This project is on hold. I'm currently developing something on a larger scale. However, I do not plan abandoning this project completely. I will most likely be back on it within a few months. Happy holidays.
-Eric
Heres a first look at the cottage/lab interior. Still a long ways to go, but its starting to come together.
Heres a look at some of the props i've created so far. Keep in mind these are all secondary props that will not be seen up close. Also, no ambient occlusion yet =)
Anyway, enjoy!
Things are really starting to pick up. I took a weekend trip over to the Getty Museum to collect a little inspiration. The Getty never fails =)
The cool thing about a project at this stage is that there is lots to do so ya never get bored. I can spend time tweaking the cats fur, modeling/texturing props, laying out the environments, tweaking the lighting. Just depends on the mood I'm in. =)
Modeling , Texturing
Env
Cottage ext. 0%, 0%
Cottage lab int. 40%, 30%
Char
Kitten 100%, 90%
Spider-kitten 0%
Inventor 95%, 90%
Props
Wood Hammer, Mallet 100%, 100$
Hand Drill 0%, 0%
Box of Scrolls 100%, 100%
Elephant book end 100&, 100%
Worm 0%, 0%
Bottles, Glass 90%, 90%
Desk side compartment 0%, 0%
Desk 100%, 100%
Old Broom 100%, 0%
Paper scroll 100%, 70$
Blueprints 0%, 0%
Empty cat food bowl 100%, 0%
Cat food bowl full 100%, 0%
Steampunk Machine 0%, 0%
Control Unit - red button 60%, 0%
Kitten Transforms - Kettle, Twig, Clock 0%, 0%
Coo coo clock w/ bird 0%, 0%
Wrench 100%, 0%
Books 100%, 0%
Hats - top and smaller 100%, 50%
Rotten Apple 50%, 0%
Stool 100%, 100%
Deep Sea Suit 20%. 0%
Chair w/ side handle (smoke) 80%, 0%
Spiral Staircase 0%, 0%
Pipes 0%, 0%
cut tile floor 100%, 100%
brick walls 0%, 0%
wood plank ceiling 100%, 0%
old school ink pen 0%, 0%
horn music contraption 30%, 0%
Window 0%, 0%
Picture of inventor and kitten 0%, 0%
Picture of the machines plans 0%, 0%
lights, candles 70%, 20%
Barrel 100%, 100%
Globe 100%, 100%
book ends for the books... lots of different designs 0%, 0%
stacks of papers 0%, 0%
Hat rack/umbrella rack 100%, 100%
Decorative vase 100%, 100%
Abacus 100%, 0%
Animals in jars, skulls in jars, etc 0%, 0%
Beakers & flasks 50%, 50%
lantern 0%, 0%
pictures of blimp 0%, 0%
Russian cup in a cup in a cup dolls 0%, 0%
vase with flowers (peacock feather) 100%, 100%
little Grecian statue 0%, 0%
chandelier 0%, 0%
a ladder or step stool 0%, 0%
cigar box 100%, 100%
Here are some concept images I've done so far that may give ya an idea of the look im going for.
Its impossible to predict all the problems that will pop up in the production, but here are a few things that already have me a bit worried.
The biggest has to be fur. One of the main characters is a kitten. Unless I change the style of the film completely (which I am simply not willing to do), this kitten will need fur. For those who dont know CG/animation very well, this may seem rather silly. Can't I just click the fur button? Im not so worried about the look of the fur. To get a decent looking fur look can take months, and I expect it to, but I know that with enough tweaking, I will have the look I want. The problem comes at render time. Fur cripples render times. I dont mean it will turn a 15 minute render into a 30 minute render, I mean it will turn a 15 min render into a 5 hour render. Even with a render farm (which I plan on using somehow, even if it means selling my lung on ebay), it will be a big problem. Thats 5 hours for one frame, 30 frames = 1 second of animation. Thats a lot of hours =P
So, thats the biggest worry. Im also concerned about the animation. This is the first film ive done that does not use some form of dialogue. This means that the story will be heavily dependent of the animation. I will be hiring animators for the film, so hopefully the quality will be what I want and need. Another thing that worries me is will the rigs I am creating for my characters be good enough for an animator to work with? We shall see =)
My days are spent knocking out props to fill this laboratory with. I want the room to be extremely cluttered, which means a LOT of props.
