I've been having a hard time convincing myself that personal projects that have no relation whatsoever to work were worth taking a long time in the making of. So I decided to come up with an idea that would force me into a lot of different skills and make me grow both as a professional and as an artist.
Enter Christmas. It's, understandably, my favorite holiday/season. It is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year!
I decided to model a number of assets that I could reuse in multiple scenes, and maybe over multiple years. Then I took the latest Core Rigging course and rigged the 2 characters manually... Make similar bodies, one rig (I thought). Well, I definitely learned a lot in that process too!
So far, mission accomplished. Assets are all done and rigged. Maybe one last one in mind to go (an animated cloth simulation for Santa's Sack... we'll see).
What's next is the more ambitious part of the plan: I have storyboarded enough animations to make an advent calendar. It's too late for this year, but the plan is to get at least 12 days of Christmas this year, then complete the whole 24 in 2025. Work has been pesky, so I might be biting more than I can chew... It might be a multiple years project.
Who cares though... each animation has a skill I want to practice, and it'll be fun and holly jolly! Worth in my book...
ps. I'll share the animations once I have them.
Yes exactly as Nat says, it's very Santa and his Elf looking to give them names. But I approve of Claire's given names as well. So I declare, hence forth, in the name of the Cookie and its forefather's, that these gentlemen's shall be known as Victor Emmanuel and Pierre Yves Noël. So they shall in the eyes of The Cookie, forever and always.
Strange as it is, Omar didn't nickname them, he always uses old-fashioned French compound names, so I'll give it a go: Victor Emmanuel (the green one) and Pierre Yves Noël (the red one). Cela assure grave!!! (humor)
True! I guess it's because it's hard to name characters that come with so much lore and strings already attached.
But I love your names! And my plan has a total of 24 short animations for an advent calendar (yeah, no way they are all going to happen this year), but I still haven't figure out the last few. Now I have one that will incorporate their French compound names!! Thanks Claire!