Minor Project: Interior Texturing

I have started to texture the first interior section of the ship. However I feel that in some areas it feels a bit too 'square' and needs to have a bit more general wear and tear. 

Minor Project: Interior UV Mapping

Minor Project: Interior Modelling

Minor Project: Improved Textures and Detail

I decided that the textures I original created weren't detailed enough and also lacked in variation of tones and shading. I've now gone back over some areas and improved them. I've also added some more pipes and other detail.

Minor Project: Colour Map Textures

I've done the Colour Maps for the exterior of the space station. It still needs some specular, bump maps etc. to bring it alive a bit more instead of it looking too smooth for ship that has been in space for over 30 years.

Minor Project: Exterior UV Mapping

I haven't included the cockpit to the ship as it needs re-modelling before I can UV map it. There are also a few stitching issues that need fixing in the rest of the model. 

Minor Project: Front Exterior Model

Minor Project: Front Further Modelling

Minor Project: Modelling Start

Minor Project: Greenlight Presentation

Minor Project: Greenlight Presentation

Minor Project: Animatic #1

Minor Project: Influence Maps

Minor Project: Space Station Interior Concept Art #2

Minor Project: Space Station Interior Concept Art #1

Minor Project: Pre-Viz

Below is the previz for my project. There are a few hiccups in some areas and other areas than need speeding up and slowing down but overall I'm pretty pleased about how it's come out so far. I'm not sure if it's a bit too long but hopefully if I fix the speed issues it may reduce the run time a bit.

Minor Project: Full Storyboard

I've completed the full basic storyboard for my animation. I'm now going to manipulate these in Premiere/After Effects for my animatic.

Minor Project: Space Station Concept Art Update

I've added in more detail all over the ship to make it look a lot more realistic.

Minor Project: Space Station Exterior Concept Art Progress

I've made a start on some concept art for my project starting with an exterior shot of the space station. There still needs to be a lot more detail added, especially towards the back of the ship, but I thought I'd make a post to show my progress so far anyway.

Character Poses - Maya Class

Minor Project: Storyboard Start

I've begun story boarding for my animation. I thought by drawing out the vision of how I want my animation to look like, it would give me a better understanding of what I need to change and how the story will play out and flow.  These are also just some of the main features of the animations and will have a lot more frames linking the ones below.

A few areas I definitely need to focus on from these storyboards is the design of the spaceship. In these frames the environment seems very smooth and more futuristic, this will not be the case in the final design as I want my spacecraft to have high amounts of detail and controls. I didn't include this detail in my storyboards purely to save time as I just wanted to get an idea of the shots I want to create.

Another main aspect I want to focus on is the ending before the ending. The final ending will be the tape player and camera floating out of the open door. However I need to think about the final climatic room or corridor in the spacecraft that shows the full insanity that consumed the occupant of the ship. To show the insanity already I've got writing on the walls, an endless tally of days in space and creepy makeshift dolls made by the occupant to keep him company. Possibly combining these and some other ideas will give me something to use for the ending before the ending.

Minor Project: Narrowing Story

After some discussion it was decided that I need to find what it is exactly that I am going to include in my animation and really finalize the main aspects of the story line rather than keep on coming up with multiple scenarios. So here is what I'd like the main outline of the story to be: 

-  The animation is taking place 30 years after the launch of the expedition which started in early 2000. This means that I can use a current and past theme for the spacecraft as well as incorporating elements of new technology that has been created over the 30 year period.

-  The design of the spacecraft will be a completely new design and not copy any real spacecraft but will incorporate certain aspects of real life spacecraft to make it look as though it could have been part of an actual space program. 

-  In the animation, the further the camera moves through the ship the more claustrophobic the spacecraft will become .i.e. less/smaller windows, darker colours and reduced lighting 

-  The tape player will consist of multiple messages that have been sent up by the daughter of the occupant of the spacecraft over the 30 year period. This will show how the daughter has changed over the 30 years through her age and also her growing concern about how far away her dad is and how their relationship is deteriorating.

