quite sizable egg and thrown it at a passing heavy goods vehile bound to Seoul. After several tantrums and hissy fits, I've still got several relatively sain ideas that I could develop, however whenever I formulate some working concepts they seem to just fall apart.

So, I've decided to simply sketch without any refence materials what so ever, just me a pencil and an A3 sketchpad, and see what happens. I've always tended to work better this way, just to get the creative juices flowing and develop ideas that can later be fixed with reference materials. I've been messing with various styles and attempting to get rid of others - namely this shockingly awful manga style which I hate with an undying passion, as I'm slowly bleeding it out in favour of styles that offer more freedom. I feel that I've pretty much purged it.

Thumbs for Summoner Concept, a tad too MANGA-ry so there now in the bin....

Hopefully in this final cry, I can perhaps find somthing to hold on to and maybe even make it reasonably good... ^_^

Final Major: Player Design Moodboards

2011-02-11T00:03:00.002Z

I've finally given in the the whole 'influence map thing' and have got together a few maps covering possible influences for the player characters, along with possible styles that could be applied. Both are highly stylised like my own and have been used on well know game productions.

Character Influence Sheet


Style Sheet: Okami

Style Sheet: Fable

I'm really hoping to develop my own style during this project, along with improving my modelling skills and translating my concepts into 3D. I think that now I can finally properly sketch my ideas down and get thing moving as soon as.

Final Major: Concept

2011-02-10T21:43:00.001Z

I’ll open this post with an apology as this is yet another text heavy post. I’m getting tired of this constant writing on what is meant to be a visually exciting blog, however in doing this I can give this character design project some borders to stay within. I promise that the next post will have some visual element or influence sheets.

Now that I have more of an idea of how this project could be developed, I’ve settled on a final concept on which to develop. While I looked into various different themes on which to base character design development, I have decide to design a world - or a set of characters rather, for a video game or could even be translated into a television series.

In terms of this project however, I’ll only be designing a few of the characters for the game – as much as I’d love to design everything else. Constructing this game narrative simply allows me to ‘limit’ myself, allowing me to design a set of effective characters that work according to the logic of their own reality. In the end I’m looking for a collection of designs to make a character bible, and a ‘Making of’ that showcases the developmental processes of the characters that are to be modelled in Maya.

The game world revolves around dark-age magic and mythological creatures from various different cultures around the world, in an RPG-Adventure game. The player will take on the role of an apprentice summoner who can summon the mythological creatures and command them to fulfil variety of different roles. The ultimate goal of the game is to develop as a summoner and become more powerful alongside your creatures.
I’ve taken different game mechanic influences from a number of role-playing games such as ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Pokémon’, while trying to keep the core concept of the game as original as possible, as hard as that is now days.

I’ve settled on this idea for a number of reasons. This concept isn’t a transcription so I’m free to do as I like within reason, however what really made the decision final is the vast possibility of character designs. During the conversation with Phil, he gave the ‘Periodic Table’ as a starting point on which to design characters. We then went on to discuss how the element characters could possibly combine to create new characters in a sort ‘transformer’ kind of sense; creating a bigger, badder character than before.

Concerning the creature characters in the game, the player is able to combine his/her creatures to create a more powerful creature. Depending on the number of the initial creatures in the game, there could be an untold amount of newer creatures to design. While this is a very interesting prospect, I haven’t been given an unlimited amount of time to design countless mythological creatures and all of the potential hybrids.

While I’m looking to design a lot of characters and maybe some environments, I will only be taking a few of the characters into 3D. At present I’m going to fully develop the main/player character, along with a couple of the creatures and the merged character. I’m hoping to render out some walk-cycles and animation tests. Given the go ahead, I can get some designs up shortly.

Final Major: Finding an Anchor Point

2011-02-09T19:37:00.000Z

The discussions yesterday with Alan and Phil have help immensely in brining this project into perspective. While I felt the need to produce another animated short and address the issues that held the previous short one back, I was reminded

It was agreed that dropping 'Dark Moon' was a good idea, in that the the project could ultimately end up being a sort of 'Action Man/Barbie' scinario, in that I would end up with a character model that has just been dressed up in armour, given a couple of swords etc. While there is still very much an element of character design, upon giving it some more though it wasn't really what I wanted to achieve. Besides, there are already a great number of video games now days that enable the player to 'design' their characters to an extent, by taking a generic character and playing dress-up.

So once again altering my approach to the Major, my intention is once again soly oriented around character design, however on a much higher scale. I am to find an anchor point and design a set of characters that fit within a world, also of my design.

I've decided to design for a video game, developing the limitations of the game world in which a number of characters will be set. I'm focused on a particular area of interest at present, thinking about the possibilities and an initial narrative on which to base the characters on. More on that later.

Final Major: Shorts R&D: The Bear Who Loved Vodka

2011-02-07T23:29:00.002Z

Final Major: Shorts R&D: The Truth About Dinosaurs

2011-02-07T22:02:00.000Z

Simple yet effective humor using the limits of a character to create a great comedy short.

