BrickBlender - LEGO Brickfilms, Star Wars, Tutorials

First Custom Part

2010-11-30T21:15:00.001-08:00

Normally I content myself with just animating and let others do all the hard work of modeling parts. But as I stray further into stop-motion I found myself in need of a Brickforge part in 3d and with no way out of doing it myself. This is what I have so far.

Old Project Revisted- AND FINISHED!

2010-04-06T10:58:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago I was inspired to find something that I could render off quickly in order to test out my skills in blender. See how far I’ve come in the past year when it comes to lighting and all that stuff. So I picked up a two year old project and rendered it all out in two weeks with enhanced lighting. I’m really thrilled with the results.

I think I’m going to switch back to my fishing project. That is about 50% done and is a lot of fun to work on.

UnGraceful Ramble #3 – LDraw to Blender

2010-02-25T09:07:00.001-08:00

In this update/tutorial I go through what I'm working on and show you how I'm doing it. If you've ever wondered how to get LDraw models into blender (especially big ones) this is for you.

Coruscant – Work in Progress

2009-12-10T13:57:00.001-08:00

Amongst other things, I still need some LEGO grass in this image.

Vong - Work in Progress

2009-11-17T14:04:00.001-08:00

An updated version of these guys:
www.flickr.com/photos/jameswadsworth/3032836466/
Still working on adding more LEGOish elements.

UnGraceful Ramble #2 - Lets Talk Feelings

2009-11-10T13:43:00.001-08:00

Its time for another wandering journey centered around building and animating the Star Wars 3D brickfilm, To Fall From Grace. This ramble touches on epics, seeing something to the end, and how to tell the computer what to do and not allow the computer to tell you what to do.

Matt’s Audioboo
Paradise Lost
Men O’ War
Bane of the Sith

Listen Now:

UNGRACEFUL RAMBLE #1 - Introduction

2009-11-03T13:40:00.001-08:00

So I decided to start an audio podcast. Whoops, bad idea! I go into an explanation in the podcast, so I won’t repeat myself here as well. Here are some of the things mentioned:

-Erik Tiemens Concept Work
-Ryan Church Concept Work
-Iain McCaig’s Visual Storytelling
-Paul Caggegi’s The Process Diary
-Steve Ogden’s Braincast

Concept Sketches

2009-11-01T05:24:00.001-08:00

I’ve recently posted a few really bad concept sketches on my flickr stream. You can check them out, if you dare!

Latest Render

2009-10-20T10:35:00.001-07:00

What can I say, I like skipping between projects!

(click image for HD)

Project Update

2009-09-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, its been sometime since I last updated this blog. So to give all my dedicated readers (all two of them!) some news, here is a quick update of what I've been doing with my time.

This past summer I put all work on TFFG aside and did a lot of 2d animation study. It was all really basic stuff, but I feel like I learned some invaluable animation lessons that I hadn't gotten out of working with 3d. Hopefully I can take all this knowledge and use it in my Brick film.

Here is a short test I did:

I've also been working on another 3d animation for a couple weeks now. Its project that I am so far VERY proud of and I have some really high hopes for this. Here is a screen shot to give you an idea of what it will be like:

I hope to post here again soon!

Episode I (Work in Progress)

2009-05-06T11:23:00.001-07:00

Burnout

2009-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

I knew it was coming, I tried running, but it was no use. It hounded me without stop, and now its totally got me.

Burnout.

I sit down to build a model and before long I'm wishing I was doing something else. I decide to do some animation, and I'm wishing I was doing something else. On top of that, I've got a load of school that needs to get done so my free time has been drastically cut.

So, with all that being said, I've decided to release the episode in its current form until I decide to finish it (if ever). I can't say I'm thrilled with this, but I don't see any other way to move forward on the project.

City Entrance

2009-04-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

I haven't uploaded anything for a while, so I figured I'd upload what I'm working on right now. This still has a long way to go, but I like where it is headed.

