The Blog of Sketchicous

Dark world

2012-02-16T03:00:00.002-08:00

Completion of dark world minus zombies,

work is going well, a minute of animation is completed.

Artefact 3 test

2012-02-16T02:57:00.001-08:00

Artefact 3 test

this is a test of artefact 3, for preliminary viewing, there is more to come but my pc crashed while rendering

Artefact 2

2012-02-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Artefact 2

Artefact 1 - waiting for upload

2012-01-29T19:43:00.000-08:00

Artefact 1

Client Project

2012-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

here is a rough outline of my work for the LIM music video.

here is a rough outline of my work for the LIM music video.

Iron Man

2012-01-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

To help increase my skills in character modelling i have started to make an IronMan model in 3DsMax

Here is how far i have got and the process behind it

To help increase my skills in character modelling i have started to make an IronMan model in 3DsMax

Here is how far i have got and the process behind it

Artefact 1- build up

2012-01-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

These are some build up pictures for artefact 1.

i have been producing over the last weeks and months a collection of quick sketches of incidental gestures and postures. from these i have started to research how to put these ideas across as animation my first artefact is an attempt of this.

here are some pictures to start,

Hello again

2011-10-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

Just got internet up and running in my new house unfortunately. So i guess i should do my first post for the term. This particular post is going to be on the simulated project.

For the simulated client project i will be doing a short animation 20-40secs long to quickly show the audience that ntu alumni do good work and help people who are in need. "How am i going to do this?" I hear you ask. Well i will be using an animated student, looking in distress, walking into a completed white room and finding a big button saying ntu-alumni hear he will press the button and colour will burst up around him or the walls and furniture. He will become happy at this point and then facts will appear on the screen. These facts will be more like headlines rather than anything more as if people are interested the website address will pop up and the can go to it to find out more.

For the research project I am planning to look at the imperfections in peoples movements that cause personality and how to achieve this in 3d animation. I am studying the way people sit, stand, jesture as well as posture and fiddling with their fingers at the moment but will define my focus soon.

2nd Year Animation

2011-07-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

Rational

2011-05-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

Rational for Virtual Environments, Design Practise 3, Assignment 2

This project is to do a take on a three minute script and animate your own interpretation. My chosen idea was to take the eternal struggle between ‘The Tortoise and The Hare’ and put it into the DOJO Scene from ‘The Matrix’.

The idea was to make Torpheus and Hareo (humanoid versions of their counterparts). Torpheus would be a big strong looking tortoise with his shell like armour with slow looking heavy limbs and Hareo was to look weaker and more like a slob who doesn’t have to try hard in life. Both characters actually came out much too how I wished them to look if not better. The only problems I found during the modelling process came when I had to ‘unwrap’ the hare’s ears and tortoise’s shell. But after that process was complete I created two very good looking textures for them as I had envisioned.

The project started on a very positive note, I got a lot of work done very quickly and began to become ahead of what was being taught so I slowed my efforts. Unfortunately this caused me to lose most my drive and I did not do much work on the project for several weeks. Until finally I got my act in gear and designs, new ideas, and animating started to flow.

The original idea for the scene was to use near enough the exact scripting from the film but in a different arena and with different characters. Due to the way I designed both these things I ended up instead using partial elements from the original, using parts of the sound wave, certain movements the actors had used in the film and visual effects I found exciting.

Around halfway through the project the idea of making a crowd to watch the end of the hare/tortoise race was considered. Designs were drawn up for these characters which would take the roles of the people on the ship, in the film version. However, due to time constraints I decided it would be like ‘digging my own grave’ if I was to partake down this road as rendering times and time to create, model and rig these characters would risk the whole project.

During the project I found out much about my abilities, I am good at lip syncing for one. As well as I am relatively good and fast at poly-modelling. Unfortunately I found, as with the previous project, I am not a great environmental designer as I lack the excitement for it that I have with animating and designing characters.
I found during this project I began to become much more confident with my skills and my knowledge of the programs.

