I decided that Hugo needed a sounding board, a robot companion. Not too smart, but he can get the job done. This is my preliminary design for him. He general runs on one gyros-stabilized wheel when in the ship. He has an all-terrain module for running along the surface of a planet and a helical unit for scouting a planet from above. For space walks, he sports two thruster units for maneuvering while repairing the ship.

The Well of Creativity by Reginald Thomas Jr.

Many people have a problem being creative on-demand. There's a saying that goes, "A professional is someone who does his best work EVEN when he doesn't feel like it." Fortunately, for me, I am in a business where I constantly have to produce on demand. This has trained me to learn how to be creative in a stressful environment.

Originating Ideas
My first attempt to cure a creative block or even if I need some inspiration when working on a new project is browsing through my library of reference books. These are usually in the form of some art books or magazines. The intent is to stimulate the creative juices, not to steal ideas, but to look at another person's approach to a design problem and possibly gain insight. Looking at good design usually inspires me to start creating something of my own.

Utilizing "Happy Mistakes"
A random event that can turn into a great virtue that can aid you immensely in your creativity is what is called the "Happy Mistake." Happy Mistakes are usually errors committed in the early design phase that can change the way you look at the original intention of the design, even changing your design entirely!

Iterations, Iterations, Iterations
Finally comes the subject of iterations. Some of the artists I've known in the past have the thought that the first idea that comes to them is good enough to be their final idea. They believe they can't improve on their first design. While this may, just MAY be true (more likely if they are their own client), in all probability the first design could just be a good start to several great designs. Iterations are the act of repeating a design with different variations to achieve the final goal of a design or purpose visual, mechanically or organically.
Personally, with a new design, I try to do four to ten different variations of a design to nail the concept in place. If it's for a client, I might even do more than that (depending on the deadline). When you have the iterations all done, it's easy to look at them and decide what works and what doesn't.

In the final analysis, it's all about using the fire of other's people's design and artistic expressions to re-kindling the fire of your own creativity and keeping an open mind to capitalizing on your own mistakes.

Useful Books of Learning

I haven't had much schooling in the ways of developing animation concepts or productions. However, I don't mind learning. Sometimes reading a good book by someone who has experience in areas you don't is the best thing you can possibly do. One good book I'm in the process of devouring is "Animation Development from Pitch to Production" by David B. Levy. Good book. Tells you all the ins and outs of pitching and producing animated projects to studios.

Another good book is "Writing Movies for Fun and Profit" Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It's a funny, funny book that tells you simply EVERYTHING you need to know about the business of screenwriting. Very easy read and extremely informative book.

Finally, a good no nonsense book for me is "So You Want to Be a Producer" by Lawrence Turman. This book outlines the entire process of producing entertainment from finding a story, obtaining rights, developing scripts, hiring cast and crew and distributing your movie.

My learning philosophy is, "If you want to know something, either find out who knows it and talk to them or read about it from as close to the source as you can get." These books are as close to the source as I could get!

Production Paintings/Sketchings

Starting to work on some production paintings/sketches depicting the feel I want for the landscape of the planet. I'll probably start tomorrow night and continue during the weekend. Hopefully I'll have something to post next week sometime.

Production Map of the planet

The Wute - Rigging Process

Starting to rig the Wute. Seems simple, but the three toes and short knees really made it difficult to figure out how he moves.

Hugo Vast Surveyor Lance

Hugo's Surveying Lance. This Lance acts as a scanner, surveying apparatus and a claims stake that will communicate with satellites installed in orbit.

Hugo Vast with texturing

Here is some preliminary texturing and UV's of Hugo done in Maya 2011. I'm starting to love Maya's abilities although I still find Silo to be a cleaner and easier interface for modelling.

Hugo modeling

Hugo modeled in Silo and rendered in ZBrush. Different views showing front, side and close-ups.

The Wute

Here is the nemesis of "Vast Space", the Wute. He's a small opponent, but he's tenacious.

SpartanFlower views

SpartanFlower views from the front, top and side.

Hugo "Vast" Vastigon Preliminary Sketches

Here are some of the first design sketches for Hugo Vastigon, captain of the SpartanFlower.

SpartanFlower

These are the first production drawings of the SpartanFlower, Hugo Vastigon's ship in "Vast Space" and the final look of the SpartanFlower.

The Beginning (sort of)

Well, this is it. This is the start of the blog for the Vast Space Project. "Vast Space" is a 3D animated short I've been working on "Vast Space" for the last two years or so to promote my company (Thomas Creative Studio) and learn lots of cool stuff in the meanwhile.

A little about the Vast Space Project: "Vast Space" will be an 3D CGI animation that takes place about 200 years in the future. It centers on a man named Hugo Vastigon, a space surveyor, who's job it is to find new worlds, planetoids and asteroids with important minerals to exploit and lay claim. The rights to these spatial objects are then sold to various corporations and governments around the galaxy.The various adventures Hugo has while prospecting are the results of these travels.

The purpose of this blog is to share and document my progress while creating the movie short, "Vast Space." I will be posting various production sketches, rudimentary scripts, 3D designs and test animations along with different thoughts on CGI and being an artist.