Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Let's start off the the drama that wasn't part of animating.

First you need some background information;

Twice a week I 'work' with another teacher in teaching his 2D animation class to sophomores. It's kind of like a TA thing but I don't do as much as in the movies.

Anyway, he was telling the kids (because that's what they are - 19/20 year old little kids) that they should watch some of the Seniors later that day when they give their capstone/thesis presentations. That the seniors still had some time but it would be due April 20.

Wait, WHAT?!

So I asked, "Do graduates and undergraduates have different deadlines, because we where told the 24."

"Not that I'm aware of they shouldn't."

Oh this is just great.

I did track down my advisor to ask her what was up. Basically, its due the 20th for Thursday classes, then 24th for Mondays....which is us.

But, yeah, great way to kick off the work cycle.

So the plan was to finish S1- Arrive, and animate S8-Arrive2 and S11-TrainerWalk. 2 out of 3 is fine, right?

Okay, the beginning.

S1 - Arrive.

Things actually came together with this fairly easily the second time around. I have to come up with something for the backgrounds because its a little bland, and the motion at points needs a bit more sparkle, but still I like the falling over. (Which if you saw last week took a few tries to do.)

You will see all the videos in the latest animatic below, so just enjoy the stills for now.

.....And you would see one here from S1 if anything looked pretty enough, but with the backgrounds still in progress the style look isn't all that new for you.....

Now S8 - Arrive2

This was a good portion of my week (outside of classes, other homework, and job fair) and I personally love the interior of the car.

Some background things need to be animated still, his cycle in the first shot bugs me, the sniffing is just - no -, and the timing is a bit fast - but its done for the most part.

.....

Can I take a moment to pause here and say how obnoxious the computers in our labs are at times. Not only have I started screen-shooting the errors I get but this weekend it was having a really hard time just previewing. 

Don't believe me?

Here is a screen shot of the view I had to try working from while creating the interior of the van. It is at full resolution and has a play back timeline of one frame - so why the issue computer?!

Why? Seriously?

Okay rant over.......

S11 - Training Walk didn't get completely done.

Why?

Wish Flowers.

There is a stupid Wish Flower as a central part of the scene and I started making it - then 4 hours later started animating it, and another 2 before saying "forget it!" and moving on to actually show you something. But it did look cool working on it.

So there is this little nugget: the first shot of the scene but without the trainer. I then realized that the fence gives a flattening effect since it doesn't move perspectively and will have to re-design that....plus other fixes to the shot.

....which you can fin in the animatic because I don't want to upload it twice....

Now, I spent ages on that Wish Flower - and it still needs more work.

Last a little mock-up of on of the shots.

So before I leave you, I'm giving you an updated version of the animatic - mostly because we are doing a presentation today and have o have one rather than I think its time to aline everything an take a look.......

And that's a cap on the week people. Don't know if there will be an update next week, or at least on time, since next Monday starts Spring Break. I'm planning on more-or-less living in the labs for a good portion of it. I do have to go home for a few days, but it shouldn't be too much a bother.

Till Next Time!

And All Belongings

Sorry this is coming a few days late. I really did mean to post this on Monday…..

So this week has been…..full. But not in a way you all would probably prefer.

It was always the plan to have a light amount of stuff to do for this week. Before it was because I would be going home for my mom’s fundraiser. Later it was because of the fundraiser, getting my Grandma places, and a doctors appointment that was to take over 3 hours - which did not go as planed unfortunately, but moving on.

Like you saw last week in the breakdown this past week I should have fixed S3 and S15 while also finishing the animation for S1.

Good new or Bad?

Lets start with the bad this time.

I did not finish S1.

Though I was ready to change the beginning of the story, effectively cutting out the shot of baby Kramer falling over when scratching himself, I was told that I absolutely can’t cut that because it tells so much setup information about his character and relationships.

Great. So I just have to animate the dog falling over right?

So much easier said than done.

The only good thing about this shot right now is that I fixed the monstrosity that was the front view design.

I’ve gone through 3 different versions of him falling over. This one was scrapped quickly because I realized I didn’t like him turning.

Then I had him falling forward… Then sideways…..

….I like sideways the most right now.

Another thing that did get done for S1 is the title shot - it now has animation.

But yeah, S1 still isn’t done.

The good news?

The other scenes are fixed in design.

For example, here are some comparison shots from S15. He might be slimed down too, but I like the idea that over the course of the animation he is not only growing tall but filling out - which is something that really happens during the training period at the Seeing Eye since they are still young.

Before

After

Before

After

S3 is done animation wise. I still need to change the background for a part of it, and fixing everything after re-arranging the pipeline was a bear, but that’s all done now.

So, okay, it doesn’t look like much. And I was planning on having a bit more. But this was always planned - has been since December when the fundraiser was scheduled. Yeah, S1 still isn’t done, but its not like I didn’t work on it. Each of those fall versions might only last a second but took hours of work.

The life of an animator. …..fun.

Next week’s post should will have S1 done, as well as S8 - Arrive2 and S11 - Walk with Trainer.

