Embedded Files
Here you will find my pre-production stage of the project this is where i will be making concepts for my animations and models through making story boards , mindmap , mood boards and concept pieces (for the models i am going to make) to showcase my ideas with annotations explaining my thought process through making them and reflecting on them too.
Plan for pre-production
For pre-production i will be using software such as Blender and Photoshop (and MAYA see why below)to create my the concepts for my models and animations.
For pre-production i will start with making all the concept animations for the character in our game as this will help improve my workflow and skills with animating to further help my final animations in production be of high quality . I will then move onto making the concept storyboards and some concept animations for the enemies.Making concepts for the animations through storyboards this will help me in production as i will already have an initial idea on what i want the animations to look like this will help speed up production for the FMP. Once all my concept animations are done i will then move onto the concept drawings and moodboards for my models to help me properly visualize what i want to create and the scene they will be placed this will also help when it comes to production as it will help me visualize what i want my models to look like.
Some of the main areas i will be focusing on is making sure in using the 12 principles of animation and implementing them into my animations also considering the shapes i use in my 3D models design to make sure i know what i'm creating. I will also be using the research i conducted for the fmp to further help the concepts i develop and i will mention when and how i used the knowledge i gained from the research.
Below you will find a link to the skill development section this is where i will document all the videos i will use to enhance my skills for pre-production.
Reflection on skill development
NOTE: for these concepts i will be using pre-made models that i will then rig and animate in MAYA.Below is the model i will be using for the concepts for the character animations.
Blender to Maya WHY (for most rigs and animation (especially Humanoid characters) ?
Here is the controls for the rig that i generated through blender addon rigify which after parenting it to the bones and the mesh it allows it to move this process overall was fairly simple but finicky as there was a lot if things that could of gone wrong like the IK handles not moving the whole arm in the appropriate way (bending the elbow in proportion to the arm).To overcome this i parented the controls to to the bones which fixed this problem. But was one of the reason contributing towards me switching to maya for most of the rigging and animations escipally for the bipedal meshes.
Here is the weight painting section which was also an easy skill to adopt and put into practice and will help me as i go deeper into the FMP. It is quite easy to understand and while being time consuming it is one of the easier and clear things in the workflow i was working through.
Here is the model i started of with to rig and animate and pose.
Here are the bones for the mesh which i got through using Blenders addon called Rigify where you can pull in a skeleton to then fit it to your mesh and put it around the joints from my research on anatomy and then generate controls for the mesh to move it around. Although a downside to this is that you don't get name the bones so some of the names can be confusing which can then lead to problems and cause confusion.
CONCLUSION
Above are some pictures of the process of me rigging the model in blender. As you can see in the photos there is the rig posed , the bones for the mesh and then the controls for the rig. And to the left is a practice pose for when i got the controls working. Overall the workflow in blender for rigging was quite finicky and at some points confusing to work with and while i overcame these challenges i believe it will be more effective to rig and animate the models i am sent in maya. Some of the other reasons are that i am a bit more familiar with the software and its interface but also that it is more widely used in industry as it is industry standard for a long time which means it is quite a valuable and employable skill to have which is one of the main reason i made the switch to Maya in contrast to what i sated in my proposal.
Animation and poses for characters concepts
Below is the process of me making the rig for pre-production with description of what the image is showing.
Here is the first step to the rig where i had to place the orange points into where the joints would be in the body and the research on anatomy which you can find here helped me know where these joints are.
Here is the rig once i applied the controls to it and generated the bone structure which was in-line with all the joints and the controls on the right places ready for the model to be moved.
Here is the weight painting part of the process which is a crucial part as it stops your model from clipping and bulling parts of the body it shouldn't. While this is a tedious process it is not very difficult so i picked it up quite quickly.
Above is the process i went through of attaching the hand to the rig to make sure everything in the body moved correctly.First i had to layout the bones in the hand to match the shape i wanted and where the bones are in the fingers. I then had to attach these finger bones the skeleton of the rig so i could then define these bones in the rig so then i can rotate and manipulate the hands so it can fit what i want it to do in my animation. I did find this process a little confusing but with more practice i will overcome this challenge.
Reflection on making the rig for pre-production
Overall the process of making this rig was quite interesting and helped me develop knowledge on the area of rigging in maya.There is parts i did struggle on like the process of making the fingers work and move the way i wanted to , i found this to be a bit of a confusing process. Yet as my skills develop and i practice more i will improve at rigging fingers and rigging models in maya as a whole.
Character movement concept animations
Above is the reference video i will be using ti give me and idea on the run i am going for as it is showing the emotions of determination that i want to show in my animation.
Here is the graph for all the keyframes. This showcases how smooth the graph looks which while it can still be improves which i will make sure for the final animation is still helps towards making the animation smoother.
Here is are the frames and picture of what was happening between frame 42 and 48.
