Hey hey.
Looks better. Now they are more skin toned ^^ Can you put more views of the character? Its weird seeing in this position especially with those hands. Sorry.
You should give more tones to the skin specially around the eye, mouth, hair and beard zones. It looks the same everywhere.
Whats the texture resolution in his clothes? Looks a bit fuzzy
Keep it up
I know, the hands seem dead huh? Great observation asmodai: the coloring amidst those hair zones could be mixed up a bit… especially for a final still in some gallery…and to be thought of while trying to get some animation and shots done. I am hoping the final lighting and shadow will shift that out better. Meanwhile how do I embed a video on here besides linking a text? :wip:
[Open Blend shape](http://youtu.be/3660tA9Uh_g)
[Smirk Blendshape](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdfj7CKsDMg)Witches are freaky, they come in all shapes and sizes. People recognize the archetype but I wanted to personalize the well known icon.
The aim was to make her a bit spooky, by giving her a protuberance of a nose and slimy skin but also make her friendly too--especially when she speaks to the other characters.
[[img]http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP01thumb.jpg[/img]](http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP01.jpg)[[img]http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WPWirethumb.jpg[/img]](http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WPWire.jpg)[[img]http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP02thumb.jpg[/img]](http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP02.jpg)[[img]http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP03thumb.jpg[/img]](http://noaharntson.com/Witch_WP03.jpg)
Steps/how to:
[ol]
[li] Some sculpting of magical mud (make sure its extra witchy)[/li][li] Misss shader[/li][li]Subdivision approximation - coexisting with displacement map[/li][li] Blendshapes connected to their respected bump maps[/li][li] Some pagan branches[/li][li] Some quail feathers[/li][/ol]
And here are the maps I used to set up my shader. I played with the weights and radii to achieve the subtle green/purpley hue around her eyes and lips.
(please click on the above thumbs to see enlarged views, it was work to resize everything in PS than to figure out how to resize images to their linked originals, hrmmm…)
I thought I would throw on a couple renders from the 1st interior shot of the film. I was intent on making sure the fire and brimstone was glowing on the witch’s body… For the flames, I’ll be using nCloth to animate them moving.
[VIMEO]51835841[/VIMEO]
Time is right for Halloween, here is some more flavor for your soup. Let me know how it tastes –
I love your witches! These images are my favorites. I love the Shamba witch and I think it is just a really cool painting and character. The 3D scene is very nice and I like the witch and models, the fire and her skirt texture have a stop motion scene feel that I think is nice and very stylized. That said the lighting in the 3d scene needs some work. There are no shadows under the furniture or the character. The gradients on the back wall look nice but the spotlight on her shoulder looks too close and too bright. Also the shadow on her skirt seems out of place for where she is next to the fire.
I like your work, and thank you for sharing!
Wow! Thank you!! It’s amazing when you look at something for so long and close, you don’t see obvious things like a shadow missing. This is a part of a wider shot and I will fly in a table there to mask a portion of that chair. But I will remember what you said and remember shadow passes for each character near the floor, etc. Thanks for your lighting points too.
Glad you like the witch. She is a fun aspect to the film and brings a unique dynamic to the story. I hope to show more animation of her, when my schedule allows. 
Now–onto more scene set ups.
Holy smoke I’m back. I know it’s been MANY months since I posted, but I’m still at it. This project is still happening! Sporadically, with each spare moment in the past, I have been constructing shots, troubleshooting renders, pulling out my hair and smiling at some progress…
I have some fully rendered sequences, and animation-wise I’m honestly at least 85% done.
(Honest side note)
The philosophy I have came up during my project is this-- Making a cg short is like building a house from scratch-- I’m my own architect [I make the blueprints], contractor, laborer [inversely I get physically weaker due to lack of exercise], landscaper, & realtor.
Thanks Magilla, tryin’.
Finally, I have some character renders of the “Human Pincushion”. To describe, he has been pricked and pierced with so much metal, he is almost bio-mechanic:
Now an intro to the opening! The rough playblasts were put together to show more or less the route it’s now going. Hopefully to be driven by a musical tempo. More to come as I shape the edit.
//youtu.be/7x2lMdUkQMI?rel=0"%20fra
looking cool dude
Are you using a target camera in the second shot? There is a nasty swing in there, otherwise it’s really coming together.
I assume you mean the camera shake. Yes, something to consider. The BG plate is keyframed on head/tail of shot and makes it look jarring… There’s a bunch of jolted/imperfect cam moves - I don’t prefer perfect cg curves. Being that it bothers a few and brings away attention; it may be about finding a fine line; but that will be in the eye of the beholder.
Here’s a line of dialogue from the scene. Voice work by the amazing voice actor, Adam Behr.
This is/was a speak-heavy movie. I’m now done with animating most of the talking. But I still have a few action shots though. Don’t know how I feel about that. Animating the acting was totally fun.
On my last setup of the film, I can hardly believe it. I want to feel comfortable with the entire flow before I look for music. Yes, that’s my next challenge–to lock picture and find a composer.
Hey
You post in WIP, so I want to give some feedback.
Although, you have come far already, so this might not be something you want to go in and fix.
To me, the biggest issue is the animation.
Its just… movement. Not emotion. I don’t see an emotion of any of the characters, and their movements are all over the place. They don’t seem connected.
You want to breath life into them.
Did you shoot reference for each shot? Or did you plan them somehow? Via thumbnails and stuff like that?
It looks a bit like you just went in and animated, without a clear idea of how they felt, why they felt that way, and would be the best way to show this emotion.
Respect for doing this much work. It takes a lot of self dicipline, but animation wise, there is still a lot of work left for you.
A rendered frame of the witch’s obscene face. I could make a good promotional poster or flyer, what’dya think?
@ Doffer: Thanks for your critique. Producing the project over the span of months to years is complicated. So my challenge, then, was to yield consistent results from rigs and setups I did long before I improved a bit on my skill level. I refined my ideas and progressed further as I went along. Thus, some shots in my opinion do shine brighter than others. Just haven’t posted it all yet ;).
Cheers to your Porcelain short, it was really cool.
Household object. I noticed a cohesive form – served as inspiration for one of my shots.
