here are some recent little movies I made. One is using the sound effector which I really like, it picks up the sound and reacts to it! The other is using my new transform plugin. I also added a couple of little effects using after effects.

started making a 2.5d environment for the group project. The end result is going to be an E4 ident. Here are some different versions experimenting with volumetric lights with colour and dust. All in cinema 4d with planes imported from photoshop.

here is a screen shot of how the shiny ball movie is made. The background is a photo and the camera move is achieved by projecting the picture onto planes which model as the alley.

Here are some shiny balls for you.

This is the actual TV ident which I have copied.

I just learned how to make the channel 4 ident. This is done in cinema 4D and then the final movie is just the two different versions put together in after effects. Here is all the versions of the video and a couple of screenshots to show how it's done.

Composite

Had a go at putting 3D objects into environments. This is a photo of a warehouse wit some crudely modelled speakers put in. It works ok though with a slight shadow and reflection on the floor.

Sorry, on that last post the line tests are too faint to see properly. If I get time I will ink them up and post them again. Im animating in after effects at the moment and its a bit of a relief after painstakingly drawing every frame.

  Here is all my character sheets together...

My first bit of animation of the module!! Great to see Craig make his first steps. After this bit of traditional method I am going to give after effects animation a go, see which one I want to use for the final animation.

Here is a character design for Craig the rat. Still a couple of improvements to make but i'm generally happy with the scrappy style. It is all traditionally done and then put together in photoshop. The scratchy shading took ages. A Just an extreme pose sheet to do and then I can start animating!!

I visited my sister in Manchester this week and had some time to kill while she was in lectures so I went and din some sketching at a museum. They also had a reptile house as you can see.

This is an expression sheet for my updated character. He is called Craig. Im just finishing the character design sheet and will post it soon.

First post for ages! Im back from a long break and will now be regularly posting my sketches and animation developments.  

  Here is a couple of character designs... These were ideas for characters, I wont be animating these tho. I have a new design which I will post shortly.

my character is progressing. He is modelled, rigged, weight painted and almost completely textured. Now he just needs animating.

My cinema 4D character rig is going ok but the foot roll has decided to not work! Ill try and sort that out today. Here is what it looks like untextured and unrendred so far.

Here is a little scene i had a go at doing.

Im behind schedule with my time plan! Need to work faster. Almost finished my character design sheet though.

TIME PLAN FOR LAST 4 WEEKS

Time Plan

WEEK 1 MONDAY: Delayed train. No work done. 

TUESDAY: Put this plan on blog. Watch a scanner darkly, write some words on it. Make my character design sheet better ( improve hands ) WEDNESDAY: Contextual studies lesson. write 500 words on lesson. Further improve character sheet

THURSDAY: Show david character rig and get advice and improvements o how to finish it. Review contextual studies and start to decide what to write essay on. 

FRIDAY:Plan essay, if ready start to write some words. Finish character design sheet in illustrator and put into photoshop. Go into college do fish cur out animation. 

SATURDAY: Add a background and colour reference to character model sheet. 

SUNDAY: Have a look at any improvements can be made to 3D character model. Work out what i need help with.

WEEK 2 MONDAY: Update blog, should have loads to add. Get help with 3D model, get someone to read essay plan. 

TUESDAY: Write substantial amount of essay. Perfect character design sheet in photoshop. 

WEDNESDAY: Sae as above. Another 500 word contextual studies.

THURSDAY: Update blog again, (with character design sheet ) Carry on with essay 

FRIDAY: Gather and make a folder for all animations for show reel. Improove any if necessary. 

SATURDAY: Carry on improving animations. Continue with 3D rig. Look through digital skills portfolio and fill out some more. 

SUNDAY: Read through briefs and work out what i have left to do, make a list and find what i need help with on monday.

WEEK 3 MONDAY: Update 3D model. should now be on lighting and textures. Update blog. 

TUESDAY: Do the making of guide for 3D model. 

WEDNESDAY: Render out completed 3D model. Think about and find music for showreel. 

THURSDAY: Start draughts of any evaluations that need to be done. Try to do any left over contextual studies.

FRIDAY: Update blog. Finish making of guide of 3D model. Review projects against brief and plan any changes or additions. 

SATURDAY: Continue matching each project against brief and improving. 

SUNDAY: Start putting together animation show reel, decide what i need help finishing. Complete sound.

WEEK 4 MONDAY: Complete animation show reel and sound. 

TUESDAY: Put sound with show reel and render out. 

WEDNESDAY: Look through, neaten and bind projects. 

