Rigging Hugo

Arrgghh!!! I have to repose Hugo into more of a t-pose for easier rigging! I'm going to try and use Maya's HumanIK system to rig him. Hopefully, that will make things easier.

Spartan-Flower Re-texturing

Here is the first part of the retexturing process. I decided to re-texture the Spartan-Flower in Maxon BodyPaint. I needed the ability to paint across models and use masks accurately. Hopefully, I can integrate this into the workflow effortlessly.

Yep, it she looks all new and shiny now, but wait till she gets a little banged up and scorched!

Extended Ladder

I'm still in the process of moving, but I started working on the "Vast Space" project again. I am going to attempt to repaint the textures for the Spartan-Flower in Bodypaint. Hopefully this will be easier than it looks.

Here is a render of the gantry ladder extended:

Survey Holo Table Textured

Here is the Surveying Holo Table with some textures added. Textures are preliminary (I haven't designed the final output yet.) I added a version with no lights at all to show the tables self-illumination.

 

Survey Holographic Table

Hugo needed a survey holographic table for mapping out areas on a planet's surface that also doubled as a regular meeting table or utility table when not in use for surveying.


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Environmental Tests

Playing with Vue Xstream (software for creating environments), trying to pin down the look for the moon that the Wutes live on.

To Come: New Equipment and Software

Looking forward to getting some more equipment and software to help with the production in the next couple of months. One piece of equipment I'd like to purchase is a new input/painting device: the Wacom Cintiq 24HD tablet. It's a tablet/screen that you can draw directly on, removing the distance betweent the use and his work. The software I'd like to purchase is Maxon's BodyPaint software. This software will allow the painting of 3D objects in a manner that will give more control than ZBrush's pixel painting. Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll be able to show more progress on the production work on the Vast Space project.

Small Exhaust Test

To take my mind off of events, I decided to test how the rocket engine exhaust from the Spartan-Flower might look. Haven't done a lot of particle tests in the past, but was interested in how easy or difficult it might be to simulate a launch.

 

 

 

There's still a lot of test to do and this is the first of many. I still need to play with collisions and other particles, but I think I'm beginning to get a feel for it.

My Sad News

I have been very grief-stricken, busy and lost beyond all lbelief from incredibly heart-rending news these past few weeks so I could not work or post regularly.

My beloved wife, Susan, passed away from this mortal plane on September 13th @11am. The love I had for my wife, my best friend, is practically indescribable. I miss her very, very much and I am saddened for those who knew her because they knew she was a very special person.

My best friend and the love of my life is gone and I am feeling so lost. I miss my Susan.

Thank you everyone for your warm thoughts and prayers.

Love, Reggie

Vast Space Movie Poster

Hello Everyone!,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in some time. My wife has finally begun swiftly recovering from her health issues and I can start (slowly) ramping up production on "Vast Space".

Firstly, I think I've finally decided to give the project it's final name, "Vast".

Here is a poster that I've been playing with that gives an intentionally misleading darker tone to the short:

 

I have many more poster ideas to come.

 

Thank you for all the prayers for me and my family. She's doing so much better.

Hugo's Tool Kit

I decided to design a toolkit for Hugo to work on his spacecraft and around the campsite with. Mainly, it will be on the landing gantry with him to supplement his lance. The tool kit will hold large tools in a magnetic suspension field so that in zero gravity, you can just put the tool in the field to 'dock' it. The tool box has a rotary inner barrel that has six magnetic suspension fields for tools. You can select which tool you want by just pressing a button and the rotary inner barrel will rotate to the selected tool.

Wute Retopolization

I had to retopolize the Wute for efficient/ease-of-animation sake. I think he looks a bit better. I made his toes a little thinner for grasping surfaces and a little longer so that he could jump more naturally, like a kangaroo.

Whew! Finally rigged landing gear/airlock gantry

Hello everyone,
I haven't posted in quite some time. My wife's been in the hospital going on three weeks now. Very serious stuff. I'd been staying in hotel rooms to be near her. Now that she's out of some of the worst of it, I've transitioned back to our apartment.

Since I've been back home, I started working on Vast Space again in an attempt to take my mind off of everything for a while. To that end, I have taken the rigs for the landing gear and the airlock gantry and combined them into the main model. I'll probably post a test movie soon to show how everything looks in motion, but for now, here's a photo of everything extended.

New Landing Gear

It's been a while since i've posted. I started work on the new Spartan-Flower's landing gear. It looks a bit more sturdier, easier to rig (and animate), plus it has shock absorbers which SHOULD work - don't know how I'll rig 'me yet, but I'll figure that out on the other side.

The Spartan-Flower seems to be coming together as a model and rig quite well.

