Wall-E Sound Prt 1
Wall-E Sound Prt 2
Wall-E sound design special feature to the DVD. Some really ace effects and concepts.
Nice to see it's not 'audible wallpaper', but designed alongside, or before, the animation.
Monday 29 November 2010
Fish Without Chips
- Animation without creative sound, is like fish without chips.
Wonderful! Watched a short news story on sound and vision from university of Plymouth.
Seemed interesting in it's information, though the two animations shown weren't too wonderful.
One Len Lye copy, and another that was just plain odd and kiddy.
(wonderful 'dead character' at 3:10 :D )
Vid Here
Wonderful! Watched a short news story on sound and vision from university of Plymouth.
Seemed interesting in it's information, though the two animations shown weren't too wonderful.
One Len Lye copy, and another that was just plain odd and kiddy.
(wonderful 'dead character' at 3:10 :D )
Vid Here
Sunday 28 November 2010
PlayBlastness
Here's a quick playblast of the main characters blocked in, and semi-tweaked.
I'm liking the overall speed and flow of the animation, and although without the music it looks a little slow and flighty, fits well with the track.
Will add a few more creations near the end (birds/bees etc) then possibly polish it a bit.
I really want to keep the whole animation very simple, and keep the 'blockiness' in the render.
I'm liking the overall speed and flow of the animation, and although without the music it looks a little slow and flighty, fits well with the track.
Will add a few more creations near the end (birds/bees etc) then possibly polish it a bit.
I really want to keep the whole animation very simple, and keep the 'blockiness' in the render.
Thursday 25 November 2010
Link to my Other Blog
This shouldn't be considered a proper post, more a waypoint to my other blog, specifically to when i watched a concert of Imogen Heap's.
Press Your Mousy Here
Press Your Mousy Here
Wednesday 24 November 2010
F$%^ing Numbers..
Have just gone through my little bobbing animation, and collected when the beats are, between 10-12 beats separation. This should provide a nice base/cheat-sheet when animating.
Looking forward to it now :)
Looking forward to it now :)
Maya
This is a small WIP board, showing a few screens of things im working on.
Working in Maya, though in a really unconventional way.
This project isn't really suited to creating entire backgrounds in 3D, as it's only 20 seconds, and there's limited time, so i've made some 'cube-rooms', like a storyboard in 3D, to shoot through.
Also had fun projecting textures, and warping them, to fit and create some fun effects.
Not sure if i'll use the bump mapping that's in the screenshots, but i really enjoy the wacky colour and lighting.
This is my 20second slot of sound, with Brian, the square, bobbing to the music. Just a quick test to see if my maths were any good with the music.
Turns out they were, though i planned to adjust every 100 frames, with an extra 7..but found anything more than 3 frames out was seriously noticeable. so i edited this to every 50, found it better, but fast got confused at the 8th and 10th second.
I ended up using the waveform graph from the music, and spacing the keyframes at roughly 10 frame intervals, and adjusting manually every 5-6 keyframes. So it was less a mathematical approach, and a bit more organic. :/
O wel.
Working in Maya, though in a really unconventional way.
This project isn't really suited to creating entire backgrounds in 3D, as it's only 20 seconds, and there's limited time, so i've made some 'cube-rooms', like a storyboard in 3D, to shoot through.
Also had fun projecting textures, and warping them, to fit and create some fun effects.
Not sure if i'll use the bump mapping that's in the screenshots, but i really enjoy the wacky colour and lighting.
This is my 20second slot of sound, with Brian, the square, bobbing to the music. Just a quick test to see if my maths were any good with the music.
Turns out they were, though i planned to adjust every 100 frames, with an extra 7..but found anything more than 3 frames out was seriously noticeable. so i edited this to every 50, found it better, but fast got confused at the 8th and 10th second.
I ended up using the waveform graph from the music, and spacing the keyframes at roughly 10 frame intervals, and adjusting manually every 5-6 keyframes. So it was less a mathematical approach, and a bit more organic. :/
O wel.
Friday 12 November 2010
Animatic start
Just a seriously simple 20 seconds of my part of the animation.
Using 2D characters at the moment, though this might change a little later (even though im really liking the cut out nature of it).
The timing isn't wonderful, and it's just more about plotting positions for now.
What i need to do next is study the timing, and on every 10th frame, mark up the animation, and time the steps and movement more. (which, if it goes to 3D, will help lots).
