Ideation
Before I began storyboarding, I looked to both other works of media and real-life locations to get a feel for how I wanted the animation to look, and for what emotions I wanted it to evoke in the audience. Specifically, I looked to the Pixar shorts that play before their feature films. These short animations are usually a technical showcase for Pixar's render engine, but they are also genius examples of non-verbal storytelling. Most have a distinct visual style, a clear message or theme, and fleshed out characterizations.
While these shorts certainly inspired me in terms of storytelling potential and quick characterization, I also wanted to create something that was definitively mine, and not an imitation of their brand. I am going to use the same techniques that they use, but in my own visual style. To make it more personal, I wanted to set the scene in a familiar location to me. I ended up choosing a NYC subway platform. I chose it primarily because it is a location with which I am intimately familiar, spending my entire childhood in the city. I know the way it looks and feels, and this will aid me in my modelling. There is also enough variety in the setting for it to be quite technical, with different textures and materials composing a multitude of objects. This will be a challenge for me, with my limited set of skills, but hopefully the final product will look great and demonstrate my growth as a digital artist.
Lastly, this setting is ripe for characters to interact with. There are so many possibilities of how a characters emotions, growth, and uncertainty can be evoked through the subway setting. To get a feel for how I wanted this to look, I researched subway stations, both real and imaginary, to base my setting off of.
Storyboarding
As this project is a 1-2 minute short film, a tight focus is going to need to be established on the characters and the setting. The audience has a brief amount of time to come to know the situation and the mindset of all of the characters. Thus, it is vital to have a detailed and specific storyboard, so that I know exactly what I need to model and include for that information to be conveyed. Every shot in the animation is blocked out here, with emphasis placed on camera moves, focus, and shot placement. Considering this is a digitally animated short film, the camera is not bound by the laws of physics, but it is bound by the laws of storytelling. Thus, I have created compositions with the camera placed in impossible places, such as the bottom of a subway track line. These are not just there to show technical achievement, but to also aid the storytelling of the piece.
The first few shots are there to establish familiarity with the setting: most people know what a subway station looks like, and how it operates. Establishing shots are here to remind the audience what this location is, and to give them some time to acquaint themselves with a digital version of a real life locale. At the end of this section, we are introduced to our main protagonist, a very short, fuzzy creature who is all alone on the subway. We quickly learn that because of his stature, easy tasks become huge hurdles for him. This is shown by the trouble he has with jumping across the gap between the platforms.
In this section, we establish the main problem for our protagonist, and the villain in this story. Stairs. Because of the character's height, these stairs become an insurmountable obstacle. Deliberate camera motions and framing are used to show how large of a hurdle this is. Our perspective is at the character's height, so these stairs seem gargantuan. We also focus on the character's expression, which is one of worry and lamentation.
At our protagonists lowest point, we are introduced to the other character in the scene. He is introduced in exactly the same way as our protagonist, with a train pulling into the station on the opposite track. Even the camera shots are the same, just reflected 180 degrees on the other side. This is done to subvert the audiences expectations of what is going to happen. They are expecting a character like our protagonist, meek and diminutive. Instead, they are a hulking behemoth. I haven't finalized the character design for both of them, but I want them both to be fuzzy and warm. This is going to be done so that they aren't too intimidating, and are sympathetic to the audience.
The resolution to the story comes from our characters meeting and working together. Realizing that the small character is having trouble with the stairs, the large one offers to place him on his head, as it would be no trouble at all. Special emphasis is placed on their interactions and lines of sight. This is their main form of communication, as they will both be non-verbal and gesture to each other instead. The last two shots of the story are them climbing up the stairs together, out of the grimy station below them.
