Introduction to 3D Animation

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Evaluation

After finishing my project & presenting my animation I have got feedback on it. I learned many things in this project, some things that I didn’t expect that I would at the start of this project, & I am thankful for the workshops I took part in that helped me do that. My expectations at the start were to complete the objectives & fulfil the heterotopia animation theme I was tasked to do. I think I have achieved that objective & am pleased. There are a few cons to this project that stem from the problems I had in the animation, one of them being the glitches that made it into the final edit. Had I redone it I would try & find out the cause of the problem & put it right as I felt it spoiled the animation a bit. Another thing that I didn't like in the final edit was the too many shots of the camera moving. I had feedback on this & agree that “less is more” in this circumstance as I feel it didn’t allow the audience to focus on one aspect for too long before changing. One other thing was the fact I slowed down the scenes too much sometimes to the point that it looked jittery. If I were to do that part again I’d reanimate the camera so it was at the right speed so that I wouldn't need to slow it down in the edit.

Overall there are some parts I like about the animate that others agreed on, eg. the camera going into the snowglobe. Other parts I am not pleased with are due to the problems I had in making it. If I were to do it again I would see how it would look like with different camera angles & do still shots in some parts.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Snow Globe Animation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ikplZfQ1bmtpoDoNNjJj7Q0W38Le1XH1/view?usp=sharing

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Making Of Snow Globe Animation (Pt2): Lighting, Animating, Rendering, Editing

After modelling & texturing I set up the scene with cameras & lights ready for animation. I set several cameras so that I can switch easily when animating. I animated & rendered individual scenes on each camera so that I could put them together in After Effects afterwards so I could edit them slightly. This also puts less pressure on the computer I am using to do this as rendering can take a long time & the computer can overheat. I was inspired by Alfonso Cuaron’s cinematic style to show the animation in a more gloomy, serious light as it fits well with the theme of the snow globe story. Because of this, I went for a blue toned light. I also put small spotlights underneath each shelf to highlight each snow globe packaging & to draw the viewer in to make sure that is the object of significance. 

In my animation I used 2 methods of animating; moving the object & translating it with the graph editor. I did have some problems halfway through animating. One of the main problems was that sometimes the moving objects in the view panel to animate them wouldn't work so I had to change to the second method of animating. Another problem I encountered was the glitches that happened when animating the camera & some parts of the buildings disappeared. I managed to fix some of that problem by changing the focus & the range it could focus on. This seemed to fix most of the problems but not all as some glitches remained in the final edit.

When rendering I used Arnold as I found it suitable for this type of project, so I set the render settings up & which camera(s) I wanted to render & set it to render. When all my scenes were rendered I put them into After Effects to which I assembled my animation scenes. I did have to slow down some scenes after realising that I animated the camera too fast so I used time stretch to slow the frame speed. I added in my snow globe story to make the animation come full circle & to conclude the piece. 

As for sound effects I gathered what I felt would be best in a warehouse-like scenario so I added in a fan & an ominous ticking clock to make it seem eerie as you hear this loud ticking in the animation. The fan also served a purpose to make it eerie as I feel that the track sounded like it was an old fan which is an essential thing when making a creepy theme. I also used sleigh bells for the snow globe sound as I associate snow globes with Christmas which could also be the reason why the city inside the snow globe is covered in snow. I went into the attributes of the tracks to make them fade in & out to sync with the animation which I think made it better. I also cut part of the fan & clock sound to transfer it at the end of the animation as if the snowglobe sound only exists inside the snowglobe itself, or when it is shaken. After that I sent it to the media encoder to export is as 1280 x 720 in the format h.265 in best quality.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Making Of Snow Globe Animation (Pt1): Modelling & Texturing

Once I finalised my plan I started on modelling the snow globe & buildings. I wanted to work in 2 separate files to not make the file too big. I started with the buildings first, modelling a few tests before I decided on the ones I liked best to move forward with. I used edge loops & the extrude tool quite a lot during the modelling process as it allowed me to make windows & ledges which made it seem more realistic. I duplicated the designs to make a small city with connecting roads. After that I UV mapped textures onto the buildings using online sources. I alternated the buildings textures between a concrete & brick texture to give contrast to the design. I made sure the texture was facing the right way up & not distorted using the UV editor & checker map (a guide for me to see if the texture will go on correctly). If it wasn’t I corrected it by going into planar UV mapping (or cylindrical depending on what was being UV mapped) & checked either the X, Y, or Z axis to apply onto the object. I found this part particularly tricky as there is quite a few things that can go wrong with UV mapping. There are a couple of ways to attempt UV mapping & when i eventually found out a method that worked for me it was a straight forward process. I used lambert & phong material settings according to what finish i wanted on the texture (lambert being a matte finish & phong a shiny finish).

