Final Animation

This link is to the .mov file which is a bit better quality.

https://student.ci.qut.edu.au/~n6822207/animation_final.mov

Breakdowns

Breakdown 1
I have slightly changed my poses in this sequence as I wanted Volrant jumping back first then coming into that evil stare position. Leonardo's extremes are pretty similar however I have changed the way he greets with his hand.


Breakdown 2
The extreme pose has not changed really in this sequence


Breakdown 3
The extreme poses have changed slightly with Volrant as I wanted his arm a bit higher at the extreme part of the pose. Leonardo's pose is still similar but I am just refining it.


Breakdown 4
The extremes are similar but Leonardo's movements are much smoother.


Breakdown 5
The extreme poses have changed slightly again with Volrant as I have added in the pose where he is changing the cups.


Breakdown 6
The extreme pose hasn't changed


Breakdown 7
The extreme pose has changed slightly as I am trying to get a more evil innocent look going.


Breakdown 8
The extreme pose hasn't changed

Week 5 - Animation exercise

This is the weekly exercise whether you have to pick up a coin. I was pretty happy with the outcome of my animation, although there were a few areas that were still a bit jittery and not as smooth as they could of been. I have added a walk sequence at the start, just simply because I have never done one. After closer reflection on the walk sequence I made it a bit to popy in the legs. This probably could of been fixed through more bounciness in the hips. I have added two videos one from the front and one from the side to show the walk sequence a bit clearer.

Practice
My method of doing this animation was using pose to pose animation. Once I was happy with my poses I then refined the in-betweens by using straight froward. Particularly with this rig I found this method allot easier then guessing what my next move would be and will try and apply this style to my final piece of animation.







Research
Some of the research I used for the walk cycle was the Animators survival handbook.......

Extreme gestures

I was fairly happy with may extreme gestures although I know that when I start getting into a bit more detail my extremes may change a bit. It was good though to progress using this method as you can really see a more overview of how your animation is going to turn out.

Throughout my animation I wanted to stay true to my character descriptions for volrant and leonardo. Therefore it was important that I followed the line of action that helped display their personality. As you can see with Volrant, I wanted him to look very evil and devious this was done through the line of action bent over as shown in this extreme pose. It was the opposite for leonardo as he is very bold and brave I need his gesture to to be very upright as shown in pose. With these line of actions it helps the readability for the audience to distinguish been evil and good.




I still feel I am displaying a good posture with respect to line of action, however for these gestures to read well to the audience I do feel there needs to be a bit more work done to refine the gestures. This is particuarly the case with Volrant as I think his gesture looks a bit too stiff in this frame. I may play around with the postures around these extreme location, eg. move volrant down before he comes up to make it read a bit more realistic.



This gestures doesn't look to good, but once I place more attention on the hands and facial gestures it will look alot better. In this sequence the line of action I don't think is that important however when she is in the background I have to make sure she is very nice and upright as she is a princess. Her movements muse be very innocent as well.


This gesture abides by similar line of action and readability as I discribed in the first sequence.



Similar to previous gesture, however I don't like the way I have done his head as it looks a bit silly because it is bent to far back. This can easily be fixed.

Animation v1.1

In this v1.1 I have started to add in the in-betweens and add curves in the graph editor. I am fairly happy with how this is looking as my extreme poses are coming through good. I haven't started animating any of the facial or fingers yet as I still want to keep refining the postures. Again I want to look into my camera choices a bit more, I may talk with tutor again this week.

Animation v1.0 (Stepped)

Animation v1.0
In this version I have tried to explore all extreme poses with reference to line of action. All the animation is still stepped so it doesn't look that impressive but am with where it is going. I talk about all the extreme poses I have selected in my other post. I still want to look a little bit more into the cameras I have selected and will do some more research in this area. Overall it is not looking the best yet but is heading in the right direction.

Animatic v1.1

This is an updated version from my first animatic. In this version I have done a bit more research on my camera positions and have taken some advice. As my scene has a lot of tension in it I have tried to use more Close Up camera views particuarlly on Volrant as this adds tension. Also whenever I have had to use a Medium shot I have tried to partner that shot with a close up to keep the tension going. Another camera shot I used is the Wide full shot which is located at the start of the scene. I have used this shot to introduce the environment so that the audience knows who is where in the scene. I may adjust the camera angles slightly when talking to tutor a bit more but overall I think I have stuck to the rules ok....

Also in this animatic I have tried to step out all three characters main poses so I can then take this file and start defining movements in the upcoming versions of the animaiton. Still alot of work ahead!!!!

Journal Task Wk6 - Weak Pose

When I thought of weak generally I thought about people that are injured or to tired to get to somewhere. This is why I have chosen to show him on the ground holding onto an object with one hand to stop him falling. I tried to make his facial gestures somewhat exhausted to add to the weakness. This was done with his eyebrows placement of them at the top of his head, and also his mouth right open like he is having troube breathing. I thought this pose turned out ok...

