Style attempts

I’ve been doing some work recently (not really work, better said, a few tests) in search of an interesting style for my new short film. I’ve been thinking of a mix between very rough drawing, with lots of hatch pattern visible, drawn pretty schematic, not too much work in it, rather sketchy and 3d models. I wouldn’t say this hasn’t been done before… cannot really remember if i saw it somewhere or not. But anyway, the results are here.

my favourites are the black and white ones – sepia, actually, none of them are pure black and white - but i did attempt to create a color version too. I still prefer the b/w one which has shades of gray present in it. It feels more “complete” and has interesting contrast and more variety in the values.

All that remains now is to properly lay out the story   I will soon post some tests with characters work in the same idea/style. Wonder how those will look…

Short film – Story development

I have started digging deep in this subject, about two months ago. I’m trying to write some interesting scripts developping some ideas I had not too long ago. I did found it’s quite difficult, especially when you drift away from the humour side (which I love anyway and would never leave aside!) - things can be quite tough to put together, even though in the initial stages, you feel like the idea is brilliant and the first draft you wrote is the masterpiece.

Not true

but it’s a great time learning about it. I suppose sooner or later I would have done it anyway. I really like making short films and this is something I need to learn properly. Too many times I think one could say: oh well I’ll just do some funny gags, some nice characters and there you go, I’ve got a short film. Indeed, but no story, probably.

I really want to know more about story and how you craft it. And so far, what I’m learning couldn’t be more fun and addictive. It’s almost as much fun as when I started learning about animation.

I will keep this section dedicated to various bits and pieces that I find out and like to talk about regarding Story and how it should be done properly.

Jump scene – idea is complete, moving to the next phase…

soo… here is the complete shot. I will perhaps still work a little bit on the timing of some parts and on the phrasing, but overall it starts to get where i would like it to be.

Can’t wait to get to the next phase, cleaning it up a little and tidying everything… it’s a MESS now. Good luck to me.

Maya animation exercise moving forward!

moving on, moving on… 15 seconds already! and the animation is STILL incomplete!!! by the time it will be, i could have an animation showreel containing just this one piece! heh, joking, of course not. besides, i have no idea how good it will look in the end… hoping for the best. It’s quite a mess in Maya, but I’ll clean it up later

more progress.

So, here is some more progress on my test animation. Slightly longer (10 secs, am I going too far for a test??) and some cleanup on a few parts, after feedback. Not much improvement though, I am still defining the overall idea and flow…

Jump scene

here is my first ever animation in Maya. it’s still very rough and obviously unfinished. all keys are still in linear mode, and there’s about half of the animation missing, as i am still working on it

more to follow soon!

Cheers.

Maya journey

Hello everyone.

I’ve recently started using Maya for animation, at the moment I am trying to get familiar with the interface and controls. Looks like a lot of fun, so I guess I am in for a long journey

I will start posting here all the animation exercises I do while exploring Maya. I hope all goes well

thanks,

Virgil

Animation work. But not only…

I thought i should add a link to my online web portfolio, until this blog starts to get more shape. There are my showreels, animation work, 3D, drawings… So, here it is:

http://www.axa-arts.net/vstudio

Enjoy!

Virgil

Starting up

Hello everyone! It’s may 11th and here I am starting this up. I really hope I’ll turn this one into a nice experience for everyone that will visit. I’ll keep posting my work progress, animation experience and everything I can possibly think it can be of interest.

Thank you for your visit and I hope to see you again soon!

Cheers!