Final Major: Shorts R&D: Big Buck Bunny

2011-02-07T21:57:00.000Z

I love everything about this animation; the style, the narrative, the camera angles, effects, all of it. While it is a bit too long for what I'm aiming for, I think the wide shots and the slow pans are great, particularly the final shot where the bunny is using the squirrel as a kite - Great stuff.

Final Major: Shorts R&D: Invasion

2011-02-07T21:56:00.003Z

I wish I had found this when developing Castus, in terms of the mechanical designs and the dome interior at the end. Although there isn't that much humour in the narrative, I love the fact that the alien goes to such lengths to simply send a message to tell those he love that he's ok. Other than that theres not much else to it, Kind of cute though.

Final Major: Shorts R&D: Spaced Out

2011-02-07T21:54:00.007Z

Another favourite short animation with a simple narrative.

Final Major: Researching Animated Shorts

2011-02-07T21:41:00.002Z

Something I should have done in more detail for Castus. I made a lot of stupid mistakes in the Minor, mistakes that could have easily been avoided. I've set aside the 'Dark Moon' project again because I know I can do better and I feel I need to prove to that to myself by attempting another animated short only this time, succeed.

I've begun to look into animated shorts in greater detail, focusing in particular on the shorts that have a 2-3 minute time span. In doing so hopefully I can gain a further understanding into keeping a narrative short and sweet, take what I learnt from Castus - both the positives and the negatives, and end finish this degree on a hopeful high.

This short was a random find while looking for animated shorts that I knew of. Its short and has a tight and effective plotline - everything I'm aiming for

Final Major: Colossal Overhaul

2011-02-07T13:57:00.003Z

As I couldn't make it in today to discuss the Major with Phil, I'm going to let loose on the blog about the sudden change of plans.

Having given it a week to decide and how to best approach the project, I've decided to drop 'Dark Moon'. There are a number of reasons why I've made this decision, as I've figured that there are already enough fantasy character-esque designs out there already and in dropping Dark Moon I can focus on developing my own style rather than one that is mocked up purely to design a character that will probably end up being generic and boring. The design - no matter how stylised I make it - will still fall in line with the vast number of fantasy character design, also noting that being a fantasy character from a rather serious and graphic novel, there is a certain limit to which I can stylise.

The main reason however - as stupid as this may seem - is that the project doesn't seem to have anything going for it. I'm simply looking to design a character with techniques I already know, develop it in 3D with skills I already have, and at the end of it all chances are I'll be in a similar situation that I am now following Castus; left regretting because I know that I could have made things so much better.

Knowing just how fast 15 weeks can fly by, I've got to get moving as soon as possible. I've scrapped everything and am starting fresh. I'm looking to transcribe a short story and design a number of characters to play the story out in a 3 MINUTE, not 6 or 7 minute animation. The design will be highly stylised, using hand painted textures, either using gouache or watercolour, maybe even acrylic.

I've yet to find a light hearted short story to transcribe. Once I've found one I like, and feel that would be appealing to an audience, I'll throw out the thumbnails, and be ready for full development by the end of the week. Now to find those paints.....

Final Major: Establishing a Style

2011-02-04T20:32:00.004Z

Before I start any major designing and throwing out thumbnails of various different characters, I'm trying to establish a style that I apply. I'm annoying myself at the moment however, as I can't seem to get anything right. Still trying to break the rust off and it doesn't seem to want to budge. Its a matter of time I guess.

Here are the thumbnails I've quickly got together as a starting point spending a couple of minutes so on each so the ideas flow faster and I avoid any over the top, needless detail. I'm going to try and get some more done over the weekend using the same short time limit on each and see what happens and by then I'll hopefully be able to get to a proper start.

Final Major: Francis Tsai

2011-02-03T23:16:00.001Z

Like Thierry Doizon, Francis Tsai takes a stylised approach to his work, these character images are of particular interest as he seems to have taken existing characters and applied his own style to their designs, along with exaggerating various features.

http://teamgt.com/

I've been getting some ideas down concerning how I'm going to develop my own designs while considering what characters to push forward into development. At present I've got a quite sizeable list that I'm looking to condense over the next couple of days.

Once I've worked off the rust, I'll sketch up some thumbnails and have them posted up....

Final Major: Dark Moon Bible

2011-02-03T00:08:00.000Z

Following a review of the Dark Moon 'journal' I mocked up in preparation for it's development and the book (the latter of which is now bound by a strip of masking tape to keep the book closed), I've come to consider the possible characters I could push forward to development. I'm hoping to explore all of the major characters which at least thumbnail designs, along with sketching up more secondary characters in order to make more sense of the Dark Moon world.

For the next few weeks in designing the characters and exploring various different approaches, the 'journal' will be to me as the bible is to the pope. Everything I sketch up will draw it's primary influence from this book, whether it be character designs, environment thumbnails, scene thumbnails etc. All the details I need on Dark Moon are in noted down so I won't have to go sifting through the book.

