Rediscovering the Road Not Taken …

Still have a lot to learn about 3D. The static environments seem easy but the rest is slowly filtering into my brain. I had to give the snail a new head when I decided to use Morph Targets to change his expressions. After 11 hours trying to rework the existing mesh into new mouth shapes and sorting out how to use Morph Targets yours truley finally realized it would have been easier to rebuild the darn thing. So here is the new guy. I’ve begun animating and should have something rough to show by Sunday.

Click for Larger Image

Going a bit bonkers here as I figure out how best to use my last few weeks of school -so much to do that I’m jumping around a little frantically. I worked a little on some Flash effects for for our group short, built a rough 3D canyon in Max so I could render a few camera angles for a short film idea I have (notice a pattern? Lot’s of ideas, nothing finished. Yeesh …). Then I tried to paint a quick canyon road background in ArtRage, used the wacom in Flash to draw a quick page of faces (trying to imrpove my Wacom skills), and did another 10 minute ArtRage piece just to test some tropical water colors that got stuck in my head. All in all a strange day …

Canyon Background Test

Wacom Exercise - Faces

Tropical - ArtRage Test

Note how I cleverly call things that look crummy ‘tests’ as if their lacks are a result of my disinterest rather than any suckiness on my part …

If you read my category description you’ll note this area is for tips from one novice to another - so please don’t berate me if this stuff seems obvious to you.

If you work in Flash, or perhaps even traditional animation, learning at least the basics of 3D may allow you to power up your work. As a simple example I was thinking of how I might create a cool Flash title screen for my Primal Soup short last semester. I tried a quick test project like this … Read more »

This was my Flash movie for last semester. Basically 11 weeks from script and storyboards through final edit. With a full load of other classes and a full time job there was a lot more work than you might think so don’t judge it too harshly.

Primal Soup

Here are a few rough storyboards for my story idea. I hope time will allow me to fully develop this as I fell in love with it. On another front I’ll be in the job market soon. If anyone knows of any work in Southern California for a talented guy who just needs a little more polishing to really shine please let me know. I love the story tellers art and all things creative. While you’re at it - how about a little feedback? It doesn’t hurt honest, and it means a lot to those of us trying to take our first flight off the tree.

Click for Larger Image

Read more »

Ok, I’m reaching here but titles are tough. My 3D instructor shot down my epic 2D plus 3D movie - says it is unlikely I could get it done in the 6 weeks we have. After the initial disappointment I realized he was probably right. No matter what I do the short gag always evolves into a BenHur like production in my mind.

So I’m going to go with a simple snail in a pond and a quick gag so I can show some 3DS Max effects. The title reflects my secret plans to add a Raiders of the Lost Ark sequence if I end up with extra time.

Struggling a bit to get the lighting right and working with Reactor.

Her are a few test shots as I try to get the lighting the way I want it. Still not what I want exactly; I’m trying to get an underwater feel with several rays of light and caustics.

Crits appreciated.

Read more »

I came across this while cleaning up my burgeoning harddrive. This was an assignment from a previous semester - the lineart wasn’t mine. I just cleaned up the lines and colored it. I really enjoyed doing this one. Like to know who designed the original lineart if anyone is familiar with the work.

Click for Larger Image

Was home sick today so went a bit farther with my ArtRage playing. I created a few more stones and some branches in ArtRage and then composited in Photoshop.