Friday, May 23, 2008

I am particularly keen on what technology has given us daubers to work with. It seems increasingly irrelevant to paint and draw images (I include Photoshop) for animated films that are no longer 2D and graphic. To this end I often design in what I call Maya sketches; quickly built, virtual, 3D environments that will give me several viewpoints of the same scene. I can also change the lighting, the camera lens (say from 25mm to 100mm), and re-position or re-scale various elements which would take days, if not weeks, with pencil, paint or Photoshop. The posts here use only two Spooky Castle sets. Each set took about three days to complete but gave me dozens of different variations, four of which are posted here. I then render them out and tickle them up in Photoshop, if necessary.

Maya sketch. Spooky castle. Character design D Fiess.

Maya sketch. Spooky castle. Character design D Fiess.
Maya sketch. Spooky castle. Character design D Fiess
Maya sketch. Spooky castle.