3D Entries for Andrew Hickinbottom (Andy H)

Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Final Image Date Submitted: Saturday, 19 November 2005 Title: FINISHED!! Notes: Finished! I thought id try something different for the challenge. Rather than a typical view of 'spectacular' such as majestic landscapes, big explosions, futuristic aircrafts and action packed battles, I wanted to portray a more mundane and unusual view. 2 grumpy old English grannies skidding around a corner in a small village fighting it out for a large stash of booze and cigarettes! Using typically slow and cumbersome mobility scooters makes it more comical because they are going so fast! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Post Effects and Compositing Date Submitted: Saturday, 19 November 2005 Title: Final raw layers - uncomposited. Notes: Im only really posting this to make the last but one milestone. Its not really "post effects and compositing" but just so i can show you what the raw render data looks like before i run it through photoshop for compositing. The pic on the left is the result of my regular lighting, whereas the one on the right is the ambient occlusion pass. Ill apply it to the base layer using multiply, then add a blurred, desaturated copy of the base layer on screen, and add various tints and blurs in photoshop to give it a softer, less CG feel. Frozt - Funny clips! I love the bit where theyre fighting with the zimmerframes and when he gives the old lady a new intraveinous drip for her birthday! Finished image coming soon! Either tonight or tomorrow afternoon! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Rendering Date Submitted: Tuesday, 15 November 2005 Title: Any closer? Notes: Ive tweaked the lighting some more. After a few completely different approaches, I (and several of my workmates!) prefered the existing shot. Using that as a base, i tried to make it more contrasty and less flat. Here is the end result. Do you all think it is better? Im no lighting expert, so im not sure if i can do any better really... Unfortunately, the textures look quite ugly at really high res, so i might have to do a bit of photoshopping to blur them or change the contrast. I hope i can get the lighting sussed soon - im getting so damn sick of this image! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Lighting Date Submitted: Monday, 14 November 2005 Title: Closer.... Notes: Developed the lighting further. Im using 3 point lighting and an ambient light, with an ambient occlusion pass and some photoshop meddling to get the tint and levels right. Added some dust/ smoke behind the grannies too. I made the lighting a bit more dramatic because overcast lighting makes it look very dull and static. I really like the saturated yellowy tint seen here. Not much more to do now - just refine the lighting, improve the shaders where theyre needed and add tiny details that stop it from looking horrible at higher resolutions. Hopefully, it will be finished within a week. Cheers for the feedback. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Rendering Date Submitted: Saturday, 12 November 2005 Title: Nearly there Notes: Not that much of a significant update, but ive filled granny 2's cart basket with booze and cigarettes! Added a sky backdrop and tweaked some of the background textures. Also added the final facial expressions. All ive got left is to get the lighting right and add the proper effects. Should be completed this time next week (hopefully!) CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Monday, 07 November 2005 Title: Texturing almost done Notes: Background it pretty much textured now. Id like to add darker patches where rain has pooled, as well as some litter and bits of moss. The house in the background needs work too. I will probably tweak the colours or the contrast of the background as well because the characters are getting lost in the composition. Ive also modeled the cloth and hair on the grannies to flap in the wind too. Ive yet to model anything in granny 2's basket. Gonna try and knock this on the head in the next week or 2. All thats really left is lighting and compositing. Crits anyone? Its been a bit quiet recently! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Monday, 07 November 2005 Title: Environment Texture WIP Notes: Ive still to texture the drain, the fence and the house in the background. Might paint a bit of sky, but ill keep it fairly simple, grey and overcast. Most of the textures are from photos I have found or taken myself. Hardly any of the textures have bump maps or specular maps. Not sure if they need them really. Thanks for the support so far. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Wednesday, 02 November 2005 Title: Background modeling complete Notes: Here is the background as it is so far. I couldve added litter, lamposts, boxes, street signs, bins and other little bits, but they would only clutter the composition. I wont add any detail unless its integral to the image and doesnt distract the eye. Also, the characters take up so much of the image, its not worth modeling what you cant see. The textures are gonna sell this really. Nice idea with the dog by the way. Im too lazy to model it at this stage. Ill probably just fill her basket with gin and whisky bottles! Cheers for all your comments! