Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Final Part

It has been a long time since I have added anything to this blog but I thought it would be a good idea to add the completed version of the animation for viewing. Hope you enjoy. :)

Spectre - Final Version

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 10

This is the last blog entry before the animation is put together and it has been done late because I forgot to add a few things before hand in. First of all, the music included is made up of various pieces of different tracks done by an artist called Masami Ueda and edited with audacity so they do not sound similar. In order to do this I have sped up the tracks, altered the pitch and tempo and added filters where necessary. The end result will be necessary to add atmosphere to the piece and build the tension included with the story.

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 9

The animation design has been completed and the rendering has been finished. The audio and sound effects have also been completed. All that's left to do is put it all together. In order to do this I will be using windows movie maker as I am experienced in using this program. Putting the sound effects, speech and music in will have to be done in three stages as this program only allows on audio overlay at a time. This does slow the progress down but it not to a great extent. Below is the animation without the audio added.

Spectre - Without Audio

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 8

The animation is coming together well. Rendering is taking a little longer than I would have thought but it can't be helped. I seem to have over come all the problems that have hindered my progress except for one; after assigning a walk cycle to either of the bipeds, I am still unable to input keyframes after the last footstep and I have been unable to find any help on the subject. In order to get around this problem, I have been forced to render the walk cycle and then animate the movement of the arms and head as a separate animation clip. This is time consuming but it cannot be helped. Either way the transition between clips should be seemless. Below, is one of the scenes that have been rendered.

Introduction

Scene 2

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 7

Encountered a problem with the character modelling; the materials that are assigned to the different selections (e.g. eyes, hair...etc) wont stay assigned to the objects they are placed. This only occurs when the objects are linked/connected to the biped head. So far this has only occured to one of the character models.

As of yet, I haven't been able to find a way to solve this problem and will have to leave the selections as they are. The only thing I can do to cover this is manipulate the story so that the eyes of one of the characters is hidden from view. This shouldn't be too difficult seeing as most of the animation takes place in the dark.

I have currently begun rendering the first scene, which takes place from a distance anyway so the abnormalities in colour wont be noticable. The only other problem faced during the production of this is the slow rendering time of the animation, which could become a problem if any other problems occur.

Below is an image from the opening scene, which is in near complete darkness but can still be viewed due to the flash light animations;

Front Drive of Mansion at Night

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 6

Designing my characters has hit a few problems today. First problem involved animating the facial expressions. Whenever I move the skull of the biped model I'm using, the eyes and lips are left where they were set. I have tried to overcome this but it is looking unlikely that my characters will be able to perform facial expressions. For the time being I have focused on getting the character to walk and run and put the face together using the 'connect' tool, which is why the face doesn't move. I will keep working on it but if it cannot be sorted, facial expressions will have to be left out. Below is a short clip of my character running;

Character 1 - Running

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 5

The first character is almost complete; all that's left to do is model the shoes/feet and it will be done. I have also managed to overcome the problem with creating the eyes. I have found out how to group objects together in order to create a single model. This is essential for the eyes as I will need the model to move as one. I have also modelled the characters hair converting a sphere to an editable polly and editing the vertices. This has taken a couple of attempts but I have finished this stage of the character. Below are images of the character;

Character 1 - Stage 2



Character 1 - Stage 2, Face and Teeth

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 4

The setting for my first few scenes has made it to a stage where I can start the animation but the character design and development has had a few setbacks. I started designing the first character under the impression that I could do it as a separate file and then import it as a mesh into the scene but this has proved very problematic. Whenever I have tried to import the character model into the scene, there have been pieces missing and I have since come to the conclusion that I will be unable to import the completed character into the scene. Thereforwe, I have imported the mesh and then grafted the imported parts onto a new biped skeleton in scene file. This seems to be going well so far but grafting the model parts on to the hands has proved time consuming. Once this is complete, I will copy the basic model and adjust the clothing and hair styles to suit the different characters. I should be able to start animating the scene by next week. Below is an image of the initial character design;

Character Model: Stage 1



Character Model: Stage 1 (Hand)

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 3

Work on the animation stage of the production is going well but have come up against a few setbacks the system I have been using the design the scene. The system I have been using lacks the graphics card necessary to handle the size of the manor model. In order to counter this I will be doing the project scene by scene, which means designing what is necessary for each scene, rendering it and then saving it as a separate file. For example, below is the main hall of the mmanor model;

Manor - Main Hall



This scene is almost ready for the opening scene to begin; all that is required is the characters, which need to be created. I aim to complete this by the end of this week before moving onto the next scene. In order the make the work easier, I will be saving the character models as 3DS max mesh files. The reason for this is so that I can import the models to the scene, when and where I need them. I will also be doing this for other models required for the scene, such as furniture, fixtures and lights. This will be finished by Monday of next week at the earliest.

The script is halfway finished, it just needs a build up to the end, which will completed in progress. On top of this I will also have to look into music for the piece and voice actors for the characters but this wont happen until after the script is complete. Until then the research folder, the production and script are my top priorities.

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre, Part 2

I have begun researching mansions and castles around Britain and have come across a few that would go well with the design I am considering for this project. I have also gathered several blueprints of mansions and castles that will assist greatly with the layout of the construct and give me an idea as to what amenities are typically available in such structures. This will then tell me which tutorials to look for, when its comes to the stage of construction, which will cover furniture, architecture and carpeting. Here are some of the blueprints I have gathered in my research;





These two blueprints give me an idea of how the layout of my set will look like and what I will have to add in order to complete it.

Digital Media Level 3 - Spectre

For this project I have decided to create a short narrative based in a haunted manor or castle, depending on which is simpler to produce using 3D Studio Max. For this project I will be researching the design of castles and various manors across the United Kingdom. I will also be looking into the furniture and interior design of these locations in order to gain an idea of which style to use for the project.

The first stage will to research the subject, looking into castle and manor design and other narratives on the same genre.

The second stage of this will be to design the layout of the manor/castle itself so a blue print will be drawn out as a plan. This will be essential when it comes to using 3Ds Max to create the scene itself.

The third stage will to be write the script of the narrative and storyboard the scenes that will be taking place.

The fourth stage will be to research tutorials on how to create the interior, such as the furniture, carpet, art work and lighting.

The fifth stage will be to build the framework for the manor/castle itself, manipulating the architecture to fit the storyline.

The sixth stage will be to edit the interior and model the furniture, art work, carpet and general atmosphere of the scene.

The seventh stage will be to create the characters for the narative, modelling them into the the desired shape and size for the storyline. This will also include modelling their clothing and facial appearances.

The seventh stage will be to begin work on the scenes, pictured in the storyboards and edit the camera angles to the scene.

The eighth stage will to create the audio for the piece, recording the speech for the characters and editing the background music. This will involve researching music used in other similar pieces and movies and locating people to narrate the script.

The timescale of this project is six weeks, including the time it would take to edit the work and put the film and audio together.