Hooray for RGB

So the central matte painting is coming along as well. I'm done with all the little lines, now it's time for color

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The set for the first scene so far. It needs a lot of work, but at least I've started on it

Rigging Fail

So Casey was having some trouble animating Murder's head during the run cycles, and he wanted me to put an IK-FK switch into the neck. I thought it wouldn't be too hard, but hours and hours later, all I have is a mess. It would have been much easier to put the switch in early in the rigging process, but as it is now, it would take more time than its worth. Sorry Casey!

His face is not supposed to do that. 

Moving along

So yeah, the project is coming along bit by bit. I spent most of tuesday being picky about the triop's shell. I'm pretty happy with the results though:

This is the base model for our main character, Murder.

I don't know why he's called Murder because he's really

a very nice skeletal robot dog, but the name's stuck now. 

More Hyenas. Just because I like them.

Here are some concept paintings and matte a matte painting in progress for the big, climactic scene.

Ok, so this is required for the Capstone class, otherwise I would never get around to doing it.

Description of the project, in stages:

One page description: 

            My capstone project is a collaborative animation that I will be making with Casey Pyke. The animation will feature a robot dog character who discovers and chases three flying robotic triops through an abandoned, futuristic city.  The chase will end when the dog character runs into the triops’ protector- a giant, hovering trilobite- and must then himself flee. The animation will run from three to four minutes long and will utilize both 3-D and 2-D techniques. So far it is projected to have ten scenes and 52 shots. It will feature three character models: the robot dog “Murder”, the tiny robot triops, and the large robot trilobite. The city itself will also be emphasized as a vast urban wasteland in which the ownerless robots roam wild.

            Casey and I will split the work fairly evenly between animation and set building. Casey will do most of the animating, dynamics, and particle effects while I will produce most of the sets, lighting, and 2-D painting work. Murder is already modeled, textured, and rigged which will allow us both to start working right away. We also already have a triop model, a trilobite model, a complete animatic  of the entire piece, story boards, and other concept work. We want the piece to have original music, and we want to recruit a composer to write us a cinematic score.  Casey and I are also both musicians, so we will probably be doing a lot of score work as well.

            This piece will be shown in the Meese Auditorium on May 28. We will also submit it to several film festivals, and no doubt we will become rich and famous. 

One paragraph description:

My capstone project is a collaborative animation that I will be making with Casey Pyke. The animation will feature a robot dog character who discovers and chases three flying robotic triops through an abandoned, futuristic city.  The chase will end when the dog character runs into the triops’ protector- a giant, hovering trilobite- and must then himself flee. The animation will run from three to four minutes long and will utilize both 3-D and 2-D techniques. No doubt we will become rich and famous.

One sentence description:

My capstone project is a collaborative animation utilizing 2-D and 3-D techniques that will feature a chase scene through an abandoned, futuristic city that will make Casey Pyke and I rich and famous. 

Working title

Scissordog? Flight? A Dog Who Can Run Up Buildings Because He Has Blades for Feet?

I don't know, this part of the assignment is too hard. 

Specific Products of Study:

3 fully textured, rigged, animateable characters

All necessary sets for the animation

All necessary matte paintings and texture paintings for the animation

A 3-4 minute original score

A 3-4 minute super shiny 3-D animation

Technical and Research Issues:

Need to learn:

• How to make dramatic, convincing lighting in Maya
• Effective compositing techniques for 2-D and 3-D
• How to make dramatic, efficient sets
• How to make certain sound effects

Timeline:

This animation is slotted to show on May 28 in the Meese Auditorium. So hopefully it will be done by then. Most of the steps along the way will be worked on simultaneously.

Testing out the photo feature with one of my favorite animals: Crocuta Crocuta

And to practice putting in youtube videos:

One of my favorite animations ever.

Initiating project blog:

So we're supposed to do a blog for our capstone projects. I've never done a blog before, but it seems like a good idea. Here we go.