Reflection on Run Cycle concept
Above is the basic run cycle concepts for the main character in the game (without the weapon). The main aim of this process was to get a run cycle that shows and emotion of determination and the character has somewhere to be and to enhance my skills with animating in 3d with maya and its respective workflow. Also to make sure i implement the research i found on anatomy into this animation to make it of higher quality.
I believe i partially hit my aim of what i wanted to get out of this as i did gian knowledge on animation in maya and the hotkeys and how to smooth out the graphs to make my animation look smoother which is quite and important part as i go one to production to understand this.Yet there is allot of thing i want to build on and have learnt from this initial process. I also implemented my research into anatomy quite well as i effectively showed the weight in the movement and moved the respective muscles in the body yo make the run more natural.
Yet there is some thing i would of liked to improve as the weight painting for the rig during the animation is not good causing some of the poses to look deformed and broken.Which is something i will make sure improves and that i work on it in the production stage of the FMP and in pre-production. Also in the process of making the run cycle between frame 42-48 the arms clipped into the body which at first i was confused about but as i looked into the problem and tried to fix it , i believe it was because i changed the contact pose on frame 0 and when i copied it to frame 48 it also copied the rotation , location of another pose and made the poses clip. Which is not noticeable in the playbast but is still something that needs to be fixed to make sure the animation is of high quality.
While this was an inconvenience , it was important that i face this problem now and identify where i went wrong so when i go on to the production stage i wont run into these problems and will make my final animations of higher quality and my workflows more efficient.
Attack animation concepts
To the left is an image of the model with a mock-up sythe in hand that follows the rig and can move by itself due to me adding constraints and a locater to it. I gained this skills through watching a tutorial which you can find here (called : How to attach a Weapon in Maya 2020) and will now be able to put this to use on the production stage. As i now have this set-up i can now create pose , idol and attack concepts for the character more effectively.
Here is the video i used for reference / inspiration for the basic attack concept animation.
Above is the initial movement for the basic attack where my primary goal was to block out the basic movements of the attack to give me an idea of what i wanted it too look like. Below you will find how i progressed to get the final concept with the different poses that i used for the final animation and what the graph editor looks like for it.
1.Here is the first pose that i made for the basic attack i wanted to demonstrate a wind up through this animation and make sure there was a sense of weight to it which is why he starts so far back with his swing with his leg in air to make it look like he takes a step and turns on his heel as he moves to swing the sythe.
2.Here is the the second pose where which is just before he gets to the final position of the swing and i made this pose with the hips turned forward to give the weapons sense of weight almost like he is pulling the weapon with him as his lower-body goes first then the upper follows.
3. Here is the third pose which is similar to pose 2 as it is another precursor to the last pose as the hips are rotated forward with the upper body lacking behind again to get a further sense of weight in the animation as the scythe is a relatively slow weapon to swing around.
4. here is the final pose for the attack animation this is the last pose of the sequence where his left hand has let go form the scythe and is only swinging with his right hand to make this look like it actually has weight to it i put keyframes on frame 20 where the shoulder is rotated back and on frame 24 the shoulder a bit more forward to show what would happen to your body if you where to swing a scythe with a singular arm.
Here is a screenshot of the graph for the whole animation and this is the main challenged i faced with this concept as the graph had very sharp lines instead of the smooth curves that are needed.This is a time consuming process as i had to go through all the curves and smoothed them out to help the animation look smoother. This is one of the things i want to make sure i improve on as i go further into this brief. As i want to make sure to avoid this issue from the start to avoid massive clean up at the end and it will be more time efficient for the brief and help improve my workflow.
Here is the final concept for the basic attack for the main character that is play blasted from MAYA from a front view to showcase the animation in a better view that an isometric camera.
Reflection on basic attack concept
Overall , the process of making the basic attack concept was helpful and effective in enhancing my knowledge on making animations in maya and the workflow to do so. Some of the most important knowledge i gained from the process of making this concept is the importance of weight in an animation to make sure it looks believable and realistic another important thing i learnt is the importance of the graph editor and making sure it is made up of smooth curves to help the animation be of higher quality .
Pre-production has already taught me many skills about animation and some the areas i need to focus on , like making sure the graph editor has smooth curves , having the appropriate weight shown in the animation. I need to make sure i develop on those respective areas for the production stage of the FMP to make sure i can make the highest quality animations i can.
To the left are some images i used for inspiration for the idle animation for our character.To get an idea of the poses for the type of character i am going to animate.
Here is the video i used for inspiration for the concept of the idle animation.Below you will find progress shots of the process of making the idle animation
Here is the first pose for the idle animation.After looking at a few videos and images of the type of character i am going for and looking back on the research i conducted. His hand is near his chest and his scythe out to his front in a idle pose with the next poses adding a breathe in and out look to the animation.
