Markus Daum RiggingReel 2013

”Fleshy Eyes Rig” (shots)

Eye rig for the hero character ”Paul”. Note how movements of the eye are causing the fleshy parts of the eyelids to compress and stretch (”fleshy eyes” effect) and how the bulged shape of the cornea is visible through the eyelids.

Contribution: Fleshy-Eyes portion of the eye rig.

”Fleshy Eyes Rig Demo” (rig)

Eye rig for the hero character ”Paul”. Note how movements of the eye are causing the fleshy parts of the eyelids to compress and stretch (”fleshy eyes” effect) and how the bulged shape of the cornea is visible through the eyelids.

Contribution: Fleshy-Eyes portion of the eye rig.

”Character FX” (shots)

Shots showcasing muscle, tendon and wrinkle animation as well as skin-sliding and muscle dynamics (Character FX). All of the effects shown here have been created non-procedurally, i.e. through manual animation alone.

Contribution: Character FX for all CG creatures shown in these shots (Tars, White-Ape, Tal).

”Satellite Rig” (shots)

Several shots of the satellite as it appears in the different trailer versions. Note the intricate mechanism involved in loading and launching the rocket.

Contribution: Entire Satellite rig including generation of python scripts to handle rig updates for the heavy geometry model (~4.8 Million polygons).

”Satellite Rig Walk-Through” (rig)

Several shots of the satellite as it appears in the different trailer versions. Note the intricate mechanism involved in loading and launching the rocket.

Contribution: Entire Satellite rig including generation of python scripts to handle rig updates for the heavy geometry model (~4.8 Million polygons).

”Automatic Thruster Rigs” (shots)

Space shuttle landing sequence from the first official trailer. The base animation layer of the thrusters was generated procedurally through thruster rigs that analyze the directional acceleration on each thruster location.

Contribution: Development of the automatic thruster rigs as well as python build scripts to set up over 100 instances inside the main shuttle rig.

”Automatic Thruster Rigs: Rig Test with Procedural Animation” (rig)

”Little Robot Rigs” (shots)

Contribution: Rigs for the self-assembling Golden Army fragments (little robots).

”Interactive Animation UI Builder” (tech demo)

Tool to build versatile User Interfaces without the need to program. These UIs can be used by animators to easily interact with animation rigs, launch tools and to run external scripts.

Contribution: The tool has been built upon the freely available abxPicker v1.0.0 by A. Burke. The abxPicker code corresponds to less than 10% of the current tool. Some of the added features include introduction of an Edit-Mode with interactive manipulation of all UI properties via bi-directional drag & drop or selection based, pixel-accurate editing of all UI-elements (nudge, distribution and mirror tools), support for images and slider groups, the storage of UI-data as external XML files as well as layered user-modes (supervisor / animator), which allow animators to add UI-elements on top of production approved layouts.

Programming Languages: Python, MEL

”Digi Double & Prop Rigs” (shots)

Key scene of the movie in which Dastan uses an ancient daggar to reverse time.

Contribution: Digi Double Rig of Dastan (in collaboration with the rigging lead) as well as prop rigs (Dastan’s belt, parts of the clothing).

”Generic Emperor Skinning” (shots)

Dancing scene with Gloria (hero character) and Generic Emperor Penguins. Young Generic Emperor Penguins are seen jumping from a cliff and in an under-water choreography.

Contribution: Skinning of the generic penguins following strict design specifications.