Schedule

Overall Reflection

Working on leap of faith was a turning point for me. This is because whilst working on this project i have realised that i have a lot of potential when it comes to 3D Modeling. My confidence has improved significantly and i have tryed to put in 100 percent into everything. I have had support from Daniel Dali who gave me encouragement, as well as recieving support from Depa. I have tried out new techniques when it came to modeling. Modeling the owl was very difficult at times because i had to take typology into consideration. I was paranoid i would have a model that will not be able to be rigged. To avoid this i sent snap shots to Clym who would be rigging it. Clym was happy with what i had done, and how i communicated with him often. It was a real pleasure working with everyone in the group. Working with people who i think are more skilled than me, helped me to realise my potential. I have worked very hard this term and i have never been in a comfort zone. I finished most of my tasks on time, which made me able to focus on other things.

During this whole year I have scheduled myself in order to complete various tasks on time. By having a schedule I can see when tasks have to be completed. There are also a lot of dependencies when doing tasks. For example the Owl that I am modelling has to be completed on time. This is because Clym is rigging the character. If I don’t model it on time it will mean that Clym will be delayed. And if Clym doesn’t rig the character on time it will mean that Alex will be delayed from animating. This is why I took this schedule very seriously; I approached it in a very professional manner. All of the deadlines for modelling were given to me by my director Depa. She was generally very pleased with the way I approached each task, and with the quality.

Final dove animation

I am happy with what i have done so far. I have used one of the 12 principles slow in and slow out. It has helped me significantly because i have now got the motion. This did take me a very long time, but my patience has been what helped. I have also used another principle time. I have kept certain bits fast and certain bits slow, in order to get the motion of a bird.

animation test2

Dove animation test

This is my first test so far. I am happy with what i have done so far i did not think i would get the motion so quick. It did take me some time, but i am determined to do a good quality animation.

Wave Principle

This is a section from the preston blair book that i am referencing. It has broken everything down for me in order to get a good motion for the wings.

Major task

Within our movie there is a scene where the ink pot falls down, and a flock of doves sprout out into the air. Depa has assigned me to animate the doves flying out. In order to make this a success i will be looking at animations of doves flying. I will also be going back to some of my previous research on doves, in order to know how they pose. One book that could prove useful is a book called cartoon animation by preston lair.

Owl animation test

I did an animation with the Owl to make sure that the blendshapes that i did work effectively.

Liberian animation test

I have now applied my knowledge with the ball animation onto the liberian.

Liberian animation test

I have now applied my knowledge with the ball animation onto the liberian.

animation test

I intend to do a walk cycle with the liberian. So i did a test with the ball rig just trying to get the motion of the waist and legs correct.

Reflection on lighting tests.

Lighting tests

I want to explore lighting within Maya. So what I have done is taken my owl and used ambient and spotlights. I noticed in the initial stage the spot light was too much. So I looked in the attribute editor and found a way to tone it down by using an attribute called penumbra angle. I also found that when doing lighting tests point light show the bump maps more. The lower the intensity the more the bump map show, the higher the intensity the less it shows. I found that very interesting to know. Lighting is something that I have not touched upon during this term, as it is not my specialism.

Resolution

A low resolution gives a softer shadow. A high resolution and a low filter gives a harsh shadow. I also found that as I was increasing the size of the shadow rendering was taking even longer. So when rendering with my group we are going to have to have to decrease the resolution size. This is very useful information because by doing this we can insure we have a finished movie.

Light linking/Shadow linking

I did some research into how to enhance my lighting skills online, and I came across a method called light linking. This is when you disconnect a particular mesh from a light source. I also found out that I can disconnect shadows from particular objects as well. This can be done either using ray trace shadows or in depth shadows. It is another way in which we can make things interact within a scene. This is useful when trying to create depth of field. This has been a good learning curve for me, as lighting isn’t my strongest area.

Light linking/ shadow linking

Shadow test 2

Shadow test 3

shadow 1

This is the result that i got when adjusting the ambient light. I am not happy with the result that i have, as i am striving to get a shadow underneath the owl. I will spend sime more time in the attribute editor. I will also be looking at digital tutors for assistance.

shadow test

In this image i am adjusting the ambient ight in order to create a shadow underneath the owl.

Adjusted spotlight

This is more of the look that i am going for. Something that is not too strong but subtle. I acheived this result by adjusting the intensity of the spot light. This did take me some time, partly because i was patient.

This was the first spot light that i carried out. This is not the type of result that i am looking for. I want something more subtle. So what i intend to do is spend some time in the attribute editor making adjustments.

Spotlight test

When i had i had a meeting with Dan he suggested that i do some lighting tests. I decided to take on his advise. The image above shows me using the attribute editor to adjust a spotlight. When using the attributes i was not too sure what i was meant to do. It was just trial and error.

Reflection/Communication

Communication has been very important when carrying out tasks. I have communicated with Depa via phone, email, and facebook. Any difficulties i have had i have notified Depa, as opposed to neglecting it. Depa and i have got on very well and she has given me a lot of credit for the work i have achieved. And i have given her a lot of credit. I communicated with Depa on a weekly basis to let her know the stages that i am on. I have enjoyed working with Depa and having her as my director. I have tried at all times to act very professional at all times. I have found that communication effects everything, if i am delayed with modeling my character. It will effect the amount of time we spend animating. So in a sense we are all depending upon each other.