With tomorrow being Halloween, I think I will start off on a spooky note. If there really are ghosts then as so many people have died over the years that the earth should be covered in them, which means you are never actually alone...

Okay, that was more creepy than spooky. Anyway, this week I emptied an old laptop (its was a vista laptop, very painful to use), drew up some more concept images for a future project (do robots need mouths?), finished the topology of the head mesh, sent a few proposals for freelance jobs (I didn't get any... this time), thought up a new area for this site (It may or may not happen), and started to make a splash screen for a friend to use in his app (For I am kind).

That's the short version of this weeks news. Nothing exciting or really relevant to anyone except myself. Honestly, does anyone actually read this? Is it worth posting these every week? Might end up doing monthly ones instead or I may just get rid of the blog.

Btw, in case anyone has been keeping up with me, I gave up watching Halloween films. I kinda ran out of films to watch and so I switched to watching another kind of film. Disney. Yup, thats right. And I'm not talking about the Marvel or Pixar stuff that I would usually watch. Instead I'm watching the old hand animated films starting with Snow White back in 1937. Why? I think there is a lot to learn from how things were animated back in the day.

In case anyone is wanting to get into animation, "The Reluctant Dragon" 1941 is a must watch. I takes you through how they used to make the films. Plus, it is entertaining at parts.

Oh and I finally saw Bambi. It's one of those films you're meant to see as a child that I missed (probably cos I was watching too much Batman and Postman Pat).  Sorry but I didn't cry. Sure it was a little sad but it wasn't as sad as people have made out.

Since last week, I have completed the re-topology of the face mesh and I have re-rigged the face to show the original movements plus a few extras that weren't possible on the older rig. Next, a new test sequence is going to be made for the face rig that will focus more on using the all of the face elements unlike the last.

I have already posed the head with my Wall-E model like I did last week to compare the face expressions of the old topology and the new. The result is below.

With the re-topology of the mesh, the head has a greater level of movement especially in the neck of the character. This allows for greater expression of emotion from the character and is less limiting in telling a story. Since this render was made, a few more adjustments have been made to the rig to correct a few small problems that presented when posing the head.

Well first I will be animating a new test scene for the head and I wil render it out as before. This time however, less camera movement will be used with more of a focus on making expressions with the face and testing the ability of the mouth for lip syncing. There is also a possibility that the storyboard will be recreated digitally for easier editing this week along with some of the audio being recorded. The audio will only be test sounds to practice with as I have not yet purchased a good mic.

If all of that is finished, then the topology of the hand will be the next stage. As with the head, a test animation will be created focusing on the hand movements.

And as always, I will be looking for freelance work to do.

That's all folks!

Hi all.

This week has been a busy one around here. First I finished the test animation of the rig for Project Bob, then I realised some of the problems with a face rig and I am now fixing it. Turns out, the topology of the mesh wasn't quite right so I'm now rebuilding parts of the mesh. I will also have to redo all the hair and then the shape keys. The good news is that I should be able to reuse the armature rig.

Of course I could ignore the problems with the rig and carry on, but that would seriously annoy me. 
Also this week I found an old model I made of Wall-E and I decided to make a little picture of it with Bob (old rig Bob) and now I am offering it to you, the reader, free of charge from the link below. You can use it how you please for any purpose. It's actually my wallpaper at the moment.

Finally, the first trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron was "leaked" earlier today. As you have come to expect from a Marvel film, it looks awesome. So awesome in fact, I linked it below. I have to say I am really looking forward to seeing the Hulk take on the Hulk buster. I also have a theory that Iron Man is being turned into a bad guy in the run up to Captain America 3 Civil War where he is meant to fight the Cap himself.

I have also been rewriting a story for an old project that never got finished. I say rewrite but really I never put the story on paper the first time. Its based in the set of the Carpathia that I made a year or so ago but, the entire set is going to be redesigned along with the characters. The first time round I kinda ran into the project without setting designs and writing the story that's why it looks a bit out of place.

I'm not going to do that this time. I've written the basic story on paper and I'm going to redraft it soon. I have also started designing the new ship and characters for the story. Right now, I think I'm going to use the Cycles render engine in Blender but I may switch to another if it becomes too slow. I may even use a mixture of two to create it.

For now however, my main focus is going to be on getting Project Bob done. Going to start making the props and main set for the animation either tonight or tomorrow.

