Tomorrow will hopefully be interesting...

Dana's Hospital Gown

Dana has few outfits in this film including this hospital gown.

Gertrude nightgown

With the nightgown done, I just need to model the cloak. After that it's on to texturing, then cloth physics, then she'll be ready for animation.

Gertude clothing

Gertrude's day clothes are done.  Now I just need to texture them and apply the cloth physics.  after that she'll just need her nightgown and her cloak.

now for some clothing textures

Now that Dana's day clothes are modeled, I just need to texture them and then check again to make sure the cloth physics are working properly.  After this there are 2 other outfits to make for her, possibly 3.

clothing is so far in working order

Today I started on creating Dana's day clothes. So far the skirt looks to be in working order, though I may adjust it to react quicker.

On to clothing

Now with rigging done, I'm working on Dana's clothing. she'll have about 3 changes of clothing in this film.  And to make sure everything is perfect I'm now testing the cloth reactions on everything before placing it on the model.  Here I made a simple model of a pleated skirt to see if it would hold it's form when cloth is applied.

Gertrude rig test

This time of year keeps me busy, sorry about the long pause in updates. Both of the Gertrude models have been rigged (there's a day version and a night) and now I'm testing the rig with some poses and adjusting areas before building the clothing.

Gertrude rigged

Gertrude is rigged and nearly ready for animation.  now to connect the rig to the model and make sure she's working right.

Skinning in progress

With Dana's rig completed, she's now being skinned (connecting her body to the rig for those not in the know).

Rigging Dana

Rigging of Dana has begun.  I'm trying to make sure she has a full range of motion

Continued refinements

head sculpts

After going to CTN I received one critique on my sculpting and it was to do something more realistic.  So as soon as I got home I started refining my skills.  here are some images of the first go.

Gertrude Faces

Here's a look at some face tests for Gertrude.  When I'm done She'll have a full range of expressions on hand to really give her life.  The inspiration for much of her facial positions come from studying Anastasia from the Don Bluth Film.  I was fortunate enough to not only learn from animators who worked on the film but to get a look at the character model sheets to see how they mapped out her expressions.

Dana faces

Just a few face tests with captions.  I want Dana to have a full range of emotions.  There's still so little to do and so much time...wait, strike that, reverse it.

Just a nice Dana image

This image is from my terrible camera phone, but I loved how it came out regardless so I thought I'd share.  I like how Dana's blendshapes are coming out and how peaceful she looks in this image.

Main textures comlpeted

With the main color, bump, and specularity done I'll be moving on to blend shapes and rigging soon.  At this moment I don't have the subsurface scattering applied, I'll do that after rigging.  However I believe I'll post a test render of Dana with it.

Shoe before and after

I thought I'd do another before and after image comparing the old Gertrude boots to the new.  This time I really wanted the boot to look like it was physically made.

Grim Textures

Texture creation has begun on the new Gertrude model.  These images show the diffuse map only.  I'm currently working on the bump, specularity, and others. Just like the first model I plan to use subsurface scattering, but this time I hope to have a better handle on it.

Texturing Dana

After unwrapping, it's on to texturing.  I'm starting with the main colors first.  once I'm done I'll move onto bump maps, specularity, and so on.  Here's a first look at one of the areas I'm currently working on.

Prepping dana for texturing

Now that the main model is completed, I'm moving on to unwrapping before texturing.  The checkered pattern helps me avoid stretching in areas while mapping everything out.

Prepping Gertrude for texture

now that I have the main model created. It's on to texturing.  right now I'm unwrapping Gertrude and using a checkered textured to make sure everything textures correctly.

These boots are made for walking

another adjustment update!  new boots!  This time I really wanted the seam to be seen in them.

Dana: final version

If you saw the video I posted a few days ago, you already know of all the attempts done on Suicide Friends.  This project has been going for years, and the recent design proved to be (though my favorite) the most taxing.  The traditional animation with Roger Rabbit styled lighting was taking too much time with just one person working on it.  If I continued, this film wouldn't be done for another 8 years.  So I decided to try a digital Dana again.  As the video showed, I did this once and the result wasn't to my liking.  She looked like an alien, but it was the best I could do at the time.  I stopped on the idea of doing a full CG film until I had more practice.  After working on "the Grim" (http://thegrimanimation.blogspot.com/) I believe I've had a good amount of practice and rebuilt Dana.  The result really pushes the first one aside (I honestly feel weird even comparing with these images).  Someday I'll do a traditionally animated film, but I'll wait until I have a crew of animators.  Until then, I'm happy with how Dana is coming along.

