Mini Warriors (2023)

My Role: Start to End of ideation to 3D Production
3D Software: Maya, Arnold, Cinema 4D, Nuke, Photoshop, Substance Painter, Zbrush, Final Cut Pro
Motion Capture: Perception Neuron 3 – NeuronMocap

This project is my 3D animated short film that showcases my expertise in various aspects of 3D animation, including 3D modeling, rigging, lighting, motion capture, animation, compositing, and editing. Originally planned for a six-month production time, I have shortened the story and production time to two months for the purpose of a job portfolio. The story follows two mini warrior toys that come to life at night and engage in a Chinese martial arts battle. Despite being weaker, my black warrior character's strong will enables him to put up a fight against his opponent. The project aims to showcase my art sensibility and technical skills in a visually compelling and entertaining short film.

Solo Project

I single-handedly accomplished the entire project, including tasks such as 3D modeling, UV mapping, texturing, rigging, animation, motion capture, 3D rendering, and compositing.

The Full Story

Once upon a time, there were two miniature warrior toys that would come to life at night to engage in a Chinese martial arts battle. However, the black warrior was at a disadvantage at the beginning of the battle due to a drained battery, which was indicated by a red light on his body. His opponent, the white warrior, on the other hand, was fully charged and ready to fight. Despite his best efforts, the black warrior was unable to fight back and was consistently defeated.As luck would have it, the black warrior noticed a Type C cable nearby and realized that he could fast charge himself using the cable. After plugging in the cable, he entered infinity power mode and became immensely powerful. With his newfound strength, the black warrior was able to stop the white warrior's punches with just one hand and performed a series of impressive martial arts moves. The white warrior was unable to defend himself and was ultimately defeated by a devastating fly kick, sending him flying into a nearby rubbish bin.

3D Modelling & UV

I use software such as Cinema 4D, Maya, Zbrush, and Substance Painter to create the 3D models in bellow. I crafted a warrior character entirely from scratch. The comprehensive modelling procedure lasted for one month until completion.

Rigging

Rigging the Exo Suit was a challenging task, particularly connecting the strength boost component from the back to the forearm. It took several days to determine the correct rigging method, but I'm pleased that I invested time in this phase as the end product's render is remarkable.

Motion Capture

I enlisted the help of my friend Master Jacky Chung to assist with the fight choreography. The film features three intricate fight scenes, and I tasked him with designing all of the moves. To capture his impressive Chinese martial arts techniques, I fitted him with a motion capture suit.

Jacky Chung

fight choreographer

Master Jacky Chung is a self-taught martial artist with over a decade of experience in various disciplines including wing chun, Thai fighting, taekwondo, karate, and jiu-jitsu. With his extensive knowledge and experience, he has become a sought-after fight choreographer and mentor in Hong Kong, inspiring and guiding young martial artists on their own paths to mastery. Through his dedication and passion for the art, Master Jacky Chung has become a respected figure in the martial arts community, earning the admiration and respect of his peers and students alike.

Budget Problem

For my project, I opted for the Perception Neuron 3 from NeuronMocap. This suit works effectively, capturing movements at a rate of up to 60 frames per second, which allows me to adjust the speed of each motion as needed. The motion capture data for Jacky's movements is flawless, but there's a significant challenge. Since two characters are involved in each fight, we require two motion capture suits, each costing $3,999.00 USD. Unfortunately, I cannot afford another suit for this project. As a result, I attempted two approaches. Firstly, I captured another person on camera and utilized Deepmotion AI to generate motion capture data. However, the outcome was unsatisfactory and unusable. As an alternative, I had Jacky fight himself. I transferred Jacky's motion capture data to the character and rendered the scene in VR. Jacky then wore the motion capture suit and VR goggles, ensuring the timing and movements were genuine. Finally, I refined each movement in Maya, resulting in an amazing outcome!

Other Motion

As mentioned above, we have three sets of fight movement..
The short film depicts only one of the three, while the other two are presented below.

Video Production

I am the one behind the camera capturing all the video footage for my short film. Recently, I moved into a new apartment and I've taken the time to decorate my working desk specifically for the shooting. To achieve the desired results, I'm using the Sony A74 along with lenses such as the 24-70 F2.8 GM and 70-200 II F2.8 GM. For video format, I use XAVC S-I 4K 422 10bits. Post-production work involves editing and color grading using Final Cut Pro X.

Compositing

I use Nuke for compositing in this movie, which involved around 10 shots. The entire compositing process took me approximately 2-3 days to complete. During this process, I generated multiple render passes such as beauty, reflection, indirect light, depth map, and cryptomatte, all saved in .exr format to facilitate compositing. In some cases, camera tracking was necessary, including one shot that required 3D camera tracking. To enhance the depth of the footage, I utilized the depth map, and I also incorporated motion blur to all shots.

Reflection

The shot below is the most difficult one among all, primarily because there is a ceramic cup in the scene. The challenge arises due to the character's reflection being cast onto the cup's surface. To tackle this, I created a reflection sequence for the cup in Maya and then composited it in Nuke. The end result looks both realistic and convincing.