04/04/2015

Today i had finished the Beta version of CGI_Tools_v_0.1 and have handed out a text file for students that may be interested to write their names down for me to contact for testing, i had taken a screen shot for the sign up sheet so that students could get an idea about what the script menu looks like:

I had also made a change to 'Tubbs's' hair from critique i received yesterday:

I had also been working on the Rig of Tubbs in regards of re-wiring connections also

02 - 03/04/2015

Over the weekend i have managed to finish this stage of the CGI Tools script and am now reading for Beta testing today. I made a screenshot of the full amount of menus if the custom menu were to be fully expanded in its entirety:

Today i will be selecting a few students to be my Beta testers for this script, after the initial time frame for this test lapses i will be gathering opinions and deliberations from those selected students to help fuel the future versions of this script.

The reasons and purpose behind this script is explained in the UsageREADME.txt i have prepared in the CGI_Tools folder.

28- 30/04/2015

During this week i have been focusing on getting my 'CGI Tools' Script up and running, as of today i have debugged a few particular problems i have been having for a while and with that out of the way i have been populating the subMenus and commands in which to get this Menu operational.

Progress as of this morning is evident in this screen shot:

I am expecting to have this script in the distribution stage at the start of next week, i will be giving the script for testing purposes to a few selected students and will be awaiting for critique and possible improvements which could be made and then to be applied to the script during the weekend/ next week; Will be updating the blog later today with the progress i make today.

- as at 2:30pm today this is a screenshot of what i am doing at the moment:

I am basically sifting through what i have and haven't created connections for and tediously connecting them one by one (the fun part)...


- as at 4:00pm i have made a decent amount of progress in terms of connecting up the commands for the subMenus, i have finished the General, Animation, Rigging, Modelling and Rendering menus and have yet to assimilate for the Simulations menu. As it is still in progress in terms of a complete selection for the menus, i will be focusing hard over the weekend to delve deep into each subject and exactly what would be of use in each corresponding menu; which is exactly why i want critique from other students as to what they would also like to see and use:

17 - 27/04/2015

On the last days of Term 1 i have implemented the changes to tubbs of the critique from Frans and applied it to the geo.

During the 1 week break i had been focusing mainly on the structure of the rig and positioning of "Tubbs's" bones. Consistently methodically thinking about the skinning and animation deformations of him after all the connections have been made.

Towards the end of the week break, after making a quick mock up of the connections that seem to be working well without any hiccups, i went on to creating a facial rig with simple curves to be skinned to the mesh, and as the cv points of the curve have been aligned with the geometry's verts precisely, the deformations of this curve rig will be spot on. The remainder of my time has been taken up with Python scripting, i am in the process of making a Custom Maya menu for my group to help them with the rigging, animation and modelling process to be easier and more efficient to work with.

16/04/2015

Today i made a screen capture of myself vaguely explaining what i had done and what i was thinking during deliberating the process of the cape's movement:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7P39Rgb_FUSNDJKUHZoUmQzb0E&authuser=0

14-15/04/2015

During those two days i was focusing on changes from feedback i had gotten from the lecturers and applying those as a sculpt process in mudbox, had not made screenshots of the process yet.

13/04/2014

 Deliberating problems to do with displacement maps with Raj, managed to decipher a solution to do with the alphaGain of the maps however we discover a problem with the UV's, so i had to remap the UV's and re extract all the textures and sculpt maps from mudbox once again. I have submitted for the group project for submission_01 tomorrow.

