Made lots of headway this weekend, good job as the deadline is Monday. Since the first scene the next few were a doddle, as everything was set up the way I needed it.
Young Child’s Room
Teenager’s Room
Broken Pig Glued Together
In The Attic
Next came the death of piggy, boxed away and all alone in scene 5. This was a little trickier because I had to build a whole new environment for it.
The lighting was very important on this one, I built the set with a fake door which blocks the light and will be used to simulate the light of the door opening in the animation.
Added props, boxes, suitcases, you name it.
With the basic concept for the short story down, it’s time to start padding out the scenes. With each cut you will see the environment and the piggy bank changing, from the child’s early years to adulthood.
- Scene 1:
Begins in a small baby boy’s room, with a cot and rotating mobile. The camera focusses on the piggy bank, wrapped in a bow as a gift to the new born child.
- Scene 2:
Cot has changed to a small bed, and other props appear. A hand extends out to put coins in the piggy bank. This represents the young child caring for the object.
- Scene 3:
The room has changed to a teenagers, and loud music is playing in the background. The bass from this begins to shake the piggy bank off the table, when it falls and smashes on the ground
- Scene 4:
2 hours later. Same scene as before, just with the smashed object glued together, looking brittle and worn
- Scene 5:
The piggy bank has been neglected and put away in a box, left in the dark surrounded by clutter.
- Scene 6:
Rebirth of the object. Brought back into the light in a new baby girls room, as a handed down gift.
I’ve decided on a name for the short, forgotten. But piggy is remembered in the end, so all is good.
This set of photos is an ingenious twist on the fish eye lens. The stitching together of anything up to 80 photos gives the illusion of planet like globes.
To get it as realistic as I can, I will be basing my model on a blueprint I found on turbosquid.
It wasn’t exactly the look I wanted, so I used it as a guideline for the initial mesh only.
The modeling and animation software I’m using will be Cheetah 3D, a great little app for the mac that does exactly what I need it to, and no more.
Here is the setup:
So lets begin…
Blocking out the mesh
Applying subdivision
Those ears are too big!
Shaping the face
What was I thinking.
Adding in eyes
I can see!
Beefing up the legs
If this piggy does one thing well, it is standing still.
Adding in the slot
Thats gotta hurt.
Adjusting the lighting and testing radiosity
Quick rendering test in an environment.
Radiosity light map
Its like dot to dot, but I wouldn’t give it to my kids.
Changing the colour
Mmmm, sweet porky pink goodness.
Finishing touches
I then created these materials in Fireworks 8 and used them as a bump map and spectularity map. Those are just small samples.
Modeling complete, added in hair line scratches and dirt marks for ultra realistic material extravaganza.
The challenge: Fill 90 seconds of film with a short story representing an object or concept.
My answer: A piggy bank. Obviously.
When I first saw this project the title confused me a little, which is where the dictionary comes in handy and to my surprise Simulacrum is an actual word.
- Simulacrum - noun
- An image or representation of someone or something.
Ok, so there is more to this than just making a 3D model of a piggy bank, or I should hope so otherwise I will get a rubbish mark. My concept is exploring the use of the object over a generation, the wear and tear, and the handing down to children to start a new life.
Piggy will begin life sparkling and new in the loving hands of a toddler, but as the years go by interest in the object fades and neglect sets in. Accidents happen (Yes, I’m going to smash the damn thing, didn’t see that coming!) but eventually the film ends as Piggy is handed down to a new generation, and the cycle begins.
