Assignment #8 - Animation in Maya

Ciao, ragazzi!

This is the last post for my 3D class! :(

Actually, when I think about it, this is the last post for ANY class at UT! I graduated this past Saturday so everything from here on out will all be done for my own purposes. I'm kinda excited about that, though. I feel like I'll be a little bit better about actually DOING some of this stuff, when I don't necessarily have to. Or....that could be a big lie and you'l never hear from me again.... :)

ANYWAY, here's my clip for some 3D animation I did in Maya. I would like to not that I neither modeled or rigged this character. I just found it online. BUT, I did animate it! I think I was a little impatient with the movement. It's all move here, then here, then here....oh well, this was my first time animating an object in Maya (or 3D, in general). I'm honestly just surprised I could do as much as I could.

Enjoy:

3D Robot Animation from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Also, it's moving a little faster than I thought it would from the preview in Maya. Definitely something to think about next time, should I decide to export the movie in After Effects using the same settings.....

Assignment #7 - Particles!

Ciao ragazzi!

Oggi, facciamo colazione! (Today, we're making breakfast!)

At least, what I consider making breakfast. And that only consists of pouring cereal. :)

For my particle assignment, I decided to re-create pouring cereal into a bowl. I made the whole setting (bowl, glass, spoon, cereal box, and table) and used a particle ball emitter to create the "cereal". This was WAY fun and not terribly hard to do. I definitely think the Fruity Pebbles cereal box really is a nice touch! (As was the stray piece of cereal...that was TOTALLY on purpose...ahem...)

Enjoy:

Fruity Pebbles Particles from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #6 - Lights

Ciao ragazzi!

For this assignment, we were to light a textured object and render at least 3 images. I definitely wanted to play around creatively with light so I decided to replicate a stained glass window. Here's my reference image that I found on the internet:



Basically, I created a separate planar surface for each stained glass panel using the curves tool. Once I did that, I converted the panels to polygons and extruded the faces to make thick slabs. Then using a combination of different glass tutorials that I found online and on youtube, I made a glass texture for the panels using a variation on the blinn material. Once those settings were turned into a preset, I just continued to apply new blinn materials (with the glass preset and a color stained glass texture from the internet) to each panel with a varying color. Confused? Yeah, it's kinda hard to explain. Just look at the pictures:





What I really wanted to happen was have the light pass through the glass and create a colored shadow onto a surface behind it. But I honestly could not figure out what to do. The glass distort what's behind it, but for some reason the lights wont pass through.

So instead, I used the lights to add a reflection onto another surface; the outliners. Here are some example renders:




Kinda cool. I need to figure out something else to do with this. It took far too much work creating all those panels for it to yeild such "bleh" results....oh well!

Assignment #5 - Texture Materials and Surfacing

Ciao ragazzi!

Per questo esercizio, we had to create materials and texture a model of our choice. A few assignments back, I created a pretty decent lamp using a curves shape and the revolve function, so I decided to go all out and make it really look like a lamp!

Here are some rendered pics after the texture:







I really like how it turned out! Though, it wasn't exactly simple getting here. My original revolve was all one solid object so the first thing I had to do was separate all the pieces and hollow out the lamp shade. I also created the light bulb and socket to go in the middle. The lamp shade was easy. I just found a cloth texture online and made sure the transparency was increased slightly. The light bulb is actually just assigned a white lambert material. I just made sure to really amp up the incandescence and luminosity of the material so it looks like it's giving off a glow (we haven't started working with lights yet) and you can see it through the lamp shade. The base was actually the hardest part. Using lots of duplicates and the boolean difference function, I finally separated all the parts so that they could be textured differently. Both the textures I found online.

Hope you like it!

Assignment #4- Model (3D)

Ciao ragazzi!

So here's some renders from the final 3D model for the Beauty and the Beast (BatB) Castle! There are lots of pictures for this post, but that's because I wanted to try and give you as much of a 360 view as possible. This model took me quite a bit of time to complete, but really that was mostly because I tried to start it without proper reference. Once I photoshopped all those separate shapes, the whole thing got a LOT easier and also a lot more fun!

Also, this is still a pretty basic model. I had left out all the details save a few, so I definitely have some work ahead if I want to finish it. But to be honest? I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I took a few liberties with the design so it's not EXACTLY like the references. Hope you enjoy:

Assignment #4 - Model (References)

Ciao, ragazzi!

Devo practicare piu italiano perché é una possibilita che io debba usarla nel futuro!

For this assignment, we were to create a model in Maya using reference material. I kinda decided to go all out on this so I chose to base my model off of the castle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Here are some screen captures of the castle from the film:






During my search for reference material, I actually stumbled upon some great semi-orthoganal views of the castle. One in particular stood out (I think it's from a coloring book):



Great stuff! With this view of the castle, it made it very easy to start modeling from it in Maya. The only problem? The castle was a little too complicated. All the shapes that make up the building are fairly simple, but from this frontal viewpoint, all of them appear to be stacked on top of each other. This made it very hard to clearly visualize what each of the pieces looked like, let alone where they are placed in the 3D space.

