A quick update for the blog. I have now added a new page at the top called Pixels! This is a seperate gallery dedicated to my pixel work that I had created for a game project I worked on.
Head on over by clicking Pixels! on the top menu or just use this link below:
http://ravimaheru.blogspot.com/p/pixels.html
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
FLIP winner badge
Just received an email confirming the award I won for Caged at FLIP festival 2011.
The official name of the award is:
Best of Festival - Audience Choice
I have also been sent the official winner badge which I have now added to the dedicated page for Caged.
The official name of the award is:
Best of Festival - Audience Choice
I have also been sent the official winner badge which I have now added to the dedicated page for Caged.
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| Flip winner version of the Caged poster |
Monday, 14 November 2011
Blog version 2
With the end of the S5S blog, I can resume my focus on this blog and what had bothered me for a long time was the look of the blog. So it was the perfect chance to give this blog a makeover. However, it hasnt just got a new look but has been updated with new content.
With the new blogger update for viewing images in a slideshow format, it was clear that I needed a gallery page. Also, I have added a seperate page for my showreel with indepth detail on what my contributions are to everything shown in the showreel which I believe will be helpful for any jobs I apply for.
I plan on adding more pages in the near future but for now I can call this blog v2!
With the new blogger update for viewing images in a slideshow format, it was clear that I needed a gallery page. Also, I have added a seperate page for my showreel with indepth detail on what my contributions are to everything shown in the showreel which I believe will be helpful for any jobs I apply for.
I plan on adding more pages in the near future but for now I can call this blog v2!
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Caged wins an award at FLIP 2011
So FLIP festival 2011 was held this weekend where i attended the event on Friday and Saturday. Considering the festival was in danger of not being held this year, the FLIP team pulled off an awesome festival that in my opinion was better than previous years that I've been to.
It was an honour meeting industry figures Bill Plympton, Barry Purves, Cosgrove Hall (they made Danger mouse!!!) and Aardman. Bill Plympton's masterclass was amazing and very informative. He also showed a pencil test from his upcoming film " Cheatin' " which I cannot wait to see. I recognised him more for his Hot Dog film so will definitely catch up on his past films such as "Idiots and Angels".
BrothersMcleod also premiered their latest film, Isle of Spagg, which was awesome. I love the style and the humour was great. I enjoyed the scenarios the little boy was put in and couldn't stop laughing.
Caged was shown on Saturday during Open shorts 5 and I am proud to announce that it won the award for best film from open shorts 5 (Each open shorts session had its own winner based on public vote).
The ringmaster sting that I made with Sector5 Studios was also shown on Friday to open the first event of the day, Open shorts 1. Unfortunately I missed it by 10-20 seconds as I was in the queue to go in to the cinema room. The winners of the sting competition will be announced online later on, so fingers crosswed we win.
It was an honour meeting industry figures Bill Plympton, Barry Purves, Cosgrove Hall (they made Danger mouse!!!) and Aardman. Bill Plympton's masterclass was amazing and very informative. He also showed a pencil test from his upcoming film " Cheatin' " which I cannot wait to see. I recognised him more for his Hot Dog film so will definitely catch up on his past films such as "Idiots and Angels".
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| From left to right: Me, Bill Plympton and Josh |
BrothersMcleod also premiered their latest film, Isle of Spagg, which was awesome. I love the style and the humour was great. I enjoyed the scenarios the little boy was put in and couldn't stop laughing.
Caged was shown on Saturday during Open shorts 5 and I am proud to announce that it won the award for best film from open shorts 5 (Each open shorts session had its own winner based on public vote).
The ringmaster sting that I made with Sector5 Studios was also shown on Friday to open the first event of the day, Open shorts 1. Unfortunately I missed it by 10-20 seconds as I was in the queue to go in to the cinema room. The winners of the sting competition will be announced online later on, so fingers crosswed we win.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Caged at Shorts on Walls
A quick update to announce that Caged will be screened at Shorts on Walls today at the Lighthouse (Wolverhampton) which starts at 7:30pm. Looking forward to going there tonight so hope to see everyone there.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
process of the ringmaster 1: eyes
As promised, here's the first of a series of behind the scene posts for the FLIP sting entry we made at Sector5 Studios. I will also use these to compare my skills with the skills i had when making Caged so expect a lot of comparisons.
