From Blog to Book.

polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk

Contents
1 2013 1.1 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Initial Blog Setup (2013-09-21 17:45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minor Project Proposal (2013-09-24 16:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AND SON...INFLUENCES (2013-09-25 07:08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Early Ideas for Agatha (2013-09-25 13:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Agatha - Early Inuences (2013-09-26 03:24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Our Initial Ideas and Deciding a Style (2013-09-26 08:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Finding a Font (2013-09-26 10:10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Doodlathon (2013-09-26 11:50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Form Test (2013-09-26 12:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin 3D Form Variants (2013-09-26 17:06) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Barnabas 3D Form Variants (2013-09-29 16:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Early Environment inuences and ideas (2013-10-03 08:28) . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Dummy Pose Tests (2013-10-03 22:11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Barnabas Dummy Pose Tests (2013-10-05 14:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: The Polydoodle Chest (2013-10-06 13:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Mother Character (2013-10-07 06:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Son Script Draft 1 (2013-10-07 10:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 1 (2013-10-09 12:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 2 (2013-10-09 13:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Search for a Font 2 (2013-10-10 11:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - More ideas for environment (2013-10-10 12:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... Benjamin Ideas (2013-10-10 12:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Initial Character Ideas in Sketches (2013-10-10 14:51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Story Arcs (2013-10-10 17:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7 7 9 10 12 12 13 15 16 19 21 24 28 28 29 32 35 38 38 43 44 45 47 48 48 51 3

Concept Art - Mothers Chair (2013-10-12 09:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 3D Form Variants (2013-10-13 12:32) . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Bernard 3D Form Variants (2013-10-13 16:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 3 (2013-10-13 19:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mothers Song (2013-10-14 05:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - More rough Benjamin poses (2013-10-14 09:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Inuences for Barnabas and Family Dynamics (2013-10-14 09:23) . . . . . . . and Son... - early Barnabas/Benjamin draft (2013-10-14 09:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Rough Sketches (2013-10-14 11:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Barnabas Experimentation (2013-10-17 22:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: The Form Army - Final Forms (2013-10-17 22:15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Storyboard (2013-10-21 10:48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Benjamin in Funeral Clothes - concepts (2013-10-21 11:31) . . . . . . . . . . And Son... - Barnabas shaping (2013-10-21 11:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

52 52 55 57 58 59 59 60 61 64 68 72 73 73 73 78 79 82 83 83 84 85 87 87 88 91 93 93 93 94 94 96 97 101 101

Pre-Production: Main Characters - Head Tests (2013-10-24 12:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 4 (2013-10-24 16:43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: The Draft Storyboards (2013-10-25 00:30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Son... - revised Benjamin sketches (2013-10-27 07:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rough Storyboard Complete (2013-10-27 16:05) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son... VERY ROUGH Barnabas face sketches (2013-10-28 06:38) . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamins Build-up (2013-10-28 06:52) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Animation Branding (2013-10-28 11:29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clothing reference material (2013-10-31 04:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 5 (2013-10-31 05:14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: The Draft Animatic (2013-10-31 08:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Son... - environment concepts part 2 (2013-10-31 13:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Animatic - Ext Graveyard Sequence (2013-10-31 16:22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Son... costume research - Barnabas & Bernard (2013-11-01 06:40) . . . . . . . . . . . . Interesting article.... (2013-11-01 06:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Character Faces (2013-11-02 08:13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 6 (2013-11-02 17:47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Hat Design for Final Logo (2013-11-03 14:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Animatic Scene 1 - The Graveyard (2013-11-04 05:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Costume Tests (2013-11-04 23:06) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Pre-Production: Barnabas Costume Tests (2013-11-06 23:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre - Pre - Vis (2013-11-07 15:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Minor Pitch (2013-11-08 01:00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Costume Tests (2013-11-11 12:26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Interim Presentation (2013-11-11 21:57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Form Anatomy (2013-11-14 03:44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Bernard Costume Tests (2013-11-17 16:34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barnabas Build-up (2013-11-22 10:32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Barnabas Form Anatomy (2013-11-24 05:58) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Update - Week 8 (2013-11-24 17:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 9 (2013-11-25 08:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Final Front Skeletons (2013-11-27 05:17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Barnabas Expression Sheets (2013-12-02 00:25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Church Reference Images (2013-12-03 03:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 10 (2013-12-03 13:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Expression Sheets (2013-12-05 21:39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son - scenery tests (2013-12-09 09:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Church Turnarounds (2013-12-19 06:20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Expression Sheets (2013-12-24 19:32) . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Phil.. I mean Bernard Expression Sheets (2013-12-30 13:51) . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Skeleton Turnarounds (Anatomical Frames) (2013-12-30 14:33) . . . . . . 2 2014 2.1 January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Flesh to Final Turnarounds (2014-01-01 14:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin 2D Turnarounds to 3D (2014-01-01 21:04) . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin UV Maps (2014-01-01 23:27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Model Complete (2014-01-02 02:03) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Textured Complete (2014-01-04 08:18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

109 118 118 119 127 130 138 146 146 153 154 155 158 158 161 161 162 165 166 166 169 172 175 175 175 181 184 187 190 192 193 194 195 196 198 5

And Son - Environment Pipeline 1-3 (2014-01-04 12:31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son Environment Pipeline 4-6 (2014-01-04 12:33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son - Environment Pipeline 7-9 (2014-01-04 12:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son - Environment Pipeline 13-14 (2014-01-04 12:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son - Environment Pipeline 10-12 (2014-01-04 12:36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Son - Environment Research & Inuences (2014-01-05 05:41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Animatic Mark 2 (2014-01-05 15:37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 2D Turnarounds to 3D (2014-01-05 17:59) . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas UV Maps (2014-01-05 20:38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Model Complete (2014-01-06 00:46) . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin Concept Weta (2014-01-06 10:56) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Benjamin 3D Expression Sheets (2014-01-06 17:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young barnabas Textured Complete (2014-01-08 00:32) . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Concept Weta (2014-01-08 01:21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 3D Expression Sheets (2014-01-08 07:40) . . . . . . . . . Turnarounds for Environments and Characters (2014-01-08 20:49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Art of and Disc Artwork (2014-01-08 21:35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

199 200 203 206 209 222 226 229 242 245 246

Chapter 1

2013
1.1 September

Pre-Production: Initial Blog Setup (2013-09-21 17:45)

Hello Ladies & Gentlemen The insuerable Stitch is back with an update to begin a million or so more updates. Over the course of the next year (at least until Q2 2014) this blog will be producing the developments of Sammy Butlers acclaimed ...And Son an animated short to follow the development of her [1]Year 1 Storytelling Brief. What calamities await... only time will tell! Anyway the rst topic to discuss will be the features of this little blog. This is not only for the public to digest but it is also for my creative partners in crime Sammy & Chrissie. Now I wont wae but all of the buttons in the top bar now lead to actual links *SHOCK HORROR* (some to pages and some to labels). First and foremost I will talk about the custom made pages on this blog (shown in the image below).

[2] The About Page: Has some precursor information in it about the development of Polydoodle Pictures, (a bit of back story) I can redo any of the text in this section so please let me know if you want me to revise anything or add skills you guys want advertised (w/e). I have linked your names and the images of your faces to your respective blogs just so you are aware. 7

The Contact Us Page: Has a basic form for reaching the blog creator (thats you Sammy) of course this is just so people can get in contact with us should that happen. A form is the best option because listing emails can lead to spam activity at least this way we can receive emails without having to get spammed... Please let me know if you have any issues with this! The Short Page: Will eventually show the completed short in all of its glory. At a later date (when we have made more progress we can change the banner image and of course implement more images with the video. Ignore the box it is not a video it is just an image so people get the idea that this video does not exist yet but it will in Q2 2014 which puts us around May/June. Now that I have explained the Page situation I will now move on to the Label situation. I would like to say that I too would like this blog to be simple thats why I want to simplify the label selection and just le each post into one of three Labels. These labels are linked to their respective buttons on the top bar just below the header banner.

[3]

[4]

We basically have a Pre-Production label which is spelled like that (with caps on rst letters of each word), we have a Production label and a Post-Production label. These are obviously led within the following creative hierarchy. I know you know them but I will list for people who dont. Pre-Production is for any and all development, concept art, pre-viz, sketches, narrative documents, ideas, etc. This is basically anything that is not resolved or established within a 3D production phase. Production is for all 3D developmental steps, texturing, polypainting, rigging, animation tests, 3D modelling , etc. This is basically any and everything that includes the 3D pipeline. Post-Production is for any steps that follow the creation of the animation. These include printing books, marketing, overlaying animated footage within after eects, etc. Now the one label I havent image dumped in here is the Video-Logs section. This is a label for video only, it is to be used on posts containing documented video that show the development of this project. Once we have completed the project they will be something to look back on. There is talk of making a little extra DVD so I will probably be involved with that especially because it concerns my [5]365 Day Project. 8

Anyway ladies when you post try to use one of these tags in your posts it will just keep everything very simple. In the case of this post about the blog for example it is under the Pre-Production label just do you best to try and le it away so we dont have thousands of tags :P I look forward to working with you guys this year. Everyone else watch this space, were gonna knock your socks o!!! Over & Out, xXStItChXx P.S. There is also a maximum of 3 posts on the main page (before having to click to another page). I kept this small because it will let the blog load quicker. We can nalize details on Monday or Tuesday!
1. http://sammybutler.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Unit%204 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/pages_zps9dc60ee4.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/labels_zpsbdcc44ac.jpg 4. http://s23.photobucket.com/user/neottix/media/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/labels_zpsbdcc44ac.jpg.html 5. http://365dp.co.uk/

Chrissie Peters (2013-09-25 06:15:36) Yay!

Minor Project Proposal (2013-09-24 16:51)

[1]Minor Project Proposal by [2]Sammy Butler IFRAME: [3]//www.scribd.com/embeds/170724527/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &access key=key-27dor7fovbot9e5bkova &show recommendations=true
1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/170724527/Minor-Project-Proposal 2. http://www.scribd.com/sammy_butler 3. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/170724527/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key= key-27dor7fovbot9e5bkova&show_recommendations=true

Chrissie Peters (2013-09-25 06:16:47) Sammy....youve spelt my name wrong....like its not even my name...sob :( Chrissie Peters (2013-09-25 06:19:08) Also, scribd documents are much easier to present when they are landscape orientated :) Sammy Butler (2013-09-25 10:23:03) OH YEAH!!! Miss Marple on the brain! :D I was going to do landscape then something in my head thought that it needed to be 1930s underground poster style which are mostly landscape... not sure why i didnt just convert it to landscape :/ silly bean. I shall post a revision after scouts :) Chrissie Peters (2013-09-25 11:28:12) supa...the templates are lovely, really show the style we are going for! the orientation is dicult... portrait is more in keeping with the posters, but landscape ts the screen better for presentation... go with what you prefer!

AND SON...INFLUENCES (2013-09-25 07:08)

Beginning to look at 1920s/30s avours, a little Art Noveau, Art Decoratif, Art Deco. Im also looking to other objects of the time period including toys and playing cards, and some themed ideas such as the 1920s/30s seafront with very stylised picture postcards and Punch and Judy. (And a Victorian Undertakers Cabinet for Sammy).

[1]

[2] 10

[3]

[4]

1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mMCz3FeABEU/UkLuG1aMwhI/AAAAAAAACsQ/oEtA4B5iNuo/s1600/influence+map+1.jpg 2. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DewJr6gPNNw/UkLt8zHROuI/AAAAAAAACsA/HQ6Wv-YpE5c/s1600/influence+map+2.jpg 3. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R8qvI3DFOKU/UkLt9EfdDuI/AAAAAAAACsE/_Ru-rvcbztw/s1600/influence+map+3.jpg 4. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UgtkVs-4g8Q/UkLuLUPEmnI/AAAAAAAACsY/r1WTRm5AQBA/s1600/influence+map+4.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-09-25 10:28:15) these are BEAUTIFUL Chrissie!

11

And Son... - Early Ideas for Agatha (2013-09-25 13:17)

[1]

1. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3DIRQd43P0U/UkNEO2HaaxI/AAAAAAAACss/42WEyxnEmW0/s1600/agatha+sketches.jpg

Anita (2013-09-25 14:57:19) I really like the middle sketch at the bottom!! Sammy Butler (2013-09-25 15:24:11) again beautiful :) sooo British (yay) I made my friends look at this earlier and they said the same as Anita... theres something about her in the middle lol she looks very Quentin Blake... I wonder if maybe we should get a Blake art book? Look at some of his non-Dahl work... tutorphil (2013-09-26 03:00:06) So on message already, Chrissie - lovely stu!

And Son... - Agatha - Early Inuences (2013-09-26 03:24)

Agatha is a snob. Shes recently widowed, but shes not too upset - its just made her even richer. Early inuences for Agatha include some lm characters, and also Persian Cats (fantastic expressions and opulent coats!) Agatha herself will be overweight as this is necessary for the Whoopee cushion scene. 12

[1]
1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1S6CQKZbCRU/UkQLH5ng9qI/AAAAAAAACs8/P-l9ZQtwtGE/s1600/agatha+influences+1.jpg

tutorphil (2013-09-26 11:25:13) Take a look at Margaret Rutherford too :) Sammy Butler (2013-09-26 11:57:53) love margaret rutherford!

Our Initial Ideas and Deciding a Style (2013-09-26 08:39)

Welcome everyone to Polydoodle Picture! Were back for our nal year of our CG Arts and Animation degree and we mean business. Almost too literally as weve chosen to work as a studio for the year. This project started in my (Sammy) rst year. For our unit 4: story-telling we each had to write a script for a 1 minute animation based on the three key words given from the golden envelopes. I got Character: Undertaker, Prop: Catapult, Scene: Joke Shop. These three elements had to each play a signicant role in the story. To complete the unit we had to take the story forward and create an animatic and pre-vis version of it. My story & Son received a lot of positive feedback but it had aws in the actual design being miss-matched. The story is a very British one in its setting and darker tones but my design style is very american. When Polydoodle Pictures was born we decided to take this story and bring it to life in the form of an animated short but as a studio well redesign it from scratch and x some of the story plot holes along the way. That is where we began this week... Our rst move was to choose when to set the animation. It was narrowed down to either pre-WWII with a lithograph poster style or late Victorian with William Morris/ botanical wallpaper style. We chose pre-WWII because the miserable Victorians might have been too obvious a choice and the poster style appealed to us. We liked the idea of only using a few muted colours in our animation with a very drawn on look. Later, TutorPhil suggested we looked at 1930s London Underground Posters as inuence. These poster are obviously very British and recognisably so in their humour, colour palette and layout, everything we wanted! 13

[1] However, we also established early on where our issues might be. Firstly, in the number on characters, the story only has two main characters but it also needs a whole cast of funeral attendees, a vicar and two ash back characters. In order to make this animation we would have to make working 3D models for each of these... thats quite a big task! One were able to do but to make them well would eat into time that could be spent animating. Our second issue would be how to convert the 2D design of the lithograph posters in to a 3D animation. We could take the colour palette and the drawing style but when it becomes a 3D model the charm of the atness of the poster is lost. TutorPhil made a suggestion that solved both problems by suggesting we look at another English treasure... Paddington Bear!

IFRAME: [2]//www.youtube.com/embed/4eMZPEUR9As?list=PLA6F00C2C15F883D2

Paddington Bear, the tv series, rst came out in 1975 based on Michael Bonds childrens book of the same name. The animation is all stop-motion but only Paddington and the things he interacts with directly are physical things, everything else is draw on to the set and the other characters are hand-drawn animated. Our idea is to bring this style into a more updated version. Well make the set using Maya but make it to look like a little theatre box where everything is drawn on a at plane but theres still a sense of depth according to where each plane is placed. The secondary characters will also be at but animated using either Adobe Flash or After Eect but the main characters will be 3D models that move around the set, like Paddington. We think thisll emphasise that the storys focus is the Father and Son and their relationship and also the animation will have another inuence from British nostalgia. 14

[3] A Theatre BoxRather than the children book style drawings of Paddington however, well be bringing in the Underground poster style of drawing. Which is true of our palette too, rather than just a black and white set and characters will have the muted colours from the posters.

[4] I actually had this theatre box. The main characters worked by using the magic (magnet) wands underneath. Itll be fun to create this principle in CG world!

1.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8-m3BvIghlE/UkQ_SquncKI/AAAAAAAAEDI/fqzxBGhNA28/s1600/

46fb99e2e0fdfeb20092e1dd98ee91c5.jpg 2. file://www.youtube.com/embed/4eMZPEUR9As?list=PLA6F00C2C15F883D2 3. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nURCDlZCiCI/UkRPiaxA63I/AAAAAAAAEDY/Hsi3Nq9NEaQ/s1600/neptune_theatre.jpg 4. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zwpdy9DE74w/UkRTahIEXfI/AAAAAAAAEDk/bbN8o_bei_Q/s1600/5745478127_ccd60c7808.jpg

Finding a Font (2013-09-26 10:10)

For branding purposes we need to decide on the design for the animation title ...and Son. I was set the task by the studio to nd us a font! These are the unedited fonts Ive found so far from just one site so therell be more to choose from :) The title needs to look paint-y or shop sign-y because it meant to be as if Barnabas Badgersworth has just painted it onto the Funeral Directors shop sign. 15

[1]
1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y_UdrEri5uM/UkRqddRjHpI/AAAAAAAAED0/knaHlg5J47M/s1600/Title+Fonts+1.jpg

tutorphil (2013-09-26 11:16:01) I like 17 - its got the period detail - but Im wondering, visually, if an ampersand might look better and more like the sort of thing youd nd on a shopfront of the period? Stitch (2013-09-26 13:00:51) I kinda like 10... hand drawn... fun

Pre-Production: Benjamin Doodlathon (2013-09-26 11:50)

Hello Everyone, A few posts tonight so get ready for some entertainment. First o the contents of this post are mostly just initial little roughs for Benjamin Badgersworths design. We have a at world with 4 dimensional characters (portrayed in 3D). I decided to get my thought process going for one of the main characters Benjamin. I would like to say that these designs are all just initial thoughts going from the included inuence map. I would like to rearm that I have not ignored the style we are going for in this at world I just wanted to get cracking on eshing out a couple of facial ideas. None of these designs are nal I will probably try to crack out lots more over the weekend. I have nally gured out to working the IPAD drawing functionality and seeing as one of my apps has a built in recording feature. I decided to make a little feature video at the bottom of this post :P 16

[1]

The inuence map was kind of what I drew from researching with Chrissie and Sammy the other day, one of the things we noticed was that Sammys original design for Benjamin was a little egotistical. You didnt see a cute misunderstood kid, you just saw a little shit as we called him. I found the curtains to be a cute factor (Dennis the Menace lm) that and the bigger eyes which could well up when hes been throttled. I really loved McCauley Calkins (Home Alone) expressions (Cute yet mischievous). 17

[2] The image above shows a couple of roughs I knocked up. I referenced Sammys original design for Benjamin mainly so people can really see what we mean by Little Shit. I did a few sketches from A - C when I hit D I found something I thought was okay. Decided to try to rene it a little further with E, F and G. This was just a couple of little expression tests really. G was heavily inspired from the face Calkin is pulling in the inuence map above. These were just a couple of little tests to get my juices owing really. IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/75500042 Last but not least I knocked up a speed sketch which was done in my IPAD of all places. I triggered record and just went for it. For those that know it can be a pig to draw on the IPAD but this design was probably my rst half decent result lol. Anyway the video just shows the development of idea H another rough thought. I will probably have to discuss a few more tactics with Sammy next time I see her. It was quite fun though to do a video which more or less screams the term Doodlathon I will have to do more like this me thinks... Well I think this marks the end of my rst actual post since well the setting up the blog post. Guess Im a little rusty but Ill nd my way back to my 30 post a day quota. This unit will end with some kind of an explosion (which will probably be my head). Anyway I am focusing one character at a time for right now. Before Sammy panics I will say again :P none of these are nal Im just posting up rough ideas as discussed ha-ha. I wont move any further without consulting everyone about each new design. Anyway catcha later! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminInflMap_zps369a65f6.jpg 2. 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/75500042 http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminEarlyFaceTests_zps1cb9880c.jpg

18

Pre-Production: Benjamin Form Test (2013-09-26 12:25)

Hello Everyone, Another little update, but about the same character. This is basically a little experiment I conducted from a very rough sketch of Benjamins proportions. I just wanted a starting block to go from so I could demonstrate a little trick to my partners in crime here at Polydoodle. I didnt want them to worry or for anyone to say to me that its crazy to think about this early on but Im looking to rearrange their way of thinking in this case. First let me say that these form tests I conducted in a 3D application (ZBrush) with only 1 sketch in hand of a rough proportion. This to me is a valid method because in ZBrush you can alter proportions in seconds especially when in the ZSphering stage. You basically block out human proportions and then redact it using Move, Scale and Rotate properties. This is good because at an early stage you can pose it and adjust the proportions to see what works. This means in the space of 10 minutes one could have 30 dierent character designs. I will do a post on these more later.

[1] 19

The image above shows what I used to block out a crude rendition of Benjamins proportions. It took 5 minutes to knock up (and was again another little IPAD sketch). This images function just gave me what his proportions should be. Children have bigger heads and bigger eyes (even boys) which gives them that innocent look. The costume was a hatchet job from [2]Sammys Unit 4 design of Benjamin. Again when in doubt I always go back to the source material. I kept thinking bigger hands and bigger feet too, another thing found in certain childrens characters.

IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/75504646

Next I created the rough Dummy ZSphere which is basically a form which can be adapted into almost any other form. You can think of these dummys as balls of clay because you can easily change the proportions and move the joints around. You can even animate the body to a certain degree by rotating the joints. This also means you can do some very basic posing which I have also attempted below. Anyway the video above is a time lapse of the dummy being created, this moves somewhat quicker then a basic record so its a minute of fun...

[4]

The image above shows the Zsphere dummy in adaptive skin form and sphere form. I have stuck in Sammys rendition of Benjamin with a very rough Z pose which I made in ZBrush. I have also knocked up a little diagram to show the joints within this base dummy form. Basically everything that is an illuminated sphere can be changed in size or moved to accommodate more or less form. Clicking on the other joints with the Rotate tool selected will cause the body to rotate around that spheres axis... This simulates crude movement in this base dummy. 20

[5] Last but not least I have a turn around render of Form Test 1 which basically just shows the dummy at its current state. I would just like to say at this point that all of these features are easily modied. From the theory above we can easily make the head bigger the arms shorter, the hands smaller, the calves thinner... all at a base level to easily nd the right anatomical form for Benjamin. This can then be adapted into another form to nd one of the other characters. Once a form has been decided sketches and other accompanying poses could be explored... It has been fun jumping back into the Zsphere game, I have been playing with this a lot over the summer months so any excuse to get involved and I jump for it ha-ha. I havent let it corrupt me to the benets of the free hand sketch I just like thinking in dimension before considering rough ideas. This process allows me to see a physical body instead of drawing inuence from everything under the sun. This dummy can become anything at this level and that alone excites me more then anything the possibilities are no longer scary... A form has been identied. Anyway I think I have taken up enough time. I will be back after exploring further! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ftest_zps95b608e1.jpg 2. http://sammybutler.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/unit-4-character-height-chart.html 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/75504646 4. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ZSphereDummyBenjamin_zps31985352.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Form-Test-1a_zps3b77b608.gif

Pre-Production: Benjamin 3D Form Variants (2013-09-26 17:06)

Hello Everyone, One nal update to wrap up a fairly productive day. I decided to develop 20 quick forms using my ZSphere Dummy if only to block out Benjamins bodily proportions. Again I only need to be pointed in the right direction here. These forms are not denitive and can be adapted if one or another is preferred. I just thought 21

this would aid in pin pointing how he is to eventually look. These forms provide at least a very basic look. As stated in previous posts this dummy can be converted into any character because it is just a working skeleton that can change shape and size. I have keep these forms to 5 a slide mainly because I want people to be able to zoom in I developed some of them as small and tiny size may appear to diminish their appeal. I encourage everyone to click them to fully appreciate each one before making an informed decision. If this works for Sammy and Chrissie I will also look into forms for the other characters some point soon. Before then of course I want to get their art style sorted in my head and of course do more sketches using my IPAD which I never have been able to say before... Anyway here are the initial forms for Benjamin Badgersworth...

[1]

The image above shows Forms 1 - 5. Form 1 was created from an original draft sketch I knocked up on my IPAD. Form 2 was created by lowering the shoulders quite a lot I wanted to keep the proportions of the body and waist similar. Looks a bit feminine now that I think of it. Figure 3 was built from shortening the legs further and increasing the size of the head. From this point I just added weight to the body for Form 4 and a bit of muscle. Form 5 was my attempt at making his hands huge, feet wider and head much much bigger. This was kind of Pixar inspired. 22

[2] Next came Forms 6-19. I just kept knocking him smaller and smaller. Of these I like 7 the best it looks like a bouncy kid. Hands and feet are smaller this time round just because I wanted to try the opposite of Large. Forms 8, 9 and 10 were largely shifting weight and adding broader shoulders. This amuses me mainly because it feels like the larger forms should be built that way. Love the idea of a small built person ha ha. Anyway please zoom to look at these forms just so they are not underestimated for size as they can easily be scaled up in ZBrush.

[3] From there came Form Tests 11-15. Of these I probably prefer 14 it sort of feels like an adventurous kind of kid. Form 12 was my attempt at copying Sammys original design of Benjamin. Form 15 was me trying to add some kiddy-ness to form 14. This was because I liked it so much. I still dont mind form 11 which kind of brings Benjamin down from a heroic stocky form (14) to a more normal type of kid (see the gut). This could be the way to go if we are looking for ordinary type characters. This is something I am once again not 23

sure of...

[4] Last but not least came Form Tests 16-20. For this one I redacted the design entirely. I decided to raise the legs into the gut (think Doctor Robotnic). Form 16 really excited me for this and it gave birth to 17 which I still loved the big head really helped. For forms 18 and 19 I tried to keep the legs rather high but reduce the gut I also found myself making the hands bigger for 19. Of these my favourite has to be 17. Form 20 was an attempt at returning the giant hands and feet to the mix but I dont feel this one works very well... I hope that my partners in crime Sammy and Chrissie look at these forms to decide if any of these are near their expectations for Benjamin. I am kind of a loss for words because I think there are quite a few nice forms here. Looks like this method actually works, well in the grand scheme of things. To think I only started with Form 1 and managed to make 19 other forms from it in the space of a few hours. Which ever one of these is chosen to be developed further we will at least have a base form to go from to nd new avenues. A really engaging exploit I dont mind saying :P Take it easy everyone! xXStItChXx
1. jpg 2. jpg 3. jpg 4. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminForms16-20_zps794ed12c. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminForms11-15_zpsdcf27f5d. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminForms6-10_zps1a434f55. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminForms1-5_zps4d7b7543.

Pre-Production: Barnabas 3D Form Variants (2013-09-29 16:25)

Hello Everyone, I had been given a couple of little homework assignments by our Director Sammy for this weekend, one is 24

still a work in progress so I will post that up later. This post is to follow the form variants from the child Benjamin, the post can be found [1]here. We all quickly came to a decision after looking through all of Benjamins possible forms. We picked number 16 from the rough 20 which started a discussion about the father Barnabass proportions. This post is in wake of that discussion to somewhat directly compare our choice for Benjamin against possible Barnabas forms. I basically did what I did with Benjamin using the basic ZSphere Dummy template. This allowed me to quickly explore the development of the characters form. For clarity I also tucked the design we favoured from the prior form tests for Benjamin next to each rendition of Barnabass form. This will quickly allow the ladies and myself to have a discussion about the fathers favoured form. If none of the forms below are liked then I will go back to the drawing board and design up a few more taking in the ladies suggestions from these base forms (e.g. make the head bigger here, hands, etc.).

[2]

Form tests 1 - 5 (shown above) were based primarily on Sammys original design for Barnabas click [3]here to see the original art of . It was Sammys original design which suggested long legs which were smaller as they came into the body. As we got to Form 5 I started to spread his pelvis a little more to contrast it with the broader shoulders. I was trying to keep him masculine by keeping the pelvis smaller then the torso. Of course I underestimated the shoulders... Still Form 5 here is probably my favourite from this set of forms. 25

[4] Form tests 6 - 10 (shown above) I got from considering Toy Stories Woody I remembered how lanky he was and kind of wanted to replicate the gut with the long legs. I kind of liked form 9 here just because it seems to resonate well with the child. That being said Form 6 matches it a little better due to the elongated head. In an ideal world these forms would be taller and thus fatter. Scaling is not 100 % accurate between the boy and the father so ladies please bear that in mind when you look through these. We are looking for Sympatico forms so look at that not scale... (yet).

[5] Form tests 11 - 15 (shown above) was more working on the chest cavity. I wanted to give him a bit of manliness. That being said what I wound up doing was creeping into more humanoid forms. Still it doesnt stop me from thinking that form 13 looks quite nice here. These were forms that I liked but again I wasnt sure mainly because of how they related to the kid next to them. I like 14 for the slightly abby stomach, Im just not sure if thats what Sammy and Chrissie see the father to be. In which case one of the earlier forms might be favourable. 26

[6] Last but not least Forms 16 - 20 (shown above) were probably my favourite row of forms because they oered much more diversity. I started elongating the body which really gave some cool forms. I love 17 here. Although I think Sammy and Chrissie will prefer 19 as it has a similarity to the top 5 (long legs). The thing which makes all of these work is how the chest works in accordance with the pelvis. The forms are obviously male and also work with the child counterpart. I like 18 primarily for the child form relation, as I said before the scale is out some but this slide is the best. Before I move onto blocking the forms out for the other 3 dimensional characters (2 of which are going to be very similar to these father and son forms) I will have to discuss these father forms with the ladies whether or not its via comments on this post or in a Skype meet. I would just like to state again though that these forms are most likely scaled inaccurately to the child. They can be made much bigger. The point here is to establish a favourable form, one that we feel works with the child. Of these I like 17, 18 and 19 the best... What do you say ladies? xXStItChXx

1. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pre-production-benjamin-form-variants.html 2. jpg 3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/83410538/Unit-4-Art-of-Presentation 4. jpg 5. jpg 6. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasForms16-20_zps16233997. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasForms11-15_zps51ff272e. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasForms6-10_zps78d639ca. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasForms1-5_zps9fe10bd8.