I believe my final outcome is a good representation of my skills, at the moment, as an animator although I just couldn’t get certain parts of the scene to flow correctly. I was however pleased with AfterEffects work at the end where I blended a flat Photoshop background into the scene creating the mood I wanted.

FINAL ANIMATIC AND ANIMATION TO FOLLOW

LIP SYNCING HELL YEAH

2011-05-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Torpheus lip sync starter

this is the beginnings of my first torpheus speech!

Started to get on a roll

2011-05-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

with doing all my animation. i am about 01:09 through the 03:00 animation and so far all is going well the lipsyncing went really welll and soo far fighting is the hardest thing to animate due to the amount of factors you need to think about. although i seem to be able to do this equally as well. below is an image of rendering the first fight scene about 01:03 - 01:08.

i am really enjoying doing this work now and i wake up really excited to do more, which i guess is a bit weird but good in the same way. my plan is to have the animating done by wednesday and the after effects done by sunday. :)

Hare Stance

2011-05-06T04:17:00.000-07:00

Much Much More to come!

mouse morphers

2011-04-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

i've now made my mouse but as he isnt going to do much motion decided i would just use morphers for the movement as it is easier and less time consuming than making a whole new bone set

mouse morpher test from Alex mousley on Vimeo.

mouse mouth from Alex mousley on Vimeo.

UVW UNWRAPPING is

2011-04-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

the bane of my life. just got into doing some more animation and realised i need to create 4 or 5 more characters hence im back to unwrapping ARRRGH :)

new test shots

2011-04-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

test shot from Alex mousley on Vimeo.

hare stance from Alex mousley on Vimeo.

Finally onto the actual animation part

2011-04-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have done a few test shots just to see if dimensions of characters and the scene will work well enough for the project and i believe they will. i hav e also played with lighting and textures more to create a better realisation of the scene.

The Art of Seeing

2011-03-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

this is my texture database...

FLICKR

cool beans

Website Complete

2011-03-22T04:01:00.001-07:00

www.alexmousleyonlinepresence.weebly.com

SHOWREEL

Hi my new website

2011-03-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Right recently i have been setting up my own Website which is going to act as a portfolio give you links to all my online presence. I have also been making a show reel which has not been completed yet but will be on the first page

Torpheus UVW Unwrap complete

2011-03-11T09:54:00.001-08:00

TORPHEUS

TEXTURE MAP

STANCE VIDEO

Torpheus taking pose from sketch mousley on Vimeo.

Torpheus bones and skin complete

2011-03-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

below are a few pose examples...

the envelopes on the hands were one of the most annoying things i have ever done... ah well all i have to do now is the face morph and unwrapping.

FLYING POSE

TALKING POSE

Test of Walking Cycle and Mouth Morphers

2011-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

Right i have got back into a flow with my work recently which is good but i keep making stupid mistakes during it. thus beyond doing the walking test i changed a few things unwrapped the hare and then gave it morphers... i realised that doing it in this order just made it hard for myself but i had gone to far. below is the walking test which due to the way i rendered it came out as 4:3 rather than the 2:1 how i had wanted it.

WALKING TEST

Walking test from sketch mousley on Vimeo.

next i have done a mouth test in which i switch between angry, smile, smerk and 'O' and do some variations on the way. obviously i need to do more morphs but at the moment i thoguht ild check these were working.

MOUTH TEST

Mouth Test from sketch mousley on Vimeo.

