Rhia Crouch's Blog

After finalising the the overal designs for Sun and Moon I set about working on some colour tests for them that might start to help me thinking about what ways I am going to texture them later of if there is a better way of showing that they are wooden dolls. I might have to go back and change the cloaks and capes so that they look like they were painted on but I think it's a good idea to see what they would normaly look like first. Colour Set 1 The first set colour that I did was based on the original colours that I was useing when I was creating the mock up designs for the characters with some small changens. I wanted to see if the colours that I used could work together or if their could bring up any other ideas for other ideas. Moon - The overall colours for her don't seem to be working well together, however, the idea of her tail dress and cloak being partly see through seem to be working and might help to bring a gentler touch to her. Also, the gradient affect a...

Started work on modeling Moon's head. It doesn't look like I have done much but having to think about how I am going to model my characters and how the shapes will interlock with eachother.

5 minute speed pose Reference image

Another updated version of my othographs. This version has a few more details added to it such as some of the characters' clothes and accessories (some elements are still missing) but I don't know if I am on the right track with them or if I have gotten some parts wrong. I am also having trouble with Moon's cloak and the way that should fall over her arm. I don't know if I should leave it off of the othographs for the time being and only work on it when she is fully finished, as I have been given the idea of using Ncloth to try and make it but I'm unsure if that will work. Moon othographs Moon's cloak over her arm Sun othographs

Now added the arms and hands, I'm not sure if I have gotten them right as it was abit difficult to work out how they should look from the top. Sun othographs Moon othograph

Here are the othographs for the Sun and Moon's bodies. I have only drawn the base shape of the character's bodies as I was having a bit of trouble with drawing the clothes at some points, so I decided to focus on the body so that I can get them right before moving on. I also still need to work out now the arms will look from above. This is the first time that I have done othographs for a character so I might have made some mistakes.

5 minute speed pose Reference image

One final, little edit to the Moon's neck so that she doesn't have the same one as Sun.

Last little update to Sun's crown to make it sit on his head better and to make it look more flashy.

Updated Sun's face abit more after getting some feed back on how to make him look more masculine, as in moving the eyes alittle smaller and changing the shape of the nose.

Finally gotten round to putting the faces on to Moon and Sun meaning that their are nearly finished as a whole but I feel that some small edits might still need to be done to the faces, mostly with the Sun. I am quite happy with the look for Moon but it's Sun's overall face that still seems to be bugging me a bit, he seems to look abit "dopey" in my mind. This might be the fact that I have used the same eyes as I have done on Moon and turned the the base of them up slightly so that it looks like they are pointing upwares alittle. I also feel that I might need to rethink the beard abit as something abit doesn't seem to sit with the slightly boyish personalty. I've also coloured in the eyelids so that it would make them easier to see in the image.

5 minute speed pose Reference image

Attract to Matching Mesh Test from Rhia Crouch on Vimeo .

After going over the designs of my characters I'm starting to feel that Sun and Moon are getting closer to their final designs, just need to work out what their faces are going to to look like and I'll be set. If I get the bodys set in stone then I feel that I will be able work on the orthographics on them while still working on the faces as drawing the turn arounds for them might get a little tricky from time to time. Looking at the overall designs for them I can't really see anything more that needs changing but it could be that I have been looking at these drawings for so long that I'm not seeing them anymore.

Still working and reworking Sun and Moon's designs with feedback that I have been getting, it is a little annoying but it's the only way that I'll be able to create the strongest designs. Moon's new crown does seem to have something going for it as it looks alot softer and calmer but there is something bugging me about it. The Sun on the other hand seems to be giving me more trouble with their body shape with the latest problem being the tail shape, but by looking at the feedback that I have been given and creating a small mock up of the idea I can see how this new design might work alot better than what I already have.

After making the base shapes for the Sun and Moon I have started to work on drawing out the final outfits for them. They are mostly close to the mock up designs that were put together but I have taken the notes that I had made about them and have implemented them into the design. This includes fixing the Sun's body pattens and tail dress so that they are symmetrical and more simple, as well as making the Moon's cloak see throught. Overall, I feel that I am starting to see the characters in fall now and am starting to know them better as well as thinking about how they will look in 3D.

Minor: Per-viz 2 from Rhia Crouch on Vimeo . This is a second version of my pre-viz only this time I have done the animations in time with the poem so I could work out the length of the shots.

5 minute speed pose Reference image

After looking at the mock up designs for my characters that I have put together, I have started to build up the final designs from the base shapes onwares so that I can get it set in stone before moving on. The reason that I am doing this is because I have had some trouble getting the overall shape of them right and this has lead to me having to going over the whole design just to fix it. So I have decided take it step by step and catch the problems from the start. Most of the shapes that I have used for the characters I am happy with but there are parts that I needed to work out more, such as the arms and the Sun's waist, but I think that I have gotten them to a point now where I am happy with how they look. If not then it's a good start. I have left out the hands for the time being as I feel that part is going to be abit harder for me to do. Moon and Sun's new base shapes designs Any feedback is welcomed.

After some time of redsigning parts of my characters I have put together the parts that have stood out the most and have gotten feedback. By putting them together I can start to see the overall look of them and start to work out what they would fully look like when they are mixed together as well as working off of each other. Some parts still need work, like the hair and face, but I have left them out for now as I feel that if I get the overll design fix in I might find it easier to to work them out. Moon and Sun's picked out designs put together Moon and Sun's picked out designs put together with notes

So that my characters don't just have boring bodies from the waist down and to add to the idea that they are some form of higher beings I have given them what I am currently calling "tail dresses". This will hopefully make them more interesting and break up the silhouette a bit more. However, looking back over these designs I have noticed that the shapes I have used din't seem to fit in with my plan of using a "Lego set" with the shapes so that it would be easyer of me to model. This may have to be the exception to the rule or I could find another way of fitting the dress tail in. The base tails that I have used for these designs are not the finished tail shapes that I will be using in the final designs. Moon tail dresses 1 and 2 Moon tail dresses 3 and 4 1 - The first design is based on the old design that I had been using for the Moon but I have simplified it as well as making it longer. I have also added a fate gradient of colour up from ...