Sammy Butler (2013-09-30 04:56:40) I think I like 2 and 3... something about their structure works

27

1.2

October

And Son... - Early Environment inuences and ideas (2013-10-03 08:28)

[1]

[2] 28

[3]
1. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nR9s-HwWbBs/Uk2M6ErNcEI/AAAAAAAACtQ/WAsH58GWxhg/s1600/environment+ideas.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hr3CzaYKu3s/Uk2QduNJNmI/AAAAAAAACts/aTy1N8U7VlQ/s1600/env+influence+map+2.jpg 3. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7uk4RBov4Uc/Uk2M648CL5I/AAAAAAAACtU/Pmy0fqNoO8w/s1600/env+influence+map+1.jpg

tutorphil (2013-10-03 09:27:23) excited! :D Stitch (2013-10-03 11:17:26) As are we all :P Loving it!!! tutorphil (2013-10-06 23:03:40) Remembered this - thought of you! http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/cgaa-o ne-day-rhapsodie-pour-un-pot-au.html Chrissie Peters (2013-10-07 00:41:21) that is fan-tas-tic! (And rather like my house...)

Pre-Production: Benjamin Dummy Pose Tests (2013-10-03 22:11)

Hello Everyone, Sorry for the delay on posts and actual workload, I have been xing up our blog here which is why it may have randomly kept changing the past day or so. I spent ages beating my head against a wall but everything is now xed. We have a couple of extra features including a facebook page and a twitter account now. Temporary? Maybe. For now though I like the way everything on our blog now has a purpose. A lot of things had to be edited including the Jump Linkswhich show the read more text. They just wasnt visible enough for me, people need to look at the posts! Work wise I have been conducting a number of little experiments too sensitive for the eyes at this point but they will be ready soon. An update I do have is a few posed test runs for the Benjamin form which Sammy Chrissie and myself all agreed upon. It was form 16 from the original batch. Being a curious humanoid I went away and looked into making some crude poses which would allow us to see 29

the form in some of Benjamins potential actions for the short. I nd it amazing that at this base level you can pose models, I just love it!! Take your shoes o, sit back, relax and... check out these Dummy poses!!

[1] The image above shows the base form we chose back on the previous form post but in a couple of elaborate poses. The beautiful thing about building models using ZSpheres is at this base level you can move spheres around like armatures and create basic movement and stances. The poses above were created just by rotating joints around spherical pivots (ZSpheres). You assign the spherical pivots by drawing them onto a base ZSphere. From there you pull out arms, legs, a neck, head. This model is quite basic but I didnt want to get into it too much... not yet.

[2] The Scale image above is to show a side by side of the father counterpart from two potential father form designs. I personally think that there is more form in father A and now that it is scaled correctly it looks even better to me. The kids head size is obviously going to shrink a little but one thing has to be accounted for. The kids form(Benjamin) has to be based on the mother because the fathers form is dierent. I did this image mainly so the ladies could look at the forms side by side with Benjamin just to make informed decisions. 30

[3] Now were back to the fun shizzam well fun and kind of embarrassing for me but hey I have done worse things with my day... The Benjamin Pose Research (shown above) was my own experimental methods to get into the motion of the child character. I took a few photographs of me acting out some of the poses proposed for our short. My favorite here still has to be the catapult, whod have thought a stretchy cable and some pens could create a makeshift catapult. I used these to create the 5 dummy poses on this post, from me to ZSphere in the space of an hour.

[4] Last but not least I thought why not render them out for a little turnaround. After a brief play in Maya there they were look awesome together. I rendered at less of a frame count this time round, I didnt want peoples internet connections to seize. Still this image allows everyone to see how the character may or may not handle themselves in our short. What I love is that from this base level the form combined with my reference poses still communicates character. I feel like I know Benjamin more just having explored this little form some more... Now one of the things people are probably curious about now is when is the Father form going to be explored? Well Ive got news for you, it has been explored and posed. I just havent had a chance to render it out and get the images together. Sorting this blog out has put me like a day behind. Im catching up a little now by pulling another one of my many all nighters. I still have to shower but hopefully after I can squeeze in a 2 hour power nap. I just had to see if this really would work at it has brilliantly. You should have the other tests by Saturday at the latest! Anyway I think thats me done for this post! Take it easy!! 31

Over & Out, xXStItChXx

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1PoseLineup_zps8c8e74a3.jpg 2. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2PotentialFatherstoSon_zps31722c9a.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3PoseResearch_zpsea2d78b4.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4Benjamin-Dummy-Pose-Turns_ zps7be34717.gif

Pre-Production: Barnabas Dummy Pose Tests (2013-10-05 14:00)

Hello Everyone, A slight delay for this post but what can I say been kind of using the night oil yesterday particularly doing a bit of concept art on the ol IPAD. A bit fascinated at the moment but to be honest we are quite far along with this idea already. Sammy is working tirelessly on the story development sections of our short. I have a couple of sound logs to be posting up soon of our tutorials with Alan and Phil. These will fall under the Video logs section of this blog, having talked with Alan it was kind of suggested that I do audio recordings and not video. I have a video of our brieng which I wish to put up but Ill ask about that when I go back on Tuesday for some Maya fun. This post is a follow up from the pose tests I did with the Benjamin base form. Alan was a little peeved thinking that these basic character forms were my way of declaring a development step with the model making. The truth is these forms are not a step at all, they are to convey form on a primitive level (i.e. the building blocks of a character). Before detailing a character sketch you would block out form, that is what these are... nothing more. My creating basic poses for these forms is to show my partners how our chosen forms animate... they are nothing nite. These poses helped us narrow down the decision of the nal form for Barnabas. 32

[1] The image above shows two forms which we were stuck at a crossroads with for Barnabass form at a base level. From a front perspective the proportions merely look to be the only obstacle (check out Barnabass base form post [2]here). In truth at this point I was outnumbered 2 - 1 by Chrissie and Sammy on the base form for Barnabas being Form 2. It wasnt until I showed them how form 19 and 2 looked while posed that got them to reconsider Barnabass base form. I dont like to toot my own horn but this just goes to show that posing these primitive forms helped us agree on the basic anatomical proportions of Barnabas. You can sketch it, but I modelled it, roughly.

[3] From coming to an agreement with Form 19 (image above) it means that now we can go away and base 33

sketches on this form. Our concept art will be liken to this type of character for Barnabas. These forms are just to give us a blue print for the character. We learnt the importance of base forms back in Year 2 for Justins class. I have always found that base forms can chop and change, this process is my way of exploring the form within the same set of shapes. This allowed the girls to join me on the decision that this form (19) was more ideal for Barnabas then the one they previously liked (Form 2). The form just made more sense when we looked at it engaging in motion.

[4] It was also nice to have the freedom to explore the characters movements myself (image above). I liked getting in the head of our characters to act out some of their potential movements. It is just one of many steps in our process of creating a great set of characters. Now that we have form identied we can begin producing lots of conceptual based work using these forms as primitive guides. We can even see the form performing crude actions so we know how they could move. To suggest that these symbolise anything more then reference for concept is not the case at all... I still have to develop their form further and will do so in the coming weeks.

[5] Last but not least are animated turnarounds of the poses (shown above). This is just so we could see the poses from every possible angle. I physically brought the forms posed to a meeting in .obj format. We opened them in Maya and laid them out, it was this step that made them reconsider form 2 and join me in agreeing to Form 19. This is not to say that they were wrong about Form 2, it just had less form then Barnabass later renditions of form. After the meeting the girls sat down and using these base forms started sketching 34

and playing with poses and ideas... That was the outcome of this entire experiment, and it worked! I knew what I was doing when I knocked them up and now that these are done I can begin knocking up base forms for other characters. At the end of all of this we should have a nice range of concept art. I will point out though that this is only being done for the 3D characters. All of the 2D characters are going to be knocked up as and when most likely with the set image planes. The good thing about this is rstly I dont have to model a tonne of characters and then try to rig them. We also get to combine the 2D and 3D medium which is not something I have done since Year 1 Unit 3. If anything it should show how much better I have become since then lol (I was terrible at that Unit). Anyway ill be back with another post soon! Let the fun commence! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1BarnabasPoseLineup_zpsfe105235. jpg 2. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pre-production-barnabas-3d-form-variants.html 3. 4. 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2BarnabasChosenPoseLineup_ http: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4BarnabasTurnaroundAnimation_ zpse3577b01.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3BarnabasPoseResearch_zps329d4af7.jpg zps900ec6a1.gif

Video Logs: The Polydoodle Chest (2013-10-06 13:43)

Hello Everyone, Nice to see that Im setting the trend of being the rst post in each section this far. Still that will probably change the closer we get to lling the production and post-production labels ha-ha. Anyway the video logs are largely to show the behind the scenes of & Son and thus Polydoodle Pictures. For the sake of the 365 day project I named these videos The Doodler because it just sounded cool. Throughout the minor and major projects over the next year I will be documenting discussions within Polydoodle Pictures. I will document anything and everything that I can. The goal of this is to give myself and my fellow creative colleagues a little window into the past. To see other videos from the 365 Day Project please visit the website: [1]www.365dp.co.uk if you havent already. I will be dividing my attention between 3 blogs but Polydoodle Pictures will be the blog I do the bulk of my crazy ramblings. In most cases these videos will have a small introduction from me before jumping into the action of the video. If it seems to be dull dont worry Im sure it will pick up as long as you tough it out. It is not my goal to just Entertain but also to Educate with these videos. Anyway lets get down to the discussion of The Polydoodle Chest. IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/76270843 The video above shows the very rst Doodler video of my business partner Ross Castle May burning the Polydoodle logo into a box that I purchased from Amazon. Over the course of about 2 hours the box was complete. The video is speeded up in certain portions because I gured people would just want to see the action not so much at its normal pace. I even knocked up the animated logo for the doodler which I had quite a bit of fun making yesterday ha-ha. I wasnt even going to make this video but after sorting out the logo I thought what the hell... 35

[3]

The image above shows the logo that I gave to Rossleho to burn into the box. He started by using a sharp implement to stab holes into the box and thus tracing the design through a dot to dot conguration. He then used Pencil to join up the dots and make the lettering on the box. From there the next step was to burn the letters into the box using his wood burning tool. It was actually quite a cool experience to see the end result. I still have it here and the box will house an abundance of Polydoodle merchandise... no more spoilers your gonna have to wait!

[4]

The image above shows a still of what the books like now. Still as good as the day it was made, we are gonna have to be careful with the front. I was even going to paint the box but the ladies said they liked it with a simple wood nish. Having looked at it a bit more I think they may be right, we dont want to overdo the design. I may still talk to Ross about putting a couple of designs into the top maybe. He said it would be cool if there were caricatures of us on the top. I thought that could be a way to go but at this point Im just not sure... Maybe down the line... 36

[5]

Last but not least I thought I would conclude by introducing my infamous business partner Ross Castle May. Forgive the photograph I simply couldnt resist putting it up. The man is a master so I give him his credit where it is due (but not too much). He is a former Antique Restorator and is a traditional artist in multiple mediums. He loves sculpting nowadays especially in ZBrush (gave me lots of pointers when I was learning). Usually at this point Id drop a website but he is oblivious to the online realm. You could always hit him up on Facebook if you wanted ha-ha.... I will be using Ross for a couple of little extra things that I have pugged away in the future for the masses to ogle. I will post about that when I have a little more to show but for now I thought I would get this post out there. I will have to bring him into the University one day and introduce him to everyone, hes a great dood and he loves anything creative. I talk to him about the people at University and have showed him your work so he is proper excited to meet you guys at UCA soon. I will just have to run it by the powers that be. Anyway...

1. http://www.365dp.co.uk/ 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/76270843 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/PolyLogo_zps4c71cd28.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/doodlebox_zps61050e06.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/rosslehoff_zps3b8c65d4.jpg

37

And Son... - Mother Character (2013-10-07 06:37)

Benjamins mother features in the script as a presence, and may or may not become an actual modelled character. I am drawing her to get a sense of her whimsical personality and fresh colour palette. Im also looking at ways of including her within the animation, perhaps without showing her face or as a family portrait painted by Barnabas.

[1]

[2]
1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-LauiEnUyE/UlK4uHr7DnI/AAAAAAAACuI/iFCBjwFuVAM/s1600/mum++sketches.jpg 2. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r9hniMCLbd0/UlK4sm6iQZI/AAAAAAAACuA/YU_Bq28ifTA/s1600/mother+influences.jpg

& Son Script Draft 1 (2013-10-07 10:37)

After many a group and tutorial discussions with Alan and Phil over the story we nally decided how we might possible ll in the plot holes of the original story. Our main concern was motivation, why is the son acting out and why does the father choose to reward him in the end? But we were also worried about overload. We could add so many dimensions to this story and drag it out for a good half hour animation... but our 38

story is a simple one about a father and a son... and we dont have 2 years to animate it, so we cant try to t in too much. This reworking of the narrative adds in the presence of a new character, Benjamins late mother. The story now focus on the bereaved father and son struggle to reconnect after their lose yet have to deal with other mourners everyday. Barnabas chooses to bury himself in work as a distraction while Benjamin just wants to entertain and make those attending the funerals cheer-up. There are visual clues that the mother inspired the both father and son in their creative (the fathers art and sons entertaining) pursuits but now both struggle to have a proper outlet for them until a nal outburst reminds them of what is really important. This is a rst draft. The team are still working on rening it. NOTE TO TEAM: I removed the buttery- as we thought, it was just too much. As I wrote this it felt wrong and like she inhibited the story a little so shes gone. First Draft 06/10/2013 & Son FADE IN: EXT. GRAVEYARD CAMERA: WIDE SHOT OF GRAVEYARD GATE It is heavily raining. A horse and cart, driven by BARNABAS BADGERSWORTH drives into shot. His son, BENJAMIN, sits beside him wearing tops and tails like his father except for a amboyant, polka-dot Bow-tie. The side of the cart reads Badgersworth & Son CAMERA: CLOSE-UP The boy looks bored and sad. Barnabas looks down to him with a sympathetic smile but Benji doesnt notice. CAMERA: WIDE SHOT The cart stops outside the Cemetery Gates and stops CAMERA: ZOOMS IN THROUGH THE GATES INT. GRAVEYARD SFX: DRAMATIC, FAKE, TEARS A group of around 18 people stand at one side of an empty grave. They are all wearing black formal wear. A con is being lowered into the open grave by 4 tall undertakers as a VICAR talks WIDOW (Cries dramatically dry tears) The WIDOW sits down onto a small wooden chair that, it is revealed, has a WHOOPI-CUSHION placed upon it. SFX: FLATULENCE The funeral attendees gaze around in shock. Benjamin, standing at a short distance, is sniggering. Barnabas looks aghast and embarrassed then, hearing his sons laughing, looks to him in shock. CAMERA. ZOOM OUT OF SCENE TO CEMETERY GATE WIDE SHOT EXT. GRAVEYARD Outside the graveyard the funeral horse and cart moves o in a hurry back the way it entered. CAMERA. ZOOM ON THE & Son PART OF THE SIGN SET. CHANGES FROM THE GRAVEYARD GATE TO THE EXTERIOR OF THE FUNERAL PARLOUR EXT. FUNERAL PARLOUR CAMERA. WIDE SHOT OF PARLOUR AND NEIGHBOURING SHOPS The parlour is in a line of small town shops. Its sign that reads Badgersworth & Son; Funeral Directors. The horse and cart stop outside. CAMERA. ZOOM IN THROUGH LOWER WINDOW OF PARLOUR INT. FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE Barnabus sits at his desk amoungst a mass of paperwork and looks ustered. He signs an invoice CAMERA. BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE DESK WITH CLOSE-UP OF THE SIGNATURE 39

As Barnabas lifts a sheet of paper it knocks his ink well slightly leaving a pool of ink that could almost resemble a ying bird. Barnabas, in a day dreaming state, uses his nger to move the ink so it further resembles a bird. As he nishes a glazed smile crosses his face. He lifts his eyes and looks across the room to a painting on the wall of a bird taking ight, similar to the inky bird. (Barnabas signature can be seen in the corner of the painting.) His eyes then cross over the room to an elegant chair as the smile leaves his face. In the chair are a few sewing accessories and tucked beneath, a sewing boxing with a small piece of polka-dot material poking out. Barnabas looks back to his inky bird with pang of sadness then looks away as he slides the paper o the table. It oats out of sight. SFX. CLUTTER CRASH BANG BENJAMIN Ouh-Oh! Barnabas inches as if woken from a trance. He stands up and quickly walks to the door, then, with a longing glance back to the elegant chair, walks through the door. CAMERA. ZOOM OUT OF THE WINDOW TO WIDE SHOT OF PARLOUR EXTERIOR EXT. FUNERAL PARLOUR SET. THE SUN ROTATES, AS IF ON A PIN-WHEEL, OFF THEN BACK ON SCREEN Barnabas and Benjamin are on the horse and cart again as it pulls away. CAMERA. FIXED ON THE HORSE AND CART SET. PARLOUR SET PULLS OFF AS CHURCH EXTERIOR SET FOLD ON. SFX. ORGAN PLAYING - VICAR MUMBLING EXT. CHURCH FRONT SET. THE CHURCH ROTATES 90 DEGREES AND SIDE IS LIFTED TO REVEAL THE FUNERAL SERVICE INSIDE CAMERA. ZOOMS IN THROUGH SIDE OF CHURCH INT. CHURCH A dierent group of people in black formal wear are sitting in the pews of the church. Some have oversized hats on. Barnabas and Benjamin are stood at the back of the church on opposite sides. CAMERA. CLOSE-UP BENJIS FACE FROM SIDE. BARNABUS VISABLE IN DISTANCE BUT BLURRED Benjamin looks confused and saddened at the people then to his father in a search for comfort. Barnabas is looking forward with his hands folded behind him. CAMERA. SWITCH FOCUS TO BARNABAS WITH BENJAMIN NOW IN SOFT FOCUS THEN BACK TO BENJAMIN IN MAIN FOCUS. Benjamin looks away disappointed. CAMERA. CLOSE-UP MONTAGE OF SOME OF THE FUNERAL GOERS IN EXTRAVAGANT HATS SFX. MUMBLE OF A SERMON CAMERA. WIDE SHOT FROM THE VIEW FROM THE PULPIT The hats start ying o the heads of the mourners seemingly for no reason. CAMERA. BACK OF THE CHRUCH. OVER THE SHOULDER OF BENJAMIN Benjamin is using a HOME-MADE CATAPULT and peas to topple the hats o of the mourners. Barnabas looks embarrassed and runs forward collecting up the hats. CAMERA. ZOOM OUT TO CHURCH EXTERIOR EXT. CHURCH SET. THE CHURCH ROTATES ANOTHER 180 DEGREES AS THE SUN ROTATES A FULL CIRCLE AND ANOTHER SIDE IS LIFTED TO REVEAL THE FUNERAL SERVICE INSIDE CAMERA. ZOOM IN THROUGH PANEL INT. CHURCH SFX. ORGAN PLAYING The funeral attendees are taking their seats or sitting already. Again Benjamin and Barnabas stand at the back of the church, this time next to each other. Barnabas looks down to Benjamin with a stern, inquisitive 40

look. Benjamin returns a look of innocence revealing his empty hands. CAMERA. SLIDES DOWN TO SHOW BENJAMINS FEET Benjamin carefully slides a tin, labelled Frogs in a childs handwriting, behind him with his foot so that its less visible to his father. A FROG hops away in the foreground. SFX. ORGAN MUSIC DIES OUT. VICAR MUMBLE BEGINS. Barnabas watches the service with a glazed over look of boredom. Benjamin is watching the faces of the funeral attendees with a strange level of interest. SFX. THE VICARS MUMBLE BECOMES SLOWLY DROWNED OUT BY THE SOUND OF FROGS Benjamin delights in humorous faces pulled by the confused attendees while Barnabas just rests his head in his hand in mixed exhaustion and embarrassment. CAMERA. ZOOM OUT TO CHURCH EXTERIOR EXT. CHURCH SET. THE CHURCH BACK ROTATES ANOTHER 90 DEGREES AS THE SUN ROTATES A FULL CIRCLE AND THE BACK OF THE CHURCH BUILDING IS LIFTED TO REVEAL THE FUNERAL SERVICE INSIDE CAMERA. ZOOM IN THROUGH PANEL INT. CHURCH A con rests on a table at the front of the church.Another party of mourners stand in a line at the con. They are saying their last goodbyes to the departed. Benjamin crouches behind the con, hidden. He knocks on the side of the con. SFX: TRIPLE KNOCK FUNERAL PARTY (Screams) The funeral party all look panicked and frightened. One young women begins to cry. Benjamins grin leaves his face as he realises this prank wasnt as funny as he rst thought. He tries to sneak out from behind the con but Barnabas is waiting for him with a furious look that doesnt suit his face. Benjamin look back at him with a look of nervous guilt. CAMERA. FIXED ON BENJAMINS FACE SET. CHANGES FROM THE CHURCH TO THE FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE INT. FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE Barnabas angrily empties a box of prank devises into the oce bin. Benjamin, sitting in a window seat, watches his father in shock then looks over to the elegant chair as if in a search for support, seeing its empty he sub-consciously raises a hand to his bow-tie, then looks down in defeat passing his last toy, the catapult to his father. Barnabas takes the catapult and brakes it in two then throws it to the oor. Small tears begin to fall down Benjamins face as he looks down at his broken toy. CAMERA. CLOSE-UP, SLOW ZOOM OF BARNABAS FACE INTO HIS EYES FLASHBACK* INT. CHURCH - IN THE PAST A YOUNG BARNABAS stands holding a wet paintbrush at the back of a church looking guiltily at BERNARD BADGERSWORTH, his father. Behind the two all that is visible is the back of the funeral attendees heads and hats. On every TOP HAT and one BALD MAN is a painting of birds, butteries or sun-shines. CAMERA. FIXED ON YOUNG BARNABAS FACE SET. CHANGES FROM THE CHURCH TO THE FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE INT. FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE IN THE PAST Young Barnabass facial expression is that of nervous guilt. Bernard angrily empties a box of art equipment into the oce bin. Bernard takes the paintbrush that Young Barnabas is clutching and brakes it in two then throws it to the oor. Small tear begin to fall down Young Barnabass face as he looks down at his broken brush. 41

INT. FUNERAL PARLOUR OFFICE PRESENT ANGLE: SLOW ZOOM OUT OF GROWN UP BARNABAS FACE Barnabas looks at his son as if seeing him for the rst time. A warm smile crosses his face as he has a brilliant idea. He looks over to the elegant chair, up to a picture of his late wife and Benjamin and himself, then to Benjamin again. CAMERA. ZOOM OUT OF WINDOW SLOWLY EXT. WONDER & MAGIC EMPORIUM (PREVIOUSLY FUNERAL PARLOUR) As the view gets wider it becomes apparent that the shop front has changes to be colourful and now houses an exciting emporium or fancy-dress, toys and bright art. Barnabas and Benjamin stand side-by-side looking on at their new business. Theyre wearing colourful versions of their previous costumes, each a polka-dot bow-tie. Benjamin is holding a catapult and Barnabas, a paintbrush. FADE OUT. THE END

Stitch (2013-10-11 05:05:22) Stitch Pass - HERE I GO!!! 1. The boy looks bored and sad. Barnabas looks down to him with a sympathetic smile but Benji doesnt notice. (Add - The father looks down and focuses back on the path ahead) 2. Benjamin, standing at a short distance, is sniggering. (Change - Snickering is little shit terretory, maybe a public ta-dah! moment) 3. CAMERA. ZOOM ON THE & Son PART OF THE SIGN (Change - After leaving the prior shot - graveyard I think we should fade out from the cemetary then fade back in on the cart name at the grave yard... then pull out to reveal the funeral palour) 4. CAMERA. ZOOM IN THROUGH LOWER WINDOW OF PARLOUR (Change - I think maybe a cross fade here, the carriage has pulled up to the funeral parlour we get that were going inside... Zoom may be a bit much. More subtle - think ow) 5. As Barnabas lifts a sheet of paper it knocks his ink well slightly leaving a pool of ink that could almost resemble a ying bird. (Change - I think it should just leave a small ink splotch... he makes it into a bird) 6. Barnabas looks back to his inky bird with pang of sadness then looks away as he slides the paper o the table. It oats out of sight. (Alter slightly - Slight tremble in bottom lip. He doesnt just slide it o the table I think he should throw it in the garbage) 7. Benjamin is using a HOME-MADE CATAPULT and peas to topple the hats o of the mourners. (Add - There should be another ta-dah moment here, or an act of celebration - Throws his hat in the air. His attempt to lighten the mood. This time Benjamin could express dissapointment as he is still not able to cheer up this crowd of people) 8. Benjamin carefully slides a tin, labelled Frogs Not a tin - the frogs label is a bit sign happy - maybe just a trasparent glass bottle containing frogs. 9. Benjamin delights in humorous faces pulled by the confused attendees while Barnabas just rests his head in his hand in mixed exhaustion and embarrassment. (Alter slightly - Benjamin dances to the frogs calls) 10. Barnabas angrily empties a box of prank devises into the oce bin (Replace - prank with comedy) 11. On every TOP HAT and on the back of one BALD MAN is a painting of birds, butteries or sun-shines. (Confused) 12. Barnabas looks at his son as if seeing him for the rst time. A warm smile crosses his face as he has a brilliant idea. (Not sure but - This feels a bit sudden... I think after Barnabas breaks the catapult Benjamin begins to cry and runs away. This gives Barnabas the ashback.

42

When Barnabas returns from his ashback he nds his son (sitting down somewhere sobbing). He pats him on the head or rues up his hair... then a mutual hug. Then have Barnabas grin as he has had a brilliant idea... Its more of a setup... That way he isnt just immediately deciding to change his ways. Then have him look at the chair (maybe at this point he upturns a photograph that was face down on his desk. - his wife) 13.Theyre wearing colourful versions of their previous costumes, each a polka-dot bow-tie. Benjamin is holding a catapult and Barnabas, a paintbrush. (Just add - hand on shoulder then they both walk into the front door of their new venture - END)

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 1 (2013-10-09 12:51)

Hello Everyone, I have spent a chunk of today guring out why my audio les have not been loading on this blog properly. Finally gured it out so now I am beginning the tutorial posts. These posts are to show the advice that our course tutors relay on us throughout the development of a unit, animated short, etc. We are given tutorials once a week on a Friday. In the case of our Studio group we see both of our primary CG Arts lecturers Phil Gomm and Alan Postings. This is utilizing both Sammy and Chrissies tutorial time slots so we get both technical expertise and narrative advice. These tutorials are resources for the creation of our short, its a professional overview for our current progress. Each tutorial update will be in the form of an audio le which is because our lecturers are a bit camera shy. Still the advice is there for everyone to see. Who knows, when the short is created you will probably see some of their advice buried within its context. This is just another creative step in a massive line of progress. The recordings are taken by the Dictaphone on my Iphone so the quality is probably not the best... But you should be able to hear highlights.

