Woke Up Dead

[robcat2075]

And Happy Birthday, too!

[Ilidrake]

Just bumping to let everyone know I'm still working on this. I have alot to actually show off but no time at the present to upload anything.

[Ilidrake]

So the project continues. Amazing!!! Today I would like to show off Latimer a bit more with his first pose. Facial and Body. I've been working on the Phenomes and facial poses he will be needing and so far things are looking smooth. It shouldn't be long and I should be ready to actually start animating the guy!!!

[tbenefi33]

Great job on the models.

[robcat2075]

He's looking good!

[Ilidrake]

So I've been working on Nora for quite some time now. She has went through many incarnations and I finally come to the point where this is it. Final. I have her basic head down and now I'm getting into the body, clothing, and finally hair. She should be ready to go in a month or so. Crits welcome.

[Rodney]

Glad to see you are still plugging away at this!

 

I know we may be seeing Nora from an angle here but to my eye the top of her head appears to be too high.

As a general rule the eyes are half way between the top and the bottom.

For a cuter look we might even exaggerate by lessening the height of the top of the head more.

 

Nora's hair may rise to that height but unless going for a specific look I'd say to lower the top more.

It looks to me as if your style with Latimer has his eyes almost 3/4 of the way up his head. Therefore it might be worth experimenting with that same proportion with Nora.

 

Attached are some random references. I'm not sure where the drawn one came from and if anyone knows please let me know and I'll attribute the artist. I add it here mostly because it gives a lot of views that follow the 1/2 to eyes rule as well as shows how hair rests on top of the skull. Note that in my feedback/image I am assuming that the rendering of Nora is from a more-or-less front-on and level view.

 

 

It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of thinking about your characters and you know what? As I think back to when I was first reading your script, I begin to realize that I miss hanging out with them and following their adventures.

 

Post more WIPs!

 

Edit: Posting a wireframe may help in the assessment too.

[Darkwing]

This is all looking really great! Glad to see you're still persevering and pushing this through!

[Ilidrake]

Thanks guys. Yes I am still here. I had my internet updated and thus i was without while the new cables were ran. I've been rewriting the script as well as I found many, many areas that needed fleshing out as well as a few that had to be trimmed off completely. The entire story is getting a much better feel to it and I'm starting to really get a feel for the characters and the way they think and interact. I see what you mean about the head and you are correct, much too high. Easy to fix though I'll upload more as I have more to show off.

[TheSpleen]

sounds like you have this under control

Can't wait to see final short

[Ilidrake]

Okay here's Nora without the "big head"....I couldn't resist LOL. This is a forward shot of rendered and wire frame.

[robcat2075]

looking good.

 

one suggestion would be to make the middle spline in the eyelids more in the middle, at the peak of the curve, and more evenly space the others.

 

This would make the eyelids better suited for eyelid shaping.

[Rodney]

Hmmm.... I'm not seeing much of a difference here.

The proportions still seem to be off in the height of the head.

So at the risk of being a pain I'll give it another try.

 

Note that in the attached image the green boxes are the same size. The red box indicates everything that is 'extra' and IMO of an excess size.

At the right side of the image I've outlined what the the shape of her face would be given equal distance from both the top head to the bottom of her jaw to the center of her eyes. I'd be tempted to raise the ears slightly also but that's not as important as the overall proportions. IMO the green indicates the maximum rather than the minimum and will be covered in hair so IMO you could cut the top of her head even further down to size than what I am indicating in the image.

 

Cheers!

[Ilidrake]

I see what u mean rodney. I spent about an hour just looking at her shape after i cropped of the excess. I still couldnt put my finger on why it seemed off. I appreciate the feedback. As always it is very much appreciated. On a side note would u care to read the updated script when i finish it?

[Rodney]

On a side note would u care to read the updated script when i finish it?

 

You bet!

While I'm hardly settled in my moving to the U.S. with my family still in Japan I am finding I have a lot of free time these days.

[Ilidrake]

So here is the latest render of the new Nora model.

 

++Edit

Added shirt texture. Not the finished product by far. Much too do and so little time to do it

[TheSpleen]

Love her

[Rodney]

Looking good!

 

She is really starting to shape up.

 

Did you ever send me the latest update of your script?

If you did I didn't see it. I'll double check my spam folder.

[Ilidrake]

Not yet Rodney. I'm still working on it. A lot of changes have been made to it. I didnt like the second castle idea because it didnt explain anything really. I really like the direction the story is taking now.

[Ilidrake]

Here's a side by side of Latimer and Nora. Nora still needs rigging, thus the T pose. Its just a quick render with default lighting and what-not.

[Shelton]

Good looking hair

[Ilidrake]

Thanks Shelton. I put a lot of time into getting the hair looking right.

[Ilidrake]

Wasn't really happy with the SSS settings. The characters looked a little waxy. I toned it down a bit and think the results are more appealing. Comments???

[mouseman]

Yes, I agree, much less waxy is better! Is the lighting is different (less bright) or does the lower SSS makes it seem less bright?

[Ilidrake]

Its just the default lighting so I don't know.

[Ilidrake]

Hey Rodney the latest edition of the script was sent to your email.

[Rodney]

Thanks, I got it.

 

I've set it aside unopened for the moment and will dive deep into it as soon as I can.

 

A question:

 

I'm sure you've told me this before but what software are you using to create your script? Word? Celtx? Or something else.

The reason I ask is that some software allows direct analysis of each character's individual story arc as it runs through the story.

After reading through three times, I'd like to go back and follow each through line.

I've found the best way to do this outside of reformatting the document is to print the script out and read through looking for the appearance of each character (a bit tedious). So it'b nice if the software can sort or specify what character to follow and in some way highlight that.

