Tinker
Tinker is a short about a magical orb, wandering around a desk full of memories and enchanting them along the way. I hope you enjoy it!
Tinker is a short about a magical orb, wandering around a desk full of memories and enchanting them along the way.
It is made as a final project at Vancouver Film School's 3D animation and Visual Effects Program. While making Tinker my main aim was to practice and learn how to use a interactive light on set, to create a more believable CG light integration. I also wanted to add as many VFX skills as I can without overwhelming the project. I tried to add a different VFX challenge to every shot in addition to CG lighting and clean-up of the practical light.
Production of the short was a process that I was also very excited for. I wanted to be able to practice production design. I chose every single prop to fit my theme of memories and magic. I tried to use objects from my own memories like; sea shells, my books, polaroid's and souvenirs from my past trips. Creating the practical light to use on set was a different challenge and I was very happy to use some skills from my Industrial Design degree. With the help of my amazing classmates as my crew, everything went smoothly and it was a very fun to experience for all of us.
In the end I feel like this project became a part of me and I am very happy that Tinker is my start point in my journey of films and visual effects.
I hope Tinker gives you the joy and curiosity that I had during this process and I hope you enjoy it!
If you are interested and curious about my production process, down below I wanted to add some of my steps and processes that I have been through during the production.
At the video below, you can find my first animatic, turnaround of the robot, practical light tests, tracking tests and the effect and look development tests of the magical orb that I have been through.
I wanted to show these processes because I believe that they were very important steps to create and develop my project.
Animatic; It is funny for me that how much my first animatic looks like the project itself. For student projects it is always hard to get a set and props that fits your idea perfectly. As you can see in the light tests; I went through multiple sets, props and light effects and I am glad that in the end I managed to create a set just the way I imagined. First animatic was always my guide for everything. I used it as a script, art direction reference and it helped me a lot about testing, learning and planning some vfx steps.
Robot; This little robot is actually inspired by the little robot I had at my desk for a year. He was one of the first things that I bought in Vancouver when I first moved there to study. So I figured what else could be better for my project filled with memories then my little companion. Having him in front of me all the time as a reference was very helpfull. I also took his photos on set to able to match the light. The boxy shape helped me to model faster but as an industrial design graduate the little joint gave me the most joy to model. It was really fun to discover how the little joints connect and move. (The turnaround is a previous version of the robot without his final textures)
Practical light test; throughout the project I experimented multiple versions of the practical light. This was one of the steps that I got to use my industrial design skills. While making the light I wanted to make a light that creates contrast and has a constant light value as much as possible. I also needed a light that is easy to move around and doesn’t shake or swing during the movement. I ended up killing bunch of led candles (and a earphone that didn't even get to be used), I hope they can forgive me. The final light is made of three little led lights connected to two cables that is hidden inside a green straw and it uses three 3v button cells.
Tracking test; tracking tests were one of my main steps to decide on my footage. It also helped me see what what kind of problems I might face and what I need to do better if I need to film again.
Look and effects test; For the look of my light I really wanted to create something that looked alive and out of this world. I tried some particles but I was not very fond of the fairy look, I always thought the orb as a memory orb or a energy ball. Since I didn't know a lot about particles I used some after effects mock-ups for the first tests. Later on I tried different effects in maya and tried to create a look that is closed to what I want. I wanted the light to have a smoky feature so I did some tests with fluids. I really liked the idea of a tail that slowly fades away like a memory. The final light actually ended up being a mix of some of the lights that I created before I rendered all of them and layered them in nuke, added some glow and noise and played with them around. It was really fun to experiment with the layers, shades and alphas. As a result my little Tinker came to life.
Comments (2)