Final Major: Belleville Rendezvous Stylisation

2011-02-02T21:58:00.000Z

Being that as I'm currently considering the level to which I'm going to stylise, it would be a crime not to bring this film up. I've loved 'Belleville Rendezvous' from the outset. Along with being an amazing piece of animation, it also exhibits great character design from Sylvain Chomet. The characters are brilliantly designed according to their role within the world, such as 'Champion' the cyclist; having a 'shark-fin' nose making him aero-dynamically streamline, and enormous thigh and calf muscles that contrast his smaller framed upper body.

I've also pre-ordered Sylvain Chomet's next release 'The Illusionist', which looks just as likely to impress. Should be here for the 16th, giving me something to look forward to this month.

Final Major: Heroic Fantasy Game Productions

2011-02-02T21:23:00.002Z

Thought I'd best get this out of the way as to proceed onward with the initial design work. While I am focussing on Heroic Fantasy for the moment, I may begin to explore other possible routes to reach a decided fantasy aesthetic - maybe even take a different type of fantasy altogether and apply that 'Dark Moon'.
I've begun to look at existing video game productions for a couple of reasons; such as seeing what has already been done and also to look into various different styles that the designers have used in developing the characters, environments and so on.

Final Fantasy XIV

Seemingly Epic in Scale, this game seems to have several playable humanoid races such as elves etc. Being as the game is a MMORPG, the character design is primarily down to the player, with heavy attention to prop design i.e. weapons, armour, items etc, giving the player the opportunity to create a character that is unique to them.

Guild Wars 2

The introduction to this trailer is particularly interesung in its painterly approach and strong layered structure. I love the first 2 minutes of this trailer, using this layered 2D approach to tell the prelude to the main event, which is then show in 3D. Even if this technique wasn't to be considered further, I would still imagine it would be a lot of fun to experiment with.

WOW: Wrath of the Lich King

Focus on one character that shapes the fate of the world the game is set. Arthus' design has been considered carefully; his glowing eyes suggest he is a ethereal being. His helmet is crown-like, suggesting royal or noble roots. His heavy armour is dark, adorned with skulls and sharp points, suggesting he has some links to darkness and perhaps even evil; although as of late character designers have tended to turn these traditional principles on their heads. This character seems to be well designed to fulfil his role in his world.

Dragon Age 2

A great example of Heroic Fantasy within a game, the player takes the role of one character (along with a group of pre-designed characters that act as support) that’s design is relative to its requirements within a world. This trailer exhibits the 'good vs. evil' standoff that can be noted in most fantasy narratives, not just heroic fantasy. Both characters show good quality design work also, not being overwhelmed with needless detail as is seen with a lot of character designs lately. No intricate needless details, just the raw requirements.

Final Major: Thierry Doizon

2011-02-02T21:23:00.001Z

Having worked on various projects such as 'Assassins Creed' and 'Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands'; two productions that have fairly dramatic plotlines and characters, Doizon has implemented a degree of realism into his work, yet it still has its own distinctive style. While I'm aiming for a similar degree of realism in my own work (i.e. realistic proportioning etc), I feel that by applying some individual stylisation I can make the work unique in a sense.

http://www.barontieri.com/

Final Major: Pete Zoppi

2011-02-02T21:23:00.000Z

During the discussion following the final major brief, Alan recommended I look at the works of Pete Zoppi; an incredibly talented CG artist with an impressive collection of models he's created for films, games and his own personal use. One of his pieces in particular is rather inspirational considering the aims my own project, as my goal is to accomplish something similar in effect. While this is a stationary image, I'm looking to animate my own scene with subtle animation effects such as wind, breathing motion in the character, blinks and so on. Anyway this piece of work has fired me up and I'm ready to go.

http://www.zopfx.com/

Fina Major: Project Proposal

2011-02-01T00:47:00.001Z

A specialised character design project - the goal is to fully realise a character transcribed from the high-fantasy novel by David Gemmell; ‘Dark Moon’. The character will be selected from amongst a host of initial character designs, exploring various different design methods and styles along with experimenting with different character types, filtering through the stronger character designs and developing those chosen until a final design is decided upon and taken even further into 3D.

The aim is to create the character to a high standard, presented in a short (30 seconds to 1 minute) animation within a dynamically animated environment. The environment itself will primarily be made using a hand painted skybox; a technique by which an environment is made to look bigger than is actually is. As a technique that I’ve never explored, this will improve on my technical skills within CG, along with modelling, texturing and using dynamics.

This character itself will not have any major animation committed to it. The aim is however; to fully rig the model for the animation that I would like to apply as it is being presented, such as breathing, blinking and other movements that could perhaps loop. I would also like to apply a dynamic wind effect to work alongside the character animation, creating movement in the hair, clothes and other environmental aspects such as perhaps leaves, flags, smoke etc. This would of course push my technical skills to the limits; however in learning these techniques and methods for use in this project, they give me yet more valuable skills to take into the industry. The level of transcription and the uniform style that is to be maintained throughout the design process is to be explored following a green light for this project. Depending on the level of detail agreed upon and speed at which the design work is completed, the number of characters transcribed could possibly increase, however the aim is to create a single character to the highest standard possible.

In terms of personal development, this project – being the final assignment of the degree – is to be the most ambitious yet. Along with aiming to significantly increase my knowledge in CG, I also want to improve my design skills concerning character design. In doing so I hope to develop a piece of work to be truly proud of and take with me as the final curtain falls on my time at UCA.

