Harvey's El Bandito Blog

Modelling Reels

2009-06-22T01:34:00.000-07:00

These are my two modelling reels for submission showing both my Character and Environment Modelling. This forms the main bulk of my artistic work whcih I have covered.

Animation Reel

2009-06-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

This is my animation reel for submission which includes both character animation for the Prisoner characters and Train and Environment Animation. Some of the animating has been in collaboration with others in the group and this has been noted on the footers on each piece.

Technical Reel & Compositing Reel

2009-06-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

These are my technical reel submissions for both my rigging sections of work and my compositing sections. My compositing reel is one of my stronger areas and I hope this will satisfy a large percentage of my technical folder as I have composited the entire film.

Final Changes and Alterations

2009-06-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

After cutting it to the wire on Friday for the hand-in, we then sat down as a group and discussed all the shots we wanted to change and what we had time to achieve before Tuesday's grading session. We managed to re-render a total of 4 shots which we were not happy with and then highlighted a further 15 shots to iron out in After Effects. I have also taken a look at another 13 shots which I think would benefit from additional effects and finishing in order to get a more professional look and improve the standard of the shots. This will involve simulating more camera shake effects, post effects and motion blurs where necessary.

This will all be completed tomorrow (Monday) in time to cut into the film on Monday night before the grading session on Tuesday. Should be all good and then we can work on promotion and branding.

I will be working on the website in the coming week and I have also ordered the badges for the degree show. I will also be finalising a DVD case design to be sent to the DVD duplicators once the film is graded and finished.

Last Day of Rendering...Hopefully!

2009-06-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hopefully tomorrow will be the last day of rendering shots. We have the following left to do tomorrow: -

Animate/Finalise: - 47 - Train, 22 - Marshals, 49 - Sheriff and Marshals
Render: - 22, 47, 45D, 45E, 49, 59, 60, 61A, 61B, 61C, 41 & 47 Smoke
Re-render: - RGB passes for Shot 09

Not too much to do although it will be tight. We could afford for a couple to slip into Thursday although we will be doing our best not to so I can spend all day compositing. Good times!

Lighting References

2009-06-16T15:05:00.001-07:00

I gathered these some time ago however I thought they would be useful to post up here. These were some inspirational types of lighting I found that I wanted to try and mimic into the film. Although lighting has been one of our weaker areas, Sam has developed some really nice lighting sets and rigs to compliment his texturing and we have in some instances achieved results like in these images. The harsh lighting is something we have really liked about the desert environment although the colour will also really be brought alive by the grading as well as the lighting.

Shot 52B Smash Animation

2009-06-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

This shot was animated quite a while ago but I have now gone back to it in order to animate the environment which explodes out into a mass of destruction. I feel this is animating quite well and again in After Effects I will be adding alot to this in the composite to bring it to life and make it seem more realistic. I think combined with the previous shot and especially the sound design this will be a very interesting and dynamic shot in the film.

Mines Train Shots Animation (41, 43 & 44)

2009-06-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

These are a selection of train shot animations that are for inside the Mines. Alot of these shots inter-cut within the fight scenes to keep the pace and flow of the sequence. Sam and I have both been working on these to try and pull this set of shots together successfully. Some of these are working really nicely and with post-effects I think they will start looking very dynamic.

We have also worked on shots 38 & 39 where the train enters the Mines, flies off the tracks and then crashes down on the opposite side. We have also done another shot with the camera strapped to the side of the train as it exits the Mines and we will be working on when it leaves the Mines early next week.

Ending Shots - Changes and Alterations

2009-06-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

As the ending has started to come together into a final animated form we have considered several changes to benefit both the story and visual look. There were two key decisions made for the better this week that we all discussed.

1) Shots 57 (Prisoner pulling pin out) and 58 (Split Screen of characters reaching for one another) will now be combined. It will be done in a way that the Prisoner is on screen as a full shot removing the pin and staring at it. The camera then moves to make the Prisoner appear in the left of the shot and the Bandit reaches out frantically and effectively tears away the screen like paper to reveal him holding out his arm to the Prisoner.

2) Shot 60 (Prisoners cheering and escaping) will now feature the Prisoner holding the pin in one hand and outstretching his other arm. Then to make his intentions appear more accidental he will simply shrug and throw the pin up in the air in a care-free manner. The Prisoner will then celebrate as before.

Outro Animation (Shot 63)

2009-06-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is an 'almost' finalised version of the outro we have substituted in at the end. Basically the shot freezes and transitions out into this newspaper graphic for which Tony has kindly illustrated the Bandit with a bowed head. This then punches back out to the animation for the final flurry of action. Also our credits are sneakily placed into the newspaper design along with our sound designers and grader!

Shot 59 Animation

2009-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

This is the animation I have worked on for the shot of the Prisoners escaping. In the final version the train carriage will be pulling away from camera to show it slowing down from the front of the train. I have used the main Con centrally as he has just pulled out the pin; he then tosses this into the canyon before cheering and celebrating. The second Con waves goodbye to the Bandit out of the window and the final Con is hanging from the side of the carriage due to the issue of fitting him inside the constraints of the carriage. I felt this orangutan like action was quite fitting and it works well in framing the 3 of them as a team rather than having one of them tucked back inside the carriage.

