Arnold Shader Surface

I wanted to put this up because I really enjoyed this tutorial. The metal texture is a revelation and will really help me with my third year project.

Third Year Idea 'ESCAPE ZONE 3000'

"Blade Runner meets The Great Escape"

For my project I plan on creating a short animated film titled 'Escape Zone:3000' The film is set on a world run by technology, both new and old. I plan on doing this for the entirety of year three.

The story will revolve around a character who is a prisoner of this world due to the fact that he has contracted a a new 'disease'. His body is downgrading from his robot aesthetic to a half robot, half skin. Skin and all things human will be something alien to this world.

The title 'Escape Zone: 3000' relates to the segregated island that the main character is stuck on, ZONE 3000 is a place that homes prisoners and confines them to a single cell within towering skyscrapers, guarded 24/7.

The film will start with the prisoner outside of ZONE 3000, free from the confines of his cell and it will also end there. The animation will flashback to show his escape. The idea of everything being a dream, due to his new found consciousness as a part robot, part human-like creature is something I want to add as a type of visual subtext throughout and even hint at towards the end. I want everything that happens to him to be to good to be true, the guards just suddenly not being there, signs pointing exactly where he needs to go, all hinting at the idea of this being just something conjured up in his mind whilst alone in his cell.

Below are some scribbles and sketches of character/environments designs and some quick sketches of particular shots within the film. Also colour palettes.

The idea was inspired by a piece of music by Kyle Dixon which features in the Stranger Things soundtrack. Reason being is because the music begins slow and and ends slow which is something I aim to have within my film, within the middle of the animation I plan to have break out scene where the prisoner breaks loose and runs from rooftop to rooftop during his escape accompanied by an epic, synth soundtrack to portray an 80's-esque Sci-Fi mood. 

I have also created a new 'studio' blog to house all of my third year work which I have linked down below.

- Link to studio blog -

El Bandido Mutante - Animations

Jack Lumber

Summer Sketchbook

Baseball Team Character Designs

Lady Scribble

Scribble

CG Artists Toolkit and Film Review Submission 19/05/2017

Film reviews

World Animation - Mary and Max

World Animation - Spirited Away

World Animation - Sita Sings The Blues

World Animation - Waltz With Bashir

World Animation - Persepolis

World Animation - Ethel And Ernest

World Animation - The Secret Of Kells

World Animation - Kubo and The Two Strings

Maya Tutorials

Mental Ray Part 1: Samples and Quality Control

Mental Ray Part 2: Final gather

Mental Ray Part 3: Linear Work flow

Mental Ray Part 4: Physical Sun and Sky

Mental Ray Part 5: Portal Lights

Mental Ray Part 6: MIA Material X Shader

Mental Ray Part 7: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Lighting

Mental Ray Part 8: Displacement Maps

Mental Ray Part 9: Ambient Occlusion

Mental Ray Part 10: Motion Blur

Mental Ray Part 11: Mental Ray Proxies

Pipeline 1 : UV Layout
Pipeline 1: Skinning
Pipeline 1: Rigging
Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging Part 1-4
Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging Part 6-9
Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging Part 10-13
Pipeline 1: Texturing 1 and Turnarounds

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1 Texturing 1 and Turnarounds

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1 Facial Rigging Part 3 Part 10 - 13

Maya Tutorial // Lighting and Rendering 2 - Linear Work Flow

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging Part 2 Part 6-9

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1: Facial Rigging Part 1 - Part 1-4

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1 Rigging - Part 1-4

The more I do this process the more I enjoy it, as it is yet another step closer to bring a character to life.

ADAPTATION B Reflective Statement

Overall I feel that this project was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. The lows began with my struggle to cope with finding the idea I wanted to take forward and the frustration of not being able to progress with any work until i had found it.

Once I had got past this obstacle things were looking up, I love designing characters and have fun with creating new ideas, the challenge was taking my designs which are typically flat and illustrative and applying them into 3D software. This is what caused the most worry for me, as 3D hasn't always been my favourite thing to do BUT! I have never enjoyed working in Maya as much as I have in this project. As well as gaining confidence in the software I have learnt so much within it too. With the guidance of Alan I have created a rig that within it holds some complexity that has enabled me to bring life to my designs, something I always thought would be hard to do, which it was, but I did it. 

There is a part of me, like Phil said, that is left wanting more, which I know will happen. I want to continue with this character and idea and give it a new lease of life. My plan is to re-design and re-model the character which in turn would help to aid some of the problems that I found in Maya during the last few weeks. 

I am pleased with what I created, I feel my design work and presentation within my 'Making of' is some of the best I have done since the beginning of the course which pleases me because at times I have felt stuck with my 'style' but since gaining the new found confidence in Maya I feel that there is so much more I can now do to create a new animated world that amalgamates 2D and 3D techniques.

Adaptation B // 'El Bandido Mutante' Submission Post

Adaptation B // EL BANDIDO MUTANTE Character Intro

Adaptation B // Making of 'El Bandido Mutante'

Maya Tutorial // Pipeline 1 - Skinning Part 1-7