Welcome to Project 1, Task 1. The goal is to create a 3D animation from scratch. To make the model, design the character (briefed as a robot) and create the movement.
The checklist goes as followed:
1. A 500 word Essay detailing the history of 3D animation - Including context
2. A reflective Journal that details my progress within the project - Including Planning and Research
3. An animation of a Robot - Video File
4. A final reflection on my progress and what I learnt from this project - aka an Evaluation
I will be including all of this in order to pass this task. However, I still need to keep in mind some other things. To improve and practice my other skills in the build up to University. To not only research and evaluate but to compare alternatives, explore solutions to problems, link back to how this helps my end goal.
The main software of choice is MAYA. However it will also be beneficial to explore multiple software's to 3D animate in.
Finally a lot of the early work was my independent 3D practice, before the Year 2 began
INDEPENDANT MAYA WORK
PART (1, 2, 3)/10 TUTORIALS - WEEK OFF
This was my first ever time attempting to do 3D independently, it was fun. I already sorted out the software so I can access it at home. This will allow me to practice outside of lesson time.
Today was literately a case of working out what the buttons do. There was no other purpose than to see what does what. With the fundamentals down, I can then delve deeper and start improving on individual skills.
The distortions created to the sphere was random and chaotic. The actual shading sort of collapsed in on itself. Now I know how to distort the shape, it will be my new goal to create a shape with purpose. To design my first model.
123, T. R., 2021. lesson 1 of 10 Maya Basic Controls. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21MkLi7Xe3k
[Accessed 10 June 2021].
I first learnt camera control. By holding alt left, right or centre, I can manipulate the camera for better views of the object. Understanding the 3 dimensions x, y and z. Top right, far right allows for translating and scaling manually (object mode). ctrl z undo's my mess ups.
The middle option in the top right, then selecting poly "shape name", it gives you access to alter the net (frame) of the object. p"object" give me greater control on translating and editing the attributes of the object.
Far left option in the top right allows me to model the object. Extrude was a button I experimented with but the entire panel needs more research before I can write properly about it.
Now in this next 1, I learnt the basic controls of how to model. By clicking the right mouse wheel, I am able to distort and alter certain aspects of my object such as sides, faces and vertices (corners).
The first shape I made was not recorded, so I made multiple. Component mode allows me to change the components of the object, adding sub-divisions gives greater variety on what I can change. Although in this particular case I did struggle to pull it off.
123, T. R., 2021. lesson 2 of 10 - MAYA component mode and basic modelling. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lQqEWaXHsY
[Accessed 10 June 2021].
There were fewer new controls compared to the first video, however the uses of these are endless. It mainly came down to experimenting and playing around with the functions. I made it up as I went along and had no set goal in mind. I just intended to get used to the controls and get more comfortable in Maya.
As stated before, I want to attempt to create a purposeful model. This experiment was a big step up from lesson 1. These will be the main buttons to create my new model.
All of these videos come from existing tutorials on Maya's official YouTube channel. I found a video series that goes through the basics of Maya (10 in total). Each lesson is a new video and an entire section of experimenting and adapting.
There isn't much I would change if I was to redo this. I reckon I could of got an existing image up and try to replicate it in 3D for extra challenge. However I am satisfied with the point I reached and can't wait for the 3rd of 10 lesson.
This is the 3rd video of 10 I followed and easily the most difficult. It is the first time I modelled with intent. I had to follow the tutorial step by step and ended up rewinding on several areas. The skills learnt in vid 1 and 2 were treated as fundermentals with little explanation. The focus was distorting the shape into a small rocket ship. The models in the screenshot are not the 1 in the video. I decided to reattempt this as my 3D has developed more compared to when I made it.
I especially struggled on the wings. It is the most complex shape and I was also using controls that I have never seen before. This was a failed attempt.
Channel, M. L., 2018. Intro to Maya: Lesson 1 / 10 - Basic Skills. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLo6MafPVM&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN8oisLN0wQc55ESugIJ1qLG&index=1
[Accessed 1 June 2021].
Although, positively, this experience push me much more than before. It allowed me to practice what I did before while layering on new techniques to practice.
Positively, the last 3 videos have taught me about a software in which I knew nothing. 3D feels so different in comparison to 2D animation. There is so much more structure involved, 1 false move will drastically change the outcome. It is a matter of breaking down shapes into their fundamentals and using a base set of tools to manipulates it into what you want. It relies heavily on problem solving and requires you to think on your feet.
Honestly I prefer this to the wild, uncontrollable 2d techniques. I love to draw. But 3D feels like it uses the same mindset needed in Maths, not art.
I feel excited to learn more and a little nervous on where it will take me. I intend to follow these 10 tutorials while completing the classwork alongside it. On top of this, it would benefit to explore around the area of 3D animation. Rather than focusing on just Maya, I should find others in the industry and examples of their work. Overall I am ready for the future and proud of what I achieved so far.
Channel, M. L., 2018. Intro to Maya: Lesson 2 / 10 - Shaping and positioning objects. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_GbI-au6v4&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN8oisLN0wQc55ESugIJ1qLG&index=2
[Accessed 1 June 2021].
channel, M. L., 2018. Intro to Maya: Lesson 3 / 10 - Building your first model. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REUu3R0LgOM&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN8oisLN0wQc55ESugIJ1qLG&index=3
[Accessed 2 June 2021].
MAYA CLASS INTRODUCTION - 9/6, Pre Yr2
123, T. R., 2021. cube bounce no audio. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pOGPtDt5lU
[Accessed 10 June 2021].
3d Rough Note INSTRUCTIONS - 9/6
x,y,z axis
alt hold + left mouse = rotate
alt hold + middle mouse, drag = drag perspective
alt hold + right mouse = orbital menu
a key = focus on centre
objects - use shelf selection above or... - create, polygon primitives
outliner (bullet list looking icon) = contains all the assets (left side drop)
component
select object, right click (vertex, edge, face...) - 4 vertex points for good modelling
f key = focuses camera on object
3d exercise 1 - time yourself. do it again but quicker.
animating in 3d
panel, orthographic, front (turns camera from 3d to 2d view)
grid top right (++), bottom right (-+), bottom left (--), top left (+-)
cube manipulated in centre, not edge (0.5 instead of 1)
modify, freeze transformations = sets all current transformations to 0
timeline, drag slider to a 1 to 24 position for animating.
s= registering frame - right click, key selected better
animation preferences, running man with cog - bottom right) - play every frame bad, set to 24 times 1.
windows, animation editor, graph editor - sorts out timing.
delete all unnecessary translations. select point, click diagonal line (linear tangent).
change scale for squash, highlight scale x and y, right click and press "key selected"
Hard Surface Modelling : 3D ROUGH NOTES 9/6
Task - skyscraper: object manipulation
cube, rename object.
inputs: og object name, height 60, translate y to 30 to make above ground
change subdivision height to 5
width and depth to 10
rightclick, edges, bottom edge drag up to 2nd edge (w click)
panels, othographic, front view.
drag mouse (select) 3 lines down from move, leave 4th unselected
angle and scale inwards
r = scale tool
w = translate tool
task - skyscraper: extrusion modelling
polygon primitives, click box
height = 30
width = 10
depth = 10
click upper face
ctrl e = extrude (edit mesh)
organic modelling:
MAYA BALL AND SKYSCRAPER PRACTICE - 10/6
The rough notes were taken in class and used to help me in my independent attempts. They will be my main source when looking back on older 3D works and rediscovering a method. I can also play around with the steps and see what works best for me. The most valuable thing I learnt from all this is the way of learning (or structure). The tutor (Adam) introduced us to a 3 practice method. The first time we watch him do it. The 2nd time we do it as a class and finally start from scratch independently. On my own I can do a similar method. First time closely follow the tutorial and do the work step by step. The 2nd time, use any notes or the vid as reference as I redo the work. Then finally complete it from scratch with no help unless necessary. You should find that you get faster each time while slowly memorising the method as you go.
On top of the 3 attempts in class, I also done an attempt at home to record and upload to the site. It was also good practice to do it again a day later to see how much stuck. You can see my attempts in the video above...
