I chose cute for my VFX.
Here’s the final YouTube version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhkXpzqE09Y
Here’s latest GIF version:
Here’s my concept art I created:
I wanted to take on this sketch for a couple reasons:
- To prove to myself that I am passionate about this craft and I really want to turn it into a career.
- To learn some new skills that take me out of my comfort zone. New ones I’ve come across so far:
- Building a character-specific workflow for effect making.
- Modifying pre-existing animations to get better timing in effects.
- Modifying character materials to communicate effect gameplay.
- Adopt cinematics in my work because as it turns out I’m crazy for making movies.
I’m pretty satisfied with the work I did here and won’t be working much further. I’m open to any specific questions people might have on any of the materials, textures, particle systems, or sequences I did. I know I still struggle to hit triple AAA quality, but fun is what these contests are all about!!
Challenges I’ve faced:
- Rigid body simulations in Blender don’t import as a single animation. I tried creating a ground cracking open on the hammer.
- Finding affordable character meshes with animations that fit my vision. Hammer (Mallet) choices were $50+ so I settled for a cheaper alternative with the morningstar. I like the idea of supporting other artists by buying their assets for my effects. Will do more in the future.
- Hours of work lost from frequent crashes. Stopped using 4.25 because anytime I opened the explorer the engine would crash. Defaulted to Cascade.