Dec/080
2d Animation test
I went into the lab yesterday to start on my pose test for my final project (Intro to Animation 2d). Two hours and 42 drawings later, I had something to show. I didn’t quite finish the pose test, I still need to draw out the last sequence in which the dog springs to life, frolics around and then runs off screen. There are also some sections where I skipped some drawings, such as elwyn entering screen right and sweeping as well as a few of the walk sections.
Some of that was due to time constraints. I wasn’t sure exactly how to approach those sections or exactly how I wanted him to walk. I’d jump to the next section so I could keep the action moving and then I’d approach the walks later.
The timing definitely still needs work, but I like the overall feel. There are some areas where I wanted to have a pause and I just didn’t space out the drawings enough for that to come through (such as when he first checks on the dog. His hand is supposed to hover above the dog for a moment and then he quickly taps it).
So far this is my favorite part of 2d animation, the really rough figuring things out stage. I only have 13 more days until this is due and I imagine I’ll only be in the lab for a handful of said days. Lots to do! I’m hoping to make it in on Sunday, Monday and maybe Tuesday as well. But of course I need to put time into my other projects as well. I’m looking forward to finishing up this semester and having time for my own projects, but I’m having fun.
Nov/080
Wushu animation update
I opened up my wushu animation for the first time since midterms. I had gotten it about 85% finished by the time it was due. As usual, once I had it turned it, I felt burnt out on the project and didn’t much have the energy to finish it. Our teacher has really been encouraging us to keep bringing him updates each week so he can help us refine and finish the animations.
Today I felt the excitement again and jumped on in. I have some sections I need to refine and polish, but overall I felt something needed to be done about the timing. Where I had left off, both jumps felt the same as far as the beats are concerned. There was variation in height and action, but I felt they didn’t have enough contrast. I started playing with the timing of the first jump to see how it would feel. I really slowed things down going into the jump and then went back to “real time” as he comes out of the apex of the jump.
I really think it’s an improvement. Now when I watch it, I think both jumps stand out. Slowing down the timing of the first jump is going to give me a nice opportunity to play up his expressions in that section (now that you can see them!).
To do:
- Work on the first pose and anticipation. Possibly a transition A to B pose of him getting ready to move (cracking knuckles, stretching sorta thing).
- Fix the intro/outro of the second jump. The timing feels off a bit.
- Work on the last “hop”. Doesn’t feel right yet.
- Refine expressions and hand poses.
- Offset keyframes after everything else is done!
Here’s where I left off:
wushu midterm
Adjusting the timing of the first jump:
wushu refinement 01
Hmm, a bit of funkyness with PodPress. I’ll have to get that sorted out.
Nov/084
Workshop Sketch
I felt rather productive at tonight’s workshop, I got a nice start on an environment sketch. I want to clean it up a bit and populate the image more. I also did a quick robot sketch when I got home.
Oct/081
A fairytale painting
Finally had a day off today, it was wonderful. I spent it relaxing, buying coffee, talking with maiki and going to a wacom workshop at school.
I didn’t get any homework done today, but during the workshop I did start a painting. I’ve been hoping to use the wacom workshop as a chance to do some quick speed paintings, but today was the first time I was able to (previously I had too much homework). I was flipping through one of my art books before the workshop and was digging the forest images.
Here’s what I have after two hours. I have lots of ideas on how I want to proceed with it, but regardless I want to keep it loose. At the moment though, mainly I think because of the linework, I think the house stands out a bit.
Jul/080
Two Sketches – Cloud World and Friend
I had the energy to draw today, that was a nice change. I typically have so many things I want to draw, I can’t decide what to work on. I decided to try and do some quicker sketches that I can come back to later. These are my first two.
The top one is from the Cloud World universe, the bottom image doesn’t have a home yet. It almost looks like it could be underwater, though that wasn’t what I had in mind. I’m thinking it’s a jungle area with a lot of plant growth and a dense atmosphere.
May/081
Skyships and Tech Chips, A Comic To Be
The final for my perspective class was to take some written material and turn it into a three to four page comic. I really got overwhelmed with my other finals and didn’t get as much done as I’d have liked, but here are the page roughs.
I based the comic off of a story, Skyships and Tech Chips, by Tim set in the Cloud World universe.
I focused on one small section of the story to make it easier on my self. It was an interesting exercise, taking someones written material and creative ideas and making my own interpretation. I have a lot of other projects I’m working on right now, so for the moment this one is set aside, but I do hope to revisit and finish it.
May/080
Animation Final, A Work In Progress
I’m just about done with finals week, I’m finishing up my perspective piece tonight (a three page comic) and then I’ll be done!
I turned in my animation project on Monday and got some nice feedback. It’s still far from finished, I unfortunately got way distracted by Lord of the Rings Online. I like where it’s going though and I’ll be finishing it up over the next week. In fact I’ll be working to have all the animations I did over this semester polished by June 30th, the deadline to submit demo reels for the Fall ’08 Pixar Class.
[display_podcast]
The premise for this animation is a businessman sits down at a park bench to eat his lunch, when he notices a group of pigeons watching him. He gets nervous and transfers to another bench, for a moment feeling safe, until he realizes there are even more birds in that area.
I have the first section blocked out, I need to add in the second bench section and then refine all the keys (as well as adding the pigeons and lunch box).
Apr/080
Rooftop Jump [wip] update
I’m just about done with the blocking stage for this animation. I still need to block in the character kicking open the door and also running off screen. Then I need to add a few sections, him scanning around, making the decision to jump the gap etc. I also need to tweak the run cycle so he has a bit more weight.
[display_podcast]
Apr/080
Rooftop Jump [wip]
Our current animation assignment is to have a character jump over something. We have complete freedom to choose what they jump over, I went with the rooftop idea. This piece is a short exercise in a more action oriented direction. I wanted to emphasize that idea, so I’m doing a sort of rooftop chase sequence.
So far I’ve just been blocking out the run cycle, this is my first time to attempt one. I spent a good 5 or so hours on the first 7 frames of animation. It took a long time for me to work out the pacing and to get a good idea how far each cycle would go (distance). I needed that information to block out the rest of the steps leading up to the ledge. I feel happy with where it’s at right now and I’ve since moved on to blocking out the rest of the animation. I took a break and did a little scene building as well.
Mar/080
Flour Sack WIP
This was a two week project done for my animation class. I found the flour sack rig rather difficult to work with. It didn’t have as many controls as I’d have liked and some of the ones it did have deformed in unexpected ways.
This idea was to show an emotional change in the character. I’m fairly happy with how it turned out, but I definitely have more work to do on it. I’d like to work on the walk cycle, make it more of a slumped shuffle. After getting feedback I also see that I can work on his reaction (exaggerate it more) and add some more movement to his body during the clap.
[display_podcast]
May/070
Creature Modelled
Pretty much finished the modelling on the creature I’ve been working on (theme for this guy was “the freak”). Modelled the low res version in LightWave. Brought it into Zbrush, subdevided it and painted on the details.
Low Res: 222 Polygons
High Res: 3.6 Million Polygons
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