Here is the 'breathe in pose' for the idle animation where his left hand is now sticking out more and the shoulder rotated forward , the hips pulled up and the back leaned backward to achieve a taller look to show a better breathe in and out motion in the animation whic his something i wanted to make sure i got it right.
Here is an image of the last pose which is the same as the first as this is how i showed the motion of breathing in and out while standing still and adding a bit of personality to the animation awell.
Here is an image of the graph editor for the animation. I am very pleased with the the graph editor as it was something i wanted to work on and enhance my skills with as it helps with making the animation smoother.
Here is the first rendition of the idle animation before i gathered feedback from other members in the group to gather their opinions and they gave feedback on it which was extremely. With the improvements they recommended below.
After talking with members in the group and asking there opinions on the idle animation they gave me some valuable feedback as they mentioned how it might look better if the scythe was at his side so below you will find the images of what those changes look like.Overall i think this looks better and i am happy with the feedback i received and the changes i made as it helps to fit the characters traits more.
Here is the 'breathe in' pose of the animation (front and side view) with the scythe at his side which looks a lot better as it appears to be more natural.It also fit the personality of the character i am going for as it makes him look more confident and ready to fight like the characters personality.
Here is the 'breathe out' pose of the animation (front and side view) with the scythe at his side.To do this i rotated the right shoulder toward the ground and the left arm out to the side which looks a lot better as it appears to be more natural.It also fit the personality of the character i am going for.
Also the graph editor is for this animation is also smooth which also helps with the animation and i am happy with it as the graph editor is something i wanted to work on while making these concepts. This is because it is an important skill to learn for animation as it is a crucial part in making the animation look smoother and make sure the timing is correct.
Here is the final concept for the idle animation with the new improvements which overall improve the animation as it looks more natural and more of an appropriate pose for the character i am trying to portray .
Reflection on idle animation concept
Overall , i think the idle animation is effective in showing the breath in and out cycle.I also wanted to make sure it looked natural and fit the character i was trying to go for which is also achieved.Most importantly the process of making this concept animation helped enhance my skills with animating in maya helping me to be more efficient at creating animations and the workflows to do so. Another major skill that i gained from this is how even little movements and rotations in animations can add a lot to the animation helping it show personality.
I am overall happy with the idle animation and pleased with the feedback i gained on it from members in my group which helped me improve the idle animation to help make it look more natural. Also i am pleased with how i have further developed my skills in maya like working with the rig and and the graph editor in maya which will help me make higher quality animations as i carry on in pre-production and as i move on to production stage of the FMP.
Bottle throw animation
Bibliography for these below
Above are some videos that i used for reference for this animation to help me get the poses and the form of the body correct to help the animation .
Here is the first pose in the bottle throw animation. In this pose the character is grabbing the bottle of his waist so he can throw it . He is standing in a normal pose with his leg pulled back abit to add personality to the stance.
In this pose of the throw animation he is now lifting up his arm in preparation to throw the bottle. His right shoulder is also rotated forward a little bit due to him having his left hand back as this is how it would look in real life. And his hip is rotated forward on the left leg to further show how the movement would look.
This pose is just before he throws the bottle and this is where his right shoulder is at the furthest point it will rotate forward in this animation , this is the same with the hips this is to further emphasize how the body would look and function in a throw motion.
Here is when he throws the bottle and his throwing arm is now rotated forward and the and his right arm is now rotated back and leg pulled forward as this help show that there is power in the throw and can help show not tell the the power of the throw.
This pose is the last pose in the animation and is the recoil from the throw as this is when his body is leaned forward more and his throwing arm is now rotated even further forward due to how the trajectory of an arm would be in a throw. This is because the muscles wouldn't just stop moving after an action and they would still have kinetic energy stored up so to disband that they would have and secondary action. Which is also something to point out as it is one of the 12 principles of animation.
Here is the graph editor for the animation and is it quite smooth and the interpolation between frames is good as it helps with the timing of the animation to make sure it all look correct and doesn't look like one part is moving slower than the other.This also negates all jumpiness in the animation which helps the final animation.
Here is the first rendition of the bottle throw animation. In this version his leg is quite far back which makes the animation look like it has too much movement and makes it look unrealistic.
Here is the second rendition of the bottle throw animation in this version i made sure to reduce the leg movement in this animation but it still looked strange and floaty as there wasnt much wieght present in this version of the animation.
This the finalised concept for the throw animation where there is minimal leg movement and less exaggerated sway in the hips and shoulders to make the animation look like it has more weight and gets rid of the floaty feel / look to the animation.
Reflection on Bottle through concept
Overall , I am please with the final version of this animation and i am happy with the result and the skills and knowledge i gained from the process of making this concept. I think this effectively shows how a throw would look and also fits the style of game we are going for and also portrays a good sense of weight to really show the impact this throw would have. This helps to show and not tell the player about the throw.This is a good concept to help me in production as i now i know what i want the throw to look , this will help speed up the production process of the FMP.
