Entry #12

I have busy and not busy over the last couple weeks.  I was supposed to UV the characters by this weeks, which I accomplished barely by spending all last night and this morning doing them.  I am a little behind in that I do not have all my props UV'ed but I will have all them completed by this weekend.

With the two deaths, funerals, and wakes I really did minimal amounts of work on my film as well as my other classes.  I am thankfully only a little behind and should have no problems catching up this weekend.

I am certainly looking forward to finishing his semester so that I can just work on my film.  I am hoping to begin animating over break during the last week or so.  Other than all the bitching above, I have no complaints.  

Entry #9

I am far less stressed than I was just a couple weeks ago.  I am back on schedule, and working towards finally getting all my assets created.  I had a few small hiccups with the three background characters, but nothing I am not used to at this point.  I know that my models were not perfect, but I am going to push forward and keep working on each new milestone because over break I can go back in and tweak a few things.

I have made progress on the music for my film.  Jeremy is doing the music, and I will be working with him to lock down timing  for my film.  I am excited about the music because he is going to do it like a Carl Stalling piece, where the animation and music sync up.

I am currently pushing ahead and I am on schedule at this point.  Finally, not freaking out and losing my mind.  I just have to stay focused.

As usual, I JUST WANT TO ANIMATE!!!!

Entry #8

Well, this week I switched up my schedule because it would have been impossible for me to complete everything.  I analyzed the schedule and I found that if I removed character rigging aspects of my film, I would be able complete everything else by the end of the semester.  I could definitely get a simple character rig done by the end of this semester, but it would not allow me to do the animation I am trying to achieve in my film.  I am going for a very "cartoony", Tex Avery/ Looney Tunes style of animation, which means that I have to add ribbon, squash/stretch, and effects onto his hair.

I suppose the falling behind is definitely my fault because I procrastinated a bit, and I am working full-time.  But really it comes down to the fact I really suck at modeling.  I wish I could have just went straight to animating my film, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Luckily, with the new schedule I should be able to stay on pace as well meet every deadline from here on out.  I am excited to complete this portion of my film.





PS.  I JUST WANT TO ANIMATE!!!

Entry #6

At the beginning of this week, I was starting to get worried that I might be too far behind  to catch myself up to my schedule.  On Saturday and Sunday, I worked hard and my deadlines from the earlier milestones are caught up.  The buildings and bus are completed and I was able to complete my main character.

This past milestone was not completed, but the remaining characters will be easier to model.  I have 3 characters  remaining and I will be done with modeling.  Luckily for me, I front-loaded my schedule and made the second half of my schedule a little easier.  So that if I did fall behind, I would be able to catch myself up as the semester goes on.  My next couple weeks are very light, which should allow me to catch up and .....dare I say get ahead on my film.  I know this is a big goal, but I have to push myself.

I am a little stressed at this point.  Working as much as I am, and taking four studio classes is beginning to catch up with me.  I am trying to keep moving and forging ahead, but I need something to keep me motivated.  It's hard for me to enjoy this part because I am only doing these parts (modeling, texturing, rigging) out of necessity.  I really enjoy animating, and that is where I have the most skill.  Any suggestions on how to keep busy and pushing forward through these parts I really don't enjoy?

Entry #3 and #4

My deadlines for weeks 3 and 4 were to have to set completed, and to have the bus designed.  I fell short on both deadlines, and I am working feverishly to catch myself up.  Going to Ottawa really slowed me down, and I am probably working too much this semester, but with the holiday weekend coming up I am on pace with to be caught up this weekend and should have no problem meeting my deadline for week 5.

As far as my week 3 and 4 deadlines, I am almost complete with the set.  The homes and buildings are modeled and ready to go.  The last thing I am working on is the ground for the set.  It is kind of a complex ground, and it is taking me a bit longer than expected.  I was thinking of just modeling to my shots, but I have shots where you see down the street, and in order to get that depth and not having a blank horizon; I decided that it would be best to model the entire set. I don't want the backgrounds to look as empty as our sophomore film looked.

I am making some good progress with the bus.  I made three different bus models that I had to scrap because they were just not good enough to show.  I finally have a design that is working and is about 70% done thanks to Nick Ford.  He has been helping me get through this painful modeling process. The bus just need s the top and the front window.

I have started my main character model, and I am excited about working on him.  I think the toughest part for me is that I am not a great modeler, which slows me down quite a bit.  It takes me longer to get what I want out of a model. I am really looking forward to getting through the modeling phase.  The edge loops on this model have to be great because it is going to be a complex rig.  The animation I am attempting to achieve is more along the lines of a Looney Tunes style. So in short, lots of broken rigs.

I am not giving myself any excuses, I will be all caught up by the next milestone, and I will be showing everything I missed the last couple times.  I have to keep pushing through the parts I am not so fond of to get to the parts I love......ANIMATING!!!!!!

Entry #1

I completed all of my set props, and it went pretty well.  I have to model the rest of the city by Tuesday, and I am pretty overwhelmed at this point because I may have a few ambitious deadlines.  I am going to work my tail off to meet these next couple deadlines.  Other than that issue, I have no complaints. 

I'm excited for this semester and I really want this to be one hell of a short film.

First Post

This my first post regarding my senior film.  I am very excited to get this blog up and running because this short film is my chance to shine.  I would really love to have some dynamic and well done animation in this short film.  I am going for a very simple style, that is both "cartoony" and goofy.  My inspirations for this short film include the Looney Tunes, Oktapodi, and plenty more that would take quite a bit to list, and probably bore most people to read.  I am currently in the process of finalizing the script, and creating some test renders for my film.  At this point I am trying to so see how I am going to go about rendering my film.

This first image is the opening shot for my film, where a man anxiously awaits the arrival of the bus:

This second image is from a shot where my main character attempts to jump onto the bus from above:

This third image is from a comedic scene where the main character runs through a crowd of school children, and becomes covered with lollipops:

This concludes my first post, I will continue to update this blog with anything new that I have of my short film.  Keep animating and have fun!