I struggled with this for a little while and realized I needed more broken down references, starting with the simples parts and building the castle from there. So I did a little photoshop engineering. :) First, I used the warp transformation tool to even out the sides. Then, I removed the majority of the detail and flair on the castle (statues, windows, etc.) and started to mask out the different sections (using the clone stamp tool to make any extensions where necessary). Here are some examples of the pieces and then the finished edited reference:







Pretty cool, huh? Well, I thought so at least. :) It helped SO much with getting started modeling. Only having to worry about the basic shapes one at a time has really got me going along. Check out the next post for my final model!

My Stuff: Sketch and Paint!

Ciao ragazzi!

Here's a little freebie thing I've been working on. By "freebie", I mean I won't get credit in a class for it--did it just for fun! And by "working on", I mean it took hardly any time at all.

So a WHILE ago, I did a doodle for my sister because she said she wanted to be a princess. Mind you, this is WELL before Princess and the Frog had even been announced--so any similarities are HIGHLY coincidental....(...and by "coincidental", I mean "Disney probably snuck into my room, stole my sketchbook, made copies and then quickly returned it all while I was sleeping in the middle of the night"....) I'll let it slide, THIS time.

Here's the sketch and the painted final:




Honestly, I LOVE the way it turned out. It was one of the first times I'd ever painted with Photoshop, let alone the first time I've even ever scanned any of my work. I think I should start working on some others. I have quite a few. :)

Assignment #3 - Planar Shapes, Revolve, Extrude and Loft

Ciao Ragazzi!

Come state?

This assignment had multiple parts. So bear with me. :)

1) First, we had to create a 2D planar shape from a logo of our choice. I chose the logo from my dad's non-profit organization, the Titan's Academic and Athletic Program. Here's a link to the site. I used curves to make the shape plane and here's what I have:




The first is the actual logo. The second is my planar copy from Maya.

2) Next, we revolved a curve. I chose to create a lamp from this reference. I wanted an object with a lot of divots and details so the model looked slightly impressive even though it was extremely easy to create. Here's what I got:




3) We then had to extrude a 2D shape along a path. My extrusion created a slide. I cheated a little and didn't closed my shape, but the process was the same and I like the way it turned out. I added the little stepladder on the side and made a playground slide. I might start adding more to this, texture/light it and make a whole playground playscape. What do you think?





4) Lastly, we had to create some sort of loft shape. I was having a little bit of a hard time thinking up an object I wanted to create with a loft, so I decided to go abstract. The base shape is a flower I drew with the pencil tool in Maya, and here's what I got:

Assignment #2 - Perspective Drawing and Painting

Hey guys!

Here's my perspective drawing and painting....FINALLY!! I'm so sorry for the delay. I wanted this to be REALLY good and I think I just wasn't satisfied at the beginning and got stuck. Then, of course, I started running away from it until it became this big, dark, disgusting thing that I never wanted to go near.

BUT! I sucked it up and finished it. ....kinda. Here ya go:




I love the drawing part. I got to get really analytical with the perspective, which I enjoy. But I'm not really satisfied with the paint. I just don't know enough about color theory yet to really pull this together. I was kinda just winging it. Still...it's the best I could do. :)

Assignment #1 - Skysphere

Hey guys,

For this assignment, we were supposed to create a skysphere in Maya. A skysphere is a 3D sphere with a sky or environment texture mapped over it. As I was google-ing panoramic images I stumbled across an interesting one of the Cloud Gate sculpture from the AT&T Plaza in Chicago. Here's the LINK to the wikipedia page and the panorama I found:



I like the overall color tone of the panorama and I thought the reflection on the sculpture was pretty cool. I mapped the texture on a simple 3D sphere in Maya. This allowed me to pan around the inside of the object and simulate a 3D environment. Pretty COOL! Here are some rendered stills from the project:








Unfortunately, with all the people in the photo, you can't do too much animation with it. But I thought it was cool nonetheless. Definitely helped me get more familiar with the user interface of Maya!

Till next time!

Introduction....Again....

Ciao, ragazzi!

Come stai? Bene? Good. :)

I just wanted to re-introduce myself to any new readers. I created this blog for Ben Bay's Visual Effects class but I've also added some of my other work and animation in here. Please, feel free to check it out (I encourage it, really!) and look out for some more entries. We have a lot of 3D examples coming as well as some 2D drawings and sketches I've been meaning to scan in. Exciting! I can't wait to show you all! :)

Alex

Here's some past posts of interest:

My first introduction with some insights into my artistic inspirations!