I had to solve problems on the spot and navigate my way through multiple attempts until I was satisfied. The cube was done easily with only a small error in the graph step. Creating the squash before the graph has been altered led to multiple issues.
The skyscraper was just issue after issue. I managed to get a model close to the original in class but not quite. The bottom of the tower kept distorting in the narrowing stage. And at the very end, I mis-clicked on a unknown button that completely changed my screen. With no clue on how to return it to normal. I was forced to call it a day and get help in the lesson tomorrow.
The next lesson I asked 1 of my tutors for help regarding the above issues. The screen split was caused by an accidental tap of the spacebar. While I have normally been manually selecting which view to work with, the space bar gives me 4 different views on standby. This unintentional button press has brought a new method to my attention, significantly saving time over the older one. The skyscraper issue was caused by my extrusion (or lack of). By selecting the necessary sides and dragging them in, I was affecting the entire shape. Extrusion would separate the shape and allow for the result I was looking for. The plan is to do another practice attempt with this new knowledge in hand, so I can measure my progress. I intend to go onto YouTube and challenge myself with some more complex models tutorials to make in order to learn new functions.
123, T. R., 2021. CUBE BOUNCE PRACTICE 10/6 MAYA. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k8yp33UoIc
[Accessed 10 June 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. SKYSCRAPER MODEL PRACTICE 10/6 MAYA. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWMfv6rNVYY
[Accessed 10 June 2021].
Although the 3D project hasn't officially started, all of these practice attempts are very important. To challenge myself now and acquire a basic understanding of the functions of Maya, I will be more equip to handle the project thrown my way. I intend to take everything I have learnt so far regarding Maya and to apply it to my upcoming project. A solid foundation and basic understanding before going into year 2 would also make me feel more confident in myself. Overall this was not perfect by any means but an important step in understanding a new software.
First thoughts on receiving feedback for the above practices - Scott feedback
I spoke to Scott (another tutor) about how to fix my 3D errors. He said that by pressing the spacebar, I am able to get back my original screen. Also the bottom base of my tower kept distorting because I had the sides selected, not the vertices. These 2 issues meant I could progress no more with the tower. Now that they are solved it is time for another attempt.
You can see all my emotions and reactions in the video itself. Overall I would say that this was a success. It made me realise how easily it can go wrong but also how rewarding it is to get right. I was surprised with how much I remembered from the day before. I intend to use the feedback above, collected in lesson, to improve and create a brand new skyscraper.
Rocket Modelling Attempt 2 - Tutorial 3 - 12/6
Rough Note INSTRUCTIONS:
sphere, scale up to oval shape (y-axis)
booster, cylinder, use scale and move tool
turn mesh wire frame on for more precise positioning.
make bottom wider, enter "component mode", drag bottom vertices, use scale tool to evenly widen them
stacking boosters, go "object mode", (shift, left click) to move clone it
to combine objects, check you in "modelling mode"(top left corner screen), select everything, mesh, booleons, union
porthole, cylinder (scale), rotate it 90 degrees (j left click, 15 intervals)
rim and glass: edit components, attribute editor (poly cylinder tab), subdivision cap, (edge comp) pull rings (scale outwards)
shift left click to make 2nd porthole, scale down, rotate for body, unionise
nose cone: vadd cone, wire frame only mode, drag out of rocket, scale (obj mode)
round out: attribute editor, poly cone tab, subdivision height... increase
soft selection (b): colour region appears (area of effect), hold b + leftclick top - change area of effect
channel, M. L., 2018. Intro to Maya: Lesson 3 / 10 - Building your first model. [Online]Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REUu3R0LgOM&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN8oisLN0wQc55ESugIJ1qLG&index=3[Accessed 2 June 2021].
Towers and Tables - 16/6
This is an extension of the previous lesson in Maya. We built off the tools learnt from previous and reattempted the previous creations. The skyscraper was once again completed, without the flaw of the home attempt. We were then given free reign to create our own skyscraper from the modelling tool kit. I was quite satisfied with my attempt. We had a very limited time to complete it so it was based off no references. What this does show is how I have slowly improved with the tools. This originally took a closely followed list of instructions to carry out. Now I have the ability to create my own versions.
To further this piece, I attempted to add depth to my scene. According to a previous YouTube tutorial, a good way to add depth is through size and overlap. So I gathered 3 of my skyscraper attempts together into a cluster. Immediately it looks better as a group than on their own. However a weakness is the detail. Currently all 3 buildings are very blank, basic. Some of these models were early attempts with the sole purpose of learning controls. However these can be improved by adding more detail to the models. Further more, detail works as a way to also improve depth. The further away the object, the less detail it needs. So if these buildings were spaced apart more then their simplicity could become a benefit. However the very front building is the most simple, resulting a a break of the illusion of distance.
The very bottom building was an experiment in adding detail. I made some areas cave inwards. Some areas rose up in a gradient, rather than a sheer 90 degree increase in height. Finally there was an attempt to add an extension on the side to break up the rectangular shape. These occurred with varying degrees of success. I especially found it frustrating to create the extension. Some attempts lead to the mesh splicing. Others resulted in strange lighting issues - such can be seen in the screenshot.
Overall, each tower signifies a small step of development. Visible improvement can be seen, although more is needed. I want to later take a reference of an existing building and model it in Maya. This will give it an era, personal style and more identity than these simple models. Or I could make many small models and create a city scape to further the original style. If I was to do this again, I would attempt to model it off a real life building. Furthermore, I would adjust the spacing to increase the illusion of depth and create some distance in my cluster.
The table was followed step by step as a class effort. This new way of learning was challenging to say the least. We had to wait for multiple people before moving onto the next step. Likewise, it is very easy to fall behind with attention divided upon 14 individuals. The table was created from a reference, with the goal to make it as similar as possible to the image. This made me very aware of how closely we had to look at our models. Every detail must be taken into account for. It was easy enough to create the base table. The difficult part became in replicating the flat table image into a 3D model.
This is easily the hardest 3D model so far and likewise challenged me the most. Even my 1st attempt saw a big dip under the table, later fixed. This was my first experience into proper 3D modelling, not just learning controls.
I wouldn't do anything differently here. If anything I should find a tutorial on this exact area and attempt to replicate it myself to progress. We used a lot of new controls I am currently not familiar with. Positively the final model was close to the reference. Negatively, I currently do not remember a lot of the new controls. Overall it was difficult but very enjoyable.
Designing Buildings The Construction wiki, 2020. Stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa. [Online]
Available at: https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Stabilising_the_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa
[Accessed 16 June 2021].
This was a small unfinished piece of work carried out after class. I wanted to attempt a building with a circular shape (not a square one) to push my understanding. What resulted was a confusing mess where multiple meshes ware layered upon eachother and many details were inconsistent with the reference image. The building I wanted to replicate was far too detailed for the scale of my model.
What this taught me was to not run before I could walk. I attempted to do something that I was not quite ready for. I enjoyed the challenge but could only get so far. To improve this I may come back and work on this mesh more. Although for a professional standard the entire model would have to be redone. This is all beneficial for me to understand and get use to navigating Maya. At this point. It is about getting a foundational understanding in order for me to complete the project.
Feeling confident with the tower experiment, I decided to do some home practice. Almost all my previous model were very boxy and squared. So what if I attempt something more circular? The answer that that is this mess. Originally the idea was to start off with a cube (like every other time) and work my way up. However I lacked the knowledge of the toiols at the time to get me there. I will be going into more detail later in the project about this tower. The biggest mistake I made here for creating a cylinder within a cylinder. This made manipulating the detail in the shape incredibly difficult. I wouldn't change anything if I was top do it again, except for conducting more research into the controls of MAYA first. I am still happy with this and will develop it in the future. This all benefits towards my 3D animation, familiarising myself with the controls now will allow me to learn faster when year 2 Begins.
