Just a little extra stuff that I should have included ages ago but didn't.
I have neglected to mention a lot about timing in my entries and as I have managed to create a little bit of 3D movement (not with the Frodo model- it became too messed up to work with in the short time we had and so Dave gave me an already made and ready to move model for the animation aspect. I can honestly say I'm not surprised) that I should remedy this now.
Using this dog model (I figured it would be fitting, considering I'd been creating a dog model for months), I managed to do a short sequence of the dog scratching while wagging his tail. I'm not entirely certain that I made it look realistic enough but I tried as best I could to focus on timing. The movement as the dog moves his head to scratch himself is quite quick and believable and the scratching action itself I'm relatively happy with. However, he kept trying to turn his head slowly while he was scratching, much to my confusion. He moves his head and neck back upright a bit too quickly for my liking and for some reason, I wasn't able to slow the movement done as I had wanted.
However, I made his ear twitch as he was scratching, making the sudden head movement appear as if he suddenly heard something and then stands upright to give it his full attention.
If I have the time, I'm going to create a short walk cycle featuring this dog model and submit this as my animation part of the module.
Updating blog to help me with my project writeup, which I will complete when the rest (or at least the majority) of the work is done.
So far, I've done the head controller, shoulders, both arms and am now working on the legs. The arm poles seem to be moving but there doesn't seem to be any effect on the head and shoulders, which is worrying me as I am running out of time and I'm really hoping that I don't have to redo the rig on top of everything else.
Hopefully I will have the chance to talk to Dave and sort out the problems that I am having with the rig.
I also still need to give Frodo some colour. As you can see, I have removed the eye holes. This is because after I presented my ideas to the class, I was told to make the eyes more 2D as they would achieve the look I was going for better than the 3D eyes. I'm not sure if I will get to this as achieving movement in the character is more crucial at this point so we'll have to play this by ear.
Can't wait til I can focus on the summer project. Seriously...
Regardless of the amount of complaining, whining and general lamenting towards the amount of work I've had to do, I'm actually surprised that the year has flown by so quickly. Granted, the school year started late in September and is ending in the middle of May so that shortens the year in comparison to my previous years of education (which basically calls doody on what my sixth form teacher said- that my previous summer would be the only long summer I'd ever have) but thats beside the darn point.
Anyhow, as this is the last week, I obviously have a lot of tying up loose ends to do, starting with this blog. This will be considered the last entry of the official school year, although I intend fully to update throughout the summer, discussing things that I have found inspirational and also to reflect on the summer project that has been lightly discussed: to create a script and initial character designs that can be about anything we want. But I digress.
I have been a little lax with sharing my time plans on the blog, although I have been making them; they've just been elsewhere. However, I think it will help to discuss my plans in more than one place, so that I have somewhere else to reference them from. Not only this but I have since separated the tasks, choosing what ones to do at college and what ones to do at home. For example, I am more likely to do my writing up tasks at home, while working on the rigging and animating of my model here.
MONDAY
At college- Finish blog with festival research. Once this is done, continue with rigging and possibly start moving character. Otherwise, begin putting colour on the character.
At home- Writeup of onedotzero and animex.
TUESDAY
At college- 500 word writeup of CAAD sessions. Once this is done, continue with rigging/colouring/animating.
At home- Finalise 3D 1000 word research essay. Most of the info is on the blog already, only needs to be typed neatly.
WEDNESDAY
At college- Should be focusing on moving the model now.
At home- Get storyboards completed and organised.
THURSDAY
At college- As well as animation, work on show reel during CAAD session.
At home- Blast on with completing written accompaniment and have everything organised and ready to bring in tomorrow. Disc, writing up, Character sheet and so on.
FRIDAY
At college- Hand work in.
At home- Boogie on DOWN! Or collapse in a happy heap, whatever comes first.
*****
Now that I have a solid plan, its time to get cracking. Writing about the festival shenanigans shouldn't take too long, am I right?
