a sneak peak :)

here's the first bit of my project. it took me about two days to get everything together, which isn't as bad as i thought and the only reason i stayed long on one scene is because i have being "nit-picky" abiout my robots movements.

originally though, i wanted to use the set driven key tool tutorial  http://lesterbanks.com/2012/01/introduction-to-set-driven-keys-in-maya/ but it wasn't working and i some parts of the scene required my robot to stop. so i scrapped that plan and just keyframed my wheels :)

in regards to wheels though, let me just say that i am glad that i had help with the wheel revolution from an actual physics student (and no, his name isn't wikipedia). the original wheel spins were a bit too slow so he calculated the actual rotations the wheels should have. here's the notes we shared in the afternoon :)

i learned that the rotation of wheels will depend on the radius and the circumference of the wheel. you have to use pi in the equation because wheels tend to be infinite and pi is an infinite number. you also have to remember to measure the distance the wheel will travel on to calculate the revolutions. :) that's a crash course in physics for you guys who are doing 3d and needs to manually find out how your wheel revolves :) hopefully, i've explained this correctly or sheldon will want my blood. LOL (thanks jackson!)

now, without further ado, here is the preview for "plumber"

i need to re-render some parts of the scene because i can see some unecessary rotations, shadows and movment that affect the whole thing. none the less, im quite happy with my progress. :)

now off to finish more stuff. stay tuned for more progress!

cheers!
trish x

creating scenes.

while creating this assignment, I found out a couple of things.

first off, i realized that most of my scenes were similar to still images and only a couple are actual moving videos (like the dripping tap and when the robot is moving along the surface). this is a good thing because it cuts down alot of work for me when it comes to motion tracking, the semi-good news however, is I have to be ridiculously patient when it comes to key framing with my characters movements. the first video below is my first attempt at doing/creating my assignment. i have to say I do have the patience for key framing and it brings out the extreme OCD side of me that many people like to point out. :)

it wasn't the best though. it was dull, lacks shadows and the perfect lighting and so on. so i went back into maya and did the whole thing again.

i was lucky to have some of the people in my class to help me out with this assignment. they gave me really good feedback and tips on how not to hate maya and make my workflow better (THANKS ANDREW AND ROBBIE :]). they taught me how to create shadows in maya and how i can recreate a few elements in my scene to make the shadows flow alot more smoother. below is the final result of what i did for the whole day.

im planning to have a go and try to finish all of the scenes since im heading to adelaide in 3 weeks time and probably wont have access to any comupter with 16gb of ram in them for a week. that way all i have to do is tweak it by bits and pieces, but for now i'll see how this all goes.

off to do more work!
cheers!

trish x

stabilizing scenes

just testing out motion stabilization for one of my scenes. the first being the shaky image (even though it was on a tripod). its a good piece of footage but i need it to be more stable so i can track my robot better. :)

the second one that i have was with stabilization. it is a bit better than the old one.

in all honesty, i haven't done image stabilization in such a long time, so this is kinda a second or 3rd time of trying this out. i have to say i had to find my old notes on it and experiment with the different controls in order to achieve this. im currently working on how to use boujou for my scenes. it is a good motion tracking software for 3d especially when you want your scenes to be perfect for your models.

now off to finish scenes off!
blog more soon!
trish x

Animatic

here is my animatic reel for class. i have to admit, 30 seconds does tell a pretty good story and the feedback on cutting it short does help.

this is pretty much the story line for bobbie and his plumbing. im welcoming feedback before i hand this in and its definitely the first time i've finished something early (for a change!)

off to animate bobbie.

post more cool stuff soon!
trish x

schedule and more progress.

here is what i have to do so far for my robot project.

at the moment, im on the correct track for this assignment. its just taking me a while to upload stuff  because i actually want something to show before i write about it. 

and at last, i was able finally finish his texture. he has a new "sexy texture" that gives him an older appeal. all i have to do is to rig it and make it work :)

in his old design, bobbie didn't have any pupils in his eyes. it gave him a "creepy" look (or so have other people pointed out in class) and i decided to avoid that. Kiran from my class gave me the idea to give him pupils to give him a more puppy dog-esque look and avoids the whole creepy stature to him

his rusts look a bit more realistic as compared to the old rusts that i textured on him before. it reflected how new i am at texturing and i kinda wanted to prove to myself that im better than just that. so i took all his bits and pieces and made him a new texture that fits to an old rusty robot. i intentionally left the door bit with the old texture so that it will give him the illusion that he was spare parts on him which completes his old look.

one thing im proud of though is i textured the wheels on him. it was the first lesson i learn in texturing and i absolutely am proud of myself for doing this.

aside from texturing my robot, i also have been busy with filming my bathroom sink. it was the setting of my project so i used it to film every angle that I've drawn in my story boards.

here are some materials that i've used:

 i had to use a camera and a tripod to minimize the camera shaking. the camera that i'm using is a nikon L110 that i've borrowed from my friend Isabelle (thanks bells!). it had a good high definition video recording which i needed for this assignment and thats a good thing because i need my tracking to be at its fullest.

here are the tracking marks for my sink. i was told not to use tape cause it sticks and my mum hates that. so I used a red whiteboard marker to create the dots in the video. they come of easy and it definitely is seen against the white background.

i also had to use our baby tripod for those close up shots of the sink since this camera needs to be focused first on the specific area before you record the video. 

some of the stuff that i've used  when i was filming my scene. the camera runs completely on batteries so i had some backup ones with in my reach in case the battery died (which it did eventually!) and the white board markers to mark the area. i also had to use a 5 cent coin as a screw driver to remove the base of the big tripod from the camera, i had to switch from one stand to another so that coin really came in handy.

here is what the set up looked like. there wasn't much room for me to move in (as you can see in the mirror how close i was to the whole thing) and this was the other reason why i needed two tripods. the only light source was from the window which was great because the sunrise hits this window perfectly. that was also the time of day that i chose to create this assignment.

overall, im quite happy with the progress im getting at and i should be able to make an animatic by week 6. i wanted to thank andrew, isabelle, kiran and the guys and gals in my class for giving me feed back in regards to my sexy new robot! :)

off to more work!

blog soon!

trish x

robot design and textures 1

i finally finished my robot and im happy to say he turned out quite better than what i was expecting.

he originally had an antenna above his hat. but i couldn't get the curve to exactly what i wanted so i scrapped that i idea and moved on. 

his arms are longer from what I've drawn. i added an extra sphere to give me a rotation point on his shoulders. this will come in handy when i animate him in the next few days.

i also started texturing my robot and im afraid the rusts dont quite work as well as i expected. i think its because its too stretched around the robot that it actually looks like its made out of ceramic rather than metal.

 because of this, i might have to paint him myself in Photoshop and use those textures to complete him.

i must say though, i like the way i made his wheels. its quite detailed and it has thread marks printed on the wheels as well.

off to more colouring for my robot!

post soon!

trish x