STE Research Project

Hello all,

My second class for the month of November is that of Software Technologies (STE). For this post I am going to cover my research project that I did with one other individual, Chris Villareal. Our research project was to create a working marble machine which we got pretty close to doing it. We split the modeling up evenly. He did the upper ramp and funnel while I did the metal wire coil and the Plinko machine. We then compiled them in Maya and then imported them into Houdini. Once in Houdini the two of us decided to work on the same scene on separate computers so that we both could get the valuable learning experience. He focused more on the area I was unable to cover, the Plinko machine.

So once I had Houdini up and running I created a sphere that was to be my marble. I made it an RBD object and turned all of my geometry into Static objects. First came some issues with the upper ramp. My sphere penetrated through the wall and eventually I simply moved on when it was working almost perfect. It still tends to penetrate through the tunnel before it drops into the funnel but it is less obvious now.

I moved onto the funnel which simply allowed the ball to fall down to the metal coil. At first I wanted it to circle a few times but I just didn't have the time. After running into some more penetration issues I watched a few Houdini tutorials and then continued with my work.

My last part was the metal coil. I spent hours tweaking this to try and get the ball to ride down the path all the way but to no avail. I read from our manual that was provided for the class but did not find what I was hoping to. I tried things like glue, adjusting both the friction and the bounce and tried to add more gravity. I eventually decided to turn in. Sometimes we have to make the tough calls and turn in even if we are not happy with our end results.

Also just to show you here is an image of my Plinko machine. Even though this was lots of trouble it taught me a lot about Houdini and made me excited to learn more about it in the future. Thanks for reading and taking the time to journey with me as I tried to create a working marble machine.

Until I blog again.

Rebecca Luse

CAN 2 Project 1: Pantomime

Hello all,

This month is a beautiful month full of animation. Now originally I was not the biggest fan but I could not help but get excited when we started to learn about acting. I especially loved the fact that we had to create our own characters and there back story. Who doesn't love an opportunity to be creative? Our first animation project was called the Pantomime and it was based off of a scenario that we chose from a list that was provided by the teacher. I chose going to a museum and knocking over something and breaking it.

What we had to achieve through this animation was a successful change of emotion and we also had to take at least three steps. My original idea in my Pre-pro was that Bugsy (the character/rig we were given) saw a guitar and pocked it out of curiosity. The guitar would fall over and break giving him a reason to react. As you can see in the image below that was the original plan.

After speaking with the teacher she suggested some changes. So I got on that right away. I decided to raise the guitar off the floor and instead of fall down on both knees he would kneel on one knee. This made my animation not only easier to animate but also more clear when read by the audience. Once my idea was finalized it was time to film reference. Off to one of the back room areas I went with an idea better solidified.

With my reference done I proceeded to start animating. I started with a block-out and then added some in-betweens for the walk. Next came time to focus on adding a few more breakdowns in the change of emotion areas along with some anticipations. When the time finally came, I took it out of stepped and began to add moving holds and to tweak the animation to make it that much sweeter. It was during this phase that I realized the guitar I had chosen did not break correctly so it had to be changed out for a bowl. I then proceeded to adjust the animation to fit the changes needed, changes that helped make him interact with an object higher up. Finally I finished. As an artist I still believe it needs more work because we are never satisfied and always want to tweak things into perfection. Unfortunately animation is never really finished. You could spend a lifetime on one section which is why we have deadlines. So with my deadline comes my finished animation. Here it is, the final video for my Pantomime project. I hope you enjoy!

So there you have it. My first project in a nutshell. I have to admit this class has really taught me how important it is for an actor to know his character before he acts him out. Because I took the time to Pre-pro and to write a backstory I could more easily slip into Blossom's shoes. (Blossom is what I named my character, she was a female version of Bugsy) I knew how she would react and was able to film that and later animate it without losing that original direction because it just felt right for who she was. I think I will start creating character sheets from now on whenever the need for me to animate (or act!) arises.

Thanks for taking the time to join me on another one of my projects. It certainly was lots of work but thankfully I had a great teacher and wonderful friends and class mates that gave me very helpful critiques. If you every have to animate don't forget to get lots of critiques, they are the difference between a good animation and a truly great one.

Until the next project,

Rebecca Luse