Well, as its included on the list, I might as well mention the E4 Esting website, encouraging people to animate/film something featuring the logo and send it in. I seem to be having problems sending mine in. For some reason the site says it has my entry but there's no sign of it anywhere on the site and I haven't received an email telling me they have it so thats a tad confusing. But I'm rambling. Basically, every year, E4 holds this contest and the winner receives a cash prize and for their winning entry to be shown on the telly. Not too bad, eh? The site is located here: http://www.e4.com/estings/
Here is another site I am familiar with. As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I went to Berlin the previous month to attend the Pictoplasma Animation Festival for 2011. The festival is held every year and to tide them over, they encourage people to send in entries to show in a big screen! Check out the website here: http://pictoplasma.com/
This site I am not too familiar with but I liked looking at it even so and it might be a possibility for me to enter in the future. They seperate their entries into shorts, features, TV series/special features and cross-media so that your entry can have a specific length and target audience in mind. Their site is here: http://www.annecy.org/home
One I would consider a possibility, yet haven't seen much evidence of animated entries is the Bang! Short Film Festival. They have since had their festival but are right now taking entries that can be up to 12 minutes in length. They seem to encourage you to think outside the box and try things that are very conceptual. Many animations I saw at Pictoplasma had that same idea and it helps to expand your mind and create a whole new world of ideas. The website for Bang! is here: http://www.bangshortfilmfestival.com/
And finally, the British Animation Awards look very intriguing. They have a variety of interesting animations which fit into many genres. I wish I was able to see more of their entries though so that I would have a better idea of what to expect from this conpetition but I think its worth more investigating. Website is here: http://www.britishanimationawards.com/
This has given me a very slight idea of what festivals I would possibly want to enter my animations into in the future. Pictoplasma seems the most likely although thats probably only because I've visited the festival in person and therefore have more of a personal connection. I shall look into other websites as well in order to expand my ideas and opportunities.
*****
Well, as this is something of a special entry, considering its my last 'official' entry for the year (any I'll be making during the Summer will be development for the second year... well, I'm probably gonna discuss timing issues using my latest project but until then) I'll be signing out with this cute little gif from Rio to get you in the Summer mood. Enjoy the adorable dancing baby Blu!
Today I'd intended to get to work on catching up with my blog as I'd been falling behind in that area but Dave wanted to see my model, sort out any problems and get me started on the rig. We pretty much just got the model's ankles sorted out before deciding to just get started on adding the bones, deciding that the model was, while not perfect, good enough to pass (which considering the experience I've been having with 3D is A-OK in my book!)
I wouldn't be surprised if I have to redo any parts of the rigging but as of right now I've found it surprisingly easy to deal with, most likely due to the fact that my character has a very simplistic design whereas people with more detailed character designs told me of their difficulties. The handout we were given has been quite easy to follow, although I have found it hard to find certain things in the screenshots supplied in said handout. I'll no doubt stumble on such things eventually though.
I've saved the file and daren't risk working on this solo again today, due to the risk of undoing it. Also, the lack of finished rough/complete storyboards has been beckoning me for some time so I should probably get cracking with that for the time being.
I seem to always want the artistic, practical stuff out of the way before I focus too much on the writing. Which I still have to do. Always like a challenge to get things done!
As it has been a month since I attended Pictoplasma, its probably about time I blogged about it. Berlin was a simply amazing place and the festival was so interesting and fun and I GOT A SIGNED POSTER FROM DAVID OREILLY THIS MADE ME THE HAPPIEST OF HAPPY!
.... *ahem* yes. Perhaps I should start back from the beginning!
Monday evening, we arrived in Berlin to nice weather, which didn't last very long (seems Germany was trying to make us feel at home or something... kind of ironic considering back home it was sunny the whole time we were away) and we went for a bit of sight seeing. We got a few photos of the graffiti on the walls and made it our mission of the day to find the TV tower... which was much too far to get to by foot. Much easier to catch the train to Alexanderplatz. If only I'd known that earlier, I could have spared my leg and hips the trouble!
