I 3D painted the textures in Mudbox.
Colorgrade exploration
Colorscript
I was looking for the fastest way to create a bunch of father/daughter photos to populate the environment. This treatment is a back and forth between Photoshop and Maya. First, I posterized the background image, added it to the 3D environment with posed characters, matched the 3D lighting to the 2D image, rendered the frame, and lastly added film grain and light leaks. Some photos require drawing a face on the girl since her 3D model doesn't have one, and the challenge is trying to make it match the 3D aesthetic.
Picture Lock
Gave the photo tornado more energy and randomness in flow to show it's an essence of the girl.
ANIMATION! Before going into post-production, I plan to improve the facial blend shapes and fix the rig's broken thumb. I also want to further push the poses and capture more personality within the characters.
Expression Sheet for Heinrich
MIDTERM PROGRESS
Photo tornado made in Houdini and imported into Maya as an alembic cache.
Light Test
Facial rig v01
Texture reference for memory forms in shot 1 and maybe Aura's glow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGBMPlgUoKM
Light bulb reference
Lighting and Shading Moodboard
New log line:
Heinrich's darkroom reminds him of his daughter Aura, whom he misses dearly, but his photos could help light the way to her.
Wheelchair model revision - made it manual, rather than electric, for story purposes
Pose test for the new rigs!
2D Animatic v01
Styleframe
Environment design
Aura color scheme
Heinrich color scheme
Collaborators
Armando Brown - character modeler, rigging assistance
Caleb Gunby - facial rigger
Justin Gorski - story assistance, cleanup animation
Sidney Giormani - photo special fx
Patrick Foley - sound
Professor Becky - Concept Development
Professor Sabrina - Preproduction Development
Professor Chris - Animation Development
Professor Butcher - Postproduction
Professor Ashwin - rigging assistance
Professor Ingham - storyboard assistance
Heinrich’s paralysis prevents him from developing film in his darkroom, but a light form of his daughter, Aura, helps him regain his abilities for a night.
Light The Way is a 3D animated short film in a highly stylized world. There is an emphasis on dull vs. saturated colors to symbolize Heinrich's strength during his illness. Throughout the story, the external light of Aura and the photos becomes internal in Heinrich.
The theme is that there is always hope, even in the darkest places.
