Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 3D Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

Well I have reached my last post for this Unit and if I ever deserved a beer it would be now. 2 of our 4 characters completely explored conceptually. The only thing left to do for them is to get them rigged. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my creative partners Sammy and Chrissie for doing such a stunning job with the environment and story development... It all looks amazing ladies I cant wait to animate it all with you. I honestly can say we couldn't have worked harder for this unit We all want this animation to be amazing and it really shows in all of our pre-production work... I cant wait to move beyond all of the pre-production....

We still have a little pre-production work to put together but considering the calibre of work on display I think it explains itself almost. There have been a few obvious snags in the modelling process (particularly with me). I was thinking too much about trying to get results in ZBrush rather then knuckling down and getting things done. I have learnt my lesson though so the next characters should be coming about very soon indeed. In the meantime I am going to take a couple of days off following this post.... I need to clear my head before diving right back in.

Anyway lets get down to my final post for this Unit... 3D EXPRESSIONS  WOOP!

The gif above are the 6 expressions I sculpted on the characters face within ZBrush. I then took the stills into Photoshop and turned them into composite renders. I then merged these expressions and ran them into a Photoshop timeline. The animation above is on a 0.3 second interval. 0.1 was too fast as was 0.2. 0.00 we don't talk about because you cant see it. Anyway I did this because it allows me to see the character animating almost with an obvious absence of in-betweens. Still it still feels like he is in motion... HE'S ALIVE!

I thought I would change things up a little for this array of expressions. For Benjamin you saw the diffuse line up. For young Barnabas you get to see the key light line up. This is also because there was no diffuse map used in the final composite of these expressions. every time I included it the character immediately turned too white. I had the option of keeping it in as a soft light but it just bleached out the character even more. Anyway the key light renders are subtle amber lights reflecting on ZBrush's basic material 2 shader. I thought these looked cool.

 

Next I thought id examine the straight renders from ZBrush which if I'm honest were totally shocking as they looked pretty good. There is just the right balance of tone for the skin shaders on Young Barnabas's face. I even love the way the hat looks on him in each of these images. There was one problem which I was made aware of by Chrissie and that is that the suit is blue and it shouldn't be. These minor texture troubles will be discussed by the art and story team. While this is going on I will be off getting the other models ready for their inquisitive eyes :)

The final image of this Unit from my side of things are Young Barnabas's expression sheets lined up for your critique. Despite my dire need for the dark I actually found myself liking the happy face on Young Barnabas. I guess by this point I had filled my inner dark need by knocking up the Darker Young Barnabas Weta concept. If I had time I would try to do all of the expression sheets on my 2D drawn concepts but 6 will have to do for the moment. Maybe one day in the future if I'm feeling bored ill have a bit more of a play... That's not a promise though!

Well for me this is the end of the minor project unit. I apologise again for not getting absolutely everything done but I will make up for my misgivings as we roll into the next unit. Our end submission will be signed off with a massive explosion you mark my words. We have a new and final 15 week deadline which will spark the end of my student career. I will be going out to look for work when we leave. I honestly cant believe it's nearly here already... It seems like yesterday when I was sitting down in Maya wondering how I got there from college... 3 years... Damn that means I'm 27. DOH!I Its been emotional ladies & gentlemen.

The stitch has left the building.
xXStItChXx