Setting Creation
Before I began working on modelling the characters themselves, I wanted to create the set that they would occupy. The subway station is supposed to look realistic, so I sought out some video guides to help me with developing the look. I did not want to copy them however, so I'm only using them as a visual guide and as a tutorial for texturing and painting the surfaces that I model myself. In particular, I found a video on youtube that models a station very similarly to how I want mine to look. Many pieces will vary between my scene and his, but this is a rough approximation of how I want the station to look at the end of development:
When I started modelling I did my work in a flow that was similar to this guide. I started out by creating a platform and girders to support the roof. These girders are nearly exact replicas of ones in the actual NYC subway system, but I spaced them out on the platform more densely than they are in real life. This was done so that there is more going on above the platform, but I may have to edit this in the future for visual clarity when composing shots.
Next up was the track work, which was going to be the same on both sides of the platform. This didn't have to look as exactly real as they do in New York, it only had to give off the vibe of railway tracks. The bulk of that vibe is going to come through painting and texturing the materials onto it.
To make it easier to distinguish the different models in the station, I used a color mode within blender that randomly sets one of five pastel colors to the exterior of each model. This made it easier to both model and place new meshes within the scene, as the light grey texture on everything made it difficult to see. The next steps for modelling included making a roof, with supports and ventilation bars, and modelling of the tunnel walls, with different levels of extrusion to suggest bracing support on them. The track base was just a plane extruded out from the walls, and each wall is identical, just flipped and reflected the other way.
Finishing the station models was relatively simple from this point on. Walls and ceiling of the tunnel were extruded out to give off the feeling that they continue out further than just in this station. Stairs were modelled, with a short lip at the edge just like in real subway stations. New walls were added as well to sequester the stairs and the end of the station. Lastly, the tracks were edited and third rails were added, to make the station more similar to its real life counterparts.
Station Texturing
Once the last of the modelling was done, I began to work on texturing each model within the station. This was relatively hard for me; out of all elements of blender creation this is the one I am least experienced with. Luckily, the tutorial that I had followed earlier had a link to different textures and texture maps included in a download link. I used those for the platform base and edge, but changed some of the settings and levels within the shading editor. I was really happy with how they turned out, and came away from the experience learning a lot with how this aspect of blender creation works.
Because I followed a texture tutorial for the platform and pillars, I wanted to demonstrate my own abilities for the rest of the textures included within the station. This meant the tracks, the bed below the tracks, the walls, and the staircase out of the station.
As I finished up the last of the textures for the station, I decided that I was going to hold off on including the lighting systems that would illuminate the scene. This was done for two reasons. One, I did not know exactly where the lights wer going to fit in the station, and if I placed them down I could diminish the processing power of my computer, making it harder to work on the characters and their animation. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I wanted to wait until the characters were completed so that I could test different lighting systems on them to see what worked and didn't. Depending on the fur texture, character size, and overall mood of the piece, I would have to make drastic changes to the lighting that I wasn't ready to commit to at this point in development. For now, to show off the textures and reflections in the station, I have the stationary default white light providing illumination.
Character Modeling
After the modelling and the texturing for the station was complete, I set to work on beginning to model the characters that would appear in the short. There are only two characters interacting with the scene; one tall and muscular, the other short and diminutive. There needed to be a clear design behind both of them, so that the aspects of their personality could be evoked through their design. Both of these characters are going to be fuzzy with a fur-like hair system placed over them, so I wasn't too worried about having a ton of detail included on the base clay model.
For both of them, I started with a Sphere with lots of vertices included, (64 for both height and radius). This was so that I could have a lot of leeway in the initial sculpting of their features. I used dyntopo to create more polygons in each, adding even more detail. Instead of sculpting them in a new blender document, I made a copy of the existing station environment and moved the characters just outside of it, so that I could quickly move the min to see how they would look inside of the scene I had already created.
