12.20.06
Script with Sound Notes
We have started planning the sound! Brian Kucinski, a graduate student at SCAD, will be doing the sound design and writing an original score for Friedhelm and Trotter. Linked are some of the notes we took while going over the script and discussing the sound of the piece and how they would affect the feel of the finished animation.

12.14.06
Friedhelm and Trotter 2.0 - first look, Shapes and forms
Friedhelm and Trotter step into their new house! You can see this is before they have been rigged and that is why they look so horribly stiff and the lighting is just for testing. I wanted to get them in their environment and just make sure everything was blending together well.

12.6.06
Duchess Color Test
Here is a shot of a test color palette for Duchess. I like it so far but she may need a little more saturation in her cheeks.

12.2.06
Friedhelm's Den - Part 2
Here are four new pics of Friedhelm's den. I was trying some new lighting. It is a million miles from being close to finished but I think I am going to use the cubic point light technique seen here on the walls, ceiling and floor and light the furniture with a completely different light set.

11.15.06
Duchess
Friedhelm's arch nemesis Duchess sashays to life! Find out more about their "dynamic" relationship in the soon to be updated animatic.

10.22.06
Friedhelm's Den - Part 1 - in 3d
Ken Seward and I bring Friedhel's Den into 3d. Here you can see some
in-progress 3d shots based on the drawings below. While unsmoothed, untextured and with an old light set I just imported, it still gives the first looks of Friedhelm's living quarters.

9.15.06
Trotter 2.0
You can see the old version of Trotter to the right. This new version is, I hope, more fun and offers more character and possibilities.

9.10.06
Friedhelm and Trotter Test Animations (QuickTime 9.8 megs)
These are over a year old now. They helped me to understand Friedhelm and get better insight of his movement. The biggest lesson I got was that I need to slow him down. Give my animations more rhythm in general. Less can be more even when your character is excited. Also I seemed to be missing the beats on some of these. So while they are no longer on my demo reel, I hope they get a smile out of you.

9.01.06
Friedhelm and Trotter's House
What kind of place would a conspiracy theorist with a pet frozen turkey live in anyway? Joshua Muntain jumps on board! Armed with a 22 page biography on Friedhelm and trotter and a ton of notes, Josh has done a great job of helping bring the vision to life.

8.06.06
Friedhelm Concept Design
Friedhelm and Trotter are getting a face-lift! I decided I needed to add more stylized featured. Making the nose bigger and simplifying the ears. When I was finished Scott Wells did a great modeling pass on him and really added to the appeal and give him some gravity. Keep an eye out for the next finished version as I am still working on him.