Ali @ba1b-ali - Tumblr Blog

Mystery project: redo

After the (somewhat traumatic) loss of my mystery project, I felt that it was important that I re did the project as best I could so that I would still have something to hand in, as I understand it this part of the project is fairly important as it embodies many of the skills we have learnt across this unit.

learning from my mistakes, instead of using RoughAnimator straight away i first drew the rough frames in procreate and then exported the PNGs of the frames into RoughAnimator to tidy them up. While the Procreate animation tools are quite rudimentary and not advanced enough for a project of this type, even with crashing I have never lost any artwork from Procreate, so it felt safer as I knew I would have the frames safely stored this time.

as I had to rush it significantly more than I did before, I am less happy with this outcome than I am the original as it is less polished and also incomplete, but I didn't want to spend more time on this than I already had, as I was aware that I still needed to tie the rest of my work together and this had significantly set me back.

I do think that considering how quickly I produced this work the outcome is better than expected, so I am not entirely unhappy with it but I wish I was able to hand in the complete version I had before.

#flour sack #animation #roughanimator #procreate #mystery

Mystery Project: everything went wrong

I had been working on my mystery project over the course of a week, using both the lecture recording and the reference material I had found of the cat to help me. I was nearly finished working on it when all of a sudden I lost all of the frames I had; they completely disappeared and the only evidence I have of them ever existing is this video I took on my phone when I was still doing the rough animation.

initially, I opened the project to find that a few random frames had disappeared, which I thought was odd but I just started to re-draw them as I figured it wouldn't take too long. but as I started to draw new frames, others started to clear too, leaving me with blank frames where there should have been drawings. I decided to close the project and re start the app. when I next tried to open the project, it would crash every time, until eventually I managed to get it open, but every single drawing was completely gone and I only had the background left in the file.

frankly, their disappearance is somewhat of a phenomenon, seeing as the app automatically backs up the data from your projects into iCloud, but when I checked this file the frames were no longer there either.

I got in contact with the app's developer via email, who said that if the frames weren't in the back up file then unfortunately there was nothing he could do. personally I think it is more likely an issue with my iPad than RoughAnimator itself, as I have been having issues with crashing lately, possibly due to low storage on my device, although not loss of work.

while I knew it would set me back a great deal, it felt important that I redo as much of this project as I was able to in the time I had, which was less than a week before the deadline.

mystery project.

for my mystery project I decided to do my first ideas on my script, as I felt I would be able to convey a range of emotion this way and the outcome would be fun and engaging.

IDEA 1

EXT. (LOUNGE, DAYTIME)

FLOUR SACK tip toes towards a sleeping cat

Suddenly, the cat jumps up and runs away, FLOUR SACK slumps, disappointed.

this did also mean that I would need to find source material to refer to concerning the movement of the cat, so that I can get it to be as accurate as possible.

this video that I found on YouTube was really helpful, as it shows the cat walking, running and jumping at different speeds. it also slows down over parts of it which made it easier to pay attention to the various parts I would be animating.

I did initially ask around my friends to see if they had videos of their cats running or walking, but no one I asked could find anything, however I think the fact that this video is clearly made to be used as reference material means that the footage is more appropriate for this task anyway.

#mystery #cats #reference #research #Youtube

Treasure model

This is my completed dagger model which I will then texture and UV map later on. I wanted to keep it fairly simple seeing as much of the detail of the object comes in the next step, so I just stayed true to the outline of the design, which I put into an image plane so I could stay as true to the shape as possible.

I created the majority of the dagger by manipulating cylinders, and added the crystal ball handle detailing by simply adding 2 spheres. the majority of this process was relatively straightforward, although I did encounter some issues with creating the half moon shape at the top; it was quite difficult to get it to the exact shape id done in the drawing using the techniques I have acquired in Maya, so I used the soft selection tool to shape half of it as closely as I could get, which I then cloned and flipped to create the whole shape.