Re-ExportedMaps:

11-12/04/2015

Over the weekend i had worked on 'Tubbs's' textures and sculpting maps. I have basically finished him in terms of appearance and preparation for rigging, all that is left to do is the nHair for his eyebrows and possibly remodeling his eye geometry:

09-10/04/2015

Yesterday and today was yet another sad day for my computer because of issues with the graphic driver i was unable to make much progress all day, late last night i was able to model 'Tubbs' hair. Today i had made a little bit of progress but again was impeded by my computer having a temperature tantrum and had to be replaced with Autodesk applications being re-installed. The progress i did make is depicted in this screenshot:

07-08/04/2015

Yesterday (7th) was a poor day for any progress after the weekend due to my computer having multiple issues to do with the graphics card and amount of Ram it needed to properly use autodesk mudbox, in turn i had stayed up till the early hours of this morning (8th) to make up for having made no progress during the day. Today i had composted an animated sequence about my sculpting process and thoughts behind it and why which i intend to show my group where i am at with the modelling of the main character:

Google Drive Link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7P39Rgb_FUSQlMxSUNvTTdYUXM&authuser=0
















Lastnight i had done a quick sculpt just to relax and think about something else then the group project for an hour so i dont go stir crazy:

2 - 06/04/2015

Over the nonsensically long weekend i had made a mass of progress; to start i am happy with the progress i had made with the model, in fact i had basically finished him in terms of rigging aesthetics and realistic articualtion possibility, during friday the 3rd i had made the main shape of 'Tubbs' body and hands,:

Come Saturday i had done a rough rig and skin of his jaw to assimilate the plausibility of his chubby chin,:

During Sunday i had done some final touches to 'Tubbs' facials geo and modeled his underwear, rough teeth and gums, tongue and also uv mapped his entirety. Monday i had done a quick Normal map of his underwear for the fabrics seems, a rough textures for his eyes and done a playblast of a turnaround for him:

 
   I still feel like there is alot more i can do to make him look better in due time of course.

01/04/2015

Today was awful because of the servers being down and having the inability to keep maya from crashing consistently, during the day progress on work was a challenge primarily because of the crap services we pay for as students. Only until the majority of the students had left after 3:30 was i able to work without issues in maya and the server which in turn let me make progress. This afternoon i had worked on smoothing out 'Tubbs' and working on the shape of his hand:

Mudbox sculpt:

Reshaped then imported back into Maya:

31/03/2015

Today i wanted to stay in bed and rest and the advisement of the doctor.... however i didn't want to let the group down, beside from feeling like absolute garbage, i have made progress in terms of the edge flow and topology:

30/03/2015

Today was terrible for me as my sickness has worsened and i have had to take half the day off to go see a doctor.

28 - 29/03/2015

Over the weekend i have developed a viral infection possibly 'Mumps" which has impacted tremendously on my logical thinking and problem solving, this has caused me to take allot longer to achieved what i would have otherwise done in a lesser amount of time. I have however blocked out 'Tubbs' in maya aside from the poor topology:

27/03/2015

Today was a good day for progress of the layout which we actually finished all the blocking of each shots in all scenes, as a group we had made allot of achievements in terms of communication among each other and the directions of work we are headed. I will be starting on modelling 'Tubbs' this weekend for my next job.

26/03/2015

Today i had started with layout animation with Jonathan. Some progress had been made in terms of timing.

25/03/2015

Today (Yesterday) was a slow progression for the fact that we have had major miscommunication in the group which i think we have now resolved and are still working on pushing these pathetic problems aside for the greater good of the team. I had managed to produce a little bit of work despite the annoyance of the days problems ringing in my head consistently; however some work had been done:
Rough sketches and silhouettes for the cat:

24/03/2015

Today was a little uneventful due to the fact of the group having split opinions on what style we are leaning towards. The aesthetics of the story are much more clear now due to Gino's awesome work from lastnight, now we are experimenting with styles of textures and lighting for the proposal of style, in which hopfully we can decide on tomorrow.

 I had done a quick simulation of water interacting with geometry using nParticles converted into polygons for a demonstration to the group:

Just realized that the look frame we are doing will required more work then expected so will be posting progress as it comes daily.

23/03/2015: Start of group project; Saving the Day

Today we have had a few discussions over the continuity of the projects story with good results and still more to clarify. We did however come to conclusions of particular points in the story with a few aspects to sum up, mainly a key moment when the main character initiates himself unto the next key scene which is becoming disarrayed with multiple options we are able to do. Deciding on that key moment will be the groups focus today. Yesterday i had done a few thumbnail silhouettes for different kinds of trees, and also a rough sketch of an upshot for a tree.