up, up, and away

I just saw Up, and boy was it a good movie. Everything in the film was well done. The character models, animation, acting, and background locations were all amazingly done. The balloons alone are already very impressive. The film has drama, comedy, action, and adventure. And you’ll just immediately fall in love with the characters, especially Russell (at least for me). My favorite part was the fight scene between Carl Fredricksen and Muntz. Pixar’s idea of two old men fighting was just genius and hilarious.

Before the film, you’ll also be treated to another great animation short entitled Partly Cloudy. And did you know that the production designer for the film was a Filipino. His name is Ricky Nierva and he is in charge of the entire look of the film. Mabuhay ka Ricky!

I know that you will expect such a film from Pixar, but every year they just outdo themselves, and Up is a proof of how really talented they are. This is the most real animated film I have ever seen. And if you have not seen it yet…well you should. Can’t wait for Toy Story 3 next year!

eleanor: part 2

Its been a while since I’ve updated my Eleanor project. I didn’t have enough spare time in the past months because of work and I’ve been busy focusing on learning animation so it took me a while to continue working on my model car again. But I kinda pushed myself to work on it and this is what I have so far.

I’ve added a lot since my last post. I’m already done with almost all the details. I’ve modeled the lights, the grills, side mirrors, door handles, and even the wipers. The exterior is almost done. Now I have to start work on my rims, tires, and the interior. I really have to push myself harder to finish my car as soon as possible so I can start working on my animation. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to post my finished car.

transform and roll out

I finally watched it! My most anticipated movie of the year: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. After months of waiting and avoiding spoilers, I finally saw the Autobots kick major Decepticon ass in all its IMAX glory. And i liked it!

Although I think the first one was better, Revenge of the Fallen is a very entertaining movie. The IMAX version lasted for almost 3 hours and I didn’t notice that until I stepped out of the theater. Plot-wise, its not a good movie. There are a lot of plot holes and a lot of parts that were not explained very well. It seemed that everything were just random events. And there were a lot of WTF moments (robot heaven?! what were they thinking!).

But I didn’t watch it for the plot, I was there for the robots! And boy did I get what I came for. They are everywhere in the movie! The action and explosions from the first film were like multiplied by 10. It was definitely a Michael Bay film. And the forest battle between Optimus Prime and the Decepticons was epic! The fight scenes and battles were animated very well. You can see them jumping, running, kicking, and transforming like they don’t weigh thousands of pounds.

The comedy was also there, although I think they over did it. There was to much robot farting and humping. But I’m not complaining. I think I laughed at all of them. But I know a lot of people didn’t find them funny and a lot thought they were offensive, especially the controversial robot twins Skids and Mudflap. A lot of critics say they are the most racists movie characters since Jar Jar Binks. But I guess that really depends on the person watching the movie if they find them racist or offensive. Me, I thought they were just there for comic relief.

If I have a complaint, I guess the last part toward the ending was a bit disappointing. Although the desert battle was great, I felt it was a bit lacking and I think they could have made it differently, more epic. There should have been a big Devastator battle. The movie could have also used a better ending. After the last battle, everything just seemed ended. They didn’t show what happened to the other robots. And they should have introduced the new robots like in the first movie. If your not familiar with the Transformers, you will probably leave the movie house without knowing their names. And they kinda wasted Arcee, Jolt, Soundwave, and the Constructicons. They could have had more screen time and parts. But this is just me nit picking and it didn’t ruin my movie experience

I know the movie didn’t get good reviews (it got 1 out of 5, 0.5 out of 5, and a 19% in rotten tomatoes), but I also know that it earned $220 million. And If I get the chance, I’ll definitely watch it again. Now I can’t wait to get my blu-ray copy so I can watch it over and over.

here comes the sun

Last week, I learned to use the physical sun tool of Maya. It’s pretty amazing. It basically creates, well, a physical sun. You can rotate the Maya cursor and you can make the sun look like its rising or setting. Here are some of our exercises. I didn’t model the city but I did the alien. Kinda reminds me of Monsters vs. Aliens, hehehe. Enjoy.

behind bars

Last week, I learned how to render using mental ray with global illumination. So for our assignment, we need to model a room and render it using global illumination. I wanted to do a simple room with a bed and a side table and maybe a lamp, but then I thought everyone would probably do that, so I changed my mind and decided to make a prison cell instead. Actually, I was inspired by a prison cell model that I saw from the internet by Simon Blanc. I liked his work a lot that I wanted to make my own.

First, I searched for pictures of prison cells on the internet to get an idea on what a prison cell looks like. I wanted to make it simple so I decided to just have a bed, a toilet, and a sink inside my scene. I also don’t intend to do a realistic model because I want my scene to be a little cartoony. I started by modeling each item. After that, I went on to model the prison cell. I just used a cube and just shaped it rectangularly. I then stretched the sides to make the walls thicker. Then, I deleted some faces on my wall to make a window. I then used a couple of cylinders for the prison bars.

I can now import the items I modeled earlier into the prison cell. Now, it’s just all about setting up the scene and placing everything where I want it to be. I also placed an area light outside the window as my source light with a picture of a moon as my background.

