Tag: WIP

Working on Breccies

Work has been very busy, which has caused me to move the Rube Goldberg back. I always realise when I’m working on it how intensive it is, and because I have to learn so much along the way, it always makes me second-guess when it will finally be finished!

But, I still very much feel the need to work on projects in my free time, so I’ve chosen to work on a more classic 2d film that I expect will be finished much faster. I also very much need a fresh look at the Rube Goldbery, so taking this break will only be helpful (I hope).

In any case, the 2D film is called Breccies, and is a return to form for me – as it relies on classic animation techniques, together with all the new knowledge and experience I have gained in working in motion graphics. The film is based on a giant leporello (over 8 meters long now!) that is currently being made by Marianne Kaars, my mother who is also a fine artist, and with whom I have wanted to collaborate with for a very long time, on account of our style and themes being very similar. (I included a link to her website in her name, so you can take a look for yourself)

Here is a sample from her work:

A photograph from an exhibition she held in Pulchri, The Hague, in 2013. Featured from left to right: a ‘tulip’ vase made by a ceramic artist based on her work, a collage (1.5 x 3meters), and a woodblock print (1.5 x 3 meters).
‘Cunegonde’, ink drawing, 2018
‘Martin’, ink drawing, 2018

And here is a little sneaky peek at what I am currently animating:

Back to work I go!

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Animation Supply and Demand

Yesterday evening I finished building the rigs to three different types of hands. I’m now at a point where I can slowly start animating and adding textures, as well as the nitty-gritty of getting deformations right as I hobble along.

I always have a tendency at being over-optimistic as to when I can start showing results, and as a result, I jinx myself. But reaching this point still feels rather big to me. It’s taken about two years for me to hash out this film’s concept, and then two more years just to figure out the style and production of this film. That’s more time than I ever spent on a film, and as a result the process also terrified me in many ways – what if it turns out disappointing after all this time? Unfortunately in art, it doesn’t really matter that much how much effort you put into something, it’s all about the result. I don’t know if this film will be good, but I do know how happy I’ll be when I’ve finished it, and that’s my motivation for now.

But all that said: to finally see a few scenes coming together with some really basic and rough animation is… pretty damn exciting.

I hope that I can show some playblasts pretty soon. And more textures, and renders, and animation, and a film, and and and… 🙂

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Works in progress

Well, one work in progress to be honest. A project I’ve been giving the working title ‘Rube Goldberg’ over the last two years I’ve been researching and working on it.

It’s a strange feeling for me to realise that I’ve been working on this since 2015. It’s the longest I’ve ever dedicated to a project.

But in all honesty, that’s because I only worked on it in my free time. And I never intended for it to become an actual animation. It started out as an idea for an online interactive display, somewhat like the original idea for my Infomaze (that now only exists as a demo video, the site having crashed long ago). I made these little morphing animations specifically for that purpose, before I realised that I really wanted to make a proper animation.

I’m glad I did, the thought alone of having to figure out the coding again was not something I was looking forward too!

I’ve now finally moved into production, but it will still take a while before it’s finished. I’ve learned a lot during my research and in making the many, many little tests I’ve posted on this blog, but I’ll still be learning a ton more. Here’s hoping I manage to get it done by the end of this year!

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Mystic Meg

I just finished a major hurdle in the Rube Goldberg project. I’ve been modelling a woman’s head that is loosely based on Mystic Meg: the National Lottery psychic in the late nineties whose predictions about new winners always turned out to be wrong. This Mystic Meg is a silent wooden puppet head with eyes and eyelids that can move. She’s ready for texturing, and I just finished giving her eyes a rig, which you can see in action here:

I’m very happy with how her face turned out, and I’m very excited to start giving her colours and incorporating her into the rest of the scenery!

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Rube Goldberg

This is a work in progress I am currently busy with. It is going to be an explanatory animation using an animated Rube Goldberg machine.

Part of the Rube Goldberg setup.

Two animated hands that will be used within the machine itself. Rig was made by me, the animation itself is a test to see if the rig is functioning properly.

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