Wednesday, May 23, 2012
LA Zoo Sketches
We went to the LA Zoo on Saturday to draw some animals. Was a good time lugging my big drawing pad around. But, I think I need more practice with animals... Was tonnes of fun!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Anxiety Sculpt Finished!!! Well, almost...
This is a sculpture I've been working on since the beginning of January 2012. It is my first sculpt with a realistic human and is a very personal piece. I haven't baked it to harden yet, she is still soft and mouldable, but I couldn't wait to post! Below are images and a description of what this sculpture represents....
The woman symbolizes a victim of an anxiety disorder.
She has closed her eyes because she finds herself blind to reality.
She has an expression of despair, she wants to escape her thoughts and pain but is trapped and helpless.
She is naked and bald; vulnerability experienced by the victim.
She is exhausted because she is unable to sleep.
She is somewhat thin; malnutrition from lack of appetite, inability to eat.
Demon symbolizes the anxiety within the mind that tortures the victim.
They speak and yell at her, they symbolize the inner uncontrollable and obsessive thoughts she fights against.
Demon Heads symbolize different manifestations of anxious thoughts: terror, torment, emptiness/fear.
The demon is part of the woman, they are inseparable.
Media: super sculpey, primo, aluminium foil, wires.
The woman symbolizes a victim of an anxiety disorder.
She has closed her eyes because she finds herself blind to reality.
She has an expression of despair, she wants to escape her thoughts and pain but is trapped and helpless.
She is naked and bald; vulnerability experienced by the victim.
She is exhausted because she is unable to sleep.
She is somewhat thin; malnutrition from lack of appetite, inability to eat.
Demon symbolizes the anxiety within the mind that tortures the victim.
They speak and yell at her, they symbolize the inner uncontrollable and obsessive thoughts she fights against.
Demon Heads symbolize different manifestations of anxious thoughts: terror, torment, emptiness/fear.
The demon is part of the woman, they are inseparable.
Media: super sculpey, primo, aluminium foil, wires.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Q&A With A Student
I was recently asked by Steve Reister, a student at Ferris State University in the Digital Animation and Game Design Program, some questions for one of his final assignments to find out more about a job position he is interested in. He had some great questions and I enjoyed helping out, I decided to share this dialogue below:
You have a diverse background in the arts, including 3d modeling design and other traditional skills; what about character rigging specifically interested you?
I knew I wanted to work in computer animation ever since I was 14 years old but didn't know exactly what part of the process I wanted to do. After taking a computer animation course where we were able to try storyboarding, designing, modeling, texturing, rigging and animation, and working for a few years in the industry as a designer and modeler, I realized that rigging was the most interesting to me. I chose to focus solely on rigging as a career because I enjoy the problem solving that goes into the creation of a character rig and satisfaction to see what animators can do with my characters. I also enjoy the challenge of giving the animators what they need in order to make the character look and move the way they want. It is a great collaboration and I really love the part I play in it. I also enjoy rigging because I like taking these gorgeous models that the modeling artists create and making them look good, if not better when they are moving around and acting. Painting weights to me is like sculpting a character in every possible pose and if I can fool the eye into thinking there is real bone and muscle and skin moving there, then that is very exciting!
What has been the greatest challenge getting to where you are now?
The greatest challenge for me was actually learning how to use 3D software in college. When I was learning to use Maya for the first time at age 24, after years of just working in 2D art forms, I struggled to get accustomed to the concept for the first couple of months.
What's been your favorite project that you have worked on?
My favorite project so far has been the Lost Planet 3 cinematic trailer. It was the first time that I had a chance to work on an original character such as the quadrupedal creatures. I really like how that project came together and it turned out to be a very beautiful piece.
How has your experience at Blur Studios been?
My experience at Blur has been amazing. I enjoy the variety and quality of projects and characters that we work on. I love working on realistic looking humans and creatures and that is what Blur specializes in. Instead of taking several years to complete a project, like at film studios, we have very quick turn over for our projects, spanning 3 - 6 months and its great to see the work released to the public so soon after having finished working on it. There is never a dull moment and I'm constantly challenged and stimulated by my job. I enjoy the people I work with too. It's a very laid back professional environment. Blur is a smaller studio so it is easy to get to know the majority of the artists in all different departments. We all work in the same big space so we are able to collaborate quite easily.
How long does it usually take to build a rig for a cinematic main character?
