MDDN 241 Project 2a - Model Developments

sound

This clip shows how I was working on volume and left, right speakers to better match the movement in the scene. Where the sound of the character running gets louder and changes speaker to match where the character is running.

Playblast 

This playblast shows roughly what my animation will look like.

Lighting

I looked at different types of lighting to best match the environment and the mood I wanted to set for the animation.

This image used a dark directional light.

This image used a dark, high angled created day light.

movement 

These clips show how I used the character rig to create animated loops to make my character walk and run. I tried to make all parts of the character be effected by the movement. The legs, body and head all move together being effected by each other, as an animal might run in real life.

walking

running

walking

this clip shows the character running on a motion path, showing how my character will move throughout the environment in the animation.

Environment 

This image shows a high quality render of my character within the environment.

modelled environment 

character within environment

large image of modelled environment, showing all the piles of trash and scrap metal and rocks scattered throughout the environment to create the old trash deserted environment discussed in my concepts to suite my character.

wire frame image of modelled environment.

Rigged character

Orthographic

Final Textures

For the final textures used for my character model, I used different rusty metal texture to help create the idea that he is a creature made up of random pieces of rusty metal. I also added small orbiting chips of rusty metal to the blue orb, to help show the central power comes from the orb and all the pieces of metal are attracted to that. For the orb and eyes I used a phong texture then messed with with glow effect and hid the object to create the transparent glowing effect.

Updated Model

I bent the legs a bit to create something that looks a little more like it could actually walk around and move, where the old model and stiff legs. It did not look like it could actually move around.

First look at model with metal textures

Materials I am looking at for my character

These playblast show how my character will move

I changed the head of my character to look more as if it is made up of scraps of metal, rather than some pre designed robot head. I added layers of shards to create this effect. Some shards are covering parts of they eyes which I think adds to the idea of a pile of scrap metal coming together.

These images show my character as the lifeless pieces of scrap metal that they are before they are given life and a personality through the blue orb.

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Final Maya Model

My character is a type of robot droid, made up of different rusty pieces of metal creating its legs and head. These are given life by an orb of energy, holding everything together and making them work as one. He is more or less part of the scrap and rusty garbage that surrounds him, hence the old destroyed city being then environment. A place where people no longer live, just artificial life, and few animals exist. It is large and empty, yet still intimidating to him as he does not know what is out there as he has only just been given life.  The character himself is curious as he is still getting used to being alive and his surroundings. He is very temperamental, when something goes wrong or does not work. Also very hyperactive as the world is so large around him, almost ADHD therefore has trouble making friends. He is easily distracted by small things as everything is new to him. His physical design is more or less derived from the environment he is in. He is made up of four rusty legs, which look as if they have been found on the ground. As for they head, it looks a little more designed, maybe the head of a previous robot or droid. The parts don’t necessarily look like they are designed to fit together, but have a similar relationship as with the environment and therefore work together. The orb is what keeps him alive; however it is not a consistent source of power and therefore risks shutting down if the orb gets to small and dies.
With the 3d model I would like to edit it a little more making it look more older and rusty, especially the head.

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Final Script and Storyboard

The story begins introducing the character within his environment. He moves around and explores the area he is in to give viewers an understanding of what the character is like. His energy orb the starts to flash an dim, slowly losing power. He knows he is losing energy and needs to find a new source quick before the rob keeping him alive dies. Suddenly he notices a floating orb thing in the distance which he assumes will give him the energy he needs. The orb he has seen realises it being watched and quickly jolts away. The character begins to chase after him; he embarks on a sort of hunt for this orb. He chases it all throughout the area, when suddenly his orb dims a lot and slows him down, he needs to stop. He loses sight of the orb he was hunting and looks around for it. Suddenly the orb shoots past him from behind a rock, again he chases after it. He eventually corners the orb. The chase is over; he then absorbs it and regains his energy. He is happy and jumping around. He then turns around and his jaw drops he is in shock. Behind him are hundreds of little orbs buzzing and glowing red, obviously friends with the one he had just eaten. The screen then fades black leaving the fate of the character to the viewer’s imagination.

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Orthographic drawings

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Character Development

This is a conceptual drawing of what the environment will be like. It is a wasteland of old cityscape and trash where not much lives. The majority of the area is deserted only few living thing scrounge around. It is set in the future therefore people no longer exist just creatures that have survived and evolved robots and life form created by the trash. There is a lot of old rusty metal lying around which is what my character is made of. Aesthetically it was highly influenced by the images above of old cities and post apocalypse wasteland. 

This image shows how my character portrays its emotion. The shape of the eyes change and the glow of the orb and eyes changes colour depending on how the character is feeling.

These drawings show how my character moves. He moves very similar to a four legged animal in the way he walks and runs. He has many characteristics of a type of feline, the way he stalks other creatures and explores the environment. The top images show different stances, curious, aggressive, shy which are shown by the position of his head and legs.

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Final Concepts

The original idea behind this concept was bringing a skeleton to life. I decided to work with a dog skeleton as it seemed to have more personality than other. I brought it to life be turning it into a cyborg type creature. The design was highly influenced by some of Lebbeus Woods's work. Many of his works look highly mechanical which helped a lot to inspire the design behind the character. Theo Jansen originally inspired the idea behind bringing the skeleton to life, as in many of his models have a large skeletal frame work that are brought to life. Aesthetically I really like this concept, however I feel just as some of my other sketches it would have been to challenging for me to create in Maya.

This concept was initially inspired by rusty tools, such as nails or screws taking life and walking around. I then worked a lot with The Woods's mechanical style to create this robot type character. The character itself is made up of four rusty pieces of scrap metal which make up its legs, Then has a more robot looking head. These rusty pieces of scrap metal are held together by an orb of energy which more or less is magnetic to hold the pieces together and give the creature life. The robot expresses how its feeling through colour, when his mood changes so does the colour of the orb. I quite like this concept as it is highly influenced from intimate objects and has a simple design while still having a strong personality behind it.

This creature was more or less originally inspired by a large building or house. Hens its large slow moving appearance. It largely took on the form of the above image by Lebbeus Woods. The spikes on its back were highly influenced by large sails as well as the Sydney Opera house. I really like this concept as its design strongly represents the inspiration and the slow moving lazy personality it has. 

MDDN 241 Project 2a - Concept Sketches

These were the initial inanimate objects I was looking at which lead to one of my concepts. Looking at using nails or pliers as legs.  

MDDN 241 Project 2a - conceptual sketches

These are some initial sketches to get some of my ideas out, which helped me think of how I was using the precedents and what characters would be doable or not. These are some of Designs that I liked but seemed a bit ambitious for Maya.