I uploaded this other camera angle as I felt it demonstrated weakness alot better then the previous image. I got the camera angle wrong on the previous one because it was zoomed out to far and the angle wasn't right.

Journal Task Wk4 - Angry pose

With this angry pose I thought I would mix it up a bit and place the character sitting down rather then always standing up. This angry pose is shown through his posture as he looks pretty pissed off leaning over. I made sure there was support for his body as his right arm is on his head so i leant his left hand on his leg for support. I also added the general facial expressions for angry with tilted eyebrows and upside down mouth showing teeth. I was pretty happy with how this pose turned out...

Journal Task Wk 5 - Thought pose

In this pose I tried to display alot of love and emotion in her body position and the use of her facial features, particuarly using her eyes closed as it makes her look as though she is thinking about something and with the smile on her face it is making her happy which represents love.

Volrant Anim Tests

Animation tests:

These tests demonstrate Volrant's decivious ways and his extremely evil personality. This is shown through his evil facial gestures, shape of spine and also general body movements.

Princess Lila Anim Tests

Animation tests

In both of these animation tests I have tried to show the princess's innocent and delecate side. This is shown in her soft body movements and innocent facial features through her mouth eyes and eyebrows. I feel these tests clearly relate to the character discription I was looking for.

Leonardo Anim Tests

Animation test1:

In this test I tried to demonstrate Leonardo's confidence and his pride in his chest, arm positioning and his stance. This is a typical kind of pose for that you usually associate with a confient hero.

Animation test2:

This test demonstrates his fighting attributes as a hero. It also displays that he isn't all show off but still has a serious side to his character.

Animation test3:

This is a walk cycle for leonardo; this turned out to be harder then expected... I used some reference material from animation survival kit and some other references to try and get a smooth cycle. I tried to display leonardos confidence in the walk with his line of action and also how casual the walk is. I found this pretty hard to do, but if I had to do another cycle from scratch I know where to start now and would produce better quality.

Storyboard and Animatic

Storyboard sketch

I used the storyboard below to help set out my different camera angles and timing for my animatic. If I didn't do this I think my animatic would have taken a lot longer to do. Also I did this storyboard before timing it with the sound file so I had to tweak some timing for the final animatic.

Storyboard frames

Shot - Zooming in, Side view
0 -3 secs


Shot - Close up on Volrant
3 -5 secs


Shot - Side view (Mid range view)
5 -6 secs


Shot - Behind View (Mid Range View)
6 -8 secs


Shot - Close up on Princess Lila
8 -9 secs


Shot - Close up on Volrant
9 -12 secs


Shot - Zooming out on Volrant
12 -14 secs

Animatic with sound....

Journal Task - Wk 4 Animate move object from table

This exercise helped me alot with practising my chosen pose to pose animation technique. I used this technique to do a first run then added whatever frames that needed to be added in between. I tried to use a style that was 'Realistic' that impersonated actual human movements rather then unrealistic movements.

Sometimes I was a bit messy with where I put my frames and had to constantly fix up in graph editor but I think with more practise I will get better. Was happy with outcome of my first propper animation and will help when setting up the animation tests for my characters. If I have time I will try and fix up the object flying as it looks a bit heavy.

Style of Animation
Even though this animation wasn't that big I still adopted the animation style of pose to pose. Once I was happy with these poses I just filled in the in betweens with straight froward keying. This style is my preferred method of doing animation and will continue to adopt it.

1st output

2nd output - with object a bit faster

Journal Task - Wk 3 - Strong Pose

Strong pose

Week 2 - Ball exercise

I did this quick tutorial in class with the ball, it was good to refresh my memory on the graph editor as I hadn't used this tool since one of the earlier 3d subjects we did. Even though this exercise was small it still pointed out the need to think the animation through as it was a hard ball it needed to bounce straight back rather then being a curve. Good refresher tute!! and also got to learn how to use multiple cameras!

Character Design Document - Princess Lila

Overall description

Princess Lila is the sweet damsel in distress. She has blond hair and is very beautiful; most men would die for her. She is a very polite lady who has been raised in a very well respected house. Her posture is perfect and her mannerisms are at a very high standard. She is single and is looking for love from her knight in shining armour.

Detailed Physical Description

Age: 23

Distinguishing Features: To die for looks

Hair: Beautiful long blonde hair

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5' 07"

Weight: Slim petite figure

Character Traits

Key Character Traits:

Beautiful, polite, loyal

Principal function of this character

To act beautiful and wait for rescue

Motivation

She has no motivation to be captured but only to be saved by a handsome man

Family Background

She was raised in a very well respected wealthy family. She has been pretty spoilt her whole life and being the most beautiful of her sisters she received the most attention, however she did not let this get to her ego but remained kind and giving throughout all of her teenage years.

Likes: Brave handsome heroes

Dislikes: Being around devious evil men

Poses

Pose Research

Reference Images

These images were done on a blog by another animation student in Canada. These poses are really what I am looking to portray in Princess Lila. Alot of these reference poses brings innocence yet still beauty to the character, which is what I am looking to achieve.

