Pre-Production: Skeleton Turnarounds (Anatomical Frames)

Hello Everyone,

As I said previously I have a bit of a back log of posts so you will probably see a couple of little flurry's like these two today. Possible a third a little later. These are where I'm kind of trying to do things in an order to demonstrate the process. Sometimes I dip in and dip out of areas of creativity like if I've been modelling all day Ill go and do some drawing in the middle to give my eyes a rest. I also find this refreshes me for when I hit a wall or find no solution to a problem. Anyway these skeletons are the framework for the final turnarounds which will be used for the characters.

I have already begun the modelling process so this is really me catching up with myself. I use these frames to block in a form mostly to make sure the body holds weight and has the an S curve flow throughout the form. My turnarounds of the past have mainly been a little static and that is mainly because we don't consider the weight of the flesh and how that interacts with the bones. Characters can quickly look rigid if the body isn't holding any weight. I also realise that these skeletons are more for orthographic view so some details have to be flattened (the feet for example).

Anyway lets take a look at my skeleton frameworks!

The image above shows the skeleton forms worked out from Sammy's original head sketches and my early proportion/skeleton tests. I have defined the joints as that is where distortion lies if it were not for these we would be blobs. I have a top arm separate for modelling the hand and the muscles of the arm. The side is where one notices the S curve from the central line. The chest sticks out leading into the pelvis Benjamin's body is like a bean which I know from the earlier form tests we conducted... He looks a little older then we had considered but this is just the earlier test.

Pre-Production: Phil.. I mean Bernard Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

I have a chain of posts backing up I am just trying to get everything ready in the right order here. I have one model totally made and completely UV Mapped I just have to find the right moment to post it up. The posts that will follow will be more epic but I have to get the skeleton turnarounds posted and the final turnarounds I used. Of course there have been a couple of delays here and there but I am aiming to have all of this final 2D stuff out of the way so I can fill this blog with 3D bliss. Sammy and Chrissie have been patient but if everything goes to plan we should be okay by next week!

For those of you that do not know next week is the deadline for our minor project which is when I am aiming to have 4 complete character models ready for rigging and eventually production. Obviously I have a couple of questions for Alan when we return before going into Rigging mode but I'm hoping any issues will be minor. I thought I would conclude the expression sheet array with the last of our 4 characters "Bernard" which is Barnabas's dad. I have been told to prioritise his miserable side due to our narrative but I couldn't resist doing a couple that shows he isn't always a grumpy gus!

So lets get down to my final array of expression sheets... you know him as "Phil"... whoops I mean "Bernard".

I kept most of Bernard's expressions to the darker tones but I did break free from it which gave me time to explore some of his other facial activities. "Annoyed" and "Angry" were directly what Chrissie and Sammy saw so I indulged my "Thinking" expression. I actually think this one goes across all of the characters. After you do the basic emotions its hard to knock down more, I wanted to fulfil the 12 expression quota. Of course Alan and many like you will probably call me crazy and this is unnecessary but I liked to do it... If anything it made the others more explorative.

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

First of all I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Yes it is the early hours of Christmas Eve (essentially making it Christmas Day). I thought I would post this little update while I get other little bits and pieces ready. I still have one set of expression sheets to complete but hopefully they should be up tomorrow at some point. Following those I have skeleton turnarounds which should hopefully lead to me posting the turnarounds for our final models. Last but not least I will post up the models current progress. You will have to forgive the delay... I have been trying to get the work done... Posting every day can take a toll on time.

I have also made a couple of additional videos which I have not had time to get up and running (this is another reason why I'm a little delayed). I am of course prioritizing the 3D models above all. I have one modelled totally the other 3 I'm hoping to begin and finish by next week. This leaves this week to get any and all final 2D conceptual work complete. Of course I have the rest of today off as well as boxing day. That being said I will probably fit in time to get the expression sheets finished. I'm hoping to be back in the modelling game by Sunday.

Anyway this post is based on the expressions from the adolescent "Young Barnabas".

The expressions above are where I started, I actually took a little time to align all of these models to be somewhat related to each other. Following Benjamin and Barnabas's expressions I didn't like how incorrect some of them are. It also bugged me how some of them didn't look necessarily like the same character. I corrected this for Young Barnabas but I probably should have spent more of this time on the main 2 characters expressions. Alas I cant use much more time on this 2D work, I have more models to make and we are graded on the CG aspect not pre-production.

Church Turnarounds

Just a short video of the Ext and Int of the Church, untextured. There's a few more little items to put inside like the candles, tables and pulpit and outside, gravestones and trees but these are likely to be flat planes with a transparency image plugged in to give the details and shape.

