Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Shave and a Haircut Fur Test 01


I tested out the Shave and a Haircut software at school for the senior project I was working on. Although our pipeline called for Maya Fur only, I wanted to spend a few minutes in the Shave software to see what I could create for llama fur. After only just a few minutes, I was able to have full control over the direction, length, colour, and spec of the hair strands.

I would have preferred to use Shave over Fur since it gives the animator more control over hair attributes, our lab only had 6 Shave render licenses, which could have posed a problem later and increased render times for the llamas. Posted is a test render of the fur test I had created in Shave after only a few minutes.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Final Llemitt the Llama Maya Fur Image


Here is a final render of the Maya Fur I created within Maya 2008. The llama has many painted attribute maps, as well as a combination of preset fur settings. I rendered the llama out in Maya 2008 after adding a simple 3-point lighting set up. I will render out a turntable with the Renderman render engine in the next few days.

Maya Fur & Llemitt the Llama


For the current undergrad senior production, I was put in charge of Maya Fur and Hair as Character Finisher Technical Lead and Director. My fellow classmate and friend created the concept art for Llemitt the llama. He then modeled and textured the character within Maya and Mudbox. I was then given the sculpted model and was given the task to create Maya Fur for him. Here is what Llemitt looked like right after getting the Maya Fur length attribute maps to work.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Maya Fur: Reserach and Development!


For the senior short animation production, I have been put in charge of Maya Fur for the llama characters.

The Republic of San Marino



Within the borders of Italy, lies another country: the Republic of San Marino. We stayed the night in this small country and walked between its towers during the day.

Cinque Terra, Italia




We camped for two nights in the Cinque Terra region along the Mediterranean. The second day we hiked the Cinque Terra trail. Since we started the hike at noon in the hot, blazing sun, I refused to hike the last trail. We decided to eat lunch right along the Med and then took the ferry that docked adjacent to the restaurant to the last town of Monterosso al Mare. The picture I took is of town of Corniglia. However, my favourite town was Vernazza.

Venice, Italy

I took this picture of the Grand Canal in the Summer of 2008 in Venice, Italy. We spent two nights in Venice before, my boyfriend and I, took an independent tour of Italy.

After spending a week in Serre de Rappallano, located just outside of Siena, I met my boyfriend in Venice. After spending two nights in a wonderful B&B, which had a Harry Potter-like entrance, we took the train to the Cinque Terra Region. Each of us had our own Global Eurail Passes, which made trip very relaxed and worry-free.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Current Animation Projects


Over winter break I will be working on a few individual animation projects.

Currently, I am rebuilding my Alhambra Environment, based on the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. My original environment was built completely from Nurbs surfaces. My new environment will now include the entire Alhambra and Generalife grounds, and will be built from Poly surfaces. Above is a screen capture of my block model.