Major - Interim Hand-in

Just to clarify, I do need to do some tweaking to the toon shaders to get them working better.

I also need to finishing the weighting for all 5 characters. This should take at most a couple weeks; which brings us to the issue of what will I actually be able to submit at the end.

Of course, in a perfect world I'd have the completed story animation that was planned back in premise, however since time may not allow for a completed product I have an alternate idea.

I am seriously losing steam on this project and my motivation isn't exactly high, so I think some alterations are in order. I do want to create this story, but I fear I won't be able to in the time left.

So new idea, using the characters I have already created, I could make a series of 5 to 30 second, slapstick style skits, compiled into one video (roughly about 4 minutes long). These skits would stick to the theme I was going with, as well as, keeping the art style and characterisation, the major difference would be the removal of the story.

This would also solve the issue of there being too much talking with not much action.

I may not have explained this idea very well here, so I wish to explain my idea more clearly on Monday at uni.

Major - Character Update #5 - Benny

 Skeleton and Rig

Benny has a basic rig, but with mittens with only one finger joint chain.

I also added simple controls for his nose.

Texture tests

Major - Character Update #4 - Denny

 Skeleton and Rig

Denny has a basic rig but with only one finger chain for his mittens.

I also added some basic control for his nose.

Texture tests

Major - Character Update #3 - Lenny

 Skeleton and Rig

Lenny has a basic rig, however he only has 1 finger chain because he's wearing mittens.

I also added some basic control to his nose.

Texture tests

Major - Character Update #2 - Robert Banks

 Skeleton and Rig

Based on a basic rig but with only 3 fingers.

There is also basic controls for the mustache in the Neck control

Texture tests

More renders that look like drawings

Major - Character Update #1 - Klepto-Man

 So it's been awhile since I've actually made a blog post, I do have my reasons for this, but nothing I wish to disclose here and now.

Anyway, since I've been good all 5 characters have been modelled, textured and rigged.

Skeleton and Rig

Here's the completed skeleton and rig for Klepto-Man.

The rig is fairly basic, only diviantions to the 1st year rig is 3 fingers instead of 4 and I also added a simple control for the chin.

I haven't skinned him, or rigged the cape, or done the 2D facial rig yet.

I plan to get that all done in the next couple weeks.

Texture tests

Ok, so these are drawings right? Wrong

These are the front and side views of the textured character rendered. I think this is starting to look proper cool.

Minor - Reflective Statement

Looking solely at the project, without paying attention to any outside factors, I can say that I'm not too disappointed with my work in Minor. I have created five fully modeled characters and have rewritten my script to be shorter and, in my honest opinion, funnier. Granted I didn't manage to get onto rigging as soon as I would have liked, but my reasons for this a to do with elements unrelated to the project specifically.

Speaking of which, I feel like the elephant in everyone's rooms, namely the COVID pandemic and the lockdowns, has negatively impacted everyone, not just myself. I don't want to use the lockdown as an excuse for lack of work, but I cannot ignore how it has hindered both my work ethic and my mental health considerably. It was common knowledge that I was on campus nearly daily and this allowed me time away from my issues and distractions at home, obviously due to lockdown restrictions, I can no longer do this. I am by no means blaming anyone for this, I understand the severity of the situation and I know why we cannot go back to campus, it's just frustrating for me as working from home is incredibly difficult.

Before lockdown I would work on campus and my bedroom was a place for me to recharge, for lack of a better word. However due to obvious circumstances, my place of rest has now become the same place I have to do my work, and I am struggling because of it. I no longer have a place to relax, not that I even have the time to either, and I'm becoming burnt out quicker. I struggled through Minor due to at times not feeling motivated to do anything, this is a dangerous mindset that I have been in before, and I can tell you I don't like it.

My Minor project has suffered because I am suffering, I'm not as far as I would have liked to have been because I feel emotionally exhausted. I can't help but let the chaos of the outside world get to me, but this is the time we live in. I'm struggling to cope with the idea that normalcy is gone and I am struggling to adapt to the idea that I just don't get a break anymore, because there is no longer a difference between the workplace and my living quarters. I am trying desperately not to fall back into the pit of depression, but that is easier said than done.

Despite this I am proud of the things I have achieved in this project. From my understanding modelling just one character can be a daunting task, yet here I am with five completed models. Granted they are not rigged or UV'd, but this is work I can continue in due time, for the moment I am proud in myself for being able to create characters from scratch and have them come out looking as I had imagined. 

The other part of my work this project has been to my story. While I'm not super fond of my animatic, I am proud of my script. The main complaints from my original story was that it was too long and that it didn't flow well enough. This newest version is almost 2 minutes shorter than the 6 minute original and, in my opinion, it is much funnier. I have run this version of the script through a few people, to which I have received positive feedback. This greatly improved my confidence in myself and the project.

In conclusion, I feel like the current events of the world have severely, negatively impacted my work, however the work I have produced I am pleased with and am happy to move onto Major with.