FMP Progression
Production
Here is my final showreel. I cut a few parts out, particularly the weaker parts of the animation with the girl at the desk. The showreel still needs cutting and refining further, but for now I'm happy with what it showcases.
Here are the final scenes of Tumble and newly named Bumble. The sound students provided me with the sound to an older version, but I was able to edit it slightly to the new versions. These are to be updated for the end of year show. The scene with the marbles was a newer edition, which is why unfortunately it doesn't have the same sound. The marble scene was extracted from the previous longer sequence as it was an animation I had sketched out in my book to be completed. I played with the idea of more moving cameras and cuts, having smaller scenes allowed me to experiment more with results that I'm really pleased with. I also added a more chestnut tinge to Bumble as it was noted that he was blending into the background too much with just the brown fur.
Here are the final scenes of Tumble and newly named Bumble. The sound students provided me with the sound to an older version, but I was able to edit it slightly to the new versions. These are to be updated for the end of year show. The scene with the marbles was a newer edition, which is why unfortunately it doesn't have the same sound. The marble scene was extracted from the previous longer sequence as it was an animation I had sketched out in my book to be completed. I played with the idea of more moving cameras and cuts, having smaller scenes allowed me to experiment more with results that I'm really pleased with. I also added a more chestnut tinge to Bumble as it was noted that he was blending into the background too much with just the brown fur.
Meant to upload what the 2nd years produced for me, below this picture is the schedule and the render shows the room they created. I altered some the colours to match the scheme I had chosen, but the models and the painted forest texture was produced by the assistants. With this I was able to make my animations of Tumble and Bumble stand out more.
I added this animation to incorporate some more acting in to my portfolio. I used footage of myself reacting (acting) to some good news. This one still needs smoothing as it feels a little stiff throughout points, but overall I'm happy with the facial movements and expressions.
I wanted to make the walk cycle a little more interested, so using some music notes I had previously made I decided to put them into a particle emitter. I added a luminance and animated them to get larger to the footsteps of the character.
Revisited these video and added some more principles, a bit more anticipation and began to exaggerate the movements further. I also then went on to experiment and finalise the lighting for the scenes. I kept them fairly consistent with each other to give a more coherent portfolio.
I used the above colour palettes to help me colour all my scenes, some I used more subtly in the lights, whilst others I used to make a bold impact, particularly with Tumble and Bumble.
I wanted to add a sneak cycle to vary the showreel up, as it was lacking cycles. I wanted the challenge of something a bit different to a walk or run cycle. I searched the internet for a sneak cycle and came across a lovely exaggerated one (see below videos). I did lessen the exaggeration on the character and slowed the movement down, as the rig started to glitch if movements were too low.
The process of the dancing character, based off some footage of my younger brother-in-law dancing! I felt the final lighting with the pink hue suited my website better, however the previous lighting test added more character to the shot. It gave the scene more of a feeling of being at a club.
Business cards I created. As I am an animator I wanted an image like other pathways to stand out. I had the idea of adding different poses to create the feel of movement on my card.
I used the spinning top from the longer sequence, as I felt there was a really strong piece of animation here that I wanted to develop upon. I added some camera cuts to create some dynamic elements to the scene.
From the previous video I decided to take a movement from my longer sequence (the sudden move in to shot) and integrate it into the tree short. I've also experimented with some moving camera to encourage a feeling of interaction between the viewer and Fluffy!
Made some changes to the fluffy character. I felt its original look was a bit too uniform, so I used the brush in C4D to change the direction of some of the fur. Also experimented with adding some little eyes to make it a bit more appealing!
From the previous video I decided to take a movement from my longer sequence (the sudden move in to shot) and integrate it into the tree short. I've also experimented with some moving camera to encourage a feeling of interaction between the viewer and Fluffy!
Made some changes to the fluffy character. I felt its original look was a bit too uniform, so I used the brush in C4D to change the direction of some of the fur. Also experimented with adding some little eyes to make it a bit more appealing!
Blocked out animation for my 4th short for my showreel, will be polished in the 2nd to last week before deadline!
Base animation for an old guy vaulting an object, another short for my showreel.
First animation test as part of a series of smaller animations to diversify my showreel up a little!
After being introduced to sound students from Ravensbourne, I agreed to collaborate with them to create sound for the animation. I decided to render my animation at its current state so they had something more interesting to add sound to!
Alternative stepped scene. I prefer this to the previous ones as it has a faster pace to it.
Testing the previous stepped scene with some of the textures, obviously not at the stage of perfect textures and lighting, but at the moment it's to get a feel for it all.
Same as the stepped scene, but with the linear splines to help see the flow of the scene more.
Forgot to playblast the previous step that was just the main poses, but here it is stepped slightly further on in the process. At the moment I'm just trying to gauge timings and work out if the rough movements I want are going to work.
Walk cycle I created over a year ago for a VR project. Since then I have refined and tidied it up.
Tipping the Jar
Another prop model today for a possible scene. Soon to be a jar of marbles to be tipped over. First up, rigid and collision body test:
Had a different course of work today, helping my Husband on a lesson plan. Created this in around 3 hours to show the process inside a rechargeable battery. It was needed the next day, so I couldn't finish it more than this texture-wise.
Character I've been modelling to be rigged for animation. (for my portfolio hopefully!)
Some basic prop modelling;
Glitter tests for one of my scenes. This was more of a work around for textures and collision. I still need to figure out how I'm going to make this burst from a container. Glitter texture is a mixture of animated noise, luminance and gradient applied to a particle emitting scaled cubes.
Proof of Concept
Added some more movement to Tumble!