[1] Alan Tutorial Phil Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: On week one we were very much debating the direction of the story. We gured that the original animatic which Sammy created back in 2012 was too quick to convey a lot of information. We also established through 43

private deliberation that we wanted to try to make the son Benjamin likeable. It was decided that the mother would be the driving force behind this idea to suggest that a son is acting out against his father. This inspires empathy for the child and the father who grieve individually for their loss but are never grieving together. The summary above highlights some of the key areas of discussion from the tutorials of Week 1.Ladies (Chrissie, Sammy)listen to these if you get a chance or if you need a refresher course. That concludes this little post! Take it easy! xXStItChXx

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/AudioBanner_zps60f9ffe0.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-10-10 15:07:27) Stitch :) These are auto playing at the moment... is there a way to stop it from doing it? Otherwise they all just start over eachother lol Stitch (2013-10-10 16:03:03) Hello Madam!! Erm they shouldnt be autoplaying... They dont when I look at the page or when I look at the blog... Autoplay has been disabled for these clips... they should only play when you click them Sammy Butler (2013-10-10 16:26:13) does it everytime here? :/

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 2 (2013-10-09 13:32)

Hello Everyone, Another consecutive post, as these are primarily for my partners in crime Chrissie and Sammy I will start this post by saying: Click the play button on the little grey quick time boxes to play the audio les. I am just informing you of this as I did not in the rst audio log post. They may take a few seconds to load depending on your internet speeds. Also listen to them one at a time unless you want recordings playing across each other. Again you probably know how to do all of this I am just mentioning it to set my own mind at ease... I am catching up on a bit of a back log with these les (we are mid week 3 right now). I will aim to post future audio logs every Friday after our respective tutorials. I just had to nd the right format here and get it under control. Every new thing I implement I have to rst learn the proper HTML coding which can be confusing as I am not a programmer. Now that everything is set up, getting these posts together should be as simple as copying the code template of former posts. I just have to change the links, I had to use my personal web space to host these audio les as they are quite large. 44

[1] Alan Tutorial Phil Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: This week was mostly about the story of & Son with Director Sammy Butler relaying her new narrative Draft to our lecturers. Phils mainconcern was with the absence of the mothers legacy suggesting that we make the mother more present within the Narrative with the suggested absence of creativity for the father & Son. Alans concern was with setting up the mothers absence, so it is not a gaping hole within & Sons Story. Sammy implemented a buttery to symbolize the mother, something which has since been edited out. Too complicated. I hope these tutorials are providing a little refresher for everyone. Chrissie, Sammy - you may wish to give these notes a once over(as I have). Really helps to get to grips with what has been said. Could be some answers to looming questions... Just saying! Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/AudioBannerwk2_zpsd5d49575.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2013-10-10 12:53:07) okies thankyou! xx

Search for a Font 2 (2013-10-10 11:49)

From that feedback of our team Ive taken to fonts we liked started to look at how theyd work together with the rest of the shop sign or even if the font was the same right through the title. Weve reverted back to an ampersand as it more true of a show sign despite the issue of where it would go in the alphabet (apparently symbols go at the end). NOTE TO TEAM: I think I like #3, but maybe a bold variant? #8 has it looks good too. 45

[1]

1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mKQA-PTFv6E/Ulb0sxogD4I/AAAAAAAAEF8/W49LfQmDynY/s1600/Title+Fonts+2.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2013-10-10 12:24:59) no 3 - because it looks like someone has added the & Son by hand afterwards :) Chrissie Peters (2013-10-10 12:25:37) not 5/6/7 because the style wont t the time

46

And Son... - More ideas for environment (2013-10-10 12:20)

[1]

[2]

1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ITBFAkolX4E/Ulb9lB9qLbI/AAAAAAAACvc/1tOsyQLdfak/s1600/env+2.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VxWMy2OS99E/Ulb9zi3OD1I/AAAAAAAACvk/d4c1GwvMJMk/s1600/env_5.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-10-10 16:24:51) haha thats the church I originally drew over! Chrissie Peters (2013-10-10 23:55:23) I know :)

47

And Son... Benjamin Ideas (2013-10-10 12:22)

[1]

[2]
1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LuW8PTtXmug/Ulb-N2C2StI/AAAAAAAACvs/0UD0cjbYtr4/s1600/benjamin+sketches1.jpg 2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-odqLqh36oAE/Ulb-ZTpPnZI/AAAAAAAACv0/Id3yZ1Pohjc/s1600/benjamin+sketches+4.jpg

Initial Character Ideas in Sketches (2013-10-10 14:51)

Ive been making a few quick sketches... some are from our sketch jam in week 1 and then a few more as we began to esh out the characters details. Barnabas Badgersworth Working from our chosen form from Stitchs models I roughed out the shape and then added ideas out how the suit might fall on him. I imagine it to be quite rigid to reect his own rigidity. I also looked at his face shape and proportions. Now the character motivation has changed I thought of him having a softer face, still long and shallow but with less edges and less exaggerated features. This will encourage the audience to feel greater sympathy. 48

[1]

Benjamin Badgersworth Again I worked from the model Stitch had made, and we all thought worked the best, to sketch out these designs. Chrissie said she wanted a squashed circle head shape with long ears so I worked in those boundaries at a few variations. #2 is a copy-cat of Chrissies I believe. We think the eyes are very Disney but that maybe its not a bad thing when trying to evoke sympathy in a short amount of time? 49

[2]

Miscellaneous Ive sketched some ideas for the Fat Man and Small Lady... just loose workings of a sketch jam with the team. We really want the funeral attendees to be extravagant to be in contrast to the expected mood at a funeral. This should help keep the story on its tight balance between funny and sad if the characters are grotesques themselves. ( #1 of Fat Man was using Winston Churchill as a reference... ended up look too much like him.) 50

[3]

[4]

1. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QhjNOdQwp6Q/Ulb4YpNTHvI/AAAAAAAAEGY/YhyvTKPYdLg/s1600/barnabas+sketch+1.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xj_p13_Gobw/Ulb4MyTNOxI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/3sPZhS0OxDU/s1600/Benjamin+sketch+1.jpg 3. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AhYj-oEwopw/Ulb4ErOm2OI/AAAAAAAAEGI/n-Xh7Ys_YQo/s1600/misc+sketch+1.jpg 4. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVVbGjffs3c/Ulb4seSwWfI/AAAAAAAAEGg/fNKC9ZW_jRM/s1600/misc+sketch+2.jpg

Story Arcs (2013-10-10 17:46)

We discussed in our tutorial with Alan last week about the arcs within our story, how to have the happy and the sad mix together and also the character development of our main characters through-out the narrative too. Ive put together how I estimate these two arcs to look on a graph. When we have our animatic Ill repeat the exercise with timings (as I know this graph is o) and with more detail. Its not vital but it is a visual aid for the team and I to see the narrative in a more technical way.

[1] 51

1. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kI_hTucDCX8/UldIK2DY0OI/AAAAAAAAEG0/I3uz1dE8Hgk/s1600/graphs.jpg

Alan Postings (2013-10-11 09:48:07) Link to animatic... http://vimeo.com/51329066 Sammy Butler (2013-10-12 04:43:05) thankyou :)

Concept Art - Mothers Chair (2013-10-12 09:31)

I have been thinking about the mothers chair and how important it is for it and the area around it to feel empty with only an essence of the women who once sat there. This is what I imagine it to sort of be like at the moment...

[1]
1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--p_3n_UTNyg/Ull3x-YayyI/AAAAAAAAEHE/5eN0IOwemzo/s1600/Concept+Art+Empty+Church+ posting.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2013-10-12 13:11:27) nice!

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 3D Form Variants (2013-10-13 12:32)

Hello Everyone, Sorry for the delay on these forms, I have been getting a bit carried away with drawing by doing my usual thing of taking years to rene them. One day Ill learn. Anyway this post is basically looking at the form of the young Barnabas. To do this accurately I decided to post it with our chosen Adult Barnabas and Benjamin Forms. I have only adjusted the designs ever so slightly for each form as I did not want them to be too diuse... They also have to be similar to the adult and young Benjamin forms. Ladies, let me know what you think when you take a gander :) For those of you that do not know we have a small ashback sequence in our short to when Barnabas is little 52

and hes being yelled at by his dad. This means there is a small section for 2 extra character models... Sammy said I could just change the textures but lets face it thats not my style. Instead I have opted to create 2 extra basic characters, adapting them from the father and son like I have done here. This will mean that the Benjamin model will eventually also become young Barnabas and Barnabas will eventually also become Barnabass old man Bernard. Lets run through these adjusted forms briey! Yippikay!!!

[1]

The image above shows forms 1 - 5. Form 1 is probably the closest to the original Benjamin model. I just made sure I gave him a thinner waste so you could see the form translate to his adult form. Forms 2 - 4 were fundamentally made by increasing the length of his legs and trying to thin those down. I also tried adapting his physique a little more to cross over to the adult. Form 5 was a bit of a change as I started shrinking his arms and broadening his head back out. Part of me thinks Form 4 was the most successful for combining the two characters.

[2]

The image above shows forms 6 - 10. From these I quite like Form 9 although I think his head needs to be made bigger to accommodate the kiddyness more. Form 8 accommodates the Benjamin form a little better especially with the bigger head. The more I have shrunk the head I think it begins to look more adult which is a bit of a problem for these forms. I think the most successful of all of these forms will be the ones with the bigger heads and smaller bodies. My main goal here is to have a little of the adult Barnabas show in the young Barnabas design. 53

[3] The image above shows forms 11 - 15. I dont feel these ones work much at all, the heads are too small when you compare them the Benjamin. These forms show more of Barnabas the adult then the child he grew from. Of all of these 11 is probably the best mainly because the head is actually the biggest. This is kind of a delicate operation really, I am eectively trying to nd an in between of Adult Barnabas and Benjamin. I think this are conveyed better in the forms above, Still one thing to note here is that the scale is not accurate for these images so they may look better in Maya accurately scaled.

[4] The image above shows forms 16 - 20. These ones gradually get better from 17 onwards. I cant believe Im going to say it but Form 19 is once again my favourite here (I liked form 19 for the adult Barnabas). The head could probably do with punching up a little size wise but I really love the cross over of his thin legs. He looks like a scrawny kid which I think is what Sammy wanted Barnabas to be like when he was little. Form 20 is a close second of this lot because I love the small frame it really does show the adult form and a bit of little Benjamin too... Well of all of these I think I like forms 1, 4, 8 & 19, they just convey the right amount of both characters. You ladies are going to have to give me your pick of these forms in a comment below too, which no doubt you will at some point. Once these have been decided I can knock up a couple of Dummy pose forms (wont take long trust me). I also have Bernards form variants to knock up but ill get that over with tonight too so you girls can get thinking about the next steps. We want these basic forms decided so we can move on with concept, turnarounds and eventually model sculpting! Ill catcha later!! xXStItChXx
1. 2. 3. 4. http: http: http: http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasForms1-5_zps9923487a.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasForms6-10_zps008d09a9.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasForms11-15_zps0f9ff5ff.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasForms16-20_zpsaf953caa.jpg

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Pre-Production: Bernard 3D Form Variants (2013-10-13 16:31)

Hello Everyone, Another update but more of an extension from the previous post. This post is about primitive forms (characters at a base level). Bernard is the father of our father character Barnabas. He is only going to be appearing in a brief ashback which will require a basic rig... Im not going to be pulling my hair out over this rig. Anyway these forms are to show a slight deviation in form to the son Barnabas. I still wanted Bernard to be a little imposing which is probably why I kept lots of his forms tall. I tried to implement a bit of a gut to dierentiate him further. Sammy (the director of this project) wanted to keep the form dierentiation slight from the Young Barnabas to Benjamin from the Older Barnabas to Bernard. I tried to keep changes minimal but I also wanted to dierentiate the forms to tell them apart visually. Moving a shoulder an inch or two is hardly noticeable, these are the nal 20 forms so why not exaggerate to see if anything amazing happens. My creative partners Sammy and Chrissie will talk with me or post comments below these posts to pick their favourite choices. Of course I will make my picks throughout this post! So lets get stuck in to some Bernard forms... Let me know the verdict!

[1] The image above shows Bernards forms 1 - 5. In the early stages as per usual the top forms are usually very close to the original design. I tend to start not adventuring too far in the beginning. I later load up other ZBrush forms previously created and adapt them slightly to create a moving design. This is usually why the later designs get interesting. Of these ones Form 4 is probably my favourite, I like the podgy belly and the fact that the father is leering below Barnabas a bit... The frame is near identical but the abby belly could be attributed to Benjamin...

[2] The image above shows Bernards Forms 6 - 10. Of these 5 form 7 is probably my favourite, I think I like this one because the form is signicantly dierent from Barnabas while keeping the sparrow legs. Again I 55

like the fact he is just a little bit shorter then Barnabas we can only hope that Benjamin grows to be bigger then Barnabas ha-ha. Form 8 is my second favourite I like the more narrow shoulders the frame is also less imposing then Barnabass. I guess Im just inclined to make Barnabas better built then his father... I guess I keep envisioning a younger Lion vs. Old Lion...

[3] The image above shows Bernards Forms 11 - 15. This image contains probably my most favourite this far are you ready for this... Form 14. Now it goes against the grain for me a little to consider Bernard taller then Barnabas but I like the way the physiques are similar and yet dierent. You also have the long legs and the shoulders are adequately built to make him imposing to a little child. I would probably consider making the arms and hands a little bigger to rival Barnabas but mostly Id say the form is there... The rest are okay but look smaller compared to Barnabas.

[4] The image above shows Bernards Forms 16 - 20. This panel has quite a few choices here lots of diverse forms which is probably why I love it. I like Form 17 for the shape of the body but the legs are just a bit too long me thinks. Form 18 is pretty good but it would be nice if the torso was a little bigger. Forms 19 and 20 are a step completely o the grid but the form is interesting. The legs are undoubtedly Barnabas and I like the skinniness of the form... It kind of feesls more spider like to me but I like the torso and main body... Just not sure if its right for Bernard. Well one of the things I get to look forward too now is awaiting Chrissie and Sammys words of wisdom or there opinion on a favourable form. These are all based on the original Form 19 for Barnabas they have just been altered to make variants. I promised in the beginning I would make alternates of an agreed form if we hit any walls. Luckily we liked 19 but now Bernard is giving me the opportunity to explore some variants of this form. I tried to keep great leaps minimal I just hope that the ladies (my creative partners) help me pick a winner here haha.... Anyway catcha later people! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardForms1-5_zps313c9caf.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardForms6-10_zpse57670d5.

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jpg 3. jpg 4. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardForms16-20_zps3020d29e. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardForms11-15_zpsd49a9278.

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 3 (2013-10-13 19:05)

Hello Everyone, The tutorials for week 3 are up and not too late it being the early hours of Sunday. I know I previously said that I would post these up on the Fridays of our tutorial but I have decided against it due to activity over on the 365 Day Project site ([1]www.365dp.co.uk). Basically I have been doing a regular Doodler update over on the website and I do an image grab from posts of the week, I also provide our tutorial audio les. For simplicity I decided to move it all to the end of the week so I can post the audio logs here and then on the 365 day project site... Only a 2 day delay! There have been quite a few posts up on here and while I havent got everything done that I wanted to I still have make quite a bit of a dent. This week I will begin the planning the environment planes for our short but before that I just want to get some character stu out of my system. Most of you know by now that environments are not my forte so this will be interesting to attempt. Anyway tutorials of this week were handy we all know our animatic is the key to this short. The Pre-Viz is mainly to encapsulate basic character/camera movement... We got a lot ahead of us!

[2] Alan Tutorial Phil Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: This week in Alans tutorial we conrmed that portraying Benjamin as a misunderstood entertainer is the best course of action for his pranking of grieving family members at funerals. This is an extension from the conversations previously in Week 2 with Phil. Alan also told us that our animatic was key to capture the delicate moves and emotion of our short. In Phils tutorial we discussed the nal gag of the short as it may be a bit out of place and a bit too far. In closing we looked at Chrissie and Sammys character designs before 57

going back to look at Stitchs form tests/poses. In closing I think it is onwards and upwards right here. It is Week 3 and we have already addressed a number of problems within our short. We are knocking them down one by one. By next week we should be starting concept art and begin rening the character/environment designs. Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://www.365dp.co.uk/ 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/week3ab_zps26e877c9.jpg

The Mothers Song (2013-10-14 05:35)

Possible songs to represent the mother. We discussed, with Tutor Phil, the idea of a song that represented the mother and her happy life philosophy. Something like Smile but of the era... Were now in the search for the right one. Here are a few Ive found that could work. A few of these are the cheery disposition songs and others are songs that might have been the mother and fathers song. Some of the lyrics dont start till mid way through... be patient because their all beautiful! IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/n92ATE3IgIs IFRAME: [2]//www.youtube.com/embed/YV5e7mWcQJE IFRAME: [3]//www.youtube.com/embed/gqsT4xnKZPg IFRAME: [4]//www.youtube.com/embed/wi0rUaZolhM IFRAME: [5]//www.youtube.com/embed/bOH mioL3TU I think its clear that the wonderful Louis Armstrong is the winner as this song ts what we need it for but the others allow for a dierent angle on it... up to the team. All these songs were recorded 1939 or before... Louis recorded When your Smiling 3 times so if we use it we just have to make sure we dont use the 50s recording. Duke Ellington also did When your Smiling song in 1930.
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/n92ATE3IgIs 2. file://www.youtube.com/embed/YV5e7mWcQJE 3. file://www.youtube.com/embed/gqsT4xnKZPg 4. file://www.youtube.com/embed/wi0rUaZolhM 5. file://www.youtube.com/embed/bOH_mioL3TU

tutorphil (2013-10-14 07:42:39) Theres a nice Billie Holiday version too - trying to nd the date, but its obviously an early recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC XM4l1DHo I really like this choice of song though - has sweetness and sadness. Sammy Butler (2013-10-14 07:51:07) 1937 If the team like the song we can try dierent ones... see which works best with the animatic

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And Son... - More rough Benjamin poses (2013-10-14 09:16)

[1]
1. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gD6z5lXgo8o/UlwYf6iMaWI/AAAAAAAACw8/Wd_BccyZ0ww/s1600/benjamin+sketches+5.jpg

And Son... - Inuences for Barnabas and Family Dynamics (2013-10-14 09:23)
I have been looking at father-son images trying to catch the dynamic between a dysfunctional father-son relationship. Most images are stock photos, and whilst they use exaggerated actions to suggest emotion they do not actually capture it in their expressions. We dont want an exaggerated over-obvious statement between our characters, everything is conveyed with subtle, natural glances, so I will be life-drawing this week!

[1] Outts for Barnabas are simple to nd - funeral directors have not changed their traditional dress since Victorian times! 59

[2]
1. http: //1.bp.blogspot.com/-2j8NNYoIHgQ/UlwZKU7ndRI/AAAAAAAACxM/VzZzf90pG98/s1600/influences+B%2526B+dynamics.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5OxKIvNPg8g/UlwZLCDY94I/AAAAAAAACxI/i6MB-FyHkl4/s1600/inluence+map+_barnabas.jpg

and Son... - early Barnabas/Benjamin draft (2013-10-14 09:31)

[1] Sammys original Barnabas drawings are great and its hard to deviate from them. Ive tried to soften his face and make him more sympathetic as he is now a kind character, and some wear and tear to his face as he is grieving. Ive matched some features between the two characters to indicate the family resemblance, notably the eyes, ears and feet. 60

1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bSnhrXkr_54/UlwatyxEnJI/AAAAAAAACxY/qgCpn4bekDc/s1600/b&b_1.jpg

Pre-Production: Benjamin Rough Sketches (2013-10-14 11:34)

Hello Everyone, Its been an interesting few days but eventually I have gotten there. This post is going to be all about Benjamin sketch wise... Its also going to be the last post dedicated to him. I still have Barnabas and Bernard to have a little play with. Not also counting the stylisation methods I have to try and adopt for the concept phase. There is also the environment stu which will be happening this week so I will probably have my hands quite full. In other news I have also been posting over on the 365 day project site ([1]www.365dp.co.uk) and my own personal blog [2]www.stitchshift.blogspot.com. Things have been getting quite busy so I have been getting work in here and there and then posting it in about 3 dierent locations ha-ha. Anyway this post is the last in the sketching phase for Benjamin. Our lecturer Phil conrmed our art directors (Chrissie Peters) style for Benjamin so these sketches are kind of moot now but I thought they should be posted so it doesnt look like I been sitting on my hands. I do see the contrast of these sketches to Chrissies very British style so I totally get it. I guess I have to try and learn a bit of this style which will be interesting for conceptual purposes... Anyway I did all of these sketches on my IPAD over a bit of last week :)

[3] The image above shows Figures A - H which is actually the opposite order of when they were created. F, G & H were actually the rst and were done very roughly and quickly before I had even met to discuss art with my creative partners. I drew these just to get the idea of drawing younger kids. Dennis the Menace was the inspiration I also did these based on the notion that Benjamin was a teen, this has since been changed... I knocked up A from looking at the Z Sphere form posed (its actually based on Pose 2 of Benjamins pose test post [4]here.) I based the heads (B-D) on the head of A. 61

[5] Next I thought id demonstrate the point of these basic Dummy Z-Tools in ZBrush. A few people have asked why do I bother doing these forms. They can be useful for blocking out posed concept while maintaining a characters basic proportions. Every character begins with basic primitives to create the form. When an animator creates a character and he has to explain how to draw it across a team of animators its best done with primitives. The ZSphere forms are primitives but they have the advantage of being posed in 3D space and eventually to be used as reference for characters.

[6] Next I wanted to play briey with Benjamins costume so I knocked up a crude bow tie suit combo. There was then some discussion with Simon about hats and their proportion. It was decided that the Bigger (J3) had would be believable for the period of & Son. Another interesting thing I noted here was a thing Sammy 62

told me that my drawing style is very Tim Burton. Having looked at these a bit more I really am starting to see it in my sketches. Anyway this was just another quick sketch which I knocked up some variants for. A small play with colour at the end...

[7] Last but not least came a couple of Style renditions I played with. Again I had these more or less done before our meeting last week with Phil. The thing I am proud of here is that I did these entirely on the IPAD. Having always had issues drawing on it I was quite chued to be able to achieve something that more or less reects my Wacom Cintiq tablet. I think thats what I wanted to achieve with this more then anything. Just to understand another drawing medium using a crayon sized nib to draw decent concept sketches... I guess its gradually becoming possible! Anyway these are the last tests from this style, I have to go away and try and draw a little more in-keeping for the concept phase. I also want to get a few other rough sketches out of the way for Barnabas and Bernard. I dont really care if they are never used Im kind of using this as more of a growing exercise here. Hopefully there wont be much distance between this post and the follow up ones so keep your eyes on this blog. Im getting the feel for some of these characters nally I just have to try a little harder to nd my way for the style of this project. Talk to you later people!! xXStItChXx
1. http://www.365dp.co.uk/ 2. http://www.stitchshift.blogspot.com/ 3. 4. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/pre-production-benjamin-dummy-pose-tests.html 5. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2benjaminsketchesfromz_zps917dca97.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3benjaminhats_zpsafa04f60.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4benjaminstyletests_zps17552346. jpg http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1benjaminroughsketches_zpse34b3363.jpg

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Pre-Production: Barnabas Experimentation (2013-10-17 22:15)

Hello Everyone, Its a late one but only because I had to get all of this stu out of various sketch books as I have been drawing absolutely everywhere over the last few days. My exploits began in my IPAD as I am ever vigilant that doodling on a mobile digital medium is the bomb. That being said it was signicantly quicker once I got back to my sketchbook and started ring out lots of quick ideas. I used a caricature book to study certain nose types and facial types. This made me consider a number of ideas for Barnabas drawing a little inspiration from Sammys Original... I will warn everyone now that a lot of these sketches make Barnabas younger then Sammys original I guess I was going for a younger father gure but if not some could be adapted for the child Barnabas... Thats if any of them are liked... I just wanted to have a little play with the character (hence why this is called Experimentation). I get that my style is vastly dierent from this project that being said I still would like to have some inuence over the features... I do that best in the free hand sketch medium so I did lots of doodles and have posted my favourites below! Enjoy the doodles and please let me know if any jump out!

[1] The image above shows 6 facial tests that I conducted on the IPAD. I just wanted to play with features here, I wanted to see what would happen if I made the head bigger, made the eyes smaller. Shrank the head, 64

strengthened the chin, weakened the chin, etc, etc. I didnt want to give up with just some basic ideas. I didnt start trying to change the nose signicantly because I kind of liked the thinner nose... Still I explored the alternate in the next row of sketches and found something I liked even more... If Im honest I liked E but that would only work as a child... Note the size of the head and eyes!

[2]

At this point my IPAD ran out of juice which was probably a blessing as the few I had done took a considerable amount of time. When I sat back down at the old sketchbook I just kept ring out head after head. I knocked up A, B, C and found myself getting bored... When I dredged up D I liked the chin but the mouth felt wrong. E was my shining moment... I like the face but again it may be too young. After that I tried a number of expressions (F, G, H & I) before going back to explore a few other faces after... Of all of these I love E but again it might be the wrong age... 65

[3]

Next I told myself it was important to work out a few things from my lovely Dummy models so I went to our Barnabas form and checked out his prole... I printed it out and then worked out how many heads go into his body. His proportions being what they are he currently has 10. 5 heads in his entire frame. The legs get an extra .5 over the upper body but essentially they follow Riven Phoenixs 8 head rule just elongated a little more... This was appropriate for my next step into the process... I wanted to start drawing his entire body... So I did some more guring... 66

[4] I knocked up the blueprint for Barnabas working out each of his features to his head... I worked out his arm to be 4.5 heads from the shoulder joint. I may have to double check that but everything else is accurate. His upper body (Head - Pelvis) is 5 heads leaving his lower a little longer. After doing that I broke the body down into primitives and tried to knock up a little clothed form test sketch. I didnt do too bad for a 5 minute job... The proportions are slightly incorrect but It really does show how he will be looking in a costume (or at least how his form will be looking...) I will probably do something similar for the other 3 main characters (that will become 3D models).. As I have mentioned in the past the models have to be grounded in 3D this means that their proportions have to adhere to gravity and human form to some degree. The 2D characters in our short will be able to be more free form as they are on planes and do not physically exist in a third dimension... Everyone gets this Im just stating it for the record here.. I dont want to be modelling characters that would fall at anatomically if they existed in 3D. Anyway Ill catcha later!! xXStItChXx
1. jpg 2. jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3Workingout_zpsb38b595a.jpg 4. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4FiguringBarnabas_zpsbb542eb9. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2BarnabasFaceTests_zps4f649981. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1BarnabasFeatures_zps76a4e556.

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Pre-Production: The Form Army - Final Forms (2013-10-17 22:15)

Hello Everyone, I meant to post this the other day but I dont know I had a bad day, rst in a while actually so apologies for the delay on these. When I went into university Tuesday I sat down with Sammy and Chrissie as they debated the nal 2 3D forms for Bernard and Young Barnabas. I stayed well out of it and checked out their nal choices. Before I went in I lined up an entire Army of alternates for Benjamin and Barnabas as to make Barnabass father and Young Barnabas. Allowing them to see and rotate around the 3D forms in Maya I felt helped them make a more informed decision. As nice as it is seeing forms head on you are merely experiencing them at. To be able to rotate round them tells you something about their construction and form. It even tells you something about how they look in perspective which is valuable information for concept art. Anyway after they made their decisions I lined everything up and they scaled the sizes of the characters. We didnt think it would be wise to keep Benjamin huge. After that I went home and knocked up a couple of images before tanking out in bed... The delay came the day after and I been picking myself up since... Anyway the forms are here now so take a look at the nal choices!!

[1]

We started out with what I like to call the Form Army... There were 20 variants of Benjamins nal form and 20 variants of Barnabass nal form. This not only allowed them to choose Bernard and Young Barnabass forms but it also allowed Chrissie and Sammy the option of changing our chosen forms for Barnabas and Benjamin with one of the others. I wasnt against anything here as I knew the forms were sound just slightly deviated from each other... I didnt rock the boat too much on these alternates just to keep the form and character feel intact. 68

[2]

After all that we were left with these as the nal forms. Sammy and Chrissie were happy with the Barnabas and Benjamin forms we already had. They just chose Form 12 for Bernard and Form 15 for Young Barnabas. Of course at this point the scale of the characters was completely out so that was the next thing they addressed. With the only issue being scale the ZTools can still be used individually for poses or to understand the form of the character. I dumped the ZTools for each form in our shared drop box to give the ladies access to this basic primitive designs... 69

[3]

The image above shows the nal scale choices for each character. The kids obviously have to be signicantly smaller then Barnabas and Bernard that goes without saying. The debate we were having was whether or not Barnabass father should be bigger then him. I opted for Barnabas being bigger eventually I guess it was my way of letting him surpass the old man in some way. Bernards form has a longer physique but less heavy set shoulders. Bernard is shorter but only a tad, I guess the girls wanted to keep the forms very similar to each other... 70

[4] The image above shows them together in a family snapshot, (thats what I like to call it). This was just my excuse to show the nal forms all together to see if they create a vibe... I think I said Is it an Adams family line up? Not quite but then again they are only basic forms for now.. What these should allow everyone to do now is go away and knock up character concept... Especially if they begin working out the blueprints for each character... This will aid them in recreating the form in poses, if they get stuck with a pose load the form in ZBrush and pose it crudely... then render it and draw over it yourself to get the perspective right... Well now that all of this is done I will be moving away from characters for a bit while I get our set construed and gured out. The next development of these models will be when I am nally sitting down to add detail in ZBrush. Before then we have concept art and some environment work to gure out but at the moment Im not too worried... Doing poses for these other two characters is not fundamental as I proved my point with Barnabas and Benjamins forms... Now we just have to keep stepping forward one foot in front of the other!! Over & Out, xXStItChXx 71

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/FinalFormTests_zps5f927ae9.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ChosenForms_zps68652fae.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/HeightCompare_zps0596a5bf.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/CheeseImage_zps1f38241b.jpg

The Storyboard (2013-10-21 10:48)

Over the last few weeks weve been really focusing on getting the story just right. The balance is really delicate between whats going too far at a funeral and making sure the audience can read the characters motivations. Ive been drawing rough storyboard cells which we put up on a board so we could go through and physically see the story and how it ows.. take out cells and replace them or leave it, see what is missing from the story etc. Weve made quite a few changes from the rst draft of the script and even at this early stage in the storyboarding the nal story is coming together nicely. I put together a really quick animatic to get a feeling for the timing. This only features the rst two scene which have been altered slightly since I made this as well.

IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/jhdMBvuHsXI As I work on the ending to the last prank and the last scene, here are the Storyboard cells thus far. Once the story in more nal Ill create more rened digital cells to take forward into an animatic. The key changes you might notice are the reactions and responses to the pranks. These alterations help the characters development, build up the tension and also make it a little more funny.

[2]Storyboard Rough Book IFRAME: [3]//www.scribd.com/embeds/177837583/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true The Second Draft of the Script

[4]Second draft IFRAME: [5]//www.scribd.com/embeds/177837604/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true

1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/jhdMBvuHsXI 2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/177837583/Storyboard-Rough-Book 3. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/177837583/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true 4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/177837604/Second-draft 5. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/177837604/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true

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And Son... - Benjamin in Funeral Clothes - concepts (2013-10-21 11:31)

[1]
1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BdL_YYpYy-U/UmVzARMLXaI/AAAAAAAAC14/IJGJRQ3iQjg/s1600/benjamin+sketches+6.jpg

And Son... - Barnabas shaping (2013-10-21 11:36)

[1] right - early Barnabas concept middle - Barnabas drawn to our model proportions, before decisions were taken on shoulder size and aging left - lightly re-sized Barnabas with younger face
1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b1KH6P5lRMM/UmVzgU5iUMI/AAAAAAAAC2A/vgJGaX1Y82g/s1600/b&b3.jpg

Pre-Production: Main Characters - Head Tests (2013-10-24 12:27)

Hello Everyone, Sorry for the delay but these heads took a bit of time to knock up. I wanted to make sure I wasnt repeating myself too much so I was trying a couple of dierent tactics to create them. That being said I gave myself some rules to follow when knocking up the young Barnabas as I wanted to keep it similar to the adult version of Barnabas. I also wanted to convey these curls of hair that could be optional for the adult Barnabas when he loses his strict all work and no play philosophy. I have to say I had fun knocking up the heads it was a 73

good learning experience! I have also been playing quite a bit with the father Bernard Barnabas mainly because hes the cause of such rigidity within Barnabas. The girls wanted me to shift an expression of Anger onto Bernard which is something Im still rening, I accidentally keep making them look oriental. Suce to say when I sit down to knock out expression sheets I will be looking constantly at my expressions book. You may also note that Barnabas and Benjamin start later in their alphabet, thats because there were earlier posts depicting facial possibilities... The links are [1]here and [2]here! Now lets get to the fun part of the post... THE HEAD TESTS!!