Although , looking back there is something that could of been improved and that is how the shoulder looks when he throws. This is a problem with the weight painting and the topology of the model it is something i need to consider and look at when i animate in the production to make sure i can make the highest quality animations i can.
Scythe throw animation
Here is the reference video i used to see the type of poses and body movements to accurately depict a throw.
VERSION 1.0
To the left are screenshots of the in progress concept animation for the scythe boomerang throw and here are the 2 poses for the animation .where he is leaning back winding up for a through and leaning forward when he throws the scythe.
These animations include the appropriate weight for the throw to effectively show how it would be thrown to make the animation look better and not stiff and boring and smooth.
Reflection on version 1.0
Overall , the first version while i was a little happy with the poses and motion of the throw but it didn't fit the character i was going for and the animation was not as smooth and clean is i would of liked.While i liked the poses i can see how they did look weird and the throw didn't really make much sense in terms of how realistic someone throwing a scythe can be. After looking through more swinging and throwing videos for reference and gathering feedback from other members in the group and acting upon it (as their feedback talked about the same worries i already had)i decided to have another attempt at this concept animation which you will find below .
Above is the video i used for reference to make sure i got the correct poses and also to look at the certain muscle movements to accurately portray a swinging motion.
Version 2.0
Here is the first pose for the throw attack. For this pose it was important to have the legs in a realistic position to look like he is ready to throw with one of his legs pulled forward and the other pulled back , i also had to make sure the arms where rotated back and in a realistic position to get ready for a throw.
I think this pose effectively achieves an appropriate stance for a throw and gives me a good starting point for the throw concept animation.
Here is the second pose of this animation where i rotated his body to the left to look like he threw the scythe. It important to note that in game the scythe wouldn't be in his hand at this point.
Overall i think this pose effectively shows a throw that is appropriate for the character and work well in showing the accurate movements for how this type of throw would actually look.
Character movement concept animations
Here is the 3rd pose of the animation and this pose is is his catch pose where he is getting ready to catch the scythe again after throwing it. This pose might look a little awkward but combined with the following pose that has the recoil of the catch i think it effectively showcase the catch of the scythe in an appropriate way.
Here is the 4th pose of the the animation which is a simple but major pose in the animation as it is a direct follow up from the 3rd pose. As this one showcase the recoil from the catch this is important due to adding a sense of weight and realism into how a catch would actually happen.
Overall this pose is effective in the aim it had with a minor improvement of maybe rotating the catching arm back more to add more weight to the catch.
Here is the 5th pose of the animation which is a pose where he is about to go back to his normal / idle position after the catch. The aim of this pose was to be a transition pose so after he does the the throw it doesn't look janky and smoothly goes back to his idle position.
Overall, this pose is effective in making sure there is a smooth transition between the throw and the idle animation.
Here is the graph editor for the animation and i am pleased with the result of it as the graph is smooth and has all the correct timing to make the animation smooth and timed properly.
Here is the first scythe throw concept (without the catch).
Overall , i think this is effective in showing the throw and is a smooth and well timed throw. This animation also effectively shows personality for our character through how he throws the scythe and
Here is the second scythe throw concept in this one it includes a catch to help the transition from the throw back the the idle position. Overall i think it effectively achieves this goal and is timed well and iam please with this result.
Reflection on version 2.0
Overall , i am happy with the result of this concept.some of the main areas i am pleased with is how smooth and well timed the animation is.This version is much better than the first as it looks more natural and smooth and is how someone would realistically throw a scythe as much as a scythe throw animation can look.
Reflection on scythe throw concept
To conclude , this scythe throw concept is effective in the aim i was trying to achieve of making a smooth and natural looking scythe throw animation.I am also happy with the 2 versions i made as i learned an array of knowledge from each version. Even though the first version wasn't effective in meeting my aim the process of making it helped enhance my knowledge on animation in MAYA and the overall process of animation.The main area that i am most pleased about the poses that are in version 2 as they show a smooth and effective throw that look quite natural. This is also helped by how accurately the muscles are moved in this animation which really helps add weight and grounds the animation and this was mostly achieved due to the knowledge i gained from the research i conducted on anatomy.
Smash Attack Concept
Here are some of the reference videos i used for this concept animation to help give me inspiration for it and achieve the the correct poses to make the animation look natural and so i can see how the body moves during a movement similar to this.
Here is the first pose for the smash attack where he is leaning back getting ready to swing and with his legs in an appropriate stance for an action like this and with the appropriate rotations on the shoulders and elbows to effectively show how someone doing this pose would look.
Here is the second pose of this animation which is a pose with the arms leaned forward a lot and the hips pulled back. The main aim of this pose was to show the weight of the scythe as that would fall first in this swing which is why it is rotated more forward forward than the hip.
Overall i think it effectively adds weight and a sense of realism to this animation.