Shot 54 Animation

2009-06-07T12:58:00.001-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks we discussed alot of new ideas to make the ending more effective and to signify that the Prisoner's weren't intentionally leaving the Bandit behind. Now we have cut together the order of the shots better to make the Bandit's dash for escape seem more plausible and also so that the relationship between the Bandit and Cons is not bitter. Now when the Bandit awakes, he sees the Con going between the train carriages to remove the pin in a POV shot. This causes him to dash. Above is a playblast of that POV shot.

We then go into a sequence of shots where the Con removes the pin and the Bandit desperately holds out an arm and as the Con tries to help him it results in the carriages pulling apart and the Cons getting away and giving up on the unfortunate Bandit.

Shot 30 Train Animation

2009-06-07T12:40:00.001-07:00

This is a simple shot of the train speeding up through the desert once the driver has been knocked out by the ricocheting bullet. It will be combined with the smoke and dust kicking up later on in After Effects to really emphasise the speed and a motion blur will bring this speed out also.

Shot 32C Animation

2009-06-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

This piece of animation will be used in conjunction with Kanika's animation in a split screen type shot. I have used a screenshot of her animation as a guide, these will then be later combined in After Effects. This is feel will present the idea of a standoff in the best possible way showing a direct conflict between the two sets of characters.

Promotional Postcards for El Bandito

2009-06-07T12:06:00.001-07:00

These are some postcard designs I have put together which we aim to distribute at the Degree Show and along with our DVD's which we will be sending to various festivals. The aim is to get these made up ASAP so we can apply for festivals at the nearest possible opportunity.

Schedule WC 08/06/09 - 2 weeks to go!

2009-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

2 weeks to go, pressure's on!!!!! But Producer Harvey has planned out the days and worked out what needs rendering and when it needs rendering. Kaniks, Josh and Matt will be finishing off some animation while me and Sam concentrate on rendering and putting the scenes together while tweaking lighting in each scene. After the 19th the film will go for grading and final sound design before handing it to Dan Dalli for the show on 26th June.

Shot 59 - Prisoners Celebrating

2009-05-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

This is the shot where the prisoners celebrate their escape after pulling the pin out of the train coupling, allowing their carriage to get away!

Shot 30 - Train Speeding Up

2009-05-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

This is a quick playblast of the train speeding up after the driver is knocked unconcious. It gives a good idea of the pace we want to use later on. Also the low angle I feel makes the train look menacing and dangerous at high speed. We will add more foreground elements to emphasise the speed

Photoshop Elements for Textures

2009-05-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the Photoshop elements that I have had to work on in order to use as textures in Maya and as layers in After Effects.

Tony has worked to design the map but to get it to work in Maya I have boosted up the colour by multiplying more textures and I have also given the map an edge so it seems like a worn piece of paper. This means we wont get perfectly square shapes for the map.

I have done the same for the Wanted Poster which the Sheriff displays. Using Tony's illustration I have created the typography on the poster in the style of the Wanted Poster Intro at the beginning.

Finally I have created this newspaper style graphic to be used in After Effects at the end. Obviously the image will change to an illustrated version by Tony of the Bandit behind bars which will transition effectively from the 3D to After Effects and then back again.

Compositing Process

2009-05-25T04:08:00.000-07:00

Compositing is a really important process to bring the render passes together and then also add some finer details and effects which would be extremely complex to add in something like Maya. As you can see in the example above we have a number of layers brought together to form a shot. Here is a breakdown of the layers: -

- ZDepth - This is used in conjunction with a Lens Blur filter to each RGB layer and it creates the effect of Depth of Field, meaning the objects that are far away can be blurred out of focus while the foreground elements remain sharp and in focus.
- RGB Layers - These provide the colour and lighting and overall texturing.
- Occlusion layers - These work out where light should not pass in certain zones. By multiplying these layers onto the RGB, it then adds more shading and shadows.
- Smoke Pass - This is for the main dynamics in a scene, very important for our train shots but not used in most shots throughout the film.
- Train Effects - The train RGB layer, or any layer for that matter can be duplicated so that a particular area can be affected in a certain way. In this shot I have masked the pistons of the train and tracked the camera movement so that a directional blur can be applied to exaggerate the speed of the pistons.
- Effects layers - Lots of subtle effects are added in After Effects. In this scene I have added dust blowing down the side of the train to show the sand kicking up as the train speeds past. In other shots I will add dust blowing across the desert floor and things like bullet ricochets, sparks and dust crashes.

By adding all these elements together it adds to the realism of the shot and builds up the complexity of the motion, something much easier to do in post production than in Maya.

Dynamics and Smoke Rendering

2009-05-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

Sam and I have also been working on the smoke passes to try and get these looking quite realistic. Getting the colouring and feel of the smoke is quite difficult in Maya alone so using After Effects also I have managed to manipulate the render to look good. Sam has created a basic smoke emitter in Maya and then parented this to the funnel which I have exported from the scene of the shot. This then ensures everything matches up, along with the camera angle also.

His final render then looks something like this, and then in After Effects we place this behind the train layer and composite it in. I have then added a number of effects to alter colour, tone, contrast and blur on this layer and then duplicated also to use two contrasting layers which multiply through one another. This gives us a final effect like in the example below.

