Cogs Cogs Cogs

July 15, 2010 7:37 pm

Started modeling the clockwork innards of Twinklebox.

This is the visual reference sheet of cogs and clockwork parts that I’m working from.

Whiskey Workshop

July 10, 2010 6:41 pm

With a tightly packed suitcase me and Biff head to the Pixel-Lab HQ in Darley Abbey where Biffs recording studio is located. A longer than brief stop off in the Abbey to fuel our creative mind cogs, an informative taxi ride and several noticings later and we arrive at the Mill.

I’ve decided to use an early piano recording Biff did for the project and cut a simple introductory edit for Twinklebox. Biff explains that the piece was recorded at the wrong speed and that it’s in a different key to what he had originally wrote it and how this might complicate writing a complimentary part on the music box. He then discovers that the music box only has white notes, with no flats, and this might prove awkward to write with due to the original piano chords being in B flat. Nevertheless, we both like the original recording of the piano and Biffs decides that with a little musical magicery he can write something to work with it.

Biffs explanation:

For the melody to be in tune with the piano it has to be in B flat, but the music box only plays white notes, so in order to make it possible for the box to play it, I’ve transposed it up to E. Now the only problem is that the music box is pitched at concert A flat.

Anyway, we watched a couple of reference videos and worked out an appropriate tempo the tune must be to achieve a sense that the tune is in fact being played by the music box and not just part of an accompanying track. Due to Twinklebox’s music cylinder being his driving wheel, his speed of motion is directly linked to the tempo of his music. If the tempo is too slow he will literally look motionless, if he moves too fast the melody of his tune would be lost completely. There’s a certain amount of flexibility between these values before the connection between the music box and the music is lost.

Colours of Autumn

June 14, 2010 10:15 pm

I imagine this is what Autumn looks like in the world of Mr Toots.

Cassette Tape Boy

June 1, 2010 9:41 pm

Another study of a boy. I’m spending a little time letting the river run it’s course and doing some ground work for a future project. I’m not expecting to begin work on it properly for a few years so I’m just planting a few seeds to let it grow subconsciously.

Boy Portrait

May 30, 2010 4:51 pm

Click to see full size.

This was created using Adobe Photoshop with a few custom brushes. The picture of the boy was from one of my favourite magazines… The absurb and eclectic Permanent Food.

Cabinet

May 26, 2010 10:47 pm

Listening to Nils Frahm. Glass colours and textures.

Scene Mockup – Pipeline Test

May 15, 2010 4:44 pm

This is a relatively rough version of a final rendered frame. It has been modelled, textured, lit, rendered, comped and graded to a level that is comparable to what I expect to achieve for the final frames. It’s not normally that important to go through this process if you have a pretty good idea how it all needs to be rendered and what you need to do in the comp. Every project is different, and every project I seem to work on has some special dietary requirements that aren’t always obvious until you have tested the rendering pipeline from beginning to end. For the amount of lens effects I hope to use, if perhaps only to experiment with, require a 16bit z-depth and only by going through the full process was I aware of this. Therefore, I have had to implement this into my pipeline. I have tested using TIFF’s, RPF’s, ond OpenEXR’s and due to file size and flexibility I’ve chosen to add OpenEXR into the pipeline. It doesn’t really require any additional setup as, 3ds Max and After Effects now come with OpenEXR support but Photoshop does however require a plugin, which is available to buy from fnord along with some additional plugins for After Effects.

Anyway, this is the kind of look I was aiming for. The challenge was trying to achieve something close to the developed concept artwork I created just after the new year. This particular composition required a different overall colour but it’s definitely in the right direction. Oh, some objects are actually floating, that’s not a bad lighting solution and there’s another iteration of detail to go into the environment yet.

Environment Reference Sketches

May 2, 2010 10:59 pm

Some sketches of Antarctic hut reference imagery. Scott’s bunk, box of penguin eggs, etc.

Music Box Plastico

May 1, 2010 8:04 pm

I made this chap a few years ago… It was one of many plasticine maquettes of various music box character designs. My Mum found him hiding in a shadowy corner of my brothers old bedroom along with two vials of ferrofluid. I think I’ll keep him.

Music Box Design Sketch

April 30, 2010 10:11 pm

A page from my sketchbook with the final design of the music box, some internal workings and an Edwardianesque design for a single projection monodome.