Cereal Killers!

This is an ongoing project. It is ~~several~~ many years old. I have set myself a deadline of one year to complete...it will ~~probably~~ take longer but who knows.

The story so far
An innocent box of cereal ventures out into the world of the kitchen only to encounter characters intent on his destruction! Mayhem and hilarity ensues.

The Players

Milk Carton:
The milk carton is evil in the same way that a dog is evil to a cat or the cat to the dog or a cat to a mouse (I've seen cats that are petrified of mice! It's all relative).

The milk THINKS he is evil because that is what he does. He pours himself on the cereal so it can be eaten. He has delusions of grandeur basically. He should come across as evil but silly. You may even feel sorry for him occasionally (think "duct tape"). He should be likable. He doesn't know any better.

Cereal Box:
The cereal is naive. He starts out life as a new unopened (technically unopened) box of cereal that has wandered out of the cupboard to explore the wonderful outside world and on an instinctive level knows that milk and spoons are BAAAD! He generally has a positive attitude though.

Spoons:
The spoons motivations are unclear. Obviously the spoons have more worldly experience since they have more interaction with the outside world but are less interested in being "evil" then in finding a leader (spoons are pack animals and need good leadership). The spoons come across as being less intelligent then the the milk in general but often get the best ideas because of their simple nature. They also seem to be tolerating the milk as their leader purely for something new to do (they had a leader once but he was lost in a freak dishwasher accident.). They are bigots though. They don't like forks trying to join their exclusive group and they don't like their "plastic" cousins much either. They tend to stay within their own caste as well (teaspoons and tablespoons don't hang out much but will work together in a pinch).

TV Remote Control:
The remote control is a loner and a cynic (and a couch potato). He has the most intelligence (he watches the Discovery Channel and PBS) and of course would rather have nothing to do with any of these silly creatures. His involvement is accidental and unwelcome.

Watch the Videos!
Here are some test renders I have been doing as I create and rig my characters. These are very fast tests mostly to get a handle on timing and technical aspects. These are not final. Have not updated in ages... hope to work on it again soon.
9/12/03	Door smack test The milk and spoon have chased the cereal box into a cupboard. They are then surprised by his unexpected exit.
9/10/03	Spoons Carry the cereal test Okay enough with the pouring cereal! Now onto the spoons carrying the cereal box. Not bad for a very rough test.
9/08/03	Pouring cereal using sprites I returned to the sprites route again. I just can't decide if I should go with sprites or rigid body constraints.
9/03/03	Pouring cereal using rigid bodies Test of pouring cereal using layered actions from rigid body constraints. Still not quite there yet. I need to add some more layers of cereal.
8/27/03	Cereal holding toy gun I am testing my idea of how the characters can hold objects
8/27/03	face camera Test of a system to aid in animating the face of my characters. The faces are separate models that can not be animated on the body. I add them to the same choreography as the "body" with aim and orient like constraints to the camera. This way I can see the action and pose the face to match. I then export the choreography action for the face and use it on the face model in a separate chor and render as an animated decal for the body. The face in the right corner is a model that will be the face of the box. It always stays oriented to the camera so I can see it while I animate the body.
8/23/03	group_test.html All of the characters in one place! Now if I can just motivate them to act!
8/22/03	remote.html The TV remote goes for a stroll
8/19/03	spoon_flock.html Attack of the spoons!
8/10/03	milk_dynamic.html This was a test of the new dynamic constraint in A:M 10.
8/09/03	milk_carton.html checking out a constraint system for the top of the milk carton. All the flaps and such proved to be a challenge.