With everything now in place, I converted all the polygons and then added colors to my scene. I just used dark colors and adjusted the light to make my scene darker so it will look gloomy and sad. Finally, I rendered it using mental ray with global illumination. After a few more adjustments, I now have this:

I just added a few more details like the pipe, the light bulb, and the poster. So there you have it, my own prison cell. Escape this one Michael Scofield!

eleanor

Last holy week, I decided to start my project for my 3D class. We are supposed to submit a 3D model of a car or an architectural scene, and of course, our first demo reel. So I started working on my car project. I chose to model one of my favorite cars, the 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor.

We are using Maya 8 in school, so I also used the same software. First, I searched for the blueprint of the car and inserted it as image planes. Then, ones I finished setting up the blueprints, I started modeling the front of the car. I am just modeling the half of the car because I can just use the mirror tool later. I started by creating a poly plane in front of the car and then just stretched the edges to form the bumper and the hood. I tried my best to model the front perfectly so all the edges will be in place before I stretch them to form the rest of the car.

One’s I’m satisfied with the front, I just basically stretched all the edges and just followed the blueprint. I first made the side, then the top, and then just filled the space in between to form the window. After that, I stretched the edges further to form the back of the car. Finally, I added some details to my model such as the sharpness and the design of the side.

That is what I’ve done so far. I now have a rough base shape for my Mustang Eleanor. I also converted my model in subdiv then subdiv to polygons to see how it will look with soft edges.

So there you go. I’m pretty satisfied with my model so far but I still have a lot to do. I still have to model the lights, the windshield, the side mirrors, the wheels, and other details. Hopefully, I can finish it before we start our module on animating. I also tried an occlussion render on my model. I hope you like it. Peace out!

summer na!

Ang init! Pumapalo na sa 34C ang temperature sa labas. Isa lang ibig sabihin nito…summer na! Although di na tulad ng dati nung estudyante pa ko na dalawang buwang todo bakasyon (may trabaho na kasi, bad trip), ang summer ay summer pa din. Kaya tawagin na ang mga repapeepz at ilabas na ang mga swimming trunks at salbabida at maglagay na ng sun block, oras na para magbabad! Weeeee! Happy summer to everyone.

ooze gonna save us?

I just saw Monsters vs. Aliens last week. For me, it was a good animated movie. It has a bit of charicature style to it, which you can see from the looks of the human, and a cast of characters that you’ll definitely remember. Although you cannot compare it to a Pixar movie story-wise (it’s by Dreamworks), it is entertaining and very funny nonetheless.

It’s a simple story of friendship where a band of monsters are tasked to save the earth from aliens. The movie also shows that though monster look scary or hideous, they can also so be caring and good-hearted creatures. And its from these creatures that you’ll get the most fun out of the movie, especially B.O.B. (short for Benzoate-Ostylezene-Bicarbonate). He’s the blue ooze-like monsters with one eye. He had the funniest lines and scenes in the movie (maybe that’s because he doesn’t have a brain). One of my favorites is where he is playing with his eyeball and bouncing it on the wall and then catching it. The part where they all disguised as Gallaxhar (the alien invader) is also hilarious. The voice cast is also top-notch, which includes Reese Witherspoon (Ginormica), Seth Rogen (B.O.B.), Stephen Colbert (the president), Hugh Laurie (Dr. Cockroach), and Kiefer Sutherland (General W.R. Monger) just to name a few. Where else can you find Jack Bauer and House in one movie?

It is also being shown in IMAX, but I did’nt have enough budget so I just saw it in a regular theater, but its worth the admission ticket. If you want to see a good movie and to have a good laugh at the same time, try to check it out. Now, I just have to wait for Up, Ice Age 3, Planet 51, and 9, oh and Transformers and Wolverine and Terminator and G.I. Joe and …

stage 2

Ang hirap! Second module na ako ngayon sa animation class ko. Ngayon ay tinuturo na samin ang pag-render at pag-texture. Ito yung paglalagay ng kulay sa mga 3D models para magmukang totoo o magkaroon ng design. Bad trip. Hindi ko maintindihan. Maliban sa dapat magaling ka sa pag-kulay, dapat marunong ka rin ng photoshop. Shet, wala ako nun pareho. Background ko lang sa photoshop ay youtube. Pano ba to? Di naman ako lampas-lampas magkulay nung bata ako ah, bakit ang hirap? Hay…Olats ako ngayon. Pero dapat kayanin. Kaya ko to…kaya ko to…kaya ko to.

this is it!

After years of thinking and searching for a school, I finally decided to study 3D animation this year. I love watching animated shows and films and I am a certified gamer, and now, I’m taking it to the next level. I’m going to learn how the characters I love to watch and play are created and animated. So far I’ve only learned how to make 3D models but I already have a much deeper appreciation of the movies and games that I love because now I understand how they work. I may not have the skills yet but I know I’m going to be good … no, I’m going to be great (my post, got a problem with that? hehehe). I feel that this is my calling, my destiny. I’m finally doing what I want to do, what I’ve been dreaming to do (itulog mo na lang yan!). I have a good feeling about this. This is going to be my year. This is it! I’m going to be an animator! Woohoo!