[Ilidrake]

I'm using Final Draft. I'll open it up and see if I can find anything that will outline character arcs.

[Ilidrake]

So it's been a while since I updated my progress. First off there is so many projects I would like to be doing but I have simply shoved them all aside to concentrate on this. (Robcat's classes do not count against this as they are intended to help my animation). It is very hard to stay focused on any project but I am suprised that I continue to work on this.

 

First off I am working on the second set for the film. The main house staircase. It's a fairly large piece and is taking me a bit more time than I had expected. If nothing else I want the set pieces to look good so I do't mind.

 

Secondly I have started rigging Latimer's mother. She is a plump woman but amazingly the TSM2 rig went in with hardly any issues. I mean in less than 2 hours I had here rigged and ready to animate! That has never happened. So either I'm improving or I just got lucky Either way I am thrilled. She will mark the second character that is 100% and ready to use! That my friends is a milestone for me.

 

I am remodeling the father model. I think the current character is too old for the part. On a side note I am willing to offer the father model (unrigged) to the community if anyone is interested.

 

So there you have. After many long months I am still working away at this.

[Ilidrake]

Working on sets...

[Ilidrake]

Well after careful consideration I have given this script to Amazon studios. Wish me luck

 

http://studios.amazon.com/scripts/28162

[Rodney]

Good luck with Amazon Lloyd. I hope you make a million (or however much they are giving out)!

 

For what it's worth, I don't think your Synopsis quite does your script justice.

I'd be nice if you could tighten that up a little and correct a minor spelling error.

 

By tightening up I mean to add a sense of the movie's /mood/theme/pace into the synopsis itself so that people are anxious to read the script. And the script in turn will make them want to see (or see the full potential in) the movie.

 

The spelling error is from this sentence: "The three friends journey to the castle to meet Cleopatra only to find there way is barred by guards." which should be 'their'. For what it's worth you don't need the word 'is' there at all. So a reading of that line might be, "The three friends journey to the castle to meet Cleopatra only to find their way barred by guards."

 

Rationale:

The three friends journey to the castle.

(The three friends journey to the castle) to meet Cleopatra.

(The three friends journey to the castle to meet Cleopatra) only to find their way barred by guards.

So the word 'is' isn't necessary when those three sentences are merged.

Hope that makes sense.

 

I'm crossing my fingers for you... with ghosts and goblins being all the rage these days (ex: Hotel Transylvania being the hit it is) others should have additional incentive to like your script. I'd think a company would love to have the head of Edgar Allen Poe in their stable of characters.

 

Your script not only has great potential it has heart.

[TheSpleen]

more more more

[Ilidrake]

Gravedigger has begun. Not sure about the beard just yet. I'm modeling it of course but I plan on experimenting with particle hair as well.

[TheSpleen]

Gravedigger has begun. Not sure about the beard just yet. I'm modeling it of course but I plan on experimenting with particle hair as well.

See how I did Myrons beard

the beard was modeled then sprinkled with hair.

[Ilidrake]

Gravedigger is shaping up

[Rodney]

Nice. I like him!

[Ilidrake]

Okay still plugging away at him. Here's the finished beard. Not too sure about the facial textures just yet but I definitly want a ashy gray texture to his skin.

 

Here he is completed...TADA!!! Still need to texture his clothing. And there are a few details I need to model and add, so he's 95%. Rigging comes next.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Ilidrake

[Rodney]

He's awesome! You are getting really good at this.

 

When you left his legs off... I couldn't resist...

 

(ignore me, I'm just enjoying your modeling)

 

Edit:

Ooooh. You posted his legs before I got a chance to finish here.

I was hoping you'd go for the extra small legs.

[Ilidrake]

LMAO!!! That's funny!!! Nice way to improvise. Ya, I started to go normal legs, but the extra small legs work better.

[Ilidrake]

So here is Gravedigger textured. So far so good. Just need to start the rigging process. Of course there is an issue with his mouth that I have to address so that may delay the process.

[Ilidrake]

I finally have Gravedigger rigged and weighted. Here's my first test pose. I was going to use Simcloth for the beard but because of the complexity of the mesh that has been an utter failure. Instead I am simply using bones, although that is barely working. Anyone know of a good way to rig a beard? I thought about rigging it like an arm but I'm not totally sure yet. Still need to give him eyebrows and start setting up phenomes but he's close.

[Rodney]

You are quick!

 

I'm not sure how best to approach the beard but I'm sure others will know.

 

 

Aside: There is something about the color scheme on Gravedigger that doesn't quite seem to work. At a glance I'll guess that it's the bright green color but not sure. A quick look at real world fabrics might help to refine his clothing's color toward the perfect form.

[Ilidrake]

True. I think the pants are a little loud LOL. Easy enough to change. I'll play around with some color combinations later. And as a side note the hands are not weighted properly yet so I'm still tweaking those as well.

[NancyGormezano]

A quick look at real world fabrics might help to refine his clothing's color toward the perfect form.

 

hoo hoo hoooooo!

 

Those fabrics look mighty familiar.

 

That there green jobby pants stuff IS a real world fabric (left-over quilt remnant from my stash). Yes - a loud real world fabric at that! Also used specifically on Brautigan (Scarecrow of Oz), who was known for his questionable fashion sense.

 

The other fabrics (shirt, gold trim) look like they were taken from King krewel? or Gloria?

 

Glad to see them being reused.

 

Gravedigger guy is a neat character.

[Ilidrake]

LOL good eye Nancy! They are in fact from your collection. I couldn't resist using some of them, there such wonderful textures.