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JKStudios
08-01-2008, 07:14 PM
Ok so this is something that's possibly been overdone..(a transforming robot truck)..but I started this project years ago, long before Transformers came out, and it just fizzled out and never happened!

It was going to be a VFX piece with a colleague, something of a viral, of a truck receiving a parking ticket from a traffic warden, then transforming and squashing the warden. For one reason or another (mostly time!) it never came to fruition.

Now, many years later, i've been reopening the original files with a renewed enthusiasm to get this piece finished.

I'm still in the 3D stage, although the modelling, rigging and transform animation were complete long ago. I had to produce the transform animation at an early stage in order to design the pieces that all fit together and how it all works. I'm now texturing the model and adding further details...tweaking innards etc..generally improving upon it.

Any critique, suggestions etc, are very welcomed...good or bad...I hope to keep this thread updated throughout the entire process of 3D, moving onto filming and compositing also and will take into account everyone's advice :)

I'm yet to think of another scenario besides the traffic warden. And dancing robots have been done to death...! Suggestions for a scenario are most welcomed also!

I'm currently at the stage of adding dust / dirt maps to make the truck look more worn and used. Oh and I hate it's feet right now...but keeping them 'stored' somewhere is a nightmare..

Here's an animation of the transformation:

Quicktime - 5.4mb (http://www.jkstudios.tv/temp/transformer/transform_preview_800x600.mov)

http://www.jkstudios.tv/temp/transformer/5.jpg

http://www.jkstudios.tv/temp/transformer/6.jpg

http://www.jkstudios.tv/temp/transformer/7.jpg
doffer
08-01-2008, 07:45 PM
Hey.

It looks pretty good!
The stuff that opens up in the beginning, so the head can come through, moves a bit wierd and intersects with the rest of the roof (at least thats what it looks like).
And it seems a bit strange why it opens its doors, as nothing comes out of them.
Is it just for motion sake, or what?

And please, PLEASE, do not make it dance.
Somehow, people who doesn't quite know what to animate, comes up with the idea that a dance would be nice... It's just not... no good!

But I'm looking foreward to see some more progress on this project. It looks cool so far.

Cheers
JKStudios
08-01-2008, 08:05 PM
Hi Chris, thanks for spotting that - I did know about it, but I was wondering if it would be that noticable - clearly it is! I'll make it more efficient and realistic so that it doesn't intersect.

Yeah the door opening I kind of did as if it's coming to life. It doesn't serve that much purpose in reality in the animation. I'll give it a try without and see how it looks. You've got me thinking now how hard it would be to comp a person freaking out and jumping out, running away. Seems like a bit of work to me!

I would never make it dance, I wouldn't want to ruin the piece! Besides that citroen commercial nailed it, nobody else need bother.

Thanks for the input :)
KyleG
08-01-2008, 08:18 PM
Every piece seems to be opening at the exact same speed I would play around with timing to make it more interesting
andrewmartin
08-02-2008, 02:11 AM
I agree with KyleG. Vary the timing of the different bits. Smaller parts could move faster than large parts. And perhaps less interesting parts and "cheating" parts could move fast - like the wing things on his shoulders (the morphing was very noticeable). Also, I felt the animation as a whole was too slow too.

That said, it still looks cool. Good work!
JKStudios
08-05-2008, 01:08 PM
Thanks for the input. I'll implement these changes then come back with (soon! - time pending!) something revised as this piece progresses.
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