Here is the final pose of this animation where his whole body is now rotated forward and the scythe in the ground (which would have an effect on game and do damage).
Overall , i am happy with this poses and how the body looks in this pose and how the 'muscles' looks during it for example when the arms move the shoulder move which was achieved and helped by looking at reference and using the research i conducted on anatomy earlier in the FMP.
Here is the graph for this animation that is not only smooth helping the animation but also is timed appropriately to make sure the animation starts of high and ends at a lower position at the appropriate times in the animation. I am please with the result of this and makes the animation better and look smoother.
Here is the final concept animation for the smash attack which effectively shows the movement of hitting the ground with a good sense of weight.Iam overall pleased with the poses present and happy with the result.
Conclusion Smash attack concept
Overall , this animation achieves my aim of making a smash attack with the right body movements and secondary actions that go along with it. The graph for this animation is also an area of this animation that works well as it helps with the timing and the smoothness of the animation which helps the animation look better.To conclude i am not only happy with this animation but also how it has developed my knowledge in maya and 3d animation in areas like how to effectively portray weight into animations. One of the main reasons that i was able to achieve my aim for this animation was by looking at the research i did into anatomy and how the muscles in the body moved also , looking into helpful reference videos to help me get the correct poses and inspiration for the animation.
Spin Attack Concept
Here is the video and some pictures that i used for inspiration and reference for this concept animation.
Here is the pose for the spin in the animation. As this is a spin attack he is holding out his weapon in preparation to hit people with it , He is also standing in a bird pose to reflect how throughout the game he will slowly become more and more bird like throughout the game.
Here is the graph for the main turn in this animation and i am pleased with its result and only needs minor tweaking to make a more smooth turn. This graph has the right timing for this animation which also helps the animation look fluid.
Here is the graph for the main spin after i tweaked it a bit. For the tweaks all i smoothed the graph out a bit more using the tangents on the keyframes to rotate them and made sure the timing as perfect and all the keyframes where on the right frame to achieve the animation i was going for.
Here is the final graph for the spin with all the frames on the appropriate frame and made sure it was a smooth curve down with the appropriate tweaks on frames 10 and 20 where the frames are rotated slightly to the right which help the animtion stay on those poses for longer.
Here is the initial graph for the body movements for this animation. This includes frames between frames to achieve the right timing for the secondary body movement in this animation which are caused by the initial spin.
Overall , while this graph needs work the graph only needs a few tweaks to achieve the correct timing in need it to for the animtion to be sucessful.
Here i am fixing the graph for the secondary body movements after the initial spin to make sure it is timed properly and smooth.And making sure the animation is fluid. As i ran into one big hiccup which was having the FPS on 24 and not 48 so i had to re-arrange the keys to make sure the timings in the correct place.
The top screenshot is showcasing the final graph before i changed the fps to 48. The top photos graph is all smoothed and timed properly to achieve an effective animation that is smoothed and timed effectively.
The bottom photo showcases the Graph after i changed the fps to 48 and adjusted the frame when the animation finished to make sure the looping point for the animation wasn't jumpy and all the secondary body movements where in line with the first and last frame.
This is the first version of the animatio and while the pose in this is effective in the pose i wanted to create he look likes he is gliding all over the place with no sense of weight to it.
This is the second version of the spin animation while this is an improvement over the first version as it includes better secondary action a better sense of weight yet the speed and the fact he still looks like he is floating are areas that need to be improved.
Here is the final pose for the spin attack which is another improvement over the second version as it has am uch better sense of weight to it and doesn't look like he is gliding all over the places.Some fixes i did to achieve this where make sure the graph editor was sorted and the animation ended on the correct frame and it was in the right FPS. Also to reduce the floatiness i centered the pivot in his foot which reduced the floatiness of it (i still wanted some floatiness due the nature of the character which i a bird and i wanted this attack the reflect that fact.
Conclusion Spin attack concept
Overall , this animation while effective in my goal of making a spin/whirlwind attack but it most importantly enhanced my skills with animation in MAYA. The main areas it helped mw with is learning about in between frames and how they can effect timing . Also to MAKE SURE i am on the correct FPS for the animation so i don't have to go back and change it once the animation which can effect the workflow and be more time consuming. Another area it helped me with is how to more effectively use and edit the graph to make sure the timing and the smoothness of the animaton is correct. I also made sure to use the knowledge of muscles which i gained from doing research earlier in the FMP , i also looked at references for inspiration to help me when making my animation.
Reflection Character movement concept animations
Overall , the process of making these concept animations has helped me in two major ways.The first way is that these concepts will help me in pre production to give me an idea on what i want the animations to look like which will help speed up the process of production. The second way was that it greatly enhanced my workflow and skill while animating in maya as some of the main things it taught me where how to effectively use the graph to time my animations correctly and how to effectively implement weight into my animations.