Human Body Attempt 1 - 21/6
Rough Note INSTRUCTIONS:
sphere, scale up to oval shape (y-axis)
booster, cylinder, use scale and move tool
turn mesh wire frame on for more precise positioning.
make bottom wider, enter "component mode", drag bottom vertices, use scale tool to evenly widen them
stacking boosters, go "object mode", (shift, left click) to move clone it
to combine objects, check you in "modelling mode"(top left corner screen), select everything, mesh, booleons, union
porthole, cylinder (scale), rotate it 90 degrees (j left click, 15 intervals)
rim and glass: edit components, attribute editor (poly cylinder tab), subdivision cap, (edge comp) pull rings (scale outwards)
shift left click to make 2nd porthole, scale down, rotate for body, unionise
nose cone: vadd cone, wire frame only mode, drag out of rocket, scale (obj mode)
round out: attribute editor, poly cone tab, subdivision height... increase
soft selection (b): colour region appears (area of effect), hold b + leftclick top - change area of effect
EVALUATION
Now this was the most complex thing I ever attempted making at the time. The human body is an organic shape, therefore lacking the simpler shapes of man made structures. My previous work into human anatomy definitely helped me visualise this. An added reference image to round thing off meant I was ready to experiment.
Although at the time I had issues with importing the image into MAYA. The tutorial I watched (in the top right corner of my wix site) showed the image in MAYA acting as a framework for the anatomy. However, when I imported my own image in, it took up the entirety of my background - rendering it unusable.
Taylor, J., 2014. Maya bodybuilder CHARACTER MODELING tutorial. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spi4lGxnMZg&t=37s
[Accessed 21 June 2021].
Kael02, 2013. Topic: Some tutorial guide on realistic texturing for characters. [Online]
Available at: https://www.foro3d.com/f26/alguna-guia-tutorial-sobre-texturisado-realista-para-personajes-109419.html
[Accessed 21 June 2021].
jcTools, c., 2020. Maya Tutorial: Everything on how to move the pivot point in Maya. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl51Rjj8Tqs
[Accessed 21 June 2021].
Kleckner, J., 2017. Autodesk Maya Insert Edge Loop Tool. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRn2IYGu1M
[Accessed 21 June 2021].
To solve this I went onto YouTube (a secondary research source) to help me solve my issue. On it I found tutorials specific to simple tasks, such as importing images. In the end I was able to work out how to successfully import images into my MAYA software. However I didn't work it out during the creation of this model.
It is a very simplified version of the Human torso and left arm. Straight away there are some clear anatomy errors, for example how flat the arm is and the shoulder connection. The basic mold for the leg and the lack of pelvis connecting it to the torso. Beneficially, I did get more confident in the basic controls of MAYA.
I learnt new tools such as inserting edge loops and moving the pivot point in modelling my shape. These positives will have good impacts for later creations. Also in attempt to model a human, I definitely challenged myself. If I was to to this again. |I would see this model through to a complete body and head. Then gather feedback and improve/develop it.
Any robots later down the line resembling humans will definitely benefit from the practice now. Or better yet, I may be able to use this model as a basic template.
INTERVIEW WITH ADAM WEAVER (PRIMARY RESEARCH)
So as stated earlier, I took it to someone more experienced in 3D than myself for feedback. I had a quick interview with Adam Weaver, my year 1 tutor.
In that he took 1 look at my attempt, then sate me down to watch him model. It was an half an hour session of watching him create the torso and left arm of the man, making use of new tools I haven't discovered. This gave me valuable insight in how to improve as well as a new method to try out.
What I intend to do is to follow up on this model and improve it once I gain more experience. This could even be a potential portfolio piece given significant development.
Overall I am satisfied with this progress. I had a lot of fun making the body and now hold a clear direction to improve this.
Highfield, C., 2021. Interview between Callum Highfield and Adam Weaver on human torso [Interview] (21 June 2021).
Human Head Attempt 1 - 21/6
Phillips, P., n.d. Interesting Faces/Expressions. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/314477986450361583/
[Accessed 3 August 2021].
Nguyen, D., 2011. How to 3D Model a Head Part 1. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDT0Pz1UtWM&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN8oisLN0wQc55ESugIJ1qLG&index=5&t=1039s
[Accessed 3 August 2021].
Once again, as already said before with the body, this was the hardest model I have ever done. Creating a lifelike human head has been on my to do list ever since I heard about 3D animation on my course.
Now the biggest challenge to overcome lies in the funder mental concept. Its a human head, an organic shape. So far all of my 3D models have been "man-made". Objects created by humans follow a pattern of sharp edges, straight lines and are generally simpler. The shapes in nature are complex, usually containing curves. Straight edges are generally difficult to find in untouched nature. The human head is not man made, which means the methods of previous won't work.
I decided to follow a step by step tutorial that can be seen on the left. Instead of starting with a cube and modelling outwards, it started by creating a two dimensional shape, a custom shape. This became the basis of the model. From there the edges were extruded and the front of the face began to be mapped out.
This tutorial was where I learnt how to import references into Maya, without it I would find it impossible to get where I got to.
Once the front was roughly mapped to the tutorial, I went into side view and started creating the 3rd dimensional aspect of the artwork. This purely came down to trial and error to get right. However there was a huge issue.
The way I extruded the edges meant that a lot of overlapping vertices were created. At the time I had no idea the "target weld" tool existed, therefore multiple vertices became layered upon each other. This wasn't an issue until the point were transformed backwards to create the 3D part of the face. A single point had to be moved multiple times for any single position change. This also lead to the new of the face falling apart.
The write up was completed weeks after the face was created. Therefore I have since learnt a lot of new tools that can benefit.
Although frustrated at the time, I believe I am now better equipt to model a face. This huge jump definitely rewarded me with a challenge, although I bit of more than I could chew. The new tools I have learnt along the way will lead to some massive improvements on my current progress. Positively the current model is still usable so I won't have to start from square one. It was also an invaluable experience, while giving me insight into the next steps in Maya.
Pisa Update - 5/9
This took place a while after the previous MAYA work. I spent the majority of August focusing on my sketchpad, developing my traditional skills. This meant that not a lot of MAYA work was completed. However, days before year 2, I stumbled across my circular tower.
This was built from the original model so the flaws of before still apply.
I managed to work around this with the details. The pillar is a simple cylinder built to the height of the reference. This was then duplicated and transformed into the right position. I did find that when transforming, not all 3 dimensions were accounted for in my camera viewpoint. Which meant the majority needed readjusting. The top was completed by selecting and duplicating an entire row of pillars, then scaling them down. A simple circle was added to form the top of the structure.
I felt happier with the small improvements. If I was to do this again I would redo the model from scratch - this will solve the 2 cylinder problem.
Going back to older models after more experience will only highlight the improvements in my 3D skills. Although the changes to this particular model are minimum, this could create great results on a much bigger scale. For example, as of writing this, I have discovered a tool that can merge vertices together, which would dramatically improve my human head. In conclusion, this went well and is a small glimpse of what's to come.
History of 3D Animation
6/9/21
This is the official beginning of Project 1, Task 1! In this area of Project 1, I need to analyse the history of 3D animation, it's impact on the industry, develop a 15-20 second animation and record my development alongside.
The 1st lesson back consisted of a quick crash course in MAYA's basic controls such as the transform, scale and camera control. This will be covered in detail further down the page. Luckily I kept my hand in MAYA during the transition form year 1 to 2, so I have a basic understanding going into this project.
Now the history of 3d animation was completely unknown to me going into this. Although I was aware of certain products produced in 3D in the last 30 years. The objective is to make a visual timeline of 3D animation and a 500 word description about these events.
I decided to take the old fashioned approach to my timeline, simple pen and paper. Although this limited me to the original size of the paper and the issues that come with handwritten work (e.g. no spell check, ease of reading handwriting...), I found this to be the most effective.
Comparatively, I could of used Photoshop to create my timeline. This would of solved any spacing issues by extending the canvas. Also as text would be typed, any handwriting errors would be resolved.
However using Photoshop would of restricted me to the size of my screen. A zoom out would be required to see the entire timeline, at which the text may become to small to read. I personally preferred the paper method and enjoyed the real life interaction a physical copy brings.
