Meetings and how I want things to look.

I finally gave my pitch which I personally thought didn't go well. as i didn't give visuals even though I had some in my bag at the time, however I was happy to get the supervisor I had suggested, I decided to setup a meeting right away as I had things I wanted to get advice on.

I was told to look at some low poly modeling which I was give some tutorials for via email, as well as that I was told to get some visuals of what I wanted the project to look like(below).

This is a cut scene from the game black on PS2. the interigation style is something I was looking at closely.

These are some Images that I think would go well with the kind of look I want If include a spotlight effect I would most definitely want to add some dust like effects.

Progress....

I know it's been a while since I've made a post but it has been difficult due to me being at work for the whole of september, however that doesn't mean I haven't been making any progress I have nailed down my idea, what I'm going to do and how I am going to do it. I have made sketches of my previous ideas so you can see where this idea has come from and the slow progression thats has been made, to my current final idea.

(which WILL be uploaded soon!)

The proposal has also been completed which has made things a lot clear I have put a copy of it below. I have also included a checkpoint sheet to show what I should have completed by certain dates.

1. Briefly describe your proposed project and list key outputs – [what do you want to do?]

The name of my project is called ‘No More Allies’ I plan to create a 30 – 90 second trailer for a video game. I had various ideas before coming to my final idea of No More Allies, my first Idea was to be a conversation between two gangsters however due to the time frame the amount of work needed would be quite difficult. I have looked at various trailers from video games such as Call of Duty, Hitman, Homefront and many others. I will be keeping an up to date journal of all the work and progress I am making on the project. I will have sketches and progress models to show the progress I am making and where my Ideas are coming from and the improvements and tweaks that are being made. I would like to present this project on DVD disk as well as uploading it online onto my portfolio for employers to see.

2. Outline your motivation for choosing this project subject [why do you want to do it?]

I chose this project because I think it outlines the knowledge and Techniques I have learnt whilst studying digital animation, everything from sketching out ideas to rendering in Maya or 3D studio max. I had the opportunity to do something similar to this on the character and environment module however it was not to the scale I have planned this project to be. I have a great understanding of the amount of work, I have to put into this project as well as what needs to be done and how it will be achieved. This will also be a great piece to put into my portfolio to give an overview of the various skills I have.

3. Briefly describe your methodology – [how do you intend to go about doing it?]

The main research I will be looking into for this project would mainly be on gaining a better knowledge of texturing to gain a realistic effect, Rendering for a High Quality production, what makes a good intro scene, these are the main topics I will be looking into before I start production. I will be out sourcing a few of the tasks on this project such as the Voice acting. I will need various microphones to record sound effects and the voice acting itself. The skill in this project I personally think I have but not to the standard I would like, so this means I will be improving my current skill set to match the standard I am aiming for.

4. List the personnel involved in your project and their roles – [who is involved?]

The people involved in this project besides myself would be a voice actor, that would need to be able to do 2 voices, I have scheduled the voice acting to be completed on the last week of 2012. I have also decided that I would like either Girish Lukka or Gavin Lewis to be the supervisor of this project, as I think they would be best suited for this role. There are possibilities of certain aspects of this project being outsourced such as bringing someone in to rig the character or someone for texturing, however I have chosen to complete the majority of this project on my own, not including the voice acting.

5. Specify the main working locations – [where will the work take place?]

For this project I will be working mainly in the comfort of my home and the university, although I may need a room where I can voice record. As for equipment I will need microphones for voice acting as well as sound effects, there also may be a slight possibility that I will have to use a graphics tablet. In terms of software much of the software I already have on my laptop but it would also be convenient for Zbrush 4r4 to be available in that animation studios, in case if there is an emergency and my laptop stops working.

Bhimal Ladva

21123327

Digital Animation

6. Broadly define a plan of actions with key milestones [when will the project be done?]

wk w/c main activities and milestones

01 01/10/12

02 08/10/12

03 15/10/12 - Proposal Complete.

04 22/10/12 Proposal complete and submitted by Sunday of this week

05 29/10/12 - Pitch Presentation Complete.

