Final Movie!!

Hope you enjoy it!

To do!

With the deadline fast approaching, here is my to do list:

• Finish lighting the rest of the shots
• Return to 070 and add more contact shadows to Old Mother Hubbard's feet
• Test render to find best settings for final renders
• Final renders
• Music/sound effects
• Title/credit cards
  

Lit scenes

Scene 7 without ambient occlusion




Scene 5 with ambient occlusion

Lighting!

Here is my lighting turntable.

Actual lighting: first draft

Lighting Key version2

Here's a second version of my lighting key.  I think it looks a lot better (thanks for the feedback!)  Hopefully others agree...

Lighting Key

Here is my photoshop drawn version of my idea for lighting.  Also, I have some images I found of sunny kitchens for reference.  I would like this too look like a sunny morning in an inviting and warm kitchen.

I like the pool of window light on the floor in the image above.

I like the overall lightness and cheeriness of this image.  

I like the gradient of light on the wood floor in this image.

Textures

watercolor style

I'm working on concept for my textures, and I would like to try to create a watercolor-like style for the colors of the objects in my scene.  I like the colors of the images I have in previous posts, but I will try to emulate the texture of watercolors like the photos below which I got from the web.

Touched Up Motion

In response to feedback I received on Monday, I tweaked the animation in both shots where you can see the mom. People suggested that she looked a little stiff and that I should add some more motion in her legs. So, that's what I've done :)

color ideas

Animatic!

Here's the animation I am submitting for the animation grade. Hope you enjoy it!

Updated shot 4

Animatic version2

I have made some improvements upon the last animatic. Namely, I adjusted some of the timing and improved the animation of shots 1,2,3, and 5. I think with the timing changes and improved animation, the story is more clear. I will be adding animation (beyond the plain blocking) for the rest of the shots as well. Also, I changed some of the cameras for these shots slightly as well. Please comment if you have any more suggestions.

I am worried that the pacing of the beginning is a little funny. The dog builds up excitement, and then by shot 4, it looks like he is just lying there. He is supposed to be panting, and I believe with actual animation (coming soon) I will make this more clear. However, I'm wondering if the shot before that (from the dog's point of view where he looks up at the cabinet) is slowing down the pace too much? I believe sound effects will improve this (panting/whining...). But, to see, I rendered a version with and without this third shot. Perhaps without the shot, the pace is better? Again, comments would be great!

With shot 3




Without shot 3

Animatic Version1

Here is my first version of the animatic. The goal of this is for me to get the layout and general timing/action figured out. At this point, my action is just blocked in, and the motion is stepped between keyframes. I haven't added much detail or finely timed out the motion.
I am planning on adding time to both the third shot where the dog looks up at the cupboard, and add a little time to where the mom holds the empty box.
If you have any suggestions, please leave me some comments--all suggestions are appreciated!

Blocked in motion coming...

I have been working on setting up all my shots and blocking in the motion to make sure the overall timing and story make sense. The goal is to get a complete first pass together by tomorrow. So, look back tomorrow...

Character Traits

Dog (aka "Sparky")
-Simple, gullible, pleases easily, trusting
-Persistent because he's an optimist and expects everything will work out
-Loves mom and bones
-His reaction to not having the bone is at first surprised because he was really expecting it to be there then really sad it's not
-Then he's happy and all transgressions are forgotten

Shot List

1. Close up of dog's nose sniffing--omh010 (for Old Mother Hubbard, shot 1)
   
2. Wideshot of kitchen as dog sniffs and barks--omh020
3. Dog's point of view looking up--omh030
4. Over dog's shoulder looking up at the door--omh040
5. Over dog's shoulder as mom's hand opens the cabinet (perhaps same as 3?)--omh050
6. Looking down at the dog's sad reaction from the mom's point of view--omh060
7. Looking up at the mom with bone (from dog's point of view or perhaps higher?)--omh070
8. Same as 6--see dog's happy reaction--omh080
   

Rigging Update

This week, I have been in the process of rigging my models. So far, Mother Hubbard has an FK spine and IK legs/arms because she mainly will be reaching for things (doornob, cupboard, bone box). She also has stretchy arms, facial blend shapes for her smile, and set driven keys to control her hands and feet.

My doggie also has IK legs and an FK spine. His tail is FK, and his ears are stretchy with an IK spline solver controlling them. I am considering adding a jiggle deformer to the ears if I have time to figure it out. He also has blend shape facial expressions. Both models have yet to be weight painted, but that is coming soon!

Principles of Animation

Here are some youtube links of clips that highlight some of Disney's principles of animation that I plan to use in my video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZKGaxflCs&NR=1
*This shows the anticipation of the dog about to bark as well as the follow-through of his ears.

http://www.youtube.com/user/boltmovie?blend=1&ob=4
*In this clip, bolt looks up at the tall buildings, and this is an example of staging that I would like to use when the dog looks up at the cabinet. It will show how small he is in relation to the kitchen.

Models due!

Modeled Characters

Here are the turntable views of my two characters:

A first stab at character models!

Here are images of my first version of the Mother Hubbard and doggie character models. They are definitely going to be refined more, but this is what I have for now.

Alternate Endings

I've been working on different endings to the story to make it a little more satisfying, so here's what I have come up with:

1) The version posted previously where we end on the angry dog.

2) The bone box is revealed to have no more bones, and we cut to the dog hanging his head in sadness. There is a close up of Mother Hubbard's face, and she snickers at her joke on the little dog. Suddenly her face changes to surprise and we cut to the dog biting and tearing at her slipper in revenge.

3) The bone box is revealed to have no more bones, and we cut to the dog hanging his head in sadness. He is so sad, he then flops to the floor, unconsolable.

4) The bone box is revealed to have no more bones, and we look down from Mother Hubbard's height at the sad puppy. Then, we look up at Mother Hubbard, and she shakes the last bone she had hidden behind her back. We look to the dog who leaps up in joy.

Character Design

Here are my character design concepts for both characters.

First, Mother Hubbard:

And her dog:

And together to scale:

Now an idea in color (though the characters aren't to scale):

The following two images are initial sketches of both characters, but I have outlined a number of dog poses that I like:

Also, here are some reference images for different aspects of the characters:

This is how the dog will lie all tired out:

Mother Hubbard's slippers will look like this:

bunnyslippers.com

Ok, after feedback from the last class session, I have made changes both to my story as well as my ideas for character design. I now imagine my characters both with big long noses--to follow in the idea that pets often look like their owners. As for the setting, I want this to take place in a cozy little kitchen. At the moment I am struggling with keeping the setting simple and yet making it look cozy. I like the following images of kitchens:

(click on the photos for their source)

My storyboards are posted below:

Nursery Rhyme Ideas

Old Mother Hubbard

Went to the cupboard

To get her poor doggie a bone.

When she got there,

The cupboard was bear

And so her poor doggie got none.