THURSDAY. Hand in all projects!!!!

cheeze

Here is a couple of design ideas I did for a friend a while ago

return to work

sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been kind of lazy. Modelling and rigging this 3D character is doing my head in. I get as far as the arms and legs but when I put a spine in it all gets confused. Anyway here are some pics of it.

Today I started to learn how to rig a character (add joints and controllers to make it move right so it is animatable) It is the biggest headache ever but I got through it despite it being early on Monday morning. The result you can see above is a scary snowman crudely modelled and animated but animated none the less.

here is my first attempt at character modelling in cinema 4D. the body looks a bit weird because it crosses into itself which sucks but ill have another go soon

pixellation

Today we learned about and made a short movie using pixellation, which annoyingly has little to do with pixels. It is basically stop motion with real people. Here is our movie, Im the one riding the chair victorious at the end.

Here is the design I am supposed to be using but It may be a headache trying to model this in 3D with no previous experience, maybe I should start really simple!... the illustrator drawing is not completely finished, still getting to grips with this software too.

shady characters

These are some initial designs for the 3D model I am going to build, Drawn using dip pen and ink which I started drawing with recently and would recommend. Its cheap and really nice to use.

impossible people

The last week I had no lessons so apart from a couple of tasks I was free to practice my own things. At the moment I am dedicated to practicing drawing the human form, male and female, in all manner of different poses. I am taking instruction from a great book by Andrew Loomis. The book is quite academic and in depth which is good as my aim is to be able to draw aesthetically pleasing people. First i learned the proportions in head sizes, then a basic mannequin, then the difference between a male and female body and now I am going to attempt to learn much of the human anatomy starting from the skeleton and then the muscles and how they attach.
  Here are some weak first attempts, I will improve!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the rough mannequin and a couple of quick poses

one design for my E4 thing that gets coughed out

This is an important week, with two big hand ins. The metamorphosis animation is due in as well as all my life drawing and the E4 sting. My morph is almost finished so I have to focus on my E4 sting which I will complete in the next few days including a making of folder, a sketch book and a research folder, better start working!

I've been ill for the last couple of days so I haven't done any work but tomorrow I will start my E sting. I have decided to use live film and animation together. What happens is someone is eating and they choke  and cough up an E4 creature. Should be good but I've only got a couple of weeks and I haven't even started!!!!!

Soon we will be modeling a character in 3D so we started learning illustrator to draw up our designs. Here is a screenshot on my first go at illustrator.

This is a sting for MTV. The animation is using flash, a programme I want to learn to use in the next project. I aim to have this type of animation composited with live film.

below is a good e4 ident that made the finals in the E sting comp.

this is my 2.5D animation. Not to happy with the final outcome but learned some cool stuff about how to produce animation in cinema 4D

Our new project is doing an E4 ident. Here are some existing ones that i like. This one is a nice retro manga style.

here are some more life drawings from last week. I am happy with some of the results and it was good drawing practice. The one above is done with ink and a stick. 

               this one above is done with charcoal and chalk

                 This one we were told to draw over our pictures when the model changed position.
                Red and black drawing ink

                                          charcoal and chalk

                    Ink. Drawing, one over another as the model moved.

I thought I would show you the studio i've got set up as I am pleased with how it is. I've got the speakers at the end there, then theres my computer and drawing tablet, scanner printer, light box, and nearest is my drawing board. Everything I need, now I just need to master the art...

Here is one of my life drawings.  Sorry about the poor picture quality on my blog. My camera is not all that and the light is kind of bad. Anyway this is what we were doing all last week.

I had an assignment to design a character, the brief said it had to be a skinny character, so I had a go at sketching some thin female figures. Here is a few

As promised here is my next animation that i am not at all happy with. The ghosting is all wrong, the run cycles are jerky and there is lighting where there shouldn't be. Not to mention the lack of story line. But i was working to a deadline, perfection cant be rushed. At least I know the faults. Anyway, enough moaning and excuses, here it is. Ok sorry. For some reason the video could not be uploaded. Ill have to save it in a different format and i'll post it soon!

Cinema 4D

Heres some scenes from the animation to show how they are set up

I have to hand in my animation this week and it is almost finished. This module was cool but made me realise just how time consuming pose to pose is on this programme. I've spent looooooooong doing it and i might just have 30 seconds of film and i'm not entirely happy with the quality, but its all a learning curve. When the animation is edited on premierre pro and ive put a track to it ill post it.

  Heres some expressions of my characters (most of which i didnt get to use.)

This is my first post in too long and im kind if behind so here is a rough timetable to help me get organised.