WEEK BEGINNING - 18th of March, 2019
WEEK ENDING - 24th of March, 2019
MONDAY - Fantastical Creatures Brief
Original post: https://ncarolannua1b.blogspot.com/2019/03/fantastical-creatures-briefing.html
TUESDAY - Media Roles Mini-Presentation
Original post: https://ncarolannua1b.blogspot.com/2019/03/media-roles-more-information.html
THURSDAY - Maquette Workshop
Original post: https://ncarolannua1b.blogspot.com/2019/03/fantastical-creatures-maquette-workshop.html
"I'm overall not very happy with how this session went. Not due to the actual session's content, but more so with my own work. I produced something that wasn't up to my own personal standard, and that's something I don't want to put up with. So I'm going to be taking time out of lessons to work on the maquette, maybe even starting from scratch again. I don't want to have a "that'll do" attitude about this, I want to make something I'm happy with and is an accurate representation of what I want my Skollcrabb to look like."
SUMMARY
This week was our introduction to our newest unit, named "Fantastical Creatures". It seems like a really nice change from our last few projects, which have limited creativity a little bit in that we can't really make things our own outside of the movements. But everything about these characters are going to come from us, and that's really exciting to me! I'm a big fan of my creature, the Skollcrabb. It feels like it fits my style really well, but is also outlandish enough to be different from other things I make! It's definitely something I want to keep using both inside and outside of university! Overall, excited for more with the Fantastical Creatures!
Showing posts with label Week 13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 13. Show all posts
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Thursday, March 21, 2019
FANTASTICAL CREATURES - MAQUETTE WORKSHOP
In this session, we started creating maquettes of our chosen Fantastical Creature (as seen in this post). We would be making them out of wire, tinfoil and a material called Super Sculpey. Super Sculpey is an industry standard material, used by professional studios to create their character models.
We were given a block of wood with 6 holes in it, the holes intended to act as a holder for pegs which the model would be supported by; presumably from the legs / feet. We were then told what the proper order was for constructing the maquette:
I won't lie, I REALLY struggled making my Skollcrabb into a tangible maquette in this session. The bulk of the Skollcrabb is it's skull shell, which is essentially a half of a sphere. THAT was the biggest issue with modelling. Making the half-sphere wasn't something I accomplished this session, despite trying again from scratch.
I feel like I could've gotten there in this session had their been enough supplies to go around the entire class. Constantly there were moments where I'd turn around to get wire cutters or masking tape only to realise they were gone. Supplies were low, so people kept taking them from other groups. This meant some groups progressed faster than others because they kept taking the tools.
This meant me and my group progressed slower, since we didn't have immediate access to what we needed. This, in correlation, meant I had less chance to use a trial-and-error approach to get my maquette looking good.
At the end of the session, my maquette looked pretty... miserable.
I'm overall not very happy with how this session went. Not due to the actual session's content, but more so with my own work. I produced something that wasn't up to my own personal standard, and that's something I don't want to put up with. So I'm going to be taking time out of lessons to work on the maquette, maybe even starting from scratch again. I don't want to have a "that'll do" attitude about this, I want to make something I'm happy with and is an accurate representation of what I want my Skollcrabb to look like.
We were given a block of wood with 6 holes in it, the holes intended to act as a holder for pegs which the model would be supported by; presumably from the legs / feet. We were then told what the proper order was for constructing the maquette:
- Create the base of the character with wire
- Flesh out the design with tin foil
- Overlay with Super Sculpey
I won't lie, I REALLY struggled making my Skollcrabb into a tangible maquette in this session. The bulk of the Skollcrabb is it's skull shell, which is essentially a half of a sphere. THAT was the biggest issue with modelling. Making the half-sphere wasn't something I accomplished this session, despite trying again from scratch.
I feel like I could've gotten there in this session had their been enough supplies to go around the entire class. Constantly there were moments where I'd turn around to get wire cutters or masking tape only to realise they were gone. Supplies were low, so people kept taking them from other groups. This meant some groups progressed faster than others because they kept taking the tools.
