Final Animatic for ''X vs. Y'' project

https://vimeo.com/60746987 - link to video of my animatic

Screenshot of animatic

I am posting the final edited animatic for my animation. I had to re- do it because my story changed, however I have kept the previous animatic so you can see the difference.

However, I have not updated my storyboard because I felt the animatic is already an updated storyboard, and there is not much changes from the original storyboard.

Storyboard Page 1

Storyboard Page 2

Credits Font

This is not a huge decision to consider but I just wanted to show how I chose my font and I think it just helps bring my animation to a complete finish.

So below is the different layouts, fonts and colours I experimented with. I did not experiment a lot but having these different options helped me to make the opening and closing credits more attractive.

http://www.dafont.com/jesus-garrido.d4577

I did like where I placed the font above the objects but I felt the whole composition of the scene had too much going on in the middle of it and having the font at the side helped spread it around so its not so compact.

Above is the font and layout I chose as the opening credits of my animation. I used the same font as my end credits. I think it looks the best and generally more eye appealing. I also chose to stick with the black colour font because adding extra colours was too much on the eye.

http://www.dafont.com/font-comment.php?file=pokemon

Above are two screenshots of the ''pokemon'' type font which I downloaded from the link pasted above. I have shown it in 3 different colours: black, blue & red. I have also placed the text in different positions on the screen to just see how where it would look best. I definitely prefer it placed to the left of the screen because I think as a whole the composition looks much better than the text being placed above the blocks in the scene.

 

The handwritten font which I did in Photoshop using the paintbrush tool, does fit with the concept of the animation as it is cartoon like, however I prefer the ''pokemon'' font that I downloaded.

This is because I think the thickness of the type helps give my animation a bold opening scene and grabs the attention of the audience in the first few seconds.

Animating my Character

Video link:
 https://vimeo.com/60548523

Above is a screenshot and link showing me experimenting with how my character is going to move.

I have shown that since my character has springs as legs, these springs will allow his movement to be similar to hopping around.

The short animation has my character moving around. I have done this so when I complete the full animation, I have an idea already how I want the character to be animated.

My Character's Faces

Shocked face (Blue Character)

Angry Face (Blue Character)

Happy Face (Blue Character)

Dead Face (Yellow Character)

Happy Face (Yellow Character)

UV Editor

Above I have posted my character's facial expressions that I have used. I have kept them simple because it made it easier to animate and also render when the time came.
The UV editor helped me draw the facial expressions in the right position so when I added the texture layer to my character, it was already in the right position. These expressions are simple and communicates to the audience easily.

3D Animation Crit Session

 On Monday afternoon this week, our group had a crit session a week before our submission deadline, where we each looked at our animations and gave our opinion on them.

Below I have listed a few tips that I was given to do for my animation:

• Add sound
• Make the character that hits the blocks actions smoother
• Slow down the movement of the blocks falling a little as they drop suddenly

Some of the crit comments

Since then, I have re-animated again, however I made the animation too short and keying the character's and objects' actions again will take too long and not leave me enough time to render. I have rendered the re-worked animation to show the difference between the first and last. I think the second animation has certain areas which are animated much better than the first animation, and vice versa.
The main reason I have not tried editing my existing animation is because there are so many actions going on at once such as the character hitting the blocks and the blocks falling to the floor, and these actions are timed well so they are in sync. It would be very tedious to re-key the actions and I do not have enough time to re-do it again. However, I shall experiment with editing the key actions in another file and see if there is an improvement.

Changes I made to the re-worked animation:

• increased the size of the blocks so there was less but the effect of them being overpowering was still there, which I liked. I was given a suggestion about reducing the amount of blocks but scaling them up. This was one of the factors that worked much better in the re-worked animation.
• made the character building the block tower take longer to pick up the block to emphasise the storyline.
• gave the yellow character more expressions in the animation and enhanced the effect of it hitting the blocks and rolling off.
• I added more rocks which the yellow character trips over because it made more sense than one rock being placed right next to the blocks, this way it adds to the storyline.

My Plan:

I am going to try re-animating it again for the 3rd time and keep the changes I liked, however if it does not look better than my first try, then I am going to add it to the pile of things that did not work. I also need to search for audio to make my animation complete. Though each time I re-animate it, the problems I encountered previously were much more easier to solve and I decreased the time it took the first time to animate it. So overall, it is becoming much easier to operate Autodesk Maya.

Michael Jackson ''Scream''

I am going to talk about the techniques that could have been used to make this video because I could try and apply it in my future projects and videos. Especially experimenting with opening sequences.

This could have been done using any 3D software and using the text function in it. Software like Autodesk Maya or Cinemax 4D could do text like in the image shown above. I like the metal like look of the text and the way it splits open to start the video. It  is a simple way to open a scene but it works and helps grab the attention of the viewer.

Here, in the two images I wondered whether it was 3D generated set or a built set, I was informed that it is both. The reason it is more likely to mostly be a built set is how the set is lit and a considering when this video came out, 3D software was not very advanced. There is definitely some compositing (layering) effect done to combine the video shot in the tv in the image.

In certain scenes from the video, they probably had a rotating room while the camera stood still which could make the characters in the video look like they're upside down.

This is definitely a 3D generated space ship, either way with the time it was done, this spaceship is alright. It does not have much detail but it didn't need to, it is just to help set the environment or scene of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6gTS8rWNyk

Michael Jackson ''Smooth Criminial''

I am writing about Michael Jackson's music video to Smooth Criminal because I want to raise some points. I am going to talk about these screenshots below.

