Reduced Particles Per Second

Quick shot of the reduced amount of particles for my test. I know need them to form on the top face of the polygon and make a still puddle like blob of paint. 

Less particles, but I now need to manipulate them to act like a puddle. Gravity...

nToday

I have been looking at nParticles and how to get them to sit on a piece of geometry like a 'puddle' of paint. So far... I have the test block and the particles are going absolutely everywhere. Let's dig into this and see how to manipulate these wee bandits!

Test block

 Particle party...

 

There's still progress to be made!

Started blocking in the eye socket, mouth and the basis for the ear. Getting there! It's also very windy today...

Maya workspace shot. Who is that guy on the image planes???

 Shaded screen shot of the model so far.

Had a chat with Chris yesterday regarding the motion my character will take in my film. Discussed the possible idea of having the character starting of looking slightly down, then looking up to the side slightly, then turning his head in the opposite direction (towards the camera) and his eyes momentarily locking with camera. I think this will give the feel I am going for. When we are told to not look at the camera, no matter what, the human will always have a quick glance at the camera. Interesting...

Being...

So some of my research will be completely abstract, some will be meaningful to my project and some will exist because of their symbolism and iconic nature. We exist on this planet, but we as a human 'being' will never know why. Are we just a number in a system, who's 'life' is determined by time? Why?

 

An update?

This may well be another update. Loads of tweaking. It's starting to take shape :D INSERT EDGE LOOP TOOL! It's getting there. I've been taking some snaps of my glasses as they will also need to be modeled.

A quick shaded snapshot of the head.

Here it is with the wire frame and reference photos.

It's underway!

Here are some quick snapshots of what I'm doing for my project. Modelling my own head is a bit strange at time, but it's kinda fun! Had a quick discussion today with Carlo and Dan about 2k/4k textures and what would be best for our films respectively. Anyway, here are the images.

Some wire frame fun going on here!

 

Shaded version of my head. 1.0

 

What the...?!!

Is This Life?

Basic idea of the film is a photo realistic model of myself, existing in it's immediate space.

There is no real story to the film, other than the character 'being'.

The character is in a fixed position throughout the entire film.

The character blinks, moves it's head slightly and twitches like a natural human being would, if sitting 'still'.

Eye movement and lip movement are slight.

The film in total is roughly 30 seconds.

Personal Aims

My aim for this film is to gear myself towards a possible role in the gaming industry doing FMV sequences or possibly films.

I want to concentrate on the modelling of the head and make sure the topology and flow of the model is perfect.

I will also being taking a keen interest in lighting and compositing as they will be vital to the final outcome of the film.

Film Aims

To make the viewer question if it is real or computer generated.

To make the viewer ask what the film is actually about.

It's about life and why we exist.

Is this life?

In progress...

My idea is now a much simpler one, yet it will still allow me to achieve what I want. What do I want? Photo-realism. The animation ideas for my films are very subtle and slight and the aim is to make the viewer believe the character is real.

I'll be looking at a couple of Gnomon Workshop dvds, some Digital Tutors courses and hopefully be able to acquire a book called 'The Face' by Ballistic Publications. I've also been given contact with the head of Forensics at uni which will allow me to really dig in deep into the facial expressions and muscle movement side of things.

Until next time...