"And Son" - scenery tests

 1) composite drawings from my sketches in Rochester

 2) The "tea-shop" using the 3 styles from the composite drawings: 1) sketchy, 2) tidied up, 3) redrawn over  the UV map.  (Ignore the chimney & top windows).

The buildings are built, the UVs laid out, and most of the artwork is done so I just need an opinion on how much to clean the lines up please guys :)

Pre-Production: Benjamin Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

I'm getting closer and closer to having quite a few things wrapped up at the moment I'm juggling the 2D and 3D aspects of our project like they are proverbial tennis balls. I have finally excelled for a basic jacket design on the models so that is the hardest part so far. Never the less I have started playing with some minor facial detail at this point I'm still refining certain details. Hopefully by next week I should have something that is "3D ready" to be seen on the Polydoodle Blog so stay frosty. In the mean time I am providing you with a couple of final twists and turns which I have been finalizing here and there...

The expression sheets are something I always had penciled onto a post it note but the concern was mainly about getting it done. Should I have some more spare time I will sit down and knock out the other 2 3D characters expression sheets. In the off chance that I cant at least we have the main 2 - Benjamin and Barnabas. Expression sheets can tend to shed little details I find especially when I'm working in a variety of angles with a face pulling a variety of poses. I am still getting to grips with it but I don't think the result I got was particularly bad for Barnabas.

Check out Benjamin s expression sheets below!! Woop Woop!!

I started the first 3 expressions by doing what Justin told us not to do and what Sammy wanted me to do. I knocked up a facial expression which isn't ideal for the character (that being "Annoyed"). The kid is kind of a happy chappy so I did this mainly to appease me curiosity for "Angry Pooh Bears" (ask Sammy she will fill you in on what I mean there). I knocked up the "happy" expression trying to recreate what Sammy and Chrissie had originally decided on. Even though it went against my inner darker demon. The "shocked" face was directly from Sammy's front turnaround for reference.

Video Logs: "& Son" Tutorials - Week 10

Hello Everyone,

We are on week 10 the countdown is seriously starting to begin here. I wasn't exactly around at the end of Week 10 but I did manage to wangle myself a few further audio logs which correspond to what I would have talked about on Friday. We are just a couple of days late on posting it. Sammy and Chrissie are cracking away at environments while I have my hands full with character modelling in the epic ZBrush. Things are about to go full on into modelling there are just a couple of pesky t's to cross and I's to dot. These include the expression sheets and turnarounds, they will be here soon!

I went in today to get my UCA Just in Interviews continued but everyone who was there was either not ready or too busy to chat so I didn't want to hassle. When I finally got someone the rooms had people in them. The 365 Day Project is taking a little out of me but I will get there. I am not sure whether after next week that there will be any tutorial posts as we are off for Christmas. I will probably put these logs on hold until we are back as it is pointless if it serves no developmental value. When we return in the new year I don't doubt there will be more audio to log... There of course will still be video coming down the pipeline so watch out for those posts :)

Church Reference Images

I'm starting the design for the church environment. As churches tend to have a particular construction we're going to use a real church as referance. St. Mary's Church in Middlesex is a classic old church that has been rebuild and added to over the years giving it a quirky look. It also has the absurd grandure that we wanted for the church. These pictures were taken in the 1900's so we know the appearance will 'of the time'.

I found information about the dimensions and the age of the church at: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=121978

And the pictures from: http://www.oldukphotos.com/middlesex_harrow_on_the_hill.htm

Church Ref

Pre-Production: Barnabas Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

Apologies for the delay in my posts, been getting lots of bits and pieces together. I am partially through most of what will be the final stages of my pre-production contribution. After expression sheets and skeleton turnarounds to final turnarounds I will be deep into production. I have already started some elements but I want to keep those for when I wrap up this side of my pipeline. I want to keep everything orderly, to those of you that know me know I like keeping things flowing. I shouldn't need too long to get the models together, the rigging will be the biggest challenge.

Either way these expression sheet posts will be done as 12 tests for the main 4 characters. I realise that some of them do not look 100% correct but what can I say I'm still learning how to keep character proportions. I only did these as a way to do a bit of a comparison when I'm knee deep within the 3D pipeline to reflect my 3D character expressions. I did this with my last Adaptation project and quite liked it. It gave me something to base the expressions on. It's always good to explore the character with some key facial movement, even if it isn't all used...

Anyway this post is entirely dedicated to the father character "Barnabas".

These are the first 3 expressions I knocked up, Chrissie and Sammy know about my fascination with all things sad (emo eyes anyone?). I never begin with "Happy" I do better with a kind of sadness. Of these 3 I love bored the most, there is something wrong with the shocked expression... I probably should have extended the nose a little more. It's like I said though I kind of have to move on from these pretty sharpish so I am posting up what I can now. This week is based on getting all of this pre-production stuff finalized on my end so I can get to modelling...