So, been playing with a few ideas. Need to have something nice to present to the intended voice artist with a “this is you”. So, going for darker tones and updating the uniform styles a little, based loosely on original items…

First image that sent me down this path was this…

He does look a lot better with a darker style.

So, now going for more of an Action Hero Cliche look here

Just seeing where I can go with this for the rest of the week. May go with a vest, or some kind of stab vest… holsters, ammo, grenades, big old Action Man hunting knife (have to be mindful that even though they are toys, I dont want to glorify anything violent)…

Back pack, gadgets…. Should be a fun period of look development now

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Project-Palitoy is supported by:

Just wanted to see what Lewis looks like in Black

certainly the way to go and will now pursue this look. Add-ons will include back pack, SLR rifle, grenades, knife and bits and bobs

Ignore the shiny black PVC look. Thats just down to a distinct lack of time to do any proper texturing.

Ended up using a low rez wrap deformer for the skinning and rivets for the zipper. Need to add some influence objects in the troubled areas (behind knees, elbows and under arm) to massage some better deformations. Downloaded a trial of stretch mesh this evening. Boot Camp partion of Vista wont find the temp license so cant evaluate that… working to get that issue sorted.

Back in Black from Craig Crane on Vimeo.

early look dev’ing. Making sure Lewis looks good in Black

Action Man….

Quite an iconic name and Brand, wouldn’t ya say? But of course when you are trying to have an army of them, led by one specific hero, they cant all be called Action Man, or Action Man Sailor, Adventurer, Diver etc etc etc. The hero and the Rookie need names. I have a name in mind for the Rookie… that name is Nigel… there is a reason for this and I hope that will become clear in the near future. Ironically, the voice of the actor I have in mind for is a kid that I grew up with back in the day when we both went to stage school…. I’ll say no more on this until I have met the man for a chat. Needless to say, I would be honored if he would come on board. The rookie is a main part and his involvement in the short and the way we lose him at the end means that he will of course be back and maybe not quite so naive and “nice” upon his return. As we know, the next short is Project-Palitoy: Betrayal at Blood point and I think the title gives us an idea where the Rookie may lead us… witch is why we need a soft edge leading to a very dark dark path. That’s why on the teaser poster you kinda get a sense that this is the case… the Rookie ends up being a bit of a player, for all thew wrong reasons

But my lead…. oh my!!! I have a great name and a great voice in mind. Its so mind blowingly obvious that any other name just wouldn’t do now. I have lived with this name and voice in mind for so long that anything else would be a compromise. But its a tough sell. I need to find a way to convince my lead that this would be an exceptional experience and that there is a generation of 30 – 40 year old men out there that would get a real kick out of his involvement. It really is that big a coup if I can get the man to agree to come on board and help out!!! I have worked with many of my childhood heroes. Kermit the Frog, Gonzo and of course Jeff Wayne of Jeff Waynes The War Of The Worlds…. but I cant seem to ever remember running around the playground pretending to be any of the above… and I certainly dont ever remember craving to drive the same car when I grew up (an ambition sadly never realised)…

If your reading this Mr “mystery ideal voice person”….  Project-Palitoy salutes you!

I really hope that I will have something to mention or announce in the near future because the suspense is killing me.  Well, actually it goes beyond suspense because its all subjective and tentative. I’d love to do some facial capture and voice tests with him and get those tests up on line asap.. hopefully that process wil convince the hero to be the hero

fingers, legs, arms realistic gripping hands crossed!

Jacqui Adams is on the case!

I guess it takes a filmaker to understand another filmakers dilema.. and Ms Adams did me a huge favor and ventured out to the old factory on a recce. I think I may have to follow suit and may even grab some plates whilst I am there

This building has me very excited. I can do a lot with it in post.. but its history is very fitting as well. I think a recce is in order!

Thanks Jacqui… just what I needed

So, chatting to a mate from DNEG yesterday, and discussing my dilema from a couple of posts back, she mentioned that she lives near the old Lesney Matchbox factory. This got me thinking and then suddenly I was unable to stem the creative flow that ensued

I suddenly saw the infiltration, the discovery and the fight all happening at one local

Sure, shooting there would entail dealing with local gangs, addicts and worse Im sure… but its quite an exciting prospect

credit to “downfallen” for the pics I lifted from various websites

I can certainly see the top shot being a good opener. Looking up, hearing the pained screams of toys undergoing recycling and adaptation… pretty gim place to be for a toy…

I must ponder on this and hopefully Jacqui Adams will convince me me wholeheartedly that this is the best way forward….

