textual problems

Been busy working on some test ideas for textual animations to go into some credit sequences.  I can't post any of the actual project info here, but these tests I decided to do for my music project with Redhawk for some of the music video possibilities we might have lined up later.  So far this shot below was what I was happiest with.

 

I've been trying to test out multiple renders with demolitions plugins but so far have been unsuccessful with the little time I have been able to spend learning it.  Instead I ended up with several test shots trying to hone in the look for the Scrap Children feature.  This next one below was one of the earlier renders just playing around with the plugin; obviously let it grow for too long!  The 2nd below is the first test render, and the very bottom was playing with Vray fur ideas but I quickly scrapped that look.

Later on, I'll post up progress after I get the demolitions plugins sorted out.  My intention is to have a cracked stone look to the text, have it crumble underneath a falling text above it that reveals the artist name, and crumble again for a final text drop, all under 10 seconds.  Nice short animation. 

Gyros Up!

More progress on the shoulder joints and back / structure.

Here you can see the bearing system that will hold the joint in place, still deciding on how to assemble the overall joint and connect the arm to the torso.

Piece of the puzzle

Besides being sick and focusing on exercising, I've been as busy as ever.  So with the downtime from being somewhat laziness-bound I've worked more on the mechanical angel design and FINALLY got some more software working again...

I started on the hip area and the joint system for where the legs will branch from the hip.  Still needs a lot of work as I'm visualizing how joints should move and be fluid but I'm also constantly weighing decisions on what mechanical features I want to emulate the human anatomy and still retain a more "machine" feel.

I also started on some of the structure work in the forearms....

Gearing up for some fun!

I've been pretty busy most of this month doing a LOT of everything except my artwork.  Filming projects coming together, music production and recording studio stuff aside; I've been dealing with some computer issues as of late and finally got all the bugs worked out and software back in the game to do some more work.

As of right now, I'm finally fleshing out some ideas on paper for the wing designs.  Let's just say toying with a lot of notions for how the final piece should look can be fun and difficult at the same time.  So far my favorite design which i may post up after a few iterative sketches are proofed, is a multi-spur gear system that the blades will be attached to, to create the wings themselves.

Above, you can see I've started the base for the joint, and i'm just trying to decide on how I want the overall design to look before i start working the entire span from Humerus, elbow, radius, all the way out to the phalanges.  The wings will definitely be menacing :)

Just another view to see the mechanical structure that will connect the wings to the body frame.  Note that the Joints will actually be pointing almost completely vertical when the actual wing skeleton is created.

So far she's coming together better than i imagined, I just wish it wouldn't take me so long to progress.  It definitely helps to do your homework,  an excellent quick reference for proper anatomy of a wing, now that I know this, I know what I want it to look like (since it will be mechanical) but I will at least have the proper ideal to source from.

Amazing-race?

It's amazing how far I got just from scratch piecing things together..  I've reached a point where i really need to start sketching out plans for what I need to finish to make sure things remain consistent and believable.

Quick render of frontview

 Quick render of sideview.

Once all the major framework is properly in place, I'm going to do some finishing work with wires and detail work.

I wish I had friends to be around to collaborate with on stuff..  On another note, the orchestral song project I was working on is complete finally!  I am going to be spending the next few days prioritizing my projects and really deciding what should be worked on next: to final product!

These organs definitely don't grow on trees..

Just playing around with the model a bit more.  I need to really sit down with this project and start forging ahead.  Another close-up of the mechanics, and a quick and dirty render with Vray.  

 

Abstractions...

So, a few weeks ago I was playing with greeble, and Vray.  Came up with this! 

Fun in the sun

Got some plugins back up and running, and couldn't wait to play around.  10 minutes of playing with camera angles, and lights, and materials... and the mesh!  Greeble can be fun, just a quick fun shot...

Some pretty big changes have been going on lately.  Because of those changes I've been quite busy with friends and film ideas and a pretty decent sized project is coming up!

Right now i'm working on pre-production for a short film concept and helping get things together for production.  All out of pocket!  If you're a friend, and you're interested in helping out, contact me!

Wierd Science

She's back...

Some more progress on the mechanical angel...

An oops shot, playing with the DOF settings and never have before, now i know they directly control the size of the aperture and not the F-stop like a physical camera.

Dialed back in right, still got a pretty "extreme" DOF effect on but it's within reasonable expectations..

My angel in disguise, Part 2

Finally!  Getting to play with some of my projects, and I'm enjoying the little updates here and there.  i'll soon be back to modelling the steampunk-ish angel, just playing around with some new texture ideas and a different renderer.

So far I'm liking the way she's turning out. I definitely want a rustic look to her.  Now that I like some of the texture ideas going on I need to do some real texture mapping.

