Today, my Mac is basically exploited for rendering.. so while waiting for the renders to be complete (each frame takes about 20min.. and I have 72 frames for this shot.. so you go do the math. I wonder if it's my render settings or my graphics card?), I went on a short sketching trip with the bicycle.
First, I went into the rice field to sketch a view of the field. It's kind of like the first thing I wanted to sketch because it's a view I see everyday.
Then, I remembered Nigel mentioning about a beach further down, so I had to check it out.
Beach
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| Sat down somewhere to observe and just take the sight in. |
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| An elderly man doing some fishing. |
Cooking
Since I'm not going to the city or eating out anytime soon, I have to just stay at the house for my meals. Besides, I have to try and finish up the food I had bought by the time I leave.
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| Disclaimer: I DID NOT COOK THIS. NIGEL DID. I was blessed by this hearty meal yesterday. Fried noodles - asian/british style? But still tasty ^^ |
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| Rice given to me by Hiro-san. So what does one do with rice? |
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| Fried rice! |
My sketches for today:
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| View of the rice field... A quick - but also not so quick sketch. |
Studio Kura Project:
"Home Is Where The Heart Is"
Finally, a REAL update of my project. Sorry to keep you guys waiting.
My idea was to do a mini short film (less than a minute in length) given that I only have a month to do everything - from modeling to animation to rendering. I downloaded a free Andy rig for my 3D character animation so it does save tons of time.
I tried to go for something abstract and artsy, but I couldn't conjure anything up. And I guess one of the best ways to showcase animation is through a story. Hence, the birth of my project.
Brief synopsis of project:
A girl (aka me) is living alone overseas and misses home.
Well, I'm supposed to come here without any preconceived ideas for my project and see what inspires me.. and this was what I'm inspired to do. Perhaps it's also because it's my first time spending an extended period of time alone away from home.
Style of project:
I'll be mixing in 2D and 3D animations.
Basically my story will be divided into the real world (shown in 3D) and the fantasy world (shown in 2D).
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| Fantasy world - in 2D. (I have yet to composite the background in) |
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| 'Real' world - in 3D. |
I've been having tons of problems with rendering - I'd not recommend using the Andy rig for animators who want to produce nice renders for their demoreel. There's a complex network of shaders (according to Desmond, my fellow classmate back in school), and whenever I render it out in mental ray (i.e. the better renderer), the character always appear metallic.
Anyway, I decided to just do away with the best render I can have by mixing mental ray renders and maya software renders (for the character). If anyone has got solutions for me, please let me know!
Haha, anyway I don't think I'll have time to make things look better - only a few more days to go!
I've also been on the hunt for background music and sound effects. Thank God I managed to find websites that lets users download their audio files absolutely royalty free with no additional costs. Totally legal too! As long as I remember to credit them.
It was also a learning experience for me as I read through the various licensing terms. I suppose now since my project will be showcased as an exhibit, I can no longer download music from the usual websites I download from (e.g. FreePlayMusic) for free as personal use. Some websites offer royalty free music but still require users to pay (usually about US$30 per track!).
Yeap. So now.. I hope my renders turn out fine.
ahh it must be very exciting to collaborate with other artist there! so envy. Goodluck carol in your short film!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) Didn't really have much chance to collaborate though.. but it was still a great experience learning about the culture here and what other artists are doing.
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