To conclude on the character concept animations the while process has helped me develop my overall skills in the industry standard MAYA software and in animation as whole and are skills and work flows i can carry further into the FMP to help me make better animations.
Below you will find all my concept drawings for the 3d models i will create
For these models i will be using the moodboards i made during research for inspiration which you can find a link to below:
Above are some sketches i did for the models i am going to create which include walls , floors , walls with bars , beds , chairs/stools and tables the aim of these designs where to help me get an intial idea on what i wanted my models to look like . For this i made sure to do multiple variants for each to see which designs i liked the most and get a feel for which design i liked the best.. I also made sure to label the materials used in the objects as this will help me with texturing. For inspiration for these designs i used my FMP board with the mood boards i made during research.
I will try and make all these designs when it comes to making my models as i believe it will be useful to have multiple designs for each model so it isn't just the same assets in game repeated over and over again.
Reflection on initial sketches for models
Overall , i am happy with the sketches i did and believe they where effective in my aim of these sketches as it helped me get an idea on what i wanted my models to look like. The variations that i drew also helped me visualize different designs to help me see which one i prefered the most so i know what to include when i make the models. My research on 3D environments also helped due to the moodboards i created which gave me inspiration for the sketch's i produced.
I will now draw a scene with all the models from my sketches included in to get an idea on how the models might look and fit in our actual games levels this will help me to know the size and quantity of the models that should be in our level and if they fit into the setting effectively.
Below is the process of making the room layout drawing to help give me an idea of what a room would look like in the game
First i did an outline of the room to get an idea on the shape of it.
I then added the stone floor based of the concept sketches i did.
Then i filled in the walls also based of the concepts sketches i did and duplicated and flipped it to go on the other side.
I then added the wall with bars based of the sketches i did and made sure to use the appropriate colours for the material i wanted to portray.
I then added a background behind the bars to make it look like there was an outside behind it and it was at night.
To further achieve the tone we are going for in our game i turned down the hue-saturation value to darken the colours of the scene as this will also help me gage an idea on how my textures should look and there colours.
Above is the final drawing of what a room could look like in our game with a chair toppled over , a bed in the middle and a table to the side the idea for this room is to get a basic idea of where my models would be and the layout for them which i was achieved affectively as i now have better understanding of what my models might look like and the size and quantity of my models for the room.
Reflection on concept drawings for the 3d models i will create
Overall, i now have an overall idea on what my models should look like which will help me in the production stage when i start making my models. These concepts also helped me get an idea on the size and quantity of my models also partially helping give me an idea on what textures to use for models by giving me an idea on the colors i should use to present the materials i want to show on my models.
Concept animations and storyboards for enemy's
Below you will find concepts animations for the hound enemy in our game and storyboards for the rest of the enemies in our game with the aim of giving me an idea on what the animations for these enemy's should look like and it will help me visualize them.
To, start i will be rigging a dog model using blender to represent the hound enemy in our game and then i will make concept animations for its walk and attack.You will find the process of making that rig below and the video tutorial i used can be found here .
Below is the models i used for the 'Hound' concept animations (while not low poly it will still give me an idea on how the animation should look)
The video i watched can be found in the skill development page with reasoning behind why i watched it and how it helped me.
Here is the image i used for reference when aligning the bones for the rig.
Above is a photo of the aligned bones in the mesh in line with the joints in an actual dogs skeleton so it move like a dog would. This would also help with the weight painting as it would know where to move each part of the body respectively.
Here is the control rig after it was generated and due to my bone placement being accurate all the controls move each part of the body they should. This will help me when i come to make the concept animations as everything is moving appropriately and will look natural and correce in the animations.
Here is the weight painting for the model. This was essential in making sure that each bone move the correct part of the body so the mesh wasn't pulled in un natural places. This also helps make sure the animations will look high quality as every part will move effectively and not deform the mesh in this case being the dog.
Reflection on rig creation for quadruped
Overall , the process of making the rig helped me enhance my knowledge in the process of rigging and my skills in the software blender. These new found skills will help me as i start creating the concept animations and will help make the production stage less stressful and rushed. As i already have the appropriate skills to make a rig for a animal that is similar to a dog and do the appropriate weight painting for the rig to be effective.Mainly this process has helped me improve in blender and gave me my first insight into making rigs for animals with four legs.
Concept attack animation for the hound
Here is the inspiration / reference video i used for this animation to get an idea for the correct poses and muscle movements i should include in the animation.
Here is the first pose of the attack animation where the dog is getting ready to pounce forward for an attack for this i made sure to make it overall look like he was in an idle but abut closer together to be ready in a pounce position.
In this pose he is in the air pushing of his back legs to push himself forward to pounce on the player and propel himself forward.With this pose it was important to make sure the head was in line with the spine to make his body linear and that his back legs where pulled down to show the weight of him holding himself up on two legs.
