Previs

I spent the past couple of days blocking out my previs in Maya, just roughly animating the character in the space. I found it really helpful to get a feel for how long certain scenes might take, how much effort they require, how they look in the 3D space and how long they actually need to be on screen.

(See my previous blog post for a screenshot of my blocked-out bedroom environment and a link to the rig I used.)

Limited animation, as you can see! There are places where storyboard panels sufficed, like for the shots of the computer monitor, and where I couldn't figure something out soon enough, like a reflective mirror (I don't think it can be done without rendering) and a second character who is the right height... but it mostly does the job. It is obviously lacking humour as the humour depends on the way I animate it, and this isn't really animated. You also can't see the passage of time in this; I didn't think to put some lighting in until after I finished. But it will be there!

I feel a lot better about what this involves now, having been through each shot and really thought about how they work. While it is still a bit long, at least half of it is not challenging (images on the monitor, the student clicking and staring at the screen), so I feel the workload is achievable.

Caitlin :)