Animation 2: Process and Production Recap (Week Commencing 22/04/19)

Last week of the Easter holidays!

Tasks Completed:

I began this week by working on the lip sync for a shot in my final animation. I haven't animated anything like this before so I looked at step by step guides, similar to when I animated my first walk cycle.

I also looked back at previous scenes to spot any inconsistencies between shots such as the smaller details.

I spent the weekend travelling back to Leeds.

Intentions:

I have one more scene to animate and colour. Once this is done, I will put all the scenes together and then, I will refine certain shots.

Animation 2: Process and Production Recap (Week Commencing 15/04/19)

Tasks Completed:

At the beginning of the week, I opened one of my projects and was alarmed to find that a lot of the tools and settings weren't working as they once were. At first, I thought it was only two of the tools: the zoom tool and the eyedropper tool. I tried reopening Photoshop and also restarting my laptop however this didn't help.

I didn't want to waste any time so even though this slowed me down, I decided I would adapt and just continue working.

Then, when I moved around or zoomed in too fast, random bars started to appear at the top of the screen. It was at this point when I noticed I also couldn't rotate either, and the ruler tool was glitching. I particularly stuggled with being unable to use the scrubby zoom so I decided I needed to fix the problem rather than ignore it.

I googled the issues and found a few answers regarding something called the "OpenGL" however the examples online were using different versions of Photoshop so it took me a while to find the location of this and fix it.

Once everything was back to normal, I continued to work on various scenes. I moved onto the shot of the glass next as I had started this weeks ago yet wasn't happy with the result so instead, I decided to rotoscope the footage.

I decided to rotoscope this section as not only did I want it to look realistic, but I also wanted to experiment with more than one method of animating as this is the last animation of the year and I wanted to show off all the skills I have learned so far.

I completed it but if I have more time at the end, I will add more definition to the glass and the table as they are very simplified at the moment.

I continued to work on other scenes.

I tried to add some perspective to one of my backgrounds as a particular shot is a first person view pan of the street, so by warping the image, I hoped this would give that effect.

Intentions:

I noticed in some other shots that there were inconsistencies such as the arm in the scene below. Next week I hope to fix these issues.

I reviewed my animatic and I feel I need to quieten the steps from Frances at this scene too. Some other inconsistencies include the missing pattern on the dress in the scene below.

Animation 2: Process and Production Recap (Week Commencing 08/04/19)

Tasks Completed:

At the beginning of the week, I worked on adding the shadows to the background of my interrogation scene. I am particularly happy with the timing of this section as I feel the movements look natural yet exaggerated to add almost a comical sense of timing for effect.

I then worked on adding the body to later scenes so once I have rerecorded the lines, I can work on adding the lip sync to my animation.

I've noticed that the tablet I am using from home (compared to the Wacom tablets at university) seems to have different settings applied, and I am not sure how to fix this issue. The pen seems to be on the wrong sensitivity and I do not know to how to change this default. Within Photoshop, I have changed various settings such as size and weight yet nothing seems to change the sensitivity. This isn't very noticeable when I play the animation back however so I am deciding not to overthink it.

I moved onto another panel of my storyboard nearing the end of the week and noticed that I had inconsistencies within my animation regarding the brandy glass on the table. In an earlier shot, the glass is missing so once I have finished this section, I need to go back and add the brandy glass in.

At the very end of the week I rerecorded the spoken lines in my animation so I can begin to animate the lip sync and also filmed a reference clip for another scene as I had tried to animate this particular shot a while back and it wasn't successful.

Intentions:

Next week I hope to finish the profile shot by adding the colour and shading. I also hope to fix the earlier shot in which the glass is missing. I am planning on starting the lip sync soon as it is my first time, and I also hope to begin the first person shot of the glass too.

Animation 2: Process and Production Recap (Week Commencing 01/04/19)

This is the last week I have in university before I go home for the Easter holidays. So, I am hoping to get quite a bit of work done this week while I can still ask for help. Preferably, I would like to have half of my animation finished by the end of this week. However, another module will be taking up my Friday so I don't have much time.

At the beginning of the week, I started working on the forth panel of my storyboard. I sketched the body on an image layer to save time however this raised other issues as now the head movement looks too robotic and stiff.

This was an issue raised by a lecturer so, in order to fix this, I need to either move the body or make her hair flow in wind as she turns her head. I'm hoping this secondary action and follow-through will help make her movements look more natural and less mechanic as I fear I don't have enough time to fix this without sacrificing other scenes in my animation.

While I am happy with her hair and feel this addition makes the general action look less robotic, I am not happy with her hat as it doesn't look right. I feel that as she turns to look backwards, the hat seems to glitch around her head as though it isn't attached to the rest of her actions. However, this will be something I fix at the end of this project only if I have time to do so.

Midweek, we had a lecture on StoryboardPro. Firstly, we were asked to sketch any character. This was so we could get a feel for the tools and properties, and also learn certain shortcuts and commands.

Then, we were briefed on our task. We had one hour to make a short story where a character: entered the scene, did an action, then left the scene. We were only allowed one character and one location. I thought I could have a character enter a kitchen, grab something from the fridge and leave again.

We were taught the importance of animation terminology, such as scenes vs shots, and sequences. After I made a few changes to certain camera angles, the timing and the perspective in some panels, I exported the storyboard below.



Link to First Storyboard Attempt

Then on Thursday, I continued to work towards my final animation.



On Friday, I didn't have any time to do studio work as all students had to be present for presentations, and at the weekend, I am travelling home so I feel I will not get that much work done over the weekend.

So, what do I have so far? Below is the current progress of my animation.



Link to Current WIP

Intentions:

I hope to get as much work done over the Easter holidays that I can!