The images on the left are photographs of my traditional work. Although the information was gathered from secondary sources, the creation of the timeline and the experiences of research are primary.
Reading the information on it's own would purely class this as secondary.
Secondary sources included a mix of YouTube videos and websites. If I was to do this again, I could attempt to find some books documenting the history. Likewise my tutors and other members of staff have a significant insight into the industry. Interviewing them would give me another source of information.
Personally, hearing it from a professional in the area is more beneficial that just reading it off a website.
References to specific areas of my website, such as the section titled "The History of 3D animation" will be grouped together. Furthermore there will be a bibliography of all references of each page at the very end.
The rough timeline created in the research of the History of 3D Animation.
The History of 3D Animation 8/9/21
"The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1898) is believed to be the first filmed stop-motion, however there is no surviving footage. People physically moved objects and took a series of photographs to create the illusion of movement.
Although one of the earliest surviving recordings of Stop-Motion can be traced back to 1902. The short in question is called "Fun in the Bakery Shop", produced by Thomas A. Edison. The method was referred to as Claymation, actors would manipulate dough/clay and use a similar method of photographs to create movement. A baker caught a rat in dough and began shaping faces out of it. His back was to the camera and covered up the transition between each face. Many other shorts were produced around the same time, an example being "The Sculptures Nightmare" in 1908.
However the next leap in Stop-Motion came about in 1925 with a silent film called "The Lost World". It made use of rubber models over clay and was one of the direct inspirations of King Kong in 1933, made by the same producer. This is the 'first feature-length American film featuring stop-motion animation' according to The Wrap. The creator, Willis O Brien, managed to blend Stop-Motion and live action footage together for the first time.
Another film around the time included "The tale of the fox" 1930 (which later inspired "Fantastic Mr Fox"). It included puppet figurines of foxes, cats and rats - another first. These were made with wax and wire.
The original King Kong arrived in 1933 and with it ground breaking stop-motion. It developed on mixing different footages together (like lost world on a bigger scale). This included adding clips of actors in the back frame by frame (with the stop-motion in front) and having actors in front of a projector showing the stop motion.
A new method of stop-motion was created in 1940 by Georges Pal. He created many wooden heads with small variations to create movement, rather than moulding them with malleable material like clay. He won an honorary Oscar in 1944. Another key event was "The Gumby show" in 1955 which popularised Claymation.
The 60's brought a new wave of Stop-motion to the scene. "Jason and the Argonauts 1963" was one of the first films to use a technique called "Dynamation", combining live actors with animated models in a 3D space. A small picture of the live action is projected. Small models were used in front.
Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer released in 1964 by the BBC, becoming a Christmas classic.
One of the first ever computer generated 3D human bodies came from "The Boeing Man" in 1966. Created by William A Fetter, it was a wireframe used for pilot's to see if they could reach the aircraft's instruments. This would be developed further in "Westworld" 1973. This was the 1st feature film to use digital image processing - specifically to pixelate photographs. The 1st 3D human model of a face was created in 1972 by Frederic Parke according to the Timetoast website. Although it won't be applied in a film until Westworld's sequel called Futureworld 1976. Here a computer generated image (CGI) was used to project a 3D head on a computer screen.
The 70s and 80s saw a major rise of computer generated 3D, compared to the Stop-motion of previous years. Star-wars: A new Hope featured a 3D animated game of chess, which increased the popularity of 3D in cinema. The next big leap came in the form of Tron 1982, incorporating a massive amount of computer animation.
"Sexy Robot" became the 1st CG TV advert, a clear example of 3D animation's influence spreading. In 1986 the short Luxo Jr was created, Pixar's 1st shortfilm. The computer graphics were brought of George Lucas.
Tin toy was created in 1988, the inspiration to Toystory. However a new breakthrough in computer generated graphics happened in the form of Terminator 2 in 1991. The main villain (the T1000) was completely computer generated. The liquid metal vfx was ground breaking. 1993 saw many new discoveries. Jurassic park showed us realistic dinosaurs generated in 3D. Stop motion made a return with Nightmare before Christmas by Tim Burton and The wrong Trousers (Wallace and Gromit). Toy Story released in 1995, Pixar's first feature length film. It was the 1st film to ever be completely computer generated. Super Mario 64 (released on the N64 by Nintendo in 1996) became the first successful 3D platformer incorporating a dynamic camera.
The rest of the 3D era will be covered later on in the "rise of 3D and the fall of 2D" section of my website. This section of my website shows many of the events of the growth of 3D animation. New technologies, new developments and it's progression in media. 3D continued to flourish beyond the 2000s. Stop motion, although not as prelevent as it was in the past, continued to grow with Chicken Run (2000), Coraline (2009), Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) and Pirates and the adventure with scientists (2012).
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0161, p., 2011. Pixar Shorts Collection Luxo Jr 1986 YouTube. [Online]
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BERMAN, E., 2017. 5 Photos That Show How King Kong Revolutionized Movie Special Effects. [Online]
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CGI, U. H. o., 2018. Futureworld (1976) - First realistic computer model of human face (HD). [Online]
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Charles Kinney, J., n.d. 3-D Animation: History & Definition. [Online]
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Congress, L. o., 2009. Fun in a bakery shop. [Online]
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ElectricDragon505, 2015. The History of King Kong - Animation Lookback: The Best of Stop Motion. [Online]
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FailesCategories, I., 2017. Full liquid metal, now in 3D: re-visiting the freakin’ T-1000 walking out of the fiery truck crash. [Online]
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Higgins, B., 2018. Hollywood Flashback: ‘Lost World’ First Brought Dinosaurs to Life in 1925. [Online]
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Hunt, K., 2019. The 1925 Dinosaur Movie That Paved the Way for King Kong. [Online]
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Jeremy Norman’s HistoryofInformation.com, n.d. William Fetter First Uses a Computer to Create Three-Dimensional Images of the Human Body. [Online]
Available at: https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=1041
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justinau, n.d. History of 3d aniamtion. [Online]
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Kilday, G., 1991. ''Terminator 2'': How?d they do that?. [Online]
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Lee, C., 2018. FUNNY SUITS DEC. 10, 2018. [Online]
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networkninenews , 2017. DYNAMATION … from a lecture by Ray Harryhausen in 1984. [Online]
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OH MY DISNEY, 2015. 10 DISNEY MOVIE MOMENTS THAT CHANGED ANIMATION. [Online]
Available at: https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/01/05/10-disney-movie-moments-that-changed-animation/
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SCHINDEL, M., 2021. Stop-Motion Clay Animation: A History and How It Works. [Online]
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THE TAKE, 2021. How was “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” made?. [Online]
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Welk, B., 2019. A Timeline of Stop-Motion Animation History, From ‘A Trip to the Moon’ to ‘Missing Link’ (Photos). [Online]
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Wikipedia, 2021. Fantastic Mr. Fox (film). [Online]
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Wikipedia, 2021. The Tale of the Fox. [Online]
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Wikipedia, 2021. Westworld. [Online]
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Bedroom Modelling: Made 6/9
This was a task to get my hand back into 3D animation. What I am doing is screenshotting my models progress in each part in order to document development. Also any controls/methods I use will be written as rough notes in word to evidence my findings.
This was initially a group tasks. We all followed the teacher as he gave out instructions to model walls and floors. he taught me the magnet tools, specifically the snap to point and snap to grid tool. This gave me more precise transformations compared to the move tool (w) alone.
The rest of my room was constructed from memory. The walls were duplicated and moved upwards. The majority of complex shapes were made up of multiple cubes.
Now this was a good starting point n getting my hand back into it. Although I know I can do better.
For example, the walls can be simplified down. By adding divisions using the modelling tool box, I can edit in the complex areas - such as windows and door holes. This will reduce my object count and make it easier to render later down the line.
I asked one of my tutors, Dan Balls for feedback regarding the room above. Thus he showed me a new method. By creating a flat square and extruding the edges upwards, I can create my walls from a single object. A new tool ,called "target wield" can get 2 vertices and snap them together into 1. This not only means my new walls are level with each other, but I can manipulate them as a single object. This also solves a massive issue with my "human head" model attempt from before. This will allow me to merge multiple points together and stop the model net from breaking apart.
