Robot Tutorial Model

Following a tutorial I had found, I produced this 3D robot character that although simple, allowed me to learn a variety of different tools available in 3Ds Max, enabling me to consider how to make complex shapes and structures from a single, simple shape via the implementation of said tools.

I hope that from further experimenting and tutorials I will be able to produce much more complex things and continue to applying textures to them.

Slugs, Trains and Fat Mammals

Slug Invasion from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

Bridge from Ting on Vimeo.

Magnus from Meradi Omar on Vimeo.

Virtual Environments Experiment

From my first seminar on 3Ds Max I experimented with producing a ruined terrain piece that could be implemented into a post apocalyptic environment. From this test I found it easy to manipulate the object and shape it to give it a damaged appearance.

One intention I had when animating my scene was to give my camera a head bob effect as though you were looking from the perspective of my character, walking around the environment, making it appear more natural. By constraining a helper to a path and link the camera to this helper I was able to alter the z-axis at intermittent points to make it appear as though a character was jogging or walking quickly.

By altering the gap between the key frame points I could speed up or slow down the head bob to a desired pace, making it appear as though it's the first person perspective of my character walking through the environment.

Virtual Environment Concept

 A post-apocalyptic environment after a freak disaster, e.g. Nuclear Holocaust, Meteor Strike, Virus, with my character being one of the few survivors. Has a future setting with destroyed environments, survival being key, where there is a mutated threat or tribal/ bandit groups threatening survivors. Tools and other equipment are made from combining equipment scoured from the wasteland with a level of devolution having taken place due to lack of power and modern day technology.

Crumbling structures that are overgrown and rusting with living residences being slum-like, made from scraps of different things, e.g. car parts used for it, sheets of corrugated steel for walls etc. Shells of transport like trains altered into living places,  or small communities created around suitable, safe locations - Subway/ sewers, remote buildings.

Limited power or lighting, natural fire light used in certain areas - bandit or aggressive faction.

Working vehicles that have been customized to survive the wasteland - armoured with weapons attached, spikes.

Overall hostile environment with natural dangers e.g. radiation, mutants. 

Blog Plug

You can see my first attempt at 3Ds Max 2012 since my first year at college on my other blog - http://icandrawstickmenalmost.blogspot.com/

Animation Research

The Artists from Giant Creative on Vimeo.

For The King from Idefagskolen on Vimeo.

Animation Research

The Backwater Gospel - The Animation Workshop

www.animwork.dk

Lady and The Reaper from The Lobby on Vimeo.

Visual Essay- Practitioner Research, Tomasz Bagiński

Originally coming from an architectural studies background, Bagiński left this field to make movies. His first movie Rain (1998) won some local based awards that moved his career to working with Platige Image; a Warsaw based post-production company focusing on advanced animation and special effects for films. His first short film, The Cathedral (2002), took him three years to produce and received first prize at SIGGRAPH, an annual conference attended by computer professionals, held in the United States.

Fallen Art (2004), Bagiński’s second short film received several awards including another at the SIGGRAPH festival in 2005, making him the only artist to have received two main awards from it.

He has done a variety of other works including more short films and game cinematics as well as commercials for a variety of different companies.

His current project is a feature length film entitled Hardkor 44, a steampunk/ fantasy based story of the Warsaw Uprising.

 

From looking at his works I see some common themes within them. The environments he creates are always quite surreal and might have some inspiration from his architectural studies with the level of detail and design that they take, giving them sense to the structure, whilst still having an unrealistic appearance. In his films there is always a great deal of emotion effectively conveyed that grips the audience and makes them more than just a visual piece, but thought provoking as well. The works I have seen all have a deeper underlying message that is not apparent until there dramatic end, making them seem light hearted and comical at first e.g. Fallen Art, but have a moment of strong emotion through a combination of the visual and audio used that portrays the reality of the situation within it.

The main reason his work is both the level of detail as well as the effect it has on the audience, something that I hope to achieve in my own work by having it compelling and have an underlying message. The surrealism of his characters and environments is something I also like with it always having interested me and been something I have personally wanted to create.

Rain (1998)

The Cathedral (2004)

The Kinematograph (2009)

 An Animated History of Poland (2010)

The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings - Intro (2011/12)