Nobody Learns Without Getting it Wrong

Yeah, okay. I didn't update last week. This semester is a little different in that we sometimes meet as a class, sometimes just with the teacher, and sometimes not at all.

Last week was a not at all.

That is not to say I won't ever post on a no-meeting week, but I'm pulling that card this time.

Moving on.....

Since last time I actually got a lot done - not as much as I wanted, but still a lot.

Originally I wanted to completely animate 2 scenes. The color correction, lighting, and background fixes are scheduled to be finished during the last three weeks - so back off now people.

Here is my breakdown for the rest of semester:

First, this gap wasn't all about animating.

Last semester the document system I had in place wasn't working. At. All.

Sure it was good in theory, and was helping in lowering the amount of data in in files - was it didn't hold up when it came to phase 2 let alone 3 or 4.

So I spent some time re-orgainizing everything. Before there was a file for Kramer, other dogs, the Boy, other people, then for Backgrounds.

Yeah.... it became a real head ache when it came time to try combining the elements.

So now I have one file for each scene. Meaning 15 different files. The time consuming part was coping all the previously made elements from the files of last semester into new files specific to the scene they are in.

It was more of a time sucker then you might think.

Now I said that I didn't get done everything that I wanted to do. The plan was to get done 2 scenes, S1-Arrival and S2-First Night. First Night is done - animation wise.....for now. I'm not crazy enough to believe that it's perfect as is and doesn't need tweaking here or there, but I very happy with it.

And just look at this puppy, isn't he cute!

Silly little puppy.

.....trust me, it makes more sense in the setting. And even if it isn't exactly how a puppy moves, it's animation not live action and I like it.

With that I'll show you the scene as it is now. Keep in mind a few things: there is no color correction, no lighting (except for the lightning), the background is changing slightly (bed different, texture in floor), and the sound only has the effects - not the overall track.

To be fair, things did keep crashing on me, a lot. I've decided to start taking pictures of all my error messages when working on thesis and I'm going to make something out of them.

So what am I talking about, stuff not done.

Well the other scene, S1-Arrival, is not exactly finished.

First off, I changed a lot of it - nearly all of it.

Reason?

The stupid full frontal view is a butt to design, so everything using that angle is re-designed to 3/4. 

Then I thought instead of him falling over trying to scratch himself I would introduce his distractive-ness right off and have him pawing at something, then watch a butterfly, before being picked up.

It wasn't exactly working the way I wanted - and this was the easy part. I already spent so much time on it, and it needed so much more love to be half-way decent, that I went another route.

Now instead of stilling on the ground, doing......something, then getting picked up - Kramer starts in the boy's arms opening his eyes giving a first-person perspective for the opening shot. 

It's a little tricky since I'm dealing with extreme perspective, location shift, and first-person eyes opening.....but I think it's going somewhere.

From here we cut to a side view of Neville (yeah our dog's name is really Kramer, and my brother's name is actually Michael, but even though the character was designed from him, he feels more like a Neville) .....side view of Neville and Kramer before a Neville-perspective of Kramer as he slips on his new collar, ending with a close up on the collar tag which doubles as the title card.

I like this new sequence, but it will interfere with my transition to S2 since it was to be a seamless transition from one to the other with Kramer in the same pose, but the background changing......oh well.

Over all things went much better this time round. That leaf....mess.....is totally going to be re-done at a later date from a new view point.

Next week I'm planning, as you can see above, to have S3-Growing Montage fixed and, well, the rest of S1 done.

Please note, I understand the practice of animating out of order, I really do. The fact that S1-3 are the only ones relatively done is just because of timing and interest level. Other shots will be created in non-sequential order.

Note two: this post is REALLY long. It's most likely to do with the fact that I don't think I explained things well in the beginning - but it could also have to do with just having a lot to show....

Anyway, as Tigger says, "TTFN! Ta ta for now!"

If There's a Prize for Rotten Judgment

There are a few things I want to cover right now, so lets just jump into it.

First off, you can find the current board-o-matic here:

https://youtu.be/WRCfO0oHwbM

The beginning email note is being axed and the music needs to change, plus maybe changed some of the shot compositions to add dynamics…..

But basically, the story is based off the experience I’ve had with my family in raising puppies for The Seeing Eye (not that I will ever name them in the animation I think). The story follows our Golden Retriever, Kramer, has he grows and learns. Eventually he goes through all his training but is too goofy to pass and ends up returning home.

In short: a LOT of animating dogs.

….dogs are really hard to animate.

Why am I doing this again?

So over the past week I started working on one of the later shots known to me as “Leaf.” This involves Kramer, another dog, 2 trainers, a leaf and an evaluator? …not sure on that last part.

The leaf got made and animated without issue - though I might still tweak the timing here and there a bit.

The other dog, who I’m naming Kato since he will be in more of the story, got animated for the most part and I like him.

The trainers and evaluator (if I even have one) aren’t made yet. -_-

Then you have Kramer.

Things started rocky since I had yet to design a view of him head on as an adult. Plus I’m taking notes from last semester and giving a nose shine and more expressive eyes. All in all the design got to the point that I was like, “Okay, this might work but he still doesn’t look like his other angles.”