 

 Just playing with the light, and no GI is not on.

My sky is falling!

It was very easy getting the lighting and background as I really didn't plan for it to be much.  Overall it was really simple thanks to Maxwell!  The studio application really simplifies things.

Alternate shot, no post on either of these.  I wanted to show some of the detail work that I did for the main shaft that's holding the whole thing together.  I'm thinking if I ever go back to this project I may update the panels for a series of glass windows with interiors that stretch across (kind of like a deck system from some futuristic space movie / tv show, take your pick).

So, with that said, I promised the wait would soon be over and there would be more updates on some of the projects I've started.  The wait is over!! Next blog expect some nice surprises for a favorite project of mine that I want to get rolling again.

That said, I wanted to show really quick some of the earlier renders I did working on this one,  this is where i started duplicating what i had made.

Crack the Skye

So, I was playing around with some modelling tutorials to get used to the different modifiers and working with geometry in different ways, and I combined what i was learning together to make something geometric.  It started out as 1 little piece and next thing i know.. "hm, what if i duplicate this, rotate this, duplicate this and move this here" etc...  Viola, a little space project in about 30 minutes.

Definitely took me a whole minute to figure out how to go into the modifier stacks once i'd done all the work to start deleting out sections here and there (a small hint, create copies instead of instances).

A "lighter" side of me

Entire hallway lit.  Wow what a chore.  My old system got this far before the project was just too unwieldy to open.  I couldn't even get a decent response from my computer to start playing with the lights' properties and scattering so I can get the effect I want; take a look below and you'll see what I'm talking about:

Nasty washed out areas due to the light webs I used.  The photometric lights are what I'm going for, I just need to drop a diffusing panel in front of them, and then adding fine detail work will come later.

The section up ahead where the end of the hallway is should be a bulkhead and large door kind of like in a submarine.  Definitely going to spend time working on that area when I get back to this project!

Bouncing off the walls!

First off, I'll announce that my facebook countdown to new projects is getting really close.  Today is a milestone i thought I'd just share that I've finally re-installed most of my software i had yet to get working again.  After several hard drive failures and tons and tons of lost projects, we'll see where it goes from here.  I can promise there will be new endeavors to pursue though!

On to the "Pressing Fear" hallway concept.  I had mentioned the lighting work i was doing while I was modelling the lights and fixtures.  Let's take an updated look at that.

Starting on the left flood-lights.  Definitely getting the idea I want here. The lights were getting ridiculous on my old dual core system, now that i finally have my software re-installed on my upgraded machine, 12-threads of goodness and 16 gigs of RAM should help out quite a bit, and that means i can get back to updating this one more!

You'll be seeing plenty more from this one.

Lighting the way

Struggling to get the right lighting setup for the lower flood lights on the right below:

However, it's definitely coming together.  Once I get the idea for how the lighting should be I'll start to focus on the hallway's structural details that I have to put in.  There's going to be an entire series of magnetic pickups and humbuckers that I need to create to line the wall behind those cylinders (yes that's right, don't ask why).

On the right track-light

Getting the mood dialed in, this shot is from the opposite side.

Just for reference, yes I did do a sketch of the idea I was going for.

From concept, to WIP:

Trying to get everything to scale right now.  Coming up next, the next set of lights. Modeling the structure to scale has been a challenge as I am still learning as I go.  Same with the lights.  I've opted for certain photometric lighting methods in this case to simulate the realistic light-web so that it will give more of the atmosphere I am going for.

These concepts I've been working on are ideas I've had from several dreams that I wrote down and turned into a story.  very dark, very interesting, and very scattered at the moment!

Walk with me

There's a bit of procrastination going on, I didn't realize I had so many iterative updates on this WIP.

More of the lighting update but you can already tell it's going to get blown out, so I started tweaking the lighting a bit; GI still enabled.

Much better!  The recessed lighting along the upper portion of the ceiling is coming out great, they aren't supposed to be bright enough to light the room.  Up next: Side lights.

A fly on the wall...

Hokay, so...  Here's the deal.  I started this hallway concept for a story I have been writing.  it's been a long time in the works.  It's also extremely surreal and mostly just an odd collection of chapters thrown together.  So anyway, here's this hallway concept i'm working on.

I started out modeling the corridor itself, but I decided to start getting the lighting placement into the scene ASAP.  This is with GI off.  Definitely getting the basic geometry down.  The cylinders along the opposite wall, the light pots in place below, and the ceiling lights as well.

Inception, eat your heart out!

While I was watching Robot Chicken I managed to scramble this together.  Kinda interesting.  Another concept on the My Own Little World series.