Render of the day

I love animating this butterfly.  Her name is Winter if anyone was wondering.

Working away on scenes

After rendering, I take all my frames into after effects to adjust the final image.  Depth, reflection, specularity, shadows, and everything else to make it look the best I can.  I like how it's coming out.  I hope the look of these films continues to improve over time.

Butterfly ambient occlusion render

A render of the day, or quarter render.

Render of the day

The first in film render of the butterfly finished today.  The background still needs to be added.

Renders of the day

Here's the render of the day.  Luckily this scene started and finished rendering completely in one day.  All the others have taken a few days to complete, but this was a short shot.

Another luxurious home

Another amazing exterior house model by Ginger Schultz

Background houses by Modeler Ginger Schultz

One of the houses made by 3D modeler Ginger Schultz to decorate the exterior shots.

Need to post more!

I'm constantly working on these projects, and because of that it's extremely easy to fall into them and lose track of time.  Because of this I tend to not update often, which I don't like.  I'm hoping to change that and try to work up a discipline to update with anything, even if it's just to say I'm still rendering a scene.  Here's hoping I can get into it!

Rendering continues.

After dealing with a tough scene with an animated texture (which didn't work so well on rendering), I'm back to rendering more scenes from Act 2 of Suicide friends while also animating scenes from the Grim.  I'm really loving the depth in the renders so far.

Rendering Act 2

After creating 3250 frames of animation and cloth simulation, I'm ready to render the first scenes of Act 2.  While I render the scenes I'm moving back to the second episode of the Grim to animate scenes from Act 1.  I try to keep busy.

Animating Dialogue

The first animation of dialogue started today.  Soon I'll need to post a video of the characters with dialogue.  I really like how the voices of Michelle Chin (Dana) and Juliet Drake (the Butterfly) are matching with the characters.

Butterfly animation begins

This week I'm beginning the first animations of the butterfly in the hospital scenes. Here's an image of the work in progress.

A midnight call

Dana in the hospital

Here's a quick render of Dana in the hospital.  this week I plan to continue touching up the scene before rendering on this scene begins.

Animating Act 2

Animation on parts of act 2 in the hospital room have started.

lighting and texture develpment.

After animating the first scenes of Dana, I rendered them and found that they didn't seem right.  So I went back and added a few things (tapping her foot, biting her nails, and eventually tugging at her fingers, much more lively).  Since I'll need to render her again, and These are still the first scenes being done, I went back and adjusted the lighting to reflect the cloudy day that will be outside.  I also fixed Dana subsurface scattering so it's not as prominent.  Along with this I adjusted her eyes and added a light to give them a nice sparkle.  I did this to all the model to get the best look I can.  I'll start rendering her scenes this week after adjusting the camera.  I'm taking inspiration for camera positions from my favorite film makers.  This means I'm watching a lot of Wes Anderson and Coen Brothers films.

Animation begins!

Animation has begun on Suicide Friends.  This project has been in development for so many years, I'm glad to start moving in a path that will see it completed.  Here is an image of Dana being set up for animation. She's still being positioned, which is why her hands look like they're in mid hambone.  It's great to see her on set.

the bookshelf

This area probably took the most time, and may only be seen at one point in the film from the far side and most likely not up close.  Along with a 3D puzzle of the Tempietto and some made up young adult novels written by Timm Bird (for Bruce Timm and Brad Bird), some of the other books include "The Once and Future King", "The Metamorphosis", "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "Edgar Allan Poe", "Don Quixote", and 3 "Spectral art books", a play on Spectrum.

Bedroom set complete

lighting will be adjusted according to the scene, but now it's time to start animating.

Time to complete the room textures.

