I have not previously had much modelling experience as I have not done the perquisite subject Introduction to 3D due to various changes in the structure of my course over the last year or so. That said I have used 3DS Max previously to make a few models of world war two planes when I was in year twelve just for a bit of fun and self learning.

This experience with 3DS Max has left me with some preconceptions about how things in a 3D modelling program should work... All of which do not seem to apply to Maya. I have chosen to use Maya anyway this semester so I can utilise the experience of teaching staff. Although at first I found navigating Maya viewports and various modelling tools awkward when compared to Max I'm not getting used to how it all works, although I'm still struggling to understand the way Maya's node history works.

This week I have begun modelling the first character for my animation which is also incidentally my first character ever. So far the modelling process hasn't been to difficult. I have just been modelling to the picture in my head for the flying dodo and using the various sketches of dodo's I have found as a reference for the dodos head. At this stage I have modelled the Dodo's head, and body in two separate Maya files which I will join later in the week.

I am pretty happy with how it's going although I am not happy with the wing feathers and will have to investigate a better way to add feathers to the wings. Screenshots of progress are below:

Biodiversity – Real time Animation Proposal

Biodiversity is such an important asset to the world around us and removing any one organism from an ecosystem has cascading implications for other organisms that humans do not always understand. Unfortunately humans have played their part in unraveling ecosystems and have wiped out entire species of animals. The first such recorded case of humans wiping out an entire species occurred in 1681 when it was discovered that the Dodo had been completely wiped out within 84 years of its discovery. Since this time the Dodo has become the archetype of extinction.

In this the year of biodiversity I aim to tell the story of the Dodo, humanities first recorded impact on the biodiversity of earth.

Style Guide:

The aim of the animation short is to portray the extinction of the Dodo in an entertaining manner. Humor, and colours will be used to create a joyful viewing experience before the dodo is first discovered by man, and then take on a darker undertone as the story of the Dodo’s last 84years unfolds. To achieve a fun and playful animation the style will be kept comical/toony. Some examples of the type of style that I will be aiming for are:

Team Fortress 2 by Valve

Up by Pixar Animation

The key features of these styles are the use of bright colors, with relatively simple but clever texturing to create an interesting slightly comic-like appearance with which the animators are able to have a lot of fun with. The real-time animation I produce will aim for a similar sort of style.

Storyboard:

Scene 1: The Origins of the Dodo

The Dodo is believed to have developed from an unknown species of migratory birds which during the migration found the island of Mauritius. The opening scene will depict the migratory birds find a lush island with plentiful fruits. A subtitle will accompany this scene: “10 Million Years Ago”

Scene 2: The Dodo & Mauritius & Devolution

The reason the Dodo is believed to be flightless is due to the abundance of fruit on the island of Mauritius that lead it to stay and slowly begin to fly less and less until such point as it could no longer fly. This scene is intended to depict this devolution with a series of short humorous sketches which depict Dodos gorging on fruit and gradually becoming too heavy to fly. This scene will also show the gradual passing of time up until it was first discovered in 1598.

Scene 3: Discovery

Dodos were first discovered in 1598. This scene will show the landing of the first humans on the island and their first encounter with the Dodo. As Dodo’s were fearless of humans this is an opportunity to have some more fun and try to produce a humorous scene.