Saix images from the animation

These are some images from the animation.

This is in the beginning of the animation. I placed the light "oblique to the surface" in order to show the "texture" better (Hedgecoe J. 1977, p.182), which I believe the illumination and the camera placement is very effective.

This is the first image shown to the character. I created it using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The illumination is not very efficient because it is a little bit weak.

This is the second image shown to the character. I created it using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I believe that the illumination is weak, as it is the same as in the above image.

This is the character who shows no reaction to these images. In my opinion, the illumination is successful on the character because it is not very strong or weak. However, the wall part behind him is very shady, which makes it not effective enough.

The character goes closer because of the box image, which I created using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The animation of the hair is very efficient, because they are moving correctly, following the movement of the character.

The image of the empty, open box, which I created using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, goes ontop of the others and the character goes back a little bit. Additionally, the intense, first sound of the quote matches with the movement of the last image, which makes it successfull. The lighting is very effective, but the corner is very weakly illuminated.

This is the character talking. The animation of the face is very sucessful, as the correct muscles are moving each time.

This is the character who continues to talk. In my opinion, the less effective part of the mouth movement is when the character says the letter "o" or making the sound of "ooh", similar with this picture.

I believe that this shot is not very effective, because I rendered a small amount of images, making its duration short to read comfortably.

This is the character in the end of the animation. I believe that the expression is very effective because it manages to portray him sad.

This project was my first time making a character talk. I have learned that the keyframe of the character starting saying the letter or sound, should be one or two frames before the actor begin saying the respective letter or sound. Additionally, I realised that I have to make the mouth starting to be in its natural position while the next sound or letter is beginning to form.
I believe that the animation of the face is very sucessful, as the letters and sounds are synchronized with the quote. Additionally, the muscles of the face are moved correctly with the mouth and the eyebrows moving.
The style of the lighting on the character and its sold colours, reminded me the style of the series Paw Patrol.

Source: https://img.clipartfest.com/7fd6fd015b3b11dd7195b79781f82efa_chase-paw-patrol-clipart-paw-patrol-clipart-chase_3600-3600.jpeg



Reference

Hedgecoe J. (1977) The photographer's handbook. Dorling Kindersley, limited. London

Two Saix Renders

This is the render from the front camera.

In my opinion, the lighting for this image is very efficient. The "key light" (Derakhshani D. 2011, p.459) shows the face clearly. The "fill light" (Derakhshani D. 2011, p.460) is a little bit weak, that is why I believe that it is not very sucessful. The "back light" (Derakshani D. 2011, p.461) is not very apparent, but the overall illumination is effective.

This is the render from a 3/4 view.

I believe that this view is more sucessful that the previous one, because the shady part of the face is not very visible.

For the illumination I used the concept of "three-point lighting" (Derakshani D. 2011, p.459) and the "Figure 10.4" as a reference (Derakshani D. 2011, Figure 10.4, p. 460). Additionally, I put the lights "oblique to the surface" in order to show the "texture" better (Hedgecoe J. 1977, p.182). Also, I changed the radius of the main light because "smoother textures can be emphasized by harsh lighting" (Hedgecoe J. 1977, p.182), making it similar with the one designed next to the fifth picture of the page 85 and also based on that picture (Hedgecoe J. 1977, p.85). For all of the lights I used "quadratic" "decay" which "is the same as real-world lighting" (Maestri G. 2005, p.77). Moreover, I used the "Exponent" "2.0" "simulating reality" (Maestri G. 2005, p.95). I used Adobe Photoshop to make the images brighter and also lowered the contrast. The illumination and the solid colours of the character reminded me of the series Paw Patrol.

Source: https://img.clipartfest.com/89a008c3e0704215480df9bf1e0b0cc6_clipart-info-paw-patrol-rubble-clipart_288-340.png


References

Derakshani D. (2011) Introducing Autodesk Maya 2012. Wiley Publishing Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hedgecoe J. (1977) The photographer's handbook. Dorling Kindersley, limited. London

Maestri G. (2005) Maya at a glance. SYBEX. USA.

Saix blend shapes

These are the blend shapes I created for Saix.

This is the blend shape for the mouth correction. Due to the topology of the model, the mouth shape was very odd when it was opening. I pulled the vertices of the left and right edges of the mouth near the center. In that way, the mouth shape was better. I believe that this part is very effective, because the shape of the mouth was improved.

This is the blend shape for the letter "a". I pulled down the lower lip, so this shape in combination with the lowering of the jaw is not exaggerated, which makes it very efficient in my opinion.

This is the blend shape for the letter "e". This shape is very successful because the muscles of the face are also moved as the character says that letter. I realized that by using a mirror and saying the letter. I created the muscle movement by moving the vertices of the face.

This is the blend shape for the letter "i". This is similar with the letter "e", as this shape is very effective because the muscles of the face are also moved. I realized that by using a mirror and saying that letter.

This is the blend shape for the sound of "ooh". In my opinion, the shape is not sucessful enough, because due to the topology, it is not formed very effectively, as it creates a rough shape around the mouth.

 This is the blend shape for the blinking. Because of the shape of the eyes, the faces of the eyelids needed to be moved down a lot. I believe that this shape is not very efficient, however, the animation of the eyes closing and opening will be very fast, so the viewer will not notice it very well.

This is the blend shape for the sad mouth. In my opinion, this is very well-structured, becaue the correct vertices were moved to create the shape and make it seem like the muscles of the mouth are moving.

This blend shape is for the sad eyebrows. I believe that the shape is sucessful because the muscles under the eyebrows, which have a unique shape, are moved. So, during the animation, both the eyebrows and the muscles under are moved, making the movement seem more realistic.

This is the blend shape for the eyebrows moving up. Similar with the sad eyebrows, the muscles under the eyebrows are moving with the eyebrows during the animation, making the movement correct, which makes it very effective.

This is the blend shape for the serious eyebrows. In my opinion, this is very sucessful, because the right muscles are moved under the eyebrows at the same time with them during the animation, making the movement very efficient. Additionally, I created the shape that is being formed above the nose, making the shape more realistic.

This is the blend shape for the letter "o". Similar with the "ooh" blend shape, the mouth is not designed very well, due to its topology. I believe that this shape is not very effective.

This is the blend shape for the letter "v". In my opinion, this shape is very sucessful, because when attached to the main model, the lower lip goes exactly behind the upper teeth.

This is the blend shape for the sound of "sh". I believe that it is not effective enough, because when attached to the main model, the lips go far away from the teeth.

This is the blend shape for the breathing. In my opinion, it is efficient, as the pose is in its extreme, and I used various values of it in order to make the character breathe.

This process was very effective for me. With the use of the mirror, I had the oportunity to see which muscles move in each letter and facial expression. In this way, I believe that the formation of most of the blend shapes was very sucessful. Additionally, I also had two books (Maestri G. 2005, p.123) (Rodriguez D. 2013 p.149) and the tutor's Powerpoint as a reference for the blend shapes which are needed, and their shape as well.

References

Maestri G. (2005) Maya at a Glance. SYBEX Inc. USA

Rodriguez D. (2013) Rigging made easy! David Rodriguez. USA