After being happy with the design so far I started on the design of the snow globe. In a separate file I started with a cylinder & made the base using extrude & edge loops. I then used a sphere to make the glass part of the snow globe. I changed the colour of the sphere to a lighter grey/white & upped the transparency so that you can mostly see through it like glass. Then it was time to import the buildings. I put the buildings into groups in outliner so that the layers would be organised & then I scaled down the buildings group in size so that it would fit into the snow globe. I added a marble texture from another online source & inside the globe on the base I included a snow texture that was a material option in the program. Then I added another program texture as a bump map to create a rough surface like real snow. I did the same but in a darker colour for the road to simulate patchiness (like patches of melted snow) of the road. I organised the groups again so that the empty snow globe was a group, the buildings was a group & an overall group of both so that I can move both at the same time. I scaled it down & finished the snow globe. Halfway through modelling the snow globe I had an idea to make packaging for it too so I began modelling a cube into a box. I used the same technique I did with the sphere of the snow globe to create a see through plastic component of the packaging. I applied textures & text (including on the back which shows the 200 story of the snow globe which I thought was a nice touch).

Texture Sources

Pxhere (2017), available at: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1023628 (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Muangmoon, Pannawat (n.d.), Stock Photo - Modern brick wall background brick wall texturebrick wall texture, available at: https://www.123rf.com/photo_30450000_modern-brick-wall-background-brick-wall-texturebrick-wall-texture.html (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Kues1 (2017), Grunge wall texture Free Photo | Free Download, available at: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/grunge-wall-texture_1034776.htm (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Lost & Taken (n.d.), Scratched And Scraped Metal Texture, available at: https://lostandtaken.com/downloads/scratched-scraped-metal-texture-12/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Safseri (2013), old wall texture, available at: https://area.autodesk.com/downloads/old_wall_texture/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

The Home Depot (n.d.), 8 in. x 10 in. Rogue Off-White Concrete Texture Wallpaper Sample, available at: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Brewster-8-in-x-10-in-Rogue-Off-White-Concrete-Texture-Wallpaper-Sample-2767-24438SAM/305046530 (accessed date: 20/04/19)

Textures.com (n.d), MetalRollup0148, available at: https://www.textures.com/download/metalrollup0148/110392 (accessed date: 20/04/19)

designworkz (n.d.), Vintage Retro Subtle Halftone Texture Backgrounds, available at: https://stock.adobe.com/nz/images/vintage-retro-subtle-halftone-texture-backgrounds/89222727 (accessed date: 20/04/19)

Textures.com (n.d.) AsphaltCloseups0113, available at: https://www.textures.com/download/asphaltcloseups0113/57738 (accessed date: 20/04/19)

Wayfair (n.d), Texture Trends II Flagstone 33' x 20.5" Slate Path Wallpaper Roll, available at: https://www.wayfair.ca/decor-pillows/pdx/brewster-home-fashions-texture-trends-ii-flagstone-33-x-205-slate-path-wallpaper-roll-bzh8249.html (accessed date: 25/04/19)

Murals Wallpaper (n.d.), Electric, available at: https://www.muralswallpaper.com/shop-murals/black-marble-wallpaper/ (accessed date: 25/04/19)

Rawpixel (n.d.), Pastel purple watercolor textured background vector, available at: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/597483/pastel-paint-background (accessed date: 25/04/19)

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Ideas & Development: (Rough) Storyboard & Plan

This storyboard shows how I plan to execute my animation which will guide me in the animation process. This will also give me a guide on how long I should have each scene due to the amount of shot changes in storyboard.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Idea Development: Considering Audio

Audio is a great addition to animation as it can help enhance it or it could be the centre of attention itself. By considering audio I am looking to enhance my animation whether it be a subtle sound effects or a full music track. 

The animation I want to create gave me some ideas to what sound I want to use. I want to keep it subtle, with minimal audio as the animation is the main focus point & I want to enhance it not take away from it. The sound effects I had in mind were a fan sound & a clock ticking, to simulate being in a warehouse or shop to give the area context. Other effects I thought about were wind & sleigh bells as I often associate snow globes with Christmas or winter. 

