Week 40: Clint,Caves and Cous Cous

As if it's week 40...

Well first things first - it's almost time to start work on the other project's i'm helping with, and now that i'm so far ahead with my own this is definitely the best time to start!

I'm going to be helping with animation for Ritchie's project - Let's Find Them Together. And I had the exciting pleasure of rig testing Clint the pigeon!!. I'm a massive fan of Annita's rigs and everything she's learnt this year and once my projects over I want to get back to rigging practice and learning coding!

It's a bloody good rig, and it's useful to get to know how to use it, and it's limit's ahead of animation, it's also a great excuse to play with some PG poses....

Happy Clint

Karate Clint

Innocent Clint

Sexy Clint

Smug Clint

I love Clint.

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In work related news, with all my cameras set up ad life spiralling, i've decided to remodel my cave - the idea of just have a matte for a wall didn't appease me AND when it comes to lighting, actually having a cave type thing for a lot of the shots will be VERY useful for casting fun shadows.

After months of cave /soul searching, I accidentally stumbled upon some really useful videos for quickly modelling and texturing them - to be honest i'm gutted that I didn't suss this out before. For shame.




Soooo firstly, this is was a complete test to see if I could get it to work and what I would need to change. The UV map being the main thing...

I've kinda cheated it and created a 'UV from Camera' - which will definitely save me time from UV mapping the whole thing - parts that won't even be in shot.

I've completely repainted the cave wall based on some Borderland references... there are still a few colour tweaks to make and I need to work out the tiling, which isn't currently going to plan... but i'll crack it...

Borderlands reference

Minnneee

Tweaking, Trying and Too Much Much Dragonball Z

SO In keeping with my mini schedule, i've been tweaking my animations, keeping in mind Sean's feedback. I've also been resetting up my camera's too get better and slightly more 'exciting' angles so the whole thing isn't just a series of mid shots.

I wanted to add a little camera shake for when the pod hits the ground - I already knew how I might approach this, but staring at this day after day has definitely made me less than objective (on weekends atleast), so Youtube was a wise consultation - especially as I wanted to get that 'heavy' effect.

SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE!

Here's the camera shake action for Shot 4/5, and also a camera position tweak on the X-axis to get more of a bearing down angle to make her look a tad smaller and intimidated. 

I could still exaggerate it a bit more but i'm happy with this angle at the moment and I wanted it to include most of the torso - especially as their a close up head shot that comes a few seconds after.

Also been working with the silhouette to redo Shot 13. The main aim was to get better follow through - and it was much quicker to just redo instead of attempting to try and tweak the keys.

I think that once the dance sequence is completed i'll revisit these Shots one las time for final FINAL tweaks (as i'm sure I would have learnt a few more things by the end of it).


NEXT ON THE LIST! BACKGROUND! I've definitely come a long way with these especially after the first draft. I've been tweaking the lines and tones so they don't blend too much with my character. But I also wanted to take some colour psychology into consideration to help create different atmospheres to represent her mood change from the start to the end.

So that's red/green at the beginning for a creepier / unknown vibe, then orange/pink/bue by the end for a much calmer happier tone.

I've got 7 different variations for different shots and once I tweak the textures i'll do a final pass at these for any extra colour corrections - although I could just do these when compositing.

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In non-related final project news art related news... I am still ZBrushing a new bust and deciding on my next venture, i've also finished the Harrys HuHa2 videos and want to start work on an animation practice in TV paint before I flesh out the idea for my credits.

Oh and I also decided to pay homage to the show that got me into all this art malarky... good old Dragonball Z.

I've definitely picked up lots of really really useful Photoshop tips since i've been here, which has definitely helped me be more confident with attempting to paint something like this (even though it is just fanart...)

IBLs, I am confused, I really need to learn lighting

WEDNESDAY = Lighting Day = UNSUCCESSFUL! I majorly need to give myself that lighting crash course to figure out what i'm doing (and why O_O) so i'll be attempting to conquer that on Monday.