I'm quite happy with this progress so far, as it adheres to the original design quite well which I think will improve with added colour and texture.

One thing I did have trouble with was creating a turntable of this object, as for some reason the object would glitch out and destroy the dagger entirely every time it happened, and wouldn’t revert even when I pressed undo. Thankfully I had saved my work shortly before trying this, so I was able to get back most of my progress. I tried to create a turntable multiple times and it wasn’t working, so in the end I did a screen recording and panned around it myself.

Treasure rough design.

after thinking about what I wanted to make for my treasure scene, and considering the details of sentimental elements, I decided that I would use the 'treasure' of my own that I had found to influence my design. I then created a rough conceptualisation drawing using Procreate as a design that I would then take into Maya.

I decided to create a dagger, influenced partially by the earrings, and coincidentally would also be a welcome addition to the treasure scene as a whole - it wouldn't look out of place.

I used a combination of blue and yellow to highlight some details, the pentagram in the centre, as inspired by my pendant, and the moon phases on the handle are supposed to look like they are glowing within the dagger, while the blue spheres on either end of the handle are intended to appear crystalline and therefore reflective. I did my best to visualise the metal and wood textures of the object so that I can mimic this in my model; while this is only a rough drawing I wanted to get down as much information about the object's appearance as I could so I can refer back to this later.

i am happy with this design and i think that it will carry through quite well to the treasure scene. the challenge now lies in recreating this model in Maya, whilst getting the textures and colours right.

Treasure

in order to start thinking about what to make as my piece of treasure for the treasure scene, I thought about the kinds of things I consider to be treasure for myself. i scanned around my room and several things stood out to me.

firstly i have a pentagram pendant that i keep pinned to my wall. i’ve had it for years and i like to think it brings me luck.

secondly, a clear quartz crystal tied to a dream catcher. this was a gift to me from my grandmother who brought it back from a trip to northern Canada. i believe that crystals contain energy, and we can tune in to the energy of specific crystals to help us in balancing our own vibrations and energy, helping us in our daily lives. And even if this is a myth, I think we can use all the help we can get.

next is a pair of earrings i made that went wrong. i was making them for a friend but they broke in the process and are too small. i kept them because they are still wearable, and she has the similar pair that I made which i think is nice.

finally is a collection of my favourite colours in the form of pantone postcards. colour has always been important to me in my work, so if anything it is a reminder to consider this when creating my treasure for the scene.

the reason i have considered the sentimental value of certain things that belong to me is because in many animated movies, something that is considered treasure doesn’t necessarily just have monetary value; if it is a significant piece of the narrative then there is often a story to go along with it. For example, Ian in the 2020 Disney Pixar movie Onward wears a Sweater that belongs to his father who died before he was born, and for that reason, to him it is 'treasure'.

Source

Considering sentimental value will help me in creating small or specific details that give the object visual interest, and a meaning to a hypothetical protagonist. even though thinking about narrative isn’t necessarily relevant at this point, I think it is important to still consider this when designing as it would definitely have relevance if working in the industry.

#cg animation #prop design #primary research

Media Language Essay

"An Analysis and Comparison of the Use of Sound and Performance in Two Sequences from Call Me By Your Name (2017, Luca Guadagnino) and WALL.E (2008, Andrew Stanton)"

whilst planning my media language essay I naturally did lots of research into the different areas that I was looking into surrounding the films I had chosen. I chose 2 entirely different films because I wanted to demonstrate how even though they do it in very different ways, they both have an impactful use of sound and performance.

something interesting I found out was that Timothee Chalamet was listening to the song that plays over the sequence I was analysing as it was being filmed, so in my essay I will consider the impact that this may have had on the performance.

I also hope to analyse the lyrics of Visions of Gideon somewhat, as I know there is a biblical reference within the song that mirrors the narrative of the movie.

something I think it is important I consider when analysing WALL.E is the involvement of Ben Burtt, who created the voices of EVE and WALL.E, but also previously worked on the Star Wars films, designing the voice of R2D2, who's iconic beeping language is strangely emotional for a robot; the same could be said about WALL.E and EVE's voices.