My very first animation I ever created!

An example of some work in Photoshop!

Some title effects I did in AfterEffects!

Final Project!: Sunday Sunday Opening

Ciao, ragazzi!

Finally done! Here's my final project, the opening for Adam Rucker's YouTube Show "Sundae Sunday"! There's no audio yet, I'll probably have it up tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Sundae Sunday Opening (No Audio) from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Pre-Final Project #1: Sunday Sundae Title Scene

Ciao, Ragazzi!

Can I just say that these final weeks of school are KILLING me! I'm sorry, did that sound too overdramatic...?

Seriously, though it's gonna be tough to get all these projects done. BUT I WILL!

For my final project in this class, I decided to do a little favor for a friend of mine (actually, I begged and pleaded with him to let me). His name is Adam Rucker. Heard of him? Well, you should because he's a bonafide YouTube sensation! I'm being serious. People actually recognize him on the street. (I wish I could say it didn't go to his head buuuuut...........that would be a lie.) :)

Anyway, I want to create a title sequence for his weekly youtube show/vlog, Sunday Sundae. To help you understand what the show actually is, here's an example episode below.
(This one features me, so it was the obvious choice to post...)



Awesome, right? No, I actually meant me, but the show was pretty good too.

My inspiration for the title sequence is actually the Arrested Developement Opening. Here it is.



Basically, it'll only be around 10 or 15 seconds and include pictures of him (probably eating a Sundae....see what I did there?) and a couple of short sound bites from his past episodes.

I think it's gonna be fantastic!

Assignment # 10 - CafePalm Title Dust

Ciao, ragazzi!

For my particle assignment, I created a little title shot for CafePalm (me!). It's actually modeled after a videocopilot.net tutorial (which if you haven't been to that site, you NEED to) but I made a couple of tweaks here and there to get what I wanted.

I used Trapcode's Particular to generate the particles for this assignment and created sand-like dust to help bring the title in and out. Poof! There it is. Whoosh! There it goes!

I'm pleased on how it turned out and really excited that I got to work with particles and some expressions. Enjoy!

Particle Sand from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment # 9 - Basketball Highlights

Ciao ragazzi!

For my motion tracking assignment, I also wanted to create some examples for the sports (in this case, basketball) highlight and recruitment reels I'm working on with my dad and his M5 Digital Studios. He asked me if I could come up with some examples on bringing the focus of the recruiter's attention to the highlighted player so they don't get lost or confused while looking at the shots.

I created three different examples, however they're all using the same highlight clip. To make them, I just motion tracked the main player. The automatic tracker got a alittle confused when the other players started jumping in the way, but I simply re-adjusted the track and kept going.

Which one do you guys like best? Personally, I think the arrow one looks kinda silly, but I think the other two are fairly effective.

Arrow Example from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Text Float Example from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Mask Shadow Example from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #8 - Just DO!

Ciao, ragazzi!

Not to be confused with Nike's "Just do it.", this text assignment is more or less just a memo to my brain. "Time to work...don't think....just DO!"

The text and shape animation was all done in After Effects. (It does need some music, though) Enjoy!

Just Do. from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Other Stuff....FROGS!

Ciao!

Just a quick post.

This was an animal walk (or jump) cycle I did for my animation class. Everything was done in Flash.

It turned out great so I thought I'd post it! (Although Vimeo isn't being very nice to the smoothness of the video....)

Frog Jump Cycle from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #7 - Kites

Ciao, ragazzi!

Mi dispiace! It's been a while! Many various school projects/my frustrating perfectionism aren't exactly the two most creatively compatible things in the world. Obviously my creative blocks have been listening to a little Keri Hilson because they "just get back up, when I knock them down"....rude.

Anyway, here's my follow up example of 3D space in AfterEffects. I had something a little more extravagant planned but I just couldn't get it right. It was getting to the point where I was just thinking in circles and not actually producing anything. But, fortunately, I think this as helped unblock the creative flow. It better! I'm running out of semester time!

The scene is pretty simple. In contrast to my nighttime posts, this one takes place in the day but still up in the sky. I drew everything in Photoshop first (I love the way the clouds turned out) then brought the cropped layers into AfterEffects and positioned them in 3D space. The kite text is just a recorded sketch. I wanted to simulate reality with the sky, so as the camera flies out, the clouds furthest in the distance fade out.

It needs to be longer, but I think it works! The music really made the difference. Enjoy!

Kites from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #6: Nighttime 2

Ciao, ragazzi!

Here's my intro to 3D assignment. I used the layers I created for the first Nighttime video, put them all in the 3D format in After Effects, then added both a camera and light movement.

Again, I'm not that impressed. I think it is just my photoshop drawings. They aren't too exciting. I was surprised how hard it was to move the camera around. I never did get it quite right. Oh well. This was just a test shot. I have something MUCH bigger and better for the final 3D project.

