UV Mapping

The nose was such a mission to map out. I'm never doing anything like that again...

Testing...

Nearly finished! Just need to fix those crazy eyes... It looks really dark at the moment because there isn't any light either.

Rigging my Character

Animatic Draft

Very rough timing plan. The jump in the air is going to be slow motion so that's why it takes a while...

Final Model

Continuation of Character Modeling

The best part was modeling the ears! I extended them because I thought is made the character look more dramatic and give him more character.

Just need to mirror him now...

Week Four: Interim: Storyboards

Storyboard Final:
I altered my storyboard to fit my model. I found it a bit too tricky for my time limit to model and animate a dog that can open its mouth and catch a ball, pant etc, so I modeled his mouth shut. 

I changed from the dog catching the ball in his mouth to missing it, chasing after it, nudging it way up in the air with his nose and head butting it playfully. I feel like this actually benefited my work because it forced me to think of uncommon, fun and unrealistic ways this dog could play with a ball. 

Final Story:

• After various close ups of the dogs face, the camera pans out to reveal the dogs whole face
• Dog starts running but we don't know why yet (the ball isn't in view)
• Jumps for the ball
• Misses the ball completely
• Lands and trots excitedly after the ball
• Ball stops and the dog pounces around it
• Dog knocks the ball, ball starts to roll away
• Dog trots after it again
• Dog nudges the ball up high in the air with his nose (like a soccer player kicks up a ball with his feet)
• Dog head butts the ball
• Dog pounces down again
• Ball bounces in front of the dog
• Dog pounces around the ball like before
• Dog puts his paw on the ball to stop it from moving
• Dog looks up
• The SPCA message (I don't know if it will be text or a voice over yet)

Modeling the Doberman: Process so Far

Final Character

Final Character:

Middle Dog is my final character

Rough Front and Side Views:

I researched into dogs skeletons and mapped out a rough rig

Drawing Front and Side Views in Photoshop:

Digitally drawing my Character. I modified the drawings slightly so they were proportionally correct with each other. 

Finals:

I printed off my final character and drew on a mesh guideline for when I import it to Maya as planes and model from there. The mesh drawn on both views work together. I know it might not be right right now but when I start modeling in Maya, I can alter it as I go. 

Doberman References

Image Reference:

Video Reference:
The next video I haven't used as reference yet but the way the mouth is animated is what I'm looking for. I'm not making my Doberman talk but bark once.

Rough Storyboard Changes

Original Storyboard:
Original rough line: "Don't judge a book by it's cover." -all dogs to come from the SPCA are guaranteed to be family safe.

New Storyboard:
"You don't have to adopt us to help us." -volunteering and playing with the animals at the SPCA helps a lot more than most people would think.

Feedback of Character and Story

Feedback from my Tutor:
I talked to my tutor about my character and she said that he was a little too realistic and could be a lot more interesting if he was stylized more. We decided to go back and use one of my original designs I created earlier in the process. 

We decided the middle Doberman was the best option. He is my final design.

Feedback on my Story Line and Changes made:
My original Story: Based off the cliche saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover."

• Close up of the Dobermans eye
• Close up of mouth while it barks 
• The dog starts running in slow motion (the audience starts to wonder what this dog is up to -starts to get a little worried)
• Jumps into the air
• Catches a ball (back to normal speed)
• Trots with the ball happily
• Drops the ball and lays down next to it happily
• Quote

My original idea was to have the audience slightly suspicious of this dog as it is commonly thought of as an aggressive or strong dog. Then we are shown that he is a lovely dog who is just playing. Because it is an SPCA dog, its guaranteed to be family friendly.

Feedback from the Tutor and changes made:
The SPCA has given us a line to work with "You don't have to adopt us to help us." Although we don't have to absolutely work with this line, it is recommended that we do. So we decided that we can combine both ideas together. 

New Idea: You can really help an animal and make them happy just by playing and volunteering to help them.  

