Another week nearly complete. Any other week and I would be lamenting the speed with which it passed. This week is a little different as I will be on vacation from my day job next week and I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to work on other things. At the moment my plans for the time include some seasonal maintenance on my home, and breakfast or brunch with a friend, and of course lots of time at the computer working on the TKD Guy project and anything else that strikes me.
I did make progress on the TKD Guy project this week. I completed the modeling work on the folding chair for the lobby. It was quite involved and so will take a couple more posts to tell you all about it. I still want it setup so that I can animate it being opened and closed easily. I started testing out how to create that rig and while I made some progress with figuring out what I need to do, I also discovered that I need to compensate for some annoying behavior. So I’m going back to the tutorials to find the one that tells about what to do for it.
With the modeling on the chair finished I decided I wanted a little break from the project and spent some time working on the dolphin sculpt in ZBrush. I think I have fixed the problem I was having with the width of the body. In the process I figured out that I had the eye in the wrong spot. I thought I had used symmetry when creating that eye and when I was looking to correct it I discovered, I didn’t. Guess it’s good I decided to fix it. This time I used symmetry and have an eye on each side. I’m still working on getting the head shape just right, along with the nose. So still some work to do but here it is now.
I worked a bit on the sleigh project as well. I want to add some thickness to the runners so I started on that. I made good progress and then decided to add a section that will be like a metal foot on the bottom of the runner. I got a good way to completing that and ran out of day. Running out of day is a constant problem for me. I don’t have any pictures of the changes to the sleigh. I forgot to take them before I shut down.
I’ve got a few items bouncing around in my head that will need to be let out soon. A couple will make it to the sketchbook and one will probably be a side creation in 3DS Max or ZBrush. I did manage to get a couple of other things out of my head and into a sketchbook this week.
I saw a trailer for an animation that will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It will be screening out of competition. It looks fabulous. It’s a combination of stop motion animation and CG animation. It’s called ‘Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)’ from Mark Osborne. It’s due to be released in July in France but there is no U.S. release date yet. That has me a little disappointed. I would really like to see it.
I’m also looking forward to Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’. It is also premiering at Cannes, screening out of competition. It’s due for U.S. Release in June. I can’t wait.
I’m still working on the rigging tutorials but have decided to work along so I have a better feel and understanding of it. Just watching the tutorials is fine but I find that actually doing what they are showing as they show it, or just after, is more effective for me, for learning. And the rigging tutorials are a big part of what I will be working on next week.
And there we have it.