This is pose 3 for the attack animation where the dog is about to be in his final pounced position. in this pose the impact of putting his front legs forward made his back legs be lifted up in the air with no secondary action yet due to this pose being the initial impact pose.
This is pose 5 and is secondary action to pose 4 and is where the back legs are further back , his front legs further forward and his head down. This pose is important to add weight and a sense for realism to this animation and helps so the impact of the leap forward of this animation.
Here is pose 6 where the dog is at its furthest stretch position and is a secondary action too pose 5 with the aim of showing further weight to the animation helping it look like a movement a dog would actually do and the appropriate body movements to accompany it.
Here is the final concept animation for the hound/dgod attack and is a lunge/ pounce attack.This will help me as i move on to production as i will already have an idea on what i want the animation to look like.
Reflection on concept attack animation for dog/Hound
Overall , i think the animation is effective in giving me a general idea on what i want the animation to look like and will help me in production.Another way this animation helped me is that it helped me enhance my skills in the software blender. These enhanced skills will help me as i progress through the FMP as these will help me use the software better and speed up my workflows when making animations in blender.
The video i used for reference for the walk can be found here in my skill development page
Here is the first pose of this animation and is the contact pose for the walk with his left legs forward , tail down and his head rotated down a little bit.
This is also the same pose that is on the last frame.
Here is the second pose and is the first contact pose of the walk. In this pose his left legs are pulled back and his right legs pulled up to show he is taking a step. This pose also raises his back up abit due to him lifting his back left leg up.
Here is the third pose of the animation which is the second contact pose of the animation.This pose is the opposite of the first pose to show that he has taken a step and his legs have moved.
Here is pose four and is the second passing pose. In this pose his left legs are pulled back a little bit and his right legs are pulled up to show he is about to take a step this is done to show how the muscles in the dogs body would move when he is walking..
Here is the graph and the timeline for this animation.As for the graph for this animation is is smooth and has the correct bends when it needs to which helps the animation flow properly and make sure each pose is accurate in its location and rotation.The timeline for this animation has the main keyframes on 1 , 6 , 12 ,18 ,24 which include the main poses. The keyframes on 22 and 9are there to put the front leg down in the walk first to more effectively show how a dog walks.
Here is the final concept for the walk for the dog and will effectively help me in production by giving me an idea on how i want the walk to look.
Reflection on concept walk animation for dog/Hound
Overall , the walk animation is an effective walk for a dog that includes all the correct pose and muscle movement in the walk to make sure is looks correct and there is a sense of weight to the walk. Another area it helped me in is enhancing my skills in the software blender which will help me with my workflows in blender which can help me make the production stage of the FMP more efficient.
Next i will make story boards for the rest of enemies in our game which includes Rat pope , Elephant , Snake , lion , Tiger , rat , patient ,doctor and severed arm.
I am doing this with the aim of giving me a better understanding of what i want the animations to look like when i come to create them in the production stage of the FMP.
Above is the storyboard for the elephant enemy in our game.The aim of this storyboard is to gain insight into the main poses that are needed for my animations and also to talk about why they are in theses poses.
Trunk attack
The trunk attack is the first box in the top right and showcases the main movement of the trunk during this attack this was to help me gat a better idea on what the trunk should look like during this animation . Its also important to note that while the trunk is swinging the body will be moving as well to make the swing look like it is more realistic and there is real power behind it.
Poison spray
The poison spray is the next box along and is a rather simple attack. The elephants body will be in a neutral position (his legs and body only moving when necessary when the head moves) and his trunk will be spraying out a liquid that can harm the player and also leaves a lasting effect on the ground that can harm the player. The main aim of this box was to get the specific position the trunk should be in for this attack.
Charge attack
The charge attack is the next two boxes along with the aim of showing the main poses for this attack. In this attack he will be running / charging forward and lifting his head up in a sweeping motion to try and hit the player in the air or trample the player. These boxes also helped me visualize the correct poses for the trunk for this attack.
walk
The four boxes along the bottom are showing the walk of the elephant. With the aim of pointing out the main poses of the walk and the essitional that go toward making an elephant walk effective for example this helped me understand that only the front leg bends and the back leg doesn't.
Above is a storyboard that showcases the snakes attack , Severed arms crawl and attack , doctors attack and walk , patients walk and attack and rats attack.
Snake attack
The first box in the top right is showing the snakes attack. The snakes attack is rater simple as he is just lifting his body up and lunging forward as the aim of this panel was to get the main poses that would be required for this attack.
Severed arm crawl
In the next panel it is showcasing the severed arms crawl. In this movement the hand is draggin the arm along the ground with the main aim of this panel being gaining an idea on the poses of the hand in this crawl for example when the fingers should bend and the hand position to make it an effective crawl.