[3]

The image above shows the head tests I conducted for Benjamin. These basically continue from M and are a little jumbled but I gured as long as the letter is there it doesnt matter. The girls gave no opinions on these but I quite liked Q. S was a very close second mainly because I loved the curly locks. I wasnt sure if these curls were something we were showing on Benjamin before or after his Fathers adjusted personality but never the less I couldnt resist trying out lots of things with his hair. I also tried a few slight feature adaptations, I kept making the eyes progressively bigger with the forehead for example! 74

[4]

Next came Barnabas (image above) which stirred up a bit more interaction with Chrissie & Sammy. We all came to an agreement that face T was Barnabas . The empathy is simply in the eyes, the hair is also brilliant. I aged this face a little more by putting little bags under the eyes (something which I replicated in Young Barnabas - just a little tell). Bags under the eyes mostly happen from sleep depravation or boredom, two traits I felt were in Barnabass character. Hes lost his wife and hes just plodding along through the days... A part of me also liked U for the hard bored-ness of the face. 75

[5]

Next came Bernard a character which was a little more dicult. There was a debate going about whether or not Bernard should have hair. Sammy liked the idea of a massive old fashioned Beard. I liked the idea of a pipe. There was a bigger part of me that wanted the character bald or at least near it. I have been told not to tell which face I prefer so I will leave this by simply saying its on the third row down. I would say more but Sammy and Chrissie do not want me to sway the decision of these faces so I wont. Either way they are all there... Hopefully we can agree on one or features of another. 76

[6] Last but not least we have Young Barnabas to briey gaze at. In the earlier stages I found myself trying to adopt a strong chin more. As things began to progress I found myself trying to implement more of Benjamins traits (chubby cheeks, bigger eyes, smaller chin, longer ears). I guess I was just trying to see what worked. I kept the eyebrows very similar to the older Barnabas. I also wanted to implement some child like curls which we could bring back in the older Barnabas when he has nally let loose. I also kept the bags under the eyes and tried to adopt the hair line for our adult version. I know a lot of these faces are not perfect but the point of this experiment was just to explore what I thought the main characters could be. Sure I could pick a design and go with it but seeing as everything this far has been collaborative I wanted the provide options for my creative partners at Polydoodle. This has in my opinion actually improved my drawing ability for heads. I spent a good chunk of summer drawing faces so that helped also. I am gradually getting the hang of facial anatomy for a 3.5 view... I guess its better late then never ha-ha! Anyway hope you enjoyed the post! xXStItChXx 77

1. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/pre-production-barnabas-experimentation.html 2. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/pre-production-benjamin-rough-sketches.html 3. 4. 5. 6. http: http: http: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasFinalFaceTests_ //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminFinalFaceTests_zps3ec883be.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasFinalFaceTests_zps0055f39e.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardFinalFaceTests_zpsf51551f3.jpg zpsbf0dfb93.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2013-10-27 07:47:34) Benjamin....too Emo! Stitch (2013-10-27 09:18:36) You already got a face for Benjamin... I meant Bernard and Young Barnabas! Chrissie Peters (2013-10-27 10:55:52) lol sorry, didnt read it all again!

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 4 (2013-10-24 16:43)

Hello Everyone, Apologies for the delay on these logs! Stu has been getting real particularly with the 365 day project ([1]http://www.365dp.co.uk). Most of this week has been looking at the videos I got from some really receptive CG Arts students. I have begun doing a little editing, nothing major as of yet the big unveil wont be until next year. Rest assured nobody has been seen in bad light this far so nobody panic about what they did or did not say. If they went on and on or kept everything brief. It does not matter, these videos are a snapshot of you now... nothing more, nothing less! The talk of this week has been more about rening our animatic and storyboards, all of which are on their way. I have personally been involved doing character stu, just making sure we explored everything with enough scope. Character costumes are the next thing up for debate what will then follow will be colour choices. I just want to play with a couple of ideas before we get into the concept art stage of things. Chrissie has been doing the same thing, getting her hands dirty with more character stu... The environments will come after this round of decisions. 78

[2] Alan Tutorial Phil Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: This week in our tutorials we looked specically at our draft storyboard created by the awesome Sammy Butler. The recordings themselves were made in the main base room so you may hear noise from other students in the room. Alans advise was to convey more with less panels, Phils advise was to elaborate on specic scenes further... It was a bit of a cross-opinion but what it comes down to is how everything works once it is moving in the animatic. Once we have an accurate rst draft we can start adapting scenes and tightening up the nal elements of the story. I know I said in the Week 3 post that we would spend week 3 rening, the truth is we are still exploring a couple of things. Design choices particularly for the characters before they are to have expression sheets and turnarounds. After this we can begin thinking about moving into 3D nally! Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://www.365dp.co.uk/ 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/abwk4_zps72a508dc.jpg

Video Logs: The Draft Storyboards (2013-10-25 00:30)

Hello Everyone, This last few weeks have been a testament to our development of this project. I took this time to sit back and dig into a few hours of the footage which I have gathered specically from Polydoodle to get another nice Doodler update for this blog and of course the 365 day project site ([1]http://365dp.co.uk). After sitting down with Sammy at the end of Week 3 she took some time out to talk through the draft panels of our animated short for Q2 2014 & Son. I thought I would capture this on my trusty camera although she was not very appreciative of its gaze. After sitting down with Sammy she talked us through her vision for each shot, which she relayed on each storyboard panel. Chrissie and me were gobsmacked when checking out how long the storyboard was... Sort of put my 2012 Ashen Bloom Smoke Stack exploit to shame. Never the less the delicate nature of our short is what requires an abundance of shots for a simple gaze or tilt of the head can mean everything in this 79

particular short. This is something we have all agreed on after discussing this over the past 4 weeks with our Tutors Alan and Phil. Anyway lets check out the video with commentary from an invading Stitch!

IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/77758558

The video above is based entirely on our rst draft storyboards. I wanted this mainly so when we are sitting around at Week 15 wiping the sweat from our brow we can look back at this for some nostalgia. It is not only to show how far we have come but also to somewhat explain the storyboarding process for people who have yet to come to grips with its benets. I do let my introduction trail o throughout the video just to let Sammy explain a couple of details in the short, things you will see come Q2 2014 next year should they make the nal edit.

[3]

The image above shows Sammy running myself and Art Director Chrissie Peters through her vision for & Son. These boards were so epic that we could not have our tutorial in the oce with Alan and Phil, they had to come into the base room with us. That being said as I mentioned before a lot of the shots depict the same character in the same exact angle just with a head tilt here or an idle gaze there. The key is to get the pacing with the actions to ultimately convey emotion. The actions of this animation will be mostly subtle and delicate, that is what we have all agreed on. 80

[4] On the same day that Sammy was continuing her storyboard drafting Chrissie Peters took some time out of her schedule to show me how simple building a theatre box is. I have to say I was sceptical until I saw what she came up with creating a sliding background & a small moving cart. She even created me some detached clouds to appease my recent Dynamite Headdy fascination. You probably have also noticed the Blue tack models within which are meant to be Benjamin and Barnabas. It was a good exercise and now just makes me want to say....

[5] It has been a little question rattling around my brain but having seen Chrissie do it. It really makes me think we should buy a massive box and knock up some curtains to make a proper little box theatre. I had even mentioned in the earlier stages of this short that it would be nice to go live action, making a theatre box our 81

set where the short is played. This could then play our video before lling the screen. Sammy wasnt too sure but I think it would be a nice little touch if we had the time. Even if that was not the case Sammy and Chrissie want a little theatre for display purposes by next year... We would then get physical models of our character and then place them in the box theatre it would be quite epic. Never the less that is something that is down the line probably to be done over Christmas or next year. Still I am glad that I have seen this process in action, I had never considered it until Chrissie showed me how cool it looks. Considering our entire set and supporting characters is to be 2D I really do get a physical sense of how it would work on planes within 3D. I would just like to thank Chrissie again for demonstrating this to me... the world is now a less scary place ha-ha Anyway Ill catch you all later! xXStItChXx
1. http://365dp.co.uk/ 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/77758558 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/sammynotes_zps6744ed20.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/theatrebox_zps9c63138c.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/buybox_zps9f5681c1.jpg

& Son... - revised Benjamin sketches (2013-10-27 07:46)

After a chat with tutor Justin, I have made some revisions to the Benjamin sketches. Firstly Justin felt the black mourning outt needed breaking up. There are restrictions on our colour palette because of the narrative, so I have kept to a range of greys. The red-and-white bow tie is necessary to the story. Justin also felt the original boots were wrong: too stubby and rounded, so I have revised these using reference material. Justin suggested making the coat tails long to help make Benjamins clothes look too large, but Im not sure about this, I think it makes it a bit too comical.

[1] The second set of sketches show revised faces now that we have settled on a face with widely spaced eyes, large low ears, and a wide forehead. 82

[2]
1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iGO_26Xg6qg/Um0li-t3keI/AAAAAAAAC20/NtPr8FbvTv8/s1600/benjamin+sketches+7.jpg 2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y1FEDLtpXAg/Um0kvvvTTgI/AAAAAAAAC2s/EciATtNonQg/s1600/benjamin+sketches+8.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-10-27 16:18:36) Look at him... he so cute! I think 8 a goer I like the way the socks are bunched. I kinda like the two tone collar of 1 though. Hes goo with the grey trousers too :)

Rough Storyboard Complete (2013-10-27 16:05)

Tomorrow I start work drawing these up neatly for the creation of our animatic. Mounting these up on boards really helped plot the story because we had everything in front of us in order to follow the story and see where it might be lacking... That stage is complete now so we can move onwards. (Note: Scene 2 also has some alteration about angles but the actions play out the same.) [1]Rough Storyboard IFRAME: [2]//www.scribd.com/embeds/179436714/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true
1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/179436714/Rough-Storyboard 2. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/179436714/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true

And Son... VERY ROUGH Barnabas face sketches (2013-10-28 06:38)

After talking with Justin about hereditary features, these are very rough sketches of Barnabas looking at face shape, ears and eyes and how they could be transferred between father and son.

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1. jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ys4d1LcZrq0/Um5ouKLyNgI/AAAAAAAAC3c/tGURZKgTEYs/s1600/barnabas+very+rough+faces.

Benjamins Build-up (2013-10-28 06:52)

I needed to have a practice drawing Benjamin from Chrissies designs for the animatic so I thought Id break him down into the shape build-up.

[1] 1. I drew over Chrissies design 2. I used circles and lines to build up his structure and features 3. Check it looked ok without the sketch behind 4. Then used it to draw Benji again to see if I got the same character at the end 5. Yup The main test comes when I have to move the build-up into a new position...

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1. I had to create a new head shape but I could use the original as reference for proportion. 2. Drew over the new build-up 3. Then added in a few details... A few tweeks needed but I can use it for the Animatic at least :D
1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ekj2DGxtD4w/Um5pNSWoJWI/AAAAAAAAEIU/LW3jzPiWbF4/s1600/Body+buildup+benji.jpg 2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s6d00yug4nI/Um5pP0oIULI/AAAAAAAAEIg/fwpiY3caYwk/s1600/front+buildup+benji.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2013-10-28 08:11:24) fab! Chrissie Peters (2013-10-28 08:50:46) an I like the coat tails :) Chrissie Peters (2013-10-28 08:51:14) but the hat is a bit small.... Chrissie Peters (2013-10-28 08:53:30) the tummy, however, is perfect :)

Animation Branding (2013-10-28 11:29)

In preparation for our shirt I needed to get a nal Logo for the animation its self. From my Font tests we established which font to go with which Ive now taken forward and made a little mock up sign for the Funeral shop front.

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[2]

[3] our own preference in style and colour)

A mock up for our shirts (well each have

1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CaRmE9D4Pss/Um6EGgyyLcI/AAAAAAAAEI4/w-QIt06mQqA/s1600/Shop+Sign.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mxcLTe_KYAM/Um6EB9DS1bI/AAAAAAAAEIw/KgFakyp0kgk/s1600/Animation+Logo.jpg 3. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c81Dyj_haHU/Um6srTxiMkI/AAAAAAAAEJE/NED16-naUPY/s1600/tees.jpg

Stitch (2013-10-28 17:00:44) I have another suggestion or two but the two bits you got look good tutorphil (2013-10-30 01:58:10) saw these, thought of you! http://livlily.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/ernest-et-celestine-2012-colou r.html Sammy Butler (2013-10-31 05:38:03) ooooooooso pretty!

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Clothing reference material (2013-10-31 04:18)

Clothing references for Benjamin and Young Barnabas...these are English and from the right time periods & class.

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[2]
1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YcDqUuztRjA/UnI7fucsxzI/AAAAAAAAC3w/Am7uvrBDnvQ/s1600/Slide1.jpg 2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LCAYuX-cU9Q/UnI7fgsQliI/AAAAAAAAC3s/LWB5wsBV7fU/s1600/Slide2.jpg

Stitch (2013-10-31 04:22:26) You rule Chrissie...

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 5 (2013-10-31 05:14)

Hello Everyone, Another week gone and nearly another too! Things are heating up, we are looking to nalize our turnarounds and some expression sheets by the end of this week. There are costume and colour tests well on their way from us so keep your eyes peeled! We are using a really cool light box process which I got from the rst Iron Man movie so Ill post up a little Intel on that when ready. We have quite a bit of work cut out for us still but Im hopeful that most of the little odds and ends of our project will sort themselves out by the end of this week... We can get down to some concept art and maybe begin the Pre-Viz. 87

The audio logs for Week 5 only include Alan as Phil had a Crit with the Year 1 class. I spent the rest of the day helping Sammy stick down storyboards on her wallpaper (sorry I mean storyboard). Alan gave a few last minute pointers with regard to its direction and optimization of some of the panels. Sammy retroactively changed the storyboards to suit some of Alans suggestions in the hope of making the story simpler in certain areas. There is no doubt in my mind that she is probably home right now inking up those boards for some inspiring animatic... Cant wait.

[1] Alan Tutorial [EMBED] Summary: This week in our tutorial we showed Alan our storyboards this far. Alan liked the theatre world that our storyboards suggest, this started the discussion of Wes Anderson. Among his lms a A Life Aquatic and the Royal Tenenbaums. Alan also suggested we use a less Aggressive tone for the ending of the animation. Instead of snapping his Sons catapult he has a ashback just before doing so in which he remembers his father Snapping his paintbrush. Sammy also got her nahnah nah nahnah moment for Alan suggesting that screwing up the paper on his desk is too Aggressive. (Something I suggested previously) DOH! We still have a bit of a journey ahead but everything seems to be going according to plan. Next week we have the Greenlight review. Now due to the fact that there is no nal Crit this will be the only time we pitch so hopefully we havent got many things to correct. Id also like to have some concept art by Next Friday...Hey ho!! Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/wk5ban_zpsc16101cd.jpg

Video Logs: The Draft Animatic (2013-10-31 08:49)

Hello Everyone, This post is once again about Sammys draft Animatic which you would have already seen by looking at this post [1]here. There have since been updates reaching the conclusion of the nal storyboard draft which can be located [2]here. Of course I felt that a little explanation is in order and of course a little snippet of Sammy working in premiere putting the still images together. So in the interest of clarity and to show a little more behind the scenes development I thought I would knock up a little video, and do a post showing where we 88

were and where we are going. Since starting these little logs I have acquired quite an amount of behind the scenes video so I am trying to use it to educate a little (or not at all). This is my promise to myself more then anything but I think I would have loved to have known how to do all of this a few years ago. The documented video for this post is quite short but I gure the shorter it is the quicker people with short attention spans can move on. These are all Sammy Butlers developments for the story of & Son I have included a snippet from her prior Unit 4 work all the way back in Year 1... So take a look the essence of this story is still here after all!

IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/78259236 The video above shows a bit of the editing Process with Polydoodle Pictures Sammy Butler. She is working in premiere putting all of those stills in one by one. The next stage in the process is drawing over them but we will get there. I thought I would just go over it a bit before revealing Sammys already released initial draft. I think it is Act 1 just leading on to Act 2 right before the second prank from Benjamin. In this case though I have to say we have avoided the little shit territory we previously found ourselves at with his character.

[4] Above is a still from the video with Sammy getting her hands dirty with a bit of Premiere pro editing. At this point she did not notice that I had the camera on her so she was not completely on edge. She does quickly suss out that things are not right though... I need to learn more ninja skills. Anyway the long line underneath are some of the scanned storyboards, there are quite a lot arent there. Maybe I should use this point to tell you that there are over 100 images for our nal rst draft of this story... We have lots of subtle gesture so that takes quite a lot of drawing individual shots. 89

[5] I took this opportunity to look at the beginning panels which already feel much more invested in emotion even at this draft stage. I can almost hear the whining widow from the central image. I dont think I realised until just now that she even has a pig nose. Anyway this scene is one of the few to make it from the original & Son back from Sammys unit 4 project. It is quite good though, I was pleased to see the whoopee cushion make a return to this draft. I have kind of childish humour but then I think most geeks like me do. Just cant wait to see it in the nal short :)

[6] Feeling a bit nostalgic I went back to [7]Sammys blog and located her original PDF just to take another butchers at how she had this scene originally. It is still pretty awesome even now really. The only thing that made this short suer in the early stages was there was too much information to t into the allotted 1:30 max 90

duration. Sammy had to speed up the original just to t everything in. Also this rendition was much more like a whacky cartoon with a sneaky little shit kid. Even the music is upbeat... everyone will be shocked to see what its like now... I cant wait much more morbid! Its been 2 years since that time when we all sat down at Crits pulling our hair out worrying about every little mistake (I can say that from personal experience). Still I think back to that and I dont think I was as worried as some probably just more tired and beaten by the end. I dont think this project is going to be any dierent if Im completely honest. Personally I just cant wait to get down to modelling these characters thats my big win. Then I get a bit of extra time to do some rigging. The plane set is going to be a trial and error experience but it will be fun! Anyway! Over & Out, xXStItChXx
1. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-storyboard.html 2. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/rough-storyboard-complete.html 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/78259236 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/samprem_zps68a6a188.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/drafted_zps767e52d6.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/original_zps83741baa.jpg 7. http://sammybutler.blogspot.co.uk/

& Son... - environment concepts part 2 (2013-10-31 13:20)

In an attempt to knit together the environment and characters, and to demonstrate the way the theatre box could work, Ive mocked up a very rudimentary box in Maya and some back-cloths in the dierent styles we have been looking at. Thoughts please... :)

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1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5NH4jsN2nLg/UnK7HdiKPGI/AAAAAAAAC4E/0A2IYF2YwbI/s1600/Slide1.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EkcWpDMuNE/UnK7Hd0s2MI/AAAAAAAAC4I/Df3_d5AzBiQ/s1600/Slide2.jpg 3. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwOqnb4E8z4/UnK7IDzoj7I/AAAAAAAAC4c/4Xfl6PeXL8E/s1600/Slide3.jpg 4. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YmnPpe9LQCk/UnK7HwQrxuI/AAAAAAAAC4Q/zpNFE-29Is4/s1600/Slide4.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-10-31 16:10:25) OMG these are BEAUTIFUL! SO SO SO SOO GOOD! I REALLY like 2! It would be a shame to lose those lines.

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They look great Sammy Butler (2013-10-31 16:11:38) I think it has a hint of the buildings in 101 dalmatians... that opening sequence that we thought was quite British :D

Animatic - Ext Graveyard Sequence (2013-10-31 16:22)

Im working on the more rened storyboard... which are really the cells for the animatic. I wanted to get an idea on what style the team are happy with... my original animatic wasnt very telling of the action though I had coloured it in and so on. This time the facial expressions, timing and actions are more important then making it look lmic for the animatic so I want to invest the time into getting the movements and expressions right through line... Youll see in this little snippet here.. detail where its needed. Once I have all the cells and Ive made a really rough animatic... the real work begins. Finesse the edit! IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/qL-2yVXEhAg
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/qL-2yVXEhAg

tutorphil (2013-10-31 16:24:52) yes Sammy - the work youre putting in here is very important because its going to reveal so much more and very quickly too. Good stu. Chrissie Peters (2013-11-01 01:12:32) fab! love the way it shows the transitions :) Chrissie Peters (2013-11-01 01:13:03) and the long shots showing lack of eye contact really show it well x

1.3

November

& Son... costume research - Barnabas & Bernard (2013-11-01 06:40)

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1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-os3aE0OhV9g/UnOvMMdOwkI/AAAAAAAAC4s/q_E97WBThOo/s1600/Slide1.JPG 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qq-68qXbjzU/UnOvS7FSAzI/AAAAAAAAC40/gtsWDZoR-mk/s1600/Slide2.JPG

Interesting article.... (2013-11-01 06:41)

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1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ngJxOnQDpI/UnOvkUgoH-I/AAAAAAAAC48/NZ5rtSEWSfw/s1600/Slide3.JPG

Character Faces (2013-11-02 08:13)

This week the team has been steaming ahead with perfecting the characters. Weve been together drawing up costumes and discussing the nal details on each of the 4 characters to be modelled- Barnabas, Benjamin, Young Barnabas and Bernard. I then took Chrissie and Stitchs designs and combined them, along with the goal of making them all look related, to give us the nal designs for the characters faces. 94

[1]

The colouring is subject to change but theyre roughly the colours were going for. Also Young Barnabas has a eck of paint on his cheek and the heavy lines are in places are to pass information to Stitch for his turnarounds and orthographs. These are also my designs for Barnabas and Benjamins costume...

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1. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjbfPuALA0w/UnUTg1V1mhI/AAAAAAAAEJo/_J3OODGBmyg/s1600/Character+Faces.jpg 2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n0gGeMNDvUA/UnUTmM02JrI/AAAAAAAAEJ0/3It_Daq-uQc/s1600/costume+benji.jpg 3. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SH7TjDtWWZw/UnUTmiOkGWI/AAAAAAAAEJ4/PqtLXVqqXAA/s1600/costume.jpg

tutorphil (2013-11-02 08:53:48) I recognise that hairline and facial hair! ;) Sammy Butler (2013-11-02 16:12:46) Vincent Van Gogh?

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 6 (2013-11-02 17:47)

Hello Everyone, Another week has gone by so I thought Id get out in front of these as I will be spending the rest of my time up until next week working on expression sheets and turnaround images for our 4 chief characters. I also have a couple of costume designs to knock up based from Chrissies invaluable research (something I havent had in my earlier designs). I will do my best to get as much done as possible so we can get cracking. Chrissie will be putting one of my former character models (Charles - rightly owned by Smoke Stack Studios: [1]http://smokestackstudios.blogspot.co.uk) into a scene with our 2D assets to see how they look comparatively. Special love goes to my former Smoke stack creative partners Anita Gill and Lydia Caplan for allowing us to use him. You rule ladies! Everything is go as we have our green light pitch next week in which we want to only submit resolved stu. The development has been discussed in numerous tutorials across this unit so no more development needs to be seen really... We now have to show everyone what we have resolved and I personally am getting stir crazy waiting on getting my hands dirty with some 3D modelling. I also have my business Partner Rossleho waiting in the wind for me to turn up at his with some Magic sculpt and 4 turnarounds for him to get stuck into sculpting them by hand... Another little video log ;) The future is going to be interesting! 96

[2] Alan Tutorial Phil Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: This week our tutorials were shorter then usual as most of the major discussions have already been had. The main topic was on what to present in the green light pitch so we can get a bit more advice on week 7. We established that our Animatic should be played rst before everything without any explanation just to see if it reads to an unaware audience. Phil & Alan both thought people who knew the story would easily connect the dots but to people who dont it would be handy to know now so we can correct shots (if any). We also established what we want for the crit, these include nal (inked and coloured) turnarounds, render tests with a 2D scene vs. 3D character and our animatic. This week is going to be hectic for all of us, with Sammy working her way through a lengthily draft animatic, Chrissie running render tests in Maya. While I will be knocking around expression sheets, costume tests and nal turnarounds... We have a busy time, but we will make it! Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://smokestackstudios.blogspot.co.uk/ 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/abwk6_zpsdb303cd7.jpg

Anita (2013-11-02 18:16:34) Just glad that Charles isnt forgotten! haha Lydia Caplan (2013-11-03 02:40:41) Itll be exciting to see him back on screen!! :)

Pre-Production: Hat Design for Final Logo (2013-11-03 14:32)

Hello Everyone, You will probably all call me crazy but I suppose what else is new. I spent a bit of today knocking about a hat design for our T Shirts (something to make the logo & Son ours - unique to us). I rst set about looking for Hat models to give me a basic hat shape to work from (trying to save time). Once I found one I 97

put it in ZBrush and distorted it shaped it dierently (making it much longer). I wrapped it up with a nice little ower stuck in the hat (which is actually a gag ower - not a real one). After that I thought as Im already in ZBrush why not try to composite some layers? I did just that being fully into it since Phil asked me to do the Driver last week. This post will show all of the render layers I used in creating the nal outcome. The beautiful thing about working in render layers is you can change the colour of shadows/lights, anything because it is all separate. You can mask sections of the hat allowing you to paint that section only or exclude it from other layers. It gives you full licence to make the image something dierent just by tweaking values and adding splatters of paint here and there... Seriously its powerful stu!! Below you will see the nal hat and then everything that led up to it!

[1] The image above is the nal hat on its lonesome... This of course was tweaked and adjusted from a number of render layers allowing me to slightly tweak certain aspects including light colour and opacity, material, depth strength, colour raw/Photoshop & reectivity. I could even use the FX controls to adjust hues of shadow and light or drop slight shadows behind the hat itself. The control by doing compositing (or Weta) is 98

certainly astounding I love it. The hat design itself is slightly elongated. In case there was any question this is Benjamins hat...

[2] First in this process is the masks, its handy to have poly-groups so you can split the mask into sections you know will hold a dierent material (which means dierent reections, colours, etc.). The hat was simple as it only had a band which I knew had to be slightly darker and maybe a little more reective then the main body of the hat. Then you have the slower which I made really bright and gave it a skin shader material which I found worked quite well giving the colour some heft without too much reectivity. Anyway after you have the masks you get to the individual basic passes. [3] These are the basic passes I used, now you dont necessarily always need a beauty but in this case I wanted it as I wanted the materials which I coated the hat in. I also wanted to be able to adjust them individually. Thats where the masks came in allowing me to cut the colour of the slower out and use it as and when. It also allowed me to change the colour of the ower if I wanted without eecting the rest of the hat. I used ZBrushs colour brush which throws random colours in with your chosen shade to give it some variety. I didnt want to paint it too much yet... not until I go into modelling mode.

[4] 99

Next came the lights for the hat which boiled down to the basic 3 - Key, Fill & Rim. I got the idea for these from a handy author on the ZBrush forums who has to have composited renders for his portfolio. Basically the key is your main source of light while the ll connects the disparity of light between the key and the rim. The rim is to show the opposing side so it doesnt just sit in darkness with a shine on one end. I lowered the opacity on it but you can see it on the nal design. The big mistake I made was not getting enough light on the ower... Oh well, next time.

[5] This led to the nal hat design where I coloured the ower slightly dierent and garnished all the lights with a blue tint. I added Sammys logo (tilted) and punched up some of the darker blues giving it a strong blue drop shadow at its lights source. The ladies thought it was too dark but I dunno I still prefer it bigger, especially if it printed how my screens said it would. We came to an agreement by putting a smaller rendition of the hat on the text itself (they were worried that people would not be able to see the dark text in front of the hat - which is fair enough).

[6] Afterwards we laid the designs out on the [7]spreadshirt.co.uk/ website and got the little beauties printed. Well they should be here by weds or Thurs just in time for pitch day... I will probably be pulling a super man (changing my shirt in the shower as Chrissie is the orderee). Anyway I bet you wouldnt have thought there would be so much hassle over a single hat but I proved that you can do one of my posts based on it especially if your working with render passes. I am actually quite chued with the design of the hat too, it was kind of a y by your pants moment for me, the ower was inspired from one of my earlier designs... Anyway I have a number of other things to do tonight and for the rest of this week but I thought I would knock this up just because it looks pretty cool. Its given me enough condence to crack on with the rest of the stu urgently. I am actually glad I sat down to do those Driver images for Phil they really gave me the idea of doing a composited hat for concept.... This is the rst prop design I have created that I am actually happy with so thats kind of new... ha-ha. Well the pitch is not far away and we are doing good... catch you dudes later! 100

Over & Out, xXStItChXx

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/FinalHat_zpsae593dda.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/HatMasksLine_zps69cf5c70.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BasicPassLine_zps7820d151.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/HatLightsLine_zpsb297f2d7.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/FinalLine_zps2c05bdf4.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/shirtsordered_zps1bd36895.jpg 7. http://spreadshirt.co.uk/

Animatic Scene 1 - The Graveyard (2013-11-04 05:21)

All this week Im full steam on the animatic so we can present it at the pitch and receive an all important audience reaction/feedback. Weve all looked at the story too long to be able to see it with fresh eyes. Heres the rst scene of the animatic. Not happy with the dodgy curtain action at the beginning but its there to represent live footage. The curtain will be real on a real theatre box... then the animation with appear behind the curtain as it lifts and obviously still using SFX Ive pulled from the net. We plan to record our own soon.

IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/GhZTnW5lYpI
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/GhZTnW5lYpI

Pre-Production: Benjamin Costume Tests (2013-11-04 23:06)

Hello Everyone, One of many updates but this took so long to get completed I will have to drastically speed up for the next 3. I have turnarounds to blast through before Friday. Anyway when it comes to costume design its always a bit of an ache for me. Dont get me wrong I get why we do it but argh it can be tedious just trying to think up new design ideas for costumes. For this post I have knocked together a couple of ideas that I have been keeping to myself. These designs were drawn layered on a light box before being brought into manga for inking... There is quite a process that I went through for these designs. Everything begins from the base forms I knocked up in weeks 1-5 which were our rough guide for character form... They are not nal but they are mannequins to dump costumes over. After that I posed them and then took a render from an angle I liked. I then chose to drape the mannequin in layers using the light box. This means that I drew 4 versions of his suit jacket on one piece of animation paper and 4 versions of his trousers on a dierent piece of animation paper, etc, etc. From there things got scanned and were inked in Manga studio before making their way to Photoshop for combining and animating... Phew that was a bit of a mouthful, anyway I will show you the end result of this... 101

[1]

I created this from 4 full costume variants, I interchanged certain elements of the image to get 10 alternate costumes from my initial 4 (e.g. mixing a hat with another costume or a dierent bow tie with shoes, etc). What I got was a variety of dierent styles which certainly cheered me up only having 4 colour variants (I wish there was time for more but I have to get cracking on the others). For now though I think this really gives a good selection and if anything is preferred we can address it at a later date... From what I know the suits are pretty much decided... I mainly wanted to play with size and colour... 102

[2]

This is how he looks layered across 5 sheets of animation paper. There was also originally a guide in there so I knew the gesture of the body and direction of the face. I just wanted to work in layers from a traditional standpoint for a change without committing to Photoshop for my layering needs straight away. Besides it was nice to see the possibilities for the character in pencil. Besides having these lines already mapped out made inking an easy thing to navigate although there was no time to rene and clean up... Maybe for the next round ill keep it simpler. 103

[3]

The hats were quite a breeze as there was only so much I could do with it without totally revamping the model I made for our logo. Hat 4 was the one I based the logo on just in case anybody is wondering. A part of me loves the feather in the cap (Hat 1) but that could be me comparing this guy to dynamite headdy not sure. I found the thin hat (Hat 3) charming but again we wanted the hat to be kind of big for him... This will probably have to be adapted a little more when I nally get down to the models... It will be a scaling thing more then a shaping thing... 104

[4] Next going down the body I got to the bow tie again there was not a lot I could do with this as our story has established a spotted bow tie from the get go. The thing I found myself adjusting was the size fundamentally depending on how huge Sammy wants it. I kind of like it a bit understated which is probably why I like 1. Never the less they are look ne, its more or less the same design... It wasnt until colour was added that I really explored some variants for it. Never the less it was a nice and quick thing to sketch and ink...

[5] With the jacket I found a bit more optional variance particularly with how he holds himself how long the back of his jacket extends and is he has buttons done up or not... Jacket 1 is entirely Sammy inspired as her 105

and Chrissie really liked the jutting tummy with the sides of his jacket draping down the sides. I wanted to explore the option of the coat being done up lower (Jacket 3-4) and open (Jacket 2). They were probably right to prefer it looking as in Jacket 1 but I was glad I had the opportunity to explore the paths not taken so to speak...

[6]

Next came the shorts/trousers tests. The girls have been full on wanting shorts and saying that was the norm for kids in the 1930s which is ne.. I guess I just wanted to see him in trousers I even began adding in braces just to see if that could work. Of course these were understated by the rest of the costume but I thought it was something worth thinking about... after all the clothes are a bit drab some braces could punch up Benjamins attire a little more... Either way Im happy I had the opportunity to think about this a little more... I still love the trousers over the shorts but if shorts were a period thing then cool... 106

[7]

Next costume wise came the shoes which were probably my favourite part as I always love making clunky shoes. I knew I also had to add socks in as it was in all of Chrissies earlier designs for Benjamin. I wanted to make the front of the boots massive to make the whole thing feel more kiddy. I didnt deviate too far from Chrissies design other then changing the lengths of the socks and the sharpness of the shoes... After all we all really liked the choices for his shoes already. Never the less I enjoyed making his boots miles bigger then the dainty dummy feet suggested... 107

[8] In the end I threw some basic colour over the top of these designs not looking to colour things too bright to keep our understated washed out feel. The one bright element is the bow tie except in test 2 because I wanted to see the bow tie washed out. These were the 4 designs which chop and change at random at the top of this post... I actually wrote down number combinations to randomise the individual choices (e.g. 43214 meant hat variant 4, bow tie variant 3, suit variant 2, trouser variant 1 and shoe variant 4). This kept everything interesting and completely random. This ultimately gave me 14 dierent designs using 4 variants of a basic costume... The combinations could have gone further but as I said it took waaaay too long to knock up all of this stu for the post 14 costume variants is my happy number. Well I still have 3 others to go but Im hoping there poses will be easier to doodle over as this one was mainly dicult due to the crossed arms. Still I have had fun knocking these up and the animation was certainly a nice way of looking at things dierently. Hope everyone else is having fun tonight, I got more work to do!! Later tater xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/costume-change_zpsaf9ef442.gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/phot1o_zpsc5597940.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjaminhats_zpsb02d235b.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjaminbowtie_zps6dcef7ac.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjaminjackets_zpsc92c8c61.jpg 6. jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjaminshoes_zpsa56a00a6.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminColourTests_zpsc6b78465. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjamintrousers_zps806f399a.

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Chrissie Peters (2013-11-05 01:28:36) soopa...hat needs to be bigger I think :) Stitch (2013-11-05 02:35:23) yeah scaling is not an issue... its just design based. those dummys are based on the old Benjamin forms... Sammy has reimagined his size so Ill be adopting accurate things when it comes to the turnarounds.

Pre-Production: Barnabas Costume Tests (2013-11-06 23:37)

Hello Everyone, Apologies for the delay this goes out to my Polydoodle Partners Chrissie and Sammy more then anyone else. Been sick the past few days, got u from somewhere, argh its irritating. Anyway one of the things I have been gradually posting up is the costume tests for our characters. After doing one it didnt feel right not to do all of them. Besides I also would like to explore costume options before settling on the design for the turnaround and thus the 3D model. This is what inspired me to try and get these done before tacking turnarounds... Anyway after my posting the Benjamin costume tests my partners Chrissie and Sammy had a few scaling and asymmetrical requirements not in the design. I went about this just by explaining that these costumes are not to show scale as these are just to explore colour and alternative details. The asymmetric details are something which is not entirely needed until after the models are made. I nd it easier to build 3D models symmetrically as it allows me to duplicate sides. The asymmetric details are added after everything has been painted and properly staged. Anyway below are a couple of costume variants for the Barnabas form. 109

[1]

The animation is made from 4 costume variants mixed and matched to make 10 alternative designs using interchangeable parts. The dummy itself was chosen in the earlier weeks from a massive selection of forms. All 3 of us came to agreement on how it looked but it has since changed a little from what it was. The nal turnarounds will feature some of the characteristics of this dummy but may not be exact. The arms are a little too long and the back is arched a bit too far back. All of this is crude for the costume tests, renement is the next step. 110

[2]

The image above shows a number of hat variants which I created to explore mainly the size of the hat, I added some signiers for the direction of the weave and in one particular case (Hat 3) some minor wear and tear. I wasnt sure if we wanted to keep Barnabass suit pristine or a little battered. Thinking about it a little more I imagined Sammy saying to me he has to be particular ha-ha. Benjamin is our scruy one so I envisioned Barnabas adhering to his fathers regime eventually by growing up and adopting professional formal attire. 111

[3]

Next came his suit which I tried to keep separate from the jacket, but as the design was signicantly dierent (lower or higher moving lines) I found myself having to merge it with the jacket after adding colour. These designs have to be interchangeable and if the jacket design is dierent they dont t or details are lost. I tried a couple of tie/bow tie tests before trying it without. Again I wasnt sure what to adopt, I think Sammy will probably like to keep as many things consistent as possible so a bow tie might be the nal answer here. 112

[4]

For the Jacket I was largely looking at Chrissies lovely research boards which were actually invaluable for the alternate designs. I actually liked the idea of the handkerchief in the pocket, a part of me wanted to make the polka dot red like the boys bow tie only make it faded to show how time as faded Barnabas. I kind of thought it was poetic, it may still be something ill consider when I knock up the nal turnarounds. I liked the longer Jacket from the image above, I think it suits his frame quite nicely and it was inspired again by Chrissies research! 113

[5]

I knocked about a couple of ideas for trousers but to be honest there are only so many things I could think for a pair of trousers. You either have pockets, no pockets, a belt maybe, baggy, tight, but thats about it. I had originally knocked in braces but to be honest I dont think it would read very well under a closed jacket. The dierentiation would largely be by the colour and the design of the trousers. I remembered that most suits have running lines down them that are faint... You can actually nd these in lots of modern suits too... I tried that for two of the pant designs... 114

[6]

Then I sat down and played with the shoes which was initially a little dicult as I was drawing them in perspective or trying to. I found the shoes getting progressively bigger but the socks probably had the most variation. Sammy and liked the one up one down for Benjamin but Barnabas. I wanted him to be a bit more turned out and professional. I kept his designs as symmetrical as possible. I drew polka dots on to one pair of the socks just because I wanted to see how that looked. It was fun but I think it would work better on a handkerchief. 115

[7]

The last of my individual designs was the coat tails which I found dierentiated signicantly when looking at some of the coats undertakers wear. Some of the designs had double coat tails while others had a single... I also wanted to consider the option of not having coat tails but just an actual coat. I actually found these quite fun to draw from the original sketches. It was also cool to see how they all looked on alternate suits. Benjamin has something similar but his are actually longer then these... I attribute that to Barnabass height more then anything. 116

[8] The image above shows the initial 4 costume tests with their alternating colours. Just like Benjamin I tried to go very washed out but I didnt want to stay in the black/blue territory for tests. I tried faded out browns and reds in the name of exploration. I was surprised to nd that I liked the brown in the longer coat. You will also notice the line design I dotted throughout a couple of the colour tests, I did this just to see if I would like it with alternate colours and I do. That being said Im pretty sure the black/blue will be the colour of our undertaker... I mean undertakers wear blah DUH! It was nice to sit down and try a couple of things out for this post, again these are mainly so I can try out a few things before committing them into turnarounds. I will also follow these with a little concept art, it bugs me that I havent done any yet. This stage in the process allows me to see what I want and what works. I have found that a number of these designs work, I have also found a way to signify the fathers loss of colour and enthusiasm in life (handkerchief - faded), its subtle but I think this will work and we will see how things go from there! take it easy xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Barnabas-Costume-Animation_

zpsba21ee88.gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/HatVariants_zps2df21abc.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/shirtvariants_zps204c7cd7.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/coatvariants_zpsce0144db.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/trouservariants_zps7de7c7af.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/shoesvariant_zps445360be.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/tailvariants_zpsb0cf7683.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasCostumeColourTests_ zpsb2262088.jpg

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Pre - Pre - Vis (2013-11-07 15:20)

IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/4iMd30tVk7o
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/4iMd30tVk7o

The Minor Pitch (2013-11-08 01:00)

The Presentation Interim Crit Document IFRAME: [1]//www.scribd.com/embeds/182566870/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true The Animatic IFRAME: [2]//www.youtube.com/embed/rdawlsaXnZE The Pre-Pre-Vis? IFRAME: [3]//www.youtube.com/embed/4iMd30tVk7o
1. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/182566870/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true 2. file://www.youtube.com/embed/rdawlsaXnZE 3. file://www.youtube.com/embed/4iMd30tVk7o

tutorphil (2013-11-10 05:39:38) Hi Polydoodlers! I will be passing by to talk about the dicult mother soon, but I just wanted to see if the oer re. presenting on Friday to some pre-applicants was still a go-er? The point about these presentations is to be high-energy, very condent and, in your instance, talking up the pleasures of collaboration - and the way strengths and skills can be combined. The idea of a piece of rst year work being carried forward is a good insight plus the whole issue of combining styles and cgi not just having to be Pixar-tastic. Your audience are young and very enthusiastic, so unlike the presentations we give to the actual new rst years in which were trying to prepare them for the realities of the course, Id like you to inspire them. Our slot is 11am onwards on the Friday - let me know how youd like to proceed :) Drop me an email. tutorphil (2013-11-11 13:44:00) Hi polydoodlers, Okay - Im just going to throw down a few suggestions/ideas re. & Son having watched the animatic a few times now. I suppose the point is that, while everything else is going into production re. characters, environments etc. they story can still absorb renements, so dont see this moment as sigh but rather as the process - and just how worth all the back and forth it will be when its perfecto! I think the audience needs to be told that the mother is dead. What Im going to suggest means more work and a new beginning, so yes, its radical. This is, of course, just a suggestion, but try it on for size. Scene 1: Opens on horse-drawn carriage as per animatic. Its raining. We see front view of father and son in their undertakers garb etc. We understand this is their job and that theyre o to a funeral. The mood is very sombre.

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Scene 2: The graveside. Again we see Father and Son. We still think theyre doing just another job. We see them standing before a headstone. We now see the epitaph on the gravestone; it reads, Gladys Badgersworth, Loving Wife and Mother - with the additional inscription Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you. Father puts hand on sons shoulder. Cut to long-shot - two lonely gures, empty graveyard, rain. Scene 3 - back to beginning of animatic and whoopee-cushion sequence. After the son honks I just think there should be a more complex facial reaction - so hes pleased with himself, wants his dad to be happy, but then we also see his expression fall a little. Scene 4 - the invoice scene. Theres a line of action problem here. It would just be much easier for the audience if all the photographs etc are on the wall directly behind the fathers desk. So the establishing shot of him working at his desk is from behind, so we see him, the desk and the wall of photos and paintings - including the group shot. I also think the son should be in this scene too - on the oor, maybe polishing the horse brasses. Theres an opportunity here for some parallel action of some kind so; we see the father hard at work on the invoices - miserable - we see the son hard at work polishing the horse brasses - miserable; the father spills the ink, sees the bird, looks up sees the painting of the bird, then camera tracks to a newspaper clipping (or similar) in which we see same painting winning local art competition, and in this photograph, we see husband and wife standing either side of winning painting, with the wife looking on very proudly. Then, we see the son on the oor, hes now got some brass polish on his hand, so that it looks something like this: http://i.istockimg.com/le thumbview approve/2431884/2/stock-photo-2431884-colorful-hand-puppet.jpg He makes this face smile - the son smiles, his other hand going to his bow-tie, and then his pov going to the mothers chair with the sewing box beneath it - and were shown the polka-dot material much more obviously. The sons smile fades. At this same point, we see the father turn around and look at the chair. We see them both looking at the chair. They see each other looking at the chair. The son shows the father the hand-face - makes it smile. The father scowls, turns away, then puts the bird-paper in the drawer and slams it shut. The son, sad, looks at the chair. A clock ticks etc. tutorphil (2013-11-11 13:44:34) Okay - so this maybe not it exactly - but having them both in the room - the chair between then feels like it will manifest the mother more so; and likewise, I think the addition of the clipping on the wall will make things clearer, and the idea of some kind of parallel action between father and son as they both nd themselves pining for the mothers inuence. By putting all the photos/images on the wall directly infront of the father, you do away with some of that awkward wheres he looking now feeling that this scene has currently. I also reckon the mothers song should fade in as the father sees the bird and the son makes his face and then should stop very suddenly when the father slams shut the drawer. The other suggestion was ensuring that someone at the funerals is grateful to the japes - a small 2d child with a look of wonder as the hats pop o, for example; a giggling little girl with frogs, a smiley old granny enjoying the dancing 2d people that is! Anyway, these are the suggestions - for further discussion and interrogation!

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Costume Tests (2013-11-11 12:26)

Hello Everyone, We have been taking a few days to get our dissertations checked and double checked so you will have to excuse a few delayed posts here and there for this week at the very least. While I am doing this I thought I would take the opportunity to post up a couple more costume test things. This may not be the most interesting topic but it is never the less a development step for the key characters. This post particularly focuses on Young Barnabas where I tried to go away from the traditional norms as he is a mischievous child at this point in his life. I decided to shy away from keeping him too done up but I wanted a kind of formality to his attire. I wanted 119

the thing that denes him to be a paint splotch or two or a paintbrush in the silken lining of his hat. I had quite a bit of fun with his design for this reason. I still put the normal undertakers attire in to appease what I envision to be Sammys vision but these ones were probably more for me to show that I eshed him out a little. Of course then you randomly mix and match and you never know what might work in the end... I just want to provide everyone with options. Anyway below are a couple of costume variants for the Young Barnabas form.

[1] The image above shows the randomised costume variants available (which I kept limited to 10 once again). I could have sat down and picked out my favourite but I always think its better to post randomly here. After all the girls can always say to me I like that hat but I dont like that it has a paintbrush in it, etc. I also want to make my mark on the character, something which is solely my inuence but I gured Id get that opportunity in the modelling process. I just want to make sure that I have explored the earlier steps fully before going into 3D. IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/79114281 The video above shows the process I undertook for all of these costumes tests, I thought it would be an interesting thing to document into a doodler video. Most of these videos have been based around Sammy so I thought Id give people a little look into my domain for this particular project. Everything began as sketches on a light box which I then scanned in to explore digitally before committing them to an animated wardrobe. It was fun to do as I have never attempted to demonstrate costume options in this way before, I may do this in the future for other characters... Its a good idea. 120

[3]

The image above shows the hat designs I knocked up for Young Barnabas. I wasnt sure how playful we were going so I tried to keep everything simple. The big addition to this particular set of hats was the option of the paintbrush which I found to be quite a nice idea. It hadnt dawned on me at this point that Sammy had Barnabas without a hat in the ashback of his childhood so Im still not sure if a hat is relevant here. Never the less I had to explore the design for my own curiosity and I have to say I am quite pleased that I did here... 121

[4]

Next I decided to explore his jacket/shirt, again there is only so much I could do with an undertakers attire. One thing I have to keep considering is if this is the girls vision at all but then I tell myself that these are to provide options for us all. The main things here are the tie and the bow tie which I got from Chrissies earlier research. I put the tie in the mix because it did exist in the earlier Victorian times and undertakers wore them. I also wanted it because it allowed me to mix the designs up a little more making things interesting. 122

[5]

I found myself at a bit of a crossroads with the trousers, I found myself looking at painters attire which kind of gave me a bit of a baggy vibe. I know the ladies are kind of dead set on shorts for our little tykes but again I wanted to explore. I had fun with the really baggy paint stained trousers and even more with the braces. I may have to include the braces in one of the designs just so I can mix it up a little. You cannot appreciate them on these tests but I think they would be a fun thing to include underneath someones jacket. 123

[6]

The shoes on Young Barnabas were my favourite variety as I got the length just right to constitute their size. I also had a lot of fun looking at the socks (paying special attention to the fact that Chrissie and Sammy want one down and one up). I even experimented with putting a dab of paint on them although you cannot see it on the ink renditions. I especially loved the tip of the shoe and the way its isolated (i.e. a dierent colour). Of these I loved the biggest shoe which was shoe 4 (sorry Chrissie and Sammy I had to confess my love for this pair of shoes). 124

[7]

Finally I sat down to knock up various coat tails to try on this particular form. I actually found these a little boring but when placed with the jacket they make sense and its nice to try the dierent variants at random. I tried to colour them the same as their respective jackets for the colour tests below. I have to say I have enjoyed this process and will probably look into doing it more in the future albeit with lesser harsh lines. The trick with these costume tests is everything has to be interchangeable and cover the gaps of the former, thats what makes it kind of tricky. 125

[8] Last but not least are the initial 4 costume tests I made. I didnt mean to post my signature there but I was playing before hand and completely forgot to turn it o when I shot out this image. Anyway these costume tests show the formal with the more fun painterly undertaker artist. We have a nice range here so if theres anything the ladies liked particularly we can consider that for the nal model. I might add some of these details anyway when in the middle of modelling just to see what I nd works and what doesnt. Anyway I only have one costume test to go and I will probably post that tomorrow just to complete this little set and to hopefully apply some varied ideas. After that I will follow with expression sheets and turnarounds for the nal characters. I also have a couple of videos in the pipeline but they will have to wait till I have completed my workload for this week. The priority for all of us at the moment is to get our draft dissertation nalized so we can move on. In the meantime we appreciate everyones patience, I will also get some concept art going soon so be ready for that! take it easy xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Young-Barnabas-Animation_ zpseb4de886.gif 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/79114281 3. jpg 4. 5. 6. jpg 7. http: http: http: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasshoes_zpsa61a3318. //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasjackets_zpsccb8c8f9.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabastrousers_zpsd23ba9aa.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabashats_zpsbffb45e9.

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//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabascoattail_zps7586bf84.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasCostumecolour_ zps5c7e614d.jpg

Video Logs: & Son Interim Presentation (2013-11-11 21:57)

Hello Everyone, Its taken a while to upload but it is here all 22 minutes of our interim presentation last Friday (08/11/2013). For those of you that do not know usually once every Unit we have to give a presentation to our tutors and class to get the fabled Green Light. A green light is the tutors way of giving the all clear to a project that they are satised with its direction. This also allows the tutors to give feedback to any areas of a project that need improvement or adjustment. From our presentation it was mostly positive but there are little areas which our tutors (Phil & Alan) thought could need adjustment. To make things easier on everyone I decided to embed the actual full version of the animatic and pre-pre-viz into the video so people could experience it full screen. I will time code these areas just in case anybody would like to look at those solely. Other then that everything else is the actual presentation and feedback directly from Phil and Alan (you should be able to see them in the bottom left of the video). At this point we were just trying to be in a half decent place to receive more advice from our tutors. This is also why our interim document was quite short as we were told just to show the things which were nite at this point in our creative journey for & Son. Anyway to view the crit video please check it out below... I will time code the extras!

IFRAME: [1]//player.vimeo.com/video/79139013

The video above shows the entire 22 minute duration of our presentation to our CG Arts class. I was feeling a bit crap on the day so there were not many words from me. Our show runner Samantha Butler lead the presentation and myself and Chrissie Peters tried to jump in where we could. The presentation was largely about the Animatic just to see what peoples impressions were of the story at this stage. We didnt exactly get feedback from everyone in the class but Alan and Phil gave us some much needed input which will hopefully shape its outcome further. 127

[2] The image above shows a test shot I took before the presentations had gone underway. I think at this point everyone went out to ll up on energy drinks and snacks for a day of presentations. All of them took place in our home away from home Lecture Theatre 1 which I hadnt been in since mid-year-2 (Sept-2012 - when we were doing lm reviews). I was a bit shocked as we usually get to do our presentations upstairs hey-ho. I had to sit at the back of the room for this one just so I could get a decent shot of the stage... It was a bit dark though.

[3] The image above shows a Still from the Animatic which Sammy posted to me and Chrissie in a face-book discussion. It shows the hair raising moment before the con is knocked over (MWAHAHA). The animatic can be found in the video above at 1.35, so if you would like to just watch that you can skip to that point 128

in the video. I thought it was more clear to post these videos within the video as opposed to watching the screen from a distance. Sammy wanted to explain a bit more before the Animatic was played but Chrissie managed to talk her down.

[4] Last but not least was a showing of Chrissies 2D/3D experiment the 3D Pre-Previz. This was to show how 2D digital sets could work with 3D character models. Smokestack Studios Charles was the 3D character used in Chrissies 2D Environments. This section can be found at 12.28 into the video above so please check it out if you havent already. Aside from some lighting woes and the absence of texture on Charles it looked pretty nice to see the 2D with the 3D. The scaling was also out on some objects but at this point it was just to test the water. I wanted to get this video up at some point today (yesterday now), of course it was quite massive and took all evening to get onto vimeo. Its like I said it is quite long running in at 22 minutes but it is still a vital step as we continue onwards with our animated short. From here we have a few little things to x with the Animatic (with a little renement here and there). I myself have to dive head rst into turnarounds now after getting to a place I am happy with the dissertation. Chrissie has to get deeper into her 2D environments and characters so we have plenty to go next year. Over & Out, xXStItChXx
1. file://player.vimeo.com/video/79139013 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/shot_zpsdd0c8009.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/135animatic_zps36967991.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1228prepreviz_zps424f9316.jpg

tutorphil (2013-11-14 03:04:48) Hi guys - re. Fridays presentations, Im going to suggest we meet at 10.30 in the baseroom, so I can take you to the venue and get you initiated into the A/V system they got there before things kick o at 11am. :)

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Pre-Production: Benjamin Form Anatomy (2013-11-14 03:44)

Hello Everyone, I meant to post this up the other day as per Sammys request before jumping into full on turnaround mode but its here now so lets get to it. Sammy put it to me on Tuesday that she wanted me to explore the stylised vs. real anatomical connotations on Benjamin. She wanted me to explore the possibilities for the character before deciding on a route. Of course I was a little sceptical I mean I have explored the form with 3D dummys earlier in week 1 of this project (See link [1]here). Anyway I set to it not just to give Sammy what she wanted but to prove my theory of Benjamins ultimate form. I have staked out numerous sources including some of the earlier stu Sammy and Chrissie have been drawing in regard to Benjamins design. I even used a book (Figure Drawing for all its worth - Andrew Loomis) to gain more of an understanding for the head rule in young boys. What I found was that boys aged 5 tend to be comprised of 6 heads (evenly 3 to groin - mid point and 3 for legs to foot). There was also something else to consider, that childrens characters tend to have bigger heads then their bodies (2x the head) this makes them appealing to children. With these things noted I jumped into redesigning Benjamins Skeleton. 130

[2]

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[3]

[4]

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movement tests using Benjamins skeleton (images above). The image to the far left is based on the realistic proportions of a 5 year old with Benjamins head. The image in the middle is an adaptation suggested by Sammy - that being shorter chest and longer legs. Last but not least the image to the far right is actually based from my dummy 3D pose tests. It was bugging me that we were not using the proportions of my form tests even though it appeared we were more or less adhering more towards them without our knowledge.

[5]

The journey started here (see image above). Sammys initial rendition derived from Chrissies concept art promoted the notion of a shorter lower body. I copied this and made it symmetrical shortening it slightly to t in the hat. What I found was these rules made the upper body 2 3/4 heads with the legs 1 2/4. Sammy wasnt too sure on these proportions wishing them to be more anatomical. This would mean the head ratio would have to be more even (I.e. 2 heads upper body 2 heads lower body). Im guessing she wanted to avoid the ape eect - that being arms as long as the legs. 133

[6]

I began this journey by looking into what I knew to be true - that being to apply anatomical rules to Benjamin the upper and lower body have to be even in heads. The groin is the half way point leaving the legs to take the same size as the main body. With adults the norm is 7 1/2 heads with the lower body getting the extra 1/2. Idealistic male proportions follow the 8 head rule which again is entirely even across the board (4 head upper, 4 head lower). After seeing this I realised 6 heads is just too big for Benjamin as we lose the cuteness, besides the style this far has never been THIS REALISTIC. 134

[7]

Next I decided to indulge Sammys earlier suggestion, that being that we shorten his chest cavity a little in an attempt to elongate the legs. This gave me a 4 1/2 head rule - 2 heads upper 2 1/2 heads lower much like the adult norm (7.5 heads) although obviously shorter - its a kid after all. The 4 head rule usually applies to 1 year olds as so sayeth my book. Still I preferred this to what 6 head rule gave me. It looked cuter and much more ideal which told me he had to be a short squirt. This more or less conrmed the kind of thing I liked all along (as did we all). 135

[8]

The thing which has probably gotten confused throughout our debates on Benjamins character is that the form was there all along. I rendered a silhouette from our preferred 3D form 16 and built a skeleton for that. This form follows the exact proportions for a 1 year old (4 heads - 2 upper and 2 lower). Throughout Sammys animatic she has been using this form - why? because it works. Sammys rendition based from Chrissies concept aged Benjamin beyond our agreed base form. I think we should be returning to this form to create Benjamins nal outcome.

[9] 136

[10]

[11]

I think I know why I made the head on the original form so big as it was to embed what I learnt from childrens characters (that is 2x the head for child engagement). What Benjamins form will ultimately depend on is if Sammy is looking for kids to Engage with this story. The easiest way to do that is to make Benjamins head bigger then his body as kids react more to this kinds of characters. Of course if the goal is to primarily entertain adults then this may not be the way to go. The aww calls which resonated with our green-light presentation was not just because Benjamin was sad but because he was cute. Im not saying that only kids respond to these kind of characters but society does, we consider them more appealing because they remind us of children. They remind us of what we once were. I would also like to note that this post does not reect stylistic choices but merely the proportion of character, anatomy/form. I know Sammy is a bit paranoid about the Disney epitaph making it through onto this project but that is a stylistic choice and has no distinction on form. Numerous companies create characters with bigger heads because it engages children. Anyway I think Im done explaining. Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/pre-production-benjamin-form-variants.html 2. 3. 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1cwalk_zps1cdb6457.gif http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1aform-animation-test-6-head_ http: zps64ea6528.gif //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1bform-animation-test_zpsd7165260.gif

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5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2sammyrendition_zps35cedb87.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3normalanatomy_zps8168dbc3.jpg 7. jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/5chosenbaseform_zpsb32f172f.jpg 9. https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4JNS6ZtTw12uZWW8feP2kcyib6eqU6vmSUqKqNJkRi9mcieAX7A 10. http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/graphics/2005_01_20spongebob.jpg 11. http://www.nutsaboutfun.com/media/1030/mickey-mouse-childrens-character-parties-barry-cardiff.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4sammysuggestion_zps02890bb5.

