Order 66

Battle on Kashyyyk

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:46:36 +0100

Back on Kashyyyk, i have been keeping myself busy making various clips of the clone troopers doing their thing.

It has amounted to lots of looping clips for use in the background as well as a bunch of non looping “hero” animations to take the main stage.

I’m going to start putting them together into shots next.

The youtube clip on the right is of 3 of the non looping clips in a little montage.

Back to the beaches of Kashyyyk

Mon, 4 Nov 2013 19:13:03 +0100

Three years after i was last in Kashyyyk, i’m making time to go back.

This time i’m going back with a new model & a bucket load of new motion capture. Learning from my last few outings, i’ll be bringing much more life & detail to the scenes.

My new system utilizes X-Ref’s, a function in Cinema 4D that allows me to update multiple files at once. Something invaluable in the production of a full scale battle.

You can watch a mo-cap test top right. More soon..

Bantha animation test

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:35:00 +0200

A while ago i made a Bantha to fill up the background of the streets of Tatooine.

Warming up for some big shots i thought i’d test out some of the new functions in Cinema 4D with this character.

He has many uses throughout the film & i’ll be doing some more animation loops of this guy soon. For now i’m just looking into what animation controls best allow him to express himself.

In the original film they dressed a poor elephant called Mardji in a fur coat & mask, all in the baking tunisian sun.

Jedi Master Tsui Choi

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 02:33:32 +0100

During the battle of Kashyyyk there were quite a few Jedi’s present. Most of them with their stories set in stone. This little guy stood a little taller than Yoda and was whizzing around the ill fated conflict on a indigenous dragonfly.

But i have bigger plans for him.

Here is the product of the modeling phase.

AT-ST - Animation wireframe

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:28:31 +0200

I came back to the AT-ST i had made for an earlier shot and was asked this time, to make him stop mid-shot and turn his head.

The youtube clip is the wireframe animatic of the final shot.

The red dot you can see is the target he looks at (that obviously isn’t visible in the final render).

AT-ST - Walk cycle

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:30:03 +0200

This is the test render of an AT-ST i made for a backdrop shot.

The final shot was much more complicated as there was snow under foot of the walker.

This was the second time i’ve animated an AT-ST. This time I spent more time looking at the original films to add some of the classic character to the way it walks. I hope that shows through.

Clone Paratroopers for Kashyyyk

Thu, 6 May 2010 19:02:49 +0200

After having made the first beach scene for the battle on Kashyyyk i started to feel that all the troopers looked the same.

I thought a clone paratrooper (as seen on Utapau) would look great with camouflage gear on.

The two versions you see here were to test if they looked better with some colour?

They will be rolled out in the next Kashyyyk Battle shots.

Descendants of Order 66 Trailer online

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:21:05 +0200

This is the most recent trailer of the film, that is still in production.

The work of many devoted individuals from all over the world. This trailer begins to show where we’re going with the project.

Enjoy.

CIS frigate in the atmosphere

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:19:37 +0100

As i read up on the battle on Kashyyyk i discovered more happened there than we saw in the film. Much more. There we’re loads of these ships in orbit for example.

I thought having these ships in lower atmosphere would be interesting as they represent what the clone troopers will soon become in the form of the Empire.

And they could put a lot of fire power into the battle!

There is a Quicktime VR to the right..

Motion Capture Clone armor test

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 00:47:55 +0100

Over the time i have been helping with this film i have modeled and rigged many different versions of the clones and stormtroopers.

This was a test clip i made and rendered to check how the armor worked in extreme situations..

The upper one is a EPIII clone trooper.

The lower clip is a combination of three more versions of the clone armor i made.

A Ronto for Tatooine

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:39:13 +0100

Another Starwars animal, to get the streets Tatooine looking authentic.

For rigging for this big guy i based his skeleton on a elephant. It seemed about right, from the bone structure though to the movements.

I really went to town with this guy giving him muscle structure and saggy skin to get his movements just right.

Eopie on the streets of Mos-Espa

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:28:14 +0100

To add to the richness of many shots i have made various Starwars animals.

Modeled, rigged, lit and rendered. This guy is called an Eopie and was seen in the original films mainly around the pod races.

I rigged his skeleton based on a camel. That was the closest animal i could match the form and movement required to get him moving.

Nu class Republic Attack Shuttle

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:04:32 +0100

I wanted to add another ship to this film from the clones wars era. I’d already made the main gunship and had seen this in the cartoon. With a great chin door i think this ship rocks.

It was difficult to work out the actual dimensions of the shuttle to model it, but i think the time spent was well worth it.

This ship will be getting into the thick of things.

There is a spin-able quicktime VR on the right..

Swamp speeder bike

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:37:19 +0100

This little known ship wasn’t made for a specific shot. I thought it necessary to build up the variety of clone hardware down on kashyyyk.

Basically like a hovercraft i rigged the pilot & the gunner so the did they’re jobs automatically. The gunner watching for targets, with the blaster cannons while the pilot focus’ on where the craft is heading..

CIS Droids up for a fight

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:07:33 +0200

By far the most complicated shots i had attempted on this project so far.

10 digital actors, 1 real actor interacting with the digital problem makers. Handheld camera movement, flashing lights & special effects.

These shots weren’t finished until nearly the end of the year. But it makes for a great couple of seconds in the final film.

Even just animating it’s great to be interacting with light sabers & the force!

Droideka rolls into battle

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:53:33 +0100

I’m constantly looking for things to do that haven’t been done in fan films before. This guy is a great example.

These droids are great, from the way they move to the complicated way they deploy. The youtube clip is from a test animatic with a proxy mesh.

While it was a nightmare to rig and animate i think the final shot worked out just great.

Order 66 Jedi Council wallpaper

Mon, 9 Feb 2009 21:37:31 +0100

I thought it about time i did a one off piece (not from the fanfilm). I found a model of the Jedi council online (made by Ian Foster). I roughed it up a bit, adding blaster marks & general damage.

I made took one of the troopers i’d made recently & gave him the 501st colours. The famous squad that helped Vader to decimate the Jedi on Coruscant.

I wanted to show the time immediately after the execution of Order 66. When the clones had time to contemplate the duty they had just carried out.

The wallpaper can be found here.

DSD1 - Dwarf Spider Droid

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 22:32:21 +0100

Another Descendants first maybe. I was in the mood to do a little modeling & decided i was up for a challenge animation wise. The modeling was quite simple of this guy.

Making him walk was much more fun. I even made a basic rig out of lego so i could get the motion looking just right. I think it paid off.

Making the nose cannon fire was the final touch. & you can see the test animatic to the right.

AT-RT All Terrain Recon Transport

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 19:59:55 +0100

The battle on Kashyyyk wouldn’t be right without a bunch of these guys charging into the foray. Another Descendants first if i’m not wrong..

Though based on the (not made yet) AT-ST, the way they walk was quite different.

Of course this is the battle where the grand army of the republic becomes the galactic empire. The turning point where the allies become the occupiers. This machine was a key part of that forced transition.

NR-N99 CIS Snail Droid

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:13:47 +0200

A Descendants first if think. The battle on Kashyyyk couldn’t have been fought without the CIS Persuader attack platform.

I built this & then spent ages doing tests & getting it to look just right, both on & off the water.

One of these tests can be seen on the right.