Posters have been set on the wall, books on the shelf, magazines set about, a desk chair has been added.  Now I need to start on texturing Dana's room.  after that I'll start animating some scenes.  I'm still doing this along with the Grim project. so texture a few things here, then adjust some animation on the Grim. I have something of a rhythm going.

furnishing the bedroom

After building different props, I'm now working to decorate Dana's room.  The lighting is something I'll do later depending on the scene.  At the moment I have a sunlight as a temporary, though I really like the ghost house feel it gives.

textured figurines

a few textured figures to decorate Dana's room. even included one of them anime figures the kids seem to like these days (which I made from the old big eyed Dana model). that's what kids like right? mini figures, anime, and the musical stylings of the Oak Ridge Boys, right?

small props for Dana's room

I'm working on one of the last rooms needed for the film, Dana's room.  To make sure it feels like a girls room I'm making numerous props of trinkets, posters, and other items.  here's an image of some of the small figures being made to decorate her shelves.

Hospital room with lighting

After texturing I'm now setting up the lighting in the hospital room.  I believe I nearly have the look I need for the film.  After this there's three more interior sets to build, then some exteriors.

board games

These props will most likely not be close enough to see and will only appear at an angle. Someday I may make a gallery. "The props you may have never noticed or could hardly see."

The hospital is almost there

The hospital room is coming along and looks nice in the day light.  I'll change this later as it only appears in night scenes.

Get well soon cards

I tried to give each card a different style, and each one says something on the inside and has signatures.  The signatures may not be visible in the film except at a certain angle, but just in case the camera hits that angle or further, I didn't want to have nothing inside.

Dana's get well soon table.

With the hospital room built, I've moved on to textures, starting with the table next to Dana's bed.

The hospital room

In about 3 days the hospital room has been made and is ready for texturing, a personal record which I hope will only get better. I took my time to add detail including sprinklers, a fire alarm, and latches on the window.  creating these sets is becoming a lot of fun.

final lighting for the waiting room

After adjusting the lights on the sets for the animated projected "The Grim", I came back to the waiting room and finally got the lighting the way I wanted. Now the light looks like it's coming in through the window and the waiting room has a gloomy look to it.  It's always good to design the room around your main character's view point, and that goes for lighting.  This is a place Dana doesn't like being, and I want the color scheme and lighting to convey a depression in the environment.

Waiting room completed

After fixing the waiting room, and then heading downtown and walking through some buildings (If you were a well enough suit and walk with purpose, no one asks why you're there), I believe I reached an end point for the waiting room with two additions. One, a directional plaque at the end of the hall which can only be seen at certain angles but I added it in case that angle shows up in the film, and a water cooler.  Read a magazine and get some water while waiting.  now to make the view outside and then it's on to the next set!

waiting room with new lighting

Tried to redo the lighting in the waiting room and add some depth to hopefully fix the scene.  I believe it's starting to get there.

testing lights and textures in the waiting room

I'm trying to get the lighting right in the waiting room.  The opening takes place on a cloudy day (I'd love to make it rainy, but I don't think I'm ready for rain).  The scene still looks very digital to me.  I'll need to go over it until I reach a look I like.

set creation

Now that the characters have been modeled I'm moving on to sets.  At this time I no longer have the moment to create sets so I'm using the miniatures I already made fro textures.  These are the first images of work for the waiting room, part of the opening scene in the film.  this set had been built before but I'm updating things. Adding magazines on the table, adding new furniture, changing the plants to look more realistic, new light fixtures, and more.

Soon to repost on kickstarter

I'm planning to repost this project on kickstarter soon. I've spoken to a few people to get an idea of a price range for things like sound and music and programs.  I hope that if you can't help by donating, you'll at least share the page once it's up.

Maya butterfly model

The last butterfly was made in 3Dsmax. Rather than import to Maya I thought I'd go on and make a new model from scratch as the max model made about 3 years ago actually has a list of issues (her expressions were limited, her eye blinks were more of an editing trick, the cloth was more a stroke of luck to get it to work, and so on).  Now with more knowledge I was able to make a new model and fully rig her in about 4 days.  This model has many improvements I love compared to the other.  a switch for the wings, and facial controls for the left and right so she can raise a brow and smirk unlike the last one.  I'm noticing that as time goes by my 3D characters are becoming toonier.  Wonder where they'll be in a year.

Gertrude and Dana

Having some fun with renders and I thought I'd do one with Gertrude from the Grim along with Dana from Suicide Friends.