I assume from this scene in the music video that it was done with a fan and a smoke machine with Michael standing directly in front of the light and maybe a diffuser used to soften the silhouette shadow. However, it adds dramatic effect to the video because it is where Michael opens the door to the nightclub and this helps set the scene for what he is going to face in there.

If you watch the video more attentively, you will notice how lighting is used to set the different moods and highlight the action going on in certain scenes. Like the image above has Michael walking through a dark alley, the moonlight is enhanced to look blue so it works nicely.

Below is the screenshot of some characters from the nightclub and they are light more darkly, but not so dark that you only see their silhouettes but light enough that you can understand what they're trying to express. I would like to find out how this technique was done, though the blue background window could be the light source.

The two screenshots below I added because as I mentioned earlier, the blue background could be what lights the characters behind Michael. I am quite sure that Michael is lit with a spotlight directly above him but the light is probably not on flood setting so it does not light the characters behind but emphasises Michael being the main attention here.

Colin Chilvers was the man who was in charge of the special effects. Overall, I think this is a well-thought out video with scenes that keep your attention throughout. With the way it was edited, each scene is cut in a way that as it plays there is always action going on already in the following scene or characters walking into the scenes, this keeps the video active and interesting and helps carry the story along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceU4ANZKdOM

Texturing in Maya

Rendered image of texturing applied to objects

I quickly made this pattern image in Photoshop so I could use it as a 2D Texture to understand how you can make your own pattern or design to go on your character

This is done based on our Texturing lesson on Maya.

I have shown the different types of texturing in this screenshot

1. Shader Appication
2. Procedural Texturing
3. Non Procedural Texturing
   
4. Bump Map Application
5. Alpha Application
6. Glow- done

Model Animation

Model Animation can be described as stop-motion animated that is combined with a live-action animation. This includes some film editing effects such as matte, split screen and intercutting effects. This is done to blend both animations together, I have used the example of Jason and the Argonauts. As you can see in the image below, the statues move in the clip and their movement is similar to how object/figures move when animated in that way.

I would say that this type of animation is interesting to me because I could learn some new ways of blending different techniques of animation together and learning new techniques in making it look realistic and smooth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q17dl_aUNf4

Principle Exercise: Pendulum

These are just screenshots of the Pendulum exercises that were set in the lesson.

The above exercise was to make the motion more pendulous. I found this very confusing at first to get the motion to look good by tweaking the graph and changing the key numbers.

The bottom photo was an exercise to make the pendulum swing and get the motion of it moving, as when it swings to the top it speeds up coming back down.

Overall, I had to be patient and take the time to complete these exercises in my own time because then I could keep re-doing it over and over again to get it as right as possible.

Pixilation Animation

The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb is about a baby is taken by a genetic lab and must find his way back to his father. This animation is created using stop motion methods.

It used Pixilation which consists of using live humans as the stop motion characters. Using live humans instead of clay figures is just another way of exploring stop motion. This short animation I found very dark and gloomy. I would say that the audience was not aimed at children due to the scenes shown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3YKBOkfmbU

A recent example:

Another pixilation animation (Her Morning Elegance/Oren Lavie)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY&feature=player_embedded#!

The Gumby Show (Clay Animation)

Clay Animation is where figures or materials made of clay or a malleable material is animated and produced as a stop-motion piece. There are various ways of making these figures, to make them easier to adjust and move, a wire or armature is used as the base outline and the clay is covered over it. This armature or wire allows the artist to move the figure to their needs to express the character's emotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5AD32D3Dyk

Screenshots from Gumby Adventures: Gumby's Circus

After watching this short episode from 'Gumby Adventures', I think that the animation quality is really good, the character's movements and expressions have been executed nicely. The props in the scenes are really interesting to look at because the details have been considered well and it looks good. The camera angles are being varied with extreme close-up shots and wide shots to keep interest and add variety. The main characters have been kept simple with the body and face having simple features. In the circus scene, the audience are very detailed, I like that they have made them detailed because it adds realism to the animation.

Ball Drop Exercise

This is the exercise where one ball has the squash and stretch effect while bouncing. This was not hard to complete. I found adding the squash and stretch effect confusing, and kept re-doing the keyframes to get it to look right. I think my attempt here was good. I made the other ball bounce like a tennis ball that's been dropped to the floor.

This exercise was to make the ball bounce but it also had to look realistic. This required me to adjust the graph after adding the keyframes, doing this helped to give the ball a better bouncing effect.

Beat Chameleon Promo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dok9Z2U0uMU

''Floor Gangz UK re-unite in Norwich, UK and collaborate with Strife TV for a Beat Chameleon promo. Filmed on a cold and wet Decembers evening by Doy.''

I am posting this video filmed by Andy Ward (Doy) because I enjoy the topic that it is about. It features breakin' with the dance crew 'Floorgangz'. The scenes are clear in picture, with good angles, such as the screenshot of a close up shot. B-boy Mouse blows smoke towards the camera and the dance scenes begin, so in terms of editing I think that helps set the pace.

Though this was filmed on a rainy day as said above in the quote, the wet weather and street lights makes the lighting look really good and vibrant.

This shot is my favourite because the tunnel creates a nice vanishing point and the lights help too. So this location fits perfectly.

There is an effect used as a transition from scene to scene, it is like a morphing effect but done very well because each morphing scene switches to a different dancer, so the editing is good as it keeps the viewer engaged by switching to different dancers. This editing technique is also made easier by keeping the camera in the same place so a fade in effect can be used.

Overall, since the location is outdoors and the director has depended on the lighting provided already, I think that the video has been filmed and edited really well for its main purpose, which is a promo trailer.