Major Project: Environment Texturing

Just a couple more objects to texture and duplicate.

Major Project: 2D characters Concepts

Major Project: 2D characters Concepts

More to come.

Major Project: Environment Complete

The environment is pretty much complete, the rest will be projected on a surface shader and planes such as clouds, trees etc.

Major Project: Environment modeling

I keep remiding myself that I am going for a minimalist style, so it's just not that much detailed except in some corners. A few more objects to model then moving on to the clothing shop and outdoor market.

Major project: Environment concepts

While modeling I decided to jump back to photoshop to make some concepts in order to figure out what goes in the environment, lighting as well as avoiding unnecessary models by planning the shots.

Next will be finalising the environment modeling and working on the 2d characters animations using the animatic.

Major Project: Beggar turnaround

                    

Major Project: Aftereffects Rig test

Even though the beggar will be animated in maya, I have decided to do a quick test of rigging in Aftereffects before making the 2d characters (waterman, musician, dancer, storyteller and fortune-teller) to have an idea of the process and how to achieve the painterly style.
After animating the 2d characters, they will be imported into photoshop to paint frame by frame.
Below is a quick rig test, I am happy about how much I can do with the rig and also the characters won't have extreme poses, so it should be fine.

Major Project: Beggar Retexturing

I decided to retexture the beggar in order to push his style a bit more as I wasn't happy with the previous texturing. Below are some colour variations and combinations, using neutral colours seemed to be the right choice to keep things "minimalistic" and let the other elements stand out such as the lines and overall design.

3, 5 & 6 seem to stand out for me, in terms of variety of colours and unity. However 3 might be a bit too dull. Any feedback is welcome.

Major Project: Beggar Skinning Complete

      

Major Project: Animatic.v1

          This a very rough animatic using the storyboard I have posted before. Though It still needs sounds and maybe voiceover it's  just to have a quick idea of what will be happening in terms of shots, discontinuity and timing. I will be working on it as I am finalising the characters concepts and the Beggar's model.


            

Major Project: Storyboard.v1

As I mentioned before, the beggar will be sort of the lead and will represent the audience in a way, his absence in a few panels serves as a way to show that we are lost in the experience as well. Although, I have to include a shot of him at the end.

Major Project: Project Proposal

A 2-3minutes animated short about my personal experience in Jemaa El fna in Marrakech, Morocco.
The animation will be led by the beggar, who represents us.

The environment will be minimal as a metaphor for the loss/fading of memories, which results in forgetting details of the market. The use of expressionism will be present to emphasise the personality of each character. Discontinuity editing will be used to evoke a sense of busyness and disorientation.

Slow-motion will be used in certain shots as a way to give a dream-like experience in which time seems to expand.

Concerning the outcome, the blog will show evidence of fully rigged/skinned character, 3d environment and 2d animated characters. All assets will be composited and edited.
Some of the technical difficulties include:

-Character toonshader texturing

-2d animated displacement maps

Minor Project: Beggar Head Modelling

Minor Project: Environment Test

I have been trying to find ways to express the minimalist style and ways to translate it into 3D by either modelling in a minimal way or texturing only bits of the models. After experimenting with Maya and trying a quick transparency test on a simple plane, it seems to be the right technique for me. This will allow me to model the environment as a whole and then decide what will be shown through the texturing process.