Rendering Process

2009-05-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Sam And I have recently started rendering out the shots and this is the process we have started using to bring them together ready to composite. Rendering requires several passes in order to get a better look to each shot. Within Maya we set up different render layers which will all commence when we hit 'batch render'. This is what the layers look like in Maya.

Basically to create render layers we select the objects we need in that layer and then add them to the necessary layer. Below is what an RGB layer for the train looks like in the viewport.

The RGB pass provides the colour for the particular layer and this takes into account the lighting which must be added to the layer also. We then run an occlusion pass which simulates the way light would hit objects. For example it will add darkness to small crevices or areas where light would not emit or reflect so much. Again below is how this pass appears in the viewpoint, basically a black shape.

Once we run the render pass we then get the following kind of result outputted as a TIFF. This is the basic RGB.

And this is the Occlusion pass for the same object.

Obviously when rendering we render out sequences of TIFF's. The process of compositing then combines both the RGB and Occlusion layers along with the backgrounds which are done on separate passes along with things like Dynamics and Shadows. These are often done separate either to have more control or to try and reduce render times.

FInal Intro (Shot 01)

2009-05-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

Below is a final render of Shot 01 showing the graphics based intro which transitions into 3D. Obviously still needs grading.

Jail Cell Texturing - By Ajdin

2009-05-23T05:48:00.001-07:00

Here are some screenshots of Ajdin's unrendered texturing for the Jail Cell. So far so good, very grimey as we wanted it and should act as a nice scene. Should have this supplied to us early next week so we can finalise animation and rendering.

Final Renders

2009-05-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some sneak preview shots of the final renders we have been creating. I will be showing how we are compositing and rendering things fully later on. But hopefully this will get you excited about the film.

Schedule WC 25/05/09 - 4 weeks to go!

2009-05-23T05:34:00.001-07:00

Crunch time now! 4 weeks until the film needs to be handed over to post guy for grading and also to give a few days for sound to be finalised at the same time. The good thing is that this ties in with our 304 hand-in and alot of our submission can be rendered final elements.

Here is what we have each to do: -

Matt - 14 Shots of animation, tweaking and finalising existing shots that are complete, exporting animation for rendering, putting final quicktimes into a finished HD Premiere file.
Josh - 2 Shots of animation, tweaking and finalising existing shots that are complete, completing NCloth on all Bandit bandana's and Sheriff waistcoats.
Kanika - 6 Shots of animation, tweaking and finalising existing shots that are complete
Tony - painting backgrounds and doing an illustration for the newspaper.
Sam - building final scenes together for rendering, render testing and settings, lighting adjustments, texture adjustments, dynamics.
Harv - 5 Shots of Animation, Train Animation in Mines, building scenes for rendering, render testing and settings, compositing, additional effects in After Effects, final renders.

This is then an additional schedule I have made to clearly lay out each days work as we can have a stronger shot by shot focus on what needs to be completed on certain days. This means that everyone will be animated on time and it is also important for making sure we reach our quota for renders being put on each night.

Another New Ending Concept

2009-05-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

After discussing an idea last week, we chatted with Dan this week and came up with something even easier and simpler, cutting down on time and animation to be done.

Using the same kind of transition as the beginning of the film with the Wanted Poster going into the 3D media, we will go from the bars crashing down around the Bandit to a still freeze frame and as this pans out it will reveal a newspaper with something like 'El Bandito Behind Bars' as the headline and within the newspaper layout we will incorporate our credits into the text.

Then the image will punch back in quickly to show the Bandit grabbing the bars and yanking them frantically. We will need to edit this to see if it works but it should be successful and help us time-wise.

This also removes the following -
- Prison establishing shot
- Jail Cell Establishing Shots and Build-up Animation
- Credit and Logo Graphics

Shot 57A Animation

2009-05-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

This shot is a combo of two pieces of animation. One is the prisoner removing the pin from the carriages and the other is the Bandit's gasping reaction. Above is the playblast of the animation which I am quite happy with. Also below I have done a comp test to show how the shots will fit together using an alpha of a ripped/torn piece of paper which fits in with the roughness of some of the elements.

The black region is where the Bandit will be positioned and Matt can use this as a guide for the animation. Also he will use my timings to judge the timing of the expression animation.

We may also use this device again in the film to make it not seem like a one off style as we want to incorporate a marshal close-up reaction during the fight scene.

Website Design

2009-05-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

I've spent today working on the site for the film. Decided to have a main page for the film along with a links and credits page. Also going to have a Gallery section which will also double up as a kind of making of and show the key components of the production. Within each section of the gallery a different section will be covered using either a showreel or a selection of images. A showreel will allow up to demonstrate things such as rigging, animating, and compositing better.

The Ending....Still An Issue....But Here's A New Plan!

2009-05-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ok. The topic of the ending was raised again today as it still seemed to take the flow out of the shots and seem a little 'tatty' in terms of construction and editing. In light of this I gave it a thought with Josh and figured out why, as well as coming up with a solution.

The reason it doesn't flow is because the environments and styles constantly change in the matter of a few shots. You go like this Back of Train > Jail Interior > Jail Exterior > Graphic and Credits > Jail Interior. Basically its too much too quickly and it never lets the new environment at the end really have any establishment and therefore it lacks meaning, appeal and purpose.