Texturing is quite cool but also confusing

2011-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

you have to think about all the seems and things and i think i might have just about got it below is my texture sheet and textured posed HARE

TEMPLATE

TEXTURED POSE

UVW UnWrapping -hare

2011-03-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

is makes me very UNhappy... i almost did all of it once and autodesk decided not to save so i had to do all of it again... this is my net

NET

Bones - Hare

2011-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

All Bones are now done and the movement is good except i need to do some more work with the ears.

here are two poses

MATRIX LEAN BACK POSE

THE WALKING STYLE STRUT>>>

Found this shot run through

2011-02-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

from watching the scene in this manner i have realised i can easily add the crowd from the race track to this scene as the crew on the ship. i feel this could bring more the the animation. also looking at the animating in this way could mean it will be easier to do seperate shots.

it will not let me embed so i shall just leave the link

matrix shots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM0pQd0XyIU

What i have been working on this morning

2011-01-31T05:14:00.000-08:00

I started by working on my hares hair, im still not sure if i like what i've done here so anyone reading this feel free to add some constructive critism

HARE WITH HARE - FRONT

HARE WITH HAIR - SIDE

Also today i have been trying out some stuff with bones, im not sure if i completely understand what im doing yet but i am starting to understand how the movement of torpheus will be hindered by his size

TORPHEUS STARTING BONES

Torpheus with Glasses

2011-01-30T11:31:00.001-08:00

DOES WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN

Right back to work,

2011-01-30T11:01:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a few things today including working on my enviroment which has been a bit hit or miss with my approaches. and trying to make sunglasses and eyes. heres some pictures
New Centre stone

Boulders been added

Stonehenge has been elevated and a race track is to be added

The Hare got shades :)

Test shot of stonehenge shadows and working with how to make warm sunlight

2011-01-28T10:47:00.001-08:00

Test of sunlight on stonehenge from sketch mousley on Vimeo.

Right i've started to work more with stonehenge

2011-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

as i can now fill my time with this until monday when i will be learning how to do the bones. i have worked a bit more with the design and have also started to think about light effects

STONEHENGE NIGHT TIME

STONEHENGE MORNING

STONEHENGE TRANSITION VIDEO TO COME

Test of my basic henge to see if the size

2011-01-27T05:08:00.000-08:00

works for panning shots

Stonehenge test shot from sketch mousley on Vimeo.

i think it works alright but im going to add alot of outside scenery

Ok i was going to stop doing work today but i have kinda got on a role

2011-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

and it seems stupid to stop now.
as i am without the know how as to how to rig or do proper eyes on my characters as of yet i have decided to move onto the henge and racetrack which will be my scene. as far this is where i have got to.

THE HENGE

CLOSE UP OF THE SIZE DIFFERENCE OF SCENE TO CHARACTER

RAISED SHOT

the tortoise and the hare

2011-01-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

alright so iv near enough finished my characters i decided i would put them in a world together and here we are

TORPHEUS

2011-01-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

today i have created torpheus :)

took alot of mistakes and thought but i think iv done it.

finshed the hares head- ish im not sure how we are doing eyes yet

2011-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

CLEAR LOOK AT HARE

LIGHTING AND CAMERA

MAKING THE EYE

2011-01-20T05:57:00.000-08:00

THE MAKING OF MY HARE

THE TORSO AND ARMS

THE LEGS

THE BODY WITH HEAD - HANDS

THE COMPLETE BODY - NOSE

THE HEAD

i only have a few thoughts atm mainly around whether i have made my creature correctly

The hare with head and legs and teeth and ears :)

2011-01-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

THE HARE

The Hare by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

i really like the head i made it seemed to be making itself as i created it. the teeth i also like i made them using a few techniques taught to make the feet flat and the sleeves of a t-shirt

The Hare

2011-01-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

this is the beginnings to my hare arms and torso made and smoothed taking a short break now as my eyes hurt

The Hare turboSmoothed by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

The Hare Smoothed by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

i would like to add that i really like the process of making these characters u can really make them look however u like

DOJO

2011-01-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

ok this is my first 3d try at a jungle / stonehenge type dojo i think it is alright, obviously not finished but that is due to the fact i wish to do more options.

as i am doing the tortoise and the hare with a twist i was going to try a jungle one, a race track one... (where they fight whilst racing) and a more matrix like one. and from there i will add characters and develop my interest in one as the way my 3d versions appear and act may determine the greater solution

