Blog Posts

class 4: Instead of focusing on facial animations, I have been working on the changing of characters and how that connects with the rest of the story.

class 3: I plan on focusing on the facial animations more.

class 2: For my spring schedule, I carved out week 1 to learn more about shape keys and to change the stork boat model into the original model without all of the vertex holes. I successfully (and quite easily was able to change the boat models but the shape keys was a little more challenging. I have finally been able to figure it out and test how it would look (on an earlier file) and I think it came out alright.

This is my revised schedule for the spring quarter

For class 19/20 [39/40] I have redone the textures on a lot of the ride, along with fully remodeling the tunnel/cave. I am much happier with how it's looking, I think next quarter once I start polishing up the edits/cuts more. As well as hopefully adding more atmospheric effects, like a light fog or dust particles, maybe some lens flares to really seal the deal. For class 19 I only have the new rendered out frames cut together, I plan to have audio and the stock footage back in, I just haven't had time to finish editing the final cut yet.

02/26: Everything I've changed from class 10 until class 15…

-the wood tunnel turned into a dark cave with crystals

-the scene was fully rendered out (doesn’t look as flat anymore)

-faces were added to the main dolls

-lighting was fixed in the cave and added in last mirror room

-noise on male doll doesn’t jump around anymore

-more clips were added into memory scene / have clips without watermarks

-timing changed a little due to clips added

-loop at end of video starts from cave entrance

-audio was synced up more

-animation of dolls and cams were fixed (where anims were stiff) in cave and mirror room

02/25: For class 15 I worked tirelessly on my animatic and render passes. Right now I'm significantly happy with how my renders have been looking (these are the best renders I've had in a while). I will continue fixing the noise and making the materials/textures less flat. I also noticed that I did not finish the faces on the puca or star people so I need to work on those as well. Also, I have updated the animatic to add more stock footage/ memories for the mirror room and I'm not sure if I'm completely sold on this change, it seems like it might drag on a bit? or I might just need to find better "memories".

Here are some screenshots I've taken of my process as well

02/20: I've been working more on the cave/tunnel lighting and I'm actually really starting to like how it looks !!!

02/18: Over the past couple classes I've been working more on developing my textures and materials. As of Saturday, I've also been working on lighting and my render settings.

2/4: I've been working a ton on all of the base textures.

1/30: I don't have much of an update, but I plan on finally working on my materials and textures today. I've been kind of stuck in the phase of modeling the tunnel, so I think I need to take a break from it and work on another part of the ride.

I also started looking at stock footage more and I'm not sure it's the route I want to go down anymore. It all feels too artificial, so I might look into using my own footage and Live Photos I've taken that better represent the human condition, rather than stiff acting in stock footage.

1/28: I took some time to fix up the animation of the boat and some of the cameras that seemed a little off in the last animatic. I also revisited the tunnel of love and fixed the track of it, and I think its a big improvement from what I was originally working with.

1/23: Class 5 I was not where I would've liked to be for my submission. For class 6, I have made significant progress in my animatic. All of my new characters are all decently animated into the scene, and I have started on the interior for the tunnel of love, I plan on fixing up the interior more and fixing the animation of the boat some more.

1/16: (end of class) all models are rigged and will be added to the animatic by the end of day

1/16: (beginning of class) 3 out of 6 characters have been rigged, and I plan on finishing the other 3 in class and then implementing them into the current animatic.

1/14: the male counterpart has been modeled. I will begin rigging all of my characters with a basic rig (enough to move head/neck/arms)

1/14: (End Of Class) the model for my female star person is complete and will now be working on her male counterpart.

1/14: Female Star Person is almost completely modeled, I hope to finish their head and male counterpart by the end of class/day today

1/09: The Kandra character has been sufficiently modeled to my liking and I will now be starting to work on the star people.

1/01: I've started modeling more of the characters, mostly the basic shape of them

12/11: I've finished drawing out all 6 characters for my project, next up is modeling them !! Below is a picture of all 6 designs, left is all of the female character models, right is all the male models. They all follow the same basic model designs with changes to size and height in some areas. With rigging in mind, they will also all follow the same bone structure and movement capabilities.

11/30: I redid the main models face a number of times and decently happy with what ive come up with for the time being. I've completed the base models for the wood dolls shown at the beginning, and plan on working on the Puka and Kandra next.

11/23: I've decided to keep my main model less subdivided to keep the wood aspect alive, with his head being more subdivided for facial features

11/21: Over the break so far I've started to model one of the main couple characters and drew out how I would like the full body to look, given in the past you could really only see the chest and above in the concept art I created. This is the young gentleman that will be portrayed at beginning, I am currently box modeling him and looking at references of wooden dolls and how their hinges and joints are connected and move.

This will technically be 1/3 of the way done given that it's the end of the quarter and that's technically where I should be. I'm pretty proud of how far I've come with this project and animatic. Over the winter break I plan to do all modeling aspects (not texturing, but just having the base models done so I can begin texturing and lighting when we come back for the Winter Quarter! I'll be sure to make updates on my progress with the characters and models I can get through over the break.

Some challenges I'm facing right now are ensuring that my audience can understand the storyline without having to read through the synopsis I created for the project. This has grown increasingly hard to find a unique line between what I need to show to the viewer and what I want the viewer to speculate.

This is my class 19 update, I've fixed some of the audio and animated head movements to my desired look.

Click here for the full presentation

camera angles, stand in characters, & models will hopefully be fixed for class 15

Updated Storyboard with newest animatic

New and improved storyboard, featuring more than just static shots and incorporates more of Robert Yeoman's iconic cinematography, including, long pans, elevator drops, anamorphic views, extreme close ups, tracking shots, and of course the all important wide angle

The image below is what i want the climax of the project to look like, I'd like tons of images to be plastered on the walls around my 2 characters, I think images flying by showing the passing of time along with some static and flashing images will again add that the presence of time is revelant here. Showing the range of human emotions along with the range of human relationships is also something I want to capture fully by the end of my project. Because this isn't just about love anymore, but about everything surrounding love and the meaning of being human (the good and the bad).

9/29:

9/25: made significant progress on boat during class (starting to turn the head and neck into a stork rather than a swan to help symbolize life and rebirth)

9/25: before class

9/22: -I decided to start working on the model for the boat/cart so I could get a better idea of how big the track and people need to be in comparison to it.

-Below are some references I found and my start to the model.

9/18:

9/16: Current progress: trying to make sure riders will be able to survive the angle and height of the drop, given that it's a log flume/water ride

-The main inspirations for my ride sequence are the (now closed) Perilous Plunge at Knott's Berry Farm and the Pilgrim's Plunge / Shoot-the-Chute at Holiday World

Lift/launch system: Chain Height: 121 ft (37 m) Drop: 115 ft (35 m) Length: 865 ft (264 m) Max speed: 53 mph (85 km/h) Duration: 1:30Max vertical angle: 77.8°^^ These are the stats I will somewhat reference from Perilous Plunge for the' safety of riders'.

Lift/launch system: Open-Air Elevator System Height: 135 ft (41 m) Drop: 131 ft (40 m) Length: 1480 ft (451 m) Max speed: 50 mph (81 km/h) Duration: 2:40Max vertical angle: 45°^^ These are the stats I will somewhat reference from Pilgrim's Plunge for the 'safety of riders'.