Pre-Production: Bernard Costume Tests (2013-11-17 16:34)

Hello Everyone, This week was another interesting one, mainly because it had us presenting once again only this time to foundation students. I think Sammy realised on the day that I am still a little out of my element in front of a crowd, I tried my best though. Anyway I was meant to do this post sooner but dissertation alterations kind of took priority. I still have a few to make but hopefully it shouldnt interrupt my nal anatomy tests for Barnabas. I decided to complete my costume test posts by doing Bernards just to show a couple of colour/costume variants to inspire when Im nalizing turnarounds. When drafting these designs I was looking at Chrissies research while also conducting a few little google searches of my own. It was nice to explore these choices, I mean it was kind of limiting as Sammy had already pretty much dened the costumes with her animatic. There are only so many options you can create for a standard issue suit and top hat. I guess more then anything I wanted to see how the costumes looked on the dummy forms. Having explored a little I can also say of some things which I will be including on the physical 3D model. Anyway lets take a look at some costume options for Bernard Bardgersworth 138

[1]

The image above shows the little costume wardrobe animation that I have been accustomed to making for this Unit. The costumes are made from 4 variant costumes which are broken into parts and then reassembled to create dierent variants. I use this to create 10 additional variants from the primary 4. This allows me to explore the idea of what Bernard could be wearing and what colour combinations may or may not work. These costumes are all tested on a Bernards early dummy form which was chosen by the Polydoodle Team to base him on at a structural level. 139

[2]

The image above shows 4 hat variants which were altered slightly by design. I didnt want to go too mad with the hat designs for Bernard. I didnt think hed have too much decoration. I thought I would try a feather just to see if it looked good on the hats. It could be an option for Bernards hat, not entirely sure though. I guess Im looking to individualise the hat per character but that may not be possible out side of size, shape and colour. The good thing about these designs are that Bernard and Barnabass forms are close so any of his hats could work here too... 140

[3]

Next came the Bow Ties I gured Id work down the body for this post. I went from a small little mini tie to the classic bow tie somewhat like Benjamins. Of course I also noted the string bow ties which some undertakers wore (these are represented by 3 & 4). I gured that the bigger bow tie would be something more fun and thus not Bernard as he is like the evil father of Barnabas. Putting something funny on him would not reect his personality no more then an angry face would work on a childrens character like Pooh Bear (wink wink - Justin). 141

[4]

For this form I decided to combine the jacket, coat tail and shirt as one, it had proved more dicult to keep these elements separate on other costumes. Again what made this selection dicult is there is only so much you can do with a suit jacket. I played with the coat tails which dier slightly per design. The jacket being buttoned, having an under vest (which some suits had back then), being partially open, etc. Still it was fun to explore the design a little, I actually enjoyed adding elbow patches, never really had an excuse to try it before... 142

[5]

Next came the trousers which I had to keep relatively short to keep it under the Jacket but in front of the coat tails. There was more dierentiation in the upper area of the design but I gured Bernards belly could hang over the upper area of the trousers (kind of like Benjamin). I explored the typical - Baggy trousers vs. tight tting trousers, I even explored the typical vertical line suit design which was then and still is classic. The good thing about Bernard and Barnabas are that there are no shorts... A bit of a nightmare when trying to try alternate trouser/short designs. 143

[6]

Then I decided to get cracking on the shoe and sock variants. I put a polka dot sock design in just to appease myself more then anything. I had fun designing his shoes more then anything, they actually complement the Bernard body quite well. Combined with the tight tting trousers they make him look very lanky and tall, perfect for his character. The long shoes also complement his posture which was something I was really proud of. The dummy is a little awed particularly with the shoulder alignment, but it does what it needs to for costume tests.... 144

[7] Last but not least these are the initial colour tests which created the wardrobe alternate forms at the top of this post. Test 2 is probably my favourite as I love the lanky trousers and the black suit complements everything quite well. We even have little Benjamins gut which could be attributed to the grandfather, just an observation. I liked the brown suit too but again gured that these are not preferable to an undertaker who would be in black. Still I wanted to explore things and I gured sometimes you have to go radical to explore the possibilities. Well I am kind of throwing out a sigh of relief right now as these costume tests have been a bit of a time drainer but at least I got there in the end... Its handy to explore as many aspects of your character as possible just so you can rule out bad decisions earlier on. What I have learnt from all of these is that black has to be the predominant colour anything else would not make sense here. Benjamin and Young Barnabas are the exceptions as they are children and are free. It is Bernard who constrains Barnabass colour which is what Barnabas nearly does to Benjamin... But he doesnt. Its nice even the colours of this short tell a story... Later people! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/0Bernard-Costume-Animation_ zpsa4746850.gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/1BernardHat_zpsca42e08a.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/2BernardBowTie_zps76d9f421.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/3BernardJacketShirt_zps01b7e939. jpg 5. jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/5BernardShoes_zps63bfbd1d.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ 6BernardCostumesCclourVariaants_zps05a1de33.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/4BernardTrousers_zps1fe0e510.

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Barnabas Build-up (2013-11-22 10:32)

Stitch is all ready to start creating the orthagraphs and turnarounds for our characters but to help keep consistency across the board Ive repeated what I did with Benjamin, with Barnabas. I took Chrissies design for him and translated it to a broken down structure to iron out the structural build-up for him.

[1] 1 - Sketching over the original design and working out the shapes 2 - Building a 2D rig from the sketch 3 - Use this rig to sketch out the character 4 - Sketch on its own 5 - Using the rig to create a side veiw Basically this is to pass information onto Stitch for him to work from. Showing the leg from sideways and front means he can interpret the design more clearly. In the le Ive sent him it the layers of clothes so he can hide things like the blazer. This is because, for the second scene, Barnabas wont be wearing a blazer so Stitch needs to see the shirt detail too.
1. jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef2fetZ6J2c/Uo-gU5j3RtI/AAAAAAAAEKI/6LXMzBX0Iq8/s1600/barnabus+posting+buildup.

Pre-Production: Barnabas Form Anatomy (2013-11-24 05:58)

Hello Everyone, We are back and it pleases me that I am the second post since this weeks Dissertation asco. We basically had to get our drafts ready for a Friday hand in so we were wrapping all of that up... That more or less excuses our absence but now we are full throttle again. I have to say I thought doing these anatomy tests would be a quicker exercise but there was a lot of face book debating over the forms so I had quite a bit of correcting to make Sammy and Chrissie happy. Its cool though I mean Im not doing my job if we dont all agree with something... Anyway this post is the Barnabas rendition of anatomical skeleton tests. Prior to adding detail and establishing a side prole I thought it best to get opinion on the number of heads into Barnabass body. We had a 146

system in place which we thought would work. We actually found that in the end it didnt which required me to go back and adjust Benjamins prole slightly. Of course then we had an issue with Benjamins head being bigger then Barnabass head which we looked odd when we compared to two together... Benjamin was clear as day and Barnabas wasnt... Anyway I have included everything in this post so you will see the journey...

[1] 147

[2]

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show a couple of the animated skeleton tests I conducted... This time I just had fun with the form which I ended up creating. There was such a huge amount of adjustment that I gured Id just show the girls how this form looks when moving in various ways. The arms are a little longer now just to bring it closer to the reference but fundamentally thats the form I ended up relying on. I could not resist adding the hat here, it was essential to guring out Barnabas to Benjamins head space. You may have to click the images to see it in its glory, Barnabas is signicantly taller then Benjamin.

[4]

Anyway I started o by working from Sammys rendition of Barnabas which she drew from Chrissies Barnabas (see the post [5]here). First I made it symmetrical as it makes it easier to plot the skeleton. I keep the faces Asymmetrical in this case as they just look wrong if there not. I then plotted an ideal 8 headed rule onto Barnabas (which at the time t exactly into Benjamins head). I found this hid a lot of Barnabass facial details making his had quite small to a large Benjamins. This is when I went onto facebook at reported the problem to my creative partners... 149

[6] The images above are individual images which I submitted to facebook for direct conrmation from Sammy and Chrissie. We knew Barnabass head had to be bigger but doing so would require us making him even taller. I started with a 5 head rule which quickly moved into 6 heads when Sammy thought his head was too big. I then made him 6.5 Barnabas heads tall (which was 10 world Benjamin heads). Then Sammy thought Benjamin looked too small so I corrected his size from 4 Benjamin heads to 4.5 adding the extra .5 to his leg height. Then I shrank Barnabass head slightly and all the Barnabas scale to get a nal 7 head rule which I thought worked quite well...

[7] I then found when scaling Barnabas that the nal 10 head Benjamin rule and a 7 head Barnabas rule had made it legible for the male anatomy - 7.5 head rule. It lines up almost perfectly which I was kind of chued with. This was where I realised the arms were probably a little short so I lengthened those in the later image. This method implies a 3.5 head ruling for the upper body with a 4 head ruling for the lower body. As the realistic adult male anatomy is based on a smaller head to Barnabass you gain the extra 1/2 a head... This 150

is why Barnabas ends up being 7 heads..

[8]

Next shows my nal workings out with both Benjamin and Barnabas in the scene together. The nal head ruling works Benjamin height to be exactly 3 Barnabas heads (the equivalent of 4.5 - Benjamin heads). Barnabass total size is 10.5 Benjamin heads and 7 Barnabas heads. The concern which started this was the hat tting one and not the other which this now shows is no longer a problem. The key between Barnabas and Benjamin is 2 Barnabas heads make 3 Benjamin... This keeps Barnabass head bigger then his sons... which adults heads usually are... Kids heads just look bigger compared to their body size. 151

[9]

Last but not least I decided to conduct my own tests from the original silhouette and compare Sammys animatic rendition of Barnabas. I also added my crude skin version, you will have to look closer to see it properly... In this the arms are also not fully corrected but this was just to see Barnabas in comparison to our earlier understanding of his form. Its quite refreshing to see this form still circulating around the ideas we have discussed in previous weeks. Its also nice to see the Dummy form 19 still looks situated in that form... Sammys sketch is also a nice indication that we are on the right tracks... From these two forms I now have to create the slightly shorter renditions for Bernard and Young Barnabas which will be another post hopefully later today... Doing these skeleton tests can be a bit testing but I suppose everything has to be right for when I commit to the turnaround process. Hopefully by next week I have a lot more nailed down. To me these two forms work and they are not a far cry from the proportions of the other character... It is easy to drape skin and clothes over the top for the nal turnarounds, Im actually looking forward to getting this done... Anyway ill catch you later! xXStItChXx

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barn-another_zps1c41558f.gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barn-walk_zpsfded13aa.gif 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barn-rule_zpse312ce31.gif 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barnsamm_zps397678fa.jpg 5. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/barnabas-build-up.html 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/findingprop_zpsdf6c4f51.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barnanat_zpsbb177d09.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barnscale_zpsd137da55.jpg 9. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/barnadditional_zpsbf216ee0.jpg

152

Video Logs: & Son Update - Week 8 (2013-11-24 17:46)

Hello Everyone, First of all I would like to point out that the term Tutorials has been replaced with Update mainly because we did not have any meetings with Alan or Phil. This was mainly because we had a presentation to foundation students and had no real updates on this blog for that week. The reason we sit with Alan or Phil is to receive feedback on any and all work we have recently submitted. That week and its following week were pretty slow as we were rening dissertation drafts. Suce to say I didnt want to miss a week having started these tutorial updates... I just wanted to repurpose them for another week (like I did with the interim presentation). Now that I have explained what this post isnt I will explain what I have decided to do here for this week... I thought I would take a little glance back to the very rst day of the project. A day when myself, Story Director Sammy Butler & Art Director Chrissie Peters sat down to discuss adapting Sammys prior year 1 Unit 1: Storytelling project into a rened animated short. I even have a recording from another discussion on the same day which I thought I would include. I will warn you though there is a lot of noise interrupting our discussion... We picked a day when the red room was full... not the best time. IFRAME: [1]//player.vimeo.com/video/80217684 The video above is the very rst activity I recorded from the Uni. You will have to excuse my introduction which had me lming my legs before noting the work ha-ha. The initial conversations we were having were actually about art style and the characters primary and secondary. We had not actually been long out of the brieng when we sat to have that conversation as you can see the nerves were kind of high. The only videos that pre-date this one are the discussions we had over the summer break, which are being edited by Chrissie, cant wait to see them...

[2] & Son Early Biography Discussion [EMBED] Summary: The sound le above is a sound snippet from one of our very rst group discussions. The rst discussions about some of the key features of the secondary characters - (i.e. - the fat widow, posh lady, names, etc.). What followed was the googling of names for a chubby widow... Sammy liked Gertrude I liked Agatha. We then had a discussion about her character and about their place in the story. This leads into a couple of questions from Illmi about our project. I think at this point I had completely forgot that I was still recording. Still its nice to hear some of the ideas and inuences we were thinking about in week 1. 153

Its kind of nice to take a little trip down memory lane, nice to know I got to use a bit more of the old footage in another post. Its also a bit crazy to think of some of the details we were thinking about back in week 1. There is still quite a bit of work to come but we are in a good place. I think the following weeks will have quite a few surprises so I hope your in for a good ride! Over & Out! xXStItChXx
1. file://player.vimeo.com/video/80217684 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/wk8_zpsb4f0daef.jpg

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 9 (2013-11-25 08:37)

Hello Everyone, Week 9 has been interesting, there has been a lot of written work but now we are in a place to continue the development of this short. I am pretty much focusing solely on the models for the duration of this project. I still have to nalise all of the skeletons for the characters but now that I have drafted the main two its not dicult to adapt the other two from those. That will be the post that should follow this one. After that I have to crack on with turnarounds which shouldnt take long with the joints mapped out. From there its just adding colour and skin/costumes. Its hard to believe that we are here already but I guess time ys. Its looking like my tutorial discussion will concern Alan more then Phil at this point as we are deep into the technical aspects, the story is not far from being nalized in animatic form. Still I will jump in and get advice when I can, we dont have long till Christmas is upon us so I have to start pulling the nger out here... I have a bit of modelling and then rigging to battle my way through but I am quite condent in my ability, ZBrush is going to be my home for a while now. You will begin to see a Flurry of Operation Z Videos so beware!

[1] Alan Tutorial Chrissie & Sammy Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: The tutorials from this week were mostly my discussion with Alan about creating a ribbon Spine when I get to rigging out character. I also have Gnomon DVDs which I will be running through for our puppet rig. 154

Amongst other things I also spoke to the ladies about the details they wish to see on our main character models They basically gave me an audio list of notes that they would like to see on the nalized Benjamin, Barnabas, Bernard and Young Barnabas. It was quite genius really I just said to them say what you want and let them go for it... Chrissies was quite obvious, her desire for Benjamins odd socks and asymmetrical attire... DW Ladies I got you! This week will be focusing on getting these turnarounds nished and the skeleton details/proportions nalised (2 of which already are). Hopefully by the end of this week I will be in ZBrush getting Benjamin crafted. From Benjamins form I will adapt it down to Young Barnabas and the same for Barnabas and Bernard. The details just have to change slightly for each mesh... Rigging will come after that I just hope everything goes smoothly. Anyway catcha later! xXStItChXx

1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/wk9_zps430ed1fa.jpg

Sammy Butler (2013-11-25 21:45:03) Im really happy youre documenting all this :) It will be nice to watch/listen back on

Pre-Production: Final Front Skeletons (2013-11-27 05:17)

Hello Everyone, Just thought I would drop by for yesterdays update, it literally took all night to upload the video I wanted to post. Things on the turnaround front are moving forward with the frontal skeletons plotted I just have to do the side and the back next. The step that follows is just me adding esh and clothes to the bones and joints. I have probably gone the long way round to do this but there was so much debating over proportion I kind of got side tracked. Still it is nice to explore these forms a little further then having at images. Its actually been kind of fun. This whole experiment started with me playing with Benjamins scale proportions. It was then agreed that each character should fall into Benjamins world scale. From there I had to adapt Barnabas which I found 7 Barnabas heads tted into 10.5 Benjamin heads. From there I removed half a head of height from Barnabas to make Bernard (10 Benjamin heads). Young Barnabas is actually the same number of Benjamin heads as Benjamin (4.5), his lower eye line naturally makes him smaller and his head only ts into himself 4 times... This makes each sub character (Bernard, Young Barnabas) shorter. With scale now explained lets get a little look at those front skeletons! 155

[1] The image above shows the skeletons in motion. As my previous skeleton tests this is just to show the skeletons in motion demonstrating activity within the proportion. I did this as an extra step, the walk cycles on there are the moment do not reect the future movement of the character. I did this mainly so we could get a real idea of how the proportions function together. I cleaned up each skeleton with ink and colour using the colour pallets Sammy suggested on her sketchy faces image. I added the hat as another indicator of scale - the same size hat ts all and even looks slightly bigger on the kids.

IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/80435452

When xing down to rig the nal character in AE I thought to myself now this would be a nice little doodler feature. So I sat down and knocked up a 3 part video. The middle section can go on for a little while but its not just meant to be informative its also meant to be educational to some degree. On the video I demonstrate the pre-compositing process in AE - assigning joints. I also rig a 2D character and show the end result as the concluding chapter. I dont know what struck me to do this but I guess a lot of eort has gone on and I wanted to show everyone... 156

[3] The image above shows my rough workings out after assigning Sammys sketchy character faces to each skeleton body. There was a lot of altering of scale and arm length before I was happy. The process began with creating a happy proportionate form for Benjamin. After I got the girls blessing on this I went away and built Barnabas based on Benjamins head scale. After I had the two main characters it wasnt dicult to adapt Benjamin into Young Barnabas and Barnabas into Bernard. I kept everything at this stage as rough as I could... nothing was nite here...

[4] 157

Last but not least I tidied up each character and got them posed ready for the turnarounds. I may have to space the legs further apart but the arms are ready. I also got larger renditions of the faces ready for when Im cutting in the head. The sections which say No Clothes - No Form are basically my way of illustrating that this is still not nal (obviously) - it is stage 1. Next I have to drape the clothes and create the form over the top of these images. The entire point of this was to map the joints and bones to plot the locations of anatomy. The clothes are what will show it... I still have to create the skeleton forms side and back, the arm will also be separated for the top down view as is standard for turnarounds. I will not be animating any more of these turnarounds, my point has been made here and it was really only to show my creative partners the proportions in action. Once I have the other angles plotted I will be ready to sit and add clothes and further form. I am hoping to have these turnarounds by Friday at the latest so I can begin modelling over the weekend. It would be nice to be full into modelling mode by next week... Then I will begin rigging *GULP* Catcha later people! xXStItChXx
1. 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/80435452 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/headsinto_zpsbe388b85.jpg 4. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/skeletonturnaroundfront_zps20fbf538.jpg http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Final-Skeleton-Walk1_zps5d29a2f0.gif

1.4

December

Pre-Production: Barnabas Expression Sheets (2013-12-02 00:25)

Hello Everyone, Apologies for the delay in my posts, been getting lots of bits and pieces together. I am partially through most of what will be the nal stages of my pre-production contribution. After expression sheets and skeleton turnarounds to nal turnarounds I will be deep into production. I have already started some elements but I want to keep those for when I wrap up this side of my pipeline. I want to keep everything orderly, to those of you that know me know I like keeping things owing. I shouldnt need too long to get the models together, the rigging will be the biggest challenge. Either way these expression sheet posts will be done as 12 tests for the main 4 characters. I realise that some of them do not look 100 % correct but what can I say Im still learning how to keep character proportions. I only did these as a way to do a bit of a comparison when Im knee deep within the 3D pipeline to reect my 3D character expressions. I did this with my last Adaptation project and quite liked it. It gave me something to base the expressions on. Its always good to explore the character with some key facial movement, even if it isnt all used... Anyway this post is entirely dedicated to the father character Barnabas. 158

[1]

These are the rst 3 expressions I knocked up, Chrissie and Sammy know about my fascination with all things sad (emo eyes anyone?). I never begin with Happy I do better with a kind of sadness. Of these 3 I love bored the most, there is something wrong with the shocked expression... I probably should have extended the nose a little more. Its like I said though I kind of have to move on from these pretty sharpish so I am posting up what I can now. This week is based on getting all of this pre-production stu nalized on my end so I can get to modelling...

[2]

The expressions above actually began with F which was a blatant copy of the front on prole I knocked up earlier... I just wanted to change the expression on it. I also kept it on the page so I could refer to it to keep my drawings as close as possible. I decided to add a small smirk, I think it worked for this image. Reecting and Annoyed were the other expressions I considered before Happy. I liked reecting, annoyed has a little issue with the hair... but for the most part it does kind of work. Despite the minor dierences I do consider these faces to be of the original design. 159

[3] Next I dived straight into the side prole, I wanted to have a bit of a play, I also wanted the dene the bump which Sammy wanted in Barnabass design. I had to refer back and adjust it in the others. Of course these faces lead to my favourite one... I love the thinking head maybe I just have a thing for the raised eyebrow expression who knows. I also found the anger expression enjoyable to knock up, I had a bit of trial and error when it came to the eye placement. I guess I am still trying to get my head around some of these details still... I still like the end results though!

[4] From J to L which were the last couple I knocked up I love J. The Paperwork expression is inspired from a specic part of our Animatic. The very last one I knocked up was Happy which as you can see is a little cheesy but it is likely that its the big teeth. Again I am still coming to terms with this expression as I hate to use the big grin. Never the less I thought I would give it a stab for the purposes of this concept. I still think Sammy does these expressions better then me, I love the darkness. Anyway these were all the expressions I could muster... its more then none. I have a couple of images to nish for the other characters to be ready to post up on here... They are not far down in the pipeline though. Its like I said these are the last in my pre-production pipeline, I do it mainly to get a feel for the character before sculpting. I did the same thing for Driver and found myself referring to them constantly to landmark areas of the face. The good news is Barnabas is not far from being ready to take into the 3D production phase. In the mean time Im preparing the other characters for the nal stages to bring them up to where Barnabas is... The next few days will be exciting! 160

Later! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/panel1_zps738d46d4.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/panel2_zps4a3409c0.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/panel3_zps480ad4c2.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/panel4_zpsf146129f.jpg

Church Reference Images (2013-12-03 03:16)

Im starting the design for the church environment. As churches tend to have a particular construction were going to use a real church as referance. St. Marys Church in Middlesex is a classic old church that has been rebuild and added to over the years giving it a quirky look. It also has the absurd grandure that we wanted for the church. These pictures were taken in the 1900s so we know the appearance will of the time. I found information about the dimensions and the age of the church at: [1]http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=12197 8 And the pictures from: [2]http://www.oldukphotos.com/middlesex harrow on the hill.htm [3]Church Ref IFRAME: [4]//www.scribd.com/embeds/188870643/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true
1. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=121978 2. http://www.oldukphotos.com/middlesex_harrow_on_the_hill.htm 3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/188870643/Church-Ref 4. file://www.scribd.com/embeds/188870643/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true

Video Logs: & Son Tutorials - Week 10 (2013-12-03 13:41)

Hello Everyone, We are on week 10 the countdown is seriously starting to begin here. I wasnt exactly around at the end of Week 10 but I did manage to wangle myself a few further audio logs which correspond to what I would have talked about on Friday. We are just a couple of days late on posting it. Sammy and Chrissie are cracking away at environments while I have my hands full with character modelling in the epic ZBrush. Things are about to go full on into modelling there are just a couple of pesky ts to cross and Is to dot. These include the expression sheets and turnarounds, they will be here soon! I went in today to get my UCA Just in Interviews continued but everyone who was there was either not ready or too busy to chat so I didnt want to hassle. When I nally got someone the rooms had people in them. The 365 Day Project is taking a little out of me but I will get there. I am not sure whether after next week that there will be any tutorial posts as we are o for Christmas. I will probably put these logs on hold until we are back as it is pointless if it serves no developmental value. When we return in the new year I dont doubt there will be more audio to log... There of course will still be video coming down the pipeline so watch out for those posts :) 161

[1] Alan Tutorial Sammy Costume Tutorial [EMBED] [EMBED] Summary: The tutorials from week 10 mainly concerned the submission of this project to a private website as well as a submission disc to the University oces above. This is largely what I talked about with Alan as well as a few of the sticky issues I always face when stepping back into CG. Sammy and I also had a chat about the costumes for the characters which is more or less an extension of the character details discussion we had in Week 9. This was more about dening what the key dierences between the suit costumes were for each of the Badgersworth characters. This week I will be getting the nal remnants of 2D done so I can fully focus on the 3D aspects from here on out. Everything has taken longer then I had planned but I will pull it o in the end. At the end of Week 11 I will be going to my business partners with these turnarounds to see him sculpt them from clay (a video log post will follow)... I cant wait for that as hes gonna explain some tricks to me. While he is doing that I will also be continuing my journey into ZBrush modelling each character. When I am out of the woods I will begin posting my progress as often as possible! Stay tuned! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/wk10_zps07be42f7.jpg

Pre-Production: Benjamin Expression Sheets (2013-12-05 21:39)

Hello Everyone, Im getting closer and closer to having quite a few things wrapped up at the momentIm juggling the 2D and 3D aspects of our project like they are proverbial tennis balls. I have nally excelled for a basic jacket design on the models so that is the hardest part so far. Never the less I have started playing with some minor facial detail at this point Im still rening certain details. Hopefully by next week I should have something that is 3D ready to be seen on the Polydoodle Blog so stay frosty. In the mean time I am providing you with a couple of nal twists and turns which I have been nalizing here and there... The expression sheets are something I always had penciled onto a post it note but the concern 162

was mainly about getting it done. Should I have some more spare time I will sit down and knock out the other 2 3D characters expression sheets. In the o chance that I cant at least we have the main 2 - Benjamin and Barnabas. Expression sheets can tend to shed little details I nd especially when Im working in a variety of angles with a face pulling a variety of poses. I am still getting to grips with it but I dont think the result I got was particularly bad for Barnabas. Check out Benjamin s expression sheets below!! Woop Woop!!

[1] I started the rst 3 expressions by doing what Justin told us not to do and what Sammy wanted me to do. I knocked up a facial expression which isnt ideal for the character (that being Annoyed). The kid is kind of a happy chappy so I did this mainly to appease me curiosity for Angry Pooh Bears (ask Sammy she will ll you in on what I mean there). I knocked up the happy expression trying to recreate what Sammy and Chrissie had originally decided on. Even though it went against my inner darker demon. The shocked face was directly from Sammys front turnaround for reference.

[2] I also had a print out of Sammys original expression sheets for Benjamin when knocking out these faces so it gave me a place to go creatively. Sniggering was actually one of the faces I liked on the original reel - very mischievous. Of course then I had to indulge my inner dark which gave me bored which is actually my favorite of all of them. Last but not least I wanted the Glancing at face which was directly inspired from Sammys animatic. There was a section in which Barnabas looks at Benjamin 163

and Benjamin doesnt meet his gaze...I gured it would work the other way too.. Benjamin looking for his dad to engage with him but he doesnt...

[3] I then decided to tough it out and try to move the head a little more and have a play with the features. This gave me Thinking which I kind of liked as Barnabas has one thats similar. The Side Smile is probably the biggest failure here,I know its not accurate, the face looks more suited to an adult. Of course there was no more time to sit and play with this face, maybe ill update this with the nal turnarounds. We will have to see there. From Sammys animatic there is also a section of Benjamin crying so a Crying expression test seemed warranted.

[4] Towards the very end came Happy Thought which now I think could have just been Smiling but oh well. I guess I thought that was more or less covered by the Subtle Grin expression. My favorite though comes from the Hiding Something expression. I found this on Sammys original sheet and looked to adapt my own version. Just in case you cannot tell what he is doing with his mouth, Benjamin is whistling! Its a kind of cartoon way of signifying mischievous activity, to anyone out there who has seen a cartoon will know what I mean (i think that covers everyone). Again this is just a stop gap in a number of updates that will be coming very shortly I just want to make sure I have something Im happy with before posting it. I am also trying to get past a number of little menial tasks that I let lie stupidly so I have to get those done too. Apologies to Chrissie and 164

Sammy who are still waiting on these models, ladies dont worry I still have it in hand. I plan on working most of Christmas this year because I want these characters to really stand out when we return for our next Unit. Its going pretty good now though I am getting a ow going :) Stay Frosty!! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminRow1_zps1a302d5b.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminRow2_zps10f91960.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminRow3_zps06ce66cc.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminRow4_zps4622b793.jpg

And Son - scenery tests (2013-12-09 09:20)

1) composite drawings from my sketches in Rochester

[1] 2) The tea-shop using the 3 styles from the composite drawings: 1) sketchy, 2) tidied up, 3) redrawn over the UV map. (Ignore the chimney & top windows).

[2] 165

The buildings are built, the UVs laid out, and most of the artwork is done so I just need an opinion on how much to clean the lines up please guys :)
1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RIz7uY-DW9Q/UqX5yN8emmI/AAAAAAAAC6I/lVfvmUkD5Sc/s1600/houses-blog_1.jpg 2. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SUvVIOW39Yk/UqX5x-9bOPI/AAAAAAAAC6E/RP2szP6a8Ns/s1600/houses-blog_2.jpg

Church Turnarounds (2013-12-19 06:20)

Just a short video of the Ext and Int of the Church, untextured. Theres a few more little items to put inside like the candles, tables and pulpit and outside, gravestones and trees but these are likely to be at planes with a transparency image plugged in to give the details and shape. IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/QRXuMdPIsmw
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/QRXuMdPIsmw

Stitch (2013-12-19 08:12:53) Woof Woof!!! Very Sexy!

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Expression Sheets (2013-12-24 19:32)

Hello Everyone, First of all I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Yes it is the early hours of Christmas Eve (essentially making it Christmas Day). I thought I would post this little update while I get other little bits and pieces ready. I still have one set of expression sheets to complete but hopefully they should be up tomorrow at some point. Following those I have skeleton turnarounds which should hopefully lead to me posting the turnarounds for our nal models. Last but not least I will post up the models current progress. You will have to forgive the delay... I have been trying to get the work done... Posting every day can take a toll on time. I have also made a couple of additional videos which I have not had time to get up and running (this is another reason why Im a little delayed). I am of course prioritizing the 3D models above all. I have one modelled totally the other 3 Im hoping to begin and nish by next week. This leaves this week to get any and all nal 2D conceptual work complete. Of course I have the rest of today o as well as boxing day. That being said I will probably t in time to get the expression sheets nished. Im hoping to be back in the modelling game by Sunday. Anyway this post is based on the expressions from the adolescent Young Barnabas. 166

[1]

The expressions above are where I started, I actually took a little time to align all of these models to be somewhat related to each other. Following Benjamin and Barnabass expressions I didnt like how incorrect some of them are. It also bugged me how some of them didnt look necessarily like the same character. I corrected this for Young Barnabas but I probably should have spent more of this time on the main 2 characters expressions. Alas I cant use much more time on this 2D work, I have more models to make and we are graded on the CG aspect not pre-production.

[2]

Of these expressions I probably like the Feeling Ill expression, it does however feel a little more like eating something boring. I didnt know how to relate that into a single word expression though so I went with Ill ha-ha. Drawing the expressions can be harrowing but I think I have found a full proof way to create a likeness between the faces. I keep the front prole picture on hand at all times and use it to align the features with it. Of course little things adjust and Im sure there are details Im missing but I found the expressions more fun. 167

[3] There is actually a funny little story concerning the Concentration face. Young Barnabas is a painter - a fellow creative like myself and my Business partner Ross. One thing I have noticed that we do when we are painting or drawing anything. We stick our tongues out of the side of our mouths. I could not resist putting this face on one of Young Barnabass expressions. After all when Barnabas is younger he is more creative until he is told not to be. It takes the meeting of his wife to snap him out of this creative repression. I also get to indulge my EMO EYES!