SOLUTION: -

Basically remove the graphics and integrate the credits and final logo within the jail cell environment. This could also mean that we remove the establishing shot of the prison exterior. This then means that once the jail cell crashes down around the Bandit, we are effectively trapped in there alongside him as the audience. We then have a couple more establishing shots with the Bandit in the Jail Cell and the credits will be scratched into the crumbling walls which means there is a mix of character animation and credits going on so the credits aren't so static and it also means the medium doesn't change drastically at the end by going to a 2D graphic, but maintains more shots which fit back-to-back. We'll knock it up in the coming week to see if it works!

First Renders

2009-05-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

Finally Sam and I began some rendering this week. Here are two visuals showing the look and feel of the texturing and lighting in its final form. We will still have grading and effects to add to these as well as the wide establishing shot still needing Occlusion. Overall I think it has that soft shaded look like Team Fortress 2 while still taking on some more detailed texturing in the close-up's. We will continue rendering out the shots we can for now and this should start chipping away the time consuming process of rendering.

Shots 6, 8, 10, 12 - Train Animation

2009-05-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

This shows the animatic with the train shots placed in. I think the first one could do with a little sideways movement as opposed to just being static. The second and third train shots I feel are working really well in terms of composition however the fourth needs smoothing out in terms of the pan round and also the composition. Possibly needs more of a 'handy-cam' feel to make it seem like it is a direct view from the eyes of the Bandit.

Schedule WC 11/05/09

2009-05-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

Scheduling hasn't changed this week. We are all making progress with the animation. It seems Sam is tying up alot of loose ends in terms of texturing and I've moved on to start getting some of the train animations done. I will however go back to more character animation if we need to shift the workloads.

So as an overview,

Matt - Character Animation
Josh - Character Animation, nCloth, Dynamics
Kanika - Character Animation
Sam - Texturing, Lighting, Rendering, Dynamics
Tony - Background Painting
Harvey - Character and Train Animation, Compositing, Rendering, Post Effects, Dynamics

Shot 36 - Prisoner Bottle Throw

2009-05-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

This shot worked really well going from stepped to splined. In terms of the animation I am pleased with the snap and the energy in the throw. I think I am really starting to get along with how the rig can bedst be used etc.

Matt and I made some key decisions on this shot. I felt the animation worked better by him throwing the bottle rather than it getting shot in his hand and him holding onto the smashed bottle neck.

In light of this I then also suggested that the shot order could be altered so that the previous shot of the Sheriff shotting would now come after this shot. This works really well and is more obvious in terms of telling the audience that the Prisoner is throwing a bottle and the Sheriff is shooting it out of the air rather than the Sheriff shooting randomly and then realising that the bullet is hitting the bottle he is throwing.

Shot 8 - Train Animation

2009-05-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

This is a shot we have nailed down to establish the introduction of the train. Before this is a close up of the train pistons which I will be working on next. We discussed this shot at length and several of us decided this was a good balance between being high up enough to not seem like the Bandit's viewpoint but also far away enough from the train to contrast with the previous close-up. This shot also ditacts the pace of the train before it gets sped up in the fracas.

Shot 50 - Prisoners Think To Escape

2009-05-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is quite a difficult shot as there is a lot of motion going on amongst all 3 characters in such a short space of time. I spent alot of time trying to get the first prisoner really well animated although I think this guy still needs alot more snap and punch to his movements. I am quite happy with the bounce and sudden jump up of the other 2 in the background however. Also combined with the audio this shot has greater appeal as the fast nature of the animation fits the audio's pace.

Schedule WC 04/05/09

2009-05-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

This is an updated schedule brought into line with the new timescale for animation to be completed by the end of May, thus making more time for post-production. The remaining work is divided as follows: -

Matt - Bandit animation, placing in shots and organising sound designer
Josh - Prisoner and fight scene animation, nCloth shots and caching, prisoner deformers, dynamics
Sam - Remaining environment texturing, environment lighting, rendering, train animation, compositing
Kanika - Marshal and Sheriff animation
Tony - Painting background planes and landscape backgrounds, map illustration, website design
Harvey - Prisoner animation, train animation, rendering, compositing, After Effects shots, dynamics and effects, finalising intro sequence, website design, presentation boards for shows, branding and promotion

Prisoner Rough Animation Shots

2009-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

These shots haven't been finessed properly yet. They need alot of work but the timings are pretty much there to get an idea of pace. I will start finessing these and get this sequence of shots hopefully complete by end of next week. Matt has been helping me develop the key poses for these action shots. I am quite happy with the run cycle also having converted this straight to splined from stepped and it translating quite nicely. The shoulder charge will have alot more emphasis once i can animate the exploding carriage shell.

In terms of the narrative we divided the jump shot into two cuts in order to function better and speed it up slightly. You now see the prisoner from behind as he shoulder charges the wall before it cuts to the side profile of the carriages with the main explosion/jump out.

Credit Designs

2009-04-28T07:24:00.001-07:00

These are the final frames will shall be using at the end of the film for the credits. We may animate these with page peels or possibly just a slight scale in as they are displayed.

