Animator Lair...

So having finished building the lighthouse i decided to add some landscaping, an ocean, and created some floating pylons. So heres the shot so far...

The shader on this is just the default lambert, which to my suprise has produced an arctic feel to the piece. Below is another version with and without the fog applied -

Render time with fog is 13min, without it is 2! The next step for this project is to produce the cinematograhy, this is a particular weakness of mine and something I'm hoping to improve on before my MA. I'm currently working through a book by Jennifer Van Sijll called Cinematic Storytelling. So my next step is to work my way through the book and set up the shots ready to render when i'm back at university studying my MA. I am also currently working through the book, How To Cheat In Maya 2012, and another reason for my hiatus on this mini project. 

Anticipation

So i have started working through How To Cheat In Maya 2012. In the first lesson, going over the basics, we are given a scene to manipulate within the principle of anticipation. The first scene in the clip is the file as we recieve it. This shows brilliant timing and spacing, as well as present us with a clear example of anticipation. In the curve editor we are asked to manipulate the tangent at frame 50 within the curve editor, to investigate what changes. 

In the second scene, we see that by decreasing the tangent space at frame 50 (in the squad and stretch blend shape) so it just exceeds that of frame 38, we create a curve that eases in and out fairly even. Now, because the timing and spacing of the movement has been manipulated, it changes the gesture of the anticipation, and therefore has changed the characters thought process (the thought process happens just before the anticipation of the jump). The jump now communicates a more confident jump. This is a result of the extended time the object spends in its squashed position, unleashing more energy toward next storytelling keypose (the action), and communicating that the object thought that it would need more intensity in the motion to get over the wall. A positive offset of this is as the object enters the reaction stage, i feel the timing of the first cooldown pump is better balanced to the timing and pacing of the whole piece.

Now, for the third scene, i pulled the tangent along the Y-axis (as opposed to the X-axis previously), the result was an inverted curve (incomparison to the previous), which would again give a fairly even curve with regard too the easing in and out of the curve, but this time rather than allow extended time being squashed, gave entended time in a stretched position. This result produced a 'second look' by the object during the anticipation gesture. This communicated that the object was nervous, skeptical and unsure - unconfident - about making the jump.

Considering this was the first lesson of the book, i am quite impressed with how manipulating one tangent in the curve editor could have such an effect on the characters thought process. It's a great example of how timing and spacing can influnce the gesture and thus narrative.

Animators Lair...

In the spare hours iv been able to spare here and there since I've finished university i have been trying to keep my modelling skills fresh before working back into animation. Here I've been creating a victorian/steampunk-ish fantasy animators lair at the top of a lighthouse. I've still got much of the outside to complete, and then finally the cinematography to produce a walk through. Until its complete, heres a little taster of where I'm at, and proof i have actually been doing something with my spare time!

Update - Placement

So i've been on my placement at Bournville College assisting in the teaching within the Art department. It's been an interesting experience. Theres a couple of things i'd push to develop more of - and i know the tutors have being trying (and much too their frustration) - but the students are struggling too mentally enagage. If i was a journalist i'd proberbly label this 'Pass-Culture'. It's all about just passing the criteria for most of them. Suprising, as i've said to a few that to just pass wasn't even an consideration during my time there. It was all about chasing the distinctions. So i think what i'd do at the start of the course, after the inital induction, is a crash course in photoshop (the pen tool) and creative idea generation. For a week, one in the morning, other all afternoon. After helping the students generate ideas for a gurilla ad campaign - at times it was like pulling blood from a stone - many had no idea how to best create them digitally after. This isn't a criticism, just an obsveration, and something im going to be conscious of when i start my PGCE in post compulsory education after i have taken my masters degree.

Anyway, i was also given the task of creating the nameplates for the college exhibition. I came up with the following design - 

As you can get the theme was periodic tables with a simple CMYK colour scheme to tie it into the Art and Design aspect of the courses presenting. The final layout was one of the squares above placed to the left side accompanied by the students artists statements too the right, the width just under that of an A4 page. I will try and get these released once the exhibition goes live and im given the okay 

I'm at the D&AD New Blood Festival tomorrow, as one of the students presented their work through Nottingham Trent University Multimedia course. My profile can be found here.