SpartanFlower Landing Gear Update

I tentatively rigged the landing gear for the SpartanFlower, but unfortunately there are several problems, principle among them is the design. It looks too flimsy to support the 'Flower's weight. Another problem is that when unfolded, the gear barely reaches the ground and it doesn't have enough room for the shock absorbers to take effect. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Airlock/Gantry Rigged

I rigged up the airlock/gantry for the Spartan-Flower. I may add a winch to the platform portion so that the entire thing doesn't have to come down. I didn't texture anything yet. I call this airlock/gantry system, "The Plank."

Airlock entry with Elevator and Ladder

Created the preliminary look for the airlock entry way with ladder and platform. I'll have to examine how it looks before I decide to finalize this.

Another View with door logo

Next Steps for Vast Space

Command Deck:
So I finally got the Command Deck to where I want it to be (minus a few things here and there).

Spartan-Flower Airlock:
The next set I need to build is the airlock of the Spartan-Flower. I need a close-up of the airlock/elevator system for when Hugo actually reaches the planet's surface.

Moon's Surface
I was considering modeling the planet's surface, but I decided that that would be easier done using Vue X Stream (an enviromental modeling program that has a plug-in integrated for Maya.) This way, I can add several instances for the rocks, stones, boulders, pebbles and randomize their placement. This should be really fun.

I believe that should be it for the sets. Next up is finalizing the character rigs.

The Wute:
I've learned even more about rigging and I think I'd like to apply that to the Wute character. That means re-rigging. This is probably the third or fourth time I'll be rigging this character. However, practice makes perfect!

Hugo Vast:
I think Hugo's modeled how I want him to be. Just have to rig him. I only want to do it once, so I'm practicing on another character called, Giga-Man, until I more thoroughly understand the rigging, skinning and weighting system.

Spartan-Flower:
Rigging the landing gear and elevator system is next for this beast.

Once the characters and environments are done, I'll just have to concentrate on the special effects (particles for the thrusters, scripting/particles for footstep dust and managing large crowds) and then the hardest part - and arguably funnest - would be the animation and editing. Whew!

Clipboard

Created a clipboard for Hugo to have on the console of the SpartanFlower.

Virtual Keyboard

I added a virtual keyboard and touch display. Not sure it I'm going to add the tubes and wires (well, perhaps one or two). I might try and add some atmospheric haze to the scene.

Holographic Displays

I just added in the holographic test screens for the command deck. These screens won't be the final ones (those will be animated), but I'm still nailing down the look.:

Control Console

It's finally coming together and getting closer to the look I envisioned in my head. I've added all those neat dials, switches, toggles and lights and made some of them incandesent. Next steps are adding the tubing & wiring under the console and hanging from the ceiling. Finally I'll have to design animated, holographic displays to make the scene come alive.

Amazingly, you'll probably only see this room for mere seconds in the short film.

Note: I added the starfield background as an afterthough in post.

Control Toggles

Here are some toggles, switches and knobs I've created for the Spartan-Flower's control panel:

Deck Lighting

A test of some deck lighting using Maya Mental Ray. No textures and still need to populate with plenty of objects. I guess I should add a mass of cables under the console. Perhaps even some cables/wires hanging from the ceiling. Most of the console objects are proxy objects.

Populating the Command Deck (or stacking crap)

Thought I'd start populating the command deck of the 'Flower with stuff to make it look cramped, crowded and kind of like a broom closet. Here are some crates to start with:

Crate Color Test

Command Deck

I finally created a command deck layout that I'm happy with. It's just in the preliminary stages, but it already has most of the features that I like. The lighting, instruments and displays will be extremely fun to play with. There is some space left and right of the console that's going to be filled with all kinds of crap (it's going to be cramped looking), including things that just shouldn't be on a command deck. I want to to kind of look like a high tech broom closet.

I haven't added a ceiling yet, but I might put up some kind of futuristic chandelier.

Command Chair

It's been a while since I've posted. So many other little projects going on.

Months ago, I designed a chair for Hugo's ship, The Spartan-Flower. The original chair design was impractical so I redesigned a simpler chair for him. I needed something that read quickly as a futuristic-type chair and was easy for Hugo to sit in. I didn't think I needed a lot of complex straps or head rests (as I considered that a bit too cliche), so I went back to the sixties for a design influence. I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Now that I've decided on a command chair design, I'm off to design the Spartan-Flower's bridge itself.

Another Good Book

A great book that explains the process of pitching an animation project to a major studio is, "Animation Development: From Pitch to Production" by David B. Levy. It's an easy-to-read book with many examples of pitches and stories that let you know how and why things work the way they work in Hollywood.

Back on the Wagon!

I haven't posted anything "Vast Space" related in a while. Real life often intrudes while trying to work on my projects. There are several assets left to create for the "Vast Space" movie short. Since I created the SpartanFlower (Hugo's ship) in Electric Image Modeler using NURBS, it doesn't seem to come into Maya very well. I'll have to either figure out a workaround or refine my model in Silo.

