Loosing all your work

My entire 3DS max file for the fable animation will no longer open. Five minutes after using it previously, then loading it back up again it brings up a file error and wont open it any longer. So wise words to other animators on this course, duplicate your file on your computer, or save it externally. Or you may have to start all over again from the beginning, at week 8 like me.

This is me;

Mood boards

I have produced some moodboards for each character in my faeble, the eagle, man and snake.

Snake



Man



Eagle

Modelling for animation

After some confusion and lots of modelling I realised that it is easier to model the object or character in one mesh. Not made up from lots of little one, as the way the bones minipulate the mesh will create a good realistic motion unlike that with tweened seperate objects.

Here are some screen shots of my progress modelling my man, not ready for bones just yet but that shouldnt take long to produce some facial features and the rest of the body.

Making my models suitable for animating

Here is my update of my models,  and the basic layout of my backdrop and scene. I started breaking each part down into separate parts and aligning them together ready for the bones to be applied, which is my next step. I am going to produce some suitable textures in Photoshop for each character, but still keep a level of basic colour. I will also create a backdrop and sky to apply to the plane behind the mountains.  

Bones

Bones are used to act as joints and bones of your structure, they can be fixed to one another and work together to create lifelike movement. The bones can be fixed to objects and move simultaneously with them. I have been looking through guides on the web to help my knowledge and proper use of them.

Modeling my characters

I have started to model my characters and I am happy with how they turned out. I feel I have a achieved a slight cartoon look to them, to be suitable for children. After researching into the stages of animating objects I learn that it is easIER to use separate parts for each limb. After this I had to almost start again in the modeling and to chop up the parts and make them individual.

Modelling my characters

To keep the modeling simpler I have decided to aim for a cartoon design to the characters. This assignment is more about the quality of the animation, and accuracy of achieving lifelike motion. As for the rendering I will keep it to block colours as this will be an important part of the fable being directed at children.