Sarah's Hair system was created with the Shave and a Haircut plug-in for Maya, providing a full suite of powerful real-time styling and dynamic simulation tools.
Sarah was created on a solid foundation of several years of research and practice, building characters in Maya. Realistic animation and flexibility were Integral to the creation of all aspects of the setup, including mesh topology, bone placement and hierarchy, custom blendshapes and constraints, and more.
Given the large number of character controls I sought to simplify the process of node selection and grouped the various controls under intuitively named vector icons. All of Sarah's controls and selection handles are selectable both in the viewport and via the custom GUI.
See the Sarah Demo Quicktime for more in depth information.
Character GUI controls were built using the MEL script: abxPicker
CHARACTER GUI
With a focus on simplicity, I created a character control GUI that allows full access to all the character controls without the need for a viewport selection paradigm.
This allows you to really focus on the look of the shot, not distracted by overly complex rigging controls and selection widgets.
VIEWPORT CONTROLS
However, for maximum efficiency and speed when animating, I have also comprised a full set of viewport selection handles and vector controls that give access to all the controls in both the Head and Body character sets.
These viewport controls act as the core system for the whole character, with the GUI providing selection access to these same nodes as well.
Character Sets
Character sets are created for both the Body and Head, capturing the entire collection of controls in one node. This allows for a robust animation pipeline, particularly for the import / export of animation clips via the Trax Editor.
Animation clips can then be looped, stretched, scaled, and mixed with other clips. They can even be used on other characters via the Character Mapper.
Trax Editor
Using Maya's Trax Editor, separate clips are created, mixed and exported for future use, building an ever growing library of animations that can be used as required. The cycle, stretch and scale functions make the Trax Editor a great companion tool for all types of animation.
Using Character Sets + Trax Editor together is a powerful approach to the animation pipeline.
CHARACTER POSES
A library of dynamic poses were created for both the Body and Head, and continue to grow in number as the animation process continues.
Preset poses save time getting characters into the mood for a given shot. They can also serve as a strong foundation for
pose-to-pose style animation.
You can selectively apply a pose to only certain nodes of the character, as well as mix in desired percentages with other poses... Very powerful.
The environments of Sarah's Journey are rich in colour, light, and texture, taking on a vibrancy and life of their own. These images are based in the imagination of Sarah: a young creative professional.
The following "Imagine" text was written for both the introduction to the film and for marketing / trailer purposes and puts it perfectly.
Imagine
Imagine a place where the boundaries between reality and the imagination no longer exist. Where thoughts can roam free.
Imagine a world of emotions and feelings given solid form and shape. Imagine a rich landscape of colour, texture, sound and radiant light.
Imagine Sarah's world...
NOte
Click the image to view a larger version.
Character Art
The finished art [left] for the Sarah character was created using a combination of techniques.
The original sketch was made from real-life, having undertaken life drawing classes and the value they promote to using observation.
The original image was created as pencil art.
This was then scanned into PhotoShop and cleaned up before adding colour and tone. Image adjustments like Curves and Hue Saturation provide a more dynamic palette to the image.
Next the image is taken into Corel Painter for brush work and natural media treatment. This is done using the Quick Clone Canvass, Bristle Brush + Oil Paints.
Finally, the painting is then taken back into Photoshop for original art composite (line work over the top) and masking of painted image to go over canvass background.
Using both applications together in this way has opened up technical freedom to create truly vibrant art with real-world soul.
Concept Art
Quick pencil sketches were made of many different environments based on the dramatic and sublime artworks of nature.
This involved lots of video reference of things like volcanic activity and other nature shows.
I tried to work Sarah's form into the landscape as much as possible, being part of her imagination and an extension of her consciousness.
Storyboard
After hammering out a basic script, I set about creating a storyboard complete with production notes for camera moves, lighting and animation.
Story Idea
The story centres around Sarah, a young creative professional during her morning meditation.
The viewer is then taken on a visual journey through Sarah's imagination as she travels through the realms of her mind, encountering the various locations, some serene, some violently hostile, until gradually becoming more relaxed and peaceful, until she finally arrives at a state of perfect balance.
To Be continued...
The realisation of this project has been my highest goal for my 3D art, though has been more or less on hold for several years. Only until recently have I attempted to revisit this project with the knowledge that I have now attained through years of practice.
I look forward to finishing this film, though I sometimes wonder if it's more about the Journey.
