Check Yourself Before You Render Yourself

So are the fruits of my efforts over the past few days. I've been fixing textures and such to get a legit aesthetic and now I feel I'm ready for my final beauty renders. There have been some bugs running through my ambient occlusion renders where Wrightley will randomly disappear from certain frames. I was able to fix three of the four broken scenes but one refuses to behave and I'm stuck for what to do...

Playblastoff!

I've been rocketing through the animation to make use of the x-grid for Ambient Occlusion renders before next week's predicted storm of renders. So far it's worked out nicely as I have all my AO and Depth of field images saved away and ready to rock. I noticed this blog has been somewhat devoid of genuinely informative posts on progress but there are only so many way to say "it's three in the morning and I'm still animating!" Naturally, I am relieved to say that aspect, for the most part, is done.

Scenes 4, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 16 are to be extended by a few frames but will be using either stills or repeated frames so there's no real point in wasting rendering power on identical images. No all I have to do is fix the textures on my models and I can render out the beauty layers and start doing some stuff in After Effects. Getting excited :)

Referencing is Key

I was doing scene 16 this morning and noticed the horseshoe on Wrightley's lower leg was passing through that of his upper leg when he knelt down so I had to adjust the rig. I'm somewhat thankful I referenced the rig in all my other scenes now. It's going to save me a lot of resizing.

I also referenced my workshop file in all my scenes which has its own references. Pretty much it means if I want to do anything in maya I have to smash the 'return' key like the 'A' button in a Pokemon Centre first.

Candy Handles and Paper Balls

Now that I'm into blocking the later scenes certain props have sudden been found to not exist in the state I need them to. As a result I've made a couple of additions to the workshop. I also made the handle of the screwdriver more realistic looking (however the colours make me wish they were made of candy because they look delicious when rendered) and made some size variants to put into the toolbox.

On another note the nature of some of these shots are really making me use the camera in cheeky ways to hide stuff that is too complicated for me to animate. As long as it works. The playblasts are also giving me a really good scope on how my animation fits together time-wise. Already I've messed with at least three scenes that I originally had under different lengths to what they are at now.

Test Results Negative

I've spent the past two days trying stuff that would make my animation that much cooler but Maya seems to refuse any attempts I make. This is a screenshot of me exploring the nCloth tear physics to show Wrightley ripping a page from a notebook but I feel there is some realism lacking... I also looked into crosshatch shaders to layer on top of my final renders but was unable to make sense of any of the tutorials. The current outlook seems very much like the weather at the moment. Regardless, one must soldier on, through caffeine and calamity :) I've also been working on cranking out some basic playblasts to gauge how the animation will flow in regards to time which I am currently up to scene 12 of about 25-26.

Working on the Workshop

This is what I did last night after Wrightley's new rig. The bricks need to be slightly resized so they line up a bit better but I'm glad I got the window glare down. I'll be able to start cranking out renders soon as I animate :)

The Neck Bone's Connected to the Back Bone

The back bone's connected to the steam vent... Well in Wrightley's case it is. I also am onto my third rig of him. The spline IK was doing some interesting stuff that made moving Wrightley around the scenes I've been animating really awkward so I vetoed that rig and replaced the spline with a standard joint chain that works pretty much the same. I also gave him a joint near his nose to make moving his head around easier so yeah, cool.

I also animated the first 6 or so seconds of my animation, however the steam vent opening needs to release steam, which I don't know how to do yet so we'll figure that out another time...

Audio Raiding

This wonderful little url is my current soundtrack to my animation... or at least the first two minutes of it. The timing is pretty accurate with the timing for the action and I like how cute it is. I feel it reflects Wrightley's simple and determined attitude and isn't too dominating. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Unrest/Live_at_WFMU_on_Brian_Turners_Show_72010/Unrest_-_07_-_I_Do_Believe_You_Are_Blushing
I also considered other songs by Unrest but I Do Believe You Are Blushing is my favourite. I've also been pillaging soundcloud  and freesound.org for potential audio with mixed success. Some of the sound effects from freesound.org need editing but I'm finding most of what I need so far.

Internal Thoughts and Workings

Wrightley's skeleton is finally complete... theoretically. His neck still behaves strangely in some situations when I move his body around so that needs to be fixed but I can animated around a lot of it if I have to. At least I can start animating now :)

I also wrote up a scene list with boxes to tick for states of completion because lists are so satisfying. Also it may help management of my project but primarily for the satisfaction factor.

Abandonment Issues

Wow. I feel guilty that it's been so long since my last post. I've been doing work, trust me!