The new tools are documented above in rough note form. Although the models produced from these tasks are extremely simple, it allows me to discover new tools and practice my current ones. Thus in the long run, it will allow me to create more complex models. For my 3D animation, it is required to make my character design from scratch. To get more fluent with the tools will let me solve more problems in the long run. The "insert edge loop" was especially handy in creating manipulations.
The furniture was also expanded upon in this redo. Each piece had extra details added to make them less like block and more like household items. Although this did take longer, the end result is much better.
However there were still problems with the new bedroom. For example, I found the bevel tool only worked particular edges. Something about some of my models did not allow me to use the bevel tool to smooth my edges. Each object was made out a single cube. For games design this is great for memory. However animation isn't restricted to such practices. if I can manage to alter objects out of singular shapes, then using multiple would be even easier down the line. This is really just making thing more difficult than it needs to be. However I think this will lead to greater benefits later.
There are 2 more points I want to bring up. The first is something discovered after feedback from individuals in my class. And that is the scale of my model. It is huge! In attempting to navigate round my bedroom, I found that using the simple camera close enough to certain models will only let me navigate at slow paces. That is because of how big everything is. In order to navigate efficiently, I need to be zoomed out by a silly amount. To fix this, I reckon it would be a good ide to shrink everything down. Because Everything is modelled using singular cubes, it shouldn't destroy the models.
The 2nd point is about certain tearing with my radiator. The plan was to have a cuboid sticking out my wall to represent my radiator. However I selected the edges, not the face. This resulted in the lines seen in the above screenshot. The tearing can be fixed by reducing the edges back into the wall and selecting the face instead. Overall I am happy with my progress so far.
The task has fulfilled it's purpose so far. I have learnt new tools and got better at my older ones. MAYA is my choice of software for the 3D animation. This is only familiarising myself more with the controls. The more confident I get in the tools, the better all future models will get. If I was to do this again, I would fix the errors stated above, then proceed to add the rest of my furniture into my bedroom.
It may also be a possibility to start recording my progress through blogs - like I did during FMP 1. This will allow me to show my 3D work in 3 dimensions, rather than the 2D screenshots.
What Makes a Good Character : Rachel Day
Made 7/9, Wrote 14/9
Rachel Day's lesson go into character design specifically. This directly ties into my 3D project and so will appear in this section. The final part of this "task 1" is to have a 3D animation. This requires a character design.
Now the design itself is important, it needs to appeal to your target audience. However more goes into a character than appearance alone. Motivations, intentions, background and personality are other important areas to name a few. We can use these to help explore and flesh out our designs.
Important Definitions:
Protagonist - The centre/leading character we follow along the story. The Protagonist is involved in struggles that challenge their beliefs/emotions/ideas... This character isn't necessary good or bad, just the main focus of the story. Essentially the "point of view character" according to MasterClass: Writing 101.
E.G. SHREK - from Shrek
Antagonist - The character who opposes/challenges the Protagonist. They could be a full blown villain that needs stopping or a character not evil but simply in conflict with the protagonist. The antagonistic force could be from the protagonist themselves, their flaw or insecurity for example.
A villainous character can be a protagonist, given they are the main character. However villains are antagonists when they are not the main character.
E.G. VOLDEMORT - from Harry Potter
Deuteragonist - The character with the 2nd most important role in the story, only 2nd to the protagonist. The secondary main character.
E.G. SASUKE - from Naruto
Foil - Draws attention to the qualities another character, usually the protagonist. Their sole purpose of existing is to shine a light onto the traits of another. They are not necessary at opposition or conflict.
Paraphrased from Masterclass: Writing 101
E.G. SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG - from Sonic the Hedgehog
These affect the character greatly going ahead. A good design will be able to reflect their role in the story.
REFERENCES
Death Note Wiki, n.d. Light Yagami. [Online]
Available at: https://deathnote.fandom.com/wiki/Light_Yagami
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
Hay, L. V., 2021. How to Create a Detailed Character Profile. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Detailed-Character-Profile
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
Merriam-webster, n.d. protagonist noun. [Online]
Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protagonist
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
staff, M., 2021. Writing 101: Protagonist vs. Antagonist Characters. [Online]
Available at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-protagonist-vs-antagonist-characters
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
staff, M., 2021. Writing 101: What Is a Foil Character in Literature? Learn About 2 Types of Literary Foils and the Differences Between Foil and Antagonist. [Online]
Available at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-a-foil-character-in-literature-learn-about-2-types-of-literary-foils-and-the-differences-between-foil-and-antagonist#what-is-a-literary-foil
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
Wikipedia, 2021. Deuteragonist. [Online]
Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteragonist
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
Character Profiles:
According to wikihow "A character profile is a detailed description of a fictional character's life and personality." Essentially the profile exists to help the creator understand and clearly define their character. This can be used to develop their story, motives, personality... The profile can also influence the design.
During lesson we researched into a character of our choice and created a profile of them. After we all had to explain to the class about our choice. This gave me the opportunity to practice my presentation skills and communication. Although I only had around 5/10mins to actually find the information.
Light Yagami is a favourite of mine from the series deathnote. His actions are immoral, deciding who deserve to live or die. However the intent and reasoning behind it actually makes sense. To rid the world of crime and make it a better world for those left. This is a very shallow study of his character so I'll be linking some character analysis to really go into depth.
His actual character design is very basic. It matches the description of a perfect school student. The shirt, tie and general simplicity plays into this persona of a normal student. This is a deliberate cover up for his alter ego of Kira. The design contribute and plays into the story.
Although his character has little impact in the 3D animated robot I have to produce. The questions used to create the profile remains the same. You can take the majority of characters in media (or at least those fleshed out) and be able to apply it to these questions. If I was to do this again I would research on multiple websites to gather my information. As any errors on the singular source of info would have massive impacts on the information gathered. I felt basically neutral in this area. The fun part comes in apply it to my own character later down the line.
Death Note Wiki, n.d. Light Yagami. [Online]
Available at: https://deathnote.fandom.com/wiki/Light_Yagami
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
Hay, L. V., 2021. How to Create a Detailed Character Profile. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Detailed-Character-Profile
[Accessed 7 September 2021].
MediaRoom, 2021. Light Yagami - The Perfect Protagonist | Character Analysis. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8WWQ01blDA
[Accessed 14 Spetember 2021].
SirLantz, 2020. The Psychopathology Of Light Yagami (Death Note Analysis). [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm7Y9UNLpY0
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
Social consequences of Character Portrayal in Media
In a hyper sensitive world, the audience of your given media will have a massive range of preferences that have to be met in regards to your character, show... People like to project themselves onto characters that represent them. There are certain boundaries that have to be respected. Of course there is no impressing everyone, however the idea is for everyone from all varieties of backgrounds to enjoy your show.
The purpose of a character is to "entertain" the audience. Essentially it is to make them feel something towards them. Weather they are rooted on for, hated, loved, admired... The goal is to make them attached and create feelings for the character.
Although if a character falsely represents the individual, or worse negatively damages the ideals and reputation of their belonging identity (by identity I mean race, religion, gender...) then the consequences will be disastrous.
Apu from the Simpsons is a clear example of this and the impacts misrepresentation leads to.
Currently all this information was gathered in class and my own understanding of the modern world. I will be doing much more research into this topic later down the line.
Apu is a walking talking stereotype of Indian people. Stereotypes are associations/patterns/assumed ideas of certain identities (e.g. races, religions, genders...). While an argument can be made that not all stereotypes lead to negative consequences. The majority of the most well known have caused extremely negative portrayals in media.
Essentially it mis-represents that minority of your audience and may even damaged that minority going forward.
The Simpsons in particular has stereotyped many races throughout it's run. Created in the 90s, the rules of media and what was allowed would have been different to todays standards in the 2020s, this is what we call temporal validity (or lack of it) in psychology.
DISCLAIMER: PERSONAL OPINION!!!