Using 2D characters at the moment, though this might change a little later (even though im really liking the cut out nature of it).
The timing isn't wonderful, and it's just more about plotting positions for now.
What i need to do next is study the timing, and on every 10th frame, mark up the animation, and time the steps and movement more. (which, if it goes to 3D, will help lots).
Thursday 11 November 2010
Content Creation
Ok, so i've started to make the background (2D) for the animation, and i'm quite happy with it's look. It's a similar pipeline to the style test (below), but with a bit more detail, and thought of colour to get them all looking like a similar day.
Just created a seperate layer with some yellow brush strokes, really rough, made the layer 'soft light', then used the filter, which merged it nicely with the background.
Will show some a little later :)
Am thinking (after a suggestion from Mike) to use 3D for the character, as i should only need a simple FK rig with 3-4 bones to control the domino. I could even use a simple lattice setup, or even some basic blendshapes - if the animations will be similar.
The only mental block i have with this is the lighting..though getting 3D characters into 2D backgrounds is something that can look quite 'off' anyway. Perhaps i'll have a little drop shadow, and attempt to give it some depth.
Will also have a few masked screens in after effects, so the character is moving behind planes in the background...which i think will look quite nice.
Am also thinking, in terms of tying it to the music, to animate the character 'bobbing' along to the rythem, but also a few animals (dice i think) bobbing along. This, and the pace of the scrolling background/background changes will probably be the only things animated (to the time).
phew..reading that back it doesn't make a lot of sense..but at least it's there for reference..
And because you've been patient, here's a pic for you. Some early design work:
Just created a seperate layer with some yellow brush strokes, really rough, made the layer 'soft light', then used the filter, which merged it nicely with the background.
Will show some a little later :)
Am thinking (after a suggestion from Mike) to use 3D for the character, as i should only need a simple FK rig with 3-4 bones to control the domino. I could even use a simple lattice setup, or even some basic blendshapes - if the animations will be similar.
The only mental block i have with this is the lighting..though getting 3D characters into 2D backgrounds is something that can look quite 'off' anyway. Perhaps i'll have a little drop shadow, and attempt to give it some depth.
Will also have a few masked screens in after effects, so the character is moving behind planes in the background...which i think will look quite nice.
Am also thinking, in terms of tying it to the music, to animate the character 'bobbing' along to the rythem, but also a few animals (dice i think) bobbing along. This, and the pace of the scrolling background/background changes will probably be the only things animated (to the time).
phew..reading that back it doesn't make a lot of sense..but at least it's there for reference..
And because you've been patient, here's a pic for you. Some early design work:
Friday 5 November 2010
Storyboard
Really enjoying this.
Have created a very rough storyboard (I know mike, I'm missing LOTS of info..).
Just to order my thoughts, and hopefully convey the style and pace to the team on monday.
The parents drop off the domino at a dojo - a quick background change - the instructor is aggressive, and scares/bullies the domino (sound effect? Grumbles). Domino escapes through window into forest, runs through bamboo..ready for transition for next person's 20 seconds.
I really hope the other groups have gone for something this big :/
Just to order my thoughts, and hopefully convey the style and pace to the team on monday.
The parents drop off the domino at a dojo - a quick background change - the instructor is aggressive, and scares/bullies the domino (sound effect? Grumbles). Domino escapes through window into forest, runs through bamboo..ready for transition for next person's 20 seconds.
I really hope the other groups have gone for something this big :/
My take on the possible style
Again, this idea could change dramatically,
but i'm trying to keep the amount of objects in the project (i.e. in the AE timeline) to a minimum.
The more that's there, kthe more complicated it's going to be for those that are learning AE.
Kamil suggested a style like 'south park', which was a great idea..as it's easy to keep shapes and colours simple, yet vibrant. It's also easy in a creative sense, that everyone can make content.
but i'm trying to keep the amount of objects in the project (i.e. in the AE timeline) to a minimum.
The more that's there, kthe more complicated it's going to be for those that are learning AE.
Kamil suggested a style like 'south park', which was a great idea..as it's easy to keep shapes and colours simple, yet vibrant. It's also easy in a creative sense, that everyone can make content.
Apart from this initial style pic, im not going to touch the designs of the characters, and allow others to take the helm for that. I'm quite sure there'll be some really interesting ideas.
Skype is great.
Had a quick chat with Kamil today about, among other things, the sound project.
