Sketchasaurs – Spinosaurus
Jacob Wheeler creates animated dinosaurs using Grease Pencil and puts them in a 3D environment.
Deinonychus
I’ve been using Blender for well over a decade and have posted my work across multiple websites over that time (including my own portfolio), but this is the first one that really gained some popularity.
All models, shading, rigging, and animation created by yours truly! Used Cycles for the main desk and Eevee for the dinosaur.
Pachycephalosaurus
My next short is here! I decided to keep a similar style to the last one and took some well-appreciated advice from here as to what the “story” needed and didn’t.
Meet the beautiful yet enigmatic thick-skulled reptile from Wyoming. We’ve only recently understood what its namesake was really for as well as how its purpose developed over its life from display to combat.
Tools used:
- Blender 4.4
- Krita 5.2
- Audacity 3.7
- Musescore 4
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus with three species (Cyrtocristatus, Walkeri, and Tubicens), each with a uniquely-sized crest reaching behind its head. These structures almost certainly were display features, but the network of hollow tubes found inside were also found to be perfect resonating chambers, creating a distinct noise for each individual. As well as providing a unique peek into an extinct animal’s lifestyle, it also allows us to make an educated guess as to what the Late Cretaceous forests sounded like.
This one was a fun little birthday gift to myself! I did a lot of work on the shader to make it look sketchier, and even made a little PVC-pipe instrument to make the dinosaur noises. I think this leg of the project gave me a more complete idea of what my computer can handle and what the best pipeline is for the future. There are obviously a few animation blips that I could have fixed (I really wanted this to be a birthday thing), but I overall think this looks better than my previous two shorts did. I’m interested in your feedback, though.
Spinosaurus
This one ended up being a bit more technically challenging than my previous Sketchasaur pieces, largely due to 4.5’s sudden problem with Geometry Nodes, and I didn’t catch that weird hiccup at 0:05 before I had already rendered the shot as a texture, but I do think it turned out pretty well overall. The goal was to find ways to use this medium-within-a-medium style to convey our scientific knowledge of dinosaurs in a unique way, and transitioning between pencil and watercolor was fun to try to work out.
Still a pain, so I’m unlikely to use it again quite like this, but fun nonetheless.