THIS IS NOT NECESSARLY THE RIGHT VIEW OR ONLY VIEW, THIS IS JUST MY BELIEF AND IDEALS. THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HONOURED AS MUCH AS ANYONE ONE ELSE.
I personally believe it is unfair to judge it by todays standards when it came out 30 years ago. That doesn't mean later airings shouldn't follow todays regulations. It is apart of our history of how things were, where we once was. Erasing/altering it to fit with todays standards is the equitant of changing the history of the 60s to conform with modern beliefs. We should learn from it in order to not repeat the same mistakes, not cover it up in case someone from todays age doesn't like it.
ONCE AGAIN THAT IS AN OPINION
In the paragraph on the right, I am attempting to show a balanced view on how Apu is actually received by audiences. While the first video show people who disagree with how they have been represented by Apu, other have different views. Apu (the character) is not an accurate representation of the Indian people, however that was never the intent. Some see it as downright offensive, others see it as comedy.
You want proof that there are people who don't hate Apu for how he is represented? This is an example of people with views completely opposite to the video shown in class. look at the YouTube comment section of the videos on the right (especially the top 1 shown in class). This will give you a large sample of a wide range of people from all across the world. I'm not saying this sample has no drawbacks, just that the more people you ask, the more accurate the data.
On the right is a video that shows interview carried out with the actual represented demographic, Indians. As expected, view are very divided. Some find it funny, some offensive, some don't like how they're represented, some neutral. What this clearly shows that even within the demographic, there is no clear cut opinion on the character.
To add to the variety of sources of opinion, I have found a clip of 2 guys on ET Canada Live discussing the response that the Simpsons show had to this controversy. This shows the stance and view of the show itself. The positives and negatives are being discussed and brought out by the commentators.
truTV, 2017. The Problem With Apu - Official Trailer | truTV. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGzvEqBvkP8
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
The intent here is to have 2 videos about the same topic with 2 different stances. That way you can hear multiple sides and opinions and not just a singular version like in lesson. I encourage all that is involved in this debate to conduct their own research into these topics and form their own opinions and questions, rather than following what you've heard from someone else. There is no right answer to sensitive debates like these so while my personal opinion may have a point, it is not necessary the definitive answer.
Boss, A., 2020. Indians React to Apu Controversy [Street Interview] | ASIAN BOSS. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJb77ggFgTE
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
This video directly asks questions to the Indian public about the character of Apu. Many of these questions are specifically those asked by the media in regards to his social impact on the minority. As expected, the answers vary wildly.
There are people who clearly agree and disagree with the view of the 1st video.
Canada, E., 2018. ‘The Simpsons’ Responds To Apu Controversy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyMR73D33YU
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
If you watch the top right video to the end (shown in class). The man of focus mentions an entire movie about why Apu is a massive problem and needs to go. The bottom video shows the view of the show and even this same mans reaction to public reaction on his film.
I think I have done a better job at attempting to show a variety of views to the viewer of this website. There is clearly an issue with how Apu is portrayed. But this at least acts as a jumping off point to a bigger discussion. I hope you can form an opinion of your own. Even the research conducted are from internet videos. There may be an argument that this secondary research isn't diverse enough to draw an accurate conclusion. The rabbit hole is massive and the answer is not clear.
This got a little off topic. What I hope people take away from this is how important representation of culture, beliefs, ideals is when being portrayed in media. This is a single example of how easily it can go wrong when ignored. When creating characters, it is a must to research and take into account any social consequences it may have on the audience. I intend to do likewise when creating characters for my 3D animation in this very project.
Overall I feel a little saddened about how messy the situation really is. This quick dip into politics has allowed me to come to a few discoveries. That representation, stereotypes in media are incredibly important and must not be brushed off lightly. There are damaging consequences when these go wrong. And that media in general is a constantly evolving form of entertainment that can get turbulent very easily.
This has been extremely beneficial towards my project. However I think it is best if this issue is left here.
Coca Cola Modelling: Scott 13/9
This lesson taught me a bunch of new controls and quick tips to watch out for. A quick example would be to keep my shapes with 4 corners instead of 3, this allows modelling to be carried out easier. The "insert-edge loop" tool was especially useful to maintain this rule. Screenshots of my progress can be seen below.
Using the method I learnt in my human head modelling experience, I was able to insert an image into the correct frame. He then showed me a new technique. In the image settings I can turn down an "alpha gain" counter to lower the opacity of the image. This allows me to model without the visual interference of the image.
Using this, I scaled a cylinder to fit the dimensions of my coke can. Extruding the vertices will allow me to form the arcing top. Extruding the face wider and then down will get the top of the can. However there was an issue with adding the insert loop to get rid of the triangles.
selecting the faces or edges lead to some strange results - as seen in the screenshots.
To solve this, I played around with my camera angle to select only the very top layer. Eventually it lead to the desired result.
Afterwards, it was a matter of repeating a similar process to the bottom. The final touches was using a new tool to map out the top ring. It allowed me to create brand new vertices and edges, a tool like this will be extremely effective in my robot modelling.
Access Direct Distrinutors, n.d. Coke 375ml cans – case of 24. [Online]
Available at: https://editor.wix.com/html/editor/web/renderer/edit/ab4b605d-0b4f-4196-8887-a90ceee2653d?metaSiteId=e82fe4dc-acf6-4f0b-9eb2-be30cac6033c
[Accessed 13 September 2021].
The above outlines the method, now is time for evaluation.
The lesson was structured similar to the bedroom modelling. The teacher would carry out instructions and we (as a class) would follow step by step.
This is a very uniform way of learning. A pro of this is that anyone struggling isn't left behind. I personally needed assistance in managing to flip the top.
However it also restricts those who know what they are doing, those ahead of the others.
In this case I needed the extra help so I felt relieved for this way.
These step by step lessons are great for getting introduced to new methods or confronting tasks beyond my current level.
The aim was to create a model of the coke reference image. Although this was achieved successfully there are still some errors. For instance the rim on top just goes into the can. An actual ring top would sit on top of the can.
Furthermore, this particular model may not work from a practical standpoint. A coke can won't likely be the focal point of a scene. If anything it may be unnecessarily detailed for a featured scene, especially in the gaming industry where memory is everything.
If I was to improve this I would attempt to simplify the wireframe. I would also fix the issue with the lid of the can.
This was good practice in the software of choice to model my character. On top of this I also learnt new controls that will be extremely useful for modelling later down the line.
The brief is to design a "robot" for the 3D animation. This animation could be any length and the part I animate is completely up to me. Likewise, the actual character has no brief except "robot".
So the first objective to my character is to decide what kind of robot I wanted to create. And for that, discovering examples of robot characters was essential. The video to the right shows a huge collection of robots portrayed in the media over decades of films.
After watching, a pattern started to emerge. The older robots (the classic designs) were boxy, stiff, slow and conveyed little emotion. Most were very boxed shaped and lacked everything to do with human emotion.
However, it seems that later designs do a complete opposite approach. Modern robots have a very flowing shape, especially compared to their boxy ancestors. Many resemble humans, physically built like a human, act and move like humans. If the old was to show an unstoppable force of destruction, the new mimics and almost passes of as human.
Quiz, B. B. F., 2016. Robots in the Movies. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtbnbcasYY0
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
The moodboard above shows many examples of the patterns I found. The top half represents the classic approach to robot design and the bottom half the modern take.
This is all in preparation to decide how to approach my own design. Moodboards are an extremely quick and easy way to convey my ideas visually. It also allows me to see any themes present in the design. There needs to be more than just "robot" in my design. What makes it unique? How can I learn from what's come before without outright copying it?
Since year 1, I found a rough method that works well for initial designs. The first step is to gather visual references to take inspiration from. So I decided to make a second moodboard, this time specific to my character.
The initial sketch was created first, I already decided to base my character off a motorbike engine. It felt reliving to have a start point. As one website lead to another, the idea became more refined. For example a quick look into rigging made me realise how difficult an 8 legged rigged model is to complete. For a first rig, I wanted it to simplify it down. That is a direct reason why my spider character only has 4 legs.