All that is needed now is to be given the go ahead. I'm aching to get sketching.......

Final Major: Previous 'Dark Moon' R&D

2011-01-29T21:59:00.001Z

This post is for my benefit rather than showing anything productive. During transcription I researched a number of fine art landscape painters, and linking them to here saves me from having to filter through reams of posts to get to them. If they become of a direct importance to the development of the Final Major, then I'll appropriately update and repost.

And, if all goes well and I'm backed on developing what I have in mind; I'll need this research.

Links:

Dark Moon

Notes on Dark Moon

Dark Moon: Environments Source: Albert Bierstadt

Dark Moon: Environments Source: Frederick Edwin Church

Dark Moon: Environments Source: Hubert Robert

Dark Moon: Environments Source: Claude Lorrain

Dark Moon: Environments Source: Albrecht Altdorfer

Final Major: A 'Dark Moon' Rises...

2011-01-29T17:48:00.002Z

The final stretch is in sight; this is the big one. Following the Minor; in which I developed a concept and had a crack at everything involved in pre-production through to post-production, I've come to realise that the next best step is to finally specialise. I've got various ideas I really want to develop, which I'm hoping to discuss with Phil and Alan on Monday so that come Tuesday when we get delivered the brief, I can present the project proposal - hopefully get the green light - and get things rolling asap.

The idea I'm looking to propose is one that I've wanted to develop ever since Transcription, however at that in time point I felt I didn't have the skills necessary to effectively pull it off. I feel that now is the time to resurrect that idea and give it all I've got. The goal is to to design and develop a character/set of characters to a high level of stylised detail and fully realised in 3D; transcribed from the standalone novel from legendary fantasy writer David Gemmell - 'Dark Moon'.

For me, this book is perfect for transcribing as the story - aside from the few different versions of cover art - is untouched in a visual sense. After some pretty thorough research, I've come across no evident visual interpretations of 'Dark Moon' as of yet, which for me is heaven. I have full reign over the visual elements of the characters from the outset, without having any other interpretations - again, aside from the cover artworks - to influence the direction in which I take the characters I choose to develop. This however means that if I am indeed seemingly one of the first to truly take this novel into CG visual realms then I'm really going to have to hit this one out the ball park. The characters are compelling and have such potential to be developed visually, so I'm really hoping for the green light on this one......

Castus: Powering Down...

2011-01-21T12:45:00.002Z

Overall I'm happy with the final outcome - I've achieved what I originally aimed to; to create 2 characters from the ground up and have them fully interact in an environment in the form of an animated short. I am however left to ponder over what could have been improved; such as improving the outer appearances of both characters concerning the use of custom textures; environmental improvements, settling on a narrative as soon as possible, to name but a few.

Working through the developmental process from initial design all the way through to final production was an experience to say the least, however upon running through this process I’ve decided to specialize for the Final Major. In doing so I can truly focus on a single area of interest

So that’s that for the closing note – roll on Final Major.

Castus Production Reel from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus: Complete

2011-01-20T04:45:00.002Z

With the elements of the Final Minor Project all finished and ready for submission, all that remains is to make some final updates to the blog with some long overdue pre-viz animations and run-throughs of the after effects comps; along with the 'Making of' PDF and the final animation itself.

The items I'm submitting are to be the 'Castus' DVD; with the main animated short on the first disc and the digital 'Making of' on the second, along with the 'Making of Castus' book.

The sound editing also went a lot better than I expected it would. I sourced around 95 % of the effects from 2 CDs bought from Amazon:

- Sci Fi Sound Effects - The Premier Collection
- Ultimate Sound Effects Collection - 16

The remaining 5% were sourced from a free sound site:

- http://soundbible.com/
- http://www.freesound.org/

An overall update on what has been occurring over the past couple of weeks is the next port of call.

*yawn*...

Castus: Progression Update

2011-01-15T22:43:00.000Z

With the last six shots ready to go, I should be able to get the pre-viz files uploaded in the next couple of days.

Hopefully the next post should announce the completion of animation and rendering, leaving the last week to apply the sound, maybe even apply visual effects. Unfortunately the 'Owners Manuals' haven’t quite reached fruition; however it does not mean they can't be made at another time.

Castus: Progress Report

2011-01-13T21:05:00.000Z

It is all routine now; animate - render - bit of dissertation - caffeine hit - sudden wave of paranoia, possibly due to caffeine intake - backup -cool down and so on....

The side panel is now off my tower unit and seems to be keeping the inner workings of my PC from going into meltdown, which is definitely a good thing.

It's not all dull news however as I've now animated and rendered/rendering around about a third of the total animation, with a few more shots for Act 2 and Act 3 to be sorted. I've begun to source sounds and all in all I 'should' be done by the end of the week. That gives me time to get the post-production done - we're nearly there.

Castus: Animation & Rendering Update

2011-01-11T20:24:00.000Z

Act 1 is now complete, and quite a way into Act 2. I've taken to animating, making playblasts of various different camera angles/movements and then rendering the shot that fits. In doing this I've been animating by day, rendering by night and will most probably be doing this for remaining time of this project.