The video below just shows me playing around with a few poses that I think will represent the princess the best. She tied up so I want alot of her emotions coming from the tied up hands, head direction and facial features.

Character Design Document - Leonardo

Overall description

Leonardo is a hero with a fashionable hooded green outfit to hide his identity. He is a noble swordsman who looks to save the innocent, yet physically strong he is still very intelligent and cunning. He is a very romantic man that most women would love to have as a husband, although this is the case he is a lonely man and is always looking for the right women to complete him. His posture is very upright (with his chest sticking out) and composed and is a strong muscular man.

Detailed Physical Description

Age: 30

Distinguishing Features: his fashionable hood and good looks

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Height: 6' 00"

Weight: Slim muscular figure

Character Traits

Brave, Handsome, Intelligent, Composed

Principal function of this character

To defeat the villain to save the girl

Motivation

His main motivation is to save the innocent girl from the villians evil deeds and to hopefully gain her love.

Family Background

Leonardo comes from a poor family and has had a hard upbringing. However he knew from an early age right from wrong and despised anyone who was evil. Through his teenage years he started learning the sword and eventually searched the land for people to help from evil.

Likes: Saving the innocent and getting the girl

Dislikes: being beaten in battle and letting someone down

Poses

Research Poses

I took some videos here to demonstrate how leonardo should be standing and projecting his body out. These poses also helped me in working out how he looked when he turned around after being fooled by volrant. Particually how the shoulders and arms react to each other. I also tried to show what composed facial features he has; so not making him look angry but making him look focused and confient.

Close up view on face and shoulders

Zoomed out view 1

Zoomed out view 2

Character Design Document - Volrant

Overall Description

Volrant is a large man with a very devious laugh and smile who commits very inhuman evil deeds. He is very pronounced when he speaks and tries to enlarge himself over the people he is talking to. He is a lonely man who needs to do evil deeds to entertain him. Yet intelligent he can be blind sighted by his own ego which plays apart in his down fall.

Detailed Physical Design

Age: 45

Distinguishing Features: ugly and always angry

Hair: brown with evil eyebrows

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5' 10"

Weight: Large with a hunchback

Character traits

Untrustworthy, Evil, Deceiving

Principal function of this character

Evil Villain

Motivation

The main motivation for Vizzini is to simply entertain himself in the form of holding Buttercup hostage and seeing what comes from it. I would say the main goal for him is to defeat any body that stands against him then will do what he pleases with Buttercup.

Family Background

Vizzini comes from a line of rich spoilt family who mistreat women and roam around the country doing as they please. Through his teenage years he got bored with just ordering people around he then started doing more serious evil deeds. He has been educated by some of the smartest scholars in the country because his families wealth could afford it.

Likes: Everything going his own way, luxuries items, beautiful women

Dislikes: When things don’t go his own way, being outsmarted

Sketch model sheet and poses

line of actions......

Poses
The first pose is where Vizzini is trying to decieve the man in black by pointing to something behind him. I really wanted to demonstrate the evil devious look Vizzini has. This is done by using the eyebrows inverted to look more evil and also his mouth is an evil cheeky look with a defining structure between the mouth and the nose making it looks like he is snarling. With the body I wanted to look kind of ugly; this is shown in his hunch and how low he is to the ground when he is pointing.

Research images

Research videos

These are just some videos I created that showed these poses from a few different angles that help me with creating the poses and will also help when I am doing my keyframe animation.

Somes poses but from the front view

Journal Task - Wk 1 - Sequence selection

Identify a Director who's work you like and explain why.

I enjoy watching films directed by Zack Synder, recently noticed for the work he done on 300 and Watchmen. I choose him because I enjoy the style he undertakes to tell the story though use of cameras and the style of motion he portrays. I also enjoy the type of movies he makes in the fantasy CG art kind of way...

Discuss that Directors style and why you find it effective.

I particulary like Zack's style of using smart camera locations so that he can slow down a fight scene to add effect. This was done particulary in 300 in alot of the fight scenes and this is one of the main reasons the film appealed to me. When you watch the fight scenes he slows down the right part of the fight for example he slows down when a solider approaches the enemy but as they strike he speeds up the frames creating the effect of them moving alot quicker then their enemies. I also enjoy the landscapes and colours he uses to create a mood in his films.

Discuss your choice of sequence from the script and some early ideas you may have for animating it

I am choosing the sequence in the battle of wits where Vizzini tries to trick the man in black by pointing to something behind him and then switches cups around around then laughs when he turns around. I choose this sequence because I think I will be able to portray the type of character Vizzini really is in this sequence. I could show this because Vizzini is pretty evil and sneaky and this could be expressed clearly in this sequence when he is pointing and then laughing at the end. The man in black should be shown as very composed character with alot of confidence. This can be done in his pose and the way he turns to look behind him. I'm still not sure what style to adopt for this sequence, I don't think I could adopt the style of Zack Synder using slow motion and close ups as I only have 10 secs but may adopt the side camera angles.