For this post, I'll focus on the eye as there's a huge leap from Caged. For Caged, the eyes were shaded through basic material colours. For the Ringmaster, I decided to UV map and texture the eyes following the philosophy that the eyes are the first thing the viewer will look at in a character; so it was important for me to kick the bar higher that I set for myself with Caged by putting in effort in to the eyes.
The results were noticeable straight away but there is still a massive room for improvement as I was treating the Ringmaster as a test subject for texturing the eyes. For example, the iris can be improved a lot in its texture.
The next big change is in the blend shapes. In Caged I created blend shapes for the pupil to increase and decrease in size but it still didn't look right. The reason for this was that the iris never changed in size. For the Ring Master I made sure to do this which meant extra blend shapes were needed for the iris, eyeball, and the cornea.
Whilst there's a big improvement in the eyes in comparison to the eyes i made for the characters in Caged, there's still a huge room for improvement. Perhaps in the near future, I will have another comparison between a new project and the ringmaster.
You can catch both the FLIP Sting and Caged at this years FLIP festival later this month. For more details visit: http://www.flipfestival.co.uk/
For this post, I'll focus on the eye as there's a huge leap from Caged. For Caged, the eyes were shaded through basic material colours. For the Ringmaster, I decided to UV map and texture the eyes following the philosophy that the eyes are the first thing the viewer will look at in a character; so it was important for me to kick the bar higher that I set for myself with Caged by putting in effort in to the eyes.
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| Render comparisons of how they would look in their final state |
The results were noticeable straight away but there is still a massive room for improvement as I was treating the Ringmaster as a test subject for texturing the eyes. For example, the iris can be improved a lot in its texture.
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| the ringmasters eye was originally going to be plain colours which I've labelled Caged style |
The next big change is in the blend shapes. In Caged I created blend shapes for the pupil to increase and decrease in size but it still didn't look right. The reason for this was that the iris never changed in size. For the Ring Master I made sure to do this which meant extra blend shapes were needed for the iris, eyeball, and the cornea.
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| The difference is subtle but pays off in close shots as well as adding to the characters personality. In this case it exaggerates the ringmasters crazy personality with the blood shot eyes. |
You can catch both the FLIP Sting and Caged at this years FLIP festival later this month. For more details visit: http://www.flipfestival.co.uk/
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Caged to be screened at FLIP festival
A short update to announce that Caged will be shown at the FLIP festival on Saturday 29th October.
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The 3D project I introduced in my previous blog entry is complete and ready to view online. Over on the sector5studios blog, we announced that it was our entry in the FLIP 2011 stings competition. If you haven't seen it yet check it out below:
I will go into depth on the process behind this project in future blog updates.
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The 3D project I introduced in my previous blog entry is complete and ready to view online. Over on the sector5studios blog, we announced that it was our entry in the FLIP 2011 stings competition. If you haven't seen it yet check it out below:
I will go into depth on the process behind this project in future blog updates.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
New 3D project
Now that the Sector5 Studios blog is starting to reveal one of the projects that we are working on, I can at last start to talk about it...a little.
The Ringmaster was teased in a screenshot during the last company blog update. My role was to take the concept art designed by Matt Ayris and to translate it to 3D. This is the first time I've worked on a 3D character who I haven't designed myself and I can definitely see the advantages of it and already the character surpasses what I was able to accomplish in Caged.
The Ringmaster was teased in a screenshot during the last company blog update. My role was to take the concept art designed by Matt Ayris and to translate it to 3D. This is the first time I've worked on a 3D character who I haven't designed myself and I can definitely see the advantages of it and already the character surpasses what I was able to accomplish in Caged.
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| As always I begin modelling with the head |
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| The head completed and ready to have geometry mirrored. A rough hat is also now added. |
A great experience in this process was constantly getting feedback on the design and where to improve it which is something I didn't have during Caged since the designs were my own. I'll be updating this blog regularly over the next few days with more development info on this project which is now getting close to being completed.
