Going Live - Rigging

After finishing the 3D model of the Tree-Hand, it was onto the rigging. Treated the rigging as a normal human hand, with dual joints for better deformations. Made sure all the joints were orientated the same way:

I did a quick test once some of the joints were in place to check the fingers/branches were moving in the right direction:

Checking the joint orientations as I go:

All the joints in place and in the right hierarchy, next step was to Bind Skin of model to the joints:

Weight painting - came across a problem at first where weights I had just painted were being re-distributed when I moved onto another joint to weight paint, fixed the problem but locking the weights in the paint skin weights tool:

Continued painting skin weights:

Made sure the branches on the back of the hand only moved with the wrist joint so that they would still stand up fairly straight when the hand is first curled up and distorted:

The next step was to add controls for the joints, I colour-coded them for each finger/branch to make selecting them less difficult to see:

 Testing out the finished rig and controls:

Last step was to add a Global Control, which allows the rig and model to be scaled, moved and rotated together when imported/referenced into a scene:

Here are some rendered images of the rig controls:

Going Live - Character Modeling

Used one of the concept designs I had done previously as reference for starting to model the Tree-Hand 'character' which captures the Eagle:

This is the first version of the model - unsmoothed:

First version of the model - smoothed:

Wireframe - I made sure to use topology techniques that would normally be used to model a 3D human hand, as the tree-hand will be animated, therefore it needed to have correct deformations. I added more edge-loops around the joints of the fingers/branches:

Tried adding a very simple rig to test quickly if the geometry was going to do what we need the Tree-Hand to do:

Realizing that the model will be smoothed, in order to retain the sharper edges to match with the rest of the paper world, I added in more edge loops for the edges of the fingers/branches and roots. Elongated the branch/fingers slightly to add a bit more creepiness to it and this will probably allow more freedom for movement and entwining as well. Also modeled the second hand/roots which is curving in around the main tree-hand, based on the original concept design:

Discussed with others in the team about the hand looking more tree-like before it 'grabs' the Eagle. I suggested maybe adding more trees/branches behind it. These could then be entwined with the hand and then fall away to reveal the hand. Or another suggestion was to just make the finger/branches more contorted and entwined with each other before unfolding to look more hand-like. So there were a few things to try next!

As the Tree-Hand model looked a bit more like a hand than a tree, some extra modeling was required.

For a very quick test I made copies of the branches/fingers and attached them behind the main model. This showed me that they needed to be smaller and more subtle:

Decided that smaller and thinner branches would look better:

The tree-hand starts twisted around and is first seen from the side in the film. This also helps to disguise the 'hand-like' shape:

Showed the Director, Kieran, the updated model and it was discussed that more branches could be added to the back of the hand and knuckles. When the hand is curled over to begin with, these extra branches will be stood up and also helping to disguise the hand as a tree. I modeled them at an angle as they will be moving with the hand, so when it curls over they will follow. If they still are not at the correct angle when the hand is curled, some extra joints will be added into these smaller branches to move them:

Turnaround of final 'Tree-Hand' model - I adjusted the model slightly for the turntable in order for it to sit flat (rendered and composited together by Kieran):

Going Live - Character Designs

As the overall style of the film had been decided, which was based around the Hobbit map, the characters were also going to be in the paper-style. This gave me an idea to make an origami model of the main character - the dragon. This is a gold paper origami dragon I made to help with reference for paper textures and possible shapes for the 3D model. It provided some good reference for the way paper looks and the intricate details:

I also produced character concept sketches for the Eagle and the Dragon, which I then took into Photoshop to test some paper textures and colours...

Parchment colours:

The Eagle on the left I made darker and had fiery golds shining through (as the Eagle is "corrupted by Morgoth" and goes through flame and sorcery to become a dragon):

Light parchment colours, was experimenting with how to make them look similar, as the Dragon morphs from the Eagle:

Experimented with adding flecks of foil gold to the paper texture as this is Smaug The Golden:

Tried a slightly cooler hue as I wondered if the paper Dragon might blend into the parchment-like map background too much in the film, depending on the final look of the background environment:

Turned up the contrast to experiment with the foil gold texture, kind of looks like fire on the surface of the dragon now:

Looking through everything that was being worked on I realized that not very much had been done for the 'Tree-Hand' which entraps the eagle, so I've gathered some research into moodboards and created some artwork concepts.