DOJO JUNGLE

DOJO beginning thoughts by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

obviously i have this on INK'n'Paint materials but i will change to a more realistic later one, i was just wishing to try out different materials whilst making this dojo

New design for the tortoise

2011-01-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

my idea will only work if the characters look and work well with the script, thus i have made a more realistic version of the tortoise

although i have to say it isn't a great drawing or colouring, i was standing up and my house is really warm at the moment, anyway yeah this is

TORPHEUS

Torpheus by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

I have decided

2011-01-14T04:12:00.000-08:00

I AM going to do the hare and the tortoise

and here are my concepts i PREFER the hare and have a few thoughts on how to make him amble sound and act

THE TORTOISE

tortoise by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

THE HARE

hare by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

you can definately tell a life style choice from this hare that could be the reason he moves slow to start off with.

Ok after much thought

2011-01-13T09:11:00.001-08:00

and deliberation i have decided i am going to use two characters which i have nicknamed

FLY BOY (Morpheus) (seen as my background picture)

and

EVIL BUNNY (NEO) (still being charcterised)

Thoughts about E-on Proposal

2011-01-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

TIME

work load is something that i love having more of but i am not sure of time requirements

IDEAS

the proposal was very vague... im not sure whether i could create something that actually has a point without much more information about the company.
although i think animation/ live action could be very interesting and i think i could make a better film than the one we were shown.

CONNATATIONS

i believe if i got this job and worked it well it could help my CV alot but the amount of work put toward it with the possibility of not getting it could effect my work.

FINAL THOUGHTS

i am going to try and design and script and storyboard by friday if i have not got any ideas by then i will concentrate on my actual uni work.

Initial idea

2011-01-11T05:17:00.000-08:00

SCENE CHOICE

i will be doing the dogo scene

CHARACTER CHOICE

i have been thinking of making it a mix of the matrix slash the tortoise and the haire.

i also have been thinking maybe using mice and things they find on the floor as weapons.

other ideas include mutants and stick insects.

back to uni - new leaf

2011-01-11T05:12:00.000-08:00

good afternoon, i have realised i am going to have to spend alot more time thinking and discussing my work on here. by friday there will be 5 idea posts on here as well as a storyboard for e-on. my plan is to improve my creative process again.

Final animation

2010-12-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Filming

2010-03-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

figure

2010-03-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Right we have just finished our moving image carrasel. #

we went through several phases in these 5 weeks..

first of all we were given a script of which my group comprising of Myself, chris williams, alex langworthy, mike close and tom hopcraft were given a script called figure.

figure is a story about a man living up to his fathers expectations and following on his legacy, if in a rather strange and gruesome way. stan is accepting an award from an art ceremony/commitee and relives what got him there and how he had created this brilliant figure. we find out through a mix of flashbacks that he was using live models which he kept in his basement, he searches deep inside them to find how they are put together and thus can make a perfect figure of them following the details.

after getting the script we were told that the project was about how we interpreted the script and how we could show our interpretation. we were told we were to have to add an extra scene we felt would benefit the film. my groups extra scene was one i had put forward, it was to be of young stan watching his dad casually cut up an create from a women just like he was being shown doing earlier in the film. i hoped that i could show that the stan was taught from an early age that this was ok and exceptable to do. from that point i realised what i should do in this film, to make it a contrast between the good and the bad but to try and show in this mans eyes they were equal so in the basement shots we would show darkness and brutality whereas in the awards we would should light and happiness.

we were then to give our group members roles.

