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Memories by Herr Pink
Updated 6 years ago
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Memories by Herr Pink
Hi, my name’s Travis (aka Herr Pink) and this is my entry into Will Wright’s Proxi Art Challenge. I’ve been an animator in the game industry for 13 years now, and the Proxi Art Challenge sounded like a really fun exercise to take part in.
Included in this document is a link to my entry video and descriptions of each memory. In the process of making these memories I also decided to live stream them. I’ve included links to these streams so you can see my workflow in a way I would not otherwise be able to convey.
Additionally, I felt it was really important to do everything from the ground up. I haven’t used any auto riggings systems, third party Unity store assets or royalty free music. I have created everything included, using only the software listed.
Entry Video:
Downloadable documentation:
http://cultmoo.com/making_of_memories_herrpink.docx
Software used:
Autodesk Maya 2018
Adobe Photoshop CC 2018
Unity 2017.4.0f1
+Post Processing Stack
+Unity Recorder
Adobe Premiere CC 2018
In progress streams:
Day 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W3xe1neUqo
Day 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br9RGDLT5xc
Day 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw_9I3tjQ18
Day 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA3inOU4cug
Day 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT66lwuDV-A
Day 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiCUmiA8brM
Day 7 pt1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHuRrqs29sQ
Day 7 pt2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaYrPnneygQ
Day 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoAJz24NSXo
Day 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO2nIhL7VAU
Contact:
herr_pink@cultmoo.com
I run a small YouTube channel called Cult Moo. We’re known for our adventurous food reviews and recipes, and it all started from a single can of bacon. I wanted to capture the collective memory of what Cult Moo is and where it started. You can see some popular food items bursting out of this noumenal can, set up in the vastness of my own mind space.
This is the first scene I worked on. It had humble beginnings, with just a can in mind, and not so much what was coming out of it.
There were three different models that required rigs, the fish, bacon, and kidney. These were created from the ground up with a little help from my python knowledge. I’ve animated these in a canned sequence, so they pop out in the same places, but at random time intervals.
For the other two models I used Unity’s built in particle FX system. The durian fruit simply shoots out and reacts to a couple collider set up in the scene. The thousand year old egg uses a similar particle system, but I used a sub emitter so it splits in half to give you an inside view of the egg.
I used post processing in this scene for a vignette view around the edges of the screen, subtle depth of field, and a little bit of motion blur, to add to the dreaminess of it all.
Additionally, in all three scenes I’ve used the same dreamy particle effects to help unify my artistic direction. I feel like dreams and memories have a lot in common, so I wanted to push that ethereal quality in all of them.
The first time I kissed my girlfriend was in LAX on my Birthday. We had been together long before that point, meeting online through the YouTube channel I run. I wanted to capture the emotion of that first meeting, when I first laid eyes on her. It was one of the best things to ever happen to me, and all I felt was the strongest love I’ve known.
The second scene I worked on was this. I knew I needed two elements specifically, the central figure and the column that figure was placed against. The rest of the airport was filled in from there. I tried to keep it simple, and to convey my ideas through shape and color, rather than specifics.
I once again used post processing effects to add depth of field, as well as really push the bloom to get a very bright glow throughout the whole scene. Everything else fades out, and all I pay attention to is that central figure.
I used a mix of models and a ring of blurry texture to get the crowd, knowing that while there are no specific rules to making the scene performant on any specific device, I still tried to adhere to some rules that I was familiar with (not loading the scene with too much detail). I also chose to ignore those ideas when I wanted to push specific points, like the bloom.
I grew up in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Trees, mountains, fields of bushes and bramble that were the kind of playground that teaches you to appreciate the wonders of the natural world. Of course, that comes with dangerous elements too, the dreaded yellow jacket being one of them. One day a friend and myself stumbled into a nest dug deep into the ground, and this is the result, a chase scene worthy of the scariest horror movie. At least, to a 10-year-old me, it seemed that way.
This is the final memory I worked on. I wanted an animated sequence as one of my memories to play into what I know best, and this seemed like the correct opportunity for that. This memory started out as just a forest idea, including a creek, but it changed along the way to push the animation I wanted.
I started out with a basic blocking/placeholder scene to get the feel of the character running through the forest “treadmill” and filled out the details from there. Initially I was going to have both my friend and myself running from the bees, but due to time constraints and since I wanted to narrow my focus, I have only myself (imagining my friend is not too far behind off camera).
Post processing once again plays a heavy part, blurring around the edges of the screen to help push the speed of movement and that tunnel vision feel. Even though this is a third person perspective, I wanted to include elements that made it feel almost first person. To me, memories are felt in the first person, so I wanted to push that. I didn’t want to get a sort of “snow globe” effect for all my memories, though this may be going against the overall direction of the challenge. What are rules for, if not to bend?
I hope you enjoy viewing these memories, I certainly enjoyed crafting them.
Thanks,
-HP
Website:cultmoo.com