My first meal there was McDonalds. Way to step out of my comfort zone there, eh? I'm actually surprised they got my order right as it gets mixed up sometimes here (how hard is it to make a PLAIN cheeseburger and fries, eh?)
Tuesday was a mainly sightseeing day, all of us as a group wandering around together and taking photos of... well, everything pretty much.
I loved how they painted their products on their buildings, its a really clever idea and makes the place very appealing and interesting to go to.
Loved the eye catching colours and how the girl stands out from the bright orange background.
I just liked the composition of this here, how all the bikes are lined together in front of the graffiti. Photography is a hobby of mine.
I just realised, I never actually came back to buy this and try it like I planned! Sad times!
Consider this a message to my better half <3
Anyway, there's about a ton more but I think I should move on by now and talk a little about the work I found inspiring at Pictoplasma. I was especially fond of those who gave their characters spaghetti arms and legs like I'm starting to do with mine but I found many of the artists creative ideas and methods inspiring.
David O’Reilly, who is well known for work such as Octocat, Please Say Something and The External World has always inspired me due to his relatively upbeat yet twisted sense of humour and out of the box ideas, so I was especially pleased to see him at Pictoplasma and even more so to get a signed copy of The External World poster. Best 10 Euros I ever spent!
Also can't help but mention this pic again. Well I suppose I could but shut up.
Oh, and he retweeted one of my twitter posts. Don't tell me I'm a saddo to be happy about this, I'm already aware. So hush.
I should probably link to the work I saw at Pictoplasma. I know I've moreso fangirled rather than analyse his work but well... look at this and see for yourself, eh?
There were also other artists whose work I enjoyed and whose lectures I found interesting. One in particular was Ryan Quincy, who even wore the costume of his character during his talk (and such props always make one more inclined to listen!) not to mention that he's the head animator in South Park. Apparently it only takes 6 days to make an episode? Unbelievable yet very impressive!
Art styles I really enjoyed seeing were of Jeremyville and McBess, both of which create work that is very cartoony and references work of old cartoons, particularly McBess. As I enjoy seeing work of a similar nature, thats a big reason why these two stuck out for me. The difference between the two is that McBess tends to have a more 3D approach, creating a story using music as accompaniment whereas Jeremyville's work is simplistic yet incredibly heartfelt, creating a small but busy and meaningful world with a story to tell. Both have given me something to think about and ideas to try with my own work.
Rilla Alexander and Matt JOnes gave lectures that I also enjoyed. Alexander gave a wonderfully sweet presentation about her little girl character Sozzi and her ideas, which are creatively portrayed as living creatures. The antagonist is a monster made of scrumbled up paper, representing the characters procrastination and lack of satisfying ideas as theystart to escape her. Incredibly creative. I hope to own the storybook one day.
I just adore the design of JOnes' work, how he combined a character he created with his favourite drink. Its quite a creative idea (although I wouldn't recommend sitting in tea- you'd get quite a few burns) and also the fact that you don't know what colour character you're gonna get makes it part of the fun when collecting them, not to mention the limited edition designs. I definitely want to collect more of them when I can.
I bought two of their products, both of which reside of my chest of drawers. They're good pals and often meet my toy Rabbids to play a spot of Cricket and Avoid The Plunger.
Thats more or less all my favourite speakers as far as I can recall. As of now, I think I'll share with you some of the screenings I saw at Pictoplasma that I've found on YouTube. I'm still looking for a lot of them and I'll update my blog with them when I find them. For now, enjoy these nice little offerings here!
As this is all I can think of to share for now (and if I type more of this blog I will have to suffer more ageless buffering and frustration) so methinks now is the time to wrap up this entry with a nice photo I was shown on the Pictoplasma website. This was at the end of The Missing Link show and I was one of the crazy nuts to get onstage and dance with the yeti things. I actually hugged and danced one of them!
I doubt you can spot me in this, I'm hidden so damn well.
