Unit 11: Major Project - Sculpting the Benjamin Model

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (29/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the creation process of the real life Benjamin sculpture. This was created entirely by the talented Ross Castle May over the course of 5 or so days. The video was captured in 30 minute segments by myself and sliced together into an hour long speed segment. I will be hands on for the next model... in some part.


EXTRACT

"The video above shows the 5 day process of the Benjamin character being made in Magi-sculpt clay. While this was being shot Stitch was sitting down and fine tweaking a shot of the animated short but there was a few moments where he watched in awe. In a few weeks he goes back to record the painting of the Benjamin model while Ross makes some little fine tweaks. The video is almost an hour long but its a lot of days rolled in to one speed blast."

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Unit 11: Major Project - First Pass Blocking Scenes 4, 5 & 6

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (28/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. We have begun animating our final short. The video below is the first pass blocking shots which I was delegated by the Polydoodle team. The scenes are 4, 5 & 6 and have an accompanying animatic and motion reference picture-in-picture. The sound in the video may act intermittent but its because its from the animatic samples. I kept the sound in for my own reference...


EXTRACT

"The video above is a little compilation Stitch made to help aid him in animating his allotted scenes. It contains a play-blasted pre-viz as its main feature with sample animatic and feature reference picture in picture boxes. This allows us to see each shot and contrast that with the animatic and live footage to create streamlined animation. This video only demonstrates Benjamin's live action. "

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Unit 11: Major Project - The Barnabas Shelfs Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (11/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the Barnabas model being poked and prodded by yours truly to demonstrate its controls and attributed Maya shelves. If you are curious about the shelves please check the Polydoodle Blog link below. The rig for this character was partially setup by Sammy and myself but it came together in the end.


EXTRACT

"To conclude is the functionality video of the Barnabas model, this demonstrates the functions of the rig within the channel box. This in most cases goes beyond the simplistic translate and rotate controls but can enforce blend shapes and set driven key animations. These are created custom attributes which really do improve the functionality of a character. We hope you enjoy this little breakdown :)"

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Unit 11: Major Project - The Benjamin Shelfs Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (10/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below is a demonstration of the functionality within the Benjamin Badgersworth character. In the video I demonstrate the use of every individual control with a brief explanation. This does involve the use of the custom shelves but in order to see them clearly you should probably check out the post over at the Polydoode Studios blog.


EXTRACT

"The video above is a breakdown of the Benjamin character functionality as it shows the operations within the controls. This allows us to show on a clean and clear level how combining some of these functions can create a truly amazing final animated short. This video also demonstrates the active use of some of the shelf controls combined with manual operations within the Maya viewport."

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Unit 11: Major Project - Badgersworth Group Pose Tests

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (09/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the posing and plotting of our 2 chief characters Benjamin and Barnabas Badgersworth. These are of course just a couple of dummy tests I ran to examine how they look in a shot together. In the video I created 3 composite shots in my usual time lapse fashion... I hope its not too confusing.


EXTRACT

"The first composite test focuses on the opening scene of the short with Barnabas and Benjamin just after the whoopee cushion. If you haven't checked out the latest animatic you can find it here. The final composite is built from a standard Beauty and Occlusion pass with a Floor Occlusion pass to ground the characters... The snapshot was used to frame the characters for the final render passes."

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Unit 11: Major Project - The Interim Presentation

& Son Benjamin Facial Test	& Son Barnabas Facial Test

& Son Stitch Personal Pipeline

Unit 11: Major Project - Rigging Barnabas Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (05/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows Barnabas in various poses which were rendered and were composited within Photoshop with occlusion. There are also videos showing the functionality of the Benjamin rig over at the Polydoodle blog so check that out if your curious. I even conducted a Blendshape facial test using the Barnabas character. 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows 5 basic poses from the standard T-pose. These were not decided in the heat of the moment but were in fact conceptualized a while back. The renders above are comprised of 2 beauty passes an occlusion pass and an occlusion plane pass to give floor shadow. We did this mainly because we wanted to see what could be achieved with the rig's functionality being able to achieve our initial ideas."

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Unit 11: Major Project - Rigging Benjamin Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (03/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows Benjamin in various poses which were rendered and were composited within Photoshop with occlusion. These are basic render passes within the Maya pipeline. The poses are based on research I conducted in October 2013 with a number of pose tests which were recreated on form dummies. It was quite a fun time so please enjoy! 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows a couple of test poses which were created based on the research conducted back in September of last year... Please check out the post here and you will see these poses in their reference and base forms. The renders above are comprised of Beauty and Occlusion passes so I hope you enjoy them... Just for clarity these are not Weta :)"

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Unit 11: Major Project - Skinning Benjamin Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (01/03/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The samples below show some of the functionality within the core joints of the Benjamin skeleton. This is not using control curves it is just base movement direct from the joint of the rig. I covered each area of the body just to show the quality of the skinning of weight between the joints. Please visit the blog post to see the other areas of the character in which I performed these tests on.


EXTRACT

"Skinning Benjamin was a bit of a rigorous process as it was the first one. We had to skin weight the little tyke which was done with a combination of weight painting and the component editor. This post shows the functionality of the character at the joint level. At this point no controls have been added leaving functionality to the skeleton and the weight distribution between joints alone."

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Unit 11: Major Project - Exploring the Rig

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (27/02/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below is the final Benjamin rig which was found to be our best option after vigorous exploration into numerous rigging approaches. This is not to say that this was the best option but it was a stepping stone to understanding the rigging process... something which I think will make my future rigging easier and to a better standard.

EXTRACT

"There were many options to consider when we were considering our rigging options for Benjamin. Originally we thought that the puppet rig DVD by Carlo Sansonetti would be a great direction. It was of course through confusion and a lack of detailed understanding surrounding the rigging process that we decided to play it safe but not for a lack of trying out a number of methods."

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