I've still got to gather relevant sound effects and am struggling to find a suitable source which is a bit of a worry, so if anyone has a good source for sound effects and music then I'd really appreciate a heads up. ^_^

The 'ole dissertation is also in need of finishing, checking over and binding, however as I've pretty much screwed over my body clock and flushed my circulatory system with caffeine it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Castus: Progress Update

2011-01-08T01:00:00.001Z

The final stages of production are now very much underway. Over the past week I've been compiling the 2D animation for the intro in AE and am now finally animating, also rendering while I can.

I'm looking at getting as much as I can animated and rendered by the beginning of next week as no doubt the competition for computers come Monday will be fierce. I'm currently at 01:14 total runtime at the moment, with the aim finally being around 3 minutes or so.

The 'Making of' publication has arrived which is a huge weight of my shoulders, although I would like to review the final product as the later stages of development haven't been able to make an appearance in the book due to ensuring it was delivered in time for the looming deadline date.

So far things are running pretty smooth, with the odd crash here and there along with tedious render times. I have also been giving the Final Major some real thoughts by considering some potential ideas, however I'm about 90% sure of the concept I want to go for; one I've had for a while now.

Castus: Getting There

2011-01-01T21:10:00.001Z

The lighting is coming along gradually. This is really getting to me now as I'm all ready to get animating yet I'm unable to sort something as 'simple' as setting up a basic light setup. While I've experimented with applying shadows, I've decided to leave them out for the moment as they just over-complicated the scenes. Not the best start to 2011.

Castus: Lighting

2010-12-31T23:39:00.000Z

I'm having a bit of trouble at the moment figuring out what lighting to use in the environment. I've been going round in circles with Maya over the past couple of days whilst resolving the shots with the animation.

This has allowed me to consider whether in would be best to rather than light the environment and work with that throughout, to light the individual shots as and when they occur. The latter method would however mean that the lights would obviously differentiate between shots and would use up valuable time and effort, while the set lighting that would remain constant would save a lot of time.

So far the most useful lights I've used, or not produced and random results are 4 point lights and an ambient. Maya Sun wasn't too bad, however as always the render time is a major factor to consider.

The problem that I'm having however is finding the right lights for use as constant fixed lighting; experimenting with spot lights, ambient, directional lights, Maya Sun etc. With time running out I need to get passed this 'obstacle' as soon as possible.

Castus: Walk Cycle Test

2010-12-28T22:44:00.004Z

Christmas over, time running thin, back to work. Here is a test walk cycle, enough said. ^_^

Castus_Walk_Cycle from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

(Apologies for the slightly distorted video, a replacement will be up A.S.A.P)

Castus: Making of Publication

2010-12-21T04:36:00.002Z

With a few paragraphs to touch up and areas to check over, the 'making of' should soon be ready to roll out.

Castus: Environment Background Tests

2010-12-18T17:57:00.001Z

Some experiments with the environment background. I've rendered out numerous images to get more of an idea into what works and what doesn't. I've used 2 methods; the first using the perspective camera's background colour.

I've stuck to a set colour scheme and test rendered accordingly; trying out black, white, midtone grey and a light blue. All the renders are lit using a single spot light and a blue ambient light, with only the colours being altered.

Camera Background: Black

Camera Background: Midtone Grey

Camera Background: White

Camera Background: Light Blue

The second method uses a default nurbs sphere to create a dome around the environment. I applied a mia_material_X shader to the sphere and tweaked with the reflection and glossiness setting. When I was happy with the settings I went about applying the same colours used with the camera backgrounds. I'm quite happy with the environment dome effect as there is a degree of definition rather that a flat colour screen.

Environment Dome: Dark Grey

Environment Dome: White

Environment Dome: Light Blue

Environment Dome: White (White Floor Shader)

Castus: Theatrical Approach

2010-12-18T15:57:00.000Z

Following a suggestion from a certain Mr. Beg, I've wiped out various areas of the environment for a more theatrical approach; which I really like. By just keeping the basics (desk, monitors, core, 1 Arm etc), not only does the environment fell as 'contained' as it previously did it has reduced render time yet again. The average render time, with Castus imported, stands at 32 seconds which can only be a good thing.

With the environment developing, I've got some tweaks to sort, experiment with effective theatrical lighting and apply some textures to various surfaces. Its getting there.

Castus: A Ray of Hope

2010-12-18T03:16:00.001Z

After a day of trial and error, I think (or rather hope) I'm back on the right track. Following some great advice from Tom (thanks bub !! ^_^ ) , I replaced all of the old shaders from the scene; blinns, lamberts etc with the shiny super shader; mia_material_X.

Applying this on the characters and the environment, the render times have been cut considerably, reducing from 7-10 minutes down to 30-40 seconds for each render. I also prefer the effect of the mia_material_X shader, as the attributes are simple to use and give some great results.

The task at hand now however is to square away the light placements. So far I have messed around with directional, ambient, point and volume lights. As of yet the point lights, d-lights and volume lights have given some interesting result and the render time is also kept down pretty low, however I know it will increase when the RAT and Castus are imported.

