RGCA - Best Use of iClone - Gandalf - "You Shall Not Pass!"
This is a well-known moment in The Fellowship Of The Ring-- Gandalf versus the Balrog. In order to animate it, I decided to use the MoCap Device Plugin for iClone 5.
Since I already posted some progress on the Balrog character, it's time to look at his antagonist, Gandalf.
It just so happened that I had purchased on the RL content store, 10 Realistic Male Faces, who all seemed to be based on someone famous:
The first face looks eerily similar to Sir Ian McKellan, who played Gandalf:
Now, I added some hair and a beard, but I think I will revisit those choices later. For now, I'd like to move onto the animation:
Gandalf's gesture in this scene is very specific, so I practiced it myself a few times and then motion-captured myself performing the gesture.
The raw capture was okay, a little choppy, so I basically just chopped out what I didn't need. That made Gandalf go from pose, to pose, to pose, with iClone estimating the in-between frames, instead of using all of the mocap data.
If you look at the "Motion" timeline, you will see various "Puppet Clips". That was all once a *single* motion capture. I cut out the parts that weren't needed, leaving multiple little Puppet Clips on the timeline, and without pushing the clips together, so the timing remains the same as my performance.
Then I added a few Motion Layer keyframes. I added a little extra motion in the empty areas where I had removed mocap data. Then I added keyframes to keep Gandalf's hands together and his weopons parallel to each other during the final part of the magical spell.
In the performance capture, Gandalf first dodges the Balrog's fiery sword, and then performs the spell.
I'm not ready to put the Balrog into the scene but I will put in some smoke to represent his general direction:
Gandalf's spell causes the bridge to collapse, the Balrog going down with it. In this case, the light source and the smoke particle are going down with the bridge.
Here's another look:
Hope you enjoyed it!
Jason
Since I already posted some progress on the Balrog character, it's time to look at his antagonist, Gandalf.
It just so happened that I had purchased on the RL content store, 10 Realistic Male Faces, who all seemed to be based on someone famous:
The first face looks eerily similar to Sir Ian McKellan, who played Gandalf:
Now, I added some hair and a beard, but I think I will revisit those choices later. For now, I'd like to move onto the animation:
Gandalf's gesture in this scene is very specific, so I practiced it myself a few times and then motion-captured myself performing the gesture.
The raw capture was okay, a little choppy, so I basically just chopped out what I didn't need. That made Gandalf go from pose, to pose, to pose, with iClone estimating the in-between frames, instead of using all of the mocap data.
If you look at the "Motion" timeline, you will see various "Puppet Clips". That was all once a *single* motion capture. I cut out the parts that weren't needed, leaving multiple little Puppet Clips on the timeline, and without pushing the clips together, so the timing remains the same as my performance.
Then I added a few Motion Layer keyframes. I added a little extra motion in the empty areas where I had removed mocap data. Then I added keyframes to keep Gandalf's hands together and his weopons parallel to each other during the final part of the magical spell.
In the performance capture, Gandalf first dodges the Balrog's fiery sword, and then performs the spell.
I'm not ready to put the Balrog into the scene but I will put in some smoke to represent his general direction:
Gandalf's spell causes the bridge to collapse, the Balrog going down with it. In this case, the light source and the smoke particle are going down with the bridge.
Here's another look:
Hope you enjoyed it!
Jason
Replies
What could be cool is when he is protecting against the fire (sword up) he does 1 or 2 backward steps and bit disoriented.
I agree that the second GIF of the bridge collapse is more dramatic.
The overall look has a convincing, mysterious flavor. (I will have to check out your Balrog character.)
Beards are a problem in iClone, especially when someone is speaking. You may be able to improve the look by using some of the hair texture.