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Graduation Ceremony
My graduation ceremony was held yesterday at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton. I was quite nervous about the event but it ended up being a great day, despite wearing a suit and gown (former being something I'm not used to wearing).
The graduation for the school of art and design began at 2:45pm with my animation class being seated on the front row which meant that we got to go up on stage to collect our degree first. Luckily I didnt fall over, drop my hat or make a fool of myself on stage so all went well.
It definately felt weird as this ceremony marked the end of my university life which I've enjoyed alot and will definately miss.
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| Me on the far left. |
It definately felt weird as this ceremony marked the end of my university life which I've enjoyed alot and will definately miss.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Caged development page added
I have now added a development/ behind the scenes page for Caged which you can access from the menu above or by clicking this link:
http://ravimaheru.blogspot.com/p/caged.html
I may update it at a later date with more videos and more detail on the development process.
This week is also my graduation ceremony which I'll also be preparing for. I will definately write a blog update dedicated to that event.
http://ravimaheru.blogspot.com/p/caged.html
I may update it at a later date with more videos and more detail on the development process.
This week is also my graduation ceremony which I'll also be preparing for. I will definately write a blog update dedicated to that event.
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Impressions of Bridgnorth Animation Festival
Taking place at the Majestic Cinema today, the Bridgnorth Animation Festival was held as a part of the Bridgnorth Music and Arts Festival.
Caged was screened during the local animations segment which were also the animations up for nomination for the public vote award. Every animation shown was amazing so it wasn't clear who would win the most votes. it was also great to see some familiar faces too. This was the first time that Caged was shown on the big screen so it was just as special for me. In the end, I did not win the award which I lost out by 1 vote. Still, I'm very proud of coming in second place and it serves as a big motivation for me to do even better next time. (The animator who took 1st place was from Wolverhampton University which was awesome, a big win for our university).
I thought it was great that they gave animators the chance to speak to the audience before their film was shown. I have experienced this before last year at Shorts on Walls (where Sentry was screened) so I was expecting to talk to everyone with no hesitation, strenghtened by my enjoyment of doing presentations. To my surprise, I was still nervous! Perhaps the bigger audience was a factor in this but it felt like this was my first ever screening so it was both a brilliant experience and a little scary too. To be honest, I dont want that feeling to ever go away either when it comes to screening films at festivals.
This was also my first time in Bridgnorth which was quite a surprise with just how different the setting was even though it was next door to the city I live in. it felt a world a part but a great inspiration for ideas too.
Overall, I enjoyed the festival and look forward to going back next year. Hopefully I'll have something new to submit there.
Caged was screened during the local animations segment which were also the animations up for nomination for the public vote award. Every animation shown was amazing so it wasn't clear who would win the most votes. it was also great to see some familiar faces too. This was the first time that Caged was shown on the big screen so it was just as special for me. In the end, I did not win the award which I lost out by 1 vote. Still, I'm very proud of coming in second place and it serves as a big motivation for me to do even better next time. (The animator who took 1st place was from Wolverhampton University which was awesome, a big win for our university).
I thought it was great that they gave animators the chance to speak to the audience before their film was shown. I have experienced this before last year at Shorts on Walls (where Sentry was screened) so I was expecting to talk to everyone with no hesitation, strenghtened by my enjoyment of doing presentations. To my surprise, I was still nervous! Perhaps the bigger audience was a factor in this but it felt like this was my first ever screening so it was both a brilliant experience and a little scary too. To be honest, I dont want that feeling to ever go away either when it comes to screening films at festivals.
This was also my first time in Bridgnorth which was quite a surprise with just how different the setting was even though it was next door to the city I live in. it felt a world a part but a great inspiration for ideas too.
Overall, I enjoyed the festival and look forward to going back next year. Hopefully I'll have something new to submit there.
Friday, 26 August 2011
Bridgnorth Animation Festival begins tomorrow!
Caged will be shown tomorrow at the Bridgnorth Animation Festival as detailed in my previous post. Looking forward to going there as this is the second festival that Caged will be screened at. There will also be public voting event for all animations screened, I'm going up against a ton of awesome animations so looking forward to the outcome of that.