I want to work off and develop the things I managed to pick up during going live - so i'm aiming to use an IBL and Direct lighting, unless I find a reason not to :)

I've been looking for videos / examples of lunar lighting, an haven't really come up with what I hoped i'd find, so I may need to be a bit more clever. ALTHOUGH I have managed to nab myself a nice lunar IBL from the good people at HDR Labs

Been attempting to put it to the test and figure out what's going on with life. According to Maya, there isn't much D=

p.s These are all without the aid of direct lighting. I also threw in one of my backgrounds for good measure to see how it might fit.

Main lesson here - actually figure out WHERE my light source is coming from.

MORE PHOTOSHOP TEST FUN

Animation Alliu

I have animation escaping every pore. As icky as that seems I still stand by it.

So i've started making my way through my list of things to do this week, having pretty much completed locking off the cameras (still wiggle room) and throwing together a new previs that is nowhere near as embarrassing as my first attempt ( hope).

There's definitely still work to be done, but I know I needed to do this to see how things are shaping up! It also includes the almost completed track i've had designed for the first half :D


So firstly i'm very happy that i'm still hitting below 2 mins, and there are definitely a few timing tweaks to make - and once I've animated the dance I think i'll know for definitely. But that will need to be 35 seconds max.
Things that need to be done now that i've seen this all together

• Timing tweaks for certain shots
• Reconsider some of the camera angles - I think I can make shots look a bit more interesting, but again I think this might happen during the dance sequence
• Animation tweaks
• Proper staging!!!
• Figure out how to add a 'glassy/ reflective/ fishbowl' effect for when its her first person perspective.

I've also had some much needed feedback from Sean which was very very useful! He likes what i've managed to achieve so far and has suggested a couple of things: 

1. More extreme poses - especially because her character is so stylised. This is definitely something I aimed to do from the beginning (hence the complicated rig), but I think I got caught up in making sure I got the animation right and kinda left that out. So i'm gonna revisit some shots (13 in particular) and tweak that, the dance sequence was also my main platform to showcase this.
2. Silhouettes - By adding a black surface shader to my character I can just focus on the exaggerated poses and making sure that i've got all the secondary movements nailed too.

So this will also be a job for Friday. I should have the dance sequence by tomorrow, i'll also run it by Cristina so she can help me capture it when I head to the Mo-Cap Lab early next week! But tomorrow I want to start blocking the extreme poses and see how I go.

Week 39: That time when I was animating...

More animation! More and more shots.

Like I was babbling on about a few days ago there's still room for revision with these - especially once I get feedback, but as of now (3am) this (almost nearly) concludes everything that needs to be animated that doesn't include the dance - leaving me with 3 weeks to complete that.

I still haven't got the footage from my dancer yet, hopefully she'll have it for me by this week, hopefully i'll also be able to do some motion capture too.

I've got a nice list of things that I now to need to have finished in preparation for rendering at the beginning of July...

• Animate the dance sequence
• Set and lock my cameras for each Shot
• Set the lighting / IBL in each Shot
• Tweak the textures / backgrounds
• Compile all my playblasts for a new previs / animatic (to check timings and give myself a base for the editing stage)
• Final tweaks to animation

I'm planning on getting most of these done by this week and hopefully this will give me a better view of where i'm at, and what needs doing or changing (especially when it comes to camera shots and angles).

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In ZBrush related news, I have sculpted my first head lol. Definitely learnt a lot from doing this and i've already started work on the next one. I want to keep practising (i'm giving myself an hour a day), and with this next one I want to try and create it without using ZSpheres... ha. We'll see how that goes!

SOOOO now that i've 'conquered' ZBrush, i'm now giving myself a proper crash course in Flash (an hour a day mainly for TV Paint prep) so I can be more confident using it, butttt i'd also like the closing credits to include some 2D animation! (Depending on time).