I found these sound effects that were suitable & would fit my animation:

BerlinAtmospheres (2012), Fan - SOUND EFFECT - Ventilator - Lüfter SOUND, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsN_6eUOtuE (accessed date: 19/04/19)

SoundEffectsFactory (2015), Large Clock Ticking Sound Effect, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeJWiQP-VlY (accessed date: 19/04/19)

Audio Productions (2013), Sleigh Bells Christmas Sounds SOUND EFFECT freesound, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCvTPiKNvt4 (accessed date: 19/04/19)

TheMSsoundeffects (2012), Wind sound effect 1 - gentle breeze, available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A74lbeD1k1o (accessed date: 19/04/19)

My reason for picking these is they are not too short but not too long in duration & I can subtly apply them to my animation as background noise.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Mood Boards: Snow Globes & Buildings

These mood boards show existing objects/buildings that will give me inspiration for my own project. I looked into snowglobe shapes which generally follow the same shape (with a few exceptions like a square stand). As for the building mood board I looked a high rise buildings & American style buildings to give me inspiration for the city inside the snow globe in my story. I am heavily inspired by the New York style buildings as they are tall with many windows that are compacted very close to each other like a towering city. This is the kind of vibe I would like to have for my snow globe city.

Sources

Snow Globes:

CoolSnowGlobes (n.d.), NYC Silver Snow Globe, available at: https://coolsnowglobes.com/products/nyc-silver (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Tasha (2009), TDT Holiday Gift Guide: Tulsa Snow Globe, available at: http://tashadoestulsa.blogspot.com/2009/12/tdt-holiday-gift-guide-tulsa-snow-globe.html (accessed date: 18/04/19)

WorthPoint (n.d.), New York City Twin Towers Skyline Musical Animated Snow Globe see VIDEO, available at: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/york-city-twin-towers-skyline-musical-1782548950 (accessed date: 18/04/19)

NYCwebStore.com (n.d.), 42nd Street Snow Globe 65mm, available at: https://www.nycwebstore.com/42nd-street-snow-globe-65mm/ (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Kader Fashion (n.d.), Berlin Souvenir Snow Globe x 9 cm H B078WVP1YN, available at: http://www.ronniesposhingfernhill.co.uk/berlin-souvenir-snow-globe-x-9%C2%A0cm-h-b078wvp1yn.html (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Handykraft (n.d.), Handykraft Vintage Snow Globe Water Art Glass Paper Weight 3D Resin Great Wall of China Snowball Souvenir Gift Big Size, available at: https://www.amazon.com/Handykraft-Vintage-Weight-Snowball-Souvenir/dp/B07F5KBT8N (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Buildings:

Vintage Drive Restaurants (n.d.), available at: https://airfreshener.club/quotes/vintage-drive-restaurants.html (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Katy Schneider (2018), 13 New York Buildings That Stick Out Like Sore Thumbs, available at: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/07/13-new-york-buildings-that-stick-out-like-sore-thumbs.html (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Charkham, Richard (2015), Below the Grid: Why Some New York Companies Are Moving Downtown, available at: https://knowledge-leader.colliers.com/richard-charkham/below-the-grid-why-some-new-york-companies-are-moving-downtown/ (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Pxhere (2017), available at:  https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1403430 (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Pxhere (2016), available at: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/59716 (accessed date: 18/04/19)

Chamoff Lisa (2019), These Vacant Bank Buildings In Lower Manhattan Are Being Transformed Into Luxury Homes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisachamoff/2019/01/21/these-vacant-bank-buildings-in-lower-manhattan-are-being-transformed-into-luxury-homes/ (accessed date: 18/04/19)

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Workshop: Character Animation

In this short workshop I learned how to animate a character via the controls that control the limbs to move. As the character is already rigged to the controls it is easier to manipulate the body to move e.g. to jump. This can also save time if you were to do an extensive amount of animation.

