Major Project: Sea Mink Rigged and Skinned

The last of the lot to be rigged and skinned, although it was already skinned for the Minor, refinements and new rig parts were needed for a better animated character. As a result, I have made a run cycle of the Mink. I hope to use this cycle for the animating stage itself as I have taken account the timing of the music and the running. The finale version of The Carnival of The Animals has a rate of 99 beats per minute (bpm). With this in mind, I've tried to have the mink run in sync to each beat using a metronome. The result is the video below. :D

For comparison, here is the old rig from the Minor Project. (below)

Major Project: Haast's Eagle Rigged and Skinned

Here I have rigged and skinned the Haast's Eagle along with a flight cycle sequence. The flight sequence still needs some refining so that it plays in sync with the music.

Life Drawing Class: Week 14

Today's lesson in life drawing, we are focusing on foreshortening, seeing things which we believe is closer than it really is or is having less depth as a result of perception, like an illusion. Using Alan as our model for this week, we've started things off by drawing quick poses of Alan in three minutes each using our choice of media. I've decided to use charcoal today rather than the usual pencil today. :)

We've then dived into drawing foreshortening for the next part. Again, we have our own choice of media to use, I've opted for charcoal again this time to get more of the tones drawn out. This piece was done between 20-25 mins.

For extra practice, we've done the same activity again. This time round, I've attempted to draw in a continuous line in some areas, notably the head and shoulders before adding in the tones using charcoal again as my main media focus. Again, this piece was made between 20- 25 mins. I'm really happy with the results of both pieces as its been a long while since I've drawn fore shortening. :D

Major Project: European Sea Sturgeon- rigged and skinned

Next character to be rigged and skinned from the lot is the European Sea Sturgeon. This guy was slightly more simpler in terms of rigging and skinning as the only thing the sea sturgeon performs is swimming side to side. So here it is along with a swimming test animation to see the rig in action.

Major Project: Stellar's Sea Cow Rigged and Skinned

Just like the European Sea Sturgeon, this character's rig was simple to skin. As a result and to test how the Sea Cow swims, I've made a little test sequence. I've also taken note about the timing on the swimming, making it swim in sync to the beats at a reasonable pace.

The Tale of The Thirty Pragues

Between 10th - 14th February, I've had a chance to visit Prague along with students from our course and with the Creative Arts for Theater and Film course. The trip includes visiting a visual effects museum, an old Jewish cemetery and many more. Although I've missed the deadline to post this, I'm still happy to share some highlights of my travels and enjoyed making this! Enjoy!! :D

Prague Trip 2014 by Joey Ku

Major Project: Eastern Elk rigged and skinned

Second from the group to be rigged and skinned, the Eastern Elk! Also the first to be rigged as a full quadruped (as the mink has different rigs applied.) So again, here it is with a quick movements test of the rigging and skinning. :D

The video below is an early test of the rig before improvements on skinning were made.

Life Drawing Class: Week 12

Moving on from keyframed poses, this week we are focusing on light and dark. To start things off we did some quick sketches for warm ups each pose lasting for 5 mins. 

Next concentrating on light and using dark paper as a tool for the darker shade, we are to focus on a specific area of our choosing. I've used a white chalk to draw out the lighter toned details of model, Alan's face as it contained more details than elsewhere. This took roughly 20 mins.

This was the same, only this time I've included some extra colours to create some space, this again took 20 mins.

For the next exercise, we are to draw out the light areas on Alan's body as he quickly poses for 3 mins each. 

Lastly, looking back on last week's lesson, we are to draw out quick keyframe poses of Alan within 2 mins each. As you can see I got carried away with the light and dark using only two colours to represent light and dark!

Major Project: Xerces Blue Butterfly rigged and skinned

Its taken a while rigging all the animals and refining the mink. I've had the Xerces Blue Butterfly rigged earlier, but haven't the chance to post it. So here it is with a little quick test footage of the Xerces Blue in action. Refinements to the movement will be made soon!! :D