Summer research, Lili game play, 21 December, 2016

game teaser
game trailer

I like the framing of these shots- you're far enough back that you can see what's happening when the character is in action, then you go up close for thinking challenges.

summer research, Marvelous Designer, 7 December, 2016

artist testimony: she used Marvelous Designer to make custom mocap suits for dogs and horses.  doing the pattern in MD meant fewer fittings on the horse.

Could you describe challenges in which Marvelous Designer was of use to you and go into detail regarding how Marvelous Designer helped overcome them?
The most challenging thing for me was sewing the MoCap suit for a horse. I created the pattern in Marvelous Designer, and used it to sew the suit itself. After measuring the horse, we created an avatar that I used to make the suit, and by importing the data of the moving horse (Maya cache) we could also simulate the suit to see how it fits. It was very helpful that we could set the material quality of the suit, and during the tests, we could see where we need extra fabric, and where we should make it more formfitting. There were several errors that came to surface this way before the actual sewing took place, and thus the horse required less fitting sessions.

Proposed workflow:  

sculpt body of actor in Maya.  How do I get accurate measurements into Maya so the model is the same proportions as the actor portraying the character?

import model of actor into Marvelous Designer.  Is it possible to make shapes with foam over the model in MD? And then drape fabric?  Or must I bring in a model of Jellybean (character body) and then drape fabric over that?

sculpt head in Maya, slightly smaller to account for fabric, for 3D printing

Test MD pattern in paper at 1/4 scale

Adjust pattern in MD

Test MD pattern #2 in 1/4 scale (repeat until pattern is right)

Test MD pattern in cardboard at full scale

3D print skull of head and print pattern to make in foam

Cut foam

cut fabric

sew/glue/assemble

Write up each stage:  how much fiddling did the pattern require at each step?  What's the scale difference between foam and fabrics? 

summer research, storytelling, 2 December, 2016

Will Schoder's universal story breakdown video

Dan Harmon, showrunner for "Community" and co-creator? of "Rick and Morty" expanded on Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" and Will Schoder made this animated guide  to illustrate the mono-myth format of storytelling.

Dan Harmon's universal story breakdown webpage
Dan Harmon expands on the theory of storytelling in his post Story Structure 103 by saying

1. When you
2. have a need,
3. you go somewhere,
4. search for it,
5. find it,
6. take it,
7. then return
8. and change things.

5-minute plots lesson 106.  Lesson 105 tells you how to set up a story for TV so it goes on forever and ever and ever.  Depressing, now that I see it, but instructive, nevertheless.