Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Today's Blocking

Hey everyone,

Here's an update on my shot. I'm still trying to get the blocking done before my meeting with my prof. tomorrow. I think I'm going to make it. I only have one more large section to do and then I'll be working on more detail oriented things. I think I've gotten better with the over animating, but I'm still not 100% sure of myself.


Monday, March 30, 2009

WIP Blocking and Sample Lighting

Hey everyone,

Here's my blocking pass so far for my new shot. I'm still not sure if I'm over animating. This is my first really subtle shot, so I'm pretty unsure of myself. I'm not sure about the eye darts in the beginning. I think there are too many of them. He's supposed to be thinking something along the lines of "I dont know...I dont know" and feeling pretty lost. In phrase 1 ("You know, everyone's just out for himself") he's supposed to be troubled/concerned. My prof. suggested having his brows a little angry and intense here and then softening them up as the shot progresses. In phrase 2 ("It was like that everywhere I went") the main emotion is disbelief and the finally hopelessness at the end.

Oh, the 3d blocking is different from the 2d version now. My prof. gave me some awesome feedback today which caused the scene to vary somewhat from the original 2d idea.



I also did a quick test render for my prof. We have a specific mood in mind for the scene and this is what I imagined it would look like. My prof. used the spot lighting in Alice in Wonderland as an example. I went with that idea and made the background really dark while spot lighting the character. Obviously the lighting still needs a lot of work. I have no idea why there are ugly dark shadows under Norman's brows. I think I know how to fix the glowing floor though.



Oh, I heard back about using Bishop on my business card. It's a no go just as I thought it would be since the card is for a SCAD assignment. It's not a problem though because I dont want to use Bishop anymore anyway. Yesterday I came up with a 2d design that I like much better and feel like is more creative than a simple 3d pose. =D

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Subtle Dialogue 2d Blocking

Hey guys,

I just finished my really rough 2d blocking for my new subtle dialogue assignment. I have a really hard time animating small, subtle movements in 2d (which I attribute to lack of drawing ability) so everything is broader than it will be in the 3d version. I also work broader in 3d and then tone everything down once I see the that the motion is working. My mentors have always said it's much easier to go to far and tone it down than to not go far enough and have to push things.


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Possible Buisness Card Pose

Hey everyone,

Our first assignment in Animation Portfolio class is to create a business card. Here's a pose I came up with for Bishop that I might use on my card. I wanted something silly and fun, lol. Hopefully AM will let me use this since I think Bishop is WAY more appealing than Norman.


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Preview

Hey guys,

I'm starting a new 3d dialogue shot! I'm not very excited about using Norman since I really miss Bishop, but I don't have a choice since this is a SCAD assignment. (AM forbids their students/alumni to use their rigs for another schools work) I am thrilled about returning to 3d though. I can't wait to get started!

Here's a screen shot of the staging I'll be using. If anyone has any critiques on the staging or the layout please let me know! Later I'll put a cross and the title on the Bible. I'm not 100% how I'll do it, so I figured that would be one of the things I work on after the animation's finished. This is also the first time I've tweaked Norman's appearance. I'm not completely happy with it, but it'll have to do for now.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Going on Vacation

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I wont be here for a little while. Tomorrow I'm leaving to go on a cruise for my spring break and wont be back until March 24th. I'll see you guys then!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I Cant Paint Rocks

I'm working on this painting for Mythology class and I think it's pretty clear that I dont know what I'm doing...



This is nowhere near finished. I'd like to make the rocks fit with the rest of the painting better but I don't know how to get them to do so. I also need to paint her hair, some mist rolling out of the cave and the ground. I'd like to get some moonlight on the rocks and the pig. Lol, I have a lot to do.

Cat Flap's Finished!

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Almost There

I hope this will be done by the end of the day tomorrow. My friend won't have much time to color the last scene before Wednesday (when the film's due). I really wish I was faster. =(

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Pixar Presentation

Pixar's presentation tonight was fantastic!!!!!! Becki Tower is a great speaker and she was really inspiring to listen to. She told us all about her time in Pixar's internship program and showed some examples of the work she did. Lol, it sucks because now I want to animate but I have to go to bed now. One thing that really stood out to me was the simplicity of all of her scenes. Each one was very simple a very clear. I think simplicity is definitely something that I struggle with.

Becki also uses an emotional chart/graph for each of her scenes. I'd never heard of this before and am eager to try it out. All you do is create a simple line graph to show the highs and lows of your character's feelings throughout the scene. She brought up a great point when she mentioned loosing the initial essence of the scene after you've been polishing for days. I imagine having that chart will be very helpful. I'm going to make sure I try that for my next scene. Now I really cant wait to finish my senior project. I can't wait to get back to 3d again.

Ok, I really need to go to bed. I'll talk to you guys later. Wish me luck! =D

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

On Friday, I Have an Interview With...



I'm super excited and can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!! =D

The End is Near

Hey guys,

Here's another Cat Flap update. My goal is to have the animation done before the end of the weekend, hopefully Saturday at the latest. I'm unsure of myself since I've never animated a 2d character moving with a camera (that's how the door goes up).

I'm also unsure about the length of my credits. They feel too long, but my prof. said the cards should be held with one second per word. At the same time, he also said the credits should be 10% of the length of the film. I'm not sure how I can achieve both of those standards. I'm going to show it in class today and get his feedback on them.


Tuesday, March 03, 2009

In Mythology Class

I drew this....



Moonkin are very fun to draw.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Drawing for Fun

Hey guys,

I realized I had not drawn anything for fun in ages. Before going to bed last night, I decided to try my hand at drawing a night elf moonkin from World of Warcraft. I think it came out pretty nice, I wish I had drawn it in the corner of the page though. I think I did that because I wasn't expecting it to look very good. I'd love to paint it, but I dont have time right now.



Anyway, I love the design of ally moonkin. I'm not a druid myself though, nor am I an ally. I'm actually an orc warlock. I'm thinking of starting a night elf druid though because their moonkin are awesome!