Modeling , Texturing
Env
Cottage ext. 0%, 0%
Cottage lab int. 40%, 30%
Char
Kitten 100%, 90%
Spider-kitten 0%
Inventor 95%, 90%
Props
Wood Hammer, pallet 0%, 0$
Hand Drill 0%, 0%
Box of Scrolls 100%, 100%
Elephant book end 100&, 0%
Worm 0%, 0%
Bottles, Glass 90%, 90%
Desk side compartment 0%, 0%
Desk 100%, 90%
Old Broom 100%, 0%
Paper scroll 100%, 70$
Blueprints 0%, 0%
Empty cat food bowl 100%, 0%
Cat food bowl full 100%, 0%
Steampunk Machine 0%, 0%
Control Unit - red button 0%, 0%
Kitten Transforms - Kettle, Twig, Clock 0%, 0%
Coo coo clock w/ bird 0%, 0%
Wrench 100%, 0%
Books 100%, 0%
Hats - top and smaller 100%, 50%
Rotten Apple 50%, 0%
Stool 100%, 100%
Deep Sea Suit 20%. 0%
Chair w/ side handle (smoke) 80%, 0%
Spiral Staircase 0%, 0%
Pipes 0%, 0%
cut tile floor 100%, 70%
brick walls 0%, 0%
wood plank ceiling 0%, 0%
old school ink pen 0%, 0%
horn music contraption 30%, 0%
Window 0%, 0%
Picture of inventor and kitten 0%, 0%
Picture of the machines plans 0%, 0%
lights, candles 70%, 20%
Barrel 100%, 100%
Globe 100%, 100%
book ends for the books... lots of different designs 0%, 0%
stacks of papers 0%, 0%
Hat rack/umbrella rack 100%, 100%
Decorative vase 100%, 100%
Abacus 100%, 0%
Animals in jars, skulls in jars, etc 0%, 0%
Beakers & flasks 50%, 50%
lantern 0%, 0%
pictures of blimp 0%, 0%
Russian cup in a cup in a cup dolls 0%, 0%
vase with flowers (peacock feather) 100%, 100%
little Grecian statue 0%, 0%
chandelier 0%, 0%
a ladder or step stool 0%, 0%
cigar box 100%, 100%
This is just to help me keep track of what needs done.
Modeling
Env
Cottage ext. 0%
Cottage lab int. 20%
Char
Kitten DONE
Spider-kitten 0%
Inventor 95%
Props
Worm 0%
Bottles, Glass 50%
Desk side compartment 0%
Desk DONE
Old Broom DONE
Paper scroll 0%
Blueprints 0%
Empty cat food bowl DONE
Cat food bowl full DONE
Steampunk Machine 0%
Control Unit - red button 0%
Kitten Transforms - Kettle, Twig, Clock 0%
Coo coo clock w/ bird 0%
Wrench DONE
Books DONE
Hats - top and smaller DONE
Rotten Apple 50%
Stool DONE
Deep Sea Suit 20%
Chair w/ side handle (smoke) 0%
Spiral Staircase 0%
Pipes 0%
cut tile floor DONE
brick walls 0%
wood plank ceiling 0%
old school ink pen 0%
horn music contraption 30%
Window 0%
Picture of inventor and kitten 0%
Picture of the machines plans 0%
lights, candles 0%
Barrel DONE
Globe DONE
book ends for the books... lots of different designs 0%
stacks of papers 0%
Hat rack/umbrella rack 0%
Decorative vase DONE
Abacus 0%
Animals in jars, skulls in jars, etc 0%
Beakers & flasks 0%
lantern 0%
pictures of blimp 0%
Russian cup in a cup in a cup dolls 0%
vase with flowers (peacock feather) DONE
little grecian statue 0%
chandelier 0%
a ladder or step stool 0%
cigar box DONE
So here we are once again. Another animated short, another blog, another 10-12 months! I've been developing the idea with my esteemed wife for about a month now.
A steampunk inventors life's is turned upside down when his newest invention accidentally zaps his beloved little kitten.
This will be the first short that I start with 100% of the script already being done. The story is sound, and the payoff at the end is memorable. As with my past 2 short film blogs, the main purpose of this blog is to help me keep things organized.
All start with some stats Im aiming for on the short.
4-6 minutes long
No dialogue
Animation driven (I will be looking for animators help on this one)
2 Hero characters, 1 background character
1 Environment - Interior cottage/labratory
Much more to come......
-Eric