Tree-Hand Moodboard:

Origami/Paper Trees Moodboard:

Concept Artwork:

I quite liked the idea of the 1st one I drew (top left) of the roots looking like a second hand clawing at the ground - this part wouldn't need animated though, just the main hand part of the branches. With two hands this adds a slightly more human quality, as if Morgoth himself is clawing his way up through the ground. Also the branches and roots look quite contorted which add a sinister and creepy feeling to the tree.
I also tried out a tree with the fingers/branches more closed inwards and claw-like (middle bottom).
Added a few leaves to the tree (middle top) which could be shaken or dropped off when the tree becomes more alive - as if the hand was in disguise.
Also drew a more simplified and origami design for a tree (right) which could be the surrounding trees.

Going Live - Research and Moodboards

On 16th January 2014 our class was given the brief for the Going Live project by Axis Animation/VFX. The brief was to create an animated piece that tells the back story of a character or race in The Hobbit. It had to be visually striking but keep in with the values of the feature films.

After the first group meeting once the brief had been handed out, we already had some ideas for the story. One of the first steps I took was to do some initial research into the subject area of Tolkien to immerse myself into that world. This included web-based research, I found the website Pinterest to be a great way of collecting visual research:

Research also included looking through relevant books such as:

Once initial research was done, I collated what I had found into specific and relevant Moodboards that could be used by the group for ideas, inspiration and reference going into the designing stage of production:

Hobbit Imagery:

Link to 'Hobbit' Pinterest Board

Paper Dragons:

Link to 'Paper Dragons' Pinterest Board

Eagles and Dragons:

Link to 'Eagles and Dragons' Pinterest Board

Illustrated Maps and Landscapes:

Link to 'Illustrated Maps and Landscapes' Pinterest Boards

Fire and Smoke:

Link to 'Fire and Smoke' Pinterest Board

These Moodboards I then added to the main project board in the studio, which was also starting to be filled up with rough storyboards and other moodboards, which different members of the team have contributed to:

Reflection On The Week: (Week 29): Starting Monday 28th April

Monday 28th April
Finished putting together all of the Going Live PowerPoint Presentation, then went through the presentation with Kieran, figuring out what we're going to say for each slide. Also tested connecting my laptop to a TV screen and seeing how the videos play back and look on a bigger screen.
Here are all 30 slides of the presentation (all the black screens are video files):

Got 2 more shots done for Tug of Biscuit Animatic.

Had a quick look over Kirti’s model of the Owner for Tug of Biscuit. Will have a better look over it tomorrow as been too busy preparing the Going Live Presentation today.

Tuesday 29th April
Spend part of the morning in the library to write out my notes for the presentation tomorrow. Also had a (in my head) read through of them with a stopwatch to check how long my part of the presentation is.

Also had a run through of the presentation, where we showed the rest of the class the presentation and mentioned roughly what will be said for each slide.

Had a better look over Kirti's model of the Owner for Tug of Biscuit. Took down a few notes, then sat down to discuss them with Kirti and also Giorgos who will be rigging this character. Once we had finalized the adjustments, I put together a quick document which Kirti can use as reference the final adjustments:

Also had a quick look over the Dog model which Giorgos is working on. Looked at the anatomy of dogs to check how the back leg should look for rigging, to make sure the geometry will be suitable. Also suggested to make the tail rounder and thicker, to give it more 'swish'. The back legs were slightly further apart than the front legs which is maybe what was giving the model a bull dog look. It might just be fixable though by simply moving the feet once the rig is set-up.

Carried on work with the 3D Animatic.

Packing and prepping for tomorrow's trip to Glasgow!

Wednesday 30th April
Today was the road trip to Glasgow with the class to present our finished Going Live film to AXIS Animation. Myself and Kieran presented the PowerPoint which was then followed by a Q&A session with everyone. I think we're all extremely happy with how well our film is being received :D

Photo taken at Axis Animation by Phillip Vaughan

Then went over to Digimania to speak to artists there about their production pipeline - which was very interesting to see!

Thursday 1st May 
Catching up with blogs, working on animatic.

Friday 2nd May
Supervisor Meeting with Phil at 11am:

• We should prioritize getting the dog character ready for animation first as it is the most featured character in the film.
• Definitely experiment with painted textures - this will help our film not look so '3D'.
• See if we can cut the film down to 1min 30sec - after finishing the 3D animatic.
• Create milestones for the new production schedule.
• Keep allocating team members jobs.
• For the animation, take a stylized realism approach to it - plenty of overlap/follow through to help the animation not look stiff.
• Move the cameras like real cameras - already started this by setting up the camera in Maya with controls such as Pan, Tilt, etc.
• Use blendshapes for the facial animation - this will be the easier approach.

Weekend
My film happened for real and I missed it!! My dog took a biscuit out into our garden, got distracted by something and then a big black crow swoops down and steals her biscuit! I did manage to observe her behavior afterwards which was entertaining to watch - confusion and sniffing around everywhere trying to find her biscuit!