Have you ever noticed that when you have an idea of something to create it sometimes takes a couple of iterations to get it really right? If you look at the process all the artists go through to make an animated film you can really see this. You might see a really rough sketch of a character on a napkin and then several different versions of it in pencil or charcoal or paint or Photoshop. Then you start to see the 3d iterations. Whatever it takes to get the idea from you head out to where others can see your vision, that is what a workflow is to me.
After working on the leaf for the WormGuy scene, I think I might have figured out a way of working to get my ideas out of my head and in a form that I can animate or pose or 
whatever. What I learned from doing that leaf was that even after sketching a leaf, once I had made it in ZBrush, I was better able to see what I was going to need to do to make it in Maya. Now, as I’m still perfecting my skills in both, it may still take some time to really get what I want. However, it is sure worth trying out more often.
As to pipelines, these are usually the whole process and programs that a studio uses to create a finished product. It usually includes the modeling program or programs, programs used for texturing, rigging, animating, lighting, rendering and compositing.
I’m still working on what my production pipeline will look like. Right now it’s pretty short. 3DS Max or Maya and that’s it. Whichever program I’m using, I tend to use for everything at the moment. Though I’m looking to add something for texturing. And if I stay with Maya, I may try out Renderman for rendering. If I go back to 3DS Max, I’m not sure what I’ll look at. For ZBrush, I could use KeyShot since I have a version of it as well as the bridge software to go to KeyShot from ZBrush. I haven’t really figured that out yet though.
So that’s a bit about workflows and pipelines. Now back to projects.
After watching “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” I was inspired to work on the FunkyBird. I’ve made a lot of progress on the wing/arm thing. It’s got finger type things. I’ve got them a little farther than just roughed in. They are almost ready. I think. Though I want to add a bit more detail to them. I’ve used some renders of it as I was working on it all through this post. As you can see, it’s pretty close to being ready.
So, once I’ve finished up the wing I think it will be time to start on the face. I’ll need a beak or maybe more like a bill for the mouth. I’ll have to go back to my sketch to see which it will be. Also, I’ll be ready to start on the eye. Yes, just one eye. The FunkyBird is a bit cyclops like. That’s how things stand with the FunkyBird. I’m motivated to finish up the wing, and a little unsure how to approach the face at the moment, but I’ll get there. I could
let it stew in my brain while I work on the WormGuy scene.
Yep, I think I want to get the WormGuy scene a little farther along. In addition to the card I want to use the WormGuy for I also want to use him on my business card. I think I’ve come up with a basic design to start with. Now I need to get the art work ready.
And the last bit of update news for this week, I’m reviving my techie blog site. If you’ve not encountered it, I mostly cover technical type stuff, like software I’m working with and maybe websites I’m building. I also discuss some of the video games I play and bits about them. If you want to check it out you can find it at: suguayproductions.com/sgp. Just a little heads up. That started as my experimental site and I still use it to try things out sometimes so you never know what you might find there.
And that about covers things for this week. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to go finish watching the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood marathon on Twitch. They are showing 886 episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Check it out. www.twitch.tv/misterrogers it supports your local PBS station.