Senior Portfolio Fall Week 4

Senior Portfolio Post 4

9/27/2018

For this week I went back to basics of animation and focused on a basic walk cycle.  I wanted to see how familiar I was with controls in Maya, seeing if I could add more finesse to a walk in relation to cycles I have made in past years.  I thought this would be a good starting point if I decide to do more animations of the same style for future entries in this class blog.  I continued to use the Jack rig, and plan to do so for at least the first few string of weekly animations.

https://youtu.be/Oiipoe-vLeE



I continued to build up my idle animation with more fluidity and tweaks to make things more readable as well.  I may do slight variations with the same base.  That way I can stay consistent overall, but also pull from different references.  This first idle animation doesn't quite follow any reference.  This second idle is made to look wacky and sways much wider than the first.

https://youtu.be/iB95WAsa7j4

Senior Portfolio Fall Week 3

Senior Portfolio Post 3

9/20/2018

For this week I have worked on another short animation with the same style of Lego based characters from the past few weeks.  The first animation features a landing sequence following a brief flight sequence.

Version 1

https://youtu.be/LY4MYyaouqM




Version 2

https://youtu.be/U-0eD7A2eH4



Another shot animation I have done work on focuses more on humanoid game animation.  I have put together a quick idle animation.  To balance out my experimentation with unique character animation, I plan to also do short game animations.  For these animations I am using the Jack rig from the BodyMech rig pack.  For future reference I may also use other rigs from the pack.

https://youtu.be/e46YhM1BizI

Senior Portfolio Fall Week 2

Senior Portfolio Post 2

9/13/2018

This week I've primarily focused on making sure the character models I described initially work properly.  A considerable amount of work was put into stress-testing these semi-custom character rigs.  I've made a few more videos demonstrating certain actions and capabilities of the characters. The first video is a simple animation of the Lego character throwing a shield with a bit of flair.  The second is a landing animation by another character.

Shield Throw

https://youtu.be/3sXOAoLVx0U


Jump Landing

https://youtu.be/zEZ4UBqWRbA

Senior Portfolio Fall Week 1

Senior Portfolio Post 1 

9/6/2018

For the first week of portfolio work, I put together a short animation clip exploring the initial ideas I had for the semester.  This short clips show off a few Lego characters demonstrating movements.  The main challenge here is animating dynamic and effective movement with respect to the limited movement of a real life Lego character.  While there are fewer parts to animate on a single figure, it also means a tougher way to convey more complex animation.

https://youtu.be/C-pLzJb4Mpo



In addition, I have compiled a selection of animation projects form previous courses in the CAGD major.  Overall, I think the best course of action to take while filling out my portfolio this semester would be to experiment within scenes, game animation, and other types in between.  Practicing in both fields and having variety in my animations is key.

A box weight lift
https://youtu.be/NbM9z-tDVrQ



Quick Game Animation Compilation
https://youtu.be/ILbfovN2Wmk

CAGD 330 Book Development High Poly

CAGD 330 Book Concept

4/30/2018

This is the progress post for the first section of the book project.  I have created a primitive base structure(s) for the book components in Maya, then exported them for specific modeling in Zbrush.  Using the skills from the past few weeks, this is what will make the book more organic, detailed and realistic.


Once in Zbrush, I started to bring out more details such as curves and complex shapes.  I defined the sections that will become the mouth and eyes, and combined the ideas of the face and the waves into the covers of the books.  I also went with the standard weave to insinuate the pages of the book.  In addition, I made subsections for the book edges and the eyes.  They will be the easiest to manage as separate pieces.

Front view

Back view

CAGD 545 Animated Short Week 13-16 + Final

CAGD 545 Animated Short 

Rough Llama
Apr 20-May 18

Week 13-14

These weeks were the beginning of the end for this project.  With the animatic on the way to completion, with scenes being updated constsntly, there is a lot to do in order to finish by the semester's end.  The first week was the week of presentations, so there was a lot of feedback on what to do going forward into the final stretch.  There was a  lot of animation to polish from blocked out shots, and some scenes that need to be reformed, swapped around, or cut out.  For me personally, the goal was splining the animation I have already, and applying the notes and comments about timespan and focus.  It seems like everyone is on track to bring it all together nicely.  Another new task is converting from Maya 2017 to 2018, in order to keep the look of the project consistent throughout everyone's work.

Week 15-16

With these final weeks before the end of semester, all work is going towards polishing and completing scenes.  The animatic is nearing completion, with all scenes input and being critiqued for final submission.  So far, I am going through each scene in order to update and better spline the animation as I go.  New objects and environments are being updated, and lighting as well.  All of this is being referenced and re-referenced in order to create the finished product.  Things are looking much better and consistent overall.
The last week was dedicated to cleaning up and perfecting the designated scenes.  The animatic is becoming more and more presentable, with the last updates making sure there is consistency and cohesiveness among the shots animated by different people.  Lighting was a big challenge, and effects every member and their work.  That was the main focus aside from polishing.

Final Product

CAGD 330 Book Concept

CAGD 330 Book Concept

4/22/2018

Concept references for the Book digital modeling project.


This is a pretty standard book model, which would be nice as a base to work off of.  It is simple with proper book shape.  Adding on aspects of other concepts to this model would be a good start.

This general wave pattern could be reference as is, but also could be made more organic and manipulated to be like more realistic waves on the book.  The grooves provide depth and shadows.

 

This is a book with a face which could be made more demonic and imposed on the book.  This could make for an interesting dynamic where only certain parts of the book are roughed up, while other things like the binding or frame are still clean and shiny.

 

This would be an interesting model to base parts off of, specifically the ornate side detailing.  It emphasizes components that go outside and around the book, sort of covering other details on the cover and binding.  The belt and buckle may also be an interesting aspect to include.

source: https://www.udemy.com/learn-to-create-awesome-stylized-video-game-assets/

Leftover concepts from the Sci-Fi crate project that may be incorporated.