WIP it good.

          So anoter week has gone by and i have made some improvements over my last few posts - though i'm only going to show some of them. I inked and added detail to my storyboards (mostly spacial depth stuff so you get a sense of things), inked and colored the "Front View" of my Red Mage design, inked the Back View, and made sketches for my "Set".

          Page 1: I don't know how well this is going to work out, but i'm gonna try it anyway. Recently they've been showing episodes of Teen Titans on CN and Boomerang, and i love some of the styles they use to show certain things; like when they have a duel or someone running a long distance or something, they'll have the bottome half of the screen be completely black (to illustrate the ground the they're running on and force the subject into the middle of the screen without getting so close). That's what i'm going to try and do in some of the panels/shots of this animation (Spec. Panels 1 & 6-9)




          Page 2: Not much has changed besides the gradients added in Photoshop. Same stuff as the pencil version.









          Page 3: I decided what was going to happen in Panel 7, and it can happen quite a few ways too...though essentially they are all the same. The character can throw is sword "Blade-over-Hilt" and catch it with just a vertical jump before landing/striking downward - or - the character can throw it "Sideways" and catch it with a "jump-and-a-spin" before striking sideways. I would personally like to see the sideways one because the stance/pose he'd be left in would be more dynamic......but the blade over hilt would be easier to animate overall.




          Page 4: So this is essentially what the animation is going to be, though if it looks like it'll be longer than 30 seconds i have ideas of whta actions to cut/simplify/overlap. But either way, after the semester is done, depending on how well i picked up on the 'animating' principles and process, i'm definitely planning to make a longer verson of this idea...with more action and fighting than right before Demi Moore left Bruce for Ashton.





          So the details of the overall scene are somewhat lacking in the storyboards, so i decided to make a preliminary sketch to plot out the key points before i go in to model it (though usually i can sit down with nothing in my head and after a few hours come out with something awesome).

          It might be hard to tell what way the stairs are going and what is a new level and such, but i should have some rought renders and models in a week or two, so don't fret if it's hard to read.

          It's mostly just the basic outline of everything, once i actually go into maya and start modeling, things might change to look more 'organic' or natural....so the set probably won't look like this 100%...but it'll look relatively similar.




          Side Profile of the main room of the 'set'.



          Mostly what all is in this is just basic geometry and lighting elements, trying to say that the lights should only illuminate from tapestry to tapestry....so there will be black patches every so many feet (to try and accomplish a certain effect for the first shot of my storyboard).

Are you Board with my Story?

     So the first week of school is half over, despite starting a week ago, and we're now able to submit our homework for the first week - which are Storyboards for your final animation concept. Mine are below and will go into further explaination later if at all (i think between the "Action" and "Comments" you can get the gesture of what i'm going for. Quite a bit is left out of the storyboards, esp. the environment - but the time it would take me to draw them to the level of detail you could appreciate....i could just as quickly made the actual model and show you from more angles and detail.

     Page 1 of my storyboard details the build up of the first scene - and the frame of the camera isn't going to be showing both feet at the same time, it'll more than likely be position in the middle - as to get the passing of both (i might try two version, one staying with the character, and the other catching up to and potentially passing him).
     Also, i'm going to try and space the lighting to make it seem more intensified, like when a person is riding an elevator and is lit every other second or so from the various floors/shaft lighting.




     What Panel 5 doesn't show is that before it starts tracking along the blade of the sword, i'll actually animate him unsheathing it (as best i can anyway lol) and do some fancy cutting so it doesn't look like it's own scene/shot before the track (FYI: tracking is moving closer or pulling back...not to be confused with "Zoom")







     Panel 7 left blank as i have not yet decided how i want my character to "Take off" towards the other person (whether there's someone what of a shockwave and he literally flies off into the room, or if i want to manipulate the lense angle to give it that 'worm's/fish eye view.







     Panel 10 is the point to which i am setting my semester goal - "Get to at least this point". I have the rest of the whole scene planned out (including things like the main character being thrown across the floor and flailling wildly and being thrown at a wall and doing that cliche 'sword-through-cloth to slow down his fall). So if i get to this point and have way more time than i know what to do with, i'll keep it going (which i intend to during the winter anyway).

So that's that, i'll post the designs for my main character and his "Opponent" when i finish doing all side (front, back, and side) and have designed the finer details of their costumes (which involves drinking paint and adding belts......meh DJ gets it anyway).