What I liked about this workshop is I was able to execute it quite well as I was able to understand how the controls worked by moving parts of the body & I managed to animate the character jumping across the scene.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Research: Artist, Designers & Writers

Sources

Eugene & Louise:

Bas, Bulent (2013), Lust For Life Title Sequence by Eugene and Louise Studio, https://www.titledesignproject.com/lust-for-life-title-sequence-by-eugene-and-louise-studio/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Eugene and Louise (n.d.), Pictureka!, https://eugene-and-louise.com/pictureka (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Eugene and Louise (n.d.), Helen's Little School, https://eugene-and-louise.com/wubby-school-1 (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Eugene and Louise (n.d.), Cutie Cakes, https://eugene-and-louise.com/cutie-cakes (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Eugene and Louise (n.d.), Eugene and Louise Bakery, https://eugene-and-louise.com/eugene-and-louise-bakery (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Florian Wieder:

Newscaststudio (n.d.), The Gong Show, available at: https://www.newscaststudio.com/setstudio/the-gong-show/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Nickelodeontv (2015), We’re setting up the KCA stage for tomorrow and it’s looking amazing!, available at: https://exploregram.com/were-setting-up-the-kca-stage-for-tomorrow-and-its-looking-amazing/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Lightsoundjournal.com (2011), Let’s Dance with coolux Pandoras Box, available at: https://www.lightsoundjournal.com/2011/07/23/lets-dance-with-coolux-pandoras-box/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Mutter, Zoe (2014), MTV EMA event supplied by XL Video, available at: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/displays/xl-video-supplies-another-successful-mtv-ema-event-21-11-2014/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Gallagher, Robyn (2017), A sneak peek! Eurovision 2017 stage design revealed, available at: https://wiwibloggs.com/2017/01/31/eurovision-2017-stage-design-revealed/ (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Rasmus (2015), The Eurovision 2015 stage is taking shape, available at: https://eurovisionworld.com/esc/the_eurovision_stage_is_taking_shape (accessed date: 11/02/19)

Alfonso Cuaron:

Tallerico, Brian (2018), , available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roma-2018 (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Tate, Gabriel (2014), Can Alfonso Cuarón rise above Gravity with his TV series Believe?, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/mar/27/alfonso-cuaron-gravity-believe-oscar-winning-director-tv-sci-fi-fantasy

(accessed date: 11/04/19)

Lee, Grace (2008), Children of Men: The Television Series, available at: https://www.amc.com/talk/2008/03/children-of-men (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Foundas, Scott (2013), Why ‘Gravity’ Could Be the World’s Biggest Avant-Garde Movie, available at: https://variety.com/2013/film/columns/why-gravity-could-be-the-worlds-biggest-avant-garde-movie-1200702228/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Volta VOD (2012), THE SHOCK DOCTRINE - Official Film Trailer, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPqBVSiBdxE (accessed date: 11/04/19)

IMDB (1991), Sólo con Tu Pareja, available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102958/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Research: Artist Matrix

These are the people who I thought would be a perfect fit for my project & who I am inspired by. The people in the top row are writers/poets. From left to right: Craig Anthony Raine (an English poet known for the term “Martian” poetry), Alfonso Cuarón (an award winning screenwriter & director), & Anne Ryland (a female poet who often is inspired Northumberland in her works). In the middle row the people here are architects & designers, from left: Florian Wieder (a production designer who works on stages for various successful shows), Cass Gilbert (An American architect who designed the Woolworth building in New York), & Gio Ponti (An Italian architect who designed Italy’s Pirelli Tower). In the bottom row are artists who I think are really inspiring. From left: Eugene & Louise (A Belgian company who do commercial work as well as personal work on social media), Lynette Jackson (A photographer & artist from California), & Xavier Veilhan (a French artist who dabbles in various mediums). I picked these as I hope to be inspired by one or more of these artists in my project as they all have a unique approach to things.

Sources

Picture The Poet (n.d.), Craig Anthony Raine, available at: https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/picturethepoet/learn/craig-anthony-raine (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Zimbio (n.d.), MTV EMA's 2012 - Rehearsals, available at: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Florian+Wieder/MTV+EMA+s+2012+Rehearsals/W-VOF3NYnzN (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Hill, Logan (2006), Influences: Alfonso Cuarón, available at: http://nymag.com/movies/features/20325/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Eugene and Louise (n.d.), About, available at: https://eugene-and-louise.com/contact-info (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Ryland, Anne (n.d.), available at: https://anneryland.co.uk/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

UIC Today (n.d.), Lynette Jackson, available at: https://today.uic.edu/experts/lynette-jackson (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Ingrasciotta, Carla (2016), Xavier Veilhan Will Represent France at the 2017 Venice Biennal, available at: http://myartguides.com/posts/news/xavier-veilhan-will-represent-france-at-the-2017-venice-biennal/ (accessed date: 11/04/19)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.), Cass Gilbert, available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cass-Gilbert (accessed date: 11/04/19)