These were original ideas to have two separate sets of credits but the group felt that the ending edited better by having all of these on one page as it would keep things quicker and get to the 'sting' of music faster and therefore not lose too much pace.

Recent Narrative Changes and Suggestions

2009-04-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

These are some of the changes we have made which I felt it would be important to document as we have been doing a great deal of editing recently both for the narrative and for the audio syncing.

- Removed Sheriff badge close-up shot in favour of the Sheriff pulling out a Wanted Poster of the Bandit.
- Animation of Poster at the beginning goes straight into transition to Bandit's face.
- No flying poster at start.
- Bandit has an illustrative map in his hand at the start which he looks at and then tucks away before realising the sound of the train.
- Environment pan establishing shot at the start much more subtle panning in slightly.
- Adopted my test to have dangling on train shots as just two cuts - one on top of train and one at side of train.
- Establishing Shot of the Mines Entrance shows the train aswell as the entrance to give the audience a perception of the imminent danger, followed by Danger sign close-up.

New Shot Lists

2009-04-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

In addition to our main schedules I have these animation shot lists. After I did the one for the entire film I made some changes based on some additional changes. Also each person now has their own PDF sheet as reference for just their shots and the timings etc.

New Ending Edit

2009-04-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

After not being happy at the end of the last edit we did to the audio tracks, I decided to work on a re-edit to try and nail this ending and the pace of the shots as it seemed to get longer. This cuts down the credits and uses less audio through the jail shots and also cuts a shot off to make life easier with less animation. Hopefully with the groups approval we will use something like this for the end.

Steam Cloud Tests

2009-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

These are some tests I have begun with particle emitters and Maya dynamics. I have got this looking like a nice volume of steam however I need to work on the depth of it using colour and also try and get the clouds 'fluffier'. The edges are a little harsh at the moment.

Mines Entrance Modeling

2009-04-17T01:59:00.000-07:00

With Sam having such a huge workload of texturing to get on with I took the start of his Mines Entrance modeling and finished it off to this state. This is only used in 3 shots but it is quite a nice environment which links the desert to the Mines. I've added alot of props to this and tried to build up its depth within the rocks also. Alot of this will be brought to life by texturing however.

Train Carriage Modifications

2009-04-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

In order to make the Prisoners pass easily between the carriage and to add something towards the action I have modified the train carriage to make it break apart. Essentially the Prisoners will literally shoulder charge through the walls of the carriages in order to escape. It should be quite an action packed section also. I've modeled it in a way that planks of wood can fly out in all directions and the wall of the carriage will split into multiple pieces, Combined with effects later on it should look impressive.

Harv Re-writes the Bible....El Bandito Style

2009-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Okay as far as everyone should be concerned.......there is nothing else in the world more important to read right now than the El Bandito Shot List. This will be our Bible for the next 11 weeks! Basically it lists all the character animation required for each shot along with how long each shot is and a basic description. This is so people do not deviate from timings as these are now 99% finalised as we edited it to the royalty free tracks perfectly. All group members will be supplied with this document ASAP.

Animatic Blockout Ideas

2009-04-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of tests for ideas I had. I thought we could put these into the animatic to see how they worked. The second one at the end of the animatic was something me and Sam discussed about having the Prison in the background as the train pulls away from camera.

El Bandito Intro Sequence and Poster

2009-04-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

After putting an initial version in the blockout I have made a few changes and I think this will work well in terms of speeding it up slightly and still communicating the idea that he is getting progressively older and worthless. This will be an alpha at the end which will reveal the opening shot. Also below is an image of the A4 portrait style poster which will be used as a texture in Maya as an nCloth version to hit the Bandit in the face in the opening section.

Final Train Interior Model

2009-04-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Some final shots of the train carriage interior. Decided to make the space work better by scaling the width of the carriage by 25%. Will make it easier for movements and poses etc. Also spent alot of time adding detail in terms of the ceiling and wall paneling without overloading the scene with props. Alot of the finer detail will be added once its textured and Sam adds things like torn wallpaper, scuffed walls, and just general all round dirt and grime to make it look like a once plush carriage that is now totally ruined.

Prisoner Carriage Seats/Restraints

2009-04-08T14:55:00.001-07:00

These are the seats I modeled for the train carriage for the prisoners. I tried to make them look quite bulky whilst also secure. I got some good inspiration from old electric chairs which were wooden but had lots of metallic elements. I then stylised the design up more by making the metal joints really exaggerated and chunky! Should look good with some rust textures on.

Canyon Bridge

2009-04-08T14:34:00.001-07:00

After taking a look at the Water Tower Environment me and Sam decided that we should simplify the train's entrance to simply be a tunnel going into a rock face rather than having a small gorge and bridge going across it which won't really be noticed. Instead we will use this idea to diversify the environments later on from just plain deserts. When the tension mounts later on and the prisoners move to the rear carriages upon exiting the mines, the train will come out onto a huge bridge which crosses a canyon. This will be much more dramatic and also enhance our options for dynamic camera angles as well as perhaps increasing the tension of falling into the canyon. It also removes the need to model an intense environment for the mines exit.

