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Creating ID animations with ODD Studio

ODD Studio have just completed their humorous new ID animation featuring an overweight astronaut - we caught up with 3D generalist Miklós Polgár to find out more...

ODD Studio have just completed their humorous new ID animation featuring an overweight astronaut - we caught up with 3D generalist Miklós Polgár to find out more...

All images copyright: ODD Studio

Founded in 2006 to produce high-quality 2D and 3D animations, ODD Studio has grown steadily, making progress in the local market in Budapest, Hungary. With their latest ID animation, they are beginning to aim big, focusing more on the 3D animation field to break into the international market and take the company to the next level.

We caught up with ODD Studio generalist, Miklós Polgár, to discuss the latest developments...

Film Credits
Producer: Anna Széles
Account manager: Andi Grósz
Director: Árpád Hermán
Art director: Roland Budai
CG supervisor: Igor Bóka
Modeling: Zoltán Bogdán
Lighting / Shading: Miklós Polgár
3D animation: Bea Ujj
Sound design: Studio H

3dtotal: Thanks for taking the time out to talk to us today. Please tell us a little about yourself.
Miklós Polgár: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Miklós Polgár. Im 31 and I live in Budapest, Hungary. Currently, I work as a 3D generalist at ODD Studio based in Budapest. ODD (Open Digital Dialogue) is an independent CG animation studio. We are a group of artists specializing in 3D animation. We are quite strong at character design, but we produce videogame trailers, CGI and commercials as well.

As a senior 3D generalist and VFX artist I have over 8 years experience in 3D graphics and 4 years in the VFX industry. I started my professional carrier after University as a 3D architectural visualizer. After 3 years, I switched from visualization to post-production and VFX. I have been involved in some Hollywood feature films and Hungarian commercials. I have a strong foundation in photo-realistic renderings and extensive knowledge in particle and fluid simulations. I also lived and worked as a 3D generalist in the UK.

Some elements of the design process

Some elements of the design process

3dt: Congratulations on your work for the ODD ID animation! We thought it was very funny with great animation. What was your role in the production?
MP: Thanks for your kind words. I was the 3D lighting and shading TD and also simulated the smoke and fume effects. This is our companys ID animation. It means we had quite a lot of freedom so we really enjoyed this project. I think this is one of the reasons why people took it so well.

3dt: What software did you use to create your models, and what difficulties did you face?
MP: We used Maya to create our characters and models. Most of the objects are hard surface models, only some parts of the hero character's space suit are non geometric shapes. Our lead 3D modeler (Zoltán Bogdán) has quite a lot of experience, so we didn't face any special difficulties in the modeling part. We wanted to detail the models better than it was needed to for the final viewpoint. We did this to have a choice of almost any view angle and also because of the possible further episodes.

3dt: What software did you use for your animation and lighting, and what issues did you need to overcome?
MP: We used Maya for the animation and mental ray for the renderings. The rigging of the lifter was a unique task, but our CG supervisor (Igor Bóka) solved it quite quickly. For me, the smoke blast simulation was a little bit of a headache because it had to cover the full screen and our camera wasn't so close to the rocket. Also, the timing and speed/acceleration of the blast was important, so I had to play with the velocity and gravity. On the whole we didn't need to overcome any big issues because we used our well working workflow.
http://www.autodesk.com/products/mental-ray-standalone/overview

We wanted to aim on the characters and humor. The environment of the characters is very simple and clean. It was a conscious decision in order to keep the focus on the characters. Our director (Árpád Hermán) and our art director (Roland Budai) wanted a simple, clean, but well-designed art style. I think they made the right decision. If you want to tell a short story and also build up a character in 60 seconds you have to be really focused and effective in storytelling.

3dt: Do you have any favorite moments from the finished film?
MP: My favorite moment is when our hero is recognizing that the rocket is coming backwards and the bucket-lift truck is passing by.

3dt: How many artists worked on the film and how do you find the collaboration process?
MP: Altogether 9 people were working on this project, but in the CG part only 6 artists were involved. Our workflow is very flexible so it was really nice to see the improvement of the 3D models while the character animations were still in progress. It took us about 3 weeks to create the first version, but there was another one-week fine tuning at the end, like amending the animation and small details.

3dt: How has this piece been received? Are you planning on entering it into any competitions?
MP: Fortunately, we received good feedbacks and it's good that our efforts paid off. Maybe we are going to enter it into some competitions, but we haven't decided yet.

3dt: Animation-wise, what other work has impressed you in the last 12 months?
MP: One of my favorite full-length animations from the last year was The Lego Movie. In the short animation category I would say Trojan Horse was a Unicorn created by Techno Image.

3dt: And finally, what can we expect to see from you soon?
MP: We have plans about further episodes in the future, but before that we are going to create a brand new short animation with a totally unique idea and characters. We would like to show that we are versatile not only in 3D and in CG but also in storytelling and character usage. Currently, most of our clients are local companies, but we would like to reach international clients as well.

Related links:

Head over to Vimeo to check out ODD's videos
View Miklós Polgár's Behance page
ODD Studio are also on Facebok
Miklós Polgár's Linkedin profile
Grab a copy of Beginner's Guide to Character Creation in Maya

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