#media language #research #essay

Maya Chair Model

above is my chair model I created in Maya. I followed along with the lecture recording to make sure I was completing all of the steps correctly and I am quite happy with the outcome.

the modelling process for this chair I found to be fairly straightforward, although I did encounter an issue with face selection not working properly for me, when I would scroll over individual faces, it would highlight another face entirely. I googled this and found that while other people had encountered this no one could offer a solution. Eventually I realised I was able to use face selection if I put the model in wireframe mode, which did make the process a little more clumsy but it did at least allow me to continue with my work. other than this I was able to work without hindrance.

another issue I encountered was using adobe premiere to turn the tiff files into an actual video, as it would just say 'media pending' when I tried to play the video. there is probably a solution to this which I will explore later, but for now I found that changing the .tiff files to .jpeg files allowed me to create a video.

I actually quite enjoyed this process, which was a relief as I had expected to find it a lot more confusing than it really was, as generally I find using computers and software like this a lot more complicated. It was also a welcome surprise that my laptop managed to handle the software quite well too, I only experienced it crashing once throughout this process and thankfully didn't lose too much progress.

#cgimodel #3d model #autodesk maya

First Attempt at Maya

after watching the lecture snippets on the VLE, I decided to follow a YouTube tutorial to get used to using the software. the video I watched was made by the official Maya YouTube channel, and I found it to be clear and easy to follow so I used it to create this rocket.

the rocket consists of only basic polygon shapes, and to manipulate them I learned to use the soft selection tool as well as to manipulate faces, edges and vertices. as this was an entry level project, I didn't find it to be too challenging, but it was a good opportunity to start understanding the tools available and the possibilities for their use in future projects.

moving forward I will start work on constructing my chair with a new found confidence and understanding of the software.

Developing ideas

In response to the feedback I received in my group tutorial, I began to further explore the possibilities for my character’s appearance. the first thing i wanted to improve upon was the style of the hat; so I went for a wider brim with a slightly more dramatic shape. As soon as I drew it I felt satisfied with its appearance, so I kept this part consistent through the rest of my drawings. I also used the mirror tool to make my character roughly symmetrical.

first I tried to draw him with his jeans tucked into his boots and without a jacket, using colour initially, but making a copy and using sepia tones to colour it instead. While I did feel this design was more believable as a cowboy, I didn’t feel overly confident in its overall appearance, more out of personal preference than anything.

subsequently, I drew the character again, this time with a long jacket, as this is more representative of a sheriff of that time, but I also kept the waistcoat and neck scarf from the previous design as this uses some of the typical iconography that recurs throughout the imagery I found in my research. Again, I put the design into sepia to see how this looked and I liked it a lot.

after reworking this design I feel a lot more confident in it, and I've decided to use the fifth drawing as my final design, which I will create a turnaround of.

#character design #cowboy

Initial Design Feedback

After my Group tutorial, I received lots of really useful feedback on my initial character design, which I wrote down as shown in the image above. It was recommended that I try things such as different outfits; one of my main criticisms being that he looks far too modern, which is actually true but not something I had thought to consider. additionally, when discussing my own concerns about the colour scheme of my work, a friend pointed out that most of the photos I was using as references were black and white or sepia tones, which made me think about using a sepia palette to colour my character, which could be an interesting approach, as well as lending itself quite nicely to the historical aspect of this brief.

receiving this feedback was really helpful in the development of my ideas and i look forward to experimenting and see what I find to be most effective.

