military chimps

the robots were my first attempt at using adams skeletons. the robot run was a little too slow but can easily be shortened and the speed inreased by tweaking the graph editor.

the following videos are from the space monkey soldiers: bazooka andd grenade variant. the bazooka troop has two separate runs and fires. the grenade troop's fire animation is in development at the moment.

robot cycles

Above is the run cycle for adams robot and below the walk cycle. The problems i faced before were due to joints within joints. the smaller joints were inaccessible and the larger ones the manipulators. now it is easy to manipulate the models.

week 5 update

Here is the finished counter top and props for ash's cafe de B...

Unfortunately i was unable to complete the animation i was set due to a technical error. i was planning on completing a couple of walk cycles for adam's wunderland but i was unable to access thejoints or handles of the model in order to manipulate it. they had all been locked out as part of the rig and there seemed to be no way to animate the model. i have sent an email to adam explaining the problem and hopefully he will email me back soon.

Text background animation tests

(Above) Swirl test. Created on flash with wacom tablet. This test was designed to get an idea of how the aniamtion in the background of the text animation may work. the text is on a loop of squash and stretch.




(above) Ribbon test. Same as above but with progressive streaming coloured ribbons.




(above) ribbon flower test. same as above but flowers bloom as the ribbons progress forwards.



(Above) quack test. pop lettering for daves ducks.

These tests were the final few chosen by dave that he really liked. since completion, we have both been designing text to be used within the animation and whether the text will be animated itself.

J

week 5: ash's bits and pieces

here are the modelled elements for ash's mis-en-scene. there are 3x mailbox, 3x bins and 4-5x street posts. These are all built in various parts so they can be mixed and matched and rebuilt to look different.

Week 5 Update

Wunderland

This has been another slow week. I have completed the building texture for adam after having to tidy up the outlines for adam and i also added some depth to the detail using darker coloured shadow. i will resize this and update the post with a picture later. Adam has also sent me the robot rig to begin run cycle and walk cycle animation tests so that is my task for this week coming.

Cafe de B

For ash i researched several different types of rubbish bin, mailbox and street sign for his background outside the cafe. I also looked into coffee shop counters. these will all be modelled this following week. the research is below:

Dave BatesFor dave i have worked on various types of animated text and styles of text for his characters words. Unfortunately he was not in this week so i could not share my designs with him. I am currently waiting on a reply to an email to see whether i should work on my ideas or his own.

Term 2 Weeks 1-4 + Xmas recap

Over the previous term I focused on the production of artwork for my concept/artist folder. This includes colour work/drawings/inkings/digital art and storyboards. My next folder is an animation folder so i hope to be working on ash reemul's and adam smith's projects animating various characters be they primary or secondary.


These first 4 weeks have been quite slow in terms of work as many people are wrapped up in their dissertation production or in house work. I have not wanted to take on a lot of artwork as that folder has been completed. I have taken on some building texturing for adam, lettering animation for dave bates and building modelling for ash reemul since the beginning of this term. The pictures are shown below.


Dave Bates
Dave has not only charged me with the task of completing lettering animation but also the design of the letters as well. These letters will be used amongst several key words in his film, spoken by characters, and each word requires a different font (updates will show text i have designed and that have finally been chosen by dave). these then need to all be individually coloured and animated. So far i have completed several basic flash animation tests, a few of which dave has oked and likes. Due to space issues not all the videos can be uploaded, so i will upload the files he was happy with (see separate update - Daves Tests.

It is important to note that these are basic tests to get an idea of delivery, shape, movement and flair. They are by no means a finished product.

Ash Reemul

Adam Smith

The building for adam has been quite hard to complete as i have had to start learning a whole new program to do the work. Using Adobe Illustrator is both exciting and frustrating as it is a new package, and a new skillset i am learning, yet it is so different to Adaobe Flash that i am finding it hard to adapt. The line tool, gradient tool and colouring system are completely different and take far longer to use than if the work was completed in flash. This means that i feel like i am wasting productive time trying to compensate for the odd controls. Adam is using illustrator for all his work as that is the package he is most compfortable with. This is liely to happen in the industry to i am trying to learn the software as soon as possible. This building has yet to be completed. I still have to clear up some lines and colour the windows.

I completed 4-5 buildings for ash using reference photos given to me by him. I was not given a size comparison, bottom reference for doorways and ground floor windows or an idea of how the buildings would be used however. I ssumed they would be in a line of a street (hence no sides) and, unsure of height, i separated roofs and layers midsections so they could be duplicated and joined at ash's leisure, depending on what he wanted. He was pleased with the work i had done, although i do not usually like to hand in unfinished work myself. I have not been contacted as yet in regards to completing the rest of the buildings.

No one has yet to enter the animation phase so i have taken the time to write my dissertation now and finish the draft before the animation starts, thereby saving time and stress. I will be able to focus on the animation rather than the essay in the second half of term.