Layout

Layout of the short is very important. Because the set consists of only two rooms, every item and object has to have a purpose. Majority of the positioning is for screen space. This is the layout for the upstairs study.

Inspiration and Ripomatic

Some of the films that are reference for the short in design and inspiration. And this is a ripomatic. It is a technique used in the industry to learn about film and camera moves that have been used successfully in the past. You find similar camera motion, character action, or composition used in film and cut it together to your previz.

Current Previz

End of summer previz. Still need to tweak. The ending hasn't been set up yet but the story is coming along!

Experimenting with water

I've taken a few days off modeling to experiment with water. I am having a lot of fun. Here are a few tests. Some are terrible. But, some are starting to look kinda cool, too. From the tests so far I am leaning towards real flow but we will see how the others look down the road.

Maya + After Effects, Real flow + Krakatoa + Vray + Maya

Water Simulation Tests from Liz Martin on Vimeo.

Houdini and Maya

Maya Toon Ocean

Mental Ray Dielectric

Mermaid Model Update!

Made some changes to the model. This is closer to final

Shark tooth

Now I am on the gum and tooth modeling stage! This part took a little part of research. The shape of sharks' teeth vary according to their diet; those species that feed on mollusks and crustaceans have dense flattened teeth for crushing, those that feed on fish have needle-like teeth for gripping, and those that feed on larger prey such as mammals have pointed lower teeth for gripping and triangular upper teeth with serrated edges for cutting. (Gilbertson, Lance (1999). Zoology Laboratory Manual. ISBN 0-07-237716-X.).

While the visual shape of my shark-like mermaid will follow the long lean sharks such as the silky, blacktip, and mako I am going to make her teeth follow that of a great white.

Here you can see the difference in the upper and lower teeth formation.

Smile for the camera big guy!

Victorian Clothing

Now that I have a decent base mesh for Warren I am onto the clothing. Getting the clothing right can be difficult. If you do everything correctly no one will notice it because it will fit into the scene seamlessly. In order to do this there has to be a great deal of research. Fortunately there is a group of passionate tailors and historians that have excellent breadowns available for those looking to learn more about Victorian era fashion. Andrew at the Victorian Tailoring blog has a multitude of information available. Here I am collecting some of the images I will use for research. Please check out his blog as it is very interesting!

Here are two 3d models that have victorian clothing.

And Williams Clothiers also offers a great source of information as well!