New style change in direction - Kelpie

After having a meeting we have decided to take the film in a new direction as we don't feel the project will be complete in time even after cutting scenes and the numerous problems and issue we are having with everything we do. All that is left for me to do now is render out frames of the layouts to be worked on top off.

project update

The wee monster film has been dropped by the director therefore I am putting the fire aside for now as the kelpie has a lot left to do if it is to be finished.

Kelpie Model fix

i got word back from the rigger that there is a slight issue with the model. some of the geometry is pulling to much when the character moves. so this week i have been spending a lot of time trying to fix it which is holding me up from getting the layouts finished. after numerous sending files of possible fixing the problem was finally solved after sitting down with the rig and being able to view it myself i know understand what the problem was and how to fix once and for all.

 

The fixed Leg the join between the leg and the character's body had to be moved further up.

2d water test

I have complete a 2d water splash to learn more about how water moves. i found this tutorial by  Kathleen Quaife very helpful http://flashfx.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/water

3D Layouts

 

I have been and currently working on the 3d layouts which is taking more time than expected. laying out and placing all the object does not take to long there are a few scene left that still need to be laid out but no one else seems keen to lend a hand i.e 3rd years to do the initial layout. What is taking the time is the 3d water trying to find settings that work for that scene and getting the movement to look good. the only way to see how it moves is to do a short render as the playblast/hardware buffer only shows wire frame and I cant tell if it is ok.




i have also set up some lighting using a basic 3pt set up. 2 spotlights and a point light were used.

2D+3D test

Testing out matching up 2d animation with the 3d. This didn't go so well as the boat oars can only move so far/much. the other problem was the 2d animation the characters arms were not moving/reaching up enough which resulted in the oars not entering the water. The theory to fix this  was to set keys of the boat row cycle and print them off to use as reference for the 2d animation.

fire update

Time to start putting this fire together after working with the particles to see which way to go about making the fire I decided that having a surface emitter would be the best method to create a ring of fire. However I have recently received advice that I should use Maya fluids as the movement is more realistic. Therefore I have been watching a lot of digital tutors for Maya fluid fire and DVDs from the library on fire.