And again, Downfallen has given me a look at how the last shot “could” look…

With the Rookie having been roped and yanked of the roof by one of the Dreggs Flying Machines and off towards the city (I guess the Dreggs have decided they now need a new base of operations) this shot sees the Hero looking out as he is dragged of in slow mo up into the sky and towards the city. He then bounds over the edge, the camera follows him to the edge, perring down as we see his little frame skirt form behind bins and cars, avoiding any and all human contact as he makes his way towards where he thinks the Dreggs have taken the rookie

Now just gotta find out who owns this building and when is it being pulled down… Time toput in a call to the Land Registry

Found a nice space, great rates and just the right size. May need to look at the floor in terms of its reflectivity

Busy weekend this weekend. Rig is done. Now need to work up a workable and not too heavy cloth sim preset for all the uniforms. I tried some nCloth last week but I think the collission geo was too dense so about to scale that right back. Then its off to the beach to do a recce for a few locations. Its early days on that front, but I just want to see if geographicall whaty I have in mind will work.

There are two options for The Chase.

• story based locally around the beach area
• story based in more of a municipal area.

The beach scenario makes for a nicer viewing experience. But I like the stark reality that basing this in a municpla area like a concrete jungle makes for. I think maybe a few mock up shots of both will go some way to helping me decide.

The Chase ends up with our hero looking out into the direction that he saw the Rookie being dragged off to his doom by the Dreggs (recyled toys hell bent on  a N.T.O (New World Toy Order). For P-P to feel episodic, I think the end shopt of him looking out over a vast city scape has more scope… and then if I do a “coming up” trail, we can juxtapose Action Man into some pretty unfriendly territorry as he searches for the Rookie. Dark Alleys, wet streets at night, mean, rude…

So this is where I was planning on starting the episode. Underwater, and under the peir… But how does one get from here to the City in 2 and a half mins?

One option is  here. Shirley Hills in Croydon. Its pretty vast and I am sure it would make for a great back drop. There is a point in Shirley Hills that over looks London. Some post work to bring the London Skyline closer to camera and I think the last shot will work…. There is a high vantage point where if you look down you can see into the woods. Pan up and you see the City.

So, as he resigns himself to the fact he has to go in, he jumps of the ledge. The camera follows down with a slight tilt. We see the small 12″ hero bound into the brush along the dirt path. and as he dissapears, the camera still tracks the now unseen hero as it tilts up to reveal the city. Add more buildings in the comp so its bigger and scarier and there you have the end shot.

In order for this to work I have to choose how we get to this last shot, which has always been with me. But so has the first underwater shot….

The idea is, the Hero and the Rookie are on a mission to place bugs and camera’s in the Dreggs lair (originally a hive like addition under the peir). they get busted and a chase ensues. Great!

But how do you get from the beach to the city? Well, you could have them run along the peir, through some bushes, come out of said bushes into Shirley Hills, continueing the chase. Of course, I know there is a 90 mile gap, but if the action is tight, and lighting is consistent, who’s to know? This needs some careful planning and pre-viz.  If this transition is handled badly, I lose the audience within the first 30 secs…

Well, P-P has just received two sizeable boxes from Jim and Case at Natural point. This is so exciting! With the Foundation 12 Motion Capture system I can now finally really start to push ahead with Motion tests and the eventual shoots. The package consists of not only the Arena Mocap package but also Expression, the facial capture system. Boy! Do I plan to put that to good use!

As well as all the hardware and software, I also have one suit, and markers, as well as the clalibration wand and floor calibration square.

Im just waiting on a set of facial markers and trying to source some good Manfotto stands and clamps.

I came across Natural point purely by accident whilst I was working at Centroid. I was looking at the burgeoning market in smaller scale setups, making mocap more accessible to smaller studios and lone artists like myself. As soon as I saw the kit, I was hooked. Jim Richardson and Case Bowman have been so truly excelent. I hope that more artists will happen across Natural Points Optitrack system via Project-Palitoys website and subsequent tests leading up to the release!

exciting times ahead!

We are also incedibly excited to welcome Butterfly Net Renderer to the fray! Paul Lord has been fantastic in helping me revamp the farm. I am in the process of stripping out the old farm and getting Butterfly on the nodes. Of course, Rome wasnt built in a day, and as yet I am miles away from having anything to render, but Pauls help means that when things start to hit the queue, then thing swill be hitting the queue, as oppossed to the fan! I have decided that Mental Ray will be the engine of choice and I am sticking with Maya 2009 right the way through to 2011. This way I can ensure the farm is consistent. Im sure I will be calling on Paul when the time to hit that big R button looms.

So, probably for the last time ever, here is the latest new rig using off the shelf mocap!

New Rig playblast from Craig Crane on Vimeo.

Just testing the new Mocap part of the rig.
Seems fine. Anyone seen his rifle though

Untitled from Craig Crane on Vimeo.