Wilderbeast drinking test

Hi guys i thought i would do a test for the wildebeest drinking. Its very simple but it looks quite effective. when we have the scene done i can start animating these characters in there habitat.

Lion king - The musical

Hi guys a few weeks ago i went to watch The Lion King - The Musical and i thought it was spectacular and the light changes throughout were amazing this really inspired my thoughts on the project. I could not film or take pictures due to restrictions but i have found this video on youtube that shows a lot of the lighting and the effect the lighting has. take a look or even go and watch the show you wont regret it :)

animals and their environment

i took it on myself after most of the environment and characters were modelled. i decided to do tests with both and see if i can create a style for the short film.

Rhino animation and cel shading test

This is a rhino animation test also with a test of cel shading as well. Its very simple its just to test the rig done by james and to test the cel shading render. I think it looks ok but need a lot of tinkering with the rig and i need to explore the possibilities of the rig.

people cheesy but a good cause!!!

Jared said look into making it an advert and i liked this idea because surely if there is any way we could help its good right. I found this petition apparently the Tanzanian goverment are planning to build a highway straight through the serengeti national park and straight through the animals migration. I feel pretty strongly about this and i think our project has a good story to help this cause.

take a look sign the petition and let me know what you think.

http://www.savetheserengeti.org/issues/stop-the-serengeti-highway/#axzz15S10cRuU

London zoo

The different enviroments
This is almost a miniature version of similar environment to the one we shall be creating. with its dry foliage and dusty terrain. Also the rocks of the African Serengeti :)


The texture and structure of this tree resembles some from the Serengeti plains and the environment around it with the foliage resemble areas of foliage throughout the african wilderness.

This series of photographs i love this is in a tunnel leading to the african section of London Zoo and this to me says alot about what i love about african art simple but really effective. Simple imagery that tells a story and this gave us the idea to have african style paintings on some of the environment assets.Almost creating an african world out of african art with patterns and carvings within the trees and foliage.

Cel shading pretty impressive

I thought i would look into different possibilities with stylising our project so i researched cell shading which i really like the colours and contrast that can be achieved look awsome.

Also this link has videos that takes us through the process of cell shading 3d models believe it or not it does not look to difficult, so it could be something we need to take seriously and really look at. Let me know what you think??? ......

http://www.cgchannel.com/2010/05/tutorial-cel-shading-in-maya-with-christophe-desse/

Concept art finally uploaded !!!

Enthausiasm is high!!!!!

Following on from my research in the last post i was in the mood for a bit of painting so i did some concept art of the Serengeti. The quality of the image below is not great but i will bring the art to uni to see in more detail. Also watched a few videos of the sunsetting in the Serengeti and observed the changes of light closely maybe all the group will need to do this at some point.

Then i played with maya and some how came up with this (at the bottom of he post) which is heading in the right direction to what we need to do check out images below.

Concept art

Maya light test

Serengeti Experience???

I have been thinking about this project alot since we got it and have been thinking of places that inspire me and places i feel that we could adapt to create a great environment.

First off i will say we need to get the ball rolling so im gonna throw ideas out there and go from there.

Right first idea is adapting the beautiful and mesmeric surrounding of the "Serengeti migration" its so great and would be a challenge but i reckon by working hard i think we can create an awesome environment.

I am inspired alot by african art and this style of imagery could work beautifully in our cartoon approach to modelling.

Also animating would be no issue with so many species of animal living in the Serengeti and also the Masai tribes of Tanzania and kenya and also the very important animation of light changes. This is such a visually appealing place and lighting will be key in creating a adaption of the Serengeti.

Research for african art is widely available in london and at the british Musuem they have room dedicated to africa. Also in a few days we will have access to one of the best documentaries ever made and was shown at Imax in 1994 "Africa : The Serengeti". I feel this idea lends its self to our cartoon approach so let me know what you think. :)