So this Thursday is the big day - SCHOOL STARTS!!! It feels so fraking late. I feel like it'll be Thanksgiving in another week or two and then the easter bunny will be popping his head out of the groundhog's ass to see if there's two more weeks or Heroes. So this semester i've eliminated those pesky art classes that never seem to benifit me and always take up my free time or three hours before my deadline...either way they were a pain and i'm going to avoid it like a gay man trying to be straight.

So the only classes i've got this time are 3, count em, 3 that won't be as time consuming as before. they are:

ANM 202: Maya 1 (a more involved and detailed version of the first Maya class i took - much better amount and quality of information being dispensed and absorbed).

LA 256: Topics in Contemporary Mathmatics (the kind of math i like to do/talk about - statistics, probability, math in "principle" and not application).

FND 131: Figure Modeling (still not 100% sure what we're going to be doing....but it'll be made out of clay...clay figures....figure modeling.....yeah).

So the class that i'm really looking forward to, as anyone who knows me can tell you, is tha ANM 202 Maya class. I've spent a lot of time this summer practicing things i already knew (so they come easier) and learning knew things so i can apply them - whever they are needed or not - and get professional feedback...cuz the only people i ever really show things to don't have experience with them, so i get a lot of "That's kewl" (trust me....you can almost feel the W roll off their tongues). So i've already had a chance to look over the instructional videos for the whole semester and it looks like, though i don't know yet because i haven't looked at the syllabus, we're going to be making a polygonal character model after a character we chose (pre-existing or entirely original - for which i'm going to be using the Red Mage from FFXI) and learning how to rig skeletons and bind them to the character (as the last class had us model the character "over" the bones which were provided), render, light, ...basically all the things i did last fall but with more understanding and better advice.

Well there's not much else i can go on about right now because i don't have the sketches of the Red Made handy to post, but since school starts soon, i should have quite a bit to show you as i'm going to try and be the person in the head of the class this semester...so lots and lots of maya each week (hopefully posting anyway)

Let There Be Light

So my homework for FND 116: Perspective was to take the drawing we did from the first week and add value to it. So here's what i'm turning in for a grade. I'm probably going to go back (because this isn't the 'original' work) and add more detail - more cables...steps on the other staircase, metalic floor panels.

It's based off of an idea i'm going to put in my game, so now that i have a pretty good design for it, i'll probably make it into an actual model and animation during the summer before i have to go back to taking ANM classes for Maya.

I don't think i'm going to go back and revisit my below rending in Isometric perspective - with my work schedule being so hectic, i think i'm going to focus on what's for school and my violin practice.....ohhhhhh - speaking of which

*grabs violin and starts practicing*

It's The Gesture That Counts

Below: My Two Linear Gesture Drawings For My Excersizes This Week

















Below: My 3 Favorite Mass+Linear Gestures For This Weeks Excersize








We were supposed to do 5 Mass, 10 Linear, and 5 Mass+Linear, but these were the only ones i like enough to put up here. I'll let you know what they get once they're graded.

...Of The End

Classes started this week and i'm really liking what i've got this semester (of course i said that last semester and look what happened).

My classes are:

LA 255: College Math;

This class is basically like an algebra/geometry class. I took my first quiz and the hardest question was "what is the prime factorization of 400" (which of course is 2*2*2*2*5*5). I'm taking it because its a prereq for the math class that i want to take "Topics if Contemporary Mathmatics, which does all the kind of math i really like, the kind that stimulates your higher level thinking...the kind you can't get through with a calculator.

FND 112: Figure Drawing;

The next step in my art class; where the last one was focused on detail 'after the fact' (value and such), this class focuses on detail of the subject (proportions and acurate rendering). Our first assignments are different kidns of gestures, so those should be on here soon.

FND 116: Perspective;

This class has already proven to be fun, mostly because our subject matter can be our own choosing, so you don't have to sit there and stare at something you don't like for hours. Our first assignment is drawing something in an isometric perspective (which i'll explain when i post the assignment up here over the weekend), but i basically recreated a battle map from Final Fantasy Tactics...it's awesome.

And ANM 109: Non-Linear Computer Editing (with Avid);

It's basically a class that introduces you to how scenes are strung together in movies and how shots are edited to impose a certain atmosphere or theme. Our first assignment deals with Lord of the Rings footage, so i'll post some of that once it's done.



those are all of my classes. I'm expecting to have a lot of fun with my Perspective class because i'll be doing a lot of things from Final Fantasy and my game.