I've saved 2 render shots that I may take further. What I'm going for is a cold, metallic atmosphere with the surfaces having a blue sheen from the power core. The top Maya Sun render gave some great shadow definition and lighting, however as a result the shadow placement is highly erratic in places (below the arm) and the render rough in areas (left side of image). Render time is also a main point to be addressed, usually setting around 2-3 minutes.

The bottom image uses a 3-point directional light setup. The result isn't as fluid and defined as Maya sun, however as a result the render time has dropped significantly. There is still some nice lighting and reflections in the render although clearly not as defined and 'nice' as the Maya Sun render.

My goal now is to reach a mid-point between the two; acquiring effective lighting, reflections and shadows with a cold, colour scheme and 'reasonably' low render times.

Maya Physical Sun - Dir_light - Render time: 2:51

Mental Ray - 3 Point Dir_light - Render time: 0:38

Castus: Sacrifices

2010-12-17T13:13:00.001Z

It has come apparent over the last few stages that some sacrifices will have to be made in order to get Castus out on time. Initially, my intention was to render using Mental Ray, which worked really well on both the Castus and RAT models. The environment however brought forward a host of new issues. Firstly the render times were ridiculous, so I tweaked the render settings as best I could and remove any unnecessary effects and geometry etc. This brought down the render times to around about a minute, however that was before Castus and the RAT entered the scene and when they were imported, the scene refused to render at all.

I didn't count on the render times being so long. I have however been experimenting with Software renders (image of Castus below), which have had some considerably short render times and the results (while not capturing that pristine 'sheen' that MR could) have been quite successful. I've now got to fly through everything on Castus, the RAT and the environment and make it suitable for software render.

I may however experiment with some visual effects and further stylise the animation, cell shading, toon renders etc.

Castus: Environment Progress

2010-12-15T17:22:00.000Z

The environment has gone through some changes through it's modelling. I've now condensed the environment down to some base aspect as putting in needless detail will only increase render time, etc.

I'm currently toying with the lighting; the lights presently used being 4 point lights set around the environment. I've rendered an image out and noted on it what needs to be done, however with animation beckoning and time rapidly running out, I have to think carefully into what I add, take away, effects, lighting as to get this thing animated and rendered to a high standard.

The 'in space' idea came when considering the barren back walls. I was initially going to model some more terminals, however in order to save render time (hopefully) putting in some windows and then a environment sphere around the room.

Its getting there.

Castus: Lab Technical Arms Environment Rig

2010-12-12T23:27:00.001Z

A new addition to Castus; the Lab Tech arms that will either feature in the background performing tasks and providing 'moving obstacles' for the RAT and Castus to avoid in the chase. The Arms are now modelled and rigged using the same method used for Castus and the RAT. A positive note on this method is the ability to edit the mesh or apply textures (to an extent) after the geometry has been constrained. I'll get some playblasts of the arms in action posted.

Castus: Character Wireframe Turnarounds

2010-12-11T15:30:00.000Z

I'll compose these with the rendered turnarounds at a later date, apply some branding and make them seem a little more professional. For the moment however, here are the wireframes created using the Toon render.

Castus_Wireframe from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

RAT_wireframe from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus: Lab Arm Thumbnails

2010-12-10T18:07:00.000Z

I've set up some orthographs and thought a bit more into how this thing is going to work. The arm (or two I haven't decided yet) will run along a rail that is set around the lower portion of the dome, around the core.

There will be 4 joints including the wrist and a 4 fingered claw at the end. The design will draw inspiration from Castus to ensure uniformity throughout and will be rigged using the same method that Castus and The RAT were rigged with.

I'm unsure as of yet whether to characterise the arm/s which will enable it to feature more prominently in the animation. I'll see how things go.

Castus: Environment Mechanized Arm

2010-12-10T16:49:00.000Z

During a tutorial way back, the design of the environment was discussed. The environment is one of the last big tasks before animating and it is time to consider the full appearance of the hall before returning to the half baked model I started a while back.

It was decided that the environment in which the 'chase' would take place would be a laboratory in which Castus would work. He would be the upstart scientist who has OCD for tidying, with the RAT entering his space ad causing mayhem. I began to get down some ideas, which can be found here.

During the discussion into where the environment should go in terms of design, Alan suggested that some robotic arms could be added to the environment. This idea really appealed to me, as these arms offered another opportunity to add some more humour.

They could also be seen as individual characters, aiding Castus in the capture of the RAT. This brings forth ideas for 'funny moments'; for example the arm going for the RAT on the floor, missing and in turn tripping over Castus etc.

The design of the arm/s will be influenced by Castus, with the clean white featuring heavily and a smooth chrome effect on the working parts I've started by gathering some reference images and will get some thumbnails sorted out shortly.