Final Train Rig

2009-03-28T02:22:00.001-07:00

This is a video showing the final train group. Each section moves on the principle of groups. I tried working with a joint chain through the carriages using rigid binding but this appeared to affect the wheels and the axis on which they would turn depending on the translation applied. This works much more successfully where rotating one wheel on each section turns all the other wheels in that section, or in the case of the engine, animates the pistons which is rigged using an array of constraints.

Train Interior...Continued

2009-03-24T15:24:00.001-07:00

Some more shots of the modeling in progress. Trying to make this look like it used to be plush but now its battered. Ajdin will be texturing this also so that should get it looking nice. Going to keep working on adding detail and get thoughts of group as I'm going also. Don't want to overload it with props either though as there need to be room to move around. Will probably add things like bottles which will roll around the carriage during the fight sequence and these can be picked up and thrown also.

Windmill Rigging

2009-03-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Me and Sam got this sorted today. Some speedy texturing from Mr King got it looking very nice and then some basic grouping in order to rig it means we can animate this very subtly in the final scenes to add more character and secondary animation to some of the backgrounds, especially in the early scenes.

Train Joints

2009-03-23T02:53:00.001-07:00

Went back to the train rig to find we were going to have some problems. Basically the rig went weird when you applied any kind of movement to the train so I've gone back and rescaled it down to make everything smaller. Then basically I've grouped the sections and added a joint chain with rigid binding so now we have this really simple way of twisting and turning the carriages which will be so important in the mines. Also means we could do more with curves in the desert scenes if we wanted to add more. Basically I now have to redo the rigging but it will make the rig much more intuitive and easy to use. And we can have much more fun with it animating!

Steam Train Rigging

2009-03-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Finally got all this working with some wicked pistons! A lethal combination of constraints and combining elements and we are sorted. Just need to duplicate this onto the other side. Sweet!

Schedule WC 02/03/09

2009-02-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, reworked the schedule again. Good thing is that dissertations are almost out of the way and PPD isn't a big hurdle so everything is going into the film and the degree show. Texturing is taking longer than expected, obviously with Sam being our main texture artist, he's doing a very good job also. As soon as the bandit rig comes back then Matt will be animating. Hopefully he will get the sheriff and marshal rigs done by then. From this we should still have 10 weeks of animating with plenty of time in post-production to bring everything together. We also have a 2 week barrier before the submission on the 19th in which extra production and finishing can be done which could extend our animating time as well to perfect elements. Good times!

More Water Tower Environment

2009-02-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some more renders showing additional assets to the environment. I will be putting in more assets such as cacti and rocks once they are modeled just to add more detail and interest to the shots.

Jail Model Renders (from Ajdin)

2009-02-26T08:10:00.001-08:00

Some lovely shots courtesy of Ajdin. Really simple design and lighting is pretty much as we designed it even in the early concepts. Just need some gritty textures now.

Marshal Mesh Changes

2009-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Some slight changes made to the marshal to make rigging easier now we have learnt mistakes from the Sheriff. Have made the cuffs and hands completely separate elements which can be joined to the wrist and the collar is now separated as we was getting alot of deformation with this.

Prop Modeling

2009-02-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Some basic props and a nice windmill to fill the background with Kanika's buildings. Also barrels and crates are good scene fillers to make nice compositions in shots.

Schedule WC 16/02/09

2009-02-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Really important few weeks especially with texturing. Mo has taken the bandit rig off us and Sam has done the texturing although this may get changed later. Ajdin is doing more modeling which is good although texturing and rigging are going to be big mountains to climb so we can move onto animation. Also dissertations at the moment are starting to ease so time is coming back into our hands!

Water Tower Environment Modeling Stage 2

2009-02-18T13:54:00.003-08:00

Some more modeling on this environment. Added the terrain using sculpt geometry tool and created a kind of valley with the bridge across. Also added some details and props around the water tower aswell as reducing the poly count of the whole environment to get it running quicker. Will be adding telephone poles and other props accordingly and have also decided that some props should be 'free-to-roam' is a sense that we use them to benefit the shots and cheat the environment so that it always looks good in camera and not necessarily as a whole environment which may not be entirely seen. Will save time also!!!

Water Tower Environment Modeling

2009-02-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

After a day modeling I've got this far by modeling the track with some nice detail and the water tower with shack. These should texture up quite nicely and are fairly low poly with some nice little features. Also the track is in small sections which can be grouped and duplicated!

The Whole Gang

2009-02-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

Finally all the characters modeled. Looking good and think the style is good. Think the texturing will be what makes them all look stylised the way we want and bring them alive a bit more!

Final Bandit Model

2009-02-12T12:21:00.001-08:00

After a whole day of tiny changes and tweaks we are happy with the Bandit model. Spent alot of time working on the torso and the gap between the legs. This is now perfectly ready for Mo to rig and for Sam to texture. Sweet as a nut!

Bandit Model Alterations

2009-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Ajdin did a great job with our Bandit model. However me and Matt wanted to stylise him a bit more and get him away from looking too generic in terms of proportions, so to fit in with the other exaggerated characters I spent time making his nose more crooked, making the boots pointier, shortening his torso and giving him a little belly resting on his belt, giving the scarf a point and removing the collar and styling the hat better. Generally hes looking good now and fits in better with the overall style.

Also Mo should be rigging this guy and Sam will be getting on the texturing!