Mike was given Producer
Chris was given lighting and editing
Alex was to be camera man
and Tom sound man
i was to be Director

in the following weeks we each had roles to play, mike had to go out and find actors and locations and book them, tom was sent in search of sounds and music to use in the film, chris and mike rewrote the script and added the extra scene and me and alex had to write and draw the storyboard thinking about our shots from a shot list we had wrote as a group in the first session.

and before we knew it we were on to filming. we set up on a wednesday to shoot our awards ceremony scenes and before we had started we already fell into dificulties; our actors were ill and noone except 5 girls and 1 man turned up to be in what was meant to be our 50-80 person strong audience. as the male to turn up was my good friend and performance artist miah jumbo though all was not lost. miah took to the role we gave him with great commitment and strength of character and from our feedback he was a brilliant choice of actor. we went through the day doing all the shots we needed quickly and efficiently and as a collective the day was a success. although looking back on our footage it was nots exactly as we hoped and lack of audience had extremely cut down our useful shots. which was in great contrast to the second day of filming which went perfectly to plan. everyone turned up on plan the basement was perfect and miah was at the top of his game. and our only main issue with the filming of that day was lack of chains for our actor playing the man (dan o'sullivan) and the near failure of our young stan extra scene as from the footage u cannot tell what i was trying to show and create as i have said earlier.

the next day we moved onto capturing the footage and started to edit what we had to work with. chris started this process by seperating the shots and making the basement scenes flow in and out of shots due to the actions and the way we had planned.

i have followed on from his work with the feedback from our first attempt and have shorterend scenes and made it flow much better as a film. i found whilst doing this i realyl enjoy working with this software and feel i may have a nack or skill at using it, which is very positive as i believe i wish to do moving image as my pathway next year. the only thing which has annoyed me with my edit today is that the music i wish to go with it, Pink Floyds - Wish you were here, is not posible to use as i believe there is some sort of copywright as part of the university i must pass which prevents me... but i have a two copies i will be putting up on this blog as soon as i can upload them to youtube. which is taking ages thankyou.

house mates band

2010-01-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

This is my housemate Miah Jumbos band basement forte...

i really like the different approach to music they have... its really refreshing and i would like to use a similar different arrangement of techniques in my work... also to use their music perhaps in some of it.

alll this terms work

2009-12-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

Flash interactive narrative - Little Johnny One Eye

lil johnny one eye by ~Twat-Sketch on deviant ART

Pixilation - the chase

in which i star and was creative influence

One Shot - Justice

in which it was my camera work

Pixilation

2009-11-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

Right, sorry about little posting which has gone on... i will catch up very soon. But right now i am starting the pixilation project which will hopefully show my best work.

My flash narrative will be up very soon just finishing up the final bits. and my one shot film will be also as soon as i find it.

Right to pixilation.

Yesterday we did the start lecture and did a 30second 360 frame animation. In this we had me and another person (anthony Chapman) having a short chase and fight. In this we played around with what we could get away with in terms of making the animation flow and effects we could add. we made me be able to teleport and teleport ant. At the end of the animation another person (lars) come and pushes me over when i reemerge.

____________________________________________________________

I have started to look at pixilations on the internet, namely youtube and i like the ideas this guy had...

i hope to be able to use a few of these. especially coming out of the fridge and or the levitating pencil.

thats all for now.

2009-11-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

This is a film i did for the 2nd years.

I really enjoyed the experience and due to the crews ability to work together well i am seriously considering doing this section of my course next year.

What happened yesterday?

2009-10-07T04:57:00.001-07:00

Right, yesterday I started by being put into a group with 6 other people and the objective was to make a whiteboard animation of a box getting from one side of a object to the other in 120 frames adding to 10seconds of film. To start off, this went fairly slow with one of the students spending along time drawing a picture of very detailed house. the idea of which was to make a stick man wake up and walk through the house turning on a off the lights as he went. This was not really the most exciting idea. In the end the house had collapsed falling through the earth, the box ate a meteor and was kicked across the gap. I was really impressed at the skill of drawing shown by some of my fellow students. The ideas shown and evolved really made me smile and I hope I get to work in this way again or similarly as I really enjoyed it.

2009-10-07T04:43:00.001-07:00

Good morning. I have recently started a place at nottingham trent university, doing a course on multimedia.