lost musafir

pixel-pushing, scarf wearing, dog loving kinda gal... with a sketchblog. If you repost my art, please credit me with a direct link to this account!

[lostmusafir]

This lost musafir is gonna try to get back into the groove of sketching, wondering through the creative process, and  creating for the joy it bring me. Thank you for the motivation Kate Sutton, Domestika course.

[lostmusafir]

concept: variety is the spice of life! (inspired by this fun illustration)

process: Taking the quote to heart, I decided to work more in Cinema4D and step away from 2d for a bit. (Although, as you can see, I did come back to 2d in the end :)

I used some of the basic geometry provided in c4d to build the condiment shakers.  I wanted a low-polygon, made out of cardboard, type of look.  So, I reduce the number of polygons to bare minimum and removed the phong tag on the shakers.  I think having the ambient occlusion pass and a subtle textured background enhanced the overall look.

It was fun to explore the particle system (with soft/rigid body collider) in c4d.  It doesn’t have as many controls as Particular or Newton for AE, but I found the particle system in c4d to be intuitive, easy to manage, and pretty powerful.  I also used a free lighting kit from Nikomedia (also, fairly easy to use and powerful). 

[lostmusafir]

concept: just keep pedaling... “It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.” - Heinz Stucke)

process: I wanted to continue developing those GIF skills and build a looping scene.  Overall, I think it’s an effective GIF - I like them way the bike animates and the way the background loops.  I just don’t think it’s a dynamic GIF.  It’s not the type of GIF that mesmerizes the viewers and one that you to watch over and over (not realizing how many times you’ve actually watched it)... Like this awesome GIF 

(I found the bicycle on shutterstock and did everything else in After Effects.)

[lostmusafir]

concept: Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!

process: For this project, I really wanted hone in on the concept of “follow through” and I figured a good practice would be character animation.  So, I found a fun vector illustration on shutterstock; that I was able to separate in Illustrator.  And from there, it was really all After Effects.

I started by animating the feet; offsetting the keyframes for each foot.  Then I worked on the arms (again offsetting each arm), which lead me to the balloon, followed by the head bobble and the the blinking eyes.  I found this chronological method to be incredibly beneficial.  Because once, I had the feet animating right I was able to use that as a base to animate everything else.  (Also, because, I’m ocd and like working in a chronological way.)  The balloon and string were the trickiest pieces!  They are literally connected, but I wanted each to have it’s own weight and personality.  So, I ended up animating them separately - the arm leading the string which lead the balloon.  I just massaged those keyframes, really working the graph editor, to give the balloon it’s bounce and wiggle.

Lastly, I wanted to turn this into a looping GIF.  So, I made sure to have the same starting and ending frame.  And brought the character in and out of the frame from two different positions.  And… speaking of “follow through”, I separated the string even further to give a trail at the end.

[lostmusafir]

concept: monday morning snooze

process: Using only After Effects {my go to tool of choice}, everything was hand done on this project.  From creating the illustrative elements of the alarm clock to animating the individual z’s.  I built everything in After Effects and key framed all the animations.  I put lot of TLC into this project, because I wanted to push my skills as an animator and an asset creator.

I think aligning the animations of each of the different elements was key to this piece.  And I think that’s a key to good motion graphics as well - multiple animations, subtle artifacts in the design, bringing out one main animation…  the 2ndary elements highlight, reinforce, the main focal point of the pieces.    

[lostmusafir]

concept: I just want to use some basic modeling tools in Cinema 4D and practice giving inanimate objects personality.

process: I used the standard built in shapes and extrude tool to make the microphone.  It was the animating of the microphone that took the most time!  And in the end, I do think I was able to give the microphone personality.  Although, looking back on this project, I could have added just a little more by spinning the top speaker section as the entire microphone twirls.  But the weight given to the “be heard” box brings the finale charm that might be missing on the microphone.

[lostmusafir]

concept: summer vacation coming to an end

process: The main feature I wanted to (technically) work on were the “pool noodles” dancing around the screen - and eventually building the sun.  And to create this effect, I decided to utilize the modern approach on cel animation - animate with a 3D software and do some post-production clean/enhancement in After Effects.  I used Cinema 4D’s spline wrap tool and brought the render into AE for some 2ndary splashes and color correction. (Granted, I think the cell shading and color correction could use some work.)  I found this workflow to be quite efficient and effective.  For example, the shine forming on the noodles is a nice touch, giving the noodles some depth.  And the bends on the noodles are really smooth.  It would have been time consuming getting those right using the shape layer tool in AE.

Some of the other elements I focused on were the different textures in the final shot.  I wanted the water to be a little rough and “tumbly”.  As the sun sets, the background needed multiple shades of orange that steamed from the center of the sun.  Hopefully, the blurred edges on the sun help reinforce the setting effect.  And lastly, I added some sound effects to bring home that feeling of summer ending. (Although, I think it’s a little loud.  I should probably bring it down a bit.  So, it flows quietly with the animation.)