Since we work on a variety of different styles and types of characters, the amount of time per character is all over the board. The more detail in the clothing, attachments, straps, layers of clothing, the more limbs a character has, the more detail in muscle structure, the longer it takes. We take anywhere between 5 - 12 days to complete a hero character's body rig. Length of time for facial rigging depends on several factors as well. What type of rigging system we choose to use and how expressive we want the character to be. For a very basic facial set up it takes about 3 days. More advanced and elaborate facial rigs can take up to 12 days. For background characters, an entire character rig can take about 7 days total. Other considerations that go into the length of time spent on a character are the closeness of the character to the camera, what parts of the character the camera focuses on, acting dynamics, if parts will be detached, and how realistic or cartoony a character is.
If I may ask about the trailer for Lost Planet 3. How did you go about rigging the 4 legged creatures? Are you talking with the modelers, animators and as well as looking at animal reference for structure or were you using reference from the series itself?
That's exactly what I did when creating the quadrupeds for the Lost Planet 3 trailer. Communicating with modelers was key because parts of that creature had to be posed by them in such a way for our rigging systems to build and deform properly. Animators tested my rig thoroughly before it was put into production to make sure that my set up was working for their performance. If they needed extra controls for more accurate articulation or adjustments to the set up and deformation then they would request this and I would make changes accordingly. As for real animal reference and reference from the series, yes, I definitely looked at a lot of that and it was a big help.
What do you find are the biggest challenges rigging animals as opposed to humans and vice versa?
I find that rigging humans is much more challenging than animals. When working with humans, we have to keep strictly close to what a realistic human looks like when it moves. We must get the deformation and joint position as accurate as possible. If there is even a small thing that is off or odd in the deformation of the character, then the viewer sees that almost automatically. We have more flexibility with animals. If there is something a little off in the way an animal moves, then I don't think that viewers really spot it as easily as with humans. I would admit that animals are challenging in their own way because we don't have the opportunity to observe them and work on them as often as humans.
How essential is scripting in the process?
Scripting is absolutely necessary to the rigging process for speed, versatility and streamlining a rigger's work flow by automating a lot of what they would normally take a long time to do manually. Not all studios require their riggers to have scripting knowledge and not all riggers have that knowledge. The tools that we use at Blur to build our rigs are scripted in Python. If we didn't have these tools our jobs would be much harder. Being able to script is a great asset and will give a rigger more ability to be flexible, creative and innovative.
What are some of the challenges of working with cloth and common mistakes that are made while working with it?
We have a great cloth simulation department at Blur that is separate from our rigging department. For cloth surfaces that will be simulated, riggers manage to get by with very basic deformation. Although, we need to make sure that the underlying body that the cloth surface is riding on is deforming realistically and keep penetrations from happening between the cloth surfaces and the body. The cloth artists can get a great simulation going with this. If a character's cloth isn't going to be simulated, then we have to make sure there are enough controls established so that animators can get a good imitation of cloth movement. Some common mistakes are not having enough controls for animators or having deformation that is too chunky and not nice and smooth like realistic cloth.
How often in production do you reuse rigs/ utilize facerobot or gator? Or are most rigs built from scratch?
We rarely build a character from scratch. Our tools are set up to avoid this as it would be a very slow process. At Blur we have automated rigging tools that build the basic skeleton for characters as well as rigging systems that we can build automatically and add in. Often, we have characters that require a lot of customization, but they always start off with our basic rigging tool. We add many extra and secondary rigs to our characters, especially if they have elaborate costumes, complex muscle structures and extra limbs. We re-use characters when ever we can. If two characters have identical proportions, then we love it because we can re-use one for the other and get them done twice as fast. We have used Face Robot from the beginning of its implementation into XSI. We use it in combination with morphs (blendshapes) and sub control systems. We are always experimenting with new types of facial systems as well. We use GATOR a lot for skin weighting and transferring of attributes from one object to another. I find GATOR to be an amazing addition to XSI.
I see that you post for the Blur Studio life drawing group. Is it a monthly thing and how did it get started?
Blur's figure drawing is a monthly event that the studio provides for its employees. The event was originally organized by another artist and I eventually took over a few years ago when they couldn't do it anymore. I find that figure drawing is very important for our work and its a great way to maintain artistic skills and get away from the computer screen for a little while.
Do you have any advice as far as techniques and skills that should be looked into or worked on for becoming better at the craft?
What I see as incredibly important, and can be easily overlooked, is that as riggers we must have the knowledge of the type of body structure we are working with. It's so important to be well versed with how the human body looks and moves. Not only must we know the subtleties of how the outer skin of a body stretches and bulges. We must know how the inner parts of a body work and how they affect the outer skin; where the bones and muscles are placed, their shapes and deformation as well as limitations. Consistent study of human anatomy and form is key to creating convincing realistic human character rigs.