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Monday, 31 October 2005 Title: Re-jigged the composition. Notes: Im quite pleased with this now. The umbrella (just a temp object at the moment) being held up creates a focus and makes the image more exciting, like a battle is taking place. I have lowered the camera, tilted granny 1 more so she looks like shes about to 'wipe out' and ive added BASIC cloth waviness to simulate the forces and wind being applied to them. To make it more dynamic, i intend to have their clothes flappinf in the wind, granny 1's hair flapping, bent, skidding wheels, debris, dust, skidmarks, gravel, sparks, motion blur and speed lines. Ill also add some shopping in granny 2's basket, though it blocks up a lot of her coat and the mesh messes with the composition. The composition is not perfect - in fact, its a bit of a mess - but once basic lighting is applied, you can easily make out the 2 focal objects anyway. I just want to finish the entry and i think im spending far too much time arsing about. If its simply modeling and texturing, then im ok, but i keep stalling cos im worried about screwing up the overall composition! Thanks a lot for all your comments and suggestions! Must.... finish..... entry! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Tuesday, 25 October 2005 Title: yet more arseing about Notes: Im starting to lose heart with my entry due to composition troubles! I made this quick mockup to try and visualise what it will look like and put my fears to rest. 2 images comped together - one with GI, one with basic lighting. The finished thing wont look that washed out. Im quite pleased with it, but i still think the composition needs work. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Monday, 24 October 2005 Title: more composition etsts Notes: Just got back to it. Ive shuffled around the elements of the image to try and make it more appealing and simpler to look at. Its nearly there - i want to start modeling the elements of it today. Again - any die-hard composition fans out there - let rip! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Monday, 17 October 2005 Title: Composition finalising Notes: Ive gone back to where i started and re-worked the composition. Be really picky with this if you like. Im ok with pleasing composition, but when its deconstructed by an expert, there are always loads of inconsistencies. Im quite happy with the feel of it at the moment, especially the layered background and the colours, but i still think it could be simpler, and easier on the eye. What do y'all think? CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Friday, 14 October 2005 Title: Scooters finished - now pose! Notes: Ive finished both variations of scooters, and tweaked the grannies a little bit. Granny 1 is less scary, has a lower forehead and longer hair - and a cigarette. Granny 2 has a smoother brow and refractive glasses. Coming next - composition (the hard part) CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Monday, 10 October 2005 Title: Grannys on the go Notes: Hmmm.. I was a little bit distracted while attempting to texture the scooters, so i decided to quit doing that and test the grannies on them to see if they fit, and to see how cool they look on them! Granny 2's scooter will look slightly different - not just a colour change. Both scooters are untextured. Only the wheels and the base metal shader have been defined to any extent. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Sunday, 09 October 2005 Title: Granny 2 complete! Notes: Just finished granny 2! Whew! Some texturing might change slightly (such as the glasses) but im gonna move on to the scooters now. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Saturday, 08 October 2005 Title: Granny 1 Finished! Notes: Finally! A worth update! Granny 1 is now completely finished. Im pretty happy with her. She looks a bit scarier than i intended though - she looks like the emperor's wife! Now on to granny 2! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Thursday, 06 October 2005 Title: Granny1 skinned Notes: Just a test pose i did of granny1. Still dunno what to do about her hair at the moment. Ill sort that out, then move on to granny 2. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Texturing Date Submitted: Tuesday, 04 October 2005 Title: Texturing granny 1 Notes: Damn, im soooo slow! Spent 2 solid nights on uving and texture painting, and it still looks a bit plain! Also having a bit of grief with the test lighting. My usual cheap trick of using Global illumination wont really be a practical solution on this because bump maps screw up, and other things like specular hilights and transparency maps go all spazzy. I might have to get it as best as i can, and then render out a seporate GI pass. Grannys face texture is 70% complete (forgot her eyebrows too!) and her hands and legs are not textured at all yet. Still not sure on what to do with the hair. Ive gotta choose between sculpted, solid shapes or alpha mapped thin polys. Egh - 2 months left and i still havent started on the composition! I needs ta get the grannies skinned so i can start on the background! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Saturday, 01 October 2005 Title: more moglin Notes: This is everything i have in its current state. Im pretty happy with it so far, ive just got a few more details like pockets, buttons and seams to add to the clothing, and to make granny 2's scooter. It will be a variation of the red one, but with a shopping basket on the front and a slightly different shape. Then im gonna texture and rig em up so i can start on the composition. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Thursday, 29 September 2005 Title: granny 2 modeling Notes: Trying to get granny 2 up to scratch now. Not completely happy with her face at the moment, and her clothes need a lot of work, but its getting there. She looks a lot better in a relaxed pose, but i wont model her like this. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Wednesday, 28 September 2005 Title: Go go granny! Notes: Lol! This is perhaps the most mundane thing ive ever made in 3d, yet it looks awesome! Still gotta add some details and tweak the proportions to make it less realistic. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Tuesday, 27 September 2005 Title: Granny 1 nearly modeled Notes: Ive nearly finished modeling the base of granny 1. Im still working on her hair and ill probably add a few details like buttons, a wedding ring, a necklace and some shoelaces. Once ive done that, ill texture it and then pose it. Once its posed, ill freeze the mesh and work on the details like creases, flapping hair, and her skirt deformation. For this pic, i brought her arms down to a more natural pose to see if it looks ok. Also did a quick skytracer render to see what it looks like with basic GI lighting. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Tuesday, 20 September 2005 Title: more granny modeling action Notes: Im pretty happy with scary granny's face now. Still working on her hair at the moment. Im not sure wether i should make solid hair (like on bunny girl) or thin, wispy transparency mapped planes. Ill try both, and ill mess about with the style too. Started properly modeling the fatter granny as well. Still a fair bit of work to do on that. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Monday, 19 September 2005 Title: modeling granny1 Notes: Started properly modeling granny 1s face. Im quite pleased with the look of it so far, but i think she looks a lot scarier than i intended her to look! I could stand to make her more 'cartoony' too. Im looking forward to making granny 2 - she is my favourite! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Sunday, 18 September 2005 Title: Finalising rough shape Notes: Cheers for the comments - its giving me motivation to make this work! Slowly started modeling some more. I have the basic proportions and style for pensioner 1 and 2. Next, ill start modeling them properly, but not fully. Ill model them basically, pose them, and then work on the details such as cloth wrinkles and facial expressions. Hopefully, the next update will be more impressive! CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Modeling Date Submitted: Wednesday, 14 September 2005 Title: Modeling granny 1 Notes: Started modeling on granny 1. I think i will have 1 skinny, craggy granny in a drab, desaturated cardigan/ dress/ saggy stockings getup, and have another one that is fat, stumpy and more pastel coloured. Perhaps in a flowery dress or raincoat. Very early work so far. Im not sure how far to take the charicaturisation yet. Ill make the base shape and then play around with the proportions and form. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Concept Sketch Date Submitted: Friday, 09 September 2005 Title: Need for speed Olderground! Notes: THIS IS THE ONE! Ive finally decided on a concept! 2 grannies battling it out on motorised scooters in a run-down english town! Im not sure wether to have the green granny attacking the pink granny, or have them both fighting for supremacy. The guy in the white is a 'chav' youth - as you can see, he is loitering outside an off liscence and is a tad surprised to see what has just come zooming past him. Gonna start modeling soon - im pretty happy with this concept. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Concept Sketch Date Submitted: Thursday, 08 September 2005 Title: 2nd concept Notes: After the comments kept on coming, i thought id take 20 mins out and try another concept ive been thinking of. I tried a 2nd idea. It could go either way: A Huge, fat ugly woman looking at a poor lad like a kid would look at a puppy. The bloke is scarpering. Or: A huge granny towering over her grandson wanting to give him a big, wrinkly kiss - the grandson is stumbling over trying to escape. They could both work really well in a visual sense, but i still dont think they encapsulate the word 'spectacular' It seems more like 'terror' at the moment eheh. More concepts will (slowly) come. Im pretty keen on doing something with grannies. Ill get me thinkin cap on. CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post
Click for full-sized image		Milestone: Concept Sketch Date Submitted: Monday, 05 September 2005 Title: Housework miracle Notes: just getting the hang of this wierd-ass way of hosting images.... CGTalk: CGTalk Thread | CGTalk Post