Castus: RAT Movement Study

2010-12-10T14:48:00.001Z

With the animation of Castus looming, I've got to get more of an idea into how the characters; in particular the RAT, will move. Having rats of my own, I've got a pretty good idea into how they are structured move in general, hence the thumb on the outside of the front paw etc. I've begun to look into existing animations where rats are concerned and the one at the forefront is Pixar’s 'Ratatouille'

While the Rats in the film are highly characterised, they offer the opportunity to possibly experiment with characterising my own RAT rather than attempt mimic actual rat movement. This would offer more chance of instilling humour into the RAT, rather than have it skulk around with Castus in pursuit.

While this hand drawn animation attempts to capture a rat walk cycle, it may be correct in its foot placement however through watching my own rats; this video is a tad useless due to the fact that rats hardly ever walk. 90% of the time they run everywhere; well its more of a frantic ‘poddle’ rather than a run however they rarely (if ever) use a systematic 2-2 foot placement.

Although I can search the expanse of the internet looking for videos of rats, the best bet would be to capture my own running around, climbing and doing 'rat stuff'. Castus, being humanoid, should be much easier to animate, however while I would like to give the RAT some of its own characterisation, I would still like to retain some actual rat-like movement in its animation.

Castus: RAT Turnaround

2010-12-09T23:48:00.007Z

Apologies for the aspect ratio on the previous video, Vimeo squashed it down. Here is another.

Rat_Turn from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus: Character Shots

2010-12-09T14:28:00.001Z

So far so good, everything on the RAT seems to work as it should which is a huge relief considering my appalling track record when it comes to Maya. ^_^

I've been testing both Castus and the RATs rig together and its the first time they've met in Maya, so like a kid with some new toys I've been playing around with the two. I've yet to experiment with the render settings; however that can come when the two have and environment to run around in.

Some turnarounds for the RAT and the updated Castus to be posted up soon.

Castus: RAT Rig Complete

2010-12-09T12:26:00.001Z

Still some work to do with the textures etc, however the method I used to rig both Castus and the RAT enables the use of textures and edits to the geometry after the joints are parented. While this isn't as important to Castus; being made up of shaders, as I'm as of yet undecided on whether to apply painted textures to the RAT. The option is still open and with both characters now complete (and hopefully glitch-free) I can now progress onto finishing the environment, and designing the features within.

Castus: Rig Testing Green Light

2010-12-05T00:34:00.001Z

I've finished the run through Castus' rig and everything works as it should. Success!!

Castus_Test from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus_Lower_Test from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus: Castus is ACTIVE

2010-12-03T01:06:00.000Z

Castus is now complete. He is now fully modelled, rigged and ready for animating; with controls that now work as they should (big thanks to Alan). The problem that was affecting the progress with Castus was found to be quite basic in the end; I was simply being a dumbass. ^_^

Anywho, I'm glad to announce that Castus is ready; fully mobile, controlled and capable of expression. Aside from the minor issue with the controls (which was fully my bad), the whole process from initial laying of the joints through to keying the facial controls when extremely well. The rigging process I used for Castus involved no binding what so ever, which is most probably why I finished as fast as I have.

Instead of undertaking the long and tedious process of rigging and binding, I grouped the desired pieces of geometry i.e. all the features of the head etc, laid the joints and then rather than use rigid binding I moved the pivot points of the geometry to the joints and parented those particular joints to the individual geometries for which they were intended. This process, along with the specific modelling I did on Castus' joint geometry works perfectly.

However when constraining the controls I began to trip up a bit, but only because I'd tied my own shoe laces together (figuratively speaking, obviously...)

After finally resolving the control issue, they were soon connected to Castus and he was mobile. I only used an orient constraint, so all of Castus' moving parts; aside from his facial controls, are moved by rotation. This is all the rig needed to move and by not adding a point constraint it would prevent any parts accidentally being translated out of place

With the body sorted, next up was the facial controls. This would enable expression control, blinks and the movement of Castus' eyes.

I was torn two ways with how to proceed in accomplishing this; initially my intention was to use blend shapes, however following some experimentation and confusing myself with the blend shape sliders I left this method behind. I figured that blend shapes were more suited to a single piece of geometry rather than multiple separate parts. The individual expressions however are sitting in a separate file if they are ever needed (of which I very much doubt).

Following the hiccup with the blend shapes I decided to turn the 'Eye_Aim_Ctrl'; which initially aimed the eyes, controlled the blink and individual eye lids, into a master facial control. Using the hypergraph to access what I wanted to control and then setting them to particular attributes, it can now control eyelid rotation, and the movement of the brow lights around the eyes all of which can move individually and in conjunction with one another and the eyelids. After playing around with this newfound control over Castus’ face, it soon became evident that the blend shapes were completely unnecessary. All of the expressions that the blend shapes would have been covered can be easily created with these individual controls.

With Castus now fully active, all that remains for him is an overall animation test and then; Showtime....

Watch this space for the upcoming test run.

Castus: Control Conundrum

2010-12-01T22:06:00.000Z

A quick update on the situation with Castus. The almighty process of rigging is well underway, giving the two characters movement and preparing them for animation.

The rigging process however has hit a wall; with problems with controls being applied to Castus. The rig works exactly as is supposed to, making Castus fully mobile. Unfortunately Castus currently has problems with the control setup due to the alternate rigging method I've used. This has ruled out the use of parenting, point/orient constraints and grouping. I'm still going to try some more things, but I think that I'll have to resort to using another rigging process. (Details of which will be posted up when this problem is resolved).