I believe I'll try modeling the terrain in Silo first before opting to get EON Vue to model terrain.

Still have to redesign the interior of the SpartanFlower for a more realistic layout.

Below are my first attempts about three years ago (uggh):

Type-55 Jump Yacht

Couldn't wait to work on this vehicle. It won't be used in the movie short, "Vast Space", but hopefully it will be in another part of the series. It's a corporate personal yacht - the smallest with a Corinthian Jump Drive - that is generally used by upper corporate personel to get from place to place quickly.

Hugo Vast Turntable

Here's a turntable that I made of Hugo Vast.

EVA Robot Walk cycle

Finally got around to creating a simple walk cycle for the EVA Robot. It still needs a bit of bounce at the end of steps, but it's a 'step' in the right direction (*groan*).

I've done some simple, simple environment tests for the planet surface that the SpartanFlower will land on. I'm hoping to work on that some this week and perhaps finish the landing gear for the SpartanFlower as well.

SpartanFlower landing gear

I created a new preliminary design for the SpartanFlower's landing gear. It's got two pistons and a swing landing pad. I'm hoping that it fits well inside the SpartanFlower's gear wells. Rigging this should be hella fun!!!

Another (slightly modified & corrected) view of the landing gear:

New SpartanFlower

So far so good. The new SpartanFlower is well on it's way. I made a few design decisions that were for the best. Originally, the 'Flower was going to be totally spherical. The more time I put into her, the more I decided that some design decisions should be made for "realism's" sake. The windows are external with braces on them, the main thrusters are bigger and protrude less, the communications laser is in the rear and the maneuvering thrusters are not directly underneath the main bridge window. Still have to design the front hatch though.

SpartanFlower

I've decided to remodel the SpartanFlower. This decision was to correct a number of mistakes in the original creation of the ship. The ship was initially supposed to have a large communications laser that was to sit flush with the hull on the rear section. Because of various problems with the program I used to model it, I couldn't accomplish this. I first modeled it in a program called Electric Image Modeler (EIM). This was a NURBS modeling program and could be very cranky. Now I'll attempt to model it using Silo, a subdivision surfaces modeler. Hopefully, this will give me the control I need to model very specific pieces.

Here are my results from the first half hour of modeling (with interruptions):

First steps!

It's alive! ALIVE!!! Finally finished rigging the EVA Robot. It was a great experience. Rigging can be fun sometimes when you don't have to deal with skin weights (although I have to dig deep into that in the next couple of months).

Next order of business; remodeling the SpartanFlower, Hugo's surveying ship. Created the original ship in Electric Image Modeler from NURBS. It translates rather badly into Maya (although the textures look great in EIAS). There were some things I wasn't proud of with that ship (landing gear, no communications laser, no cockpit shielding), but I look forward to correcting all of that. It's going to be fun working out the mechanics of the landing gear to include shock absorbers.

I'm not sure whether to create the planet set in Vue or just use Maya. Vue will probably be superquick, but it's a program that I'll need to learn and I'd still need to bring it into Maya to use it with my other stuff. I may have to rig the plant that the Wutes use for sustenance as well (unless I can just slap a couple of deformers onto it to have it sway in the wind.)

EVA Robot Rigged

First small test animation:

EVAR: Storage Position

Just about finished rigging the beast. I'm feeling more comfortable about rigging in Maya, and that's a good thing! Still haven't finished texturing or sculpting on the robot so I thought I'd get something accomplished. Here's an example of the EVA Robot in it's storage position:

EVA Robot

Just a bit more detail. Slowed down today by a bit of sickness, but I'm determined to finish the texturing this holiday weekend.

EVA Robot: Space Module

When the EVA Robot is needed to repair the ship on a space walk, it ditches it's leg module and uses it's maneuvering thrusters to get from place to place outside the ships. It's big flood lights can illuminate the darkest shadows and it has two doors for it's robotic arms in the front.

I can't wait to finish texturizing and then distressing all the paint and materials (perhaps add a dent or two similar to the SpartanFlower herself).

Extra-vehicular Auxiliary Robot

Finally found a lighting solution that might be nice for the robot's floodlights and camera lights. Now for the endless tests. Still some texturing and hard surface sculpting needed for the body details (not to mention the dirtying it up a bit). Still not quite satisfited with the ankle and feet of the robot. Much to ponder...

Maintaining Momentum

On of the hardest parts of a personal project of this type is maintaining momentum. Life starts invading every aspect of a personal project. People get sick, you have to make real money, computers break down, vacations, holidays, they all combine to create a situations that distract you from your goals.

I constantly strive to keep my momentum up. I try to achieve this through watching other peoples films, shorts, looking at inspirational artwork and talking to like-minded people.

New Robot for Hugo

Here's the new design for Hugo's robot companion. Still have to do a ton of work in detailing, textures, UV's and rigging, but I'm very pleased with the initial work.