Archive for ‘“Wait Mister!” 3D Film Plog’


Week 04 – 3D Model – Kid.

I’ve almost finished Kid’s 3d model. I used Mr. Knox’s base models and tweaked them considerably to get the final result. I figured it might be easier and more consistent than starting from scratch. Again I’m not focusing on the textures at this stage. I haven’t even decided on the eye colour (although I did get some nods for this shade of blue on him so maybe I’ll give Knox a different set of eyes). I’m also considering whether to use cloth simulation for his shirt or just hand animate it if at all. Might be more hassle than it’s worth. We’ll see when I get round to doing some tests on it.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve done so far:
Kid 3D Full Body

Gotta find some time now for my other project – the personal research presentation. It’s due in a couple of weeks!
See ya!


Week 05 – Mid-term Critique. 3D Model – Kid Version 2.

We had our mid-term crit session on Thursday to showcase our progress and obtain feedback. I presented the character designs, 2d animatic, 3d block test, Mr. Knox’s and Kid’s 3d models, and a short rig cum cloth test for Kid. As I expected, most in the audience weren’t too impressed with how Kid’s model turned out. After reviewing my original designs and taking into account a couple of suggestions, I dived back into XSI and started tweaking. I created a newer, simpler set of hair, enlarged the head and eyes, and adjusted his overall proportions to make him look younger.I believe it’s a significant improvement over the old model. What do you think?

Kid's 3D Full Body (ver. 2)

I’ll quickly re-do the rig and cloth test on him and I’ll post up a clip soon. I’m hoping the next set of tasks (rigging Mr. Knox) will be an easier affair. Unfortunately, this weekend will mostly be taken up by the research project. I’m scheduled to deliver a presentation to an audience of tutors and fellow students on Thursday. Wish me luck!


Week 09 – Rigging & Render Tests. Facial Expressions.

Wow! It’s 9 weeks in and almost 1 month after my last decent “Wait, Mister!” update! Where has the time gone eh? Anyways, so I’ve finished rigging up both Mr. Knox and Kid, and straight after managed to quickly come up with some possible poses they might adopt to flush out any major kinks in the rigs. So far so good. As far as I can tell there’s nothing I can’t fix within specific shots if need be. I’m banking on that being faster than my struggling to get the absolute perfect rig from the outset. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to get into walk cycles or more detailed character studies. It’s definitely something worth working on at a later date (likely post-submission). And don’t get me started on the cloth tests! Alright enough of that, here’s a quick sample of what I did.

Download Mr. Knox and Kid rig test.

I’ve also fiddled around with Final Gathering for a bit just to see how the characters might possibly look in their environment. You might notice some more colours on Knox and Kid but still no textures on anything else. At this stage, I must admit to still toying with ideas for the exact look and amount of details in the background, but I’m definitely keeping it simple for the best effect. The lighting is also not entirely finalised but at least it’s a decent start right?

As you can see, there’s still a ton of work to be done!

Mr. Knox & Kid in FG Test

I’ve also managed to set up the basic necessary face shapes for Mr. Knox. Here are a few choice expressions:

Mr. Knox Facial Expressions

I’m presently working on Kid’s face shapes. Initially I thought Kid would have less facial expressions with Knox being on camera more, but I’ve realised he’s much more expressive and requires a few additional face shapes. Regardless, I really hope to finish them by the end of the week. After that I’ll finally tackle modeling the environment and all props, as well as completing all the textures. That should take me through the short 2-week break (what break?) at least. If I stick to the plan, I should be focusing entirely on animating the shots once the final term begins. I’ve also gotten a sound designer on board so that’s another item settled. I’ll have to find someone to be the voice of Knox though. I’d have liked to get some visual references during the recordings too if possible. I doubt I’ll have a problem casting Kid. It’ll most likely be my son Adib doing his voice. And with two young boys running around, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with visual references!


Week 10 – Kid’s Facial Set-Up.

I’ll kick off this week’s update with a sample set of Kid’s facial expressions. I’m pretty much done with the set-up now, and I’m liking Kid’s brown eyes and dark red shirt more vs. the old green and orange combination. What do you think?

Kid Facial Expressions


Week 10 – Environment Models and Rendering.

I’m still not done with the environment just yet but I thought I’d show you what I’ve got so far. It’s quite hard to be productive and focus on work when the brand new and sunlit (we finally have windows) lab we just moved into is practically empty – about 50% of my coursemates are having fun camping out on the sunny beaches of the Algarve while another 30% are back home visiting their folks for the holidays. This past few days I’ve managed to model and texture the buildings, street lamps, bus stop and bus. Regardless, I am pretty much satisfied with the way the buildings turned out, though I’ve still got to texture the road, model a few more props for Mr. Knox, and settle the final texture details for the characters themselves – particularly Kid. According to my schedule, I still have another week left before I need to fully focus on animating, but I figure if I can steal and set aside more hours for animating, the better the final result will be (in a perfect world of course). We’ll see. Anyway, enjoy the test renders!

The street at a glance.

At the bus stop

Bus stop bench

Bus coming up the street

Bus has arrived

As usual any comments and suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


Bad Behavior has blocked 71 access attempts in the last 7 days.