Term 3 Week 4 Update

War in Wunderland

Since the beginning of term animation has been the order of the day. I have successfully finished 2 complete scenes with a third to be finished with my assigned character Bigbot - the giant mechanical menace from War in Wunderland.

Prior to animating in each scene i had to set up a camera that mimiced the one in the blockout and position the character. I operated the scene with only Bigbot present so i have had no focus for any of his reactions or movements other than that shown in the blockouts. The rig is similar to the previous monkey and robot models so i had no problem adapting to using Bigbot. When i was given him to animate he did not have any expressions so i couldn't add any facial movement to exaggerate feeling. I later got a rig upgrade which allowed me to move the mouth but the eyes are still motionless.

The first scene see's Bigbot emerge from a crater and walk aggressively towards the hero, Red.

This is the scene i had the most problems with. This is really because i was getting used to the character, how he moves in comparison to the other robots. I had the same mentality animating Bogbot as the monkeys i had previously animated and the robot . Obviously, as he is roughly 10 times the size of the other characters he wouldn't move in the same way. It took several tries to get the right weight for his walk and movements. I eventually got there but that is why it has taken 2 weeks to finish this one file because (amongst the other work) i have had to keep working into this cycle. I am pleased with the result though as is Adam and both this shot and shot 2 are green lit for the film.

Timing was another initial problem as i thought the file had to be the same length as the blockout. The result was far too fast for a large object like Bigbot. I later found out that i had control over the scene length (to a degree) and that i didn't have to stick to the same blockout time - just the keyframes. This made things flow much faster in other cycles and scenes.

The second scene see's Bigbot reach in to grab Red, but as he does he is shot and he is forced to step back.

This scene proved to be far easier iin terms of setup and completion. With a few minor tweaks i finished this scene relatively quickly. I also animated an extra second or two to add a roar at the end of the sequence with was not originally favoured by the team but now there has been a rethink and the roar is in! My mentality was that corned animals will lash out in self defense so why would a 10 story robot with a missile lodged in his hand be any different?

The third scene see's Bigbot retreating from the monkey army (backwards) to what he hopes will be safety. I managed to complete the first pass near perfectly for this cycle. This week i need to tweak some of the leg shots (as Bigbot looks like he has rickets/a full diaper) near the end to seal the sequence and move onto the next.

My forth sequence will be Bigbot making his way towards the sea to escape. This cycle will follow sequence 3 and i will recieve the file later in the week.

The playblasts are huge so i am going to render them out at a smaller scale to add to this site. Blasts of the shots and pictures to be taken and added by the end of the week.

The Poet

I have just recieved the most recent After Effects package so i can start Dave's work now. He has also asked me to design some small, cute birds to be animated over the top of his film (in 2D). These will be finished by the end of the week.