I have also sent Caged to Flip Animation Festival and Canterbury Anifest 2011. Really hoping it gets selected for these festivals too.
My university has also advertised the animation course using three screenshots of Caged and allowed me to take one with me as a souvenir:
I have also sent Caged to Flip Animation Festival and Canterbury Anifest 2011. Really hoping it gets selected for these festivals too.
My university has also advertised the animation course using three screenshots of Caged and allowed me to take one with me as a souvenir:
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| Scan of the Course leaflet featuring 3 stills from Caged |
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Caged selected for Bridgenorth Festival
Caged will be shown at Bridgenorth Festival's (which begins August 26th) Animation Mini-festival (on August 27th). This will be the second festival that Caged is screened at.
The venue is the Majestic Cinema. I've provided the program and location details below. I would also like to thank the organisers of the Animation mini-festival for giving me the opportunity to screen Caged.
Sector5 Studios will also be present at the animation screenings too so we're looking forward to meeting everyone there.
----- Details on the festival----
Animation Mini-Festival
Date: Saturday 27 August 2011
Time: 14:30 - 17:30
Location:Majestic Cinema; Whitburn Street; Bridgnorth; WV16 4QP
The Majestic Cinema has toilet facilities and a car park to the side.
Parking Information: This website details Bridgnorth Car parks:
Event Running Order (subject to change)
14:30 - welcome
14:35 - 15:00 - James Clarke - Animating the World
15:00 - 15:30 - Screening of local animated shorts compered by James Pearson
15:30 - 15:50 - Q&A discussion
15:50 - 16:05 - Audience vote & break
16:10 - 16:35 - screening of animations from Autour de Minuit
16:40 - 16:50 - Forward For screening
16:50 - 17:00 - Present audience vote award
17:00 - 17:20 - The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
17:20- 17:30 - Additional screenings - TBC
Friday, 5 August 2011
My impressions: Drawn from Life
Last Wednesday, Jonathon Hodgson gave a talk in Birmingham, Drawn From Life, which was hosted by Animation Forum West Midlands. I'm a big fan of AWFM's events so this was a must to go to.
I enjoyed the event and it was very informative, definately an eye opener into the world of animated documentaries. It's a genre I would now like to try out in the future. I love telling stories with my animations so it was motivating when Jonathon spoke about telling a true story almost like a fantasy with different plot devices available in animation.
I also enjoyed the networking opportunity that followed after which was perfect since it was the first day for Sector5 Studios (which is the new animation company I have formed with 3 other animators).
I enjoyed the event and it was very informative, definately an eye opener into the world of animated documentaries. It's a genre I would now like to try out in the future. I love telling stories with my animations so it was motivating when Jonathon spoke about telling a true story almost like a fantasy with different plot devices available in animation.
I also enjoyed the networking opportunity that followed after which was perfect since it was the first day for Sector5 Studios (which is the new animation company I have formed with 3 other animators).
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Sector5 Studios
Its been a busy month but I can atlast reveal what I've been up to which is starting a new animation company known as Sector5 Studios. It's a very exciting time for me as I'm also working with 3 animators that i've become great friends with during my studies at Wolverhampton University.
As well as being an animator, i am also the head of social media meaning it's my job to keep our online presence up to date. This is perfect for me as I enjoy online networking too.
each of the animators at Sector5 Studios are bring their own specialities forward so that we are able to work on a variety of animation forms: stop motion, 2D and my speciality: 3D.
Visit our website at:
www.sector5studios.co.uk
as well as showing your support and following us at:
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Vimeo
As well as being an animator, i am also the head of social media meaning it's my job to keep our online presence up to date. This is perfect for me as I enjoy online networking too.
each of the animators at Sector5 Studios are bring their own specialities forward so that we are able to work on a variety of animation forms: stop motion, 2D and my speciality: 3D.
Visit our website at:
www.sector5studios.co.uk
as well as showing your support and following us at:
Blog
Vimeo
Saturday, 9 July 2011
The Cut 2011 Impressions
Decided to go against my original plan of going on the last 2 days as I didn't want to miss the debut showing of Caged.
