Blend Shapes

Blend Shapes are used to deform an object allowing you to create custom attributes that can be animated. I have used them to simply add a smile to my robot.

Compositing

I am still getting my head around render passes and compositing. Rendering in maya allows you to render different assets on several layers. This was extremely useful. The example below details how I ended up using it.

Filming With Tim

I missed the specified filming time with Tim since it was organised through Facebook. I really need to get used to using these social platforms. Filming with Tim only took around 20 minutes or so to set up and then film everything. I wanted a B-movie feel to it and I think I got what I wanted. Tim will probably hate the footage though.

Modelling Sarah's Cat

Sarah found it hard to model the cat and asked me to do it. To be honest, it would have probably been easier for me to model the character since I have a better grasp of what the character looks like. I thought that the best way to model the cat would be to make it out of several shapes and group them together. It would also be easier for Sarah as she wouldn’t have to deal with a large UV map and could resort to texturing it with a default colour in Maya if she had to. Here is the character.

I’m also working with Daryl. He is doing my alien rig and I’m attempting his textures.

Double Negative

During BAF, we went to see a presentation by Double Negative on the work they did for the latest Total Recall. It was slightly disconcerting seeing all of the effort they had to go through, however the talk was still very interesting.
I tried to find other breakdowns they have released, however I couldn't find any. Here is another video featuring their work.

Sarah's Concept Art

Sarah was having trouble with the concepts for her project so I offered to design her alien. She gave me this mood board and some notes as a starting point for a catlike alien. She told me to experiment with different types of materials, body parts and poses and was very broad with the extent of her ideas.

I came up with these concepts first and Sarah told me to look into rocks and fauna for inspiration. She seemed particularly interested in a golem cat and told me to look into the Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus.

I didn’t like the initial sketches for the Colossi cat. To me, the colossi always looked sad, rigid and quite bulky and my designs didn’t match with a cat’s posture and quirky characteristics. After a few more concepts, I came up with a few designs I was happy with. I also did some floral designs which were based from imagination.

Sarah chose this concept, one that I was particularly happy with. I liked the design because it looked quirky and catlike while still retaining the rigid appearance of the colossi. Since Sarah was modelling the character, I would also have to come up with the model poses. The cat was quite hard to visualise in a modelling pose so I asked Siobhan since she has already modeled her cat. She said that the best way to go about it would be to provide Sarah with a basic pose and as many concepts in different perspectives.

The Hobbit: Behind the VFX

I thought the VFX in the Hobbit was marvellous. Since a lot of films now employ visual effects, I was slightly worried that it wouldn’t leave the same impression as seeing Gollum for the first time in the Two Towers. For me, one of the best bits of Peter Jackson’s LOTR is the visuals and the designs and concepts. Films like the hobbit seem to be like a labour of love, so it was interesting seeing the videos of these character models. I think they showcase the amount of work, particularly with Gollum and seeing the level of detail gone into the model and the fidelity of the animation.

Modelling in Maya

Here are several of the assets I have modeled.

I changed the alien design a lot because of issues while i was modeling. I wanted the robot to have quite a circular simple head, however it just didn't work. Instead, I opted for a different design that would still suggest the innocent personality of the robot.

I have modeled everything in the interior already. I really like how it is looking so far and hopefully it gives off a cozy atmosphere when it is finally finished.

 Originally, I was only going to give the spaceship one massive laser. I got a bit carried away and just filled his entire mouth with lasers because lasers look cool. He even has lasers in his eyes.

 An asset that I particularly like is the mammoth head. I really wanted to work on my topology and I think I am starting to get the hang of it. Initially, the mammoth head was going to be animated however I don't think I will have the time to prepare the rig.

     

Greenscreen..

We have been learning how to greenscreen and mask out footage in aftereffects. Above you can see a man enjoying a day at the beach. this was achieved with the magic of a greenscreen.

Concept Art for the Interior

To convey the aliens personality, I wanted the interior to feel homely and cozy. I began by looking at old fashioned furniture and decor and tried to twist the designs to make them seem slightly sci fi.
Since the robot was a bounty hunter, I liked the idea that he has several of his most prized heads on his wall. I thought that it would be time consuming to model several complex alien heads, so i tried to be creative with the designs. For example, I liked the idea that instead of a head, there was a just a tentacle on the wall.

I designed several rifles for the alien as well. I wanted the rifle to look like an old fashioned one but one that could still seem alien. To get some ideas of some interesting weapons, I looked at games like borderlands and ratchet and clank which showcase really over the top weapons.