michalmolnar

[michalmolnar]

I chose to make animatic to show my animation idea because I could not run Maya on my laptop without it crashing or freezing. However, I will finish the animation in my free time to put it in my portfolio. I changed the animation plot in order to make it shorter and more understandable; The fox was cut out of the animation as it was not necessary to the plot and may even complicate the plot. I also modified the end so it would make sense, mostly the part where the tied rope is preventing the hunter from catching the whale. I could do more research on the harpoon machine and learn its mechanics to find a better way to end the animation.

I am satisfied with the 3D model of the whale. But, I could improve the texture if the model to make it more realistic, for example, whales in nature have a parasite living on their skin called barnacles. Recreating the parasite pattern on the whale model could help it look more organic. For the kid model, I need to make the re-topology again, since it is very messy, and it was distorting the textures as well. In the animatic, I chose to leave the google on the kid's eyes since the fox is no longer in the animation. Therefore, the dark room is not showing either. Another thing I could fix is the hair because of the way I sculpted it; there are layers of polygons inside the model which made the UV mapping difficult. After fixing those, I will make the facial expression for the kid, and then I’ll rig both models. I also need to make 3D environments and 2D backgrounds. The deck is going to be 3D while the icebergs, the hunter and the harpoon will be 2D.

In the future, I should improve my time management as in this project, I spent a lot of time in one stage, and that created a delay later. I need to break the project into sub-projects and give each one a deadline. Another thing is to start with the narrative first. Because I struggled to come up with a story, I started making the characters first, which might have been a great way to progress while I was stuck with the narrative. But I also wasted time moulding a character the did not make it into the animation.

(Music:  Childhood Memories by Julie Maxwells)

[michalmolnar]

Harpooner

Ships traditionally have a name. Therefore, I wanted to add that detail to the animation. I researched popular whaling ships names, but most of the boats had human names like Charles W. Morgan or Ann Alexander.

After more searching, I found four ships between the years 1769 to 1791 with the name ‘Harpooner’.

Harpooner is a term to ‘A person who uses a harpoon, especially to hunt whales.’ by Wiktionary. 

I thought it could be the right name for the animation as well as the ship

[michalmolnar]

I researched the way whales jump out of the water to recreate the motion as accurate as possible.

[michalmolnar]

When I did the retopology, the model had lost a lot of details that I wanted to keep; therefore I imported both the low-poly and high-poly models into Zbrush and projected the high model on the low one to reapply the details. Then I used the same method as the kid to texture it in substance painter and exported the maps to use in Arnold 4.

[michalmolnar]

The textured kid model. I made sure that the UV map is clean and not overlapping since substance painter uses that UV map in the FBX file. Then I textured the model in substance painter and exported the maps to use in Arnold 4. when I used the texture maps in Maya; the texture looked very dark. I’ll try to fix it by exporting it with different settings, and if it doesn’t help, I will have to make the textures lighter.

[michalmolnar]

The storyboard for the animation. I still need to find a good way to end the story; also, I might need to cut some parts out, such as the fox in the cage.

[michalmolnar]

I used Maya to do the retopology for the three characters. I tried to use the least amount of polygons as possible while keeping most of the details. I'll research more into normal maps to try to get some features back, like the bumps on the whales head. Next, I need to do the UV maps and texture the models.

[michalmolnar]

The arctic fox model in Zbrush. Next, I need to decimate it and import it into Maya for the retopology process.

[michalmolnar]

The whale model is done in Zbrush. Next, I need to decimate it and import it into Maya for the retopology process.

[michalmolnar]

I made a closed mouth version and an open one. Next, I need to find a way to merge them together so the character could open his mouth in the animation.

[michalmolnar]

For the trousers and shoes, I used zspheres. At first, I tried to make both the shoes and trousers with the same zspheres. However, I found it difficult to create sharp edges between the two; therefore I decided to make them as separate objects

[michalmolnar]

I made the jacket with a mask and extrude, and for the scarf, I used a ring.

[michalmolnar]

In order to make the hair, I used the curve tubes brush and smoothed the tip of it. After that, I textured it with the rake and DamStandard brushes.

[michalmolnar]

Redesign of some of the characters.

[michalmolnar]

First sketches of the characters in the animation. I chose to use the arctic animals, environment and the left boy since two human characters can be too complicated to make.

[michalmolnar]

mood boards for the two environments with the animals I want to include in the animation 

[michalmolnar]

Assignment 2- Research

in this animation, I wanted to focus on endangered animal caused by  Commercial hunting and poaching. when species are extinct it can cause an extinction event in which many species are disappearing as a result of the first extinction. such an event can affect the entire food chain and the environment.

I want to make both a boy and a girl as protagonists to make the animation more appealing to boys and girls. I am still not sure in what environment I want the animation to be at.  the first option is in Africa and the second is the arctic.