Unicorn (Peacock blend file)

Artwork Finished Projects
1

Hey all,

Thought I’d post this up here, it’s the result of my second year, second semester (12~ weeks) Bsc Computer Animation & Digital FX course 3D modelling & Animation module (I also had a 2D animation module, and visual effects module to complete during the same period… This impacted this short a fair bit. Boo.)

The animation had to be based upon a short poem*

Unicorn
The Unicorn with long white horn,
Is beautiful and wild.
He gallops about the forest green,
So quickly that he’s seldom seen,
Where peacocks their feathers preen,
And strawberries grow wild.
He flees the hunter and the hounds,
Upon black earth his white hoof pounds,
And cold mountain streams he bounds,
And comes to a meadow mild;
There, when he kneels to take his nap,
He lays his head in a lady’s lap,
As gently as a child.
[Griffin, 2001]

Storyboard

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9516/scene001shot001copy.th.jpg

When developing the storyboard I tried to make use of a number of guides, such as ‘the rule of thirds’ and a few others. The composition isn’t as evident as I’d have liked it to be, but since I was pushed for time I could not fine tweak the scenes, nor add many of the bright coloured plants and bushes that I had planned on adding, which would have guided the eyes more. In any case I learnt a lot from trying to use them.

Unicorn
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/1322/19616822.th.jpg

Video
Please watch it in 720p if you can.

https://youtu.be/zjm0VRXfshI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjm0VRXfshI

Worm Rig & Animation

Worm rig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ2DFbvqAZM

Worm GlSl viewport animation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWEo3cW1qUA

All in all I’m pleased with getting my first animation complete, and I’ve learnt a lot about how blender works in the process, I’m in pre-production of a new short animation now, based upon a story of my own creation so expect something soon (mid-September).

Michael Griffin (2001) Unicorn.
[Download]. Available at:
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?id=3211&AuthorID=4050

*The poem was cut down due to it’s size, and hence makes little sense overall. Basically the first section of the poem is used, ending where it says he feels the hunter…

2

You can see the mane of the unicorn fall at the start.

3

very impressive!

4

Nice!

The unicorn model is very strong!

A shame that the time for storyboarding was short… but given longer I’d have focussed less on “shaded and lit” or colour drawing the eye and more on framing, composition and shot flow.

The running animation of the unicorn could do with some flow to the spine, the shoulders and hips are moving like they’re on rails :wink:

Well done on making your first complete animation though! I bet you feel good!

5

Michael W
Nice!

The unicorn model is very strong!

A shame that the time for storyboarding was short… but given longer I’d have focussed less on “shaded and lit” or colour drawing the eye and more on framing, composition and shot flow.

The running animation of the unicorn could do with some flow to the spine, the shoulders and hips are moving like they’re on rails :wink:

Well done on making your first complete animation though! I bet you feel good!

Thanks Michael, I do feel pretty good. It’s really inspired me to create more animations, now that I know I can take it from start to finish. I agree with all of the points, especially the composition, that’s something that I plan on spending some time playing around with for future productions.

As for the unicorn, I’m not afraid to admit that the animation throughout is pretty appalling, I really find it hard to grasp animation, timing etcetera. Something I NEED to do better on in my future work.

daren
very impressive!

Thanks :slight_smile:

meatlover
You can see the mane of the unicorn fall at the start.

You can indeed, I had many problems with the hair system, I had initially left it out of the production as it was just too unpredictable when working on animated hair particles, one of my professors mentioned the hair though and I had to take his opinions on-board and do the hair, so it was really a last minute thing, you’ll also notice that the hair is left out entirely from the last shot.

6

I’ve decided to upload the peacock model that can be seen as the unicorn starts to gallop through the forest.

I’ve removed the rig as it wasn’t particularly good anyway, it’s licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC. So if anyone is interested in making a good rig for this model they can do that, and release it to the community if they feel like it.

I may release the other two models at some point, I’ll probably do some more work on them first though to make it worth releasing them to the community.

Download