We wanted to start blocking on the scenes in 3D and to do that we needed our Puffin asset in the engine. I was given an "updated" mesh of Puffin to rig for us. I rigged her in Maya and in unreal engine. The Maya rig is important for UE5 to even understand that it is a rigged character on import. Then in unreal engine I use a custom function I made! Where you can just drag and drop groups of bones and their controllers and boom you get an FK rig!

I started work on our 3D animatic this week! I was attempted to be put into a good spot from Eli and Rob with this. Where the filled the scene with hundreds of cameras and rooster models and just said to connect it from 1 to 2 and so on. So that's what I have been doing, while trying to keep in mind the story, our 2D animatic, and the cinemtograpgy of the camera. 

The scenes are very messy when I am working on them due to all of the cameras and roosters. It gets worse for inside of buildings where Rooster tends to be eating himself a few times. In this I am on massive clean up duty of the scene work and camera work.

With the scene clean up. Many of the cameras for getting into town are set up so far apart of even behind the other. So the layout got some massive updates so I could keep rooster moving in a straight line for more than 3 seconds. With this I think some of the cuts into town are actually really good. Where we can establish he is going into the town, we do not need to see the entire journey. Just the important moments! 

I worked with the team to create the final important layout for an inside of a building. In this I was just asked them all what they were imaginging this final bakery to look like. I was told it was built from the rubble of Rooster torn down home. In this I just reused a lot of the assets from roosters home, as well design principles so that it really gives off that this is Rooster 2.0 home. 

As well thinking about symetrical designs with the duel sided shop. So that each side of the shop can operate without messing the other up. I also think it will be visually strong to have the circle stick out from the straight lined fence. Where Rooster can "be apart" of the city. 

Being that this is meant to be a bakery I was trying to think of this floor as a pure shop. With plans for an upper living quaters that is above the shop.

There is no city layout. All my environment work, and city planning, and blocking out is gone. That photo and town on the left got thrown out by my team for what is on the right. Instead we have a barren wasteland of clay to work with! It really opens up the options we can do with the cameras! 

So yea I just had to create some fake alleyways and the such to fake the idea of the town being there. 

Honestly I don't even know what to say anymore. Puffin has been in a work in progress state for about 10-12 weeks now. With zero to little improvement each week. We have multiple artists working together to create a singular muffin/cupcake. The layout for the Bakery was taking so long, that I was asked to just do it myself. I'm expected to model, UV, texture, Rig, layout, camera work, and even come up with the ideas for how to model these buildings and or the city in the first place. 

We will have someone work on props for weeks to come back with some cups. So many of the tasks they complete are things that are not being asked for. Or it takes people 3-5 weeks for what I can do in a day. 

I am unsure rather to complain as to the groups work ethic. As I am not upset with everyone's work ethic. As well many people started strong on the 2D portion and are just not able to start getting into 3D in an efficient way. 

I am personally starting to get worried and confused about the group as they have no worries in the world about modeling out the city. Every single time that we talk or meet I am asking for anyone else to help with buildings. When I bring these concerns up to the group and we should be animating next semester. Im told actually we have time and we can be modeling and even doing layouts all next semester. Somehow my team no longer thinks we need the city to animate character inside of it. All I know is that when someone doesn't complete their task, it gets thrown onto me to complete. When I bring up how long Puffin has been taking to model, I get told actually I'm gonna need all summer to work on her. Constant excuses the moment anyone gets asked for the work they said they will do. Just wanted to show some of the responses that I got when I raised concerns about being able to create such a massive city at such a high detail. 

Just some good examples of how any concerns I have about the project always get thrown into the wind. It should never take 3-5 months for a character model to get completed. Each week we are told I'm working on Puffin. Yet no work is getting done on Puffin. And his plan is to finish her character model over the summer, not even the clothes. 

The team is always dead silent and no one thinks it is a problem that we are going to be modeling and even laying out the town next semester. Somehow they believe we will not only model the city, but texture it, and be animating while nothing is finalized. 

The photo on the right was what Elijah sent the group and said this is what he has been working on. My issue with this is that I have the almost exact same eyeball down to the veins and their placement. 

He took work from our teacher Paul and is trying to say this is what he has spent weeks on for the Puffin character model.

This team is thinking next semester is when we will start modeling. And in turn has turned this entire semester into a waste of time. Where almost none of them have models they could showcase. 

Overall I feel no urgencey or feeling like we should have gotten anything done this semester besides animatic work. All conerns I have get pushed to the side. Work I do usually gets taken by others or just flat out deleted. And people will say they are working on the same task for months on end.