Blend Shapes Finished

YAY finally my blend shape are working, thanks to Sean Mundy.

2d or not 2d that is the question??

So far my 3d animating skills are super poor real hard, which would of been alright, if i had the time to learn it, but with only 2 more weeks too the deadline, i am seriously thinking of changing my animation into a 2d animation, since i have more experience in it. So my rigs are not working too well, and my character facial expression are really bad, and it takes me a whole day just to do one shot, that looks really bad, because of the way it deforms. Then if i ever get my animating done on maya, i sill have to fix my models, and then render them out, which will take a while. I dont think i can make it in time, and i still have to add sound.

If i chose to do it in 2d, i would lose all the time and effect of creating the models and textures, and detail, but i will be about to have a finished animation with decent results, i even did most of the rough animation in flash and i would be a lot less stress, and the reason why i chose to do it in 3d was for the learning experience, and i did learn to use zbrush to sculpt my characters which was an enjoyable experience, but also learn t that my models dont deform well, with the rigs we made for them, and now we dont have time to fix it. 

so yeah i really dont know what to do, it might even take  just as long to do it in 2d, but at least i know what im doing and would be a lot less stressed.

Running Comp

Shot01 Matte Painting

Here is my matte painting for shot 1, so far, im happy with it, but im but sure if it makes senses, because of the perspective.

Test

here is test of the setting, for the final scene.

Rock Island, bamboo and leaf done!!

for my last scene I've decided to change the setting, from a deserted island to a rocky floating island, because, for me i thought it would be easier to model the rocky island and i didnt want to animate water. Below is the rocky island modeled and textured.

Below is my bamboo textured, so far i quite happy with it, i just need to figure out on how to do the branches and leaves in zbrush.(or i might just do it in maya)

Here is a leaf, which i can use for various plants, so far im quite happy with it, but for some reason the pixels looks really bad, but i assume it would look better on smaller scale.

I know this doesnt look much for my 2 week holidays, but i had some computer and internet problems, also im still a beginner at zbrush and was still learning that, and i was also  setting up my running comp, which took alot longer for some reason.

2d backgrounds

Here are a few backgrounds i did for my animation.

 Below is one of my matte painting that will be used on a majority of my animation. So far i am quite happy with the final result, the only promblems i have with it are the green hill, it doesnt looks like it fits in with the mountains.

Below are my sky background for the shots that require the sky, so far im quite happy with it, except for the leaf, it just looks too rough

Shot 7 Background Test

Here is my background test for shot 7. So far i am quite happy with the results with the ways it looks, but i still need to fix the bamboo, plants and the ground.

Protagonist model, and textures FINISHED!!!

So far im quite happy with the result, but there are a few problems, the nose looks really strange, and hand looks a bit weird, and i cant fix it also, because i must move on to more important things.

Sculpting Hair

sorry I've only got one picture, Ive forgotten to print screen my progress, anyways here is my first attempt at sculpting hair, ever.

Monster Almost Done!

The monster is 95% done, the rig still need some work, and im not completely happy with the textures but i must move on, if i have time, i will re do the textures, and i still need to add teeth.

As you can see there are some dark gray polygon spheres in the monster, theses are influences, whichs helps contrl the flow of the topology.

there will also be a black outline to go with the render.

Monster Texture Prototype

Here are the textures for my monster, so far it doesn't feel like it would belong in a comic book, but the pencil strokes had improved a bit from my protagonist.I still have to texture the teeth.

Monster sculpt

Here is the monster sculpt on zbrush, so far i am very happy with it, but i still need to learn on how to sculpt the teeth.

Protagonist Textures Prototype

Here is a experiment on the textures, so far i can only do the body,vest and pants, the rest wasn't ready. As you can see the sketchy lines done look too effective and i think i need to learn on how to make it more like a hand drawn artwork, also the coloring looks too neat,  i was going for a paint brush look, but failed at achieving that.

Milestones #1

Here are my Milestones to be completed by week 5.
 1. All characters should be modeled, textured and rigged.
2. All background elements should be modeled.(trees,plants,ground, leaves)
3. Running Comp up and running.

Zbrush 4r4 Makes Retopoligising Fun

zbrush 4r4 has just recently been released and added a new feature called QRemeshing, which auto retopligises your model, AMAZING!!!, now i dont have to spend hours and hours retopligies no more, now it happens withing minutes!! woohoo!!! So far ive only have just tested it and from the test, it worked extremely well.

 (I would show some screen shots here but i forgot to screen shot them)

Protagonist Head Sculpt Practice

Here i am trying to practice sculpting my protagonist's head, as you can see i still need a lot more practice, especially the lips,eyes and ears area.

Protagonist Model Almost Done!

Here is the protagonist's low Mesh model, so far i am happy with it, except for the pants and shoes, i will be remaking those.

Retopoligising The Torso

So far the torso has been the most challenging to retopligise yet satisfying, when i finished it, but as you can see i have rushed the parts that the vest will cover, also this took me TWO HOURS!!! ITS SO TEDIOUS!!!! GRRR i HATE Retopligising.

ok now i just need to re sculpt the gloves, neck, and head, and retopligise them.

Some Background Elements

My bamboo tree.

A leaf!

Retopoligising Vest and Pants

GRRRR!! i still hate retpolgising. but at least im getting better at it, bellow is the low polygon version of the vest, so far it turned out good, no problems so far, also I still have to do a high polygon version and i hope i don't have to retoplgize that too, i hate being a beginner at Zbrush, i wished i knew the work flow of zbrush.

Bellow are the low polygon verson of the pants, and im not happy with it, i think i need to redo the shoes and the top part of the pants.

I HATE RETYPOLOGIZING

OK ive tried retypologizing, and i hate it real hard, i dont get how to do it, but then again i just need more time to learn it. anyways here is what i tried and failed at, for some reason i the retypologizing version looks way different from my sculpt.

Zbrush Sculpt

Here is a zbrush sculpt i did of my protagonist. So far this sculpt took me a while to complete around a week or 2, because i had to watch and learn from tutorials and practice using zbrush and Dynamesh, unfortunately this sculpt polygon count is too high and i will need to retypogise it.

Model Sheets (final)