Around The Corner

Welp...school is about to start...in two days to be prcise, and i feel cheated. It seems like my school hasn't done one thing right since i've gone full time - the screwed up my financial aid account to where i was blocked for a week and that really fucked up my flow. Then they said they fixed it but didn't, which meant i had to wait longer than i wanted to to register for spring....which in turn meant i didn't get all my supplies in time...just - shit snowballs (if that makes sense to you).

But there is one upside:
One of my books for the class i'm NOT taking turned out to be more insightful than most college textbooks (or books required for college classes). I actually learned quite a few things just from the introduction that i felt i should have been taught from my CAPS (Computer Animation Production...don't ask me where the S comes into play....idk) class.


The whole book teaches you the fundementals of Maya while using examples and actual models from the movie Open Season Well...I haven't acutally popped in the DVD that comes with it, so i don't know if they give you the acutal models....but they give you textures and show you step-by-step how to create them.

So by the end of the book you'll have a basic understanding of almost everything there is to do in Maya (skeletal creation, texture mapping, animation, particles....GOD i love particles, and even compositing of effects created outside of Maya.

It's too bad the CAPS class i took didn't focus on something like this...a lot of students could really have benefited from this book.

Violin lessons are coming along alright....i think. My posture and wrist placement are horrible - but i get the job done. I need to work on sight reading...and memorizing finger placement (i always get worried my fingers are going to fall on the wrong note, so i look at them and in turn lose my place on the sheet music.) I'm really good and quick at learning songs to the point of memorization...but even when i'm playing it from memory, just looking at the book sometimes makes me mess up.

right now, as i hope you would have guessed, i'm learning some HP music. There's only one two songs i want to learn and one is 'Hedwig's Theme' (the general HP theme that plays at the start of every movie) and the 'Double Trouble' song (...something wicked this way comes - you know the song).

Actually...now that i think about it, there was a pop song kind of like that from the first or second Power Ranger's Movie (god - don't ask me how i remember that or what it has to do with power rangers of HP - probably because it has the lyrics trouble, double, and bubble). Google says.............it was Trouble by Shampoo

When i get good enough at each song, i'll take my camera and record me and my teacher playing it and put it on here (possibly two or three more weeks)

IDK

Man....I've really fallen out of the habbit of making somewhat-regular posts.....gotta break that.

Well there's been quite a bit going on since my last post (my last big post....the one below was just so my friend could see my torso rendering - i actually finished it.....so maybe i'll post that here too).

I went and had another outting with my friend McKay shooting his rifles (and i gotta say i'm developing a taste for it). There's a few videos of us shooting his cop killer an the german, trying to hit two frozen 2-liter bottles of water.







Um.......how about......Animation always has an appropriate place in my posts.


My current ANM project is dealing with character modeling (which includes modeling, riggind/binding to a skeleton, animating the skeleton, facial deformations - like make an "O" mouth - and creating a walk cycle).

First step was to pick a character and do a profile sketch in what's known as the 'Bind Pose'. The Bind Pose is the pose animators use to model characters before binding them to a skeleton (if you ever take a video game and make an 'image' of it on your computer and pull the 3D character models out of it, they'll ALL be in this pose by default).

So whether the character already existed or was one we created didn't matter, all that mattered was the pose and picture for reference.

So i chose Shadow the Hedgehog (basically the evil twin of Sonic).




So far, acording to my friend DJ, it's coming along nicely (and i agree despite how frustrating it is working with the type of 'geometry' we're using).

Here are some renders of what i've gotten done so far...the head won't need to be done until the middle of next week:








The Chaos Emeralds (glowing gems) i threw in there for fun because that's what all the games focus around and to give it a little something extra to make up for the fact that i think it's not as good as it could be (i might actually redo the model during the winter break).



Oh yeah - i was a Mormon Missionary for Halloween:

(which is funny because everyone...practically everyone, i work with is mormon and because everyone else i know knows where i work. (And the woman in the picture is one of the 'Ladies' at the justice court i help out at, Kimberley)

So here's me and McKay, both Mormon Missionaries (funnier still because he is Mormon):



My Grandma dressed up too, as a 50s cheerleader:

psst....don't tell her this is here....i don't think she'd like the fact that this is on the web when she's making that goofy face - i took the picture when she was saying 'shoe'.





I took the Arch of Constantine (the first Christian Emperor or Rome) and made a 3D model of something i want to put in my game (based off the design and concept of the Arch of Constatine:

Arch:



My Arch:



I guess that's it for now, i'll try and post something by friday, or on friday, to show you how everything else is coming along.

