WEEK SUMMARY
Widowmaker's Rig Complete
Since I’ve been using the same rigging setup for all three models, it only took me about two days to get Widowmaker’s model up to par. That was much faster than Pharah’s, which ended up taking almost the entire previous rotation week.
I’ve been really enjoying this new rigging method because it makes creating facial expressions much easier. It’s been a big improvement in my workflow so far.
That said, it does have its limitations. I won’t get into those right now, but once I’ve had more time to experiment and gain experience, I’d like to share what I’ve learned in the future.
Most of the Overwatch models I’ve been using lately are from Nyl. If you’re interested, there’s a button at the bottom of this section that links to his Patreon post with the model download. I haven't really changed too much from the base model but the rig so if you do download it, you should be pretty much golden.
Zarya's Debut Progression
So far, the shots I’ve worked on are actually coming out really well. But now that they’re turning out so good, I’m starting to feel that familiar creep of imposter syndrome.
I’m not too worried about it yet, though. Once I start working on the base loops for each shot, I’ll have a clearer idea of where my real strengths and weaknesses are. After I get a solid first pass on those, I’ll probably need to skip a progression week or two and focus on improving whatever feels weakest.
My plan is to take a first attempt at each shot and see where I struggle. If something isn’t clicking, I’ll do a small practice animation focused specifically on that issue before moving on.
The next really hectic part is going to be the intro. I’m definitely going to need to shoot real-life reference of myself acting out the Pharah and Widow dialogue because there’s no way I’ll be able to animate that properly without reference.
Because I don’t want to ruin too much of the surprise of the animation, I’m going to avoid showing every single shot along the way.
With that being said, I’ll probably forget everything I just said and end up releasing a thumbnail of every shot before it’s out anyway—lol. Hopefully not.
Next A Rotation Tasks
For the next A rotation, I’m going to focus on refining the rest of the shots I have planned.
Once those are finished, I’ll move on to completing the environment. After the environment is done and I’ve confirmed that all the shots work properly within it, I’ll begin working on the base animation loops.
When the loops are ready, I’ll send them out to the voice actors for dub work.
While I’m waiting on the recordings, I’ll focus on the practice animations I mentioned earlier.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a pretty productive week.
I’m going to use the rest of today and Saturday to mentally reset and get back into animation mode. I might be slow to respond to messages during that time, but feel free to send them anyway.