Vetri - The Short Film WIP

Hi guys,

I’ve now moved on to my 3rd film project which I tentatively titled “Guide To Success - The Short Film”. I was happy with the response of “Tripping” but I noticed one of the letdowns of the film was poor character animation. So I’ve now decided to tackle this issue in this film. For the characters, I’ll be using the Cookie Flex rig which I obtained from purchasing the Blender Character Animation Toolkit course. I’ve chosen to use this rig since I require a lot of characters in the film and the Cookie Flex rig allows the generation of many characters pretty quickly and easily. I also chose this rig as it has that cartoony style which I’m going for in this film. Since I’m focusing mostly on character animation, the rig allows me not to think about modelling, rigging and texturing the characters and just focus on the character’s motion.

I’ve now finished writing the script for the film and will move on to set building. The story follows along the lines of a very unsuccessful boy who wishes to be successful in life and joins a course which will attempt to change him forever. The duration is expected to be around 10 minutes but I’ll know for sure after the animatic stage.

I’ve also completed generating all the main characters for the film. I will also need to generate the secondary characters for the film soon.

Here is a quick poster I threw up in half an hour.


I’ll follow a slightly different process to making this film and will be documenting the making of this film from start to finish.

Started building sets for the film. I will need to create a lot of sets in the film.

Here is Akesh’s room:






The modelling and texturing took a whole day. The tree in the background was made with Sapling add-on.

Next will be the house corridor scene and the exterior house scene…

Worked on the corridor scene. Still need to add in trophies in the empty cabinet. The plant was downloaded from BlendSwap. All other items were modelled from cubes and some elements were imported from “Tripping”. Spot lights were added to represent the halogen light effect found in modern homes.

Here is the 3d view and the rendered views:






Next will be the exterior house scene…

I´ve made this short with blender.

He Solowy, I like the idea and the concept of this new short film. Modelling has also started well.

What impressed me when I watched your last one was the broad range of facial expressions you used. That way the feelings of the characters have been clear without speaking. So I’m looking forward to see this one :slight_smile:

Nice man!, it looks like you’re having fun, if you want we can do some dailies so i can help you out commenting on your animation =D

Cheers!

The scenes are good.

@andrepazleal,
Very cool looking character animation :slight_smile: Is there a version with English subtitles?

@minoribus,
Thanks! I originally wasn’t too confident about the facial expressions and whether it would be clear, so I’m glad you liked the expressions :slight_smile:

@electronicpulse,
Sounds good :slight_smile: I’ll try to post something new every 2-3 days…

@tahnk, Thanks :slight_smile:

Here is the latest progress with the exterior scene.



Progress:

  • The houses were modelled from cubes with brick texture applied.
  • The windows were quickly generated using the WindowGenerator 2 addon found inside Blender.
  • Trees were made using Sapling addon inside Blender
  • Added a particle system for grass

To do later on:

  • Add bins
  • Add electrical wires
  • Add some mailboxes
  • Add cars
  • Maybe lowpoly birds

Next, I will create the Uni lecture hall scene…

Attachments


Here is the lecture theatre scene:




I modelled one chair and then used the array modifier to populate the theatre.

Any feedback on how this could be improved?

Next, I will create the Uni exam room…

I’ve now finished the exam room scene:






Populating this room with students is going to be a challenge on my CPU, but hopefully it comes together nicely…

Next, the wedding hall scene…

Here is the wedding hall scene progress:

First, I modelled a hall using a real reference found on Google. I used a cube and cut loops where necessary.


I then modelled chairs and tables using some help from BlenderNerd (http://www.blendernerd.com/breakfast-hall-series/). I then added in a ceiling design, lights, doors and a stage.


Here is the latest progress after adding some props:


In the set detailing stage I still need to:

  • Add plates and spoons
  • Add a red carpet down the middle where the bride walks in
  • Add some flower designs
  • Some other wedding stuff

I also need to organise everything into layers. The chairs/tables in one layer, the walls/ceiling in another layer (in order to animate the characters without wall distractions), and so on…

Next, I will make the headmaster office…

Finished the headmaster office. Might not need to do anything in the detailing stage.






Downloaded the chair models from BlendSwap (credit to Blinder for the office chairs, Andrew Price for the Barcelona chair and stool and DennisH2010 for the plants). I also re-used the shelf with books from the ‘Tripping’ short film.

Next, I will create the exterior University building…

I’d just caution you against making the sets too realistic, or you may have a problem with the cartoon characters looking out of place on your sets.

Also, in the lecture theater, it does not look like it is possible to get to any of the interior seats without stepping on the chairs or climbing over the desktops.

Oops, I missed a lot of updates on this one. You are modelling at high speed :slight_smile: The models all look very fine!

Orinoco has made a good point. Perhaps this can be handled through the materials you choose. I think if the materials look somehow toonish a realistic geometry will be no problem.

@Orinoco,
Thanks for the feedback :slight_smile: I’ve started to dial down on the realistic look. It was not until I added in the characters and rendered it, did I realise that it looks a bit odd. I will remove some of the detailed textures and shaders and add simpler ones instead.
Also, you’re right about the lecture theatre. I’ll try to fix this, although it might not be necessary since it won’t be seen that long and I will be angling the camera in a way that it isn’t that noticeable, such as closeups on the main character.

@minoribus,
Thanks minoribus :slight_smile: I’m doing exactly that, dialing down on the realistic materials and replacing them with simpler shaders.

Here is the latest progress on the Uni exterior scene:




Next, I will be making a shady looking street…

those sets look awesome!
I’m really excited about the developing of your film. when it’s finished, could you provide your script? I’d really like to see how it’s written and compare it to the finished result.

do you render the animation also in cycles?
in the hallway it seems you used spotlights - how is that possible in cycles?

keep going :slight_smile:

Thanks payne :slight_smile:
After I release the film, I’ll also release the script, set and most of the models (not the characters unfortunately as it isn’t my model).

I’m rendering with Cycles. I did use spotlights in the hallway and the wedding hall. Spotlights have been supported in Cycles since version 2.68 I think.

Here is the latest progress with the shady street:



Garbage container from DennisH2010 and Park bench from hrk of BlendSwap.

Next, I’ll be making a general street… (After that, 5 more sets to build)

Here is the street scene,



Next, I will create the “Guide To Success” course room…

I’ll follow this work. Will be interesting to see your progress.

Amazing work and a ten minute clip for one person is a ambitious project for sure. I caught hell turning out two minutes. Now hopefully without getting into a BI / Cycles pissing contest I’m wondering why you’re using Cycles for this. A scanline renderer would give you ‘That Look’ and render out way quicker. I’m taking the liberty of including a link. Once again really nice work and I’m looking forward to the premier.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=scanline+render&qpvt=scanline+render&FORM=IGRE#a

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