Why did I design the shot head on?

Next was actually animating him.

That was even more annoying, and took waaaay more time that I thought it would. It’s starting to come along but there where so may issues that came up and things that still need to be addressed that I’m not happy with it.

Seriously, why did I choose this story to get back into things?

Whatever.

If you want, here’s the latest version of the shot so far. The background is going to change so I don’t want to hear anything about that:

Well hopefully this next week goes better. I’m thinking of maybe doing the end scene next, not sure.

Until next time!

Wait For It

Well that was a fun week.

Totally not.

So, admittedly I didn't do a whole lot of work for thesis this past week. 

Reason?

I have an opportunity given to be back in November, and submission is in February - so I've been doing work for that all month. Since its 3D modeling I can't exactly translate it into Thesis all too easily.

What is this opportunity you say? What can be so important that it goes over Thesis during my mast semester for MFA?

Well......

I'm not telling you.

It's a huge opportunity, yeah. And I'm entering through a back door of sorts. But I've already told too many people and I am very conscious of the -somewhat large- possibility that I still won't get it since, lets face it, I haven't gotten anything so far.

So until I know for sure I'm not telling the internet. 

Now back to actual Thesis.

Because of all this other work I've been doing I didn't sit down to work on Thesis till Sunday after last Monday. I had a mid-afternoon snack, an 8-minute video ready (to watch while files copied onto the desktop) and plugged in the external hard drive that is only for Thesis.

But...

What's this?......

Perfect......

There's no light on the external. It's not even powering up to try and register.

I used a different cord.

Changed USB ports.

Went to the neighboring computer.

Zip.

Nada.

Nothing.

............

Fudge.

Now I know what some of you are saying: 

"Oh no! What are yo going to do?! This is horrible! You just lost a semester worth of work!! You'll never finish in time now!"

The rest are probably more more like:

"Are you an IDIOT?!! Why didn't you back up onto nothing else as well?! Why not Dropbox, or BackBlaze, or even Google-effing-DRIVE??!!!"

Just calm down all of you.

Seriously. Breath.

I'm not a complete idiot. I stated Dropbox last semester and happen to have about 95% of all my work up till December 9th.

Yeah, that means everything since then (the new edit of the video, the lasted breakdowns, semester schedule, and 2 new assets files) where gone.

Well, after posting my plight onto my classes' group Facebook page, one of my friends found me in the labs to take a stab at it.

And apparently my drive just hates me now (for whatever reason) since it worked perfectly for her.

Therefore,

CRISIS COMPLETELY AVERTED!

So, yeah, here's me admitting that I only worked a day/day-and-a-half on thesis this week - even though my teacher can find this.

But here is some of the work got done regardless.

First off, lets talk color.

One note last semester was that everything lest semester was pastel-ly and too monotone with pallet. Since the story takes place over a year, and colors change over the months, I've found new pallets to use at the appropriate scenes.

Okay, now here are some backgrounds:

Right, now not comments on "Oh that's kind of plain." or "Wow, you still have a lot to do."

First off, I know okay. I have a plan.

Second, I'm just getting the locations angled right and blocked in. The little details, proper colors, and lighting will come after the animation is done. That's why I have a month and a half of just post and clean-up.

If you must know, this is what the final style is going to be like:

Right. That was a long post so be happy people.

Till next week!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Lets just forget everything from before.

Forget the previous posts.

Forget the missed posts. The dozens of missed posts.

Forget the thesis project.

Just forget it all.

-----

Over the summer break I thought long and hard about thesis. After my review I was very much convinced that the story that I wanted was not capable of being told within 4 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the story and want to do it eventually - but with a 4 minute constraint it just can’t happen the way I want it.

So, 2 weeks before the fall semester began, I officially changed my thesis.

This new thesis is about my brother’s dog Kramer whom we had originally raised for the Seeing Eye to be a guide dog. However, he just wants to have fun and explore everything so ended up failing.

The story is being told from his perspective so the viewer has to learn over time what Kramer is going through.

Already a whole semester has past as well as a thesis presentation.

Some things are done line character designs, backgrounds, and about over 20 seconds of animation.

That being said, there is a lot that has to change.

The color pallet is too pastel.

The story’s passing is a bit odd.

There needs to be more tension/foreboding towards the end.

Over the thesis meeting was good - much clearer than with the last story.

Doesn’t mean everything is all hunky-dory though.

There is a lot of animation to get done, though I’m happy to say I am comfortable the the amount of assets I have presently and feel it should be possible to reach my self-imposed March deadline.

Want to see some designs? Huh? Do yeah?

Main dog as he grows up

Main boy character

Other dog designs

Right…now trust me when I say there is other stuff. Lots of other stuff. Its just, well, everything is saved as .tiff and Blogger doesn’t like that too much. Or the exports are in a presentation. Plus anything animated it kind of, well, in pieces. A bit here, a bit there, very few shots are 'fully' animated at the moment.

Yeah, okay, that shouldn’t be an excuse, but I’m seriously going to try really hard to be regular with these posts, so you will see more as goes on.

Promise.

…I hope.