Exhibition Pieces & The Next Step

I have been very busy over the last few months - Firstly getting all of my assets and work produced for the exhibition and accompanying catalogue. The submissions can be seen below. Following my graduation i will be enrolling on a masters course too further my research project. My current idea are to expand and explore further into the animators relationship with performance, using the platform (as found in my third artefact) of smiling. I am hoping to explore subtext and anthropomorphism in this area - particularly in primates (see post > Smiling, Real, Fake and Chimpanzees). When i have officially graduated, i will be uploading my Viva Voce, the presentation i submitted at the end of my research project. I have also been selected to represent the course at the D&AD New Blood Awards. Following this course, i have been accepted onto the PGCE in Post Compulsory Education at Wolverhampton University, so the next two years look tied up!

These two images are currently on display at the exhibition on the walls. They are also printed on my business cards (will are due to be changed ASAP).


Showreel - 



Lunch Short - 



Feel Good - 



Videos that can be found on my page at the exhibition. 

Artefact 05

For the fifth artefact i wanted to take everything i had learned in the previous artefacts regarding performance, animation and staging, and write my own piece and produce this without the influence of sound/dialog as a starting point. Using the Chaplin/Wisdom silent comedy as influence, my intention was to create a piece that would communicated a convincing performance - and in response to my research question, a convincing lie. 

The focus group response was positive. The important reaction that i was looking for was the laughter during the gags. For me, this is evidence that the piece was being engaged with, meaning that the performance and believability was successful. For this piece i was concentrating on timing and spacing, particularly between pose to pose - with clarity in the story telling poses, and focusing on weighting and curves of the motion. I also animated both characters solidly all the way through, total frames of 2850. However there was feedback on some elements which will need more development. 

Firstly, there was some overaction - sometimes the rig was being stretched too much. There was too short of a gap between action and reaction so more spacing is needed. Then through the course of the piece there was a changing in pace that was sometimes too quick, and some softening is needed. At the end there needs to be a change in the pose - his back needs to either be further down or further back. Also more clarity of the senario - a half eaten sandwich or some other sort of visual clue - perhaps a flask. With regard to the sound, the repetition in the 'shock' moments shows how they relate to the sound source. It was felt the character could have had the hand over the mouth - with the piece being silent, there is a relationship issue between  gesture and sound, and gesture and energy. It would therefore appear that having one less sensory from the audiences perspective strengthens the importance of the relationship between them and the performance of the character - through the articulation and accuracy of gesture. This may seem like pretty obvious stuff - the character's performance should always be at its best - but in exploring the processes for understanding the relationship between the animator and his role in the interpretation of reality into performance (in this case performing lies), has produced results that not only identify the issues that arise in this centrally, but also how they work and affect the wider areas such as sound, cinematography and the audience. Understanding all of these areas has enriched my own skill as an animator and how i will negotiate any future relationships with directors and production managers as a result; this through understanding the issues associated between them. The very process in which i cultivate animation has been fundamentally changed. The evidence of this can be seen through the improvement of my animation, staging and performance through the course of the artefacts.

Client Project Submission

Here is my submission for this years Young Creative Network. All the design, modeling, animating was my own. The sound effects were sourced from various free sites. The music was taken from www.danosongs.com and the voice over was courteous of the wonderful Sophie Merriman.

For the submission for university i think i will be brushing up some elements of the animation further. The arc of the wrists and the action of the hands and fingers can be improved on the second yawn. In some instances the pose to pose stands out a little too much, meaning the animation becomes too 'beat' obvious and loses fluidity. This may be down to the timing between each thought being fairly close in the frame consumption. The positioning at the end for the hands could also be improved as they appear to look like stumps.

Had i had more time (and bigger budgets for render farms and texture artists) i would have had the character transported to a tropical island as opposed to the impressional one i have created on the same set.