I really like the credits for 850 Meters

AND the ones for Wall-E - I think something like this (more of the story after the actual story) would make a lot of sense for my project (TIME PERMITTING)

If time does become a problem then I think I could probably replace this with some concept art and animate the camera movements. I need to flesh it out a bit more over the next few weeks - and it would probably better to start it sooner rather that later - but as of now it's not at the top of my priority list but its there somewhere :D

At Olly's recommendation i'm following y Harry's HuHa 2 How-Tos tutorials which are hilariously helpful!

GOOD TIMES

Shots, Sugar and Stranglulations

Haaa well, I think it's just really hit me that i've got 8 weeks to pull this all together O_O. 
Definitely feeling more confident with each shot that I animate, and i've gone back through all of them and made some tweaks - there will probably be more to be made just before rendering, but hopefully by the end of the week I will be completely done with everything (expect for the dance).
I'm still waiting on the footage for this - hopefully if this comes through in the next few days i'll still have 3 solid weeks (give or take) to animate this and make final animation changes.
I'm gonna get some advice / tips from Sean and Sushma on how to make some of the shots look a lot less 'jumpy' and more creeping (mainly the walk for shot 9)!

Shot 7

Shot 8


Shot 9


Shot 9 Close Up





Shot 11
I also need to work on cutting down the timings - mainly for shot 11 which is currently 4 seconds too long pfftt.
Working on these and looking at other animations for reference has also made me rethink some of my camera angles. I need to make sure I scribble these down or i'll forget D=
oooo yes and another thing. For all my love of IKs, FK is defo making my life a lot easier at the moment - especially for the walk cycles. I've gone back and reanimated the arms in all the shots so far to work with the FK instead of the IK, mainly to get more control.
Happy Thursday!

Week 38: Scenes, Sculpting and Sleeping

Had a quick catch up with Mark Grindle today for a project catch up and some feedback etc. Was definitely very very useful, and all seems well - although Mark 2 point out that my short was missing a POV - especially from my character - to help the audience better understand the story and connect with my character. He's suggested 2 possible points to add this in: 

1. Once my character arrives on the planet and is nervous
2. After she has finished dancing and is happier

After thinking about i've decided to tweak the 360 turn so it will now be a first person POV - the audience will be looking out into the environment through my characters eyes (so they will see why it's so un-nerving) - I'll give the landscape a greeny/red menacing haze. I'll then do a similar take after the dance - again the audience will be looking through her eyes at the environment, and this time i'll make sure the tones are a lot calmer and brighter - very 'sunsetty'. Already just thinking about it I think this will add another level of depth to my production. ALSO means I don't have figure out how to create a 360 matte O_O GOOD TIMES!

ZBRUSH UPDATE:

Yet ANOTHER programme for me to be ridiculously slow in haha but I know it comes with practice - i'm currently modelling a bust! I was originally attempting to scultp Anna Paquin buuuuttt remembered I needed to WALK first so doing a practice head first based on memory but still using her for anatomical reference.

It's going ok so far I think... although forgot that Perspective view makes things look different so I need to tweak things (completely changed the head shape forgetting about Perspective view :( ).

Aiming to FINALLY have this finished by the end of the week. I'll then probably create another one - a male head but not using ZSpheres, i'll start from a sphere/cube instead and manipulate.

I've DEFINITELY learned how to think in 3D and apply my Photoshop techniques to this - It feels like i'm painting, and I think that's definitely helped me pick it up quicker.

Speaking of Photoshop, i'm still picking up new things an attempting different styles - mainly for colouring. I've successfully learned how to use and abuse the various colour adjustments.

Nux (Mad Max)

Rogue (X-Men)

Keen to start using TV Paint (post ZBrush success), in the mean time i've been looking a lot more 2D animations to pick up inspiration and to just general enjoy - especially if it reminds me Evangelion and Gundam...