You have a diverse background in the arts, including 3d modeling design and other traditional skills; what about character rigging specifically interested you?
I knew I wanted to work in computer animation ever since I was 14 years old but didn't know exactly what part of the process I wanted to do. After taking a computer animation course where we were able to try storyboarding, designing, modeling, texturing, rigging and animation, and working for a few years in the industry as a designer and modeler, I realized that rigging was the most interesting to me. I chose to focus solely on rigging as a career because I enjoy the problem solving that goes into the creation of a character rig and satisfaction to see what animators can do with my characters. I also enjoy the challenge of giving the animators what they need in order to make the character look and move the way they want. It is a great collaboration and I really love the part I play in it. I also enjoy rigging because I like taking these gorgeous models that the modeling artists create and making them look good, if not better when they are moving around and acting. Painting weights to me is like sculpting a character in every possible pose and if I can fool the eye into thinking there is real bone and muscle and skin moving there, then that is very exciting!
What has been the greatest challenge getting to where you are now?
The greatest challenge for me was actually learning how to use 3D software in college. When I was learning to use Maya for the first time at age 24, after years of just working in 2D art forms, I struggled to get accustomed to the concept for the first couple of months.
What's been your favorite project that you have worked on?
My favorite project so far has been the Lost Planet 3 cinematic trailer. It was the first time that I had a chance to work on an original character such as the quadrupedal creatures. I really like how that project came together and it turned out to be a very beautiful piece.
How has your experience at Blur Studios been?
My experience at Blur has been amazing. I enjoy the variety and quality of projects and characters that we work on. I love working on realistic looking humans and creatures and that is what Blur specializes in. Instead of taking several years to complete a project, like at film studios, we have very quick turn over for our projects, spanning 3 - 6 months and its great to see the work released to the public so soon after having finished working on it. There is never a dull moment and I'm constantly challenged and stimulated by my job. I enjoy the people I work with too. It's a very laid back professional environment. Blur is a smaller studio so it is easy to get to know the majority of the artists in all different departments. We all work in the same big space so we are able to collaborate quite easily.
How long does it usually take to build a rig for a cinematic main character?
Since we work on a variety of different styles and types of characters, the amount of time per character is all over the board. The more detail in the clothing, attachments, straps, layers of clothing, the more limbs a character has, the more detail in muscle structure, the longer it takes. We take anywhere between 5 - 12 days to complete a hero character's body rig. Length of time for facial rigging depends on several factors as well. What type of rigging system we choose to use and how expressive we want the character to be. For a very basic facial set up it takes about 3 days. More advanced and elaborate facial rigs can take up to 12 days. For background characters, an entire character rig can take about 7 days total. Other considerations that go into the length of time spent on a character are the closeness of the character to the camera, what parts of the character the camera focuses on, acting dynamics, if parts will be detached, and how realistic or cartoony a character is.
If I may ask about the trailer for Lost Planet 3. How did you go about rigging the 4 legged creatures? Are you talking with the modelers, animators and as well as looking at animal reference for structure or were you using reference from the series itself?
That's exactly what I did when creating the quadrupeds for the Lost Planet 3 trailer. Communicating with modelers was key because parts of that creature had to be posed by them in such a way for our rigging systems to build and deform properly. Animators tested my rig thoroughly before it was put into production to make sure that my set up was working for their performance. If they needed extra controls for more accurate articulation or adjustments to the set up and deformation then they would request this and I would make changes accordingly. As for real animal reference and reference from the series, yes, I definitely looked at a lot of that and it was a big help.
What do you find are the biggest challenges rigging animals as opposed to humans and vice versa?
I find that rigging humans is much more challenging than animals. When working with humans, we have to keep strictly close to what a realistic human looks like when it moves. We must get the deformation and joint position as accurate as possible. If there is even a small thing that is off or odd in the deformation of the character, then the viewer sees that almost automatically. We have more flexibility with animals. If there is something a little off in the way an animal moves, then I don't think that viewers really spot it as easily as with humans. I would admit that animals are challenging in their own way because we don't have the opportunity to observe them and work on them as often as humans.
How essential is scripting in the process?
Scripting is absolutely necessary to the rigging process for speed, versatility and streamlining a rigger's work flow by automating a lot of what they would normally take a long time to do manually. Not all studios require their riggers to have scripting knowledge and not all riggers have that knowledge. The tools that we use at Blur to build our rigs are scripted in Python. If we didn't have these tools our jobs would be much harder. Being able to script is a great asset and will give a rigger more ability to be flexible, creative and innovative.
What are some of the challenges of working with cloth and common mistakes that are made while working with it?
