3D Foundation Logbook

Using lattice deformers should make it fairly simple to create Phil's bulb using a simple sphere. The tricky part is going to be his glowing filament and the glow overall, not to mention his glass bulb. There are a few tutorials around though for creating glass in Maya online, and in the Mastering Maya 8.5 which was a good buy for sure.
























[thoughts on using lattice deformers]

Labels: 3d, animation, Maya

Notes for the Character Dossier:
We settled on Phil Bulbman (as in Philips bulbs, ha!)
He's a 60W (not real bright) light bulb (still debating whether or not he's clear or soft-white).
Occupation: Lighting
Eyes: Black text - "Philips" and "60W"
Marital Status: Single
Lives: New York City Apartment, 3rd floor, 2BR
Height: 100cm (big bulb!)
Base: Shiny metal (alum)
Age: 35
Personality: Impatient
He's jealous of CCFL (high-efficiency) light bulbs, so he is trying to better himself through meditation. After 15 years in NYC he is losing his brightness and is trying to regain it. He's feeling a little "burned-out" from working so hard to a make a living in NYC. He moved to NYC to find a better life and experience the big city. He was born and raised in Alburnett, IA (pop. 559). Sick of living in a small town with nothing to do so he moved to NYC to experience more things. Trying to make himself patient so he can make friends and find a girlfriend.













Notes about the environment:
- Bedroom (2nd)
- cushion to sit on
- carpeted floor
- altar: buddha statue, picture, candle
- Posters on the wall: Thangka, japanese painting
- bookshelf with books
- window with light coming in























General Notes:
It has been quite enjoyable coming up with the fictional life of Phil Bulbman. Andrew and I have had a lot of fun. We seem to work well as a team, both bringing ideas to the table and hashing them out without drama. He seems keen on the project, which is good as we have quite a bit of work ahead. We need to clarify our specific roles as we go ahead with the project.

I have been using a free program called celtx, available on the net. It helps do pre-production. It has been handy for organizing our ideas and collaborating over the web.
We need to get our storyboard sorted soon and loaded into celtx as it is due on the 11th.

Labels: 3d, animation, Character Dossier, ideas

Some ideas for the 3D Animation project:
Meditator walks into his meditation room.
Sits on a cushion. Tries to meditate.
Disturbed by noises outside, a fly etc...
Finally gets it together. Starts to levitate, and glow and bumps his head on the ceiling.
The End.

The main character could be a bulb. That might add a humorous element especially with the glowing. The bulb could be clear or frosted glass, depending on how hard it is to make it clear. We could use the filament as the mouth to allow the bulb to show some expression.

Not sure how to do the eyes? Indented? Use printed text on bulb for prints? Maybe one big eye that goes all the way around? The whole thing blinks!?

Reference images:






















[This is a light bulb model I found on Turbo Squid.]















[image courtesy of finkbuilt.com]
This is a great example of a frosted bulb with flaws, which would go well with our flawed meditator. This one is actually made out of concrete, pretty cool idea.

Labels: 3d, animation, ideas

Well, we have received our instructions for the second 3D project: create a 15 second animation from scratch including storyboards, character dossier, 2d animatic, 3d animatic, and finally animation.

Labels: 3d, animation, logbook