Before the Capstone project
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Before beginning the Capstone project, I wanted to make sure I really wanted to work in the 3D field, therefore I did some work months before the start of Capstone. Of course, I started out making simple objects like a cup or vase but then I began to make far more advanced objects. Over time I created something very similar to a digital watch for an ad project for a different class. To me, the next step quickly became creating a character with a fully functioning rig. After about two and a half months I constructed a lizard-snake thing I call Snappy. Snappy certainly has some rough edges that could use some smoothing but otherwise he is perfect for practicing animation on. The rig, which is the equivalent to a skeleton, can make some awkward movements when moving to a certain position but It does its job well. After Snappy, I felt as though I should create another model where I could not repeat the mistakes I made with Snappy. Unfortunately the other model is not quite done however I have this little teaser of him using his shadow.
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During the Capstone project
3/16/18
Finally! Let the 3D art flow in! Now to start out, I did a little animation warm-up with my most successful model yet, I say yet with reason. I have been playing around with orbits and trying to make objects move in a circular pattern (its a lot harder than it sounds). I first had a glowing crescent moon orbiting a monkey head. Why a monkey head? Well for one, why not and two, I needed a good example to use for when it comes to lighting a complex shape. The animation was kind of boring and was not really worth finishing out so instead, I brought out Snappy...and a satellite. The satellite is really there for decoration but proved to be a very minor challenge making it not only orbit Snappy, but also make do a little funky dance (I think) while it moved. To top it off, I went ahead and animated Snappy too. In the end, I made it a short animation, in which is a gif that will be posted here: https://chasmontgomery-3danimationproject.weebly.com/blogs |
![Picture](/uploads/5/9/8/2/59822553/published/blog-3-other-orig.png?1521227869)
After completing the orbit animation, I wanted to do more that happens to be a little more complicated. Now I will admit, the animation is not really any more complicated but I did put a little more time in for the background and props. The scene was designed to look like a history museum, instead it kind of looks more like some sort of desert scene in the rendered result. Oh well. It was still fun to make. Unfortunately, during the process of this animation (and kind of the one above)I discovered a little "hiccup" in Snappy's rig. Being one of my first rigs, I could totally see this coming. When animating his left bottom eyelid, it would not move when I tried to apply keyframes to it (remember that term from my earlier blogs?). I found a solution to it but it would require me to redo the bones attached to his left eye. That requires a lot of time to fix, time I really don't want to waste about now. I found that altering its transform properties (ability to move it at all) and rotating it backwards will allow it to move properly. That eyelid was quite the nuisance in the making of this animated short. It still turned out to be really fun to animate and the best part was sitting there, watching the final product for about 20 minutes. This short will also be posted in the link provided in the orbit short.