This week was all about blocking updates and the beginnings of asset creation.
I started off with updating blockouts that needed to be improved for better likenesses to the animatic. The front of the cave was in the most need of improvement, so I did a couple of things to fix it. First, I evened out the hill that Saint G had to climb up, making it look more like a flat plane than a steep incline.
The rocks around the entrance of the cave were also improved, giving more depth to the cave itself. The foliage was updated to be more like the animatic and spaced more realistically. Lastly, the overall size was increased dramatically, letting the entrance of the cave and surrounding forest span a much longer space.
Along with the entrance to the cave, I also started with the creation of the cave interior. I wanted to make sure that the inside of the cave really did feel huge, a place where a dragon could rest comfortably and hoard their entire library.
I started by creating the overall feel of the cave, sculpting at the sides, ceiling, and floor to try and get a rocky surface. Then I created a simple book and made stacks of it around the room. The real cave will be much more 'filled', but this was a good start. Lastly, I hung cages from the ceiling and put giant metal firepits on the floor. Fires will fill all and provide lighting for the room.
To finish off the week and break up the tedium of creating blockouts, I started to work on asset creation. The piece I decided to start with was the armoire. The biggest thing I am attempting to keep in mind is keeping a good edgeflow within the piece. This caused some issues on the more organic nature of the front where I had to get creative so that the flowing nature of the shapes was maintained without any strange geometry. Poly count is also a thing I have to keep in the back of my mind, as our workflow calls for a very low polycount so that our renders stay quick when it is time for us to pump out scenes in arnold.