• Close up of eye at the start, blinks
• Close up of mouth, pans out to view whole dog face, dog barks
• Dog starts running with excitement (slow motion)
• Jumps (we don't see ball yet)
• Catches ball in their mouth (normal speed again)
• Happily trots over
• Pounces down playfully and refuses to give ball up
• Sits (straight posture)
• Drops ball
• Watches it bounce
• Looks side to side
• Quote (not sure if written or voice over yet) 

About my Character

• Playful
• Always happy, it takes a lot to upset him
• Outgoing 
• Cheeky 
• Friendly with humans, other dogs and animals
• Caring
• Protective
• Curious
• Nosy
• Active
• Loves going for walks but loves running more
• Constantly wants to play or be patted
• Great at hearing

Side and Front view of Character, Starting to model Character

I decided to go for a realistic look for the Doberman because I want him to be instantly recognizable. His ears are cropped to stay up and his tail is short also. Some people want their Dobermans to have this look to give the impression that they are a strong, tough dog. 

My drawings I created in Photoshop. Targa files: 1024x1024

 Starting to Model my Character in Maya:

Making the planes to reference with

Using the Polygon Tool to start the Edge Looping Process

Starting Thumbnail Visual Treatments

Chosen Animal: The Doberman

 This breed of dog has a lot of character with its strong stance, straight ears, short tail and smart look about it. It is also great to draw silhouettes of.

 Silhouettes: Completed with Sharpie

Some standing and sitting silhouettes. My favourite silhouette far right, bottom corner.

Action silhouettes, running (left), jumping at different angles (right)

Sketches:
I based most of these sketches on some of my silhouettes.
Features I'm interested in: Pointy ears, face and chest. I want to have the ears large, could be exaggerated. Bigger chest to look more powerful. Facial expression is important and I want the design to be able to show expression well.  

Fig 1.  3,2,1

Progression from right to left (I work backwards because I'm left handed). I started off with more soft and stylized features and progress to a more broad, powerful chest with bigger, thicker legs and a more realistic face.

Fig 2.

I tried to break away from a realistic style. The top three are quite stylized and different -they kind of remind me of deer... The bottom right corner sketch I experimented with shortening the body, having a thick andpowerful chest. I think this could work with more work done to it.

Fig 3. 

I decided to see how the shorter body could with the rest of it drawn and in front view. 


I really like my first three developments (Fig 1.) as they are stylized but also keep to the breed quite closely. However I think the top three (of Fig 2.) are interesting. They are probably a bit too different to work for this project. Next class I will get feedback from my tutor and see what she thinks.

SPCA Visit

Notes:

• 100% donation funded. No government help
• Allows owners 7 days to get their animals if they weren't present at the time they were taken into care
• Micro chipped, desexed, wormed, vaccinated and checked
• 18 hours for a kitten to get adopted out
• Health check - Quarantined - Adoption
• SNAP program, for possible low income families to get their animals desexed at a low cost
• Not a non-kill center, try to find solutions but will put down animals if terminally ill and would live in pain otherwise
• Take on University vet students to train and get work experience
• 600 animals in their care at the moment
• 1,000 volunteers - minimum of a 6 month contract as they take time to train all volunteers
• Great relationship with Wellington Zoo
• Try to get wildlife out asap to rehabilitators so they don't become dependent on humans
• Open to the public 10.00am-4.00pm

Photos I took at the SPCA:

Research: Movies that capture animals character

Balto:
Balto was brilliant at showing each of the dogs breed and character through the way each character was designed and animated. 

Steele: Proud, pompous, strong, snobby, leader, pure breed, "perfect", 

This clip shows some of the dogs and their personalities that match their breed perfectly.

Silhouettes of all the characters

The Lion King:
Scar

Scar: Manipulative, cunning, smart, jealous, controlling,

Shrek:
Donkey

Donkey: Annoying, persistent, loud, caring, can't take a hint, talkative, impatient 

Research of Creatures

I originally wanted to have a smaller, cute looking dog as my character for this assignment but as I researched into more and more dog breeds, I found dogs with lots of character in their looks that weren't necessarily cute. 

Breeds of dog I was originally researching: 

• Pomeranian 
• Silky Terrier
• Maltese 
• Pekingese

Pomeranian, Silky Terrier, Maltese, Pekingese

 Further research into dogs with lots of character:

• British/English Bulldog
• Shar Pei
• Pug
• French Bulldog 
• Dachshund 
• Basset Hound 
• Scottish Terrier
• Doberman
• Bloodhound

British/English Bulldog, Shar Pei, Pug, French Bulldog

Dachshund , Basset Hound, Scottish Terrier, Doberman, Bloodhound 

The breeds that I am leaning towards now are the Shar Pei, Basset Hound, Doberman and Bloodhound.