This meant me and my group progressed slower, since we didn't have immediate access to what we needed. This, in correlation, meant I had less chance to use a trial-and-error approach to get my maquette looking good.
At the end of the session, my maquette looked pretty... miserable.
(A discarded wireframe)
(Wireframe iteration 2 with tinfoil)
(Iteration 2 with some Super Sculpey)
I'm overall not very happy with how this session went. Not due to the actual session's content, but more so with my own work. I produced something that wasn't up to my own personal standard, and that's something I don't want to put up with. So I'm going to be taking time out of lessons to work on the maquette, maybe even starting from scratch again. I don't want to have a "that'll do" attitude about this, I want to make something I'm happy with and is an accurate representation of what I want my Skollcrabb to look like.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
MEDIA ROLES - MORE INFORMATION
Today, we presented our brief outline of what our group is looking at, and got some more information on what to do for our media roles and research task.
First is our presentation.
It's plain, simple, but gets the point across.
For my part, I'm going to be going to be looking at the character design role in 3D pre-production, specifically on Disney's Moana. I'm debating on which character to focus on, Maui or Tamatoa. But the specific area I'm going to look at is the how a character is made; the process from idea to finalised character, inspirations, research, etc.
PRESENTATION STRUCTURE
We got an ideal presentation structure for our final slideshows we'll be showing at the end of the unit:
First is our presentation.
For my part, I'm going to be going to be looking at the character design role in 3D pre-production, specifically on Disney's Moana. I'm debating on which character to focus on, Maui or Tamatoa. But the specific area I'm going to look at is the how a character is made; the process from idea to finalised character, inspirations, research, etc.
PRESENTATION STRUCTURE
We got an ideal presentation structure for our final slideshows we'll be showing at the end of the unit:
- Start with your title, subject matter and names of everyone in the group
- When delivering our slides, information should be in concise bullet points or small paragraphs
- Visuals, short films clips and key quotes to back up what you're saying
- A conclusion of what we've learnt from this unit
- A bibliography
- We should do some research into a person; that way we won't make mistakes when contacting them.
- When making contact, stay formal; no "hi!"
- Address them by name
- Introduce yourself
- Stay enthusiastic
- If asking questions, make it no more than 3 short questions.
- Make the message short
- If no response is received after a week, try a follow up message.
- Try and contact more than one person
- At the end of it all, be polite and say "thank you!"
FANTASTICAL CREATURES - SKOLLCRABB (with influences and lore)
In this post, I'm going to be going over my chosen creature design, which I have dubbed the Skollcrabb. I'll also go over it's fictional lore & backstory, as well as what inspired the creature from reality and fiction.
BIOGRAPHY
Species name: Skollcrabb
Subphylum: Crustacean
Average life expectancy: 150-200 years
Habitat: Deep ocean trenches
Diet: Herbivore (eats mostly seaweed)
Characteristics: Purple exoskeleton with black legs & "cuffs", naturally formed shell resembling a human skull
Gender differences: Males have round heads and consistently shaped shell teeth, females have pointed heads with larger shell fangs
Life-cycle: Start as small shrimp-like creatures, always born two at a time. Babies are carried around by the father, who supports them in his shell's eye sockets. Baby life usually lasts about 6 months. Babies are recognised as adults once their eye stalks retract and their shell develops. Adult life usually lasts about 125 years. As they approach old age, their shell's teeth start turning gold, large seaweed beards form, and their legs and shell's bottom jaw grow out, creating a much taller stature. Older Skollcrabbs usually keep their claws inside their shells. Elderly life usually lasts 50 years.
Predators: Unknown
Evolutionary advantages: Skull shells designed to be retracted into, with a look warding off potential predators into thinking a bigger fish is around.
INFLUENCES
REAL CREATURES
Two main creatures influenced the Skollcrabb; the hermit crab and the coconut crab.
Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans with the trait of adopting shells of their own to live in by, effectively, stealing it. Shells become more in demand as the crabs grow, and fights can occur between hermit crabs who want the same shell. The strong correlation between crab and shell was my main draw from the hermit crab, especially given how much they mean to them.
The coconut crab was my other main source of inspiration, mostly for the colour scheme and for the Skollcrabb's elderly form. Coconut crabs are the largest arthropods on the planet, measuring up to 1 meter from leg to leg. They're also known as robber crabs, often known to steal objects from humans living near coasts of Australia. The huge size is what inspired the much taller stature of the elderly Skollcrabb, and it's black, purple and red colour scheme was the main inspiration for the Skollcrabb's "real" colours.
FICTIONAL
Their were a few fictional creatures that inspired the Skollcrabb, most notably Tamatoa from 2016's Moana and some of the crab inspired Pokemon from the Pokemon series.
Tamatoa is a giant coconut crab from Disney's 2016 animated film Moana. He acts as a deutagonist, acting as a mini-boss of sorts to get Maui's magical fish hook back. Tamatoa is a fan of gold and shiny objects (evidenced by his collection on his shell, as well as a David Bowie inspired song about it.), referencing the hoarder-like qualities the real coconut crab has. This colour scheme is more close to what inspired the Skollcrabb's colours
Some Pokemon from the Pokemon video game series also inspired the Skollcrabbs. Most notable are (from left to right, top to bottom) Dwebble, Crustle, Paras and Parasect. They all feature very bug-eyed with very large, characterised shells (bar Paras). The claws and legs for the Skollcrabb were inspired by these pokemon as well, having quite thin legs with VERY large claws, which are somewhat rounded.
BIOGRAPHY
Species name: Skollcrabb
Subphylum: Crustacean
Average life expectancy: 150-200 years
Habitat: Deep ocean trenches
Diet: Herbivore (eats mostly seaweed)
Characteristics: Purple exoskeleton with black legs & "cuffs", naturally formed shell resembling a human skull
Gender differences: Males have round heads and consistently shaped shell teeth, females have pointed heads with larger shell fangs
Life-cycle: Start as small shrimp-like creatures, always born two at a time. Babies are carried around by the father, who supports them in his shell's eye sockets. Baby life usually lasts about 6 months. Babies are recognised as adults once their eye stalks retract and their shell develops. Adult life usually lasts about 125 years. As they approach old age, their shell's teeth start turning gold, large seaweed beards form, and their legs and shell's bottom jaw grow out, creating a much taller stature. Older Skollcrabbs usually keep their claws inside their shells. Elderly life usually lasts 50 years.
Predators: Unknown
Evolutionary advantages: Skull shells designed to be retracted into, with a look warding off potential predators into thinking a bigger fish is around.
INFLUENCES
REAL CREATURES
Two main creatures influenced the Skollcrabb; the hermit crab and the coconut crab.
Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans with the trait of adopting shells of their own to live in by, effectively, stealing it. Shells become more in demand as the crabs grow, and fights can occur between hermit crabs who want the same shell. The strong correlation between crab and shell was my main draw from the hermit crab, especially given how much they mean to them.
The coconut crab was my other main source of inspiration, mostly for the colour scheme and for the Skollcrabb's elderly form. Coconut crabs are the largest arthropods on the planet, measuring up to 1 meter from leg to leg. They're also known as robber crabs, often known to steal objects from humans living near coasts of Australia. The huge size is what inspired the much taller stature of the elderly Skollcrabb, and it's black, purple and red colour scheme was the main inspiration for the Skollcrabb's "real" colours.
FICTIONAL
Their were a few fictional creatures that inspired the Skollcrabb, most notably Tamatoa from 2016's Moana and some of the crab inspired Pokemon from the Pokemon series.