Late


Song of the Evening:
Monica - For You I Will

Holy ***** *** ****** Batman!!!

Damn it's been a while since i've made a post - tho i've thought about it several times as i was falling asleep. When was the last time i made a post....*checks*............*whistles* - damn, almost a whole month ago. Well a lot has happened since then....lets get it started!

Well let's start with the most recent thing and work backwards then:

My ANM:105 project for 'photorealism'.

We were supposed to pick a building, whether one we pass all the time or one we found online didn't matter, and make a 3D replica of it - complete with lighting, textures; the whole shebang. So i picked this cool little family-owned/operated cafe near my work called He Brews Cafe.













The first step was to create some orthographic drawings (orthographic basically means without linear perspective.....like building blue-prints). I didn't actually do any of the building; what i did instead was the windows - just basic measurements/ratios, and walked around the building measuring certain things (how many verticals were in the metal railling, the dimensions of the lumber, things like that).

















Then you go into Maya (the software we use for the class) and use those drawings for reference (you can import them into Maya and make a 'to-scale' model fairly easily).

After a long-ass period of time getting used to Maya's crappy UI and Hotkeys, i finally got the model finished (it seriously took about two weeks, a little each day, to complete). Once you do a whole bunch of other crap (bookmarking camera angles, blacking out the original building in the photo, and things that make me cringe when i think about them) you end up with an image you can insert 'renders' into:













Here's the model composited into that image with a kind of universal texture and lighting:












After you get the lighting right (basically trial and error), then you go on to texturing the finer details of the building (shingles, wood, metal railling, conrete slabs, painted front/sides, painted window frames, etc.):













Below is the video of all of those elements, but layered so you can see how they really fit together.

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Before that, yesterday morning in fact (Saturday), one of my good friends McKay took me shooting because i wanted to do something since it's been a while since we hung out. This was the first time i had every shot an 'actual' gun (the only thing i had ever fired prior to that was a BB gun), and i have to say that i thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

McKay's 'Pride & Joy' and the rounds that go with it:

There really isn't a picture of me fireing it, because i preferred to have video....it's just so much better - unfortunately McKay was being a goober and managed to get the moments 'in-between' the ones i wanted him to get....so my initial reaction to the kick-back of this high-powered rifle was sadly not recorded :(

Here's a video McKay got of me, my first reaction (mostly the laughter)

I did get a good shot of McKay holding it....the rifle i mean.....his rifle.....*blushes*













And a video of him shooting it so you can see how good the kick-back is:

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My latest art assignment: Drapery - you better B-leave it.

My last post had me in a pissy mood because my art instructor had given me a C for my work when i thought i should've gotten at least a B- (which of course is a little more that a C+....but still not a "C").

So i was pleased....to some degree....to find out that a much more complex assignment and subject landed me a B (which is what i wanted anyway).

So i bascially submitted each step i took to my instructor to make sure i was doing it right - but since i had obviouslyfinished each step before submitting, had she actually said there was something wrong with it...i probably wouldn't have done anything anyway because it's all in charcoal.....not so easy to undo as graphite.

So here are the steps I took:
- - Pencil Outline (supposed to be charcoal...who cares)

















- - Charcoal outline (fine line, medium tone)

















- - Dual Tone shading (light tone overall, medium tone for shadows)

















- - Final Rendering (of course i skipped the interum steps...but it was mostly *charcoal* *smudge* *smudge* *erase* *rinse* *repeate*)

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Umm.....OH YEAH!!!!!

Holy Christ! I was in JCPennys the other day (Thursday i think it was) and was talking to my grandma who works there. As i was walking away from her register, someone calls out (at the time i didn't know what they were saying...all i heard was my name at the end of it). So i turn around and lay eyes on the last person i had a crush on/asked out/hadn't seen in over two years: Aloina (pronounced Ah-lone-uh...somewhat like 'alone').

Man, you wouldn't believe the mad rush i made to land a hug on her to make sure she was actually there. We used to hang out all the time at work (Wal-Mart) and flirt in passing (well i was flirting anyway...she was just being playful).

Oh man - i honestly can't even try to explain how happy i was - my cheeks were sore from the constant smile i had on my face. *sigh* Ah, the good ol' days.

*will not open in new window because the dimensions are 1200x1600 pixels*

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And then.....

