Good luck!

I just want to wish all Year 3 students good luck. I hope you get the grades you deserve. Good luck to the Year 1 and year 2 students as well.

Minor/Major Project: Rigging - Tim - Spine

The spine was much more straight forward in comparison to the legs and feet, so I didn't have any issues creating this part of the rig. It works properly and I'm glad that I haven't had any major issues as of yet. 

Minor/Major Project: Rigging - Tim - Legs & Feet

 I had to fix the models' legs to complete this tutorial properly because they weren't straight, and parallel with each other, so when I tried to bend the legs, it didn't work. After doing that, though, I managed to create the rig properly and so it does now work, as it should do.

Minor/Major Project: Animatic - Scene 3

I have now completed the third scene of the animatic, which means that there's just one more to do. This scene was a lot more complicated than the previous two, and so some shots aren't necessarily going to be the same when the animation is made. Overall though, I'm very pleased with how this has turned out. There are some pacing issues and shots that I don't like, but as far as an animatic goes, I think that this has worked well. I, obviously, still need the character voices, so I think they would fix some of the pacing issues here.

Minor/Major Project: UV Layout - George

Due to some of the problems that this model has, the UVs also look a bit strange and confusing. So this is something that I'll need to sort out, also.

Minor/Major Project: Character Model - George

Out of all 3 characters, George is the character I had the most difficulty with and so there are still some issues with the model, especailly in terms of proportions. I do, however, like how it still looks like it's in the same "style" as the other characters, as I was concerned that this model would look a bit odd due to George being completely different in size to the other two.

Blog: Re-Design

I have finally got round to changing the design of my blog, so that it now fits with the current project. I kept it relativley similar to the previous design as I do still like the layout. There are a few things that I think I'll change, like the colour of the links, but overall, I quite like this new look for my blog.

Minor/Major Project: UV Layout - Alex

 I have set up the UV layouts for Alex. Like the Tim model, there are a few problems that I will need to fix. Overall tough, I think they will work due to the simplicity of the textures.

Minor Project: Reflective Statement

Before this project started, I was fully aware of my weaknesses, especially in terms of Maya, so I wanted to make something achievable and something that was within my skill level. By the end of this project, my aim was to get all 3 characters completed, as well as having an animatic/storyboard and script. I, unfortunately and annoyingly, didn't finish all of this and do now have to catch up during the major project, so this may cause a problem later down the line, in terms of time mainly. Because of this I decided to remove one of the 5 scenes from the animation, as I felt that it wasn't working quite as well as the others and felt a bit out of place.

Like previous projects that I have worked on, it took me a bit longer than I had hoped for me to get a stage where I fully understood what I was doing. Once I did start working, however, I do think my attitude has improved and I am now doing work more regularly, although I could still be doing more than I should, and a lot quicker also. This project has gone quite slowly in recent weeks because of my lack of experience and knowledge of using Maya to a high standard - Not doing enough tutorials in the previous years has really caught up on me. I have, currently, made 2 of the 3 character models, and despite the fact that they will need improving/tweaking in places, I think they work quite well for the specific characters, and I don't think I would have been able to make them at the same standard if I made them last year.

What I have learned from this project is that I really like writing scripts and making animatics - figuring out how the scene will work, what I can do to improve them, what style of camera shots to use and how I can have a bit of fun with the characters/camera through an animation. I think the script works well and will lead to a funny and enjoyable thing to watch. This is proving to be something that keeps purshing me on through the modelling side of the project, as I think in previous projects, I would have given up or would have settled for something of lower quality.

In conclusion, I think this project has shown me that I have improved in some ways, but am still far off from where I need to be. I need to improve a great deal during this next project and this is something I want to do, not only for the sake of my final grade, but because I believe that the final animation will be a good one, as long as it's made correctly and has no major issues with it.

Minor Project: Submission - 12/01/2017

Minor Project Submission by DanReason on Scribd

 Submission Presentation

Revised Script by DanReason on Scribd

Script - Version 2

 

Animatic - First 2 Scenes

Minor/Major Project: UV Layout - Tim

I have tried to set up the UV layouts for Tim, some of which work well and some still need a bit of tweaking/fixing. The final characters in the animation will have quite simple textures, and in some cases, like the hair and shoes, will mainly be one colour.

Minor/Major Project: Animatic - Scene 2

I have completed the second scene of the animatic. It's quite fast as the pacing is difficult without the recorder dialogue. Once I have found the right voice artists then I'll re-upload it with all the relevant sound effects - and not just having the original sound clip.

Minor/Major Project: Revised Script

I have gone back to the script and have swapped scene 3 and scene 4 around, and have now made it so the credits continue on during scene 4. I will go back and change it once more, as soon as scene transitions and the title have been decided upon.

Revised Script by DanReason on Scribd

Minor/Major Project: Character Model - Alex

I have now completed the model of Alex, and although I think I've got the overall character right, there are still some problems, especially in terms of proportions, in particular the legs that look a bit too short, and the head looks a bit too big.

Minor/Major Project: Character Model - Tim

Modelling has taken me much longer than I had hoped, so far I have only fully completed the character model for Tim, and have started creating Alex. I think this model does look quite good, although there are a few little problems in places, which I'll aim to fix as soon possible. I'll continue working on this character to make sure that he is fully complete for the submission, as well uploading the full animatic and revised script.

Minor/Major Project: First Script draft

This is the first script draft for this project. There are still some things that will need to be added/changed: I need to figure out how to do a start/end credits screen, how each scene will transition to the next, what the final animation will be called, and will also need to fix any little problems or improve some scenes.

I have also cut out one of the scenes, due to the fact that I think it has the least comedic potential and it may make the whole animation a bit too long. (It is Clip #5 from the last Clip ideas post, that I posted on 17th November 2016).

Minor/Major Project: Script by DanReason on Scribd

Minor/Major Project: All 3 Character Bios

These are the character bios for each of the three characters - Alex, George and Tim. All relativley simply, but give a little bit more of an insight into each character none the less.

Minor/Major Project: Character Bios by DanReason on Scribd