The spiders in the moodboard were used to get a better sense of the general shape. A common pattern emerged in the anatomy of spiders. For example the legs come out the side and the majority of the weight is at the back.
Similarly the target market and the audience I'm making it for plays a significant role in the design. For example the sketches below show 2 different character ideas. The tyre character would be more suited for a younger audience, with it's simpler design and lack of elements that make it for older people (e.g. spikes, blood...). The backstory of the character also leads into this. The tyre idea was modelled by the environment it inhabits. A construction bot build to transport heavy equipment in building sites. Grapples would come out the side to pull the tyre, the engine located in the middle with the exhaust blasting behind. Eyes for headlights and a metal visor to protect it's sight. Very family friendly ideas.
Robugtix, 2015. The Rise of the Robugtix T8X Spider Robots. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-NmuFeMPls&t=60s
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
Now the robotic spider is meant for teenage audiences. While the Tyre character would fit right in in a children's cartoon, the robot spider is more "video game inspired".
I imagined it's role to be a simple enemy towards the boss of the dudgeon. It waits for the player in narrow corridors and needs to be eliminated to proceed. The post apocalyptic, broken environment will act as cover for the creature. The narrow corridor will make it easier to manoeuvre and harder to avoid. The legs can make the character walk on the floors and walls.
The original design had wheels attached to the side of each leg, creating a "speed mode" of sort. The grapple idea was carried over, shooting chains from the mouth the drag itself up walls in this form.
The wheels were later taken out of the design to make the model easier to animate.
My point is these 2 characters are completely different to each other. All of this purely based off the main group of my audience and market.
Even the sketches were built upon each other as the idea developed.
On top of this, I need to consider how my character moves. The brief is to create a 3D robotic animation. My model/design has to move in order to pass the project. So how does a spider move? And how does a robotic one move?
Well during my research I stumbled upon a video on YouTube about a robot from 2015.
Although not finalised, it gives me a general idea of how it can possibly move. This is invaluable to my project. What would be even better is to buy and study the movement in person. However after research I also found that it is over 900 dollars, so that won't be possible.
The video is also useful in another area, with how it is edited. Although the robot won't exactly be the shape of my design, it will be similar. This video contains a variation of camera shots and angles, many of which can be translated over easily into 3D software. Likewise the dynamic angle would benefit any 2D illustrations. The only negative with this sources is that the shape won't entirely align with my design. A different shape may affect how it moves.
A clear example of this is that my design has only 4 legs rather than the normal spider's 8. In itself that should mean my character should move completely differently.
If I was to develop this further, it would be good to find an arachnid enclosure and study their behaviour in person. I have noticed a heavy reliance on secondary research sources so far.
This will become a problem if not resolved in the near future. With secondary research, it is already carried out by someone else. It is much faster to create and apply. However the personal experience of discovering it for yourself is much more beneficial in the long run.
I am feeling confident going into this. This is the beginning of some much needed inspiration for my design. Going forward, the work produced will directly impact towards my brief. Designing my character, learning to model, rig, texture and finally animate will all be essential. The design needs to be thought through and explored.
Experiments will need to be conducted in creating an useful model. It will be through application of my research that I will fully understand what I am doing. The sources are merely references, a base to start off at. Its by branching off these ideas that I expect to acquire the better results.
Primary Research: PHOTOGRAPHS - 17/9
Now I have mentioned several times about the lack of Primary Research during my task. This is where I make steps to resolve that issue. Although I don't have any mechanical spider models lying around, I do have machine parts. My younger brother want to become an engineer and regularly builds out of wood and metal. So I asked him if I could take photographs of his materials and creations - he said yes.
Not only that. He has constructed a simple robot of his own design. He used a biscuit tin as the shell with its content the machinery. Although without AI it is difficult to class it as a robot. A circuit board allows him to operate via remote. The inclusion of rotating parts and a battery gives power to the wheels and spinning blade at the front. He essentially designed a "battle bot" based off robot wars. This was the most beneficial part of the experience. he was able to teach me a bare bones understanding of the pieces and their functions. How it was built and how it operates. This could be useful in my own design process. Questions such as, how will my character move, what powers it, how will it communicate/operate...
Above this text are the photographs I took of various tools, materials and models by brother owns. These can be used as direct inspiration into the model. Close ups of potential textures, shapes of wires and other machine parts can all be used for inspiration. The good part of this experiment was that I got to feel and analyse each item in person. That is a clear benefit compared to internet images alone. To feel the texture of each object. Look at it in 3D space. Taking photographs was the easiest way to document it on my site. It was the interactions I had with these objects that was the most beneficial.
I found it very fun interacting with the objects over just observing images of them If I was to do this again, I would take videos to record my interactions. Maybe even apply them in 3D or sketches in Photoshop. Likewise, I could also model these pieces separately to gain further experience in MAYA, similar to the coke can previously.
Internet Research - 17/9
Plus, A. p., 2018. How to Quickly Model a Wire/Cable using Maya 2018. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4igTVJOEJw0
[Accessed 17 September 2021].
uiStudios.com, 2020. How to Quickly Create Cables, Wires, or Cords in Maya 2020. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0RzLYlZw-g
[Accessed 17 September 2021].
The above are some recommended tutorials I got after some feedback from a class mate. I spent my time looking at other peoples models and character ideas during class, learn a thing or to and use it in my own design. Kyle (a student in my class) showed me these two tutorials he used in order to make wire. Although I haven't had to the chance to apply it in my design. I did find the experience of talking to others about their experiences learning Maya useful. They had different problems and different ideas to me. Due to the open nature of the brief, everyone had completely different work and directions to myself. Talking to them will only further my understanding of MAYA and may even spark some new ideas. The very tutorials above were recommendations that I otherwise wouldn't of seen if not for these interviews. Although until I attempt to apply it to my own work, the impact of this is extremely minimal.
Tony Kwok Modelling
Now this section will be evaluated in bulk. It essentially delves deeper into the mood board above. Many of these originated from websites about the images I collected. In some of these sites I found more information that could help with my design.
Considering the plan is to create a 3D model of a spider, it would be useful to research into similar model ideas.
Searching the web, I stumbled across the work of Tony Kwok.
The design immediately caught my attention with the legs. A mechanoid machine built for war, designed for the a similar target audience to my own. This artist designed models and assets for Call of Duty, a professional in the gaming industry. The plan was to examine the model and see how it connects. What was the process of making such a model? Why did the designer make the decisions he did? What makes this model tick? There is only so much I can gain from images alone. What I can see is that the detail is of large proportion. The shapes broken down and constantly changing. A strong reliance of symmetry for aesthetic appeal. These are only my first impressions. I especially like how complete it looks. The way the shapes flow and merge into each other. The legs look apart of the body, not separate. Nothing looks out of place. This is a specific example that I can use to inspire my own design. This is the industry standard, what I aspire to become.
Art style Inspiration - HALF LIFE ALEX - 18/9
Gabrielmosspdx, B. H., 2020. Half-Life: Alyx Wiki Guide. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ign.com/wikis/half-life-alyx/Enemies
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Mind you, its not just the models design I must consider. As well as the polygons that make up the shape, I also need to consider the atmosphere. What tone am I going for? Considering I'm basing my character in a gaming environment, what better inspiration to use than a game. Although I massive criticism I have for myself is the lack of diverse examples. The tone and overall atmosphere of Half Life Alex is perfect for what I'm looking for. However a single example of a gaming environment is simply not enough for any real impact. To make something new, I would need multiple example's to base it off. Otherwise my scene would only be a cheap copy of what's come before.
This is only a small section of my internet research. However it must be expanded upon to contribute any real significence.
ConceptArtWorld, n.d. Al Crutchley | Concept Art World. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/392235448770402404/
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Gun Model Example
ARTSTATION, 2019. DF Pictures (DFP). [Online]
Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QzwK1l
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Speaking of multiple examples, how about a gun to go with the spider design. Being completely honest, I have no idea if I want a gun in my model design. I discovered this model from branching off the previous research. I found it fascinating how the barrels connect with each other and the texture itself is my favourite part. It may come in handy for later use.