Molteni&C (n.d.), Gio Ponti, available at: https://www.molteni.it/nl/designer/gio-ponti (accessed date: 11/04/19)

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

A New 200 Word Story: The Snow Globe

The space is eerie. Empty & dull, it reflects the lives of its residents & the monotone world that they live in. They spend their days cooped up in their homes, their workplaces, living in their own little snow globes without ever “shaking it up a little”. Despite the close proximity of each towering buildings, it has never been so distant. The streets are barren. The people do not dare venture outside of their own world & thus not share it with others. So when the globe is finally shaken it’s a new sight to see when snow starts to fall gracefully, floating in the air like fragments of happiness. The snow seemed to make the statue-like world come alive even without a soul outside to marvel at the weather occurring. When a snow globe is shaken it reminds them to stop neglecting the world surrounding them & to stop at least for a moment to look at everything from a new perspective. It pulls them away from their own paths to stare at the snow fall. As the snow settles so do the people into their little realities just waiting for someone or something to shake their snow globes again so that we may pull ourselves away from the dull normality & enjoy the sudden change every once in a while.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Snow Globe Idea Plan

This is the idea plan & design for my snow globe animation. I put in an idea for packaging so that I can have the option to design it if I want to change the scene design a little. I labelled what I plan to use for textures so I have a guide on where to start. T storyboard shows how I plan to execute my animation which will guide me in the animation process. This 

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Workshop: Camerawork

In this workshop I learned about cameras & how to use them in Maya (I used a premade scene for this workshop). I first learned the difference between a camera & a camera & aim which was that the aim you can point at a particular object & it will follow it if it moves. I found it quite useful in this workshop as I made the camera follow the car in the scene which gave me practice in using this tool. Overall I think this workshop was successful as I managed to get the hang of it & practice it. I think the camera & aim will be an asset in my project.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Seashells to Snowglobe: New Idea, New direction

Through this project so far I have determined an idea which would test my newly learned 3D skills to create a animation. However with great ambitions must also have self-assessment. at a certain point in the project a task was given to each person to pair up & illustrate a storyboard of their story to add to the challenge. After completing this task I reviewed & analysed this storyboard of the seashell story & reflected on it. 

Review

After reflecting on this storyboard & determining why this visualisation would not work with my current skillset & time range I decided to go in a new direction but keeping in mind what I learned from this idea.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Workshop: Textures/Rendering

In this workshop I learned about two important aspects in the 3D process; textures & rendering. To do this workshop I used a premade design to test out the render & textures. I first had to put lighting in as I want it to be visible in the render. There were various lighting options to choose from including ambient & directional light. After I placed them in the scene I made sure that the object could be seen in the render. It was not in the first test so I had to up the lighting intensity to make sure the light was bright enough to illuminate the object. I went for a more gloomy blue light to reflect on the object. I then went to hypershade to shade my object. I tried out different textures before deciding on a blue texture that I felt went well with the lighting I had placed in the scene. Overall I liked how the render turned out after doing little tweaks & felt this workshop was successful.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

Seashells Storyboard: A 200 Word Story Visualised

Overall I liked how this person interpreted the story that I had written. I like how it all centers around the shell & the camera follows it. I also like how they used a first person point of view in one part of the visuals as I felt it was a nice touch. Another thing I like is how the shell lands on a crab which is something I had never thought to do when thinking about my own visualisation of the story.

I do however, think some of it will be tricky to achieve given the skill I am at in 3D software, & I am not sure how I would execute some of the design.

[mi4014amytaylorsteward]

200 Word Story: Seashells

Seashells. They are symbolic for many reasons. Some say they carry the souls of the once living, & their wishes along with it. Others say the bigger the shell the more ambitious the dream & if you find one good luck will ensue. No matter what the tale, the myth remains, the sea is the gateway to new life & the shells are of those unfulfilled desires. However if you put one of those shells against your ear, you can hear the sounds of the sea; the whispers of the defeated. & if you listen closely you can hear their wishes. With every day the shores wash up more & more dreams, of people who have given up on their ambitions, of people who never fulfilled them. & with every incoming tide the larger the scale of shells. There is a silver lining in this bleak tale as every so often the shells are picked up & listened to & on the rare occasion given back to the sea of opportunity as to encourage the dream not to be given up on. With that little encouragement the shore became less littered with shells & instead of a beach of forgotten ambitions, they are pulled back out with the tide & give hope to the people that once washed up their dreams to become a shell of a person without a goal or purpose.