Continuing with the themes of horror movies for October, I am now watching the last Halloween movie. Its the sequel to the reboot so its really Halloween 2 but, its also Halloween 10 as its the 10th movie in the franchise. Anyway, I'm not sure what to watch next. Think I've watched most of the main films for this time of year which included the fantastic Hocus Pocus! Hadn't seen that in years. Such a good film.

In other news I hear that the Halo: Master Chief Collection will be coming out soon, but on the first day you get it you will need to update it. That's not much of a shocker for a game these days to have an update so soon, but they have said this update is going to be a whopping 20Gbs. They say that its the contents they couldn't fit on the disk! The disk is a Blu-ray disk by they way which are pretty huge! They said the reason for not using two disks instead was because they wanted a unified interface for the entire product. This makes sense until you ask why doesn't the second disk just install the stuff you download? Don't know about you but I would have preferred that as I don't have the best internet connection.

Anyway, I probably shouldn't say anything as I don't even have an Xbox One, or a PS4.

Its that time of the week again folks where I talk about what has been happening here. First off, Project Bob has been moving forward and I am now testing the main character rigs. Thanks to Blender 2.72 which was recently released, I can now render Bob on the GPU which is soooooo much faster. Its averaging 7 minutes a frame now for 720p. That ain't bad if I do say so myself.

Even though it is faster, I can't really use my computer much while its rendering out except for writing this and listening to music. Still, at least I have the new Flash, Arrow, Gotham and American Horror Story episodes to watch when its finished rendering.

In other news (shuffles paper) I might have a new job to help support my living needs. Where it is isn't that important but I thought I would share some tips on trying to get a job.

Number 1 - Have a Basic CV on your drive. This will come in handy so you can apply for the job quickly. Every CV you send off to people should be tailored to them and having a basic one on your drive will allow you to quickly tailor to that particular job.

Number 2 - Make sure your references are up to date. I had the slight surprise when one of mine wasn't and I had to quickly ask for the updated info. I may also help to have more than two kept in a list on your computer so you can switch one out for another if the job is more in one industry than another.

Number 3 - Reread what you have written. I'm sure all of you at some point have written something and then later read it and basically gone "What did I write?". Wait a little time after writting it and then return to read it. This goes for spelling too.

Number 4 - Know the employer. NO I don't mean that you know each other, I mean know the company you're applying to. This will help tailor your CV to suit the company better and it gives you a hand if you get an interview later. Most company's have websites these days. Make good use of them.

Number 5 - Be fast. Just because the job advert says they will be looking for a month for a new employie doesn't mean they will. Often, once they find a good candidate they will just give the job to them. As soon as you see the advert, get your CV, show reel, and cover letter ready. Some times the job goes to who got there first, not the most qualified.

Number 6 - Be formal. This is the way you talk, dress and present yourself. Employers don't tend to appreciate how trendy you are or that you just back from vacation in your flip flops. Dress smart, do your hair, and be polite.

So those are some basic tips from me. Probably obvious but I thought I should mention them.

In personal news, it was my Birthday yesterday and I got cake. It was a Batman cake too! Should I feel guilty for destroying the Bat-Symbol? Meh, Gotham will have to do without for a while. 

That's all Folks!

p.s. making an animation look good is hard enough without the eyelids going out of sync. I swear the rig is doing it on purpose to try drive me mad... and its working.

This week as been a busy time. The first episode of The Flash aired along with the start of Arrow season 3 (which are both awesome), Gotham continues to impress but I'm really not sure how they are going to end up. I mean, Bruce Wayne doesn't become batman for over 25 years in the shows time line. Are they going to skip a few years? More importantly, when are they going to show Harley Quinn again in the Arrow?

Anyway, back to business. I finally joined a freelancing site. It's called PeoplePerHour. Find me here
Its a nice community with a fair few job opportunities. The site itself is well main which was my main problem with Freelancers.com. I'm still open to any work by the way, feel free to get in touch.

As for the project I have been working on the last few weeks, I finally have a story, script, and more importantly, a storyboard all worked out. There maybe a few changes to the story but I think for the most part it is now done. As for a name, I do have one thought out but for mow I'm going to use Project Bob. I have no idea how long this is going to take me, it all depends on other work that I get. So far I have Bobs head, Andy's Hand, and I am now building the cart they use to get around.

Also, I have updated the design of my website (again) so take a look around! You never know what you might find...

On another note entirely, its October and since Halloween is at the end of this month, I have been mainly watching horrors. So far I have watch all the Friday the 13ths, Nightmare on Elms Streets and Saw films. This leads me to a question, what horror films are any of you watching this Halloween? Let me know in the comments below!