This is more of a major annoyance than a problem, as while Castus can be animated it would be a ton easier if he had a control system that was connected. The same goes for the RAT, as whatever works on Castus will then be applied to the RAT.

Castus: 'Making of' Publication and Haynes User Manuals

2010-11-26T21:14:00.002Z

Best to get ahead of some things rather than have them creep up on me. I’ve begun to sort out the ‘Making of’ component of the Final Minor and thinking about the Henley User Manuals; which will act as character source books for both Castus and the RAT.

Castus: RAT Progression: Moving onto UVs....

2010-11-25T14:08:00.000Z

Now the RAT model is approaching completion, it is now the time of reckoning; to lay out the UVs. Something I know how to do but just never really applied, I'm hoping to create a few maps to get the desired effect; such as a reflection map etc. I just need to square away some minor points and then onto UVing.

Should have for next week both the RAT and Castus rolled out, rigged and ready to rock.

Castus: RAT Update

2010-11-22T03:11:00.000Z

Castus: RAT Update

2010-11-19T15:27:00.000Z

Base geometry is nearing completion, getting ready to get a load of definition in there. The RAT; being a contrast to Castus, is to be a whole lot more defined however I've got to be careful not to overdo it and keep the 'cute' factor setting on high.

Castus: RAT Construction Commences

2010-11-17T22:54:00.000Z

Castus: Environment Development

2010-11-16T20:18:00.000Z

Thumbnails of the environment re-design. I've begun to model, however there is still a lot of detail to think about, such as the now prominent mantle for the power core in the centre of the hall. Following discussing the development with Alan, along with the changes to be made with the narrative, it was decided that the hall should be more of a 'lab' or 'vault' where in which Castus works of maintains the area. More to come.

Castus: Animatic

2010-11-16T02:23:00.000Z

Excuse the poor quality SFX, I just gathered what I could and threw it together. If this animatic has made me more aware of anything, it has most certainly brought to light how much I'll need to consider the soundtrack of 'Castus'; among other things of course.

Final_Animatic from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Castus: Environment Re-Think is Re-Thunked

2010-11-12T23:44:00.000Z

The plane almost crashed into the mountain, then I decided to stick to the original and see this damn room to its eventual fruition. I'm glad I've dug back into the environment, as I was on the verge of scrapping all I had and starting anew with something else.

I've re-modelled the environment and started to consider what I'm going to put in it; the idea of the hall being a museum seems most appealing, however this raises the question as to what will it be a museum of?

Still a lot to get done while deciding, here are a couple of screen shots.

Castus: Envrionment Re-think

2010-11-12T12:08:00.000Z

Over looking at the current environment and beginning to model it into Maya, it became clear to me when I was attempting to get some early renders that this space wasn't going to work the way I had expected.

I'm going to play around with the model a bit more before I dismiss it completely, and will possibly have to pull away from the original design entirely.

In the meantime however I am looking at other spaces from which to draw inspiration. I've settled on two so far, one of which is quite close to my initial intentions.

I know there are hundreds of different spaces I could look into, however time isn't exactly on my side and I have to get a new design, technical drawings, concepts and orthos done ASAP.

The Turbine Hall, which once housed the electricity generators of the old power station, is five storeys tall with 3,400 square metres of floor space. It is used to display large specially-commissioned works by contemporary artists.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York. It is permanent home to a collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it is one of the 20th century's most important architectural landmarks.

Castus Final Minor Update

2010-11-10T19:20:00.001Z

I'm going to add some final touched to Castus' geometry; around his shoulders and upper back. Following this sorting out the story of the animation is top of the agenda, with a full animatic being the objective by the end of the week.

Castus_initial_turnaround from Wakkamole on Vimeo.

Dissertation: Transhumanism Web Sources

2010-11-08T21:38:00.001Z

Transhumanism is a loosely defined movement that has developed gradually over the past two decades. The modern philosophy of transhumanism was authored by Max More, PhD in 1990 in the essay “TRANSHUMANISM Toward a Futurist Philosophy“. According to More, “Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life- promoting principles and values.”

Transhumanism promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the human organism opened up by the advancement of technology. Attention is given to both present technologies, like genetic engineering and information technology, and anticipated future ones, such as molecular nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.

http://humanityplus.org/learn/philosophy/

'What is a human being, then?'
'A seed.'
'A... seed?'
'An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree'

David Zindell, The Broken God

Transhumanism is a philosophy that humanity can, and should, strive to higher levels, both physically, mentally and socially. It encourages research into such areas as life extension, cryonics, nanotechnology, physical and mental enhancements, uploading human consciousness into computers and megascale engineering.

http://www.aleph.se/Trans/

Castus: Modelling Defining Lines

2010-11-08T12:30:00.000Z

Experimentation at the moment, seeing what works and what doesn't. The character himself is made up of smooth clean shapes so I don't want to overdo things with Castus, as the RAT; being the contrasting character, is going to be a lot more defined and 'blocky'.