Rhia Crouch's Blog

This is part of a rework that I am doing of my pre-viz only this time around I am doing it in time with my poem. I've gotten this far, about halfway through the verses, it's just the next scene seems to be giving me some trouble becuase of the number of objects that are moving around and timing them together. Minor Per-viz wip 1 from Rhia Crouch on Vimeo .

5 minute pose Reference image

Another part of my characters that I have been redesigning are the upper outfits for the Moon and Sun. The plan is to have part of the outfit look like it was partly painted on to the wood while also giving them a cape or cloak so that their look more royal and can have better silhouette. I also feel that when I get the upper part of the outfit right I'll be able to work on the tail dress so that it matches and at a loater day work on some of the finer details of the design. Another thing that I have throught about is that I could mix and match the designs after I have picked out a design for each of them so that they look like a set. Moon's upper outfit without capes and cloakes Moon's upper outfit with capes and cloakes Moon's upper outfit showing the inner workings of the designs 1 - The first design that I have done is more or less the design that I have been used as the default design that I have been using for the time being. It's not th...

5 minute pose Reference image

Making a 2D image 3D in Maya

While working on the Moon's face designs I have also been looking at the Sun's face. I decided that the designs would be a mirror of the Moon's and also to be something to work off of with the hope that it might help me to see the designs being used on a different character and see any problems that might happen when they are moved over. 1 - This was the default design that I was using for my characters. It is a bit basic but has helped me to think about the way that I could add in some face paint that would be round eye as a parallelto the make up used on Moon. 2 - For the second design I throught about adding in suns in to the eyes just like I had done with Moon's designs, the only problem that I have with this is the points on the sun as there have made the Sun look too cute. It has also given Sun a bit of a dead stare that might make them seem unsettling to the viewer. 3 -The design was designed with the idea that it was going to be animated, such as th...

While working out the overal design of the characters I have also been looking at the smaller details to make sure that their fitted in with the wooden doll aesthetic. I also have to think about I would animate the eyes if they are designed to be painted on to the model as well, such as thinking about how the eye would move around or how they would blink. 1 - This was the first design that I had been using for some time being as I find drawing eyes difficult and so had been using my default design. I do like this design but I do feel that I can improve it to some level, maybe with the ideas that I have used in the other designs such as the makeup that is around the eyes to add feminine elements to the character. I have also used my default design for the mouth but I do plan to change it as I can't see it working on the doll's face. 2 - With this design a tried to add in a moon in to eyes which I think works to some level. However, I do feel that it does look abit cu...

5 minute quick pose before the lesson. One thing that I need to work on is the spine of the character. Reference Image

As I have been going over the designs for the Sun and Moon I have also been looking at the over shape of the characters and trying to make them look more masculine and feminine. The main focus of this has been the characters' arms, in their 3D test I just used a cylinder for the upper and lower parts of the arm but now looking at them as caved wooden figures I can see that I need to shape them a bit more. I've only been able to do one design on each of them I want to be able to know that I'm heading in the right direction with the shapes and making sure that they were the right size with the rest of the body. Model Opacity 50% Model Opacity 25% Any feed back is welcomed.

This is my plan for my Minor project so that I can stay on track with what I need to do and how long I plan to do it or now long I think it is going to take me. Also, by the end the Minor Project I plan to submit: Up dated Pre-viz with sound Script Pop-ups designs Texture tests Characters designed, modeled, rigged and textures Animation tests and wireframes Making of document Reflective statement I'm not sure how much work I will be able to do over the Christmas holidays due to family plans and being able to use my computer as it sits on the dinner table and it might be moved out of the way for the hoilday, so I've planned to get the heavy work done first. So I have left a few days empty that I know for sure that I won't be able to get to the computer. I've also planed in a 'Work over flow' just incase I get pushed back in my plans becasue of this or for some other reason, I can use these days to catch up. I've also noted the day tha...

After redesigning Moon's crown I realised that I would have to also redesign Sun's crown as well. With his crown I had to think abit more abstract with the flames and the way that they are shaped as well as making it seem more over the top to fit in with Sun's boyish/ show off personalty. 1 - The first design is based on the original crown design I was using but have now brought it round the whole of the head along with making points follow a patten instead. If I use this design, however, I might add another bend to the points so that they look more like flames. 2 - I do like the design of the sun on this one as I feel that it would be a different colour to the rest of the crown, along with having the small points sticking out from it as well. If I do use this one I might have to lower the sun down alittle so it's not that high up and becomes distracting in the animation. 3 - I also tryed to use the sun in this design but this time I put a small design insid...

Squash & Stretch Rig from Rhia Crouch on Vimeo .

One part that plays an important role in the designs of my characters are the tails. It is one of the parts of the characters that give off the idea that they are mythical creatures and that they flying in the sky as well as showing off some of their personalty. 1 - This first design is a more extreme version of the one from the 3D model with the idea of drawing out Moon's feminine features abit more. The end of the tail is meant to look like two crescent moons but I feel that it might be hard to move her around with this design. 2 - To play off of the idea that the characters look like wooden peg dolls while still make Moon look like a girl, it would also help to sit Moon on the ground better as the base is flat. If I do use this one I might have to edit it so that it looks more feminine. 3 - The third design is a mix of the other two, with the current moon design from the first idea on one side of the tail while still having the straight body of the second design. ...

5 minute pose done to warm up. Reference image

After I had created my characters in 3D with some basic shapes some design problems started to be come noticeable that I couldn't see when drawing them out. One of them was Moon's crown, it was designed to look like two crescent moons sitting on each side of her head but from the front they appeared to look like horns. I decided to think about redesigning the crown so that it looks more like its intended shape. While I was thinking about making them bigger (after looking at the work by Erte) and moving the crown to sit at the back of the head, I found myself also thinking about if the design should reflect the Moon's gentle personalty or not. 1 - This one I feel has something going for it but I can't see this in the animation as it is a bit too high and might be distracting. 2 - This one is currently my favourite design out the 5. If I use this one I might drop it down abit and move the smaller moons so that they are pointing outwards more. Also, if I use thi...