Wrightley Rig

Firework

The Workshop

Mousetrap

Notepad

Nut

Pen

Pencil Case

Pinball Launcher

Ruler

Screwdriver

Shot Put

Spanner

Bed Spring

Toolbox

Vice

Props. Props galore! I came to the realisation that I wouldn't need to worry so much about how the workshop looks as far as textures are concerned until I'm at the point where I'm rendering so I may start animating on the grey and sort that out later.
I was also having an issue with Wrightley's Rig (technically I still have the issue) where I need to swap between IK and FK when animating which could mean some tedious click and drag moments but I think my choice of camera angles means there won't be too many shots that require me to switch between them. I just need to remember to key the "IK blend" between one and zero (and yes, that was totally a note to future caffeine-jacked, under-slept and batty Brebner who needs to remember what the hell he is doing. Good luck you champion! Try and eat well. I'll try and look after you until then). Cool. Also I found out yesterday there is a difference between "parenting" and "parenting constraints". Maya, you dirty fox.

2B or not 2B? That is the Project

Well I checked the site and we're definitely up to Project 2B. Things went by rather quickly. Terrifyingly so in fact. Looking back on tutor feedback there are a couple of things I need to fix. Firstly Wrightly needs a bum-stud or something on his lower back that he can prop himself with against his vents so he won't rock forward when he sits. I'm thinking of adding some kind of valve to add to the steam-powered aesthetic.

Another thing the tutors mentioned was the inspiration for the ramp attempt was unexplained. A better and more meaningful alternative could be introducing a shot Wrightley looking over his failed attempts and constructing the cart out of these failures so that through his persistence he achieves his goal.
Also I downloaded so many textures today I got block from a site until tomorrow :/

Onwards and Upwards

Just an update on what I've done since my last post. If I have the time I'll try to make an animatic that might explain some of the storyboard frames a bit better. The workshop sketch is supposed to be a representation of the environment that focusses on the contents of Wrightley's surroundings. The stylised sketch of the toolbox is to bring a bit of colour to my environmental sketches as well as focussing on where Wrightley sleeps, adding a bit more character to the environment.

Cool beans.

Tyra's Got Nothing

Here's some real modelling. Wrightley is all modelled up, now I just need to texture him out. Looking at the shapes I'm working with UVs could be pretty disgusting so I'll see what the tutors have to say about it before I commit to any one path. I have downloaded a number of new textures regardless. One can never have too many options.

Creating an aperture seems simple enough based on what I read on forums but unfortunately there isn't enough space in Wrightley's goggles to hide the blades when they are wide so I may have to go without them and just use the glow by itself. It also means he'll have to have quite expressive body language but I feel his head is big enough and his neck flexible enough that I'll be able to accomplish this.

Fifty Shades of Wrightley

Well maybe more like twenty-something. Anyway, here are some colour concepts that I had been thinking about and now I've finally put them on file.

As shown by the pencil render I did earlier the second scheme is my favourite, though I do like the burgundy leather for the goggles and I may make the brass for the highlights dirtier or even bronze. The glow for the eyes will be easy enough to change colour but the blue or green are definitely my favourites at the moment.

For the final hand-in for 2a here is my movement sketch. Whether or not Wrightley will exhaust steam with each jump I will decide based on how hard it is to animate.

No Place Like Home part 2.

My first of three environmental sketches. What I wanted to convey in this sketch is the dominating image of the window casting light on everything. Keeping my steampunk theme in mind I might change the square window to a porthole and change the style of the objects around Wrightley. I will also design a junk box in which he lives which will be where he gets all his tools and materials from.

No Place Like Home

This was my first idea on where Wrightley could live. In a garbage dump he would feel the urge to leave and there would be all the items he needs to construct his means of getting out. However, modelling such an environment would be a nightmare and I don't feel I have quite enough time or commitment to pull such a thing off.

I feel a workshop could be an excellent location for Wrightley to exist. This would make him some kind of experiment that has become sentient and wants to be free. Again, he would have access to everything he would need to try and escape and I think the context it puts him in is far more suitable than "discarded in a garbage dump".

Now I won't be able to make something quite as detailed as these but they give a really nice idea on the type of lighting the environment could hold. I also really like the idea of a window of light being one of the only light sources in the room. This would make it an instant point of focus. For this idea Wrightley could be living on top of a desk amongst the tools and gizmos.
Alternatively he could have been discarded and be in some kind of bin initially, giving him more motivation to leave as he knows he isn't wanted. I am weary of how much time I have to spend on exposition.