This tutorial intends to help
you learn the basic techniques employed in the creation of the 3D animation: The
Hunter - Iria the Computer Animation, which was created on a bedroom PC.
In
part 1 we discussed Preparation
In
part 2 we covered story boards
In part
3 we will begin to look at the environments in The Hunter
Tutorial
Part 3:
Environments: Myce
Now
while I do not purport to be a professional animator, or to be an expert I am
just going to explain a bit about the environments you see in the movie The Hunter.
To begin with when deciding to make
this short the idea of placing the action in an enivronment like Myce
(as featured in the cartoon, Iria: Zeiram the Animation) was central
to the whole project. A problem arose when finding a location befitting
of the Tombraider character, who hitherto has been seen cavorting
in caverns, dungeons and temples.
It was decided that a Japanese temple would be a good compromise, considering
the oriental nature of the Myce location. If you imagine a Japanese world that
had survived some form of nuclear holocaust and displays an infrastructure of
city states characterized by huge mushroom shaped towers then this is the environment
of the character Iria.
When I started out at first I was
just going to create a cylinder and project a texture map of a skyline
onto it - much in the same way that early motion pictures had drawn
or painted back drops. This just didn't seem befitting of the Iria
model. She needed to be at home in an environment as three-dimensional
as her, so I decided to create Myce Port. The first step was to create
the tallest buildings in the skyline from the POV of the action.
The
next step was to doodle in 3D until I had a city inside my computer. This may
not be a helpful description of how to make an environment like this, but it is
an accurate one.
When
making your cityscape remember to experiment with the different aspects of your
software package. It's the only way you can feel comfortable with the results.
You will have to spend an awfully long time trying to duplicate the look and feel
of a living metropolis.
Don't get carried
away as I did or else your critics will say that your camerawork (your attempts
to capture your entire metropolis) needs to be rethought.
Next:
Tutorial Part IV: Hijime Castle
Download
The Hunter (MPEG-4 or MPEG-1) here.
Iria
(c) 2001 BANDAI VISUAL et al
*Miss
Croft is based
on Eidos Interactive's Tomb Raider series
