Animation

Now the animation has been competed it can be previewed. Again this does not represent the look of the final film in any way, as it is not rendered yet. This is simply to preview the animation of the characters. Test renders will be posted soon so the aesthetic of the film can be understood. The sound is still non-representative of the final audio however it gives a good idea. The Voiceover will be recorded soon and I feel this will add alot the the feel. Some of the textures are still incomplete in this version.

Test Animations

Here are quick tests of the Rigs. Some aesthetics have been added in post to give the feel of aged footage.

Texturing

The textures and shaders are currently being developed for all the elements in the film. Here are the diffuse textures used for the main character's head and body. These were created using photo reference and extensive manipulation. Each texture is 2k resolution.

Pre-Vis

Here is the 3D Previsualisation of the final animation. This is used to block out the timing of the scenes and animation, and to show the basic models and appearance. The textures are not complete and no lighting has been applied. The soundtrack and narration is all rough at this stage.

Lica Reel

Here is a rough block out of the story using the storyboard frames.

Concept Art

As you may be able to tell by the date I am quite late in starting this blog so I will post some of my working and progress up to the current day.

Here are some initial rough Concept Art for some of the characters and props.

What its all about...

My name is Dan Nicholson, I study 3D Computer Animation at Swansea Institute, now known as Swansea Met Uni. This ‘blog’ is designed to follow the progress of my final major project.

The project brief is to create a two minute animation of your liking, and over the summer holidays of 2007 I slowly formulated an idea which I thought would be interesting and original (and strange!), so here is the premise:

A newly discovered, apparently unintelligent Neanderthal-Human like specimen is found to have amazing logical intelligence, and is in the end exhaustively ‘tested to death’.

I have taken inspiration from many short animations and pieces of art I have come across over my time. My aim is to create a reasonably realistic slightly stylised piece in which the audience feel empathy for the main character. The message within the short is quite sober; however there are some slight dark comedic undertones.

The film is set in the early 1960's and is from the point of view of the scientists who discovered the specimen. The final piece will be graded to appear like it is filmed using early technicolour technology.

Visit www.dan-nicholson.co.uk for more information on this and other projects!