Empty Teacups

A student blog dedicated to my short animated film

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Here is my latest demo reel.  There’s room to improve, but I’m happy with my progress.

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Here's an animation I did to add to my demo reel.  Swords are fun, although it was hard not breaking the wrist all the time.

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As promised, here is my final film, Caffeine Kick! It was a huge project and a lot of fun. Some of the scenes got kind of rushed at the end and could use some work, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out. On to the next project!

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Are we there yet?

Our final film is due today, I'll be posting it after the vernissage.  It was a ton of work, but I think I've made something that's fun to watch, so it was worth it.

Some things I cleverly didn't do properly include forgetting the background PNGs for one of the scenes at home (thus I handed it in with just the ambient occlusion BG), not adding motion blur because it consistently messed up the last two frames of every shot I added it to, accidentally animating the camera in one of my shots, and accidentally animating the light in another.

I also ran out of time for the effects like the flame on the candle and steam from the kettle, but I'll try to get it done in the next day or two.  I also recorded a bunch of sound effects this past weekend, but didn't have time to replace them all.

Some shots are better animated than others, and quite often in the two shots, Bean is the better animated.  She turned out to be more fun to both animate and watch, so I focused on her a lot.

The lighting is also pretty inconsistent, and there are some shadows where I'd rather there not be, but I was so busy rushing to animate / render everything in time that I didn't stop to check for mistakes.

More fun problems to overcome in the future.  On to the vernissage!

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Fun fun render time!  I thought I would do a few tests to see if rendering the background separately and tweaking it would help the character stands out, and so far it's looking good!

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This is the polished version of Caffeine Kick, more or less.

I think it’s come a long way from the rough, although it has a lot of room to improve.  In particular, the last shot is too floaty and kind of boring to look at.  I’ve gotten better video reference and will be restarting it in the next few days, so I just have it as a rough here.

Other shots have timing issues because of the playback in maya.  For instance, the book throw is kind of slow because it looked a lot faster while I was working on it.  Things like this will be the next thing to fix.

This weekend I will be recording sound effects, so I won’t have the high-heeled footsteps noise when Bean is walking around barefoot.  I will also texture the book that I keep forgetting about.  Oops.

Overall I’m happy with the progress I’ve made, and I’ll keep working on it so that it will be even better for the vernissage.

Special effects I will have to add in include: steam from the kettle and teacup at the beginning, a flame on the candle that then goes out, motion blur, and I will have to blur out/desaturate the background so that the characters stick out more.  Lighting will be a challenge, but it should be fun.

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This is what happens when you accidentally move something you were not meant to move in the graph editor.  Pure perfection.

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This is what happens when you delete only the translate y keys of a bounce.  Coincidentally, it is also what happens when you stand up after sitting at a computer for hours and hours.

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Apparently some browsers were having trouble playing the youtube version of the rough, so I'm uploading it again through tumblr.

Here is the rough for Caffeine Kick, now with music!

I have a lot to work on, especially regarding timing and spacing.  Some parts are a bit too jerky, and others too slow, so that will be the next thing to fix before going into the polish.  I didn’t spend much time trying to fix the last shot because I’m going to redo it, as I’m not convinced by the acting of the characters.  Brent also  though that the posters would work better as framed photos that could get more crooked as things are thrown around, and would eventually both fall.  I didn’t have time to get that done for the rough, but I’ll add that in soon, and I think it’ll work well.

I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to refine my curves in the graph editor, so once I fix the timing I’ll start on that.  I’m also going to start recording the sound effects as they’re becoming a bit distracting, especially when Bean is walking around barefoot and the SFX implies high heels.  I also need to cushion my camera moves.  When I get to post I’ll need to add some steam to the kettle and put a flame on the candle since it melts while Leaf is reading.

Overall, I’m proud of having gotten my rough done in the amount of time I had, but it needs a lot of work before I can start the polish.  The good news is the more I work on this film the better it gets and I get excited about where it’s heading.  Hopefully that optimism will carry me through to the end.

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Here is the rough for Caffeine Kick, now with music!

I have a lot to work on, especially regarding timing and spacing.  Some parts are a bit too jerky, and others too slow, so that will be the next thing to fix before going into the polish.  I didn't spend much time trying to fix the last shot because I'm going to redo it, as I'm not convinced by the acting of the characters.  Brent also  though that the posters would work better as framed photos that could get more crooked as things are thrown around, and would eventually both fall.  I didn't have time to get that done for the rough, but I’ll add that in soon, and I think it’ll work well.

