July 22, 2019 : Happy Pi Approximation Day!

It might not be the real deal, but it’s close enough (sorta). Well, at the very least, it deserves its props. Happy Pi Approximation Day!

An interesting tidbit I recently learned is that today is also called Casual Pi Day. I had not heard about this before, but it was on the internet so it must be true.

posted by Pi Visuals at 12:37 pm

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July 13, 2019 : UV Mapping

Slowly but surely, things are moving forward with the second character’s model. The modeling itself is almost done; but before I can take care of the rigging, I need to do some surfacing. This includes UV Mapping, something I am admittedly rusty at.

In the past, most of my projects reused a basic UV map for the face – needed to draw in the nostrils, ear marks, or chin shadows. My more recent models have moved away from this to image projections. Instead, this model will need some UV Mapping for the clothes. It isn’t all that complicated, but I still needed to look up a few things in order to refresh my memory on how to go about taking care of it.

That said, I am almost done with the the UV portion of the surfacing. After that, I need model the face components and tweak some colors… then I can take care of the rig.

posted by Pi Visuals at 12:17 am

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June 29, 2019 : Spirited Away vs. Toy Story

Last weekend, Toy Story 4 topped U.S. box office receipts. The results had one of two narratives:

    – It was the fourth best opening for an animated film ever, and the best yet for the franchise.
    – It fell significantly short of projections, indicating audiences were wary for another chapter in the franchise.

Personally, I’ve enjoyed the Toy Story movies but would prefer new material versus sequels That said, I am sure the movie is solid and will eventually watch it.
What I found more interesting was with China’s Box Office. Specifically, the premiere of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away more than doubled Toy Story 4’s receipts.

To be fair, Spirited Away played at more theaters (with about a 3:2 ratio), and I don’t believe China was previously exposed to any of the previous Toy Story films. Still, I always love me some Miyazaki love, and this should not be viewed necessarily as a knock on Toy Story but praise for Spirited Away – and who doesn’t like that?

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:59 pm

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June 14, 2019 : Reacquainted With The Node Editor

After a short (and planned) hiatus, things are moving forward again with the new short. Except for a few last minute tweaks, the rig for the first character is complete. This one took a little longer than the second will because I had re-familiarize myself with some of my ‘more recent’ updates to my master rig (‘more recent’ means only two years old).

This included work in the Node Editor, something I have always wanted to get better at but never seem to follow up. For the rig, the Node Editor was used to better handle the Edges of the facial features (Eyes, Brows, Nose, Mouth, etc.). Below was the node structure I had to duplicate:

To prevent future slowdowns, I spent extra time documenting the steps needed to set this part of the rig up – as well as detail the logic behind the methodology. As for the second character, the rigging should go more smoothly. However, I will have some additional modeling – something that will take more time but will be fun.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:11 pm

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May 24, 2019 : Some Good Old Fashioned Rigging

Production is moving along for the new short. In addition to some preliminary storyboarding, I have also finished modeling the first character. The next step is rigging the model in Layout, which I have begun:

The rig I will use for the short is very robust. Unfortunately, this means it’ll take some time to set up. Throw in the fact that I haven’t created a new rig in about two years, and I will need a little extra time to get things just right.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:30 pm

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May 3, 2019 : Character Modeling: Back To Lightwave!

Now that the characters’ heads are designed, the next step is creating their bodies; and that means spending some time in Lightwave. Before I did any modeling, I decided to review rigs of the most recent projects. They have become more and more complicated (and versatile) over the years so it was a much needed refresher.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to really dive into Lightwave (it’ll be that much more fun when animation gets going!), but that’s part of the fun. To make sure the characters can do everything I want of them, a good amount of time will be spent setting things up.

To save some time, I will be re-using some parts of previously created characters; but I will also be able to make some new elements, and that is where the fun in the Lightwave is really at.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:36 pm

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April 19, 2019 : Other Character’s Head Design

After putting in some time the last two weeks, I finished the character design of the head for the other character in my upcoming short. Below is a compilation of the angles:

The hair for this character will require a slight variation in the Lightwave with respect to the rig. To ensure there won’t be problems, I need to do some beta testing. This is probably a good thing because it’s been a while since I’ve delved into the program for character animation, and this will give me a refresher on how to create the rig that will be used for the project.

posted by Pi Visuals at 9:46 pm

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March 30, 2019 : New Short Character Designs

The last week or two, I’ve been able to spend small amounts of time here and there working on the design for one of the characters in a new short. I’m using the technique I used in Ad Wizards for the Head/ Face. Below is a compilation of the angles I will be using:

I considered having a larger range of motion for the head turns but decided it was not necessary for this project. Next, I need to work on the other character. After that, it’ll be time for some body modeling in Lightwave.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:38 pm

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March 14, 2019 : Happy Pi Day!

Do I really need to say what today is? Unfortunately… yes, probably. Either way, today is that great day where Pi gets its due.

Things are a little busy at the moment so I need to keep this brief. Be sure to take a few moments today to fully appreciate the awesomeness that is Pi. Take a look at a circle and smile a few moments longer knowing you can calculated not only its area but the circumference thanks in part to my (and your) favorite irrational number.

posted by Pi Visuals at 12:00 am

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March 1, 2019 : How Animation Gets Done (Video)

Not a lot of people know how Animation gets made. To help enlighten the masses on the process, I created a quick video that shows what is entailed:

This nonsensical bit was made for a quick presentation I had to give. It did have a deadline, which meant I couldn’t tighten up a few of the movements – but I still get a kick out of watching it.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:16 pm

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