You'll just have to wait and see... :)

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Nighttime #2 from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #5: A Crowded Mirror

Ciao, ragazzi!

Here's my mask and shape assignment. I'm sorry it took so long, but I was having a major creative block. For the life of me, I could NOT come up with an interesting way to use the mask tool. Then I did, but didn't film it right so I had to scrap it, and now I have this.

Ever had to share a bathroom with a sibling or two? Yeah, you know what the crowded mirror is...

I actually used a green screen to film myself (the one in the red), used the keylight matte effect to key out the green, and then placed it on top of the one I filmed of the blue me. The color tone didn't match up at all for some reason, though. The one in red was VERY warm and the one in the blue was kinda cool. So, I used an adjustment layer (only over the blue "me") to color correct and make them look like they are somewhat in the same place.

Enjoy.

A Crowded Mirror from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Assignment #4: Nighttime

Ciao, ragazzi!

Sorry, guys. This one's a little bootleg...and by that, I mean I'm not very impressed with it. The scene is set in the hills under a star-filled night sky. I wanted to animated a glowing meteor flying through the sky but it just wasn't working. I tried to have the glitter follow the meteor like Ben's fish example, but I'm not really sure I fully understood how he did it.

Oh well! This gives me something to build on for the next project.

As far as the assignment requirements:
I used the ease in and outs for the movement out from the sky. I also used the parenting tool for the squash and stretch entrance for the hills and the clouds. That allowed me to bring them in using the same style but still be able to animate the cloud movements later.

(And even though you can't tell from the video I did use nested compositions. I love pre-composing! All that clutter really annoys me....)

Nighttime from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Animated Short: Crossing Guard

Ciao, ragazzi!

Happy Monday! I wanted to share another past creation. My final project for my first animation class. The assignment was to create an animated short in either Flash, After Effects or a combination of the two. I chose to do the entire thing using Flash CS3 because After Effects scared me at the time. (Not so much anymore. Don't worry, Ben!) :)

The story is fairly simple, primarily because there wasn't much planning behind it. I kinda just started with the idea of an over-eager student crossing guard and went with it. Things I learned: make a storyboard first, don't wait till the last minute, and USE A TABLET! Throughout my first animation class, I hadn't bought a tablet yet and this was almost all done with a mouse (I later went back and re-animated his facial expressions with a tablet). Like Ben always says, "drawing with a mouse is like drawing with a rock!"

Anyway, enough explanation. Enjoy my first finished project!

Crossing Guard from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

My First Animation: Paintbrush Loop

Ciao, ragazzi!

This will be just a short post. I just wanted to share my very first animation piece. It's the first project for my animation class with Geoff Marslett at the University of Texas at Austin and the assignment was to create a self-contained loop. Basically the animation needed to have an action that caused itself to be repeated over and over again.

For my first go-around on flash, I thought it went incredibly well. I fell in love with how easy it was to animate simple designs. It was something I had tried before with a pencil and a flip book, but Flash helped me take it to the next level. There's just about everything in there: motion tweens, shape tweens, and, of course, frame-by-frame. Enjoy.

Paintbrush Loop from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Project #3: No Swine Flu!

Ciao, ragazzi!

Here's my public service announcement for the week. WASH YOUR HANDS! Now, I don't normally do the whole public restrooms thing, but I was in one earlier this week and saw not one, not two, but THREE guys just walk out without washing their hands. GROSS! (And not to mention, DANGEROUS!)

Ok....this might be a little bit of melodrama, but seriously folks, lets do our best to make sure everyone stays healthy and germ free.

NO SWINE FLU! from Alex McCrea on Vimeo.

Project #2: Northern Lights

Ciao, ragazzi! Come state? ("How are ya'll?")

For my Photoshop project I wanted to do two things:

1) Transform something. Not just "cut and paste" but completely make over an image into something new.

2) Work with water in some shape or form.

The following are the before and after pictures:

Before

After

Basically, I transformed this image of an arctic wasteland into large glacier formations floating in a sea under an Aurora Borealis. For my first attempt at Photoshop, I have to say I'm really pleased.

The trickiest part was creating the surface part of the water. I had to mask out the ice formations into a different layer and then rendered a couple of fiber effects on top of a solid blue rectangle shape. I used the "Perspective" transform tool to make the ripples in the water look like they were coming from the horizon. As for the reflections, I masked out each of the large glacier formations, used a horizontal flip, placed them underneath the water effect and lowered their opacity.

The sky is just the MacOS Snow Leopard background with a rendered cloud effect placed over it with an "Overlay" blender.

The last thing to do was a color correction for the glaciers so they were no longer the stark blue. I added a little purple in the mid-tones and shadows to add a little warmth and make it look like the Northern Lights were reflecting upon them.

And there you go. I hope you like it!

Alex