I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to refine my curves in the graph editor, so once I fix the timing I’ll start on that.  I'm also going to start recording the sound effects as they’re becoming a bit distracting, especially when Bean is walking around barefoot and the SFX implies high heels.  I also need to cushion my camera moves.  When I get to post I’ll need to add some steam to the kettle and put a flame on the candle since it melts while Leaf is reading.

Overall, I'm proud of having gotten my rough done in the amount of time I had, but it needs a lot of work before I can start the polish.  The good news is the more I work on this film the better it gets and I get excited about where it’s heading.  Hopefully that optimism will carry me through to the end.

I uploaded it through Youtube because Tumblr upload limits was making me cut off the credits, so hopefully this will work better.

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This is an animation from a few weeks ago. The rig I used is the cool shirt norman rig from F.C Kiral, and the chess set is by Valery Korneev.  The Audio is from BBC's Sherlock.

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This is an animation I had done last semester.  I used the newsy boy Norman rig by Matthew

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This is an animation I had done about a year ago. The rigs I used are the ghost hunter and cool shirt norman rigs by F.C. Kiral, as well as the spiderbot rig by atezel.  The audio is from Doctor Who.

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Behold the amazing block!  Bean still has a few skinning issues with her shoulders, so that’s another thing to fix.  I’m also fairly sure some of the walk poses are too exaggerated, so I’ll try to tone it down when I move into the rough.  I got some really great reference from my classmates, so I might grab some sound effects from that to replace the stock ones.  Also, music is on the way!  Soon!

The length of the film seems to keep creeping forward.  There are some scenes I’d like to hold on for longer, but I’m already at 2:15, so I’m kind of hesitating on that.  I don’t think I have a lot of wasted time though, and every shot is a necessary one.

Poly collision is definitely a thing I’m going to have to deal with, but I’m not too worried.  I’m getting more excited about this film as the characters get more ridiculous and it starts coming together, which makes me want to work on it more.  Some things I still need to do include texturing the book, making my sound effects more awesome, and making my broken set more convincing.  I look forward to whatever issues come up in the rough.  Bring it on, Maya!

Also, tumblr upload limits mean I can't include the credits, but I have them ready to go.

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THE DAWSON COLLEGE 3D ANIMATION GRADUATING CLASS NEEDS YOUR HELP :)

ALRIGHTY SO HERE’S WHAT’S UP:

I don’t know how many of you know that I study 3D Animation & CGI at Dawson College in Montreal, Canada. EVERYONE in our class, by the end of this semester (May 5th), will have created their own short animated film that will be showcased at our Vernissage on May 22 & 23.

Pretty rad right? Only catch is we need to fund the whole event ourselves- theatre, tech, food, you name it- and we’re only 16 sleep deprived college students trying to raise $2000 by April 27th. That’s where you come in!

HERE ARE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

Check out the site, that’s it, just go check it out!

Reblog this post on Tumblr

Post the site on Facebook & Twitter

SPREAD IT LIKE WILDFIRE ON ANY OTHER SITE :)

Donate any amount if you want, even just $1, it all adds up!

We also have perks available if you donate certain amounts of money. You can buy a dvd of all our films, doodles, buttons, the list goes on. You can find them on the right hand side.

If you’d like to know more about the students and our films, you can visit our website. Please note this is not for donations or our campaign, merely for information.

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WE’VE MANAGED TO REACH $640, THAT’S 1/4 OF OUR GOAL! Thanks to everyone who reblogged and maybe donated or heck even saw this post! :)

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It would be totally awesome if you guys could help with my group’s 2014 vernissage!! Please help us reach our goal, even a little will mean a lot to all of us! And thank you to those who already have donated~

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I didn't get too much done in the way of blocking this week, but look!  Credits!

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Here's the layout for Caffeine Kick! For some reason some of the scenes playblasted a wider camera angle, but they still render fine.  So be warned: objects in layout are closer than they appear. I also didn’t include any holds yet, so some of the linear scenes might look a bit weird.

Also, in the scene where Leaf has cracked Bean's coffee pot, there is a bump map on the pot to simulate a crack.  It renders fine, but doesn't playblast.

In the first scene, When the camera is showing the title, I plan on having steam rising into the shot from the kettle, which would lead to the establishing shot.

I predict that the most difficult scenes will be the shot in which Bean slides off the coffee pot, the one in which she flings the tea saucer at Leaf, and the bit where Leaf picks up and throws the espresso cup.  I’m fairly certain poly collision will be one of  my main problems, and I still have some minor skinning issues on both characters that I need to fix before moving forward.

My brother is currently working on the music for this film, and as soon as he has a rough idea of it I’ll add it in.  There are also some sound effects that I would like to replace with more appropriate ones, such as all the scenes in which Bean is walking (she’s not wearing shoes after all).

Thanks again to redesigndavid for the great book rig!