We have a great cloth simulation department at Blur that is separate from our rigging department. For cloth surfaces that will be simulated, riggers manage to get by with very basic deformation. Although, we need to make sure that the underlying body that the cloth surface is riding on is deforming realistically and keep penetrations from happening between the cloth surfaces and the body. The cloth artists can get a great simulation going with this. If a character's cloth isn't going to be simulated, then we have to make sure there are enough controls established so that animators can get a good imitation of cloth movement. Some common mistakes are not having enough controls for animators or having deformation that is too chunky and not nice and smooth like realistic cloth.
How often in production do you reuse rigs/ utilize facerobot or gator? Or are most rigs built from scratch?
We rarely build a character from scratch. Our tools are set up to avoid this as it would be a very slow process. At Blur we have automated rigging tools that build the basic skeleton for characters as well as rigging systems that we can build automatically and add in. Often, we have characters that require a lot of customization, but they always start off with our basic rigging tool. We add many extra and secondary rigs to our characters, especially if they have elaborate costumes, complex muscle structures and extra limbs. We re-use characters when ever we can. If two characters have identical proportions, then we love it because we can re-use one for the other and get them done twice as fast. We have used Face Robot from the beginning of its implementation into XSI. We use it in combination with morphs (blendshapes) and sub control systems. We are always experimenting with new types of facial systems as well. We use GATOR a lot for skin weighting and transferring of attributes from one object to another. I find GATOR to be an amazing addition to XSI.
I see that you post for the Blur Studio life drawing group. Is it a monthly thing and how did it get started?
Blur's figure drawing is a monthly event that the studio provides for its employees. The event was originally organized by another artist and I eventually took over a few years ago when they couldn't do it anymore. I find that figure drawing is very important for our work and its a great way to maintain artistic skills and get away from the computer screen for a little while.
Do you have any advice as far as techniques and skills that should be looked into or worked on for becoming better at the craft?
What I see as incredibly important, and can be easily overlooked, is that as riggers we must have the knowledge of the type of body structure we are working with. It's so important to be well versed with how the human body looks and moves. Not only must we know the subtleties of how the outer skin of a body stretches and bulges. We must know how the inner parts of a body work and how they affect the outer skin; where the bones and muscles are placed, their shapes and deformation as well as limitations. Consistent study of human anatomy and form is key to creating convincing realistic human character rigs.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Dishonored Debut Trailer
Another trailer we worked on at Blur that was just released. I really enjoyed working on this one, I got the chance to work on the rig for the prisoner, old man and the rats. This one came together really well!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Monsterpalooza 2012
We went to Monsterpalooza today, in Burbank, CA. It was a great experience to see a lot of talented artists and their creature and monster artwork, sculptures, dolls, toys and masks. I've uploaded photos of the event to an online album (link below).
This zombie diorama is a work in progress created by Simon Lee. Really awesome work!
This zombie diorama is a work in progress created by Simon Lee. Really awesome work!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Lost Planet 3 Cinematic Trailer
I was surprised this morning, when I saw this trailer for the Lost Planet 3 game finally released! We worked on it at Blur about a year ago.
We used a new technology for Jim's facial animation which turned out really nice. I rigged Jim's body/clothing as well as the strange looking 4-legged creatures that chase him. My husband, Jason, animated a lot of the shots with these creatures! (We often get to work on the same projects here, which is a nice thing.)
I really enjoyed working on this project, it all came together really well and looks great!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Gorilla Sculpt Face Detail WIP
I have been working on the form of the head the past few days and started on the details. I've also been refining his body muscles and pose. He looks strange because he's missing fur and still has mittens for hands and feet. I am going to put more detail and refinement into his face. His mouth is gummy right now, I'm going to make his teeth with sculpey and bake them to harden then insert them into his gums (something I learned from Simon!). Will have to buy smaller tools to get into fine details.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Gorilla Sculpt Update
I've been working on this sculpt the past few week nights. Managed to find plenty of gorilla reference online, including images of a this preserved gorilla in the Body Worlds 4 exhibit . Corbis Images is a good resource for reference images.
The sculpture, as it is right now, is pretty much filled out muscle mass and shapes, his head is still just a skull. Will build up the muscles on the face, anymore missing volume , fingers and toes next. Then on to building up fur and then details I think. I might modify his pose too, not sure I like it now...
The sculpture, as it is right now, is pretty much filled out muscle mass and shapes, his head is still just a skull. Will build up the muscles on the face, anymore missing volume , fingers and toes next. Then on to building up fur and then details I think. I might modify his pose too, not sure I like it now...
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