Most of this research are extensions of the mood board images. This is the start of looking at individual references for my design. The work covered in class is universal to everyone's projects. If I am to design a personalised character, I will need to find new references and generate new ideas to explore off my own back. This is the benefit to working outside of college hours, why independent work is so important.
I particular like the image of a mechanical spider. While the previous references were of digital works, 3D models and game environments. This is the first real tangible reference so far. The spider screenshot is of an article detailing how someone created a real model of the spider. Steampunk isn't a design option I have really considered for my character. However the detail and precision alone make it deserving of a description on this site.
I could take reference for it's overall shape. I could use the design of its legs and adapt it to my own. All of these pieces of research, with small contributions, will build up and develop my work. Alone the images are bare bones with minimal impact, together they branch into many different areas and open up many potential avenues to explore.
Texture Inspiration 18/9
This was my first look into texturing. Later down the line I go into more detail about MAYA texturing in particular. However for this section, I just wanted to find a example of a possible texture. Now this suffers from the same issue as the environment/tonal example of half life.
It is a singular example. This research section was broad. However it lacks the necessary depth to be effective. It was brillant for a quick overview. It also allowed more time for experimentation later down the line. At the very least the model still needed to be made. No point looking into texturing if the shape wasn't yet formed.
This was a different way of balancing/structuring research to practical work. In the early tasks of year 1, previous projects suffered from not having enough time to experiment. Weeks were spent on areas of research, with only days left for development.
However, I feel like this project had the opposite problem. There has been much more time into experimenting and learning MAYA. Many hours fixing issues and learning new tricks. However the research that supports it all is less dense. If anything I would argue it is underdeveloped in parts. Next time I need to attempt a better balance of the two, that is what I would do differently.
Pinterest, n.d. Rusty woodcutter by Beaver-Skin on DeviantArt. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/26740191523056226/
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Pinterest, n.d. The Art Of Guillaume Menuel. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/657033033121595667/
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Motorbike Research - 18/9
EatSleepRide, 2019. How To Identify Motorcycle Engine Types, Configurations, & Features. [Online]
Available at: https://eatsleepride.com/c/298243/how_to_identify_motorcycle_engine_types_configurations__features
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Now the original idea for the spider character arrived from looking at motorbike engines. A sketch of a bike engine with legs. So it was a no brainer to do some research into motorbikes. Above shows the main set of examples I used in order to draw my character. I paid extra attention to the V5 Twin and the V8 engine.
I was more interested in the shape than how it ran. Although I did carry out some broader research into this, as seen below. The 2 massive cylinders seemed visually pleasing to me. This also played in with how the example models above used symmetry. Add that to the centre circular area, it just screamed body to me. Of course a motorcycle needs more parts than just an engine in order to function. An engine generates power used for motion. It still needs wheels to move.
Blain, L., 2020. Eisenberg's berserk 500-horsepower lightweight V8 motorcycle. [Online]
Available at: https://newatlas.com/motorcycles/eisenberg-ev8-v8-motorcycle/
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
The mechanical interacies of the motorbike. That's what struck me. I wanted to understand the mess of wires, parts, metal, screws... I wanted to make my spider to look like it can run automously. It ran and here's how it does it idea. It was that thinking that lead me down this design route. Below are the main articals I used to look into how motorbike engines worked, as well as common strengths and weaknesses. Screenshotting the information was faster than simply retyping what someone's allready said.
Harris, W., n.d. How Motorcycles Work. [Online]
Available at: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/motorcycle1.htm
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
BikeBandit, 2018. Guide to Types of Motorcycle Engines. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bikebandit.com/blog/guide-to-types-of-motorcycle-engines
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Viggiani, L., n.d. Motorcycle Engine. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/140667188331033580/
[Accessed 18 September 2021].
Character Sketches / Storyboard Idea - 21/9
This was a lesson task and an essential process in planning. During all this, I need to document what I plan to do as well as the usual research, experiment and develop. That is why blogs are so effective, as I can talk about where I intend to go next.
The lesson task was to create a storyboard and plan the characters movement. We could use any medium we wished.
It is within these sketches that the 1st early plans can be seen for how my robot will move. Later plans are made discussing keyframes, timings and what controls/joints will move. This is the first attempt at deciding on my characters movement, how it will move. The video was my main source of inspiration, that and my limited knowledge on how 4 legged animals move. Not to mention the debate of making my character move like the classic or modern robots. There is also an experiment later down the line to test this idea in the real world.
The sketches are incredibly rough, using a simplified version of the design. This was done in order to make it easier to draw in 3D space. Overall I feel good about what I accomplished. These ideas were developed and carried forth later on, having a big impact on my overall robot animation. This was the seed that lead to the final animation. If I was to do this again, I would get a pen and neaten up the line work. I would also redraw said panels so they are in the order of events rather than scattered all over my page in a random order.
1, 2 and 3 Point Perspective - 19/9
Finch, D., 2021. How To Draw Figures in Perspective. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub19UehR8rc&list=PL2dhUoeZEvN_nTvHbNhOIWWS9DHJKB1fl&index=2&t=1018s
[Accessed 19 September 2021].
Now this was previous sketchbook work, created in my own time outside of the task. it just happened to be useful. During my sketchbook work, I decided to explore perspective. it is sought after on the portfolio. Now you might be asking, what has any of this to do with MAYA and my project?
Well, the pages themselves aren't very useful. What it did do was further my understanding of 3D space. My drawings up to this point have been extremely flat, either forward or side perspective. There have been few that either angle off in 2 point perspective (example a 3/4 angle) or incorporate a dynamic angle.
3D software is amazing for this. Unlike a 2D drawing, you can navigate it in 360 degree space. I followed this tutorial in order to understand that space better. To be able to navigate it and think more 3 dimensionally. If I was to do this again, I would attempt to construct my drawings in MAYA and compare it to my traditional version.
This was arguable the most important piece of experimentation that took place outside of MAYA itself. After all the research conducted, it was time to design a character. While the main design will be perfected in MAYA. Ill be using these as sketches for inspiration. No 1 was heavily based off the v twin engine. The AVA shape formed nicely for the main base. I took the single eye inspiration from the spider movement video. The exhaust valve was taken from the same v5 engine, just copied either side. Some moving cogs and design 1 is created. Design 2 took the 1st attempt and leaned into a more futuristic design. The key issue with design 1 was it simply looked to friendly. The idea is to have the player fight against this character, I don't want them to feel bad for shooting it. The idea is to create it for a video game market. This is supposed to be in opposition with the player. So the 2nd design got a lot more meaner.
The face was partially covered, people fear what they don't know. This sub-consciously adds mystery and gives the impression of hidden intent. The edges were made sharper, the leg shape was broken up and the v shape was turned on it's side. No longer were it lengthways but sideways - facing upwards. Although I do prefer the shape of the 1st one, I did want to experiment with many different ideas. Having different shapes for the middle section would distinguish the design much more. The main focal point is the face. Each attempt saw a completely different shape design. Coming off the model examples (robots and guns), I sketched design 3 to learn into combat more. It's biggest feature was the masked shaped face and massive gun on it's back. I also used this to inform the leg design. To handle all that power, the back legs were turned into turret stands to handle the power. The pincers were replaced with missiles, instead of blades. The front legs formed out of wires to tangle opponents and provide alternative attacks to the long range. In my opinion, no 3 is the most unique of the 4 designs. No 2 was just an adaptation of no 1 - which closely followed the engine design.
No 4 was the wildcard. At this point I was feeling drained. So it closely followed the previous designs. It went full futuristic. The legs became the simplest it has been so far. The v shape was maintained, although turned into power units, possibly radioactive rods. The middle was turned into a laser gun, with the front head being the most artificial.
I personally like these designs, could lead to bias when evaluating. I'm pound of what I made. Having a go in photoshop was a breath of fresh air from all the writing and research. A lot of MAYA experiments also took place around this time. I was able to make variations of design 1. I used it as a template to save time, which was successful. However it is also a weakness. it