Severed arm attack
The next box along is the severed arms attack which i similar to the snakes attack. The main movement of this attack is similar to a slap movement as the arm raises itself up then quickly goes down trying to hit the player. The main aim of this panel was to gain an idea on the main poses for this attack.
Doctors attack
Next is the doctors attack which is where he is swinging his scal-pal in one hand trying to hit the player. In this attack as he swings his while body follows him and he is infected by the plague so he has lost control of one side of his body , so he is almost dragging it along. The main aim of this panel was to gain an idea on the main poses of the swinging arm in this attack.
Doctors walk
In this panel it is showcasing the doctors walk with the main aim of showing that he is dragging himself along like he is showing in his attack.The main aim of this panel is to give me an idea on the main poses for this walk and effectively make it look like he is dragging half of his body along.
Patient attack
Next is the patients attack where he is essentially throwing his body at the player to attack him.The main aim of this panel being gaining an idea on the poses for this attack and what i wanted it to look like.
Patient walk
Next is the patients walk which is him being slumped over and slowly trudging along towards the player. The main aim of this panel being giving me an idea on the main pose for this walk and the way i wanted it to look.
Rat attack
Next is the rat attack where he does a little jump toward the player to attack him. the main aim of this panel was to give me an idea on what i wanted the rats attack to be and what i wanted it to look like.
Above is a storyboard that showcases the main poses for the rat popes attack and walk , lions attack and the tigers attack.
Swipe attack
In the first panel in the top right it is showcasing the rat popes swipe attack. In this attack the rat popes is swinging his arm with scepter in it . The main aim of this pose is to get an idea on the poses for this swing and give me an idea on what i wanted this attack to look like.
poison bomb
In the next panel is the poison bomb attack where the rat pope spits out poison as a projectile and puts a lasting effect on the floor. In this attack he is standing still and spitting something out of his mouth. The main aim of this panel was to gain an idea on what i wanted this attack to look like and gain an idea on the poses for this attack.
ground slam
In the next two panel is the the ground slam attack. In this attack he lifts his body up and then brings it down quickly to cause and area of effect attack and lots of impact damage. The main aim of this panel was to give me an idea on what i wanted the attack to look like and the poses for it.
Rat pope walk
In the next two poses it is showcasing the rat popes walk. Through this walk i want to show how powerful he is to do this in the walk i have made sure that he takes wide slow steps that almost invite the player to attack. The main aim of these panels is to give me an idea for this walk and visualize the poses and the thought process behind them.
Lion attack
In the next panel is the lion attack. In this attack the lion is lifting his paw up to attack the player.The main aim of this panel is to finalize an idea for this attack and the main poses that are required for this attack.
Tiger attack
In the final panel it is showcasing the tigers attack. In this attack the tiger is bringing his whole body up and almost lunging at the player to attack them.The main aim of this panel was to give me an idea on the poses for this attack and and what i wanted this attack to look like.
Reflection on storyboards and concept animations for hound
Overall i'm pleased with the storyboards and concept animations i have made for the enemies in our game. I was effective in my aim of giving me and idea on not only the poses for my animations for the enemies but also gave me an idea on what i want the attacks and walk to look like. Overall i am not only happy with the storyboards and animations i have made , but also the skills i have developed in software like blender and how to animate in the software , also make effective storyboards that can help give me ideas on what i want the animations to look like and the poses to make them.
I will now do a survey on the concept drawings (for my models) and animations to gather valuable feedback i can use when making my final animations in pre-production
Above are the 9 questions i asked in my survey i conducted where i asked people about my concept drawings and animations and instead of repeating the same analysis i will give an overview as to what was said due to a majority of the responses being similar. Overall the responses/ feedback was mostly positive with the responders often liking the animation or the concept animations. Some of the constructive criticism from this survey where responses that mostly mentioned how the animations needed to be smoother / more fluid and in some cases have more wind up to add more weight to the animation.This feedback will help me as i move on to production and will help improve my final models and animations.
Reflection on survey
Overall , i am pleased with the feedback i have received from this survey as it has helped me gain other perspectives on the animation's and concept drawings i have made. One of the main ways it has helped me is that it helped me see in some areas where i could improve for example making sure my animations are fluid and have a good sense of weight to them.Overall this survey will be effective in production as i now know some areas i should be focusing on and what areas i am doing well.
Reflection on pre-production
To conclude , the pre-production stage of the FMP was invaluable to me as it allowed me to visualize the ideas i had in my head. I did this by making concept animations , concept drawings and story boards which will all be effective in helping me in production when i make my final products. Some of the main areas that pre production have really helped me in are areas such as enhancing my knowledge in the software i will be using to animate and model with , also helping me gain skills in how to rig meshes properly and finally i gained some knowledge on workflows that will help me be more efficient when i move onto production. Overall , the pre-production stage of the FMP was incredibly useful for me as it has fully prepared me for production and will make that stage of the FMP less stressful and make me more efficient in production.
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