-  If possible I'd like to incorporate part or all of a quote by Jon Krakauer, either through one of the tape messages or mad scribbles on the walls of the ship. The quote reads:

 "Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” 

I thought this could help show the reason to why the occupant of the ship went on this expedition and and how they want to keep on travelling and exploring even if it leads to insanity or death. I don't know if there would be any copyright issues with this but I would like to incorporate some of it if possible.

Minor Project: Reinhold Messner Further Research

After researching a few different explorers in order to help me get an idea of the personality my character will have I have chosen to focus mainly on the Italian mountaineer, Reinhold Messner. I have now done some further research into the life of the famous explorer

Messner is most well known for making the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen  and for being the first climber to ascend all fourteen "eight-thousanders" (peaks over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) above sea level). His single-minded passion for climbing has survived the loss of one of his brothers and all but three of his toes. As I said in my previous post, this determination that explorers have for pushing themselves as far as they can go for the sake of "adventure" is something that gives a strong character.  Whether they are accompanied by someone else or simply going on their own they are usually completely focused and driven on the goals they hope to achieve on there expeditions, even when it is as emotionally and physically draining as climbing the highest mountains in the world. 

However this constant need to adventure and pushing of body limits must take their toll; in this case the chasing of a "Yeti" around the Himalayas. Messner claims to have spotted one of the mythical creatures when he got lost his own somewhere in Tibet. After the supposed encounter he spent the following 12 years searching the Himalayas for the elusive beast and eventually writing a book about his travels. He never did find another Yeti and now concludes that the existence of the Yeti is, in his own words, "Bullshit."

Messner eventually had to slow down on his extravagant adventures due to old age but has since opened his own museum dedicated to mountaineering in Northern Italy. The museum project consists of 5 museums located in different parts of the Italian mountains. These museums could provide me with some interesting design ideas for my spacecraft I am going to be creating for animation. 

Minor Project: Character Research and Story Change

Initially the plot of my animation would be that a disaster had happened on board the ship leaving it severely damaged. However after some discussion I have changed the story slightly where instead of the a ship being affected by a disaster, it will now reveal how the occupant of the ship has slowly turned insane through isolation. This would mean including elements such as mad writing scribbled on the walls, various objects and contraptions built by the passenger to keep themselves occupied and instead of the end showing part of the ship destroyed, it would now show just an open door into space where the person on board as simply walked out into space due to their insanity. 

To get my project going I first need to determine a story and personality for the character on board the ship. Although this character is never seen or heard, there needs to be some sort of back story to this person in order for the message being played on the tape player to have enough substance to last the animation and give it realness. Therefore I have been researching into various famous explorers to base by "invisible" character off. Explorers often have very eccentric personalities and can often be considered insane due to the lengths they go to to discover the world they live in. This will then be a great fit for my character and story. I have selected four famous explorers to research into who are as follows:

Jacques Cousteau

Cousteau was French explorer and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in the water. It is often said that we know more about space than we do about the deepest oceans, therefore I think Cousteau would be good to use due to his fearless determination to explore the unknown.  He also had a very strange little submarine that I think adds to a quirky personality.

Reinhold Messner

Messner is an Italian mountaineer and explorer most well known for making the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. This, to me, seems like an insane thing to do. If you have the option of having extra oxygen to decrease your chances of dying then you would most most likely take it. However explorers such as Messner seem to have the determination of pushing themselves as far as they can go for the sake of "adventure". Oh, and he also thought he saw a Yeti and spent years trying to find one in the Himalayas...

Matthew Henson

Henson was an explorer of the Arctic. Over many expeditions, Henson spent nearly 23 years exploring and researching the Arctic. This shows the dedication and lengths some explorers will go to further their passion of exploring the world they live in. 

Lawrence Oates

Oates was and Antarctic explorer who died during the Terra Nova Expedition. He was afflicted with gangrene and frostbite and eventually walked out of his tent during a blizzard to his death. He is well known for his final words before his death which were, "I am just going outside and may be some time." He chose death when he realised that the fate of his fellow companions was being compromised by his ill health and would rather die than let the whole expedition be a useless exercise.