Schools out

Hi, my school, Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam, has released some info on the RFF pitch competition. You can read it here
http://www.wdka.nl/index.php?mid=WDK_ACTUAL&iid=459&cid=6

Facial system

Still working on Grim here. I've been rigging his face.
This text is gonna be a lot of technical mumbo jumbo. If your not a TD or don't know what that is you're probably not gonna be interested in this stuff. But for all you rig maniacs let's go.

Facial rig with only 1 blendshape
The face has a minimum amount of bones in it just for generic movement. 2 neckjoints 1 headjoint and 1 jaw joint. Could be expanded to some eye joints. So now you can point the face in any direction and open his mouth. Next I made 1 blendshape and made wire deformers on the eyebrow. The curves have relative clusters on it and move along with the head. The corners of the mouth have vertex clusters on them. All clusters are linked to controlers on the face. Note that the blendshape must be handled before the skincluster or your head won't move when you turn the blendshape on. The bones steer the face and the blendshape handles expressions. The blendshape is stationary but the expression controllers move with the face and jaw.
I've made this system because I was tired of using blendshapes and sliders to control characters. I wanted something easy to use and more flexible. And that's what I made. It's very direct, you can take a controller and manipulate that part of the face. And you can add controllers while your animating. Hmmm starting to sound like sails pitch. Well all I'm saying, it works for me.

Grim 3D

Well, Although the script is getting a rewrite it'll still have the same main character. Grim. So I started moddeling on him. I've slapped on some basic materials. It almost looks like I wanted. Kinda like a designer toy. It needs some cleaning up and a decent uv set. But it's good progress for a days work

3rd Wohoo

Today I had to pitch my story to a judging panel. Out of 13 contenders I got 3rd place. Wohooooo. The comments I got were legendary. "We like the idea but your script is by far the worst we've ever read." It's as funny as it is true. So I'm gonna get someone to help me with my script.

Pitchin'

I've got an important pitch coming up with funding as pricemoney. So I've made some concept art to help me tell the story. Note that the characters will be in 3D. But I haven't made them yet. Also note that the station has had a complete overhaul. The pitch is thursday. I'll post the result when I get it.

The Station

Working on the station. This is the place where grims gonna rescue somebody.

Finalizing Grims Office

Been working on Grims office for another day. It's a style test as much as a background. I'm quite happy how it turned out

Style concept

I've been making some style concepts for how I want my film to look. I do like the top one but I'm going for a cartoon look rather than a natural look. An added bonus for the one in the bottom is that I'll have more control in post-production. The character in the back is from another project I did. She's not gonna be in this movie. I used her to check what it would look like with a character.