Steam Train Wheel Rigging Test

2009-02-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is a little test I managed to put together using a combination of constraints, basically by turning one wheel it turns the others and the bar connected to the pistons. Should be nice and easy to translate this into Ajdin's model!

Steam Train Mechanism Rigging

2009-02-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

Found this an thought it might be useful reference for the train when we come to rigging it. Also there's a tutorial in Introducing Maya 8 which I'm going to get from LRC and try and rig the pistons now before we do anything else.

Schedule WC 09/02/09

2009-02-09T01:56:00.000-08:00

Last 2 weeks have been mainly focussing on dissertations so this week we need to get back to work. Looks like we have lost a week or so of animating but if we get the rigging, texturing and environments all nailed quickly then we should start to claw back some time when it comes to crunch time later on!

From now on my main responsibility is environments, Kanika is on props, Sam is on texturing, Josh and Matt on rigging and Tony will have some say in the texturing also if he's doing the photoshop side.

Then when we start animating roles will change again.

Train Model Modifications

2009-01-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

Ajdin has modeled our train for us but I've made a few small changes. Seems some parts were not mirrored onto the opposite side of the train so I have sorted this. Also small things such as exaggerating the main funnel slightly and changing the driver compartment slightly so that the bullet ricochet section can work as easily as possible. Also made the coal cart smaller as this seemed overly large and unbalanced the main part of the train.

Character AO Render

2009-01-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick render showing the characters I have worked on. These are all now to a finished state although some further changes were made to the prisoners face although these were minor. I thought this would be nice to start showing the development we are making production wise and it also shows that I have all the characters to scale.

Final Prisoner Modeling

2009-01-20T08:18:00.005-08:00

Here are some shots of the prisoner model. These might need a few tweaks in terms of shape and size but generally all the attributes for the character are in place.

Prisoner Modeling Day 2

2009-01-20T08:15:00.001-08:00

Here are some images of my modeling on the prisoner. As you can see I have spent alot of time working on the belly and shape of the torso as we want him to be fat and chunky but still very strong and powerful. Also you can see some finer detail on the shoes and round the belly button!

Prisoner Modeling Day 1

2009-01-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Taking parts of Sam's earlier modeling (mainly the head) I have started building a new body for the prisoner. We was unsure of the earlier attempts in some ways so Sam's gone on to what he knows best with environments and I'm busting out another character model! Good times!

Schedule WC 19/01/09

2009-01-19T03:39:00.000-08:00

Doing well so far, we seem to be making up extra time for later on although I'm sure when we take a gap to all do dissertations then this will even out back to normal. It's good that we are making up time though. Character modeling is ahead of schedule and that means that Sam and Kaniks have been able to move onto prop and environment modeling and Sam is also doing some character texturing. Matt and Josh seem to be moving into rigging aswell which is good. Overall we are well on target. Just think we all need to make sure we get our dissertations done in one hit and we should be all good.

The Law in 3D

2009-01-19T02:05:00.001-08:00

Finally some nice characters shots in 3D. Just a simple render of the Marshals and the Sheriff. Gives a nice idea of the scale of the characters in proportion but I think its working quite nice already.

Marshal Modeling Stage 2

2009-01-19T01:56:00.000-08:00

These are some more images of the Marshal character model now finished with all the smaller details, many of which were taken from the sheriff. I'm happy with the topology here and he's divided up better now for rigging and texturing, as is the Sheriff.

Marshal Modeling

2009-01-16T08:59:00.001-08:00

After finishing the Sheriff and passing him on to be rigged and textured I have started work on Kanika's model of the Marshal to get him looking slightly better. Started with the head and this was edited from the Sheriff model. I've also nicked some other assets from it to save some time and keep the 3 characters looking generic.

Term 2 Schedule - WC 12/01

2009-01-07T12:02:00.001-08:00

New term, new start and a new refreshed schedule! We all kinda know where we are but a meeting on the first day back would be good. We've luckily made more progress than we originally planned. With us all getting on with character modeling and Ajdin working on the train we have really made up some time. It nows means that we have a total of 12 weeks animating which I'm sure Matt will be happy about. First 3-4 weeks this term will be all modeling, texturing, rigging and lighting everything and then Matt will start animating properly at some point in there as rigging starts to finish. I'll keep updating this weekly and keep emailing it out as usual now!

Sheriff Modeling Day 3

2009-01-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

These are some of the final images of my model for Sheriff. I may be making a few changes to the mesh in terms of body divisions around the joints but I think the topology should be okay and having the low poly version is great for blend shapes. Also in light of this I have now modeled the mouth open as default as you can see below.

Sheriff Modeling Day 2

2008-12-31T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some images of my Sheriff modeling. As you can see some of the finer details are taking shape but I have still maintained a low poly version which smoothes out very nicely.

Sheriff Modeling Day 1

2008-12-30T07:52:00.001-08:00

These are some shots of the basic modeling I have started for the Sheriff character. I have used polys for the model just because I am most familiar with these. I will start developing the hat and belt etc next time as well as sorting out his waistcoat and holsters. I may give this model to Sam later on to add finer details in ZBrush or Mudbox as I think things like stitching and creases may really benefit the character model. I may also keep a non-smoothed version of this model to use as a proxy while animating.

