Grades

Just checked my school's website and it turns out I did better than I thought on my animations. I got an A- on both of them (along with an A- in my Global Economics class)! I think I may just go out and celebrate sometime this week.

Tank v2.0

I just last week finished up my Asset Production class, which is solely aimed at making filler for our demo reels.  Most of the people in my class decided to model out a number of fairly impressive low-poly models.  But I decided to go another route and try some animation.  I thought I wanted to do prop modeling also, but unwrapping is a BITCH.  So I decided to take a previous animation and update it.

This is the result.  I had higher hopes for it, but I learned what I need to do to fix it the next time.  The main changes here are in vehicle movement and the effects.  In the first version, I moved the vehicles through keyframe movement, but this time I decided to use path contraints for more fluid driving.  

I had a lot of stuff to work on with the effects, considering the explosions I had in the first one were so small you couldn't see them.  In fact, that weren't even explosions, I just used a short fires.  This time, at least they're visible.  I used a ton of Supersprays too, for gunfire and the missile.

Unfortunately, this video is just as short as the previous one.  I need to make it longer, and not just by stretching out the time.  I plan on adding a lot more stuff to it, but with only 12 weeks before I graduate, I'm going to have to bust my ass to get it done in time.

No news is good news, right?

Well, not exactly. Right now, no news is just that... no news. I wish I had more to update with, considering how long it's been since I updated last time, but I really haven't done anything. I'm still planning now, but as with most projects in my life, planning is a lot easier than implimenting.

I'm making very slow progress on my tank animation, mainly just cleaning up the tank model itself. After that, I need to skin the whole thing and make it pretty. I'm going to change a good deal of the animation though because at the end of the movie, the tank's going to TRANSFORM. Yeah, it's not a huge surprise considering who I am, but it will look cool (I hope) and it would show off more animation than just the tank rolling around. I'm still trying to figure out how to cut it up, but once I finish skinning, I should be able to slice that thing into pieces. It won't be a very detailed robot mode, but it'll get the job done. And my favorite part - the tank's giant cannon barrel is going to become a massive hammer.

On other school-related news, my graduation date has been pushed up to September 12. Don't ask me how, the school's messing with schedules left and right. My other classes are going good as well, but they both have big projects, making this one of the most packed-in terms I've had in a long time. Thank god I've got a week break coming up, though I'm still trying to decide if I should work it or not. On one hand, I need the money; on the other hand, I need the sleep.

I've also started coming up with an idea for another Transformer photo-comic, this one using actual photos! It's based around all the Legends figures I have. Of course, I don't really have time to do this, so even if I get a good story written up, I'm going to have to shelve it until I'm at least done with school. I hate how my mind wanders.

Change of Plans

Thanks to the extreme generosity of a friend, I should be getting a fantastic upgrade to my modeling/animating library; Lightwave, Vue, and Bodypaint 3D!  Thank you so much, Rich!

Anyway, its got me thinking about my the Prototytan Project vs my demo reel.  If I really want to get into the PP, I'm going to have to use Lightwave, primarily because I'll own a full version of it that I can upgrade and installon any new computers I buy, instead of Max, which is a limited version I got from my teacher at school.  So the PP is going to go on hold until I get the new programs. 

This obviously leaves me in a bind with my demo reel.  No Prototytans severely limits my plans, you know!  But I figured this morning that I'll go with my favorite animation from my previous class.

Obviously, this animation will need some major overhauling - there's editing errors galore and I want to improve on a lot of the efects in it.  I also need a much better render of it, since this one got mangled in Premier Pro.  But it saves me a lot of time in modeling and it's a chance for me to get one of my favorite animations to the highest quality it deserves.

Mapping Complete

With only one more week left in my Character Modeling class, I've finally finished mapping out my guy. I found out what I was doing wrong last time - I was listening ot the teacher! For some reaosn he was telling me to do things way beyond what I needed to do and confused the crap out of me. But I've got it fixed and this guy is looking... well, okay. Hey, I said I only had one more week to go, so I had to put a rush on him.


Anyway, I gotta say I'm not very happy with this guy. I know there's no one to blame but me (except maybe my teacher), but I just don't like him. I wanted to give the character a certain watercolor appearance and I couldn't figure out a good way to do that. Granted I didn't spend a lot of time looking either. I also wanted to render him cel-shaded, but I don't know how to work that either. All in all, I'm pretty disappointed in myself. I'd say I don't care because I'm not hoping to get into character animation, but that's not entirely true since I'll be applying textures like this to anything I model.
Unfortunately, I've got skinning to do next. And I have no idea how to do it. Most of it looks pretty difficult and I've heard it's the most tedious part of the job. I've got the bones mapped out, but I'm stuck trying to link the chains from this guy's belt to his arms. I think by the time I finish this project, I'll have to delete the chains completely. It doesn't help when I ask the teacher how to do it and all he says is "I'm not sure, I'll have to get back to you on that." We'll see how it turns out next week. I'd just better not get docked points for missing details. Well, those missing details, I'm fine with them on the rest of it.

Damnit!

Stupid multi-sub-object material! I don't understand how to use it and my teacher gave me the most useless walkthrough of it. I'm so freaking frustrated with this right now!

I'm off to find me some tutorials that might actually EXPLAIN how to use it.

Distractions

Okay so school's back in session and I'm stuck in the middle of homework. My curresnt class is 3D Character Modeling (or something to that effect) so I'm working in Max to build my own human. It's coming along, though I don't look forward to doing the mapping. I am having trouble keeping interested in it though. I don't think I like character modeling. I'm not having any trouble with the actual work, I just think I'd prefer asset production: vehicles, furniture, weapons, etc. I feel better knowing exactly what area I'd like to work in and character modeling just isn't it.



Unfortunately, my real problem is in the class itself. My school has a habit of cannibalizing its students by hiring them to teach. I don't mind so much if the school hired people on years after they've graduated and had a successful career in the industry, but unfortunately, my teacher in this class only graduated here a year or two ago and has never gotten any real experience in the field, besides a few side project with friends. That's not enough lean on while teaching a class. On top of that, he's using tutorials online, instead of teaching us from his own personal knowlegde. I can find tutorials online without spending $50,000 on tuition. On top of that, we have one assignment in class - build the model. There aren't even any intermediate deadlines; finish the head, finish the hands, etc. My grade depends on one single project, pass or fail. I'm more than halfway through class and the teacher is just now checking to see how we're doing. Too bad I won't get a grade on that progress though. Now, I have no problem with the teacher himself; he seems to know what he's doing and he's nice enough. The class (and maybe the school) just needs an overhaul to be more effective.