Thursday, October 18, 2012

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?

Thursday, October 4, 2012

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!!!!!!