THE ART OF

TAKEN FOR GRANTED

MANISHA DUSILA
COMPUTER ANIMATION ARTS

IDEAS AND INFLUENCE MAP

Presented to us where three bio-scientific scenarios by
our client, Dr. Klapper; the effects of the Zika Virus, HIV
or how bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics.
I decided on the last scenario: I believe straightaway
there is a powerful message to be told: do not take
antibiotics for granted, otherwise bacteria will become
resistant much faster than the human race can
anticipate.
Beginning with a mind map, I looked at some ideas of
what I would like the shapes and forms of my bacteria,
antibiotics and the world would look. Initially, I wanted
to go for a clean, polished and professional animation,
but slowly changed my mind.

INITIAL DIGITAL SKETCHES

After viewing the influence map, a few
dozen rough digital sketches were made
(using painting software Adobe Photoshop),
to explore and get down the visions in my
head. The bacteria are simple and organic
yet menacing, whilst the antibiotic is even
simpler and more soft looking, to represent
the good and the bad.

UNDERSTANDING THE STAGES

Here, a small storyboard/diagram is made
to help me better understand the stages of
bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics
better, and to be a visual representation of
my research.

Expanding on designs for the bacteria, theyve

become much more sinister and the recurring
theme are the sharp spikes all the way around.

Onto antibiotic designs, a rounded shape shows

a more friendly character. I did swerve to more
futuristic and robotic designs too.

Now looking at the mutated

bacteria, I wanted to make them
much more menacing and stronger.

Developing the antibiotics more; this time, i

m keeping in mind the capsule shape
throughout.

Environment sketches. My aim is for this animation

to be set inside the body, perhaps in the
bloodstream or an organ, so things would need to
look organic, fleshy and gooey.

Developing
antibiotic
designs.

As the design process went on, the antibiotics

got more simpler.

An array of colour tests. I ended up with choosing number 7.

FINAL
ANTIBIOTIC
DESIGN

Orthographic view

Orthographic views like this help in the 3D modelling stage, as the 2D

drawings come together how the model would look in a 3D space.

Bacteria
development

Some colour tests for the bacteria. I leaned more towards the green theme.

Trying out different hues of green

More subtle shades of green, and on number 3, the eyes glow so much so it leaves residue.

Exploring tail designs; I did end up keeping the original 3 tails.

Tweaking the tails some more.

Playing around one last time; distorting the bacteria to see how it would look
either elongated or thicker.

The mutated and resistant bacteria: I kept them looking similar to their previous form, but the
body is flipped upside down, creating broad shoulders and more snake like tentacles. I
developed number 2.

Some colour tests.

More colour tests, this time with the two types of bacteria side by side, so that they look similar in both theme
and colour.

Environment development

Initially quite a realistic and generic idea; for example this bloodstream.

I moved onto more abstract and sharp designs to keep with the toony feel of the characters

A more developed scene of the environment. I decided it would take place in an organ, such as the intestines,
which are quite compact, tight and fleshy.

Testing colours; I decided this will be the final environment design.

Rough Storyboard

Final characters concept art

Final storyboard

Modelling process

The modelling process begins in Autodesk Maya. As mentioned earlier, the orthographs are used as reference to create
the models.

Adding some colour to the model, but I wasnt getting the result i liked.

Experimenting with glow effects to achieve the glow, but this was quite intense

More towards what I was going for, but not completely. I decided I would UV the texture on
(hand paint and apply the painted texture)

UV MAPPING

UV mapping can be a tricky process, but important nonetheless. The UV layout on the right shows how the model looks flat
packed, and the job is to move, cut and sew edges together, like assembling a box the right way round, in order for the
textures to look good.

After the mapping is complete, a placeholder is applied to show the direction and look of the texture.

UV TEXTURES

APPLYING TEXTURES

RIGGING

Rigging - the process of creating bones, binding them to the skin in order to make the model move. As seen here, this
was an attempt of a smooth curl upwards of the tentacle, but I hadnt binded the skin.

Completed rigs -the rainbow coloured symbols are the joints, and the grid is called the lattice - the lattice aids a
smoother animation. The character also has a spine, and will soon come to life.

The antibiotics didnt really need to be rigged - some basic controls are better.
Some unique controls were created, such as the top half of the head being able
to spin, to individual finger movements.

After rigging, controls are placed. The circles are nurb circles, which allows the joints to be moved better, and the large circle is
known as the master control with controls the entire model.

PIPELINE

Wireframe

Untextured

Textured

Manisha Dusila 2016