Houston We Have A Problem.....

After putting some ridges on the top surface and some lights around the edge, I figured it was time for a flight test.......

This is a really quick test clip to see how the UFO looks as it starts it's engines, retracts it's legs and takes off. There are some elements of the idea that I like, particularly the acceleration of rotation and the weight of the ufo as the legs are retracted, and others that I really dislike including the very quick take off.... it seemed like a good idea at the time but next time I think I'll try something a little more steady.

This really demonstrates the importance of testing concept.... an idea can seem great but when it is put into practice it might suck!

Retro Saucer

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted the little alien guy here and I figured it was high time that I put something new up here, so here's something I made yesterday to help the little alien zip around the universe.......

It's a very simple model again, this time taking design notes from the 1956 classic "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers"..... view the trailer for the VFX spectacular HERE. The hydraulics in the legs and the feet are all independently poseable, the upper side can be rotated and the door on the underside can open and close.

There's still work to be done on the model before I can say it's complete including some kind of crazy death ray being fixed to the underside door and some detailing needs to be applied to the upper surface to demonstrate the rotation. It shouldn't take too long and I'll post up the finished model when it's done.

Little Green Man

I made this little guy for my students to use in the VFX module that they are about to begin. He's a simple rigged character with a few blendshapes for expression and correction.... the basics are there for the students to expand from.

My students are already aware of and understand the rigging techniques required to create a simple character like this so hopefully, after a couple of sessions, the power of blendshapes will also become clear to them.

Flying For The First time

I know, it's been a while since my last post but it's been busy times, Bradford Animation Festival and graduating students amongst other things have kept me away from personal projects but I managed to spend a couple of hours on the BumbleBus yesterday and have made a test render clip.....

In the clip I'm testing a couple of processes...

1: Using tracked video footage to control the virtual camera. While I have used camera tracking many times in the past I have always used it in order to create a composite shot with the original footage, in this case I wondered how effective it would be to just use the motion in a completely CG environment, the backplate is the HDR image that I have used to light the environment. I like the effect and will certainly pursue it further.

2: Depth of Field. I made a simple rig for the camera using the measure tool and the MR Physical DOF lens so that I can easily control the focal point of my camera. The focal distance in this clip is constant but I intend to experiment with a non fixed position in future.

3: Motion blur. various elements of the BumbleBus have been rendered on separate layers in order to apply motion blur to some and not to others. A black hole shader was used to create a mask for the wings.

As this is just a test I have used a simple motion path and, apart from the wings, I haven't yet applied any other animation to the model.

Shadow & Light Re-Dub

This is a re-post, of sorts, of my Shadow & Light video but with a with a new audio track made by Vimeo user Oliver White.



 

I really like what Oliver has done, it's certainly less chaotic than my attempt at a soundscape..... I'll stick to the visuals in future!! 

Shiny Shiny

I was having a play with the MentalRay DGS shader for the outer skin of my BumbleBus, remember it's inspired by the old Airstream caravans so chrome is the flavour we're looking for here.

I know, there's still modelling to do but hey, the outside's done so let's celebrate with a shiny render, it was also an opportunity to quickly demonstrate the physical DOF lens to one of my students.

I'm rather pleased with the way it's turned out, very much like how I originally imagined it to be....

Time to get on with the interior now I guess!

You Spin Me Right Round....

I've been away for a few days so have had no opportunity to make progress on the BumbleBus until I sat down yesterday evening and hit a bit of a landmark in the construction of the model.....

The exterior modelling is complete..... I know right excellent news. People everywhere are talking about the US election results but that news pales in significance to the fact that I need not place another rivet on this models exterior!

Here's a turntable of the vehicle that illustrates the action of the doors and the steps.

 



I'm pretty pleased with how this has turned out, it's pretty faithful to my original sketch which is always good, and there's really only the cockpit left to model before I can move onto texturing it, exciting times.