3D Blockout Clips Reel

2008-12-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

This video is a reel I have submitted showing all the elements I have blocked out. Most of this has been used although some of it hasn't but I think it is important to document all areas I have worked on for the submission.

Final Presentation Boards for Pitch

2008-12-04T14:23:00.004-08:00

In order to look professional we have created our boards to be branded with the El Bandito Logo and Text. I think this is the best way to establish our film as more of a brand. Also we have more of a team feel about our group. I have worked on everyone's boards to get a similar look and overall I am pleased with how everything should flow together in our group pitch. The boards shown here are of my own work and show everything I have worked on this term from environment and prop design to blockout and production elements such as contracts, budgeting, scheduling and branding.

More Blockout Stills

2008-12-04T14:20:00.003-08:00

Again some more stills from blockout shots. Some of these aren't the most visually appealing but we are definitely getting to grips with make the camera angles more dynamic and filmically everything seems to be functioning well in the blockout as a whole.

Crude Sheriff Modeling

2008-12-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

In order to get things moving along with the blockout I really crudely modeled the Sheriff and the Marshal in about 15 minutes. Nothing fancy and no thrills with rigging. Just a simple poly mesh that we can throw around some of the scenes to get timings and positioning accurate.

Mines Entrance Blockout

2008-12-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

These are some screenshots showing the environment I created for the mine entrance. These are really basic poly models with a default shader in to get a nice mental ray render. I have used this for alot of the shots in the blockout to show both the entrance and exit to the mines. It seems to give a really good sense of space and the camera has plenty of room to exploit angles etc.

Maquette Class - Final Finish

2008-12-04T13:44:00.003-08:00

These are the final images of my maquette with a greay matte finish. It was sprayed with a primer after going in the oven and being sanded down. I also added some white milliput to areas to smooth out dents and make finer details. The model was then sprayed with grey primer.

Maquette Class - Adding Detail

2008-12-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

I've now added some finer details to my model using Skulpey. Some of these bits are quite delicate so I will have to hope they don't break in the oven.

Maquette Class - Making the Sheriff

2008-11-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

Over the last 2 weeks we have been taking maquette classes to make 3D models of our characters. I am working on the Sheriff and Matt is creating the Bandit. We created armatures using aluminum wire and steel rods. We then bound the joints with milliput mixture which goes rock solid. We then packed out the armature with tin foil so as not to waste too much Super Skulpey and then we have created the main body like so using Skulpey. Over the next 2 weeks I will be adding the finer details to the model.

Schedule WC 24/11

2008-11-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

Everyone should know where they are this week. We should all be doing blockout animation and nothing else as far as I know. If we get this all done by next Monday then we can get it all cut into the animatic by the time we have the pitch and we could have some nice sound cut in as well hopefully. Then next week we will be getting the digital boards knocked up for the group pitch.

3D Blockout Intro Version 1

2008-11-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

I have started blocking out some of the shots roughly in 3D and I am replacing them in the animatic to see how they are working in context with all the other shots. Modeling all these elements and animating these parts was a solid days work so it gives me and idea of what is achievable also in certain time periods. I will continue to blockout other shots in the coming weeks before the pitch. Matt, Sam and Josh are also working on other parts of the animatic and we will edit these all in together at the end of term.

Blockout Models

2008-11-16T12:37:00.001-08:00

These are the models I have created to do the blockout with. As I create each shot I will be cutting it into the animatic. I am doing the majority of the start up until the bandit jumps on the train and then a few other shots before the train enters the mines. Using a preset rig I will pose the character to show the obvious movements and actions.

Black and White Environment Prop Illustrations

2008-11-15T02:10:00.000-08:00

When designing our environments we often don't think about the smaller details that can dress a scene to make the theme work. I have started making some observations of objects that could be in a Western environment so that I can quickly model these later on knowing I already have this reference and have a better knowledge of the objects. Also some of the reference to buildings and architecture is important also.

More Character Style Reference

2008-11-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

I thought some of these illustrations had a nice style and also a nice feel to them. Could have some affect on how our characters move or are posed but also good for the tone of the animation in terms of colour and grading.

Fratelli's Black 'n' Blue Eyes Music Video

2008-11-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

Some really nice reference here both for character posing and style of animation. The style is alot more simple than we would be aiming for but the animation is really nice with some quirky movements that look really effective. Definitely good to look at. Also I really like the grading which has a kind of orange / sunset tone throughout.

Character Reference

2008-11-12T01:49:00.000-08:00

Some nice character animation here which would be good to refer to later on when refining and finessing animation but thought it would be good to note it down now. The first one is from an animation Matt has already found but this was an earlier test which wasn't used in the final film.

The second one almost seems a bit like our bandit proportion wise and I like the ganglyness of his arms as he falls, nice follow through and weight.

Western Animation Shorts

2008-11-12T01:34:00.000-08:00

These are some animations I have found online for some extra inspiration into the mood of the West. I don't think we have come across these ones yet. Worth a look though.

Schedule WC 10/11

2008-11-08T06:09:00.001-08:00

This is the schedule for this week. This is the last week for everyone to really finish environment concepts and then we need to get on to blockouts. Tony and Matt have a couple of weeks still to finish expression and character pose drawings and then we will start making up the mood boards for the group pitch.