[4] I concluded these expressions with a Happy Happy mainly for Sammy and Chrissie. The one thing I was trying to explain to them when talking about Benjamins turnaround expression was that his eyes were not natural. For example when we are happy (saying cheese for a photograph - whatever) we smile but we dont widen our eyes or if we do it looks strained. The initial Benjamin facial turnarounds and the one I modelled had widely open eyes. Its not a natural expression and closing eyes slightly to make it natural does not make them EMO! - it makes them natural... This is why in my view the Young Barnabas Happy Happy works more then Benjamins. IFRAME: [5]//player.vimeo.com/video/82649325 One of the very last things I knocked up was a little video showing my process for creating a characters expression sheet. Everything begins in pencil on paper, I dont do much roughing in Photoshop... I do tend to 168

get precious early so its nice to be able to keep things to sketches. Afterwards everything goes into Photoshop for inking, sometimes I change it up with Manga Studio as that also has some nice inking options. Of course Photoshops line tool also has some very nice advantages... Its like dipping vertices in ink and choosing when to throw them onto paper... quite cool. Well I think that concludes this post, I am actually still waiting for the video to upload so I probably wont be posting this until tomorrow morning. I thought I would get it ready so I can get cracking on other bits and pieces as soon as possible. Its like I said at the moment I am looking to get all of my nal 2D stu posted. Of course they are all in dierent stages of completion so I am hoping to eradicate that as soon as possible. You will be pleased to hear I have built one model, the others as I stated will be developed next week in time for our deadline on the 6-9th of Jan...Keep your eyes peeled! Anyway Merry Christmas all! Over & Out, xXStItChXx
1. jpg 2. jpg 3. jpg 4. jpg 5. file://player.vimeo.com/video/82649325 http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasRow4_zps93e251f5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasRow3_zpsb27ced1f. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasRow2_zps18ea5041. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasRow1_zps1b4ea3d9.

Pre-Production: Phil.. I mean Bernard Expression Sheets (2013-12-30 13:51)

Hello Everyone, I have a chain of posts backing up I am just trying to get everything ready in the right order here. I have one model totally made and completely UV Mapped I just have to nd the right moment to post it up. The posts that will follow will be more epic but I have to get the skeleton turnarounds posted and the nal turnarounds I used. Of course there have been a couple of delays here and there but I am aiming to have all of this nal 2D stu out of the way so I can ll this blog with 3D bliss. Sammy and Chrissie have been patient but if everything goes to plan we should be okay by next week! For those of you that do not know next week is the deadline for our minor project which is when I am aiming to have 4 complete character models ready for rigging and eventually production. Obviously I have a couple of questions for Alan when we return before going into Rigging mode but Im hoping any issues will be minor. I thought I would conclude the expression sheet array with the last of our 4 characters Bernard which is Barnabass dad. I have been told to prioritise his miserable side due to our narrative but I couldnt resist doing a couple that shows he isnt always a grumpy gus! So lets get down to my nal array of expression sheets... you know him as Phil... whoops I mean Bernard. 169

[1]

I kept most of Bernards expressions to the darker tones but I did break free from it which gave me time to explore some of his other facial activities. Annoyed and Angry were directly what Chrissie and Sammy saw so I indulged my Thinking expression. I actually think this one goes across all of the characters. After you do the basic emotions its hard to knock down more, I wanted to full the 12 expression quota. Of course Alan and many like you will probably call me crazy and this is unnecessary but I liked to do it... If anything it made the others more explorative.

[2]

These 3 are my favourite mainly because it really does show a contrast of the facial muscles. Each face is worlds apart dierent and of course I got my emo eyes with the Slight grin expression. I know he isnt meant to be grinning hes meant to be nasty but even villains have moments of happiness (when they dominate the world and beat the hero maybe?). The Furious Yell expression is directly inspired from Sammys animatic. The Shocked expression shows me a more dishevelled Bernard which is probably why I like it... its The Angry Pooh Bear of these expressions. 170

[3] The Blowing expression actually made me laugh when I rst roughed it out but I ended up keeping it mainly because I liked what I made his face do with it. Another expression which isnt supposed to work with Bernard is the Empathetic. Again ladies I did this just to explore the expressions the face could do. I know we are portraying Bernard as the bad guy of our short but I wanted to see what I could make his face do. Also can we really say that Bernard and his Son never have any moments of connection? I dont know again this was my chance to explore the character a little more...

[4] For the nal 3 expressions I found myself going back to the roots of our discussions when we rst started talking about Bernard. I remember a pipe was originally introduced and while we never see it, we did kind of intend for him to have a Sherlock Holmes pipe hence the Sucking Pipe expression. The Look up expression I attributed to him looking at Barnabass art again a speculative expression. The most tenable is probably the Passive Aggressive expression it conveys annoyance and a slight villain attitude... It was a simple tip of the mouth adjustment... which also makes him look a little snobby... a good nd to end on! Now I feel as though I have suitably explored all of the characters and while this post was a little while coming I wanted to approach these before committing to the models. I wanted to get a bit more of a feel for the characters. I had fun playing with faces (rst time in a long time). I am actually quite happy that I got to explore all of this and still have a little time. Christmas has been short for me but the last few years it hasnt been very memorable anyway... I took a couple of days to do some gaming but I havent gone a day without doing something work wise... Hoping my creative partners have had a lovely Christmas though... 171

Anyway I think that concludes this post, keep your eyes peeled! take it easy!!! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardRow1_zpsf72968dc.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardRow2_zps03789031.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardRow3_zps3f99488a.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardRow4_zps5fb4cf45.jpg

tutorphil (2013-12-30 15:57:27) oi! :D

Pre-Production: Skeleton Turnarounds (Anatomical Frames) (2013-12-30 14:33)

Hello Everyone, As I said previously I have a bit of a back log of posts so you will probably see a couple of little urrys like these two today. Possible a third a little later. These are where Im kind of trying to do things in an order to demonstrate the process. Sometimes I dip in and dip out of areas of creativity like if Ive been modelling all day Ill go and do some drawing in the middle to give my eyes a rest. I also nd this refreshes me for when I hit a wall or nd no solution to a problem. Anyway these skeletons are the framework for the nal turnarounds which will be used for the characters. I have already begun the modelling process so this is really me catching up with myself. I use these frames to block in a form mostly to make sure the body holds weight and has the an S curve ow throughout the form. My turnarounds of the past have mainly been a little static and that is mainly because we dont consider the weight of the esh and how that interacts with the bones. Characters can quickly look rigid if the body isnt holding any weight. I also realise that these skeletons are more for orthographic view so some details have to be attened (the feet for example). Anyway lets take a look at my skeleton frameworks!

[1] The image above shows the skeleton forms worked out from Sammys original head sketches and my early proportion/skeleton tests. I have dened the joints as that is where distortion lies if it were not for these we 172

would be blobs. I have a top arm separate for modelling the hand and the muscles of the arm. The side is where one notices the S curve from the central line. The chest sticks out leading into the pelvis Benjamins body is like a bean which I know from the earlier form tests we conducted... He looks a little older then we had considered but this is just the earlier test.

[2] Barnabass skeleton consists of the same fundamentals but obviously with a severe height and weight dierence to Benjamin. You probably cannot see this one as well as Benjamin either mainly because of his height which blurs his details as we go up in resolution. Suce to say this form is more stretched but it follows the same crucial s curve rules at a greater scale. Barnabass legs make him look kind of like a amingo. of course that will change when I get some meat into this body on the nal turnarounds.

[3] Next comes Young Barnabas, now my concern here was trying to keep the likeness Similar to Barnabas which thanks to Sammys sketches was not a hard feat. There are a couple of details that I will be altering for the nal turnarounds but the form is pretty much there. He is a little thinner and shorter then Benjamin. Again 173

this was all worked out from our prior proportion tests which were fundamental to constructing the height and shape dierences between the characters. At this point they are diagnostic I will be xing more aws with the nal renditions!

[4] Last but not least comes Bernard who is a little shorter then Barnabas with a slightly longer body and shorter legs. The side prole here is pretty much there as it reects the frontal face pretty well. The problems with some of the ones above is the side does not reect the front well. This one doesnt actually have that problem. Of course I have to still adjust the feet and form for orthographic view but that shouldnt be too complicated now I have a book to aid me in this understanding...The nal turnarounds should be pretty nice thanks to these skeleton frameworks! You can call these a waste of time if you wish but they do actually help when dealing with turnarounds. All I really have to do next is correct some details add body mass and then clothing. Its not actually a head scratcher its like creating a little road map for me. Im sure there are a couple of you out there laughing at the array of asses before you but suck it up its just a bum... wait wrong wording. Anyway I created these before getting into turnarounds and thus before getting into 3D modelling. I just need to complete the others so I can post them up. Shouldnt be long! Anyway its been emotional! xXStItChXx
1. 2. 3. 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminSkeletonTurnaround_ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasSkeletonTurnaround_ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardSkeletonTurnaround_ zps7613f873.jpg zpse93a8d1e.jpg YoungBarnabasSkeletonTurnaround_zps458597b6.jpg zpsf2903809.jpg

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Chapter 2

2014

2.1

January

Pre-Production: Flesh to Final Turnarounds (2014-01-01 14:18)

Hello Everyone, I have been working my ass o to get everything complete and while I still have a little ways to go I am happy that I am producing something which is acceptable to me. Those of you that know me know exactly how fussy I can be especially when it comes to characters ha-ha. Anyway I have been doing a bit of modelling and stu but the other day I wanted to nally post up our turnarounds. So I sat down and got all of those to an acceptable level and thought Id do a whole post on them. For those of you keeping score this should be the last bit of 2D work I produce for this project. Now I have 2 images to post per turnaround because I thought it was valid that we see the whole point of the skeleton turnarounds I knocked up in the prior post so let me explain... If you look closely at the Stage 2 Adding Flesh To Skeleton images you will see the skeleton underneath. All I did was essentially draw the esh over the joints of the skeleton. These acted as my guides for the turnarounds and they are incredibly useful. The word isnt on these but Stage 3 is essentially adding clothes and creating the turnarounds.. You can see the end results below. So let me show you these turnarounds so we can nally get to CG. 175

[1]

[2]

The image at the very top of this is the underline anatomy of the character Benjamin is slightly podgy but Sammy and Chrissie didnt have an overhanging Belly in mind so I overshot that one. Still they corrected me and I corrected the aws in the nal turnaround. You may notice some dierences in Benjamins facial features from the original. There were a couple of issues with the side prole which made the front not line 176

up properly so I went in and xed most of the problems. The colour was something I thought worked but the ladies will be texturing I think...

[3]

[4]

Next came Barnabass turnarounds I had quite a few issues with the feet (as I tend to do) they are in severe 177

perspective and thats something I still tend to have problems with. The good news is that the skeleton really does provide nice anatomy for his character. I can feel the S curve in each character which you notice particularly from the upper to lower portions. He is naturally taller then Bernard which is also reected in the turnarounds. The kids turnarounds look more interesting because there is less space as they are smaller and take up much less room.

[5] 178

[6]

Young Barnabass turnaround was interesting (you can see the entire process below in the form of a time lapse video). I had originally drawn up a prole which I thought worked but I then adjusted a few things when I considered Benjamins. I wanted to reect Barnabass torso in the child rendition how it overpowers his lower body (unlike Benjamins). This demonstrates more importantly that he is thinner then Benjamin. I kept the colours washed out but I wanted a subtle blue which I added to his shirt... again I wasnt sure maybe the ladies can ll me in on this later. 179

[7]

[8]

Next came the grumpy Bernard, most of his form was Adapted from Barnabass turnaround as they are very similar in proportion. The key dierence is Bernards shoes are longer as is his torso region. This makes him a little shorter then Barnabas which we felt earlier on was acceptable. It made sense on some level that Barnabas grows up taller to somehow not be fearful to change his ways. We also felt when lining them up in 180

the form army post that the forms of the family made sense. I kept this in mind when shaping the skeleton which in turn shaped the esh which in turn shaped the costume on the form. IFRAME: [9]//player.vimeo.com/video/83181940 I thought I would conclude as I have been known to do with a little video showing the process of creating these turnarounds. I know I am not being graded on this part but I dont know I kind of like showing my process for people to understand. The video has a small introduction with me taking a look at my original skeleton turnarounds just before I sat down to ink out their esh and costumes. The video then takes a nose dive into me creating the turnaround for Young Barnabas in time lapse form. To conclude I show all the turnarounds turning around ha-ha... you will know what I mean when you see it. I have been working very hard over this Christmas, Im hoping to sit down for a 5 minute breather after next week (even if its a day thats enough). I have not stopped since boxing day due to my own blind trust in ZBrush. I wish Id started in Maya from day 1 at least Id have a couple of these models by now. Hey-ho. I will be posting a couple of additional updates as I have to check with the ladies to see if they are still texturing or if thats something else I will be tting in. I have taken the hit mainly because this is my bad. Oh well I have learnt a lesson at least. Catcha ladle! xXStItChXx
1. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminFleshTurnaround_zps2cdcae4d.jpg 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminTurn_zps431f7297.jpg 3. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasFleshTurnaround_zps7279f0e5.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BarnabasTurn_zpsc51c424a.jpg 5. 6. jpg 7. 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardTurn_zpseba0d849.jpg 9. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83181940 http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BernardFleshTurnaround_zps54838d2f.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasFleshTurnaround_ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasTurn_zps503d675c. zpsd78d82f2.jpg

Pre-Production: Benjamin 2D Turnarounds to 3D (2014-01-01 21:04)

Hello Everyone, There will be another little urry of posts tonight as I am attempting to get Benjamin o of my shoulders... this has been a bit of a war. Never the less I havent been sitting here doing nothing all of Christmas let me tell you that much. There has been a bit of a war brewing since I set o to do a ZBrush feat but it ended up slowing me down, a hard lesson to learn but what can you do. I spent last week getting this model nessed and having just gured out how to get the hair properly mapped I can tell you that I am happy with it now. I still have Barnabas to go but I think having learnt a few things the hard way I should have him in a day or two for you all to ogle at. In the mean time I thought I would get posting, get the Benjamin model signed o on my end ready for texturing. I have to talk to my creative partners about their involvement in that as I know that was something Sammy implicitly wanted to be involved in. I also created a little video of my battle with this model - moments particularly involving ZBrush. I am happy that I have got one out of the way though... 181

Nothing ventured nothing gained... Anyway it is here now so please enjoy!!

[1] The image above shows the original turnarounds I worked from with the wire of the model projected over the top. I corrected his podginess mostly as Sammy and Chrissie didnt want him to have a beer belly (which was in the original turnaround). I agreed though, it didnt look right on the side prole. The other misguided move was his hair which I made puy like the turnaround but then the hair kept bleeding through the top of the hat. I ended up having to severely atten the hair to make the hat rest on the sides of his head. This took a while to sort out...

IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/83195997 The video above shows the development of the Benjamin 3D model which took place amongst other things over the course of 6 days. There was a lot of trial and error in the beginning mainly because I could not let go of the ZBrushing. When I sat down and put my mind to it everything quickly got made. I set the time lapse on an interval of 10 seconds as it was recording way too many images at 1 image per second. Putting the videos together at the end gave massive recordings... It still gives you the highlights even if it is quick in a couple of places. 182

[3] After he was built one of the rst things I did was look at his Silhouette to make sure the character was there. I am very happy with how his prole looks, to me it is totally unique especially with the poking out hair. We were taught in Year 1 of our course that a characters silhouette is what mostly makes a character or at the very least its what makes them stand out. Having generic characters is never a good thing, to be sure your on the right tracks you look at its silhouette. Lets just hope that the ladies like it too!!

[4] The image above shows Benjamin from the Planes to the nal 3D model. I reconstructed everything in Maya to keep the detail where needed. Benjamins poly-count is 9236 at its lowest divide. I seriously doubt it will be staying that low but this is all for after I have rigged him. We were told we would be able to smooth the geometry once it is rigged (I am thinking of myself not having to click a million points to assign it to a joint). I still think the detailing at this level is pretty nice but on smooth he looks mostly awless. The edge ow of the mesh is also as even as I could get it (hope its okay Alan). I have another couple of posts to do tonight regarding this model so I will be back with more in a little bit. It is my goal to get this model signed o tonight so I can move beyond it. I have started Barnabass model but I really want to be in a good place with it. The other two characters Im hoping will be adaptations of these two models which means slight geometric tweaks not complete remodels. The key feature is obviously the face so it should be okay (I hope). This has been one hell of a ride so far, cant wait to see what tomorrow brings to this project... really excited! Over & Out, xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjamin3DTurn_zpsfcdf63c9.jpg 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83195997 3. jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/SilhouetteBenjamin_zps8ce51b33.

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4.

http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminPlanestoModel_zps604f4d2c.jpg

Pre-Production: Benjamin UV Maps (2014-01-01 23:27)

Hello Everyone, I am back writing another post I am a little annoyed as blogger keeps deciding to delete what I type in here so this is actually my second time doing the same post. The other week I knocked up some UV maps for Benjamin just to see how long it would take me. Luckily enough it only took a day so Im condent that when I sit down to do Barnabass we should be okay. I have knocked up another Operation Z video to demonstrate the ZUVs on our little Benjamin model. Im hoping that having done the UVs will allow the girls just to focus on getting him textured. We dont have long to get quite a few bits done by next week but I am condent that we will get everything to a high standard. I tried to keep Benjamin relatively low poly so we could go up freely, as Alan said you want to place your detail where you need it. Subdividing will only add to the quality of your detailed areas. The UV mapping is also simpler as you have less points to map especially if you can easily bump it up to increase the quality of your model. Still its been weird getting back into everything, Im hoping things keep coming thick and fast. Anyway lets check out the UV Mapping for Benjamin Badgersworth Woop Woop!

[1] One of the things I tend to do when UV mapping is throw some kind of texture on to see if the polygons on the model are working eectively with the texture. I usually throw on either a checker or a UV grid texture which can be found on google. In the image above I have shown my Benjamin model and have identied some of the more obvious front on seams. Myself and my business partner have a little game we play when looking at game models, we like to see if we can identify the locations of the seams... Geeky I know but I guess we dont care. 184

IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/83208576 The video above shows the ZUVs on my Benjamin character Mesh. I always nd this handy to identify if there are any crappy overlaps. Obviously there are other ways to do it but I like being able to see my 3D model turn into its UV map I guess its a nicety. I also tend to do rough paint tests within ZBrush too just to see if there is any nasty stretching on the model. I always tend to notice it in places like the lips. It usually stretches where seems are evident. You have to keep your eyes open and check that everything works before sending it o...

[3] The image above shows little Benjamin within the Maya viewport. I gured this would be a chance for people to see how his geometry looks. My modelling lecturer Alan recently told me that I needed to keep considering the even edge ow. That is even polygons across the model. This keeps geometry very neat and if the ow works it can make your life a hell of a lot easier. UV maps tend to work out easier if the geometry ows nicely. More then anything though I take pride in the placement of my seams mainly because I dont want to be Wally. 185

[4] Last but not least is my UV Map, which I coloured red to keep the colour ow of the characters. I have identied a couple of the parts of the UV maps for you not that you need to. The ZUV video above shows you which map goes to which piece of geometry. The key when laying out UVs is to make sure everything is correctly scaled. You dont want insignicant items such as a button or something taking priority over the size of the face UV. You want details to be found in the face and hands more. You just have to keep your wits about you. Anyway I think thats enough discussion on UV mapping for one day. I do have another post coming in a bit so providing I dont pass out we should be ne. I want to get this model out today or at least nd out from the girls if they want the model to get the texturing going. Alternatively I dont mind having a play. The key to texturing is to make sure you have baked in occlusion maps, at least thats what helped when I was doing the Driver. It would be nice to have a few bits of work to impress on the hand in date next week. Its getting so close gotta keep cracking on! Take it easy! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/findingseems_zpse040bb61.jpg 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83208576 3. jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminUV_zps42a23635.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminViewport_zps76c59266.

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Pre-Production: Benjamin Model Complete (2014-01-02 02:03)

Hello Everyone, Well here it is 3 for 3 and hopefully the last Benjamin modelling post. I have to get cracking with Barnabas today to be sure to get it done for next week. I have added everything to this model including a mouth box. The UV maps are also pretty tight and Im really happy that I got to adjust the hair one last time because it was annoying me how at his hair was. The problem with Benjamin having puy hair is the top hat. Without changing its shape it makes tting his head in a nightmare. I have got it to an acceptable level though... Maybe Alan can guide me later. I thought I would conclude this model on my end in classical style doing a couple of nice turnarounds in the form of an animated gif. If there is time towards the end I will see if I can get a Weta concept out of him but my priority is getting the models present for the hand in next week. This unit has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. There has also been a few other slow moments, things always seem to get dicult over Christmas. I kind of miss my wide family, we have been splintered since the loss of my old man... Hey-ho. Anyway lets take a look at the Benjamin 3D model turnarounds woop woop!

[1] The image above shows 3 turnaround views of the Benjamin 3D model. The shaded view shows the model in its generic glory. The UV view shows the seem placement and the quality of the UV Mapping. The Wire view shows the ow of the geometry itself as well as the consistency of its edge ow. Its handy to see these views before seeing a model in its entirety, well I feel it does. It allows you to appreciate what the end result is when you consider everything that is going on underneath. I have started making a habit of doing this... it only helps ;) 187

[2]

From here I took a little dive into ZBrush, its handy to see how it responds in other applications I nd. ZBrush also has a way of demonstrating the divides between the geometry. Notice how the legs are coloured dierent from the head and legs. In ZBrush these are called poly-groups while in Maya they are just separate geometry. ZBrush is also good at pointing out if you have bad loops as you can pump up the subdivides to see if anything goes wrong. I also use ZBrush when modelling to smooth the surface mesh if I have a mass of distortion in my edge ow.

IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/83214759

The video above shows the polygonal count dierence between my initial subdivide for Benjamin and sub divide 2. Subdividing makes the geometry smoother as it moves the geometry evenly across the surface of the mesh. The problem is it ramps up render times and can really make your life hell if you havent rigged or textured before dividing. The process has to be done in a specic order if you want to avoid any unnecessary hassle. Its an easy thing to say but a much harder thing to do and drill into your mind. Im sure if I keep saying it... it will stick with me. 188

[4] Lastly because I had it in ZBrush and because I couldnt resist to see how the UV maps were working I did a little poly-painting. Again I am not sure if this is anything near what the girls had in mind for the attire of Benjamin. I kind of went with what I would consider. You will probably also notice that he has a shorter fringe here. I changed that as it made his hair look too at to me. I bushed it up on the later one and made it protrude more. There are a few little gaps under the hat but it will do for this stage. Its been a nightmare getting that hat and hair to t together. All of this has been pretty fun, I take a while to get into modelling mainly because I am just scared that I will totally cock up. Im not one for condence sadly but once Im back in the ow I usually nd my condence. I only hope that Sammy and Chrissie and everyone has had a lovely new year. I would like to apologise to them once again for getting this up so late. Things have been a little hectic. I am quite happy with the model in this amalgamation though. Everything that isnt modelled in is just going to be painted on (that includes shoe laces). Anyway that makes update 3 Catcha later people! xXStItChXx
1. 2. jpg 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83214759 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/UVwithPolypaint_zps8b2b9365.jpg http: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BringingintoZBrush_zps5fe278d4.

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Lydia Caplan (2014-01-02 07:16:28) Benjamin is looking great!! Cant wait to see the nal renders!! - and of course a real life 3d model!!

Pre-Production: Benjamin Textured Complete (2014-01-04 08:18)

Hello Everyone, I thought I would get this up to show that I had a go at getting Benjamin textured. Also Lydias comment on the last post inspired me to get a nice couple of renders of him. Barnabas is coming along, Im hoping he will be ready by tomorrow or the day after. In the mean time I thought I would get this posted up, I am trying to get everything posted that I can before the deadline next Thursday. I have gone all out this time by even playing with a little lighting for these renders (something everyone knows is my weakness). If the texturing isnt right or if the ladies want to redo it after this rush is over then they can I dont mind I just wanted to make sure it was covered for the deadline. I may even redo a couple of tonal things with it after the minor hand in. Im sure if anything is overly wrong I will be schooled either by Alan, Sammy or Chrissie ha-ha. I would just like to say to everyone I did my best here and I hope it is acceptable. I will be focusing on Barnabas solely after this post, if there is time I will see about getting a Weta concept made of both but thats an extra my priority is turnarounds for key characters. Anyway lets checkout the textured turnarounds for Benjamin Badgersworth

[1] The image above shows the textured Benjamin Badgersworth in turnaround with a couple of light passes. He is a bit shiny in places but I wanted to keep a little shine on the surface of the model. This is easily resolved by changing the material to a lambert. As far as the paintwork goes I decided to try to keep the tones in the texture weaker as our art style is kind of at as it were. Its like I said though if the ladies want to change it they can feel free. I have no doubt that our main decisions where this is concerned will happen when we combine the environment with the characters. 190

[2] The image above shows the shaders I used when painting Benjamin in ZBrush. Basically the at colour was used while I was painting Benjamin, it shows only colour without using shadow or light. I looked at the fast shader to see how the model looked with the paintwork. The Blinn was used to examine bumps in the mesh and on the seam geometry of the 3d model. I didnt use this one as much as there are no bump maps for this model. I thought bumps were a little too much, this is more of a cartoon then a verse on reality... IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/83371836 The video above shows me in the process of painting a couple of bits of the model apologies for this not being more interesting I forgot to record until the very end. That being said I did record a bit of projection with his shoe which I always nd quite fun. These videos are mainly to show the development of the character not to be educational as such. I will probably sit down and do some more of those somewhere down the line. Think of these videos as real time progress on the character modelling side of our project,

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Last but not least is the Benjamin Badgersworth UV maps and texture tiles. I tried to keep the detail where required and keep the tonal range more wide. This was more successful on the face as I followed a tutorial on heat zones of the face from Scott Spencers ZBrush Character Creation book. Again I was also not sure if I should go mad on the texturing as our short feels a little more 2D then 3D especially based on our concept artist Chrissie Peters art style. Either way the option is there to adjust this at a later date. Its up to the ladies! My next steps are to get Barnabas to an acceptable level now so I can get him up as well for everyone else to see. If there is time before Thursday next week I will see if I can get some posed Weta concepts but we will have to see. I want to get the turnarounds of the models complete before indulging little extras. As far as the Benjamin model goes there are a couple of faults still but again I will have another play with this after the deadline. I dont want to get too bogged down at the moment with details which can be adjusted after the deadline. Anyway Ill catcha soon doods! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/benjaminturn_zps095ffbd4.gif 2. 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83371836 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/uv_zps876596b6.jpg http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/polypaintingbenjamin_zps91f0bfff.jpg

Chrissie Peters (2014-01-04 12:39:06) looking good - I love the new fringe!

And Son - Environment Pipeline 1-3 (2014-01-04 12:31)

Stitch and Sammy Happy New Year! - my PC atly refuses to render any more tif les, so although in reality the street is complete with pavement markings, lamp-posts and better lighting these renders are slightly bare and very blue. The church and 3 characters are drawn and ready to be scanned in at Uni on Monday, and Im hopeful about rendering the pre-vis at uni as well!

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And Son Environment Pipeline 4-6 (2014-01-04 12:33)

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And Son - Environment Pipeline 13-14 (2014-01-04 12:36)

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tutorphil (2014-01-04 14:37:51) looking very nice indeed, Chrissie! Le (2014-01-06 02:29:11) I love the illustrative look =) They look beautiful!

And Son - Environment Pipeline 10-12 (2014-01-04 12:36)

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And Son - Environment Research & Inuences (2014-01-05 05:41)

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Animatic Mark 2 (2014-01-05 15:37)

Mark 2 of the animatic has arrived. I struggled to try and do the new opening sequence right but I think it works now. This new draft comes with the added the previously stated new opening sequence that features the mother. The challenge was to tell the life story of her and Barnabas in as short amount of time as possible BUT also have some key details in there about the mother encouraging their creativity. This sequence I image to be still pictures but with a 3D element... a concept Ive found hard to explain so Ill be creating an example to test the theory I have about how to do it. Another major alteration has been the 2nd (now 3rd) scene of the father working in his oce. This now has the addition of Benjamin in the room with him. I think I strayed from this idea previously because I wanted to show the isolation between the two characters but after Phil suggested it I saw how it could actually work better. The father and son love each other but dont know how to communicate about their tragedy. This awkward scene where theyre together yet still far apart now adds more depth to the relationship. The nal addition is the cheered up funeral attendees. Phil suggested additional characters that enjoyed the shenanigans of Benjamin thus giving him incentive to continue at further funerals. Benjamins goal is to cheer people up in the way his mother taught him... by smiling. Now these characters allow Benjamin to see he was successful. IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/NriMBZZ4aJY There are a few adjustments that I still wish to make but they dont alter the story... just detail really: - Moving clouds in the sky (as if on a stage set) It keeps the somewhat theatre atheistic. - Benjamin needs a radio next to him in the oce to show where the music is coming from... alternately it could be on Barnabas desk and he switches it o when looking at the chair. - When the sun goes down... make the scene go darker and drop moon and stars (as if on string) into the 199

scene... then pull them out as the sun comes up. It just rearms the day change.

1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/NriMBZZ4aJY

Stitch (2014-01-05 17:18:10) Seriously Ive watched it 6 times now... A round of applause is in order here, Sammy its fookin wicked WELL DONE! Nat Urwin (2014-01-07 05:55:37) Are you going to make it clearer that its not a funeral parlour anymore? Seeing this for the rst time, all I could see was that theyre now just colourful instead. I didnt nd the change of business clear enough?

