Thursday, 26 April 2012

Major Project: Le Patissier Props Modelling

It is only a quick update!

Continuing with the props I have modified a few props that were previous modelled but also created a few more. I have also applied initial shaders which will be tweaked to create the a more realistic object.

Cake Variations

Piping Bag Fully Modelled

Wedding Cake with yummy cream!



Icing Details


Cherries with stalk!

Major Project: Olivier, the Patissier, Character Fully Rigged, properly Skinned and Some Props

So from my last update, where the torso and the legs were already rigged, I moved to complete the rig. To have a better control of Olivier, I decided to make a modification of previous rigs i have used. So here I present Olivier.

Say 'Hello' to the world, Olivier !!


To enter a more geeky realm I will explain what I have done with the rig, 
  • For the legs, I have used two sets of rigs, IK/ FK to have a better control when he moves. 
  • For the spine I have used a spine curve with squash and stretch, which will help me to create exaggeration and ultimately squash/stretch. 
  • The arms also have 2 sets of rigs, an IK and an IK with a springsolver ( to create a curved arm). 
  • The head was done in two stages, firstly I created a few blendshapes for the mouth and eyebrows, for preset poses. and then clusters were added to help create better and various poses. 
  • Finally most of the assets were also rigged, such as the buttons, the hat and the mustache. So then again more control I will have when animating. 
 

 In terms of skinning, I have moved onto correcting some skin problems that surfaced when rigging was done , but also did a few pose corrections to create a more organic and realistic character.





As you can see fat now will deform in a proper way. 

With this tasks done the character is ready to be animated, something i will start very soon blocking walk cycles.

Meanwhile other of my tasks was to carry on modelling the environment and props. A task I will try to finish in the following days. 

Thus far a few props have been modeled and are ready for a quick shader or a full texture. 







I will update soon with more progress!! Stay tuned! 
 

Monday, 23 April 2012

Major Project: Olivier, the Patissier, Torso Rigged

Last week, I had my tutorial with Alan who helped me draw a plan for the following weeks. Indeed, the following weeks will be full of solid time working to get this animation at its final stage. Therefore, i am trying to move as quickly is I can through this tasks to arrive to animation and enjoy some of the time.

Therefore here is the characters body rigged, for the arms, i have added a simple IK rig but also a IK springsolver, which allows me to have the arms behaving like curves.




The hand controls and the squash and stretch feature on the arms is done, left is just quickly move onto the face.

Friday, 20 April 2012

Major Project: Le Patissier- Final Animatic

Lately, I have been working on the latest task I have left behind from pre-production, finalizing the animatic. Therefore, I began filling in the gaps that were substituted with footage.




 With this animatic is a section, in which footage is still present, that sequence is to be further recorded for animation reference, as the this section of the animation is visualized in my head, the only problem is how to stage it correctly in drawings. because it will imply a lot of fore shorting and camera manipulation for the desired effect.

Thursday, 19 April 2012

Major Project: Olivier, the Patissier, Skinned and Initial Rig

Yesterday, I had a critique presentation for this project, and I was able to receive a motivating words and feedback towards this project. with most of the work presented, it was mentioned that this following week is crucial to outcome of this project, therefore I decided to put all the effort and focus on getting the tasks that were behind done.

Therefore here, I present you the the progress done most recently.

Skinning was started and mostly finished, with only a few tweaks to be done after the rig is finished. however, the character is moving.

Character Skinned




As it was said to me, I have created a list with the controls I want to incorporate on the rig. With that done and ready to be presented to Alan tomorrow, I began to rig the character. 




Squash and stretch Torso

IK Leg Controls

FK Leg Controls

 On a more visually appealing note, I have also tweaked the lighting and shading on the character.
 by adding rim light shaders, the result is to have the character pop up and look less CG.


HDRI Lighting and Rim Shaders

Monday, 16 April 2012

Major Project: Olivier, the Patissier, Bits and bobs

As the weekend, approached, and I have been working, I decided to do some bits and bobs to improve the character to make him look less cg and more like a cartoon character. therefore i added eyelashes and the mouth. although he will not make any sound it is always good to have this attention to detail to perfect the character.




 On a higher note, I have began skinning the character and by th end of this week I plan to have both skinning and rigging done. 

Friday, 13 April 2012

Major Project: Olivier, the Patissier, Character Joint Placement

Here is only a quick update, I have moved into the rigging/skinning realms. time to get geeky!!


so far here is the characters skeleton.


I plan to move on these stages pretty fast!! he will be moving soon. :)