Free (The) Rigs - Development Blog

A Development Blog for my animation titled 'Free (The) Rigs'

[free-the-rigs]

Tumblr Page, Permissions

Earlier today, I set up a Tumblr page for this Dev blog. Using Dlvr.it, I linked the Tumblr page to this Blog's RSS feed, so that every 12 hours, it checks this blog for updates, and immediately posts it. Cool, huh? Check out the Tumblr page here! Or, if you're reading this from Tumblr and you had no idea there's a Blogspot page, get to the Blogspot page here! In other news, earlier today, I emailed the creators (or in some cases, co-creators) of the rigs I hope to use. So far, 4 have gotten back to me, with their approval. Josh Burton has let me use the Morpheus and Squirrely rigs. Morgan Loomis has let me use the Norman rig. Josh Sobel has let me use the Bonnie rig. Maya Sundaram has let me use the Wilhelm the Giraffe rig. I'm glad that I have permission to use these characters (whether or not I need permission, I don't care. I always check for approval first.) The main cast is available for me (Morpheus, Squirrely and Bonnie), as well as the antagonist (Norman). I have one 'test subject' rig available, which is Wilhelm the Giraffe.

[free-the-rigs]

Summary of the Project, 'The Cast', Treatment

So let's get this blog underway, shall we? The premise for the story is 'Three Activists break into a Testing Facility for rigs.' No more, no less. If you've skipped the 'About' pages and wanted to dive right into this, Free (The) Rigs is an animation I want to do. The premise is 'Just make an animation with a bunch of free rigs'. Hence, the title. And it's no coincidence that the title is as in-your-face and unsubtle as it can be. I'm not sugarcoating what the animation is. The blog will detail every ugly part of the development, including all my thought processes, and all my mistakes. I'll be working on this project sparingly in my afternoons, so it will be a slow burn. But it will be an enjoyable one. Here's the cast that I'm hoping to use: Activists: Morpheus Bonnie Squirrely Rigs: Ball Chicken Wilhelm the Giraffe Guards: Norman When I say 'hoping', I mean I've yet to email for permission. I don't intend on making any money off of this project, but just in case (and out of politeness), I feel I should ask. I should also note that the only rigs I've never used so far are 'Bonnie', 'Chicken' and 'Wilhelm the Giraffe'. It will be fun toying around with them, understanding how they work. Another thing I hoped to do in this animation was utilise features in the rig which weren't meant to be animating. For example, in the Morpheus rig, there are controllers to customise how his face looks. You wouldn't normally animate the Face-Changing rig on the Morpheus rig. But I would. I'm hoping to toy with this degree of customisation in other rigs, if possible. If not, no loss. Finally, tonight, I've finished writing up the first pass of the treatment. You can find a screenshot of it here. It wasn't until writing the treatment that I realised it will be a hell of a task to animate (Multiple walk cycles? Dozens of characters on-screen at once?? Chickens?!?!) Over time, I'm sure the treatment will update to better compensate my time and skills.