Ivo Grigull

There should be a video palyer here

Download MP4 version here (x264, 16MB)

I am using blender for my personal projects now. Here are some helper scripts that i wrote to help my self while creating my new character rig:

Symmetry Map

symmetrize a mesh and bone weights over the x axis

This script is useful if you want to make modifications to a symmetrical mesh after you have applied a mirror modifier.

Download Script

Blend Vertices

Copy selected vertex positions from one object to another

This script copies vertex positions between two objects. Both objects need to have the
same topology (i.e. created as a copy of the other).

This script is useful for modelling shapes (if you do them as seperate obejcts) to
revert changes to the original mesh.

Download Script

Drawtypes

Set Object Display options (Hotkey O)

I wrote this for convenience to be able to quickly toggle
draw wireframe over solid and x-ray etc.

Download Script

Merge weights to parent

Merge the selected bone’s weight to its parent

This script is supposed to be used in conjunction with the bone heating
appoach. Because the bone heating does sometimes not reach all areas i want,
(for example in the head) i usually add additional child bones and apply
bone heating again. This script can then be used to merge the weights to
the parent bone, to get rid of the extra vertex groups and remove the clutter.

Download Script

Remove from all Vertex Groups

Clears selected vertices from all vertex groups for a fresh start

Download Script

Toggle Armature Layers

Toggle between the first two armature layers of the selected armature with a hotkey. Very convenient when animating, so you can hide / unhide your controls quickly.

Download Script

SoftIK

Soft IK for non stretchy chains.

Download zipped Blend-file

To use the scripts put them into your Blender-Script folder. For detailed instructions see each individual file. Have fun!

All animation for the second Urmel movie is finished. Now i have plenty of time to hone my skills in drawing and keyframing some more. I think i learned several things during the last production. One is to use more video reference and simply strive for more detailed animation, look for strong poses. Will do some exercises for weight and balance too.

Barnyard did not quite bad at the box office and it is available on DVD allready. I compiled a new animation demoreel to look at. You can watch it at my CG Portfolio over at CGTalk.

The other news is that my mother has met a new love on her last trip to australia while visiting her sister there. She decided to leave germany and marry him down under. So for that reason i am kind of thinking about working over there too. Most of our familiy is living in australia now.

I hope you like it…

Die 30 Heimer

Hooray! On thursday i saw the trailer for “Der tierisch verrueckte Bauernhof” (the german title for barnyard) in the theater, before Over the Hedge! Next i found the release date for germany. It is the 5th of October 2006.

New exciting adventures are happening to our hero, the animation dude! Curious yet? Watch the new episode “The job interview”!

Download  as mov (6 MB)

Download as wmv (2 MB)

I joined a sub-blog of “Die Bilderwumme”. 30 people, each showing of some illustration at his particular day of the month. I am number twenty one. You are looking at: the real Mr. Incredible!

Visit “Die 30 Heimer”

There was this guy that i was working with at Omation. Todd Ammons. He was constantly doodleing and was hooked on buying new sketchbooks that he filled out within two weeks. I want to develop some story and characters for my own project. Inspired by Todd (and many other artists) i started my own sketchbook. I think i have 16 pages filled out yet. Probably not a mindblower, but it is for the sake of fun anyway. So here it is: klick

 Time for one commercial here, or two:

 Eric Walls’ Children’s book “The Harbour Light” (just ordered my copy)

Uwe Heidschoetter’s sketchbook “Augenblicke” (limited stock)

No idea what went wrong with that old gallery script thing, it just stopped working one day. So i moved the stuff to Photobucket.com. There are some new sketches in there.

If you like, check out this blog from some of our staff. There is a new sketch everyday.

I also found out that there is a new Barnyard-Webiste on nick.com that has a new trailer and an actual release date (that is earlier than what i had been told before).