Figure Drawing Workshop

during our figure drawing workshops we quickly drew the the model from the video, similarly to our life drawing sessions, but the aim being more to do with conveying the basic shapes and actions, without worrying too much about the detail. most of these drawings began with a simple bean shape, thinking about the line of action to rough out the pose of the character. eventually we moved on to drawing our own character from our cowboy project in the same pose as another character.

i found this exercise challenging but i also enjoyed translating my own drawings into the actions of other characters, as this is something I'd not thought of doing before and was an interesting way of thinking about figure drawing as well as the way my character might behave. this was my first attempt at drawing my character in any pose other than just standing face on so it was also interesting to experiment with that, thinking about the way in which he might present himself.

this is something i could continue to experiment with and will bear in mind for future projects also, as i found it to be a useful tool and rather enjoyable too.

#character design #figure drawing #drawing exercise

Initial Design idea

moving out of the sketchbook, I started to draw using Procreate. I took my favourite sketch I’d done, and re drew it digitally. from there I gradually manipulated it until I reached a point where I felt the design was fairly strong, and I felt confident in it. I used some images of clothing as references so i could create an outfit that was believable.

overall, I am happy with this design and I think my style of drawing lends itself quite well to the kind of character I wanted to create, however I have a couple of concerns that I would like to tackle moving forward. firstly, I feel that my character at this stage just looks like an average man, and I don’t think it is immediately evident that he is a cowboy, which may mean that some changes in clothing could be necessary. Another concern is that while the crosshatched shading is appealing and a fairly prominent part of my style, when it comes to animating my character, this may prove to be a challenge. for this reason I did this shading on its own layer, so worst case scenario I can just remove it, and the character is still complete without it.

#character design #cowboy

Initial Drawings

after gathering my ideas in the form of a mind map and a Pinterest board I wanted to start on some rough sketches to start thinking about what my character could potentially look like. I tried a few different kinds of people, working with two genders, as well as drawing some other typical iconography that is typically associated with cowboys and the American frontier.

I enjoyed being able to get more creative with my work, and it was helpful to be able to visualise my ideas in this way so that I could start to see what kind of things might work well, versus things that might be less effective.

I think a next step from here would be to start working digitally, to see how i can further develop these images.

#character design #cowboy

Character Design Brief: Research

After receiving our character design brief I decided to start with carrying out some research of the typical iconography associated with the Wild West. I began by using Pinterest to help me gather ideas; I made a board, which can be viewed here, to collect references. Additionally, I wanted to brainstorm some of my own thoughts and ideas, so I made a mind map of sorts to visualise them.

Once I could see all of my ideas laid down in once place I could see that I was going in a particular direction already, although I still want to experiment with a range of ideas first so I can see what works best.

#character design

ball bounce pt.2

this is the result of properly following instructions for the adobe animate tasks. after undertaking this task more carefully, I have created a far more believable ball bounce. it moves a lot faster than my previous attempt, which is good, but is a result of an increased frame rate, which is something else i should have paid more attention to in the first instance. By mapping out the easing of the action as well as the arc that it follows, the action has a sense of weight and gravity to it where it didn't before. I will remember to pay more close attention in these areas going forward, as they greatly impact my work as well as the way I execute these tasks.

A lesson learned.

When I finally found a way of using Adobe animate effectively, I went back to the start of the animation tasks set over Christmas so I could get used to using the software. Above is the first ball bounce I attempted, along with the rough guides I used. As you can see, it doesn’t look quite right. It’s too slow and the timing is a bit off. The key mistake I made was only skimming through the instructions we were given, choosing to use a diagram from The Animators Survival Guide and otherwise making it up as I went along, instead of taking the time to watch the whole video, following the instructions properly. I did it this way because I felt confident enough in myself, and thought it would save me some time; however I was wrong in both aspects. Later, I tried this again but I followed along with the video properly, and (shockingly, I’m sure) it not only looked miles better, but actually took me a lot less time.

Tumblr only let’s you upload one video per post so I will post the other clips in a subsequent post, but the general takeaway from this is that I should definitely make better use of instructions available to me. What with the current COVID-19 situation we’re in the unfortunate position of being left to our own devices for the most part, so it is important that I take advantage of whatever help I can get if I want to be successful in my work.

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