Starting to add the second character in, once those blend shapes are added to the body I will be able to create a better deep breath, but just to get the idea of what I'm doing I thought I'd just upload anyway!
Revisiting the other two animation tests and continuing to add and build on the originals.
To see how it's all looking in Cinema 4D so far!
Playblast progress in Maya.
Main posing for my 3rd animation test. Based off some footage of my brother in-law touching the Christmas tree and getting in trouble. I've obviously exaggerated it, as he didn't run away behind the tree!
Useful website for animation principles with visual examples. https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse459/13au/exercises/animation_principles.html
Storyboarding is not my strong point, I can draw, I just don't like drawing unless it is a complete piece of artwork! I do think glitter will be something doable, particularly in c4D with its physics systems and particle emitters. I imagine that with some clever material/animated luminance I can get the style of glitter without using reflections which would slow render time. (I hope!)
Just a couple of movement studies I am particularly happy with, especially after struggling to get into the hang of drawing them in a style that I would be able to do quickly! They aren't perfect, but I'm finally starting to enjoy the sketching side.
I love the comedy in Aardman animations and this one has stuck with me ever since seeing it. Whilst my animation will not be exactly like this, the style of slapstick, simple humour really interests me. All ages find it funny, and why spend months on something that won't give me a laugh when making it?
Playing with the idea of adding little spoofs into the scenes, recognisable ones at that. I was watching Lord of the Rings and just thought I would integrate the idea in as a possibility. This sort of spoof may only work with more camera set ups to really recreate the cinematic scenes, it might not be as (or at all!) effective with a fixed camera.
The gif in action on my website! www.pandorasencore.co.uk The text was made simply in c4D and I decided to keep my characters and environment themed throughout as it will hopefully make my website more memorable for now!
I made a simple gif for the header of my website as an experiment to see how it works. I have had the website for around 5 years and have over 13,000 so I did not want to create a new one or change the URL as I'd lose any returning visitors!
Still trying to come up with ideas, I know I want props for interaction and to use to take advantage of Cinema 4D's physics systems.
Mood board for some ideas for the environment. I want to keep the foreground clear except for the characters and any props they interact with. However, I would like to be a background, whether digitally drawn or just with a few props to make it appear like a room. Top left tile has been colour corrected to the colour scheme the room currently has, as I don't want the colours of the background to distract from the characters.
Picture quality is shocking on these, but they're in my sketchbook. Today I just did some rough sketch overs of the flour sack and Aladdin's carpet, just to get a feel for them!
Continuing to add and build on this animation, adding a few more dramatic pauses. Still need to work on exaggeration and once my rig has been adapted to allow change in volume on the characters it will be even better!
Some Disney drawn references for the flour sack and carpet from Aladdin. Helping to understand poses and volumes. Going to use these to pose my character and as guidance to add squash and stretch blend shapes!
Progression of a couple of animation tests. I'm not really sure why I chose to do this. At the moment it's about the development of the two characters.
Flicking between animation and sketchbook work, that way I don't overdo one part and get fed up with it. The outcome of today that I thought looked cute enough to share!
A simple forward roll, I thought it would be relevant as I'd named the first stripey character Tumble. This was referenced of some videos of younger brother and sister-in-laws. I would have uploaded the reference footage had I been the one doing the movements! At this stage the roll needs more work, it's almost there but could perhaps do with a bit of speeding up and to make sure that the character doesn't stay stuck on the current part at the beginning of the roll.
There's no point in denying where I got my inspiration from for a simple background. I knew from the beginning I wanted to keep the space clear so I could concentrate on animation. Then this was introduced to me and it gave me a reference for the lighting and set up that I was able to follow (still needs refinement)!
I would like to say I had this character planned all a long, but I definitely didn't. Although physics systems in cinema 4D are incredibly fast and useful for a lot of things. After another project I did not feel confident enough to undertake a second character created with physics. This guy was born from boredom, I love adding fur to models so I added it to the previous Tumble run.. and so developed the second, and annoying, character!
Hallelujah moment!
Character test run of Tumble, this was not only a rig test, but also to see if this would work in c4D.. and it did! A quick run down, I prefer 100% animating in Maya, but I love Cinema 4D for its quick render times, lighting and texturing (displacement maps are the devil in Maya!). With a lot of trial and error I was able to use the Alembic cache in Maya. I imported the newly cached character (just the mesh) into Cinema 4D, then with point targets and morph deformers I was able to get this character running to scale in Cinema 4D. I was then able to easily apply the textures and best of all, because he is now technically a rig-less character he can be manipulated with C4D deformers!
Tumble's rig, IK,FK, stretchy limbs and blend shaped face!
Finalised character turn around of Tumble.
Manipulated images of some possible facial expressions.
Texture painted in Z-brush.
UV-Unwrapping for polypaint and displacement maps later!
UV-Unwrapping for polypaint and displacement maps later!
Smoothing the mesh and Tumble is starting to take shape.
Starting to create the character in 3D here, in Z brush. Z spheres save so much time.
A couple of storyboards when trying to come up with a story for the pair of them.
Rough concept picture of the blank environment, Tumble and the possible secondary character.. Just a pink version of Tumble really!
Drawing some ideas for a secondary character. Mainly trying to think of things that are colourful and interesting, that perhaps could be animated completely with physics.
Rough concept picture of the blank environment, Tumble and the possible secondary character.. Just a pink version of Tumble really!
Drawing some ideas for a secondary character. Mainly trying to think of things that are colourful and interesting, that perhaps could be animated completely with physics.
The creature made by my sister-in-law that has inspired everything that follows in this blog. This design was completely hers and she did a brilliant job!
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