A little bit of Depth! Tabby Cat

Luckily Dennis(my tabby cat) was in the mood to have a camera shoved in his face and I managed to get some nice footage of him.
Shot on a Nikon D5200 with an Nikon 18-55mm lens. The focal length was set to 55mm. The ISO was set to 1600.
It was shot using a Eimo DSLR Rig (although I was just propping it on the table!). I should have mounted it on a tripod but I might not have got the footage I wanted at the time!
RV Solo (http://www.tweaksoftware.com/) was used to quickly scrub through and review the footage and Adobe SpeedGrade was used to do the Final Grade.
I am happy with the outcome, however, the use of a tripod and a bit better focusing would be the goal for the next one!
Oh yes, I am still working on this the hanging woman VFX shot. A new plate has been done, just need to matchmove etc first before I put up a new version of the shot. For now, here is a frame from the latest shoot:)

Moon Man Dan Website launched!

ICM Studios has just finished helping Pickled Pepper Productions with the launch of their new website for the first animated episode of Moon Man Dan.

To find out more about Moon Man Dan visit the website here: www.moonmandan.co.uk. To see the episode, I have embeded it below :)

Hanging Woman VFX Shot

I have been working on a VFX shot in my spare time so far the versions below is the progress I have made so far. I had already built the assets before starting the shot but I had to modify them to work with the genre. I chopped off her arm and made a sack for her head as well as the dress and guts. Still needs work but the next version should be closer :)

Maya Pie Maker

I have made a little script for Maya that creates slices of a pie-chart. Not sure what use it is to anyone but here it is:
////////////////////////////////////////////////

// SCRIPT TO CREATE PIE CHARTS :)

///////////////////////////////////////////////

global proc mkPie(){

float $percent = `floatField -q -value itemPercent`;

$name = `textField -q -text item`;

$sections = `intField -q -value itemSections`;

//setAttr textForBevel1.text -type "string" ($percent+"%");

$deg = ($percent/100);

$degree = (360 * $deg);

cylinder -ch on -o on -ax 0 1 0 -r 3 -s $sections -hr 0 -n $name -ssw 0deg -esw ($degree+"deg");

nurbsPrimitiveCap 3 1 1;

parent -w bottomCap1 ;

delete $name;

nurbsToPoly -mnd 1 -ch 1 -f 2 -pt 1 -pc 200 -chr 0.1 -ft 0.01 -mel 0.001 -d 0.1 -ut 1 -un 10 -vt 1 -vn ($sections*3) -uch 0 -ucr 0 -cht 0.2 -es 0 -ntr 0 -mrt 0 -uss 1 "bottomCap1";

delete bottomCap1;

string $polyName = ($name+"_mesh");

rename "nurbsToPoly1" $polyName;

setAttr ($polyName+".translateY") 3;

makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 $polyName;

polyExtrudeFacet -constructionHistory 1 -keepFacesTogether 1 -pvx 1.239527732 -pvy 0 -pvz 1.499420881 -divisions 10 -twist 0 -taper 1 -off 0 -thickness 0 -smoothingAngle 30 $polyName;

setAttr "polyExtrudeFace1.localTranslate" -type double3 0 0 -1.940407 ;

select -r $polyName; DeleteHistory;

displaySmoothness -divisionsU 3 -divisionsV 3 -pointsWire 16 -pointsShaded 4 -polygonObject 3;

subdivDisplaySmoothness -smoothness 3;

select -cl;

}

global proc mkEnv(){

polyPlane -n myPlane -sx 10 -sy 10 -h 50 -w 50 ;

displaySmoothness -divisionsU 3 -divisionsV 3 -pointsWire 16 -pointsShaded 4 -polygonObject 3;

subdivDisplaySmoothness -smoothness 3;

setAttr "myPlane.overrideEnabled" 1;

setAttr "myPlane.overrideShading" 1;

setAttr "myPlane.overrideDisplayType" 2;

nonLinear -type bend -lowBound 0 -highBound 1 -curvature 1.6;

setAttr "bend1Handle.rotateZ" 90;

select "bend1Handle" myPlane; group -n "environment";

setAttr "environment.translateX" -5;

}

global proc mkPieWindow(){

if (`window -exists pieUI`){

deleteUI pieUI;

}

string $window = `window -title "PIE MAKER :)" -widthHeight 200 300 pieUI`;



columnLayout -adjustableColumn true;

text -label "Percent";

string $itemPercent = `floatField -value 10 itemPercent`;

text -label "Item Name";

string $item = `textField -text "Piece_0" item`;

text -label "Item Sections";

string $sections = `intField -v 4 itemSections`;

button -label "Make Me - go on do it :)" -command "mkPie";

button -label "Environment" -command "mkEnv";

setParent ..;

showWindow $window;

}

Latest Nightmare Hunters Trailer is out!

A new version of the Nightmare Hunters Feature Film by Ewan Gorman is now out. Check it out below. ICM Studios helped with producing the stun Gun and the Beast tracker!
We will put up breakdowns of a couple of the shots soon.

Credits:
Stun Gun - Iskander Mellakh - http://www.iskandermellakh.co.uk
Beast Tracker - Adam Fenwick - http://www.adamfenwick.co.uk

Tikis and Mikis - Fund this project

Salvador Simo (www.salvadorsimo.com) is a great Director and Animator that I worked with at MPC. He is currently producing a new animated children's Web series.

If you like good children's animation and want to see more of the project below help by making a donation to Tikis and Mikis on Kickstarter

Check out the video below :)

Nightmare Hunters

ICM Studios is currently helping on the VFX production of the feature film Nightmare Hunters, by Ewan Gorman. Check out the trailer below, also visit their website:http://www.blackrockfilms.co.uk/