Building a Scene in Maya

No lights.

 One point.

Two Point.

Three point rendered with Maya Software because mental ray doesn't come standard with 2016. No cast shadows -___-

Three point lighting before rendering

A Trip to the Tech Museum

Free tickets are pretty cool.

 We have arrived!

 Space Lettuce.

 A souvenir. Till next time...

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Outline for the Third Term Paper

1. Introduction: In Animation there are several eye dazzling moments that capture audiences time and time again. Specifically special effect animations like clouds, water, or magic that helps tie a visual story together and carry viewers through. As audience members we are aware of this moments but do we ever stop to wonder how they are created?  In this paper I will be analyzing the work that went into effects animations for two blockbuster DreamWorks films, The Prince of Egypt and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
   
   
2. Paragraph one: In the Prince of Egypt there were several effects that helped bring the miracles performed in the Bible to life on screen. (Burning bush, Pillar of Fire, Parting of the Red Sea)
   
   
   
   
3. Paragraph two: In Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Eris, the main antagonist was animated and had a wispy, cloudy effect on her at all times. This challenge was achieved by…

1. Conclusion: In conclusion The effects we see on screen would not be possible without the hard work of effects animators and their unique set of problem solving skills

Character Animation

Working link

This stop motion animation was fun but I vastly underestimated how long it would all take. All together it is about 325 frames at 24 fps. I used the trial version of Dragonframe to cut it together in 3 separate takes and put them all together in Photoshop. First I set up my scene and picked my objects (the posable mannequin and hand). At first I wasn’t sure how I wanted them to interact. While test posing the hand I noticed that the index finger kept falling off so I used that as an opportunity for a story. The plan was to have the mannequin place the missing piece on the hand and bring it to life. Then the interaction between the two would be some sort of altercation. I was running short on time for this so I decided to shoot it straight ahead with not much planning in mind. It was difficult on some poses to get the pieces to stand in the way I wanted them to on certain frames. I tried using a kneaded eraser for support in places but inevitably I ended up holding the props with my hands in the shot. I brought those frames into Photoshop, when I was finished shooting, and edited my hands out of them. I wanted to do more, but without a solid plan this one sort of lost steam near the end. All and all I learned a lot and look forward to the next opportunity!