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 2D Turnarounds to 3D (2014-01-05 17:59)

Hello Everyone, I am hurrying to get up everything I can before the hand in on Thursday the Barnabas model should be ready too so keep your eyes peeled for that. In the mean time I have Young Barnabas ready to go to the next stage of development. The reason Young Barnabas is done is because he was a basic adaptation from the Benjamin Badgersworth model. Their clothing is virtually identical, the key dierence are their proportions and obvious facial details. These were all addressed within ZBrush using the truly awesome move tool. Maya was revisited after for UVs and mesh clean up. I have just watched Sammys & Son Animatic V2 and let me just say I am still in awe, the story really grows on you the more you watch. Check it out on this post [1]here if you have a moment! In other news I created another little video of my creating Young Barnabas from Benjamin. There are however some apologies due as I totally forgot to record earlier so you only get the bitter end. I do explain this in the video so you are probably best to check it out. I also used this time to x some other minor aws in the Benjamin model but its nothing major. Anyway lets check out the Young Barnabas 3D turnarounds woop woop!! 200

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The image above shows the 3D turnarounds draped over the prole images so you can see how close the geometry is to the turnarounds. The hair is and probably always will be a bit of a oversight as these images do not make for the consideration of the hat. Making the hair this big made it blow out of the top of the hat. This also meant that I had to be careful with how much hair to pull beneath the hat as doing so could move the hair beneath the head. I was trying to be considerate for the circumstances when they remove their hats.

IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/83455429

The video above demonstrates the end transformation for Benjamin to Young Barnabas. This was done mostly with ZBrush as it required gradual movement of key anatomical details. These has to be considered as did the facial features. This model probably would have been easier if I wasnt messing around with the hat so much but there we are. I will probably ask Alan for some advice on hair should I feel the need to return to it one last time before rigging. In the video I demonstrate the dierences between the characters as the nale. 201

[4] Next is how Young Barnabas looks in silhouette form. As you can see the proportions are dierent from Benjamin. Young Barnabas is slimmer and has more of an old fashioned hair style. the rest of the details are quite similar purposely as our story spans an ongoing fashion. What I am really glad to see here is the similarities between the two characters as Young Barnabas grows up to be Benjamins dad. Its nice to have familial ties, the sticking out ears and the nobbly knees/legs. Its all quite equal and Im so glad nothing severe was lost in the translation within ZBrush.

[5] Last but not least comes the image planes to model. The proportions are quite exact but I did have to shrink Young Barnabas a little to be slightly smaller then Benjamin. I want to follow the rules of the proportion ideals I set in motion god knows how many posts back. I am quite happy with how he looks facially, you can see Barnabas in him which was something I was afraid would go. The key diculty is making the characters look like they are situated in the same world. It is because of this that I did a couple of tweaks to Benjamin following Young Barnabass arrival. There is still a bit of a ght ahead of me and while I still want to have tonnes before the deadline date I can see a couple of details slipping due to time shortage. Never the less I couldnt have done anything dierent. If anything I learnt that I should never rely on ZBrush to start building geometry. Its always best to have the geometry ready and then use ZBrush to shape it. Thinking like a sculptor does not always help the edge ow of a model. If the foundations of the model are sound you can do almost anything with geometry so you are always best to put your time in at the beginning. Anyway lesson learnt so lets move on! xXStItChXx
1. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/animatic-mark-2.html 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabas3DTurn_zps64d2aa47. jpg

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Pre-Production: Young Barnabas UV Maps (2014-01-05 20:38)

Hello Everyone, Another round of UV maps to show o to the world. Who would have thought Id be here already I guess Im still in a little disbelief here. I am still working hard on the Barnabas model so hopefully the day for delivery (Weds) should still be okay. I plan to work solidly until I have him complete so we can get moving with other more pressing matters. When the minor project hand in is going on I will probably be MIA on the day, sleeping o this unit a little. I just found out we have another brieng on the Friday again I will see how I am doing. I dont want to be a zombie there ha-ha. Anyway this post will draw a close to Young Barnabass UV maps which are totally sorted on my end. If I have time I will try to drape them with a proper texture to do a nice character render. If not just know that it is there in spirit. What I dont get submitted for this unit I will submit for the Major project. I have rigging, a dissertation and a texture passes to sort out following this unit but they shouldnt be a major hitch. I have also just seen the timetable for the major unit its mostly self directed study I guess here we are told to go forth and be amazing as Phil would say... Anyway lets take a look at the UV Maps for Young Barnabas woop woop!

[1] The image above shows my process for testing the uv quality of my model. There is a standard checker matt which lots of people use to nd little inconsistencies. There is also the UV grid option which does something similar showing seam placement and any and all distortion in the UV map. I like to combine the two usually projecting both on to each other. I nd it helps to double up from time to time. The second image is the 203

placement of my seams which is literally identical to Benjamin why? because this model is adapted from his mesh. IFRAME: [2]//player.vimeo.com/video/83468515 The video above shows the ZUV tiles of my UV mapping this is again just another way to check what elements of your UV map reect their geometry. Its a nice little touch by Pixologic (the inventors of ZBrush) but I like the hurdles. I also like to have any excuse possible to go into ZBrush (a concept which threw me o a little bit for this unit) but I have learnt my lesson. I threw in a little narration over the top of this video as the last one felt a little dry. I felt it was handy to explain my actions a little as I went and did them.

[3] The image above shows the ow of my geometry with the uv map and seam placement. I usually like to examine it closely when knocking out uv maps. You have to hide the seams on a model the best you can to get the best results. Having a seam can cause distortion in that specic area which is another reason why people do their best to keep them out of sight. I have had many uv maps pull and stretch in areas (my most damning area is the lip). Poly-painting sometimes exacerbates the pulling which is why its always nice to nish painting uvs in Photoshop. 204

[4] Last but not least is the uv layout itself, I usually mark out what I put where just so people can see the shapes and attribute them to the item they represent. These maps did not have to move much from their original placement (as the Benjamin model). Of course there were elements which were moved around as other geometry got bigger and changed in places. The most dicult area here believe it or not was the head. With Benjamin I had no problems with it the rst time round. but it kept overlapping the damn lips this time. Argh lips will be the death of me ha-ha! Well this is another post to go, hopefully the next one will come quicker then this. Time can y each time I set up one of these posts but what can I say I have my way of doing things. Barnabas will be the focal point from tomorrow onwards which is why I am trying to get all of this out of the way now. I hopefully will have 3 characters made and UVed for the hand in. Anything extra I will sit down and do a bit of poly-painting and possibly some Weta concept. It all depends on how the modelling goes tomorrow. Wish me luck everyone! Over & Out, xXStItChXx
1. 2. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83468515 3. http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasViewport_zps558621a0.jpg http: //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnfindingseems_zps9b3d1037.jpg

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Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Model Complete (2014-01-06 00:46)

Hello Everyone, The next model in the line up is complete (well except for textures). From today onwards it is about the adult Barnabas (about time too). I know this model is sort of an adaptation but its required to tell our story so Im chued. I will probably be readdressing a couple of things after the deadline hand in. I will see about sorting the hair out a little better and getting the top hat to t better. I will also have Bernard to adapt from Barnabas but I dont think that will be too bad. The most dicult thing so far is getting the hair correct. I will have to invest in some advice when we get back :) Still I am quite pleased with most of the model I dont think there is that much to x beyond what we have here. The next step will be getting the textures perfect on each character and of course my chore will be rigging. I cannot forget to make an alternative Torso for Barnabas too as we have a slight costume change at some point in our short. I am hoping there will not be much of that though, I dont understand the concept of working out alternative geometry for a mesh. At least its only for one character in particular. Anyway lets take a look at the Young Barnabas 3D model turnarounds woop woop!

[1] The image above is my typical 3 pass system for animated pre-production gifs. The scene itself was lit with 2 ambient lights with the ambient shade turned right down. The wire pass of course is the only one which doesnt use light but contours to render the polygon edges. Im sure all of my colleagues at UCA know that by now already, still I like to sound clever :) I edit these turns in after eects before ring them across to Photoshop to get them into the animated gif format. There has been an improvement in their exporting functionality gifs used to lag much more. 206

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I took Young Barnabas into ZBrush to check out a couple of little bits beyond what I had already done. The turnaround proles were not entirely accurate for his new form. I found him looking less cute so I had to scale some aspects back a little. The biggest dierence is the stomach as it doesnt protrude out anymore. I didnt want to move the geometry to make way for the jacket to close as there would be distortion galore. It was better not to complicate things so I kept the jacket open (unlike how it is in the turnaround proles for this character).

IFRAME: [3]//player.vimeo.com/video/83475327

As my last Operation Z subdivide entry was quite vague in terms of explanation. I thought I would do a little video explaining what I was noting when recording the prior Benjamin Subdivide video. The video talks in the terms of poly-counts and how the subdivides eect 3D geometry. I didnt want to forget about the perils so I thought it was nice to document it. As many of you know the 365 Day Project requires me to be more explanative which is why lots of my posts come with accompanying videos. I just want my mum to understand the workload going on here ha-ha 207

[4] I sat down while in ZBrush to knock out some basic colour UV texture tests. You have to bear in mind that the face is the only thing with shade as it felt wrong not to give Young Barnabas rosy cheeks. The colour of his skin is probably a little too brown but it was quick as nails. I just wanted to see that the UV maps took colour well and most importantly didnt stretch. I also wanted to see if these kind of basic tones is what they wanted for the eventual texture. I mean you cant get more basic then solid colour. Just food for thought ladies I dont mind what you do. I am having a total ball over here, I have my post its draped over stu but they are going down one by one. I have until Wednesday to get a rendition of adult Barnabas over to Sammy. I will have to see how the time goes. The Barnabas model has been a little bit of a pain but I will get it. I am actually quite chued that so much is coming together for this project. We could be in a better place but when you consider all the back tracking we had to do/explore its quite a feat. I cannot wait to see the nal animation from the major project it will be awesome! Anyway that makes update 3 Catcha later people! xXStItChXx
1. gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ YoungBarnabasBringingintoZBrush_zps1e4f5d7f.jpg 3. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83475327 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabasUVwithPolypaint_ zps148256d9.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/young-barn-turns_zps8c1b99dc.

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Pre-Production: Benjamin Concept Weta (2014-01-06 10:56)

Hello Everyone, I been modelling most of today so I had to take a break but I thought I should use my time wisely so I sat down to knock out a composite concept of little Benjamin. Everyone who knows me know I love to explore the conceptual side of ZBrush. I love multi render pass images as you can tweak literally everything about the image. I enjoy working with concepts within ZBrush as you have all of your posing tools and the ability to render out passes at whatever size you want. ZBrush is a concept artists dream if you ask me I prefer it to doing the drawing myself. After you have spent all of that time modelling to get your geometry correct why not have some fun? A composite render is built of multiple render passes which allows you to modify shadows and lights within a program like Photoshop. I love it for the sheer freedom, no strings attached the model doesnt even have to be UV mapped. I fully recommend it and for people that are curious I can give some advice on what to do if you want it :) Anyway let me show you the fruits of my labour, its always a fun ride! 209

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The image above shows the end result of this process, there are numerous layers that went into the creation of this image. They were blended together within Photoshop using blending modes and opacity. A number of FX controls were also applied as well as hue and saturation adjustments to change shadow tones. I dialled quite a few layers down to get this concept to where I was happy. The problem with doing these passes is when you rst sit down to sort them out you dont know where to start. You have quite a few layers and you can only nd the right combination by test after test. 210

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1. Basic Render Passes

The images above are the basic passes I used to create the model. You have at colour which allows you to change the poly-paint. The ZDepth is for distance between areas of the mesh in this case note how far the shoe is coming forward compared to the back arm. Next is the shadow pass which allows you to change the colour/strength of shadows another cool feature. Next the Occlusion adds darkness in the crevices unaected by the scene light. Last but not least the mask which allows you to slice the images from the hard background exported from ZBrush. 215

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2. The Diuse Render Pass

Next comes the ever important diuse pass which essentially is a basic material lit by 3 scene lights. The entire model is also lled with white its mainly used to take all of the information from the other render passes so it generally sits at the bottom of the layer stack in Photoshop. ZBrushs materials are one of the most handy features about creating conceptual renders. You can make Eyes shine with toy plastic, you can make skin pop with skin shader and you can add shine to metal using chrome. This is why the model feels so alive when you combine the passes...

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3. The Light Passes!

Last but not least are 3 light passes each illuminating dierent areas of the model. The ZBrush Basic Material 2 reects the light on black which acts as an alpha on the right blending mode. The key light is put on the upper left area of the scene while the ll light sits in between. The rim light accentuates the other side of the model Of course you dont have the have the lights coloured in this way. You can change them to meet the mood of the background you have chosen. On the next weta concept I knock up I will probably play with this element. 219

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The Standard Beauty ZBrush Render Vs. The Weta Composite Last but not least I always like to look back at the beauty pass just to see how much I have improved the model by combining and adjusting the render passes. The last thing I did was add a paper texture but I wanted there to be some tonal variance in that so I added a subtle gradient eect. I then applied a gradient inside the at colour pass just to compliment the colours in the texture. I tried to keep the warm colours in the places with esh the colder tones near the recessed hidden areas. It always makes for quite a nice result. I am happy with this! Well this was a nice step away from modelling. I have been doing nothing but modelling the past few days so I had to stop and get my bearings. I am still cracking away at Barnabas xing problems as and when they arise. Im hoping to have a video put together after all of this so keep your eyes peeled. We dont have long to go until the deadline is due in so I am pulling out all of the stops. Dont worry Phil I am not trying to burn myself out. I am taking things gradually it just takes a while to get everything together to post. Please enjoy the post people! 221

Later! xXStItChXx

1. 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/FlatColour_zpsa9689d9b.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/depth_zps849fa636.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/shadow_zps918d98f5.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/occlusion_zps0ecae4e9.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/mask_zps3d571958.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/diffuse_zps2d1bc8b4.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/keylight_zps98849b7b.jpg 9. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/filllight_zps484ab32a.jpg 10. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/rimlight_zps75225cc5.jpg 11. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/beauty_zpsb2a00568.jpg 12.

http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminBasicPoseWeta1_zps6a99a8f1.jpg

http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminBasicPoseWeta_zps40d9a2ef.jpg

Pre-Production: Benjamin 3D Expression Sheets (2014-01-06 17:16)

Hello Everyone, I have another little extra to lay on everyone just because I couldnt resist and like I said modelling can fry my brain if Im not careful. Basically I set out to make some bog standard basic expressions in ZBrush but found myself buying into a weta concept for each individual face. The expression tests quickly turned from 1 into 6 and I thought it would make for a damn interesting post. I even took the opportunity to play with the light settings within ZBrush to see what kind of results I got. It has opened my eyes to the possibilities! Anyway after playing in ZBrush for a bit I had all of my expressions and passes then it suddenly dawned on me to try and line them up to make a really choppy but precise expression animation. This is what truly astonished me. Obviously the key problem is the lack of in-betweens but It was an experiment that went this far. This has also helped me gauge how I want the blend shapes for our character mesh to go so I am quite happy here. Anyway I will do this post and get cracking with other bits and pieces before diving back to modelling. So here goes... lets check out these awesome 3D expression sheets!!! 222

[1]

The crude animation above was made in Photoshop from my complete render passed images. I made it into this after having a strange epiphany... I basically got the inspiration from watching Only Fools and Horses on television. The opening sequence where there faces are on stickers and it shows a couple of quick stills. I didnt think it would work as well as this but after lining up the lower end of the body the movement fell into its own. I guess its true what they say inspiration is everywhere if you know when and where to look ha-ha. 223

[2] The diuse render passes (above) show the subtleties from the 3 dierent lights in the scene. I made the ll and rim lights a pale blue keeping the key a strong vibrant orange. You obviously have to know what colours to use when lighting anything. Orange complements blue just like red compliments green. Anyway I also love how the model looks in this form. It looks like a classic style statue and it adds subtle hues of colour to the Weta concepts. I will probably be using this a lot more in the future to knock up quick 3D concepts... I just love it.

[3] Just in case any of you are curious I am not coming up with these expressions willy nilly. The image above shows Benjamins Innocent expression as it has evolved over the course of 3 years. Sammys original was made back in 2012 for the little shit version of Benjamin. In 2013 I made a rendition to go inside my array of expressions although I called it Hiding Something... Sammys original is what inspired it and it is present in the animatic for the Frog sequence. In 2014 right now you have the 3D model version which I am pleased to be able to deliver. 224

[4] Next come the Beauty passes directly from ZBrushs built in rendering system. These still look pretty good without the passes but I think the passes add a little more life to the character. Obviously realism is not where we are aiming with & Son but seeing as this is the conceptual stage I will plod on the only way I know how. There are a couple of dierent materials in action for these renders. The face has skin shading while the hair has a bone shader. The shirt has a white mat cap and the hat has a gorilla mat giving it a rich darker tone...

[5] Last but not least I thought I would line the renders up just in case people get a little tired of trying to narrow down an expression from the animated gif above. I have also listed the expressions names just in case people wanted to know what expression they relate to. You can refer back to Benjamins expressions and see if you can link any of these images to those. You can nd the old post [6]here! I think the sad expression is the only new one here but I did try to build it on another expression it just wound up looking more sad. There isnt long to go now till D-Day so I am trying to get as many ducks in a row as I can. Barnabas is coming slowly so I am not sure if he will be ready on the day but if I think its looking bad I will prioritize getting Young Barnabas as up to speed as Benjamin is. At least that way I have 2 complete characters as opposed to 1 complete and 1 marginally complete and the other two incomplete. I just want to be in as good a place as we can be and I have been taught its quality over quantity. Anyway I have done my best here so I hope it all pays o in the end ;) Catcha later people! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/benjmotion-test_zpsff039717.gif

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2. 3. 4. 5.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BenjaminExpressionSample_ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/Benjamin3DExpressionSheet_

Benjamin3DExpressionDiffuseSheet_zps12c80d05.jpg zps70193372.jpg Benjamin3DExpressionBeautySheet_zps7673560b.jpg zps41f899a8.jpg 6. http://polydoodlepictures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/pre-production-benjamin-expression.html

Pre-Production: Young barnabas Textured Complete (2014-01-08 00:32)

Hello Everyone, It is that time again with only today to go... I am just about to dump in a massive folder full of pngs into my partners drop box. Of course I have 2 more posts to go after this but we have to start getting the gears in motion. I dont think we have done too bad for the minor project deadline. I am a little gutted that I couldnt get the adult Barnabas done in time for this unit but hopefully it wont be far behind this deadline. I will be cleaning each model up once more before we commit to the rigging so that is something else on the docket but it wont take long once I have them all... Now this post is about the textured Young Barnabas, these are not necessarily the nal textures as they have to be surveyed by the lead artist Chrissie. I painted these models entirely by hand with a little help from some projection mapping. I painted everything possible but there are a couple of areas that still but me somewhat. It is actually weird this time around not to be using any bump maps... It more or less means that the texture painting has to be on top form. You have nothing to hide your ink so you have to go full on detail... Anyway lets checkout the textured turnarounds for Young Barnabas Badgersworth

[1] 226

The animated gif above shows a quick render turnaround of Young Barnabas Badgersworth. The lighting in the scene is a bit strong on the blue front but I like the shadow vs. light values so I kept it in from the prior textured Benjamin turns. I am quite lucky that these eyes are not the nal eyes as we are using nurbs. The painting is quite big for the eye and the iris is quite tiny. I also dont think its sitting in the middle of the eye so thats quite a big problem. My most proud feature of this paint job has to be the jacket... Much better shade then Benjamins.

[2]

The image above shows a couple of basic material render passes from ZBrush. The at colour is good for when you are doing paintwork. The fast shader is good for examining tone and colour values. The Blinn is good for bumps and surface deformation so this is pretty good for bump/normal maps. I generally dart about between them when doing a full work up on a character (I did this for the Driver). Its very handy to be able to adjust your eld of view especially when tone is your weakness (as it is mine).... Still I am gradually getting better little by little... 227

[3] From the Benjamin post I worried that I was focusing waaaaaay too much on trying to bake occlusion maps. It wasnt until later that I realised I shouldnt be baking them for these characters. The characters will be lit by in scene occlusion and will be comprised of render layers. The image above is a single occlusion/standard render composite of the textured Young Barnabas model. As you can see the scene does most of the work I think I got a little confused from my last unit here. Still its a mistake made and learnt from I will remember this image when I think of bake maps. IFRAME: [4]//player.vimeo.com/video/83608262 I created a video of my entire poly-painting process this time around just so people could see what went into the texture of this model. I also ew into a little introduction giving a basic ins and outs guide to ZBrush and sub tools. Its just one more video for the long list really. I still have to post all of these over at the 365 day project site... Thats gonna have to happen gradually me thinks. I need to sleep after getting these posts done. I am soooo glad I got this far within this period of time, I have my condence back so now modelling 228

the last two should be ne.

[5] The nal image entry for this post is the epic UV mapping which took a little while to get right. Im still not sure if its the right way to go so Sammy and Chrissie will take a look at the model themselves and give me the SP. There is actually a little baked occlusion in there to dampen down some of the areas which are still too bright on the model. Of course I did limit the opacity on it and rub out some key things which made the model look hideous. Of course I didnt factor in at this point that the model would be lit by scene occlusion meaning texture occlusion wasnt needed. This post will knock out one of my last for this Unit dont worry I wont be spilling any tears not that I dont enjoy the workload. A brief is like anything it can get old if you dont keep the work fresh. This is one of the reasons I post so many extra pictures. They are not really for anyone other then me just so I can keep the light in my eyes burning bright. The next Unit will be the Major but this project continues I have to get the nal two models sorted and then get rigging. Then we will be sitting down to get the animation going... its gonna be one hell of a ride. Woop! Later! xXStItChXx
1. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarn1_zps91abd420.gif 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/polypaintingYoungBarnabas_ zps509e2f7f.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarnturn_zpse89fe4ea.jpg 4. file://player.vimeo.com/video/83608262 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarnuv_zpsba5cf900.jpg

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas Concept Weta (2014-01-08 01:21)

Hello Everyone, I am back yes I am chain posting here but not without good reason. Following the success of my Benjamin Weta I sat down to knock up a pose/render worthy of Young Barnabas. I wanted something empathetic as these concepts are to reect personas more then actual settings. The expression on Barnabas made me consider my area of expertise DARKNESS MWAHAHA. Of course I realise this does not sit in our world at all but as I had the control over the concept I found myself wanting to go darker and darker until his suit sat in a dark frame. Now I know what you are going to say... it looks like a concept on abuse... Its not that - its to reect the fear Young Barnabas had of his dad - Bernard. I prefer to think of this concept as Barnabass inner child being shut away and repressed as is Barnabass artistic talent in our short. Its like I said theses are more about persona then portraying a scene or a message. Benjamins Weta was happy and dynamic because that is who he is. Young Barnabas was told not to chase his 229

dreams by his dad so he is on a downer. This is of course not that much dierent from his adult counterpart as he has lost his wife so that makes him more gloomy. I will see what happens with that one when I get to it. For now though please enjoy and DO NOT READ OUR STORY AS DARK BECAUSE ITS NOT! Anyway let me show you the fruits of my labour, its always a fun ride!

[1]

The image above shows the end result of the composited layers. Its the only time on this brief where I have totally indulged my darker tones and it will probably be the only time when Chrissie and Sammy see him ha-ha. That being said I really do like the way he looks in this concept. I didnt actually do bad with the posing although there are some areas which still bother me... I wont point those out you are just going to have to guess... I really do love making these concepts using my models they are so satisfying to me. 230

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1. Basic Render Passes

The 5 images above are the basic 5 render passes you have to export from ZBrush. They are all created pretty much at the same time by Mayas built in render tab. This saves time as you only have to click each one and choose where to save it. I thought about doing a video on the Weta process but I am still not sure. It can take a few hours for me to nd the right combination of layers and eects in Photoshop before I nd the right one. Of course then there is always that worry that you will lose what you have made if you continue changing things... I still love it though. 235

[7]

2. The Diuse Render Pass

The diuse pass is probably my most favourite out of all of the render passes mainly because it shows your model in all of its glory as if it is carved from a statue and lit in a museum. Its so satisfying to see and usually no matter what I do with it I always end up loving its results. Its basically built of a white basic shader and 3 lights running at the same time. The rest is just the functionality of the ZBrush rendering engine. Of course when you go up in document size you nd it begin to slow down very quickly.... It doesnt like A4 size.

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3. The Light Passes!

The Light passes can be the fussiest thing about the compositing process because usually they are too strong for a concept. They might be good if you are looking to showcase a plastic model as the reectivity goes out of the ceiling. These passes were from an online blog talking of ZRender passes and I have used them ever since. I will probably read up to improve my understanding of this process a little more. For each concept I usually end up rubbing most of the light out or changing it entirely. The black on the lighting model can also make layers darker then they should be. 239

[11]

[12]

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The Standard Beauty ZBrush Render Vs. The Weta Composite The images above show the Weta composit vs. the standard ZBeauty pass. I do this each time just so I can appreciate the individual elements of my nal output. The ZBrush render is essentially a render using check boxed layers which it uses at its leisure allowing no control to the user. The composite may take longer and may at times be dicult to nalize but its always eective. I havent made one of these yet which hasnt left me thinking to myself at the end Did I do that? No way it cant have been. Because if I can do it then anyone can... Well I have one more post to commit before going and curling into a ball for a day or so. I always worry that I underestimate each brief from this course. Then I think to myself its not that I underestimate its that I have ridiculously high standards for myself. I dont know whether I was always like it or if my second grade teacher called a piece of my work crap and threw it in the trash in front of me ha-ha. Nah I do like looking back at my work and at my post it note box from time to time just to see how far I have come... and Im still going... somehow :P 241

Later! xXStItChXx

1. 2. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/flatcolour_zps08d4ea00.jpg 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BPR_Depth_zpse7ab6e8f.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BPR_Shadow_zpsce548d78.jpg 5. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BPR_AO_zpsf1828b1c.jpg 6. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/BPR_Mask_zps20f55155.jpg 7. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/diffuse_zps4bb3e54e.jpg 8. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/keylight_zps5fd461a5.jpg 9. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/filllight_zpsd9f536a5.jpg 10. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/rimlight_zpsa59c5b78.jpg 11. 12.

http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarnconceptwetasig_zps691db9d7.jpg

http: http:

//i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarnbeautyrender_zps6e6c277b.jpg //i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/youngbarnconceptweta_zps66d103d6.jpg

Pre-Production: Young Barnabas 3D Expression Sheets (2014-01-08 07:40)

Hello Everyone, Well I have reached my last post for this Unit and if I ever deserved a beer it would be now. 2 of our 4 characters completely explored conceptually. The only thing left to do for them is to get them rigged. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my creative partners Sammy and Chrissie for doing such a stunning job with the environment and story development... It all looks amazing ladies I cant wait to animate it all with you. I honestly can say we couldnt have worked harder for this unit We all want this animation to be amazing and it really shows in all of our pre-production work... I cant wait to move beyond all of the pre-production.... We still have a little pre-production work to put together but considering the calibre of work on display I think it explains itself almost. There have been a few obvious snags in the modelling process (particularly with me). I was thinking too much about trying to get results in ZBrush rather then knuckling down and getting things done. I have learnt my lesson though so the next characters should be coming about very soon indeed. In the meantime I am going to take a couple of days o following this post.... I need to clear my head before diving right back in. Anyway lets get down to my nal post for this Unit... 3D EXPRESSIONS WOOP! 242

[1]

The gif above are the 6 expressions I sculpted on the characters face within ZBrush. I then took the stills into Photoshop and turned them into composite renders. I then merged these expressions and ran them into a Photoshop timeline. The animation above is on a 0.3 second interval. 0.1 was too fast as was 0.2. 0.00 we dont talk about because you cant see it. Anyway I did this because it allows me to see the character animating almost with an obvious absence of in-betweens. Still it still feels like he is in motion... HES ALIVE! 243

[2]

I thought I would change things up a little for this array of expressions. For Benjamin you saw the diuse line up. For young Barnabas you get to see the key light line up. This is also because there was no diuse map used in the nal composite of these expressions. every time I included it the character immediately turned too white. I had the option of keeping it in as a soft light but it just bleached out the character even more. Anyway the key light renders are subtle amber lights reecting on ZBrushs basic material 2 shader. I thought these looked cool.

[3]

Next I thought id examine the straight renders from ZBrush which if Im honest were totally shocking as they looked pretty good. There is just the right balance of tone for the skin shaders on Young Barnabass face. I even love the way the hat looks on him in each of these images. There was one problem which I was made aware of by Chrissie and that is that the suit is blue and it shouldnt be. These minor texture troubles will be discussed by the art and story team. While this is going on I will be o getting the other models ready for their inquisitive eyes :) 244

[4] The nal image of this Unit from my side of things are Young Barnabass expression sheets lined up for your critique. Despite my dire need for the dark I actually found myself liking the happy face on Young Barnabas. I guess by this point I had lled my inner dark need by knocking up the Darker Young Barnabas Weta concept. If I had time I would try to do all of the expression sheets on my 2D drawn concepts but 6 will have to do for the moment. Maybe one day in the future if Im feeling bored ill have a bit more of a play... Thats not a promise though! Well for me this is the end of the minor project unit. I apologise again for not getting absolutely everything done but I will make up for my misgivings as we roll into the next unit. Our end submission will be signed o with a massive explosion you mark my words. We have a new and nal 15 week deadline which will spark the end of my student career. I will be going out to look for work when we leave. I honestly cant believe its nearly here already... It seems like yesterday when I was sitting down in Maya wondering how I got there from college... 3 years... Damn that means Im 27. DOH!I Its been emotional ladies & gentlemen. The stitch has left the building. xXStItChXx
1. 2. 3. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/ Young-Barnabas-Motion-Test-Sheet_zps1d557425.gif YoungBarnabas3DExpressionKeyLightSheet_zps7ef3c2b8.jpg YoungBarnabas3DExpressionBeautySheet_zpsaaada496.jpg 4. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/neottix/UCA%20Polydoodle%20Pictures/YoungBarnabas3DExpressionSheet_ zpsecb25251.jpg

Turnarounds for Environments and Characters (2014-01-08 20:49)

This video is a compilation of all the turnarounds for completed sets/characters we have thus far. IFRAME: [1]//www.youtube.com/embed/m0q7HtUalo4
1. file://www.youtube.com/embed/m0q7HtUalo4

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Art of and Disc Artwork (2014-01-08 21:35)

Art of

IFRAME: [1]//www.scribd.com/embeds/197546287/content?start page=1 &view mode=scroll &show recommendations=true

Disc Artwork

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Edited: January 9, 2014