Tamatoa is a giant coconut crab from Disney's 2016 animated film Moana. He acts as a deutagonist, acting as a mini-boss of sorts to get Maui's magical fish hook back. Tamatoa is a fan of gold and shiny objects (evidenced by his collection on his shell, as well as a David Bowie inspired song about it.), referencing the hoarder-like qualities the real coconut crab has. This colour scheme is more close to what inspired the Skollcrabb's colours
Some Pokemon from the Pokemon video game series also inspired the Skollcrabbs. Most notable are (from left to right, top to bottom) Dwebble, Crustle, Paras and Parasect. They all feature very bug-eyed with very large, characterised shells (bar Paras). The claws and legs for the Skollcrabb were inspired by these pokemon as well, having quite thin legs with VERY large claws, which are somewhat rounded.
Monday, March 18, 2019
FANTASTICAL CREATURES - BRIEFING
This session introduced us to our newest character design unit, looking at our own Fantastical Creatures.
This task is to teach us how to create our own characters and then create a 3D version of it, either as a puppet or a CG model; I will be going with the latter.
Our list of deliverables this time includes:
Since I'm working in CG (specifically in Maya), the list of things we'll be doing for the process of designing our creatures is:
This unit will be 5 weeks of term time (+3 weeks of holiday time), of which 4 of those weeks will be CG specific. There will be taught sessions, as well as independent work and research into the animal form, design iterations and process.
After getting all this down, our tables of 4 got a large sheet of paper, and we got to create as many creatures as we wanted! Using different materials and colours was encouraged, so I tried to use as much as felt necessary.
I tried making my creatures look like they'd fit in with my style, but also tried venturing out with the weird creatures idea. I haven't designed creatures in quite a few years, so it was a fun time going back to it!
After we all finished our creatures, we went around the room, putting hearts on which creature one person designed we liked the most. When I got back, I found two with an equal amount of likes: Steveñ the Screaming Mushroom Mutant and Skollcrabbe. And I've got to say, I certainly really like Skollcrabbe too! Steveñ, as funny a design as it is, just doesn't feel like a good fit for this task. I think I'm going to go with Skollcrabbe going forward with this task.
Next session, we're moving on to sculpting our creature out of wire and Super Sculpey, which sounds like it could be really cool! This session, in all, was really fun! It was nice to get back to 2D drawing and making whatever characters we wanted.
This task is to teach us how to create our own characters and then create a 3D version of it, either as a puppet or a CG model; I will be going with the latter.
Our list of deliverables this time includes:
- Turntable - a clip of our creature turning around
- Composited photos - 3 edited photos of our creatures incorporated into provided backgrounds
- Cast sheet - a cast sheet of creatures with a block background
Since I'm working in CG (specifically in Maya), the list of things we'll be doing for the process of designing our creatures is:
- Modelling
- Basic Sculpting
- Retopologizing
- UVs
- Texturing
- Rendering
- Compositing
This unit will be 5 weeks of term time (+3 weeks of holiday time), of which 4 of those weeks will be CG specific. There will be taught sessions, as well as independent work and research into the animal form, design iterations and process.
After getting all this down, our tables of 4 got a large sheet of paper, and we got to create as many creatures as we wanted! Using different materials and colours was encouraged, so I tried to use as much as felt necessary.
(My creatures (from top left clockwise), Johnathon, Camelelelelol, Skollcrabbe, Stabcat, Buzzcut, Lil' Boi, Steveñ, Bjord and DigDog.)
I tried making my creatures look like they'd fit in with my style, but also tried venturing out with the weird creatures idea. I haven't designed creatures in quite a few years, so it was a fun time going back to it!
After we all finished our creatures, we went around the room, putting hearts on which creature one person designed we liked the most. When I got back, I found two with an equal amount of likes: Steveñ the Screaming Mushroom Mutant and Skollcrabbe. And I've got to say, I certainly really like Skollcrabbe too! Steveñ, as funny a design as it is, just doesn't feel like a good fit for this task. I think I'm going to go with Skollcrabbe going forward with this task.
Next session, we're moving on to sculpting our creature out of wire and Super Sculpey, which sounds like it could be really cool! This session, in all, was really fun! It was nice to get back to 2D drawing and making whatever characters we wanted.
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