FMP

Final Major Project

In order to complete my Final Major Project, I must model a 3D CG character using blender. Then I have to animate my character into a 3D environment. I started by doing some research for my character and ideas for what I could do I looked online at 3D models from games and animation etc. I did this to look for some inspiration for my idea for character and animation. My idea for my 3D character is to design my 3D character, then film some shots of my desk then I would animate my character in blender and add it to my 3D environment to create a video that displays my animated character in a 3D environment. 

When I began creating my character, at first I began to design my character using photoshop. Initially, my idea was going to be to create a robot sort of design for my character. I created some concept art for this. However, in the end I later changed this because I did not like that design. I went through a couple more designs before changing the idea for my character all together. So finally, I decided to go with a different design and I stuck with it. My design for my 3D character ended up being a blocky character. For this I took inspiration from the game Minecraft for the simplistic and blocky design. This design was good for unwrapping due to the simplistic design and blocky shape.

After I designed the concept for my final character, I started to model my design using blender, I did this by starting with a cube and extruding it into my characters design and used loop cuts for more detail in my mesh. After I had finished modeling, I wanted to add a texture but I firstly needed to unwrap my model. I unwrapped my model, after that I then created my texture for my character in blender. I decided to paint a texture myself instead of using a pre-made texture, so I used texture paint in blender to create the texture for my character. The texture I made was a suit for my character, I then applied this texture to my character.

After designing the physical appearance of my character by modeling and texturing it, I next needed to animate my character but to do this I would need to add armature to my mesh by adding bones. I need to do this in order to be able animate so my character can move properly while animating it. After I added bones to my mesh, I had to film some footage to edit together with my character. I filmed my desk for this because it is an open flat area and easy to edit in my character as well as animate it into my footage. Once I have filmed and added in my footage to blender, I began my post-production. The first thing I did next was I then animated my character into the video footage using the animation tab in blender. I then animated my character by using keyframes. My final video animation was off my character on my desk knocking over batteries.

Review

I started my Final Major Project doing pre-production work. This included Gantt chart, risk assessment and location scouting. My Gantt chart was first as this was to plan out when I would do all of my Final Major Project work. Then I did my location scouting when I had decided on the location and then the risk assessment for this location. After pre-production I moved onto my production.

The first thing I did for my Final Major Project was sketch my character in photoshop. I made a simple sketch then began to model my character in blender. I used the extrude tool to model my character as well as loop cut tool to make new polys. After I had modelled my character, I moved on to unwrapping. To unwrap I had to mark seams to cut my mesh so that I could texture it correctly. I marked seams on the correct edges so that it unwrapped correctly. To create my texture I opened the texture painting tab and I used the draw tool to paint my texture. After this I then applied it to my model. After my texturing was finished, I needed to add armature to my mesh. To do this I added bones by pressing 'shift + A' then clicking bone, I then added more bones by pressing 'E' to extrude. I added bones to body as well as all of the limbs + the head of my character. After I had finished adding armature to my mesh, this meant it was ready to be animated. However, before I could animate it, I needed to add the footage of the 3D environment. To add this I selected the camera, clicked on the green camera image in the bottom right and tick background images. Then under where it says background images, click 'add image'. After this I should have my footage visible when I'm in the camera view. I can also move the camera to my where I want it by pressing 'Ctrl + Alt + 0'. The footage I used was what I had recorded earlier of my desk. Once I had done this I could begin animating. To animate, I firstly went to the animation tab. I then changed to pose mode in the top left. After this, I changed to pose mode using the menu in the top left corner of the screen. Then I used pose mode to create different poses for my mesh, I then inserted these poses into keyframes by pressing ‘shift + I’ and selecting ‘location, rotation and scale’. After I had finished keyframing, I had my complete animation. So finally, I had to render my animation. To do this I first had to go into the composing tab, compose my animation and then render image. However, that did not work for an unknown reason. So instead of rendering my animation I screen recorded it instead.

Pre-Production

Location Scouting

Project Title: Final Major Project                                                          Director: Oliver Smith

Location: My house

INT            Parking Available: YES         Available All Day

Problems or Limitations [Pros & Cons] (i.e. Weather, Space etc.)

Pro – Always available to film

Pro – inside (weather doesn’t matter)

Pro – the lighting is consistent

Con – Limited space to film in

Extra Equipment Needed (i.e. Lights, Power Extensions)

I will need a camera and tripod

Permission Needed: NO

Usable: YES

Gantt Chart

Risk Assessment