Downloads issue..

Since I published my site, I have had .MEL files available for download. However, unbeknownst to me, no one was able to download them.So, apparently GoDaddy has never had anyone use .MEL files before. They had to add the file type to the approved list.

Everything is working splendidly now.

Long overdue

So it's been ~2 months since my last update. Here's what's happened since:
-Lost my job
-Got my "Professional Website" up and running
-Created a new resumé
-Created a new demo reel (ongoing iterations)
-Had a job interview with Cryptic Studios, thought it went well but haven't heard anything back since the second interview with the lead.
-Worked on some unofficial animation tests
-Working on new shorts to put in my demo reel to round it out more
-Updated some MAYASMA scripts (mostly broke out useful scriplets in my utilities.mel file)

So yeah, I think that's it

www.DougHines.com

MAYASMA Update

So I finally got Maya to load my MAYASMA menu. MAYASMA stands for MAYa Automated Script MAnager. Essentially this menu you will hold all of the scripts I have (re)created, from simple attribute copying scripts to posing, rigging scripts, and animation utility scripts.

Once I'm happy with the core script set, I'll make the entire set available for download. The categories include: rigging, animation, utility (math, etc), modeling, texturing, and misc (HUD, GUI manipulation, etc).

Once I finish the pose tool I'll start in on more Krag cycles and then move in to shorts and skits with Krag and Chug

Not much to update..

I've been busy trying to get my MEL scripts into useable menu format, but Maya and being testy and won't do what I want it to.

I've also decided to scratch Milo, as I can't think of a decent design to compliment both Krag and Chug; effectively taking my trio of characters down to a duet. Maybe I'll re-introduce him later.

Krag Update - Rendered Animated Bound Mesh

I took the exact animation that was applied to Krag's Proxy Volumes and retargeted it to a skinned version of Krag. Came out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I did notice that there's a bit of a head twitch in the weight shift but nothing too major.

Milo Update - Geometry redesign :(

Sooo, after comparing my current Milo design to Krag I noticed that the styles just don't match. So I'm going to have to make Milo more Toony and Chibi.

Introduction to Milo

Milo is another character that Krag interacts with. Just like Krag, Milo is low poly and stylized. This weekend I completed both the proxy mesh and the actual geometry design for Milo; hopefully the design won't change.

Krag Update - Skinned!

Well, as you can see from the title image, Krag is now skinned and movable. Someday, when I remember, I'll throw the cycles on him and render out the actual geometry instead of just keeping the proxy renders around.

Krag - Proxy Renders

A render of the proxy mesh with 2 idles applied to it: a standing and breathing idle; and a ... ... weight shifting idle. There are a few timing issues with the weight shifting: the toes react a little slow when the feet are planted and the settle at the end of the animation is a tad abrupt. This is understandable as all the pose keys are on 4s

Timing Pass - Check

So I just finished the timing pass on my weight shift. My next and final step with Krag is to weight his render mesh. Wish me luck :(

TikiHead - ZSketch : 10-01-08

Watch TikiHead - ZSketch : 10-01-08 in Animation  |  

Z-Doodle. This actually started out as an aztec monument.. but then I saw a face in the mesh and it just sort of evolved from there. Hurray for unintended results!

Veoh Issues =(

So I uploaded a 4 second animation to yesterday and it is still being processed. Something tells me that Veoh is going downhill if they can't process an 18meg video in under 24 hours. Well, I'm just going to have to wait to post the animation until it's done processing.

Weight Shifting - 2nd Krag Idle

So I finished the first-pass of Krag's weight shifting idle. Other than the one or two timing issues and needing more settle at the end, it looks pretty good. I'm still trying to figure out how to conver the rendered jpegs into .MOVs so I can load them on Veoh. No luck as of yet

Working Time vs Time Spent Working

So I have spent an unprecidented amount of time on this simple weight shift cycle. It's been a week and I'm still not done. I'd like to blame this on my inability to make Maya cooperate with me. The scene setup is not saving it's linear and time changes ; making it annoying to have to rescale grid sizes and time types every time a WIP is loaded.

Thanks Maya. Thanks a heap.

Renders...

So I re-rendered the 25 frame cycle. This time it took under an hour to render. A much better render time than the ~20 hours it took last time.... stupid lights.

I turned my renders into a .GIF file, but apparently BlogSpot does not like .GIF files, and will not allow me to use it as my Title Banner. I keep checking on a way to fix this, but I'm not holding out any hope.

I will continue to work on the few remaining clips I have planned for Krag, and then move on to the other two characters. I will have to, at some point, create tools for each character: posing, animation tools, etc.. Dunno when I'll get around to that.