Gertrude, with a new do

One of the last things before moving on to clothing and texturing, giving her hair.  The hair on the first model of Gertrude was difficult as I wasn't use to making hair and tried approaching it the same way I sculpt hair on a clay figure.  However, anyone that tells you making something in a 3D program is just like sculpting is not your friend.  Its more like sculpting if your hands were numb and then someone put boxing gloves on them.  At first I always just want to put my hands on the model and just form it.  Fortunately after working on the first short, I'm more use to working with the computer as can be seen in these images

More Grim adjustments

Literally working from head to toe for the next short.  I spent most of today working on Gertrude and I'm now at her feet, though I plan to go back and check everything again.  This time we want to see how far we can take everything with what we know so far.

some personal Hasani sculpture work

Some images of a sculpture I've wanted to make for a while for my personal collection.  This is mostly just for fun.

The Grim Makeover

With animation done on the first short (it's currently going through sound an music) I've been talking to a 3D dynamics artist on how to improve everything for the next.  He's currently testing cloth while I'm making adjustments to the character models for the second short.  You can see the start of these changes in this image below, with the original Gertrude base model from the first short on the left, and the adjusted model on the right.  I hope this project constantly grows and improves with each chapter.

Suicide friends evolution

Here's a look at some of the testing that has gone into Suicide friends.  The project has gone through many changes, once being planned as full stop motion, again as full CG, and another time as a mix of media.  After a lot of testing I found that I can produce stop motion and CG in the time I'd like for this film, but 2D on my own, especially in the desired style, takes a lot of time.  With the amount needed for this project and being done on my own, this film would take about 8 years to complete.  So now I'm looking to produce this film using CG and stop motion.  I'll greatly miss the 2D aspects, but someday when I have a large team I'll tell another story in that style.  I have no shortage of ideas.

Keep Moving Forward

Suicide friends is still moving forward.  However, some things are being modified to make sure this film makes it to completion.  This film is a very small production, and by that I mean a crew of one person at the moment.  After crunching some numbers I found that this film at it's current state would take around 7 to 8 years to complete.  It may sound crazy, but I'm still enthusiastic for this film and I'm determined to find a way to shorten that time.  I'll keep everyone updated on the progress.

Keep Moving Forward.

the Grim animated film: sound effects on hold

the Grim animated film: sound effects on hold: Sound effects work on the Grim is on hold for a bit as the sound designer I'm speaking to is located in New York which is currently going ...

the Grim keeps moving forward

The Grim footage has been sent to composer Ego Plum for music while I discuss sound effects with sound designer Chris Davis.  Ego Plum has told me he'll be able to work on the Grim after creating music for pilots for two major studios.  He's been so very patient with this production, so I absolutely don't mind waiting.  in the meantime, I'm starting on the opening credits sequence while preparing for the next short.  We're fixing and remodeling parts of characters to improve and remove any issues we had on the first short.  I'll be sure to post a side by side comparison when I have one.

Hasani

Suicide Friends: Today's the day of the Suicide Friends animated fi...

Suicide Friends: Today's the day of the Suicide Friends animated fi...: Today's the day of the Suicide Friends animated film blog launch.  This project has been going for some time and has a bit of history with...

the Grim animated film: Yesterday night rendering started on the Grim. So...

the Grim animated film: Yesterday night rendering started on the Grim.  So...: Yesterday night rendering started on the Grim.  Some animations are still being polished, but while they are completed other scenes are bein...

Working non stop

82 storyboard panels done on the weekend. let's see what I can accomplish tonight.

Speaking with Ego Plum

Spoke to Composer Ego Plum about music and what I'm looking for exactly. He says this animated film seems more like live action with the way it's being planned and presented. I wouldn't have it any other way.

quote of the week.

Writing an ending isn't hard, it's making sure the characters earn it that's difficult.

in production

Here's a look at some test renders for the current project "Hasani Walker's the Grim" an animated drama.  We're aiming for the first part to be finished by August.