First attempt at robot character

Final rendered Robot character using the skylight/mental ray:

Choosing materials-bump map and render settings:

Max development, putting objects together:

Here is the first attempt at a robot character, i just took bits from all 3 designs and basically waited to see how it would look. I am quite pleased with the robot character, but i might still not use him or might change the way he looks, ill have to wait and see what jo says on friday.

First ideas for my character

I defiantly want to create a robot character with human feelings and personality. Ive been watching films such as wall-e and toy story to give me inspiration for my character and ive done a few sketches of what i think he might end up looking like, obviously there will need to be more development of him but its a good start. sorry about the quality of the pics my scanner is broken and i have to use my iphone to take pictures but you can see the basic design.

More research: Character ideas

whilst searching on the web for ideas to get my character design rolling, i came across these really nice characters which have got the ball rolling for me. My personal favorite is the red and white robot at the start :P:

Research: Animated characters continued

Whilst researching on creating an animated character, i found a really good site which ran through some really good advice and quotes on 3d character animation.

The Integrity of Character
The character body is an integral system so even seemingly separate movements involve the motion of other parts of the body. For example during a head turn in dependence of the situation the character will slightly move his shoulders and his centre of mass. During a walk the entire body will be involved in the animation not only the hands and the legs, even the head will have specific movements.

Acting the 3d Animation to show Personality
The animator is first an actor and only then a technical guru that knows how to put 3d models in motion. With present animation tools, animating a 3d model of living being is relatively easy from a technical standpoint, but showing a distinct personality that has a long history and character that's where the art starts. That's why it is called Character Animation and not Human or Creature Animation.

When animating try to understand your character personality and feelings.. Spend time acting the animation you work on in front of a mirror until you can achieve believable results only then start animating your character... This is the way to create appealing and interesting 3d animation.

Create the Effect of a Thinking Character while Animating
As in the words of the father of animation motion pictures Walt Disney himself, "In most instances, the driving forces behind the animation are the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character" or all three. We think of things before the body does them."
Every single movement of an animated character creates an impact on the audiences, and that is why it is there for a reason, and is an essential part of the story. It is needless to explain that the very purpose of an animated picture is to tell a story and to make the viewer believe its characters. Unless the movements of a character are not related to each other, the flaw of the animator would become obvious to the viewer and the fact that an animator is behind the characters of the story reveals itself, which takes all the fun out of watching your movie.
According to Walt Disney, a thinking character is what can help make its actions look life-like, due to their connection with a thought process. This also makes these movements look believable to the viewer, who can relate to them. You should understand that it is the mind and personality of the character which is behind his or her actions, which the character thinks of something before he or she does it.
The best tools for an animator to convey the emotions and thoughts of a character are the eyes and the heads of the character. If you need to give the idea to the audience of what a character is thinking and what move he or she is going to make, then make sure you convey the message to them through the eyes by focusing on their movement.
But sometimes you have to deal with 3D models with no eyes and when animating objects like these, the head of the character becomes even more important, when it comes to the movement of the character.
The animator must create the animation while keeping in mind what the character is thinking, and his or her job is to convey the message from the eyes and the head of the character.

For instance, if you are working with the character of a mouse who needs to make a decision on whether or not he should take a chance of plucking off the cheese set on the mouse trap you should allow the character the time to think, and the eyes of the character will be the key to conveying the message while deciding whether the cheese is worth the risk or not.
But head and eyes will not be your primary leads for movement when the character reacts to an external stimulus, such as a bear dodging a large ball. And of course, when the ball strikes the tummy of the character, the impact it will create will cause the body of the character to move backward and so on.

content found on: http://www.3dmd.net/forum/3d-discussion-5707.html

Research: Animated characters

The beauty of Buzz Lightyear is that, beneath the superficiality of the initial premise he's an utterly delusional toy who thinks he's a real Space Ranger there's real emotional depth and endless capacity for reinvention. Witness Toy Story 3's neat reprogramming gag, wherein Buzz becomes a flamenco-flecked Spanish-language toy, complete with an eye for the ladies and neat dance moves. But we love Buzz for so much more than that. We love him because of his bluster. We love him because of his never-say-die spirit. We love him because he's a leader of plastic men. We love him because he's faintly ridiculous. We love him because Tim Allen's macho voice work is so perfect that it almost removes the universe's need for William Shatner to exist. We love him because he has a little light that blinks. We love him because he. Is. A. Toy. And sometimes that's all you need.

The chief failing of the Shrek series is that the title character has always been a little bland, and always a lot overshadowed by the more colourful supporting cast. But who cares when, as in the case of Puss In Boots, they're this entertaining? A glorious reimagining of the swashbuckling charm of Zorro, transplanting his derring-do spirit and Latino swagger into the body of a cat just about higher than the boots he wears, Puss In Boots gave Shrek 2 a welcome shot in the arm just as Shrek and Donkey's banter was beginning to wear thin. Voiced to perfection by Banderas, it's Puss' loyalty, his indomitability in the face of overwhelming odds, his supreme self-confidence, and his ability to make his eyes as big as Lazy Susans, that make him more than worthy of his own spin-off. The only mercy we'll be praying for is from laughter.

If you're not quite sure why everyone's looking forward to Brad Bird's take on Mission: Impossible IV, check out this beautiful and moving adaptation of Ted Hughes' already-powerful children's book. Bird's film may have sunk without a trace at the box office, but it's one of the great animated films, a tale of friendship, tolerance and fear for the ages. The Iron Giant himself, voiced with surprisingly delicacy by Vin Diesel, manages to be by turns mysterious, childlike, warlike and heroic. His final decision to emulate his comic-book hero, Superman, will break your heart.

roof, if proof were needed, that strong silent types are infinitely preferable to their chattier counterparts, Wall-E is an almost-mute waste-shifting robot who is easily the most adorable automaton ever created. With R2D2 genius Ben Burtt giving him a voice comprised chiefly of exclamations, hums and snippets of the Hello Dolly soundtrack. Combined with Pixar's genius for creating character with the twitch of an eye-shade, and you have someone who won audience hearts in about ten seconds flat, despite being rusty and rickety and probably smelling of trash. No mean feat for a guy who hangs out with a cockroach.

How could we separate Woody and Buzz, you ask? Well, because Woody just edges his spacey BFF in the character stakes, springing fully-formed from the screen as a living, breathing, er, child's plaything. He always tries to do the right thing, but it's not always easy for him, and Pixar's genius lies in showing that even such a Dudley Do-Righter sometimes wishes he could take the easier road. Still, his intense loyalty to his friends, palpable humanity and the deeply emotional character arc he's given put Woody head and shoulders above the rest.

Gromit doesn't ever say a word, but there has never been a more expressive character (animated or otherwise) to grace our screens. The long-suffering companion to inventor Wallace, Gromit is a mechanical genius in his own right, a vegetable-grower par excellence and an unfailing example of British pluck and can-do spirit. He also boasts a flair for deadpan that Buster Keaton would be proud of and the ability to let us know exactly what he's thinking with no more than the twitch of an ear. With the fingerprints of genius animators all over him (literally), Gromit is an example to us all.

Start of research

Im going to focus on looking at current animated children's characters to get a good idea of how to develop a character and his emotions and actions to effectively complete the module. This is probably gonna involve watching some episodes of animated series like the Simpsons and the children's 3d animation on in the early mornings. Also this process should get me to start having ideas for my character and start designing it on paper.