Final Thesis Animation - Glacé

I'm done.
I'M DONE.
SO VERY VERY DONE.
THIS THING WAS A MONSTER...

Next thing to learn in Maya: particle effects. I tried to put some water splashes in there, but I could never figure out how. Oh well. Use your imagination, I guess?

Thesis Assignment 5 - Allegretto

Five days to relearn Maya AND make an animation with it. The challenge was accepted.

Glacé - ice bear walk cycle

Took Mr Bear for a walk yesterday. He still has a mild case of butt-wiggle, but we're training it out of him. Now I have to build him some friends to play with...

Vimeo has disabled embedding (why???) so just click on the picture:

Final Thesis Project - Polar Bear Model

My first fully modeled, textured, and rigged character. Good lord. It's happened. It's finally happened. Break out the cider! Two years from now I will realize how bad it is, but I don't care right now. I have a model!

My teachers are so impressed by a tiny number of polygons and a simple rig. Haha. Makes my life a little bit easier. ;)

Final Thesis Project – Fire and Ice

My first project this semester was a Maya animation that I need to clean up a little more, so I'll be posting that a bit later than normal. But it went very well and was very well received. I'll actually be working in Maya all this semester.

But the first one was small beans compared to the next project – the final project. THE LAST ONE BEFORE I AM FREE.

I wanted to find a theme that would translate well to greenhorn-level Maya, but would also allow for some neat imagery and interesting symbolism. So... how about some animals made out of ice? The next week will be spent modeling and rigging and texturing, and then the real fun begins. I have the basics of a story, but I'll come up with the details as I move along.

Maya Model - Gundam Deathscythe

I just rescued these from my old folder on the school's server space. This was my second Maya model ever, done for a class assignment in 2010. We had to build something robotic, so I chose to do one of the mobile suits from the anime Gundam Wing. Specifically the Gundam Deathscythe. I look back on it now, and it's still quite decent for an early attempt!

Adv. Facial Animation – Portraits and Blockheads

My last animation class in college (!!!) is a focus on realistic facial rigging and animation, taught by Chris Landreth (google him, he's a master). I have almost zero experience with humans in Maya, so... it's time. Assignment one was self-portraits. Drawing I, we meet again. And thank god I've improved since then.

We also had to draw still images of a 'blockhead' model from Maya, which breaks down the facial planes into simpler forms. It's bound to get harder from here, but I honestly want to learn a bunch from this class. Expect to see a lot of awkward lip movements and freaky wireframe tests on this blog in the near future. Let's go!