I am still working on the sculpting for each model, and hope to get that done by the end of the day today (11/23). After the base of each model, I will go through and experiment with different hair vertex systems on them. To not use up too much processing power, the hair will be relatively short, and to make the characters pop in the drab station, the hair will be expressively colorful. I want the short one to be a fuzzy pastel pink, and the large one a bright baby blue. After this work is done, both models will get an armature that will make animating them a lot easier, and they will subsequently be placed in the scene. After a quick train model, I will begin filming the different shorts of the story. By the date of my tag-up next week with Ian, I want all elements of the scene and characters finished, and be ready to film all scenes in quick succession.
I finished up the base modelling for the character fairly quickly, and sculpted out a head and eye sockets for them. The eyes themselves are just going to be vertex painted black, no sphere or anything within them. I also added a crease to the border of the "face" and "head" where there would be no hair and just the base material. The next step was to add hair systems to the character. This took some work to get the exact right amount that I wanted. But the final product looks fuzzy and inviting, which is exactly what I wanted them to look like.
Lighting
I experimented with different lighting systems and methods for the station. I wanted it to look like an actual NYC subway system, so the lights were tinged yellow to give that gritty, dingy look. But there actually had to be a source for the lights on the station. The solution that I came up with was to embed long cylinders within a black box, and create a material for the tube that was an emission. That emission made the tube like like a fluorescent light, but it did not actually illuminate the station entirely. There was an easy fix for this too; I created two area lights that spanned the station, and also set those to be yellow in hue. This combined with the tube lights, made the station look complete in its lighting. The final step was to turn on bloom and screen space reflections in the render menu. This made everything look more realistic and helped the tube lights look more like there physical counterparts.
Train
I realized at this point that the last thing that I would have to model would be the actual trains coming in and out of the station. I thought this part wouldn't be too complicated; I was dead wrong. To start, I created a box mesh within the station and beveled out the edges so that it would fit within the track width. After that was done, I copied and pasted the mesh and the tracks, and moved them out of the station to make it easier for modelling. I also moved them next to the character, to get a sense of scale and tactileness to the train I was modelling. The last step in base modelling was to place a box within the train model and do a Boolean difference, to hollow out the interior and make a place for seats and poles, and a place for our character to stand in the shots.
I continued modelling by adding bays for doors, a more complex and realistic front, and gutters on the top of the cabin. I used the reference image way up at the top of this page to get everything correct, but I did take a few creative liberties with the front. This included making square windows at the front and four cylindrical indents for lights. Lastly, I added an undercarriage with beveled wheels, that fit exactly on the tracks that I created.
Next it came time for materials and texturing. The train is made of stamped sheet metal, so I began working in the shader editor within blender to create my own custom materials. I did not use a tutorial for this part, which made it extra difficult; I stated before that I am not as comfortable with this aspect of blender creation, and this was a chance to prove I was somewhat capable. Different modifiers were added to the base color to make it more diffuse and varied, and to give off the impression of an imperfect metal construction. The next step was to made an interior for the train, which wasn't too difficult. I modelled a bench setup that was similar to the ones on the ACE train in NY. Because the audience wouldn't be able to see much inside of the train, I didn't model some aspects of it because the way the shots are framed meant that nobody would ever see it. I'd like to think this isn't me being lazy, but instead an inspired act of artistry. Lastly, doors were created and placed inside the bays for them. I made the doors separately and then put them inside of the train collection within the blender editor, so they move when I move the train. This will also make it easier for animating them opening and closing later on.
The last thing that I did for the train was add lights to the front. I used the same technique as the overhead lights in the station; a cylindrical emission material with a light over it. Except this time, instead of an area light I made it a diffuse spotlight. I think this just makes more sense for the front of the train, and makes it look much better when entering the station. These lights were also added into the train collection. Finally, I actually rendered out some images to make sure everything looked as good as I thought it did. I was VERY happy with the result, and everything is done being modelled, so now I have to animate everything!