Re-rig Flop

So, the re-rig attempt was a flop. I was attempting to add a nifty floorcontact control, but alas; my method was flawed. Of course, the flaw happened at the end of the rigging... when I was hooking up the last connection.

Anyways, back to making some fun test clips. Hopefully I'll have some test renders to show near the end of the week.

Re-Rig

Decided to re-rig my Krag skeleton. The Ball Roll control on the feet were not behaving as I expected them to, and I am still attempting to implement a changeable floor contact. Hope to have this rig redesign done by friday so I can get back to the fun stuff.

Shorts Update

Finally came up with names I can live with for my three characters for my ongoing tests, clips, and general fun animation. Krag, Milo, and Chug. You've met Krag, the TRex, and you'll meet the others as their models are created and their rigs come online.

Finished my first cyclic animation and rendered it. The render took ~20 hours in MetalRay for 24 frames of animation. I'll need to figure out a way to cut that time down.

I have finally succeeded in understanding the Maya Trax Editor. Now I just have to wait for Maya 2009 to come out and make it completely obsolete.

Lastly, I have made an executive decision to knock Monkey Business off my project list. It's simply too massive a project to tackle by myself, and that is just on the asset creation side. The research and piece assignment hasn't even begun yet; and will not ever happen now.

Fast Proxy with Control Rig

Finished making the fast proxy and control rig file. Now I can get started on making some cycle clips.

Proxy Rig

For the time being, I'm going to give up on texturing my trex. I plan on creating a proxy rig some time this week so I can get to the animation part of the process; the part I like.

Toon Rex Update

Finished the basic Control Rig. Only thing remaining to do on the rig is some facial clusters and the associated controls. Shouldn't take too long. Before I do the facial rig, I'm going to take the mesh into ZBrush and use poly paint to texture it.

Posted my fishhead on ZBrushCentral. First contributive post I've made there in years.

Misc Update

Found my old Demo Reel from when I was just out of college, and uploaded it to Veoh. I'm not going to link to it because it is so out-of-date that it makes me cringe when I watch all the timing issues I had. If you really want to see it, you can hunt for it on Veoh.

Minor update to my ToonRex : added eyelids. I was wondering what made my trex look odd... besides the proportion scaling. It's all about the eye.. lids; or lack there of. I put in some decent placeholder eye lids until I get around to adding in topology for the real thing.

Fish-heads!

A break from the rigging: a fishman-head sculpt. Need to do the fine detailing and texturing, but I'm pretty happy with the overall base sculpt

Toon Rex Update

Almost finished the eye texturing and shading. Still need to adjust the specular map for the iris shader. I have begun the rigging process and have finished the joint placement for most of the skeleton (pictures to come soon); as well as started placing controls and ik chains. I have yet to determine how I'm going to texture this creature. I'll have to do more research into creating "muppet-like" shaders.

Toon-Rex update

Decided that "Chomper" was an over used (and possibly copyrighted) name.
This is the psuedo-finalized geometry. Need to combine the separate meshes and finish the insides of the mouth. After this, the next step is the texture and rig for animation.

Chomper Update

Playblast comparing my old geometry and design to the new and improved one. This version is more toony and will suit my animation needs much better.

Toon-Rex Update

This was the first attempt sculpt with the first attempt geometry. I have since revised the geometry and may in fact only need to retopologize it inside ZBrush.

I will pose first attempt and second attempt geometry screen shots later.

Update

Decided to go with my own domain. Working on a website design that is similiar to a blog and seems to be used by many artists on the web. Hope to have it up and running by the end of next week.

Began work on a 1 hours zSketch... only to discover I want to polish out more. Sadly, I did not record a timelapse of the sketch, but I will begin recording when I continue my work.

Began work on my Toon-rex. Hope to use him in a variety of cycles and simple tests along with another toon gremlin/demon character I plan to make.

"Chasm" (wt) - further brainstormed shots and designs. Looked into terrain designs and the like. The planning stage is coming along nicely.

"Monkey Business" (wt) - Seems to have stalled. I ran out of ideas to design each chess piece after. I'll see what I can do after more planning of "Chasm"

Played Drakes Fortune on the PS3 for real for the first time today. Have to admin, the cover system and aiming is probably the best I've seen so far (not that I've played many console games for real). The cutscenes and animation are top notch. I have begun work on duplicating their motion trace utility. Now I just need a rig to work with it.

Monkey Business (Working Title)

So I finally figured out what I'm going to do for my Monkey Business (wt) short. It will involve chess, Jesus, a Monkey, and violent battles. Sounds fun, right?

Testing the Waters

Trying different things to determine if I want to stick with blogger.com or install wordpress on a domain I own.