Well i guess i'll throw it in the mix. Because Maya always seems to piss me off when i use it, i started working in Blender (my 3D software of choice and upbringing) making a newer version of something in my story: the Curator's Study.

There isn't much detail in it yet, i only had about an hour or so to get to where i was, but there will be soon. I have a feeling about this version of it too - i think it'll stick if i get everything right as i go.











The layout/design of the rug (red) and the course it follows is based off a design i developed for a mechanized piece of....something - like a compass/altar (have yet to figure out how it's used in my story....all i know is it will be somehow):

*will not open in new window because the dimensions are 1683x1856 pixels*

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I think that's about it. There of course were a bunch of other things that happened...but some are kind of special moments and others were fleeting and can't be recalled at this moment.

So hopefully this will teach me to post more regularly.


Tomorrow's Agenda:
- Start New Art Assignment (same process/length as drapery, but with the human torso)

- Go through and give critiques on fellow students to kind of make up for the lack of it in the previous week.

- Heroes (this trumps everything else....all stops when this comes on)


That's about all - Later

Song of the....Week:
Anthony Hamilton & Miri Ben-Ari - Sunshine to the Rain
---------------------------^
-------> Speaking of Miri Ben-Ari, who is an extremely tallented violinist, I start my violin lessons this coming Wednesday (or will at least try to, tho there might be a potential scheduling conflict that may force us to use a different day of the week)



And here's a pic from a long time ago for you Brad:

*will not open in new window because it was made in Can-a-duh*

I don't C Why...

Honestly, i am considering requesting a different online teacher for this FND:110 class. She gave me a fucking "C" for the last homework i posted (not the immediate picture below, but the one i said i did).

Here is her reasoning as to what's wrong with my image and why it got a C.

= The cylinder's top ellipse looks good, except that its right end is a bit pinched.

= The bottom ellipse has a slightly pointed left end.

= The sphere and the cube have good structure. The cone, though, has pointed ends.

= There is also the sense that you're too close to the objects, because the cylinder and the cone are

leaning in the opposite directions.

= Normally, they should both be perpendicular to the table.

= The shading is started very well, but it isn't quite finished.

= The good thing about the shading is that the overall pattern

of light and dark shapes is very effective.

= What makes the shading look unfinished is mainly that most

of the objects don't have the full range of values.

= For example, the cylinder has about three.

= The sphere maybe four, and the cube only two or three.

= The cone has a greater range of values than the other objects,

but it's missing a lighter value.

= The cylinder's left side, and its top, should have more half-tones.

= The transition from light to dark on the cylinder should be more gradual.

= The sphere should have a visible highlight, and the lighter values

should get darker and darker as they get farther away from the highlight.

= Here, too, it would be good to have a softer transition from light to dark.

= The cube should have a couple more values.

= Parts of the darkest side of the cube should be darker.

= There should also be more difference in value between the two lighter sides.

= There is also the matter of outlines

= Right now, there are outlines around most of the objects, and around each of the cube's sides.

= In a finished drawing, ALL of the outlines should be done away with,

because they mess up the illusion of space (they remind the viewers

that what they're looking at is a 2D page, as opposed to 3D space,

since in 3D space, there are no lines).

= For example, the only way I should be able to tell where the

cylinder (A) ends and the table (B) begins is by a shift in tonal value.

= The line in between (blue) should not be there at all.

= The same applies to all the objects' edges, as well as the cast shadows' edges (light blue).

= Be careful about where you want to use the darkest dark that your material is capable of.

= It is usually better to use it sparingly, in small areas.

= This is because when you cover a large area with a very

dark, opaque layer of charcoal, it can attract a lot of attention and be distracting.

= Here, be careful about the dark value on the right side of the

cone (yellow), as well as the area of cast shadow immediately

to the right of the cube (white).

= It would be better to make them lighter, more transparent,

as opposed to opaque.

= Also when working with cast shadows, each cast shadow is

usually at its darkest immediately next to the object, and

gets lighter as it gets farther away.

= Its edges usually get softer with distance from the object.

= To create a better illusion of space, it is often better to make

the front edges of a cast shadow crisper than its back edges.

= For example, the front edge of the cylinder's cast shadow

(red) should be crisper and darker than its far edge (purple).

= Right now, it it the other way around, which can be distracting.

= The image as a whole would work better, and appear more finished,

with some more shading in the background.

= For example, it is usually a good idea to make the background

and the foreground different in value, because it helps create the illusion of space.