Finishing Characters and Armatures
One of the toughest parts of the project, and probably the one I was least prepared for, was the creation, texturization, and animation of these characters. I had some experience with the sculpting tools in Blender previously, but I hadn't attempted to make my own creatures with custom hair, skeletons, and walking animations before. I started the second character the same way I started the first; taking a sphere and molding it into the form that I would like to see. A faceplate was creased into the front of the creature, and small eye chasms were made in those spots.
The most difficult aspect of modelling these creatures was applying the hair emitter to them in such a way that the faceplate remained exposed. For some reason, this was very tricky on my models and I spent hours trying to work up a solution. Eventually, I manually picked out the vertices I wanted in each model, joined them together in a vertex group, and then commanded the hair emitter to only work on those groups. This finally allowed me to have these creatures be fluffy and furry, without having hair cover their faces.
The armatures were not as difficult. I just extruded out different bones and applied the mesh object to them. Setting this part up was not difficult in the slightest. The issues came when trying to animate each limb. I think that because of the way I set up the models, with a rotund body and stumpy arms and legs, there couldn't be a wide range of motion on each limb. I tried to fix this as best as I could, but alas some issues still remain in the final product.
Scene Finishing Touches
The last thing I needed to do before animating and rendering out clips from the scene was to add the finishing touches to the scene itself. This mainly consisted of two things; I stretched out the tunnels on either side of the tracks, and added a cube inside with anisotropic filtering. This gave off the impression that there was a long, dark tunnel that extends for miles. In reality, It ends only a few meters after the fog cube. It also had the added bonus of improving the lighting effects on the trains when they pass into the station. The second thing was to add a simple rectangle at the top of the stairs, and create an emissive blue material for it. This gives the impression of a sky beyond the stairs, and figuratively acts as a light at the end of the tunnel for the characters. After this was complete, all that was needed was animation!
Animation, Sound and Video Preparation
Unfortunately it is kind of difficult to show animation progress through pictures. The best that I can do is show a screenshot of my folder where I have the 21 final clips that I used in the edited video. Each one of these was based off of the storyboard, and I added in extra clips where I felt there needed to be more filmed content. Overall the animation experience was excruciatingly time consuming; I had to set up every shot, move the camera around, animate the trains and the characters, all while setting distinct keyframes and plots for each one. Oftentimes a camera placement that I had been fine tuning for a few minutes would revert because I didn't reset the keyframes. Other times the armature for a character would separate from their mesh and I'd have to redo a series of animations. By the time I was done with the final shot, I was glad that this part of the process was behind me.
Before I could start editing however, I had to find sound effects and ambient noise to include in the Premiere Pro File. I used freesound.com to find recordings that people had taken of the NYC subway, and edited the volume and noise levels somewhat to fit the scene I created better. I also looked up some "woosh" sounds for the camera, because while editing I felt that some camera motions felt flat without it.
Video Editing
The actual experience of video editing was clinical: I lined up the shots in the order that they were conceived of and filmed from the storyboard, and the audio clips were layered underneath. Most of the work itself was just finding the right transitions between clips, and minor tweaks to the audio files to fit them into context better. The wooshes, footsteps, and door jingles were added in after the final placements of the clips were certain, so that I could make sure that everything was aligned. Before I knew it, the final edited video was complete, and I could render it out and post it here!
Final Video
Final Write-Up
Working on this project was an extremely rewarding experience. It certainly tested my skills as a modeler and storyteller within blender, and it did a great job of throwing interesting and thrilling challenges at me as I continued work on it. I'm very proud of some aspects of this scene. The texturing, environment creation, and character creation were all highlights for me. Making the trains from scratch without any tutorial or guide helping was a blast, and editing all my final animations together in Premiere Pro felt like a great culmination of my weeks of work. However, there are still some things that I know could've either used more work, or aren't up to the standards I think I could be capable of. The armatures and animations I made look somewhat amateurish, and might not look as good as they could have. The hair systems on the characters work well enough, but some more tweaking and adjustments might have improved them even more. These shortcomings don't discourage me however, they only encourage me to continue to improve my skills within Blender.