The Jetsons

[largento]

I've been thinking for awhile about doing some sample 3D illustrations for my portfolio and realized that doing existing characters would probably have more impact, since they would be more familiar to clients.

 

For my first one, I've decided to do a 3D illustration of The Jetsons (complete with flying car and backgrounds.)

 

I have no idea how long it will take, since it's going to be a back-back burner project, but I worked on George's head today:

 

[Dpendleton77]

Man this takes me back. Good job Mark. I can't wait to see the rest.

[thefreshestever]

looking good! i don´t know about the theory with the already existing characters, though... i guess it depends on what you will be applying for with that portfolio.

[Dpendleton77]

Sometimes when you do stuff like this it draws hits to your site. Mark you should do the Herculoids next.

[robcat2075]

For a typical corporate client (not an animation studio) a good-looking George Jetson could be an eyecatcher.

 

Unless it's some 20-something who's never heard of George Jetson. Mark, you might wanna do some research on what the kids are watching these days.

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

Robert's on the right track, Sebastian. The idea is to present it to ad agencies as an alternative to a 2D illustration. My thinking is that if they can see something familiar, they'll "get it" more than if they see something that's already in 3D (like The Wannabe Pirates, for example.) This could also show that I could turn a 2D mascot into a 3D mascot.

 

I have been debating what to do for a newer cartoon, Robert. So many of them are terribly designed, that it's not easy.

[robcat2075]

Power Puff Girls?

My Little Pony?

 

I haven't watched TV since the 90's either

[Dpendleton77]

Thanks, guys!

 

Robert's on the right track, Sebastian. The idea is to present it to ad agencies as an alternative to a 2D illustration. My thinking is that if they can see something familiar, they'll "get it" more than if they see something that's already in 3D (like The Wannabe Pirates, for example.) This could also show that I could turn a 2D mascot into a 3D mascot.

 

I have been debating what to do for a newer cartoon, Robert. So many of them are terribly designed, that it's not easy.

Man just do something over the top and crazy like adventure time. I think the wannabe pirates would hit as a hot cartoon. Just make them stupider lol. Kids love stupid heroes these days.

[johnl3d]

great modeling

[jason1025]

man you are talented.

[thefreshestever]

some of the little bit more recent cartoons i liked (about 15-10 years ago or so ) were those weird ones like cow & chicken, johnny bravo, and 2 stupid dogs. they were all kind of retro regarding the look, though johnny bravo was one of the cartoons that inspired me the most to get into animation, i always enjoyed those fast moves with long stylish posed holds... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnGnl-UElVA

[jimd]

Mark you really got it going on !

 

over in the IDW world

My little pony, Teenage Mutant Turtles and I see Popeye is featured as a classic

and of course Star Trek oh yeah and Transformers ( that one would keep you busy (: )

 

anyway your right on track just keep building those assets

[largento]

Thanks!

 

Something like "Adventure Time" or "Regular Show" wouldn't be first choices for me since I don't watch them ...and in the former case, I don't even understand it. :-)

 

The only newish show that I watch and like is Phineas & Ferb, which could be fun, although I think I'd concentrate on Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. The character designs are extremely flat, though, which would make 3D tricky.

 

I think there are a lot of classic cartoons that the general public of most ages is aware. Things like Ricochet Rabbit and Atom Ant, probably not, but the Jetsons, Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, etc. stay pretty high profile. And heck, sometimes retro is "hipper" than current stuff. Especially if it's something obscure.

 

I've saved some images over the years that I always thought would be fun to recreate, so I'll probably look for those. The goal would be to have about 4 images that I could put in with the other stuff I've done to try to get an agent. Get that person to make the rounds and see if they could get me some illustration work.

 

I'm even considering making my 3D illustrations portfolio a View-Master reel. :-)

[TheSpleen]

Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap

[Gerry]

Mark, nice work on George!

 

...and Spleen, I think your "clap" button is stuck !

[John Bigboote]

awesome. can't wait to see Judy and mrs.J!

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

Matt, I'm not at all surprised by that. :-)

 

Here's the part of Mrs. J. you're not as excited about seeing ...from the neck up. :-)

 

[robcat2075]

She looks good, although now that I see her i think maybe both their skin color is too dark?

[steve392]

Theye look graet Mark ,like the way you done the eyes and lashes ,nice modeling

[largento]

Thanks, Steve!

 

@Robcat I'm in a holding place right now with the color. I'm hoping to discover something "official" in that regard, but in the end, I'll probably just have to guess. Without some way to decipher their paint codes, it's useless to look at animation cels, because they've aged 60 years and the colors have changed.

