Alike

Render Test

2012-01-18T17:59:00.000+01:00

We are currently about to wrap up the pre-production stage of Alike. 2012 hasn't started as well as we thought it would. But we are certain we will overcome all of the obstacles that come with making an Animated short.

However the actual look of the short is taking shape nicely, with an aesthetic that has the feel of the story we are trying to tell. There is a feeling among us that this phase is a bit of a steep hill we are trying to climb, which makes it all the more important for the team to be able to start getting images like this out there.

We know this is not a finalized image, there is still lots of work to be done! But it does help us imagining the story better and what the world the characters inhabit looks like.

We hope you like the result of the poster so far, and we would love to get feedback from you.

Rafiki

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Nos encontramos cerrando la preproducción de "Alike". 2012 ha empezado con más problemas de los previstos, pero aquí seguimos queriendo superar todos los obstáculos que conlleva hacer un corto de animación.

Una de las cosas que van cogiendo forma es la estética que buscamos para contar la historia. Como estámos en una fase en la que parece que no avanzamos, este tipo de imágenes dan un golpe positivo al estado anímico del equipo.

Sabemos que esta imagen no es definitiva, que todavía queda mucho en lo que trabajar. Pero ayuda a imaginarnos el mundo en el que se van a mover los personajes y a visualizar la historia.

Esperamos que os guste el resultado del "poster", y nos encantaría recibir feedback.

Rafiki

Drawing Copi

2011-11-11T12:08:00.002+01:00

Our director of Animation Rafael Cano"Rafiki" gave the team some lessons on how "Copi" should be drawn.

But wait a second! Did he use the word drawn? Wasn't this supposed to be a 3D short? Well.. yes, you are right, but the origin of Animation has always been 2D.

A common flaw found in 3D is that you only pose a marionette, but you are not actually drawing the pose. A 2D Animator has no other choice but to draw his character facing a blank sheet of paper every time he needs a new pose.

We could say then, that in 2D you have to model and animate at the same time, always trying to find lines of action that will express best what we want to transmit. A 2D Animator can not rotate the character or move the camera trying what works best. And even though that is an advantage 3D offers, often it can lead to a lack of thought from the 3D Animator's part, resulting in a posed marionette and not a "drawn" pose.

Thankfully we have AniSculpt in Blender. That is what we call the process of being able to sculpt in real time on the character's shape, to be able to "draw" the pose better. Which is why Rafiki's drawing session was held in the first place, to be able to understand how Copy is build and how to best draw poses for him.

Daniel

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Nuestro director de animación Rafael Cano "Rafiki" hizo una sesión de cómo dibujar a "Copi".

Pero... ¡un momento!, ¿dibujar? ¿pero esto no era un corto en 3D? Sí, pero la "madre" de todo es el 2D.

Un error común que tiene el 3D es que solo posas una marioneta, no dibujas la pose. Un animador 2D se ve obligado a dibujar todo el personaje partiendo de un folio en blanco. Podríamos decir que un animador 2D tiene que modelar y animar a la vez y, ya que lo tiene que dibujar entero, un buen animador pondrá cada linea en su sitio buscando con ello la pose que mejor exprese lo que quiere transmitir. Un animador 2D cuando tiene la pose dibujada no puede ni rotar el modelo o mover la cámara buscando que funcione mejor como se puede hacer en 3D, aunque esto es una "ventaja"del 3D, a menudo se convierte en una falta de reflexión previa por parte del animador 3D al posar un personaje, posas la marioneta sin pensar en "dibujar" la pose.

Afortunadamente en Blender tenemos el AniSculpt, así es como llamamos nosotros a la posibilidad de esculpir de forma animada la estructura del personaje para poder "dibujar" la pose, asi que esta sesión de 2D con Rafiki sirve para entender como esta construido Copi y "dibujar" mejor las poses.

Daniel

Glen keane Reference Poses here

Alike Workplace

2011-10-10T00:06:00.001+02:00

We have remodelled one of the rooms at the school to accommodate the whole team working on the short for a year or so (about 9-10 people). We are happy with the result! We now have a better place to work and learn :)

Alike Team.

Alike Team

2011-09-16T19:27:00.002+02:00

Hi Guys!

We have finally started production for our upcoming short "Alike". We are currently finsishing up modeling, rigging and working on Layouts. We want to take the opportunity to present you the team involved (everybody seems busy...)

That's all for now folks!

Alike Team

Albert (Animation)

Esteban (Animation)

Jose (Rigging)

Rafiki (Character Design/Animation Supervisor)

Daniel M. Lara (Director)

Pedro/Claudio/Abel (3D Model/Animation)

Pau (Animation)

"Copi" Concept Art

2011-08-07T00:25:00.010+02:00

We are glad to present you the main character from "Alike". This picture is one of the concepts we are working on. It´s based on Daniel M. Lara´s last shortfilm "Changes". But we have done some changes looking for a new version smart and more stylized.

If you have not seen the shortfilm "Changes", You have a good opportunity now :)

We hope you like it!

Rafiki

Welcome!

2011-07-31T03:01:00.000+02:00

Welcome to "Alike Production Notes" blog!

This blog is about the production of our new animation short "Alike" -working title, by the moment:)-

Here you can find news all about the production process, character concepts, animation tests, tips and tricks, tools, rigs and so on.

We hope that you find useful this stuff, more info about the members to come.

Stay tune!

Alike team

Anisculpt in Blender 2.58

2011-07-31T02:21:00.000+02:00

In Blender 2.58 you don´t need the Anisculpt scripts anymore, just create a shape key and sculpt it :)

Sculpt,Sculpt,Sculpt, I love sculpt stuff, is one of the most direct way to create. You don´t need to know technical stuff, just a bunch of brushes and your own art. It would be nice that in near the future you can pose your bones of your rigged characters with this kind of tools.

Daniel