He's got a good grasp of After effects, which is a serious plus, and is designing a background to show me the style he thinks would suit the music.
I'm going to do something similar today too, just to see if we're on the same page, and to throw something else into the conversation later.
The project's moving fairly quickly in terms of design already, so im really hoping that the next sound session will teach the others the software (even though we've said it would be nice to get a head start with some tutorials).
Then we can start the creation of characters and pace effectively.
He's got a good grasp of After effects, which is a serious plus, and is designing a background to show me the style he thinks would suit the music.
I'm going to do something similar today too, just to see if we're on the same page, and to throw something else into the conversation later.
The project's moving fairly quickly in terms of design already, so im really hoping that the next sound session will teach the others the software (even though we've said it would be nice to get a head start with some tutorials).
Then we can start the creation of characters and pace effectively.
Thursday 4 November 2010
The first Team meet.
This was fantastic, such a great meeting, and a solid idea out of it.
The initial flow of conversation was mood, being something light and fun. We had similar mood boards, with landscapes, train rails and some had a vague Japanese feel (possibly through the title of the piece)
It's a real mish-mash group of people, which i was initially feeling apprehensive about, thinking that we might not get a creative flow going, and possibly too many, or too little ideas. It was the complete opposite, and they were a very creative and ;professional lot. Only one individual didn't connect fully, and another was quite negative and unmoving on their views, but it didn't stifle the flow of the idea.
The Idea:
The body of the idea is still 'journey', though this moved quickly toward a character going on an epic journey. The travelling later evolved as 'life' and ageing as the travel continued. This great idea of the groups' expanded into the full life of this character. From my suggestions of staying with a geometric shape, the group seemed to want something a little more interesting, and this character became a domino...gradually adding more spots throughout it's life. Because it's split into (now 9) sections, with 20 seconds to animate each, it's ambitious nature seems manageable. Though this could become our team's greatest failing.
There were also lots of lovely ideas flying alongside this; having the character grow a beard, having animals as dice, other characters' designs and colours for the characters and main character.
This is the main storyboard/idea sheet we used:
The Future:
The next meet is planned for monday, and we've agreed that everyone bring in a short storyboard of what they want to show in their 'section of life' (which was vaguely pre-planned), and we can discuss transitions and themes, technical difficulties etc. We've also agreed to get the design under-way, and for members of the team to design the main character, or others, to see where we are with mood and individualism, and trying to establish a main character that's fairly consistent throughout.
Let's hope it all goes to plan :)
The initial flow of conversation was mood, being something light and fun. We had similar mood boards, with landscapes, train rails and some had a vague Japanese feel (possibly through the title of the piece)
It's a real mish-mash group of people, which i was initially feeling apprehensive about, thinking that we might not get a creative flow going, and possibly too many, or too little ideas. It was the complete opposite, and they were a very creative and ;professional lot. Only one individual didn't connect fully, and another was quite negative and unmoving on their views, but it didn't stifle the flow of the idea.
The Idea:
The body of the idea is still 'journey', though this moved quickly toward a character going on an epic journey. The travelling later evolved as 'life' and ageing as the travel continued. This great idea of the groups' expanded into the full life of this character. From my suggestions of staying with a geometric shape, the group seemed to want something a little more interesting, and this character became a domino...gradually adding more spots throughout it's life. Because it's split into (now 9) sections, with 20 seconds to animate each, it's ambitious nature seems manageable. Though this could become our team's greatest failing.
There were also lots of lovely ideas flying alongside this; having the character grow a beard, having animals as dice, other characters' designs and colours for the characters and main character.
This is the main storyboard/idea sheet we used:
The Future:
The next meet is planned for monday, and we've agreed that everyone bring in a short storyboard of what they want to show in their 'section of life' (which was vaguely pre-planned), and we can discuss transitions and themes, technical difficulties etc. We've also agreed to get the design under-way, and for members of the team to design the main character, or others, to see where we are with mood and individualism, and trying to establish a main character that's fairly consistent throughout.
Let's hope it all goes to plan :)
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Sound and Animation
After choosing 'flying into Tokyo', a soft melodic piece, i started to find a few pictures to create an initial mood.
In terms of animation, I'd really like to do something that has a little character, possibly a short and easy narrative. Though will have to keep things as simple as possible, for myself, and for the others in the group. So nothing too complicated in terms of full-blown characters, but geometric shapes.
Also had the word 'journey' flying around when talking in the group. Think that might progress.
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