Slowly Working My Way Back into Movie Mode!

Hey guys!

The holidays have come and gone and as you can tell by my lack of updates that I'm easing my way back into working on the movie.

Well, that is true. I haven't exactly been starting the new year running. The truth is that I'm pretty tired still and I am enjoying the time away from the movie for the time being. I really worked hard last year and it's been nice giving my brain a break for a while.

Still, I haven't exactly been doing nothing either. These last couple weeks I've been working on resolving the problem I've been having with rigging the Thomas model. I just can't seem to find the trick to making his shorts follow his bending legs and I must say it has been quite frustrating. Especially since I know the answer is staring me in the face and I just can't see it.

So, just as I did with T-Boom, I've decided to put Thomas on hold and try rigging a character that isn't wearing a costume...Max! I just started messing around with that this week so I'm really hoping to have a fully rigged Max by this time next week.

I'll let you know how that goes!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Everyone!

Hey guys!

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you!

I wish I could say that I've been busy on the movie since my last posting but the truth is that I've accomplished very little. That's not to say I haven't been working hard, but I just haven't been able to solve the problem I've had with rigging the clothing yet.

And, now that the holidays are upon us, I seriously doubt I'll be working much on the movie these next couple of weeks.

Don't worry though. I know I'll have a few spare hours to work on the movie and if I have anything worth reporting I will certainly let you know.

Until then, let me say that this has been an excellent year for the film. It may be true to say that I'm no further along at the end of the year than I was at the beginning but if you take a look back through this year's postings you'll see I've actually accomplished quite a lot. I absolutely love that I took the time to redesign the characters. I'm so please with what I've learning this year concerning modeling and I'm even more pleased I took the time to apply that knowledge toward what is truly my most prized project. I love all these characters so much and I think that is finally starting to reflect in the work.

So, for the time being, if I don't have time to post another entry this year, everyone have a truly wonderful holiday season with a spectacular new year!

2012 is going to be a great year for Xam and Power Dog and I can't wait to get it started!

Moved on to Rig Thomas!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I know, I said I was going to have the T-Boom model rigged by the beginning of the week (which was yesterday).

Surprise, surprise. I kept running into problems that I just haven't been able to figure out. The main problem is his hoodie. I just can't get the hoodie to conform with the moving mesh. I know there's a little secret I'm missing, but I just haven't been able to figure it out.

So, I thought I'd move on to a model without a hoodie. I decided to go with Thomas and so far that has proven to be a good choice. Here are a couple of pics of Thomas. The first is his default pose and in the other two I've moved his arms and hands...




The reason I decided to go with the Thomas model is that I'm going to have something of a similar problem with Thomas as I had with T-Boom and that is that his pants are separate from his body, just like T-Boom's hoodie. While I was working with T-Boom, his pants were something of a problem. Of course, I'm having the same trouble with Thomas since they're both basically wearing the same pants (only mapped with a different texture). So, now that I've got the arms moving I will tackle the pants problem.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here's what happens when I move Thomas' leg...


As you can see, his leg goes right through his pants. That clearly won't work so I'll be hitting the internet again trying to figure out how to prevent this.

I'm hoping that figuring out the pants will give me some insight on how to fix the hoodie problem.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Still Rigging!

Hey guys!

Well, Thanksgiving slowed down most of my work on the movie last week.

That being the case, I'm going to double my efforts to have T-Boom mostly rigged by the end of the week.

I say "mostly" because the rigging I'm working on right now is essentially his bone structure. This will allow me to bend and pose him at all his joints (elbows, knees, fingers, etc.). Once I have that done I will then have to rig the muscles of his face so I can control his eyes and mouth and all the other subtle movements a face can make. That will surely bring with it a different set of problems.

So, like I said, my target for bone rigging will be the end of the week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Later!

Still Working on Rigging!

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I knew rigging would be hard and so far it hasn't let me down.

I know I've done rigging before but the truth is that I was never really happy with what I had done (hard to believe I know) so I'm looking into different ways to set up the rigging.

I think I'm on to something really good so I will continue to work on this new way of rigging and see where it takes me.

I will, of course, keep you informed.

Later!

Old and New Rocky Comparison!

Hey guys,

I was reading up on character rigging when I realized that I haven't done an old/new Rocky model comparison.

So, let's take a look...


Alright. So, you have the same differences as with all the other updated models, and that is that the updated Rocky model looks more realistic while retaining her "cartoon" feel.

To me, the biggest difference between this updated model and the others is this character was deliberately made to look older than her previous version. Why did I want her older? Because she works for NASA's Near Earth Object Center and she can't look 12. How did I make her look older? I gave her lipstick and dressed her more like a young adult. Her character works the night shift so she can dress a little more casual. Her shirt has a wider collar and you can see the little red straps of her bra. I gave her a short shirt and waist hugging, form fitting jeans and you can see a little of her belly. I also added some glasses and messed up her hair a little more to accent her character's inner nerd.

Overall, I think this is the most radically different model when compared to version 1.0. It took me a while to finish this model. Most of this was due to the Halloween holiday but a small part was due to my deciding how far to go when trying to make her look older.

I think I managed to do that while keeping this a kid friendly film.

Now, back to character rigging.

Ugggggg. :|

Updated Rocky is Finished!

Alright! Updated Rocky is finished!

Well, at least the modeling is done.

Here she is with detailed hair...


So, now I'm out of excuses. I have no choice now but to start rigging these models.

I'm going to start with T-Boom. I have no idea how long this will take.

Why? Because I know I didn't rig my previous models correctly. There was so much I didn't do and I plan on doing these models right.

I'll let you know how that goes. :)

Back from Vacation!

Hey guys!

I haven't done a whole heck of a lot on the movie the last couple of weeks because I've been working on one of my side projects, Hollinger Hollow. Halloween is such a big event in my family that I've taken the last couple weeks off in order to focus solely on the Hollow.

Well, now that Halloween is over so is my vacation and that means I will once again refocus my attention back on the movie.

When last I left I said I was going to work on adding detail to Updated Rocky's hair. I haven't started that yet but I did add a blue jeans texture to her pants and here's a pic...


Alright, now it's time to get back to work.

I'll keep you posted.

Added Color to Rocky 2 Model!

Hey guys!

Just a quick posting to let you know I've added color to the updated Rocky model...


As you can see, she works for NASA!

Now I need to add detail to the hair.

I'll let you know how that goes!

Updated Rocky Model Moving Along...Slowly!

Hey guys,

Well, I've been finding a little time here and there to work on the updated Rocky model. Not much. Just an hour here or an hour there.

Here's what I've got so far...


So, what's different?

The most noticeable difference is she now has hands. What you really can't tell from this pic is that she also now has teeth and a tongue.

So, now I'm going to look the model over for the next couple of days and make sure I'm happy with everything. Then I will add detail to the hair and color.

After that, I really don't have any other choice but to rig the new models. I'm dreading it because I don't think I did a very good job when I rigged the old models. Still, if I don't rig them I can't animate them so it's kinda an important step.

I'll keep you posted.