Gertrude nightgown

With the nightgown done, I just need to model the cloak. After that it's on to texturing, then cloth physics, then she'll be ready for animation.

Gertude clothing

Gertrude's day clothes are done.  Now I just need to texture them and apply the cloth physics.  after that she'll just need her nightgown and her cloak.

Gertrude rig test

This time of year keeps me busy, sorry about the long pause in updates. Both of the Gertrude models have been rigged (there's a day version and a night) and now I'm testing the rig with some poses and adjusting areas before building the clothing.

Gertrude rigged

Gertrude is rigged and nearly ready for animation.  now to connect the rig to the model and make sure she's working right.

Gertrude Faces

Here's a look at some face tests for Gertrude.  When I'm done She'll have a full range of expressions on hand to really give her life.  The inspiration for much of her facial positions come from studying Anastasia from the Don Bluth Film.  I was fortunate enough to not only learn from animators who worked on the film but to get a look at the character model sheets to see how they mapped out her expressions.

Shoe before and after

I thought I'd do another before and after image comparing the old Gertrude boots to the new.  This time I really wanted the boot to look like it was physically made.

Grim Textures

Texture creation has begun on the new Gertrude model.  These images show the diffuse map only.  I'm currently working on the bump, specularity, and others. Just like the first model I plan to use subsurface scattering, but this time I hope to have a better handle on it.

Prepping Gertrude for texture

now that I have the main model created. It's on to texturing.  right now I'm unwrapping Gertrude and using a checkered textured to make sure everything textures correctly.

These boots are made for walking

another adjustment update!  new boots!  This time I really wanted the seam to be seen in them.

Gertrude, with a new do

One of the last things before moving on to clothing and texturing, giving her hair.  The hair on the first model of Gertrude was difficult as I wasn't use to making hair and tried approaching it the same way I sculpt hair on a clay figure.  However, anyone that tells you making something in a 3D program is just like sculpting is not your friend.  Its more like sculpting if your hands were numb and then someone put boxing gloves on them.  At first I always just want to put my hands on the model and just form it.  Fortunately after working on the first short, I'm more use to working with the computer as can be seen in these images.

More Grim adjustments

Literally working from head to toe for the next short.  I spent most of today working on Gertrude and I'm now at her feet, though I plan to go back and check everything again.  This time we want to see how far we can take everything with what we know so far.

The Grim Makeover

With animation done on the first short (it's currently going through sound an music) I've been talking to a 3D dynamics artist on how to improve everything for the next.  He's currently testing cloth while I'm making adjustments to the character models for the second short.  You can see the start of these changes in this image below, with the original Gertrude base model from the first short on the left, and the adjusted model on the right.  I hope this project constantly grows and improves with each chapter.

sound effects on hold

Sound effects work on the Grim is on hold for a bit as the sound designer I'm speaking to is located in New York which is currently going through Hurricane Sandy. We wish for the best for him and everyone there.

the Grim keeps moving forward

The Grim footage has been sent to composer Ego Plum for music while I discuss sound effects with sound designer Chris Davis.  Ego Plum has told me he'll be able to work on the Grim after creating music for pilots for two major studios.  He's been so very patient with this production, so I absolutely don't mind waiting.  in the meantime, I'm starting on the opening credits sequence while preparing for the next short.  We're fixing and remodeling parts of characters to improve and remove any issues we had on the first short.  I'll be sure to post a side by side comparison when I have one.

Hasani

 

The first short of the Grim is near completion

Today I rendered the final film and I'm sending it to Ego Plum for music while discussing sound with professional sound designer!

A new look behind the scenes of the Grim

After every render is completed, it's taken to another program where an Ambient Occlusion render is applied giving the image more depth.

More on the Origins of the Grim:
in 2007 Red Riding Hood went through another redesign. The story left the anthology theme and began to form into one linear story. However, Red Riding Hood was still not thought of as the main character. The main character was actually Mary of Mary had a little lamb, and Red was one of a series of characters Mary would run into during her travels. this design of Red had her as more of a hard edged hunter instead of the everyday coming of age girl that the project currently has.

Here's a look at the first image of Gertrude Byrnes drawn in 2001.  At that time the project was called "Politely Twisted Tales" and was meant to be an anthology of horror stories in the form of short films and books based on fairy tales.  This image would go through a number of changes before becoming the recent Gertrude design, but the choker and the face scar have remained.

Yesterday night rendering started on the Grim.  Some animations are still being polished, but while they are completed other scenes are being finalized.  As we don't have a render farm available for this project, scenes are being rendered on 2 personal computers.  some scenes can consist of hundreds of frames that need rendering.  fortunately with the miniature sets being used for background, only the characters and main props need rendering.  This helps reduce a render time that could have been an hour or more a frame with a CG background, to about 1 to 2 minutes a frame with just the character.

The Grim can now be followed on Blogger and Facebook!  like the new Grim Animation page!

http://www.facebook.com/TheGrimAnimation

A behind the scenes look at filming sets for the Grim.  The sets are built and filmed at Private Eye Studios with the help of photographer Ryan Rose.  This set is for the first short in the series.

Today is the launch day for the Grim Blog.  The Grim is an animated film that tells the story of Gertrude Byrnes as she learns the reasons behind a strange creatures need to hunt her in a harsh and unforgiving world.  This project started as a series of sketches I made as a kid and it has now grown into an animator film with funding from Kickstarter and music by Ego Plum who has done work for Nickelodeon, Disney, and collaborated with Danny Elfman.  As this film works it's way to completion I'll post updates on her to give you a detailed look at the process of this animation.

Hasani Walker