In 2015 I joined Guru Studio’s production, True and the Rainbow Kingdom as a modeler. It was a very different way of doing things than I had previously experienced. The production felt a lot more compartmentalized and assets changed hands quite frequently. There also wasn’t much crossover in the different types of jobs outside of your designation... In short, I remember making a lot of rocks and moving a lot of set dressing around. It was definitely humbling. One of Guru’s best qualities is that they really push to make sure everything is modeled clean and proper. I really learned a lot about proper modeling and rigging from the team and time on that show. It really got me into shape as a professional.
THE WISHING TREE
3D MODELING
The Wishing Tree was a pretty enjoyable part of working on the show. The tree was mainly a set but was also almost a character. Figuring out the balance of organic and and the show’s geometric shape look was an interesting challenge. Another challenge was working with the texture department to come up with how the foliage would work. In the end I only needed to make layers of geo cards. I feel like the real heroes on this show were the texture department. A lot of the modeling was very simple but the assets really came to life when they were textured.
WISHING HEART HOLLOW
3D MODELING
Lots and lots of rocks. Many different modules of different shapes and sizes. The show used a GPU cache set assembly, so these sets were completely modular. It was a long haul getting all the modules together and working correctly but I think it turned out pretty good.
RAINBOW KINGDOM
SET DRESSING / 3D MODELING
This set was one of the largest collaborative assets on the project. The Rainbow Castle and city buildings were all modeled by other modelers on the team. My job on this set was to arrange it into a city. I also cleaned up the geo on many of the buildings and dressings. While not the most glamorous modeling job on the show, it was a really big job.
BARTLEBY HANDS
3D MODELING
As I mentioned, models changed hands quite a bit on the show… I was assigned Bartleby’s changing hands.
I was only on Paw Patrol for a short while but it was a blast for the bit I was able to contribute. The atmosphere was completely different than what I had experienced on True. The team had already done three seasons, and many more still sound like they are in it’s future. The atmosphere was definitely more relaxed. To the outsiders like myself, the paw team always seemed like tightly knit rock stars in a secret club. It was neat to get a glimpse of that. For the couple of episodes I was on, it was mostly small jobs, but ones that required some mechanical designing, modeling, and rigging, which I really enjoyed.
ADVENTURE BAY (TRAP DOORS, ELEVATOR, AND BUFFERS)
3D MODELING / RIGGING / DESIGN
The one major assignment I had was to add working details to the Adventure Bay set and Sea Patrol Hull (which I believe were models done by master builder, Bill Plews). The storyboards called for magnetic buffers to hold vehicles in place, airlock trap doors, and an elevator which would lower an ATV. There were no designs for these parts either so it was fun coming up with what I thought would work with the style. Also coming up with interesting ways for the assets to open, and rig them to function was fun.
