Tuesday 29 May 2012

One character finally finished!

Before I start, this is the same character I was working on before, he turned out too bulky and hard because of the old blue clay I was using. So that was pretty stupid on my part.

Phew, it was a bad idea filming my self make this character as that meant I had to find the time and privacy to sit down and film as well as make the character, I hate having people around me when I'm trying to work on something!

Well anyway, one of the two characters is now done, should have only took about 2 days but yeah. Here are the 4 videos which I uploaded with me making the character!



So after all that was out of the way, we got some pretty hot weather here in the UK for once and my room is the hottest in the house during the summer (coldest during the winter too) and the character was just too soft to animate. The weather is still hot so I thought screw this, I need to get some animation done and so I did:


Nothing spectacular, as none of my test videos are, just trying him out and seeing how well this mini armature is working out..... And oh yes, it works perfectly! Not come across any problems with the armature yet but the clay is still way too soft for animation, may have to stick it in the fridge before I animate the actual animation.


As for other news, I started a storyboard which is actually almost complete, just haven't picked it up in a few days as I honestly can't even be bothered doing anything in my room without air conditioning. I also started writing out a script, it's looking good but the only problem is that I can't do lip sync this time since the characters are so small, it would be way too fiddly!

Annnnd, here is a picture of the character which I should have posted when I finished making him rather than waiting for the weather to cool down:


He isn't anything special but he is easy to animate compared to my other characters, his feet wont be in shot most of the time so they're not a problem.

And that's about all I have to share with you guys for now, just please be patient with me! :)

Monday 7 May 2012

LOADED: Starting a character.

As you can see by the title of this post, a name has been decided! LOADED, it stands for two very important things which are seen in the animation. It's up to you to figure that one out though!

I decided the next step would be to start actually making characters, that way I can get a better idea on how big the set is going to be. The set is basically just a backdrop and a floor, which resembles a run down old looking apartment. But before I get working a set, I need to decide on all the shots so I can build the set/or sets, around that plan!

Anyway, the first character I decided to make is the first of the two brothers:


Got all the clay I used for the zombies in OGVTD and made the basic body shape, it will be covered later so it doesn't matter what it looks like.


Building up the t-shirt here


 Just putting the head there to double check the proportions are ok, still need to work on that head!



And then this morning, I ran into a bit of a problem, the light blue clay I used here is part of the first ever batch of newplast that I ever bought, all the clay I bought back then was very hard compared to how the new stuff is. When it gets cold it will crack as you move it and that is what I had to discover this morning, I did figure a way around it though which meant I had to change up the design a little bit.


Sooo, I cut off the arms which which were made of the blue clay, I could have replaced the t-shirt with a softer and newer colour of newplast but I would rather keep the colour and change the design a bit since I need to use up this blue stuff anyway.


Then I cut into the area where the arms were to create a slot for the new fleshy arms to go into.


Here I just put the basic fleshy arms into place and sculpted a little rim thing around the edge of the sleeve.
I wasn't sure whether I liked this as much as the original at first but it's beginning to grow on me, at least the arms are now moveable and animate-able!



So that's about it for now! Got a start on the first character, decided on a name for the animation! (LOADED)

See you in the next update!