 

A Google image search will come up with a crazy range of oranges for Jane's hair. George's hair color jumps all over the place, too.

 

I'm also trying to avoid the tainted 1980s relaunch and focus on the 1962 original.

 

I'm away from home right now and away from my DVD set of the show. I think I'll probably grab some screens from that and see how it goes.

[Gerry]

I think I'll probably grab some screens from that and see how it goes.

I think that's the right approach, Mark. What you want (and probably will end up with) is not a swatch off some official palette, but what looks "right".

[robcat2075]

I don't think an official color is the answer, since the official color only needed to look right in flat-shaded form.

 

You''ll need to eyeball it to get the impression of a similar color after the 3D shading has done what it does.

 

 

 

I'm curious to see what Elroy looks like!

[Gerry]

I did a quick image search and, though the colors were all over the map, the most common skin color in the old 2D stuff was an almost off-white cream color. It might also be interesting to try some toon shading to see what that looks like!

[largento]

It took me almost a year before I got back to it, but I did finish this! :-)

 

 

Here's the wireframe.

 

 

 

[robcat2075]

Fine splining, Mark! That is a fabulous 2D to 3D effort.

 

OK, now tell us what Elroy has done that so alarms Jane and daughter Judy?

[detbear]

Mark,

 

I love it man. Great Idea. Anyone familiar with the show instantly recognizes it. The hard thing about bringing a 2D icon into

a 3D world is that many attempts fail to keep the same aesthetic. Your Jetsons image maintains the right feel even though it's

no longer a drawing.

 

It's like going to hear your favorite band live. But when they play the hit songs you are so familiar with.......they sound terrible. Nothing like the ones you've come to love. The same is true when transferring a 2D icon into a 3D world. If people know the old.....and it doesn't feel the same or capture the essemce of the 2D version......It doesn't go over well.

 

For me.....the 3D Scooby Doo attempt went horribly wrong. Maybe part of that is the fact that live action characters were involved, but it just wasn't the same Scooby to me.

 

But I like the Jetson feel you have going in this image.

[detbear]

Mark,

 

Forgot to ask. I have a question about your characters. Can you tell us anything about what "shader" or other elements you incorporated to give the character's surfaces that look?

[robcat2075]

The look of that reminds me of the Flintstones Viewmaster reels I had except that yours is "on model".

[largento]

Thanks, guys!

 

@Robert, no real thoughts on what the characters are thinking or doing. Originally, I'd intended that Jane would be seeing a floating sale sign and would be focused on that, but my early tests with it bombed. Out of necessity, the sale sign became a focal point and it took away from the characters, which was what I wanted to feature. So I dropped the idea of having a gag. The ViewMaster "look" was something I was consciously thinking about. I even briefly toyed with the idea of trying to submit a proposal to them to see if they would be interested in doing some new ones, but then I remembered we live in the 21st Century and all these characters are part of giant corporations looking to control their assets and brands to the point that they would never go for it.

 

@detbear, I'm not a fan of heavily textured renditions of 2D characters, either. I prefer to interpret cartoon characters as being smooth and mostly solid colors. I love the idea of adding dimension to them, but not the idea of trying to make them more realistic in anyway. I guess I think of them more as toy versions. As to the look of the render, I did use depth of field and a light blue fog, which I thought helped make the buildings and clouds seem further away and not compete with the foreground. I don't normally use reflection, but did for the bubble top, which came out much better than I'd thought it would. I did render it with real AO (with transparency). I use the Porcelain material on most of the skins of my characters. I think it gives them a nice puffed out look. The lighting was 3-point and I have a 30% global lighting for the choreography that's set to a flesh color. To me, it warms up everything and it keeps the shadows from being too gray. I haven't quite figured out using shaders yet.

[detbear]

Robcat..... I remember those viemaster looks....Something about them had a really "sur"real appeal. That's a great example of what I was thinking.

 

Mark... Thanks. It's hard to get that plastic/ clay look. Seems to take a combination of good lighting and the right shaders. Similar to the old Viewmaster images like RC mentioned. In my opinion....it works well in these cases. Makes me curious how they did those old viewmaster shots?

 

I've been working on Jonny Quest characters on and off. They also require that same treatment.

[largento]

It was done very similar to how stop-motion was done at the time. The figures and diorama were created, posed, lit and photographed. Instead of using a 3D camera, they took two still shots. This allowed them better control over the final stereo image. They could adjust the elements in the frame between the left and right shot to make things stand out more. I'm sure they could have provided a wealth of info to 3D filmmakers of today.

 

I'm pretty sure they had teams of craftsmen working on them at their height and I would assume that would account for the disparity in quality. These images from Donald Duck and the Flying Saucer are awesome.