I think the last update went unnoticed, so I’m bumping this and adding the update in the thread title. Please read my longer post just above this.
I suppose I could also tell you that are reanimated the video, and will render it tomorrow. Sorry, no squirrel attack yet. My collaborator advised against it. 
But I’ll do some kind of fun animation with them.
Well, here’s the reanimation. There is an extra frame between wing positions while flapping, and it flies away slower. I also added some birdseed in the feeder. Problems I know of: the bird flies away kind of bumpily, and when it lands on the feeder its body should bend or move in such a way as to indicate the impact of landing.
Here’s the vid. I think it’s 1.2 mb, not DivX for a very good reason that I won’t bother explaining now.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/albums/NQE1/backgr0026_0130.avi
Also, if you missed the previous update, please check it out.
Okee-dokee, here we go. Started a new old man character (I think I’ll call him Fred [in honor of Mr. Rogers]) but it will hardly be the final version. Just another iteration that will help me learn.
Here’s the scary looking, flat-eared, strangely-lipped first version.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=NQE1&id=oldmanv20001
Side view of previous.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NQE1&id=oldmanv220001
This one alteration of the first version got a little closer. I made some stupid mistakes in the mesh around the mouth. I got ahead of myself and started going nuts trying to add the little wrinkles around the mesh. This resulted in strange polygons and triangles that don’t fit with the surrounding mesh.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NQE1&id=oldmanv240001
I used lukep’s hand modeling tutorial to help guide me in making Fred’s hands. Still needs a thumb, finger nails, and some wrinkles. He has a lot of hand close-ups so I want to make them good.
http://img235.echo.cx/img235/9071/hand00014dv.jpg
Also, my earlier updates seem to have gone unnoticed. Please check them out if you have time.
P.S. Like my new avatar? It’s a Paint Shop-ed picture of Arnold Schwarza- uh, Terminator. New hobby: messing with celebrity pictures.
Hand is almost done. Needs some more wrinkles yet. I’ve started rigging it.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/handf0001.jpg
I’m also cleaning up the mesh on the head I made. I’ve done about 40 storyboard shots. I can’t wait for softbodies and the future softbodies that can be affected by armatures because I’m going to need it for the old man to move around in his clothes.
I’d like more comments, so if you haven’t seen my last two or three updates, check them out.
Better, old-man-ier hand. That’s all.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/handf20001.jpg
977
@_@ I cant wait to see him put together. THe face bugs me but the hand l;ooks perfect.
Yeah, the face sucks. I’ve been getting better with each face I’ve modelled, but I still have a lot to learn. Fortunately, this is a learning project, so every obstacle I get to should make me stronger in the end. 8)
Well, I modeled a shoe and his foot coming out (wearing a black sock). It is not too detailed but there won’t be many close shots as far as I can see so I’m not really concerned about it. I’m pretty happy with it though.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/foot30001.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/foot20001.jpg
Always open to suggestions!
Well, I finally got around to trying Torq’s face tutorial. Very versatile and adaptable. I made a much better head with a lot less awful mesh (you all probably would have cringed at the sight of the other meshes.) Anyway, here it is. This may become the final version so please give me specific crits so I can make this good!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/torqman.jpg
Nice head, I like it. 
My crits:
- his eyelids seem not to be connected to the skin around them
They’re not. 
I may actually model real eyelids later, but for now they are just disconnected spheres. Much easier.
this may just be my imagination, but I think the bottom of his head comes up too fast
Not sure what you mean . . . %|
I think his head shouldn’t angle back at his eyebrow, or at least not as much as it is now
I like it that way, but I’ll experiment with your suggestion.
I think there shouldn’t be a crease to the right of his mouth; it looks a bit odd…
I agree. I didn’t notice that. I’ll try to fix it. 
his glasses are piercing his ear
Yeah, I noticed that but didn’t bother to fix it. The glasses are kind of place-holder right now.
his ears should be higher up. I remember reading somewhere that the ears are centered on about the same line as the eyes.
Well, it is intended to be cartoony, but again, I’ll experiment and see if I like it that way.
That all being said, thank you for commenting! Responses have been sparse and specific criticisms like that are very helpful.
Looks pretty good, but the flight should be smoother. When the bird flies away, it dips down and comes back up in a sharp V-shape. I think that’s a good idea, but if a bird were to do that, it would be more of a gentle turn, like a U. Good luck.
I mean I think the curve that starts at his chin and goes to the back of his head is too steep, but I’m not sure.
This is looking good. I think it is really cool that you are actually going to attempt to create a high quality good length movie. Keep up the good work!
frostyeel- Thanks! Attempt is the keyword there.
sapir- Gotcha. Fixed for now, but will probably look better once I do the neck.
Fixed up all the problems brought up by sapir and my collaborater (bridge on the nose, brow). Toying around with two ear types and sizes. I’d like some opinion on which ears are better. In each pic tell me what you like regarding the ears, and also point out any other problems you see.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/ears0001.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/Blenderender/ears20001.jpg
Ooofta (that’s Minnesotan for “wow”) it’s been a while since I updated this. I’ve been experimenting with particles more and may soon have a properly furred squirrel.
As far as the old man, I had been working on this head and decided to modify it into an elderly man. I think it’s not too bad. Has some kinks to be worked out yet. So here’s a fly-around animation of it. DivX, only about 300 kb. I’ll post stills if requested. Note: Eyeglasses, eyebrows, textures, and ear “holes” are all place holder.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/albums/NQE1/flyround0001_0135_001.avi
Tell me what you think!
Boy oh boy you thought I’d abandoned this (all two of you who remembered!) but it’s still been in the back of my mind. Things have slowed because a) my computer has been slow with blender b) classes have been oppressive c) my partner has another rather 3D intensive video project on his plate that takes precedence.
I would say that we are still mentally working on this and planning it. But of course we may have to abandon it because my partner has found another guy who has access to greenscreens, Final Cut, Shake and more and we’d like to do something with live-action. We also considered shortening it from it’s original length but that would only ruin it.
In any case, I’ve practiced more face modeling for our old man character and this is what I’ve come up with.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NQE1&id=olddude0001
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NQE1&id=olddude30001
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NQE1&id=olddude20001
Tell me what you think (besides the obvious “He sucks cuz he don’t have ears.”)
It looks like Robin Williams. Could you post a clay of it w/o AO so we can see the mesh work?
Hmm, Robin Williams? I guess I can see that.
Funny thing is that wasn’t rendered with AO. It looks grainy because of the rather crappy texture that was on it that I never got around to changing. I’ll post some nicer pics later today.
Modelling is pretty good. It seems to me the back of his head is really large, but perhaps you meant it that way.
Can we see a wire shaded version?
Wire added. Sorry for poor pic quality.
http://blender.sixmonkeys.geek.nz/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=NQE1&id=wire