Most of what still needs to be added here is a sense of realism. Right now its just a bunch of buildings sitting on a green plain, once I add some more streets, people, and other stuff it should start looking like a “real” LEGO world.

I might be putting a little too much effort into a 10 second shot, but I’m happy to do that if it helps to draw the viewer into my world.

Intro/Teaser

2009-03-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last blog post, I've been forced to step away and restructure the first episode. The main change taking place is the dropping of the original introduction and a new one being created. However, I still wanted to release the original introduction.

So, here it is.

Credits:
Andrew Gilbertson - Narrator
Christopher Deck - Venator Model
Pepa Quin - Padme's Apartment

Story Trouble

2009-03-21T13:25:00.001-07:00

Over the past week I've been working very hard to get the first episode ready, but it hasn't been working. It just doesn’t feel right. The story is boring, its complicated, and pushes you away more than it pulls you in. So I've watched it over a couple of times taking notes on what I don't like, what isn't clear, and how I can fix it. I think I've got a fairly good idea of where I need to go with this now.

The original version has a 1 minute long introduction, recapping Star Wars history and foreshadowing the main theme of the series (A hero falling from grace). This intro simply doesn't work. So I will be replacing this introduction with another intro that makes the episode's story clear (and hopefully simple).

But I don't want to trash the all the hard work I've already done on the original introduction. So I will be uploading that intro to the internet soon. It will act almost as a trailer for the series.

Look for it this Sunday.

Space Flight Test

2009-03-12T16:30:00.001-07:00

I did this quick test earlier today. Expect a higher quality of animation for the actual film.

Some New Work in Progress Renders

2009-03-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

I’ve posted a few new renders on my flickr photostream, I figure they are worth posting here as well with some more detail on how they fit into the film:

Based on the Duel of the Fates from Phantom Menace, this scene is the opening shot in my intro. A quick intro that will bring people up on the current state of the Jedi Order.

An updated shot of my hanger. Compare this to the older picture I have and you can see some of the progress I’ve made in the past few months. Even this new picture is now out of date as I’ve added a lot more detail since taking this render.

Star Wars = Space Battles. These guys will play a big part in that space battle.

Teaser Poster

2009-02-14T10:22:00.001-08:00

The date is now set for March and there will be no going back from that.

WIP Images

2009-02-03T11:59:00.001-08:00

Here are a few work in progress images to tease you with. Some are from 2008, one is from this year. Most of these are not finished work.

A cargo ship that I’ve built. This is the first ship you’ll see, so I’ve put as much detail into it as possible. I want to start this project off with some nice eye candy.

I’ve built two sets for the first episode. This hanger is the first one I did.

A scene that I took out of the first episode when I redid the script and simplified the story a great deal. Still, I love the look of this and it will play a major role in one of the future episodes (if those ever come).

Episode I Script Done

2009-02-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

After many rewrites, the script for my first episode has at last been finished and is now being sent out to all my voice actors. I'm looking forward to getting their recordings and working on the animation.

Welcome to Blending the Brick!

2009-01-30T12:02:00.001-08:00

Hello and welcome to anyone who has managed to stumble upon this little space in the vast internet. This will be my blog for keeping track of the status of my animated project, To Fall From Grace.

The project is an animated series of brickfilms based on a Star Wars story arch. I’ve been working on it on and off since the spring of 2008. The work is being done in MLCAD, LeoCad, Blender, Adobe Audition, and Sony Vegas. I’m using a Windows machine. Its a small, unambitious project.

I’d like to give a big thanks to Matt Forcum at House of Move, Paul Caggegi at The Process Diary, Lucas Martell at Pigeon: Impossible, and Steve Ogden of Moon Town. These guys have provided many hours of inspiration and without them I would have hoplessly given up a very long time ago.

Episode I - Flame of the Jedi

2008-03-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

Coming soon...