The Inner Sanctum 6 - WorkDoc

The Inner Core

In Chapter 4 of the series, we saw how Harry passed the final tests in the Antechamber. After some decisive experiments by a couple of skeletal robots, an obscure alien creature signals from a distance that its human specimen is ready for its final herculean task. A large round door opens under the Vitruvian Ring, and Harry falls to the centre of the phallic sanctuary, into the holy of holies, to the Inner Core of the Inner Sanctum.   

NOTE: You can download a PDF version of this WorkDoc at the bottom of this post. This was made by Andrea, and you can find a complete version of his beautiful project on the Priapus Encyclopedia page.

In the previous 5 chapters of this project, we’ve been able to follow our heroes’ journey into the darkest regions of the mysterious temple. In between these main events, we have also been able to learn a bit more about Harry’s past and how he started his epic quest. In a first flashback (Chapter 3), we meet him as a young student at the university library, right at the moment of his major revelation. In Chapter 5, we follow him again in the past, during an archaeological expedition where he makes his groundbreaking discovery. It’s here that he makes the transformation into the bulky hero as we know him today. 

It took me a while before resuming the project and starting with this last chapter. Although I had plenty of ideas and lots of models for it, I needed some time to find the right storyline and get everything in place for the grand finale. The idea was to finally reveal the mystery of The Temple and end the story with something of a logical conclusion. I hope I didn’t disappoint you with that. 

The settings for this part of the adventure are mainly based on Stonemason’s The Heart Of The East (the round door and stairs), Our Lost Future (the corridor), and Dragon Wraith Tomb by David Brinnen (for the dome of Inner Core). Modifying these models is always the fun part of a project, although in this case, it took me quite a while to get all the settings right. Somehow, each new version didn’t seem to work, but luckily enough, I had a long, rainy summer holiday to work on it. 

The Inner Core appears to be the centre of a strange fertility cult, where creepy alien priests perform a solemn ritual, while Harry is elevated on an altar to the breeding room above. A group of giant muscular servants makes sure he’s ready at the right time for his fertilising task. 

The aliens are a combination of three different models, and they’re assisted by large trolls to handle our hero. The muscular males that emerge from the altar are a very light version of the Colossus model. The original just seemed a bit too big for the task. 

The Inner Core models

Animation 

The Temple animation is loosely based on the series with the same name. It’s an alternative and extended version, with many elements of the first Inner Sanctum chapters.

The animations of the main character are all based on existing ‘motion capture files' from a site called Mixamo.com. It’s a free website, contains a large collection of somewhat random movements, so it’s quite a challenge to combine them into a logical sequence of events. That’s why the first part of the animation doesn’t really make much sense, with Harry just walking, jumping, and pushing around. But it’s great fun to create these scenes, and I think it works very well as an introduction.

In Mixamo, you can select an existing model or upload your own character and apply the animation from a whole range of motions (like combat, adventure, sport, dance, etc.) I then export the animation to Cinema 4D and merge it with the proper Harry model. Unfortunately, not all files work that smoothly. The result is often very jittery, jumpy, or jerky, so many adjustments have to be made afterwards, and large parts remain hidden from few. In the end, with this technique, animating is more about what you conceal than reveal.

The animated T-Rex is a model I found years ago on the internet, and it’s something I wanted to use for a long time. Although the movements are not always very smooth, and it’s a bit of a stretch to add this creature to the story, I still think it’s an interesting addition to the adventure, and it works great as a ferocious temple guard. 

For this first part of the animation, I recycled many settings, so you’ll probably recognise some scenes from previous chapters and other projects. The desert used for the prologue comes from the short Riddles of the Sand animation, and the interior of the building is all parts from the first Inner Sanctum chapters. In the next part of the animation, we’ll return to the even more familiar scenery, that of The Temple series.  

The Temple model

As the creation of these scenes is a bit slow, this part of the project will go on for a while, and I'll be updating this section later on.

Related sections of this project:

• Wallpaper

• WorkDoc 

• Gallery

• Add-Ons - The Temple Guard (Animation and series)  

• Add-Ons - The Temple (Animation and series) 

Chapters

• The Inner Sanctum 1 and 2 - The Corridor of Passions and The Minotaur

• The Inner Sanctum 3 - Revelations

• The Inner Sanctum 4 - The Antechamber

• The Inner Sanctum 5 - Metamorphose

• The Inner Sanctum 6 - The Inner Core

• The Inner Sanctum 7 - Graphic Novel

Back to Collections or Index Page