The cut 2011, being a part of Mosely festival, took place in a pub similar to past screenings I've been to like Shorts on Walls. After a minor hiccup with the projector the screenings opened with the Brothers McLeod animation, THe Moon Bird. Even though I have seen this multiple times already at other festivals it's still a treat to watch.
My film was the 8th film shown during the 12:30 screenings and I was glad that the screening room was dark and the projector worked great as some events have shown films in lit rooms or next to a window with street lights having an effect on the visibility. I was however, slightly disappointed in the turnout with only a few people turning up. I hope the amount of people coming to the screenings improves for the next 4 festival days.
I will try to come in for next week's screenings but will definately be back for next year.
The cut 2011, being a part of Mosely festival, took place in a pub similar to past screenings I've been to like Shorts on Walls. After a minor hiccup with the projector the screenings opened with the Brothers McLeod animation, THe Moon Bird. Even though I have seen this multiple times already at other festivals it's still a treat to watch.
My film was the 8th film shown during the 12:30 screenings and I was glad that the screening room was dark and the projector worked great as some events have shown films in lit rooms or next to a window with street lights having an effect on the visibility. I was however, slightly disappointed in the turnout with only a few people turning up. I hope the amount of people coming to the screenings improves for the next 4 festival days.
I will try to come in for next week's screenings but will definately be back for next year.
Friday, 8 July 2011
The Cut 2011 Festival begins tommorrow!
Caged will have its festival debut during The Cut 2011, showing on all four days.
The venue is The Prince of Wales Pub in Mosely. Screenings will take place on the ground floor.
My film will be shown during the following screening times:
Saturday July 9th -
12:30 Screening
Sunday July 10th -
12:30 Screening
Saturday July 16th -
2:30 screening
Sunday July 17th-
screening suitable for kids (must be accompanied by an adult)
12:30
The venue is The Prince of Wales Pub in Mosely. Screenings will take place on the ground floor.
My film will be shown during the following screening times:
Saturday July 9th -
12:30 Screening
Sunday July 10th -
12:30 Screening
Saturday July 16th -
2:30 screening
Sunday July 17th-
screening suitable for kids (must be accompanied by an adult)
12:30
Monday, 4 July 2011
Caged Selected for The Cut 2011 Festival
Pleased to announce that Caged has been selected for its first festival screening at The Cut 2011.
The festival begins on July 9th and continues running on the 10th, 16th and 17th.
The festival program can be found here:
http://thecut2011.blogspot.com/
Caged will get shown four times (in other words once per festival day):
Saturday July 9th 12:30 Screening
Sunday July 10th 12:30 Screening
The festival begins on July 9th and continues running on the 10th, 16th and 17th.
The festival program can be found here:
http://thecut2011.blogspot.com/
Caged will get shown four times (in other words once per festival day):
Saturday July 9th 12:30 Screening
Sunday July 10th 12:30 Screening
Saturday July 16th 2:30 screening
Sunday July 17th 12:30 screening suitable for kids (must be accompanied by an adult)
I will post more details on the festival itself in a future post (such as the location of the festival).
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Business Card design
Seeing as I posted a photo of my degree show booth, I might as well post my business card on here too. I was quite happy with the design although it was printed on to high quality paper instead of card. I am glad that i did this as I have a couple of new things to add to the card such as my twitter profile link, plus I also want to have a design of the back of the card too(most likely screenshots from my animations / films).
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| Me standing with Caged characters |
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Extended Showreel now online
I've uploaded my extended showreel that was on display during my degree show. I felt that my main 1 minute showreel didn't give much attention to my older work so I created this 3 minute extended showreel to show off my non-3D animations.
http://vimeo.com/ravm/longshowreel
I will also be updating my deviantart gallery too with Caged related work such as stills from the film and concept art so keep an eye out for updates from there. Now that I have a twitter account, I can use that as the central hub for all my sites.
http://vimeo.com/ravm/longshowreel
I will also be updating my deviantart gallery too with Caged related work such as stills from the film and concept art so keep an eye out for updates from there. Now that I have a twitter account, I can use that as the central hub for all my sites.
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