06 05/11/12 Pitch sessions this week

07 12/11/12 Pitch sessions this week

08 19/11/12

09 26/11/12

10 03/12/12 - Research/Pre-Production Complete.

11 10/12/12

12 17/12/12 - Character Model Complete

24/12/12

31/12/12 - Voice and Sound Effects Recorded

13 07/01/13

14 14/01/13

21/01/13 - Environment Models Complete

28/01/13

04/02/13 - Character Rigged and Textured and Environment Textured

01 11/02/13

02 18/02/13

03 25/02/13

04 04/03/13

05 11/03/13

06 18/03/13

07 25/03/13 - Everything will be Animated

08 01/04/13

08/04/13

15/04/13 - Trailer Rendered and Quality Assured.

09 22/04/13 Completed final draft to be presented and discussed with supervisor

10 29/04/13

11 06/05/13 A3 (portfolio) deadline Friday 10/05/13

12 13/05/13 A4 (evaluation) deadline Sunday 19/05/13 

I will be posting more often from now on, but honestly, this project is scaring me, but I think I will enjoy the stress and challenge!

finished head sculpture

here's the finished version of my sculpture may add more detail!! :)

P.S I do see the mistakes and I will work on them =D

New one

Just to post an update on my progress...I've continued reading 'Story' By Robert Mckee which is a great book and I have learnt much about scenes and sequences which will come in handy when writing my script.

I've also been doing some more Zbrush stuff to keep me from going rusty! Not quite yet finished with this piece but it'll be done soon.

screenwriting!

Just got a free trial for a script writing program called scrivener so hopefully once I have written out the synopsis and script I can start sketching out a storyboard and making everything more visual!

Zbrush

Starting some character prototypes on zbrush!

prototypes

Just made a quick start on modeling prototypes for exterior environments!

Books!

I recently just got some books to help me out with the project, I've had a quick skim through both of them and they both are very helpful and will help me achieve my objective.

The Complete Digital Animation Course, The Principles, Practice and Techniques of Successful Digital Animation By Andy Wyatt (left)

'Story' - By Robert Mckee (right)

Just a quick little something else i found that i wanted to post up.

which is this intro tutorial which shows some nice effects however the flaw I see in this certain tutorial is that it isn't showing consistency although u have learnt various techniques that i could use from this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yeZbBDnf5c

My past 5 weeks....

During the past 5 weeks I have been working for a charity in Africa (www.thriveafrica.co.uk) even though I had an amazing time in africa I was still thinking of ideas, on what I could for my final major project I had difficulty in coming up with many ideas, I actually on came up with one idea but I tried expanding it as much as I could with everything else going on around me this wasn't an easy task!


The Idea  


Part 1


My idea was to create a short film that would roughly last around 3-5 minutes this would include an intro that would include special effects i have been researching for the kind of intro I would like to create.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nREyR0TDcGo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qyZ6tMo8AQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=_6vjECeUF4U


The whole look of the into is meant to be stylish, slick and modern. This will take a lot of work to achieve but i will be uploading my practice takes of the intro as well as other aspects of the project!

As for the actual piece of the short movie I had split this into to two separate ideas in my head.

Part 2

Mini idea 1

My main idea for this was to pick out a piece of a film and to recreate it in a 3d format using andy's rig as well as building the environment, there are many things I like and don't like about this, the things i like about this idea is it's simple can be easily achieved in the time frame given as well as giving me the chance to do some environment modeling which i have recently taken an interest and would also be posting up prototypes on here depending on if i choose to run with this idea however the things i don't like it feels to easy to achieve which would eventually de motivate me and bore me.

Mini idea 2

this idea seems more challenging but at the same it excites me and motivates me to make it happen. For this idea I would be creating my own script to work off, I will use the script to create my own short animation using andy's rig. I Would also be creating my own environment in maya to go with andy's rig this would mean  I would also have to create my own lighting to showcase various effects, I have already begun watch films such as 21 jump street and american reunion to get various ideas of what kind of script i would like to create. this doesn't feel as easy as the first idea however at the same time it still feels achievable.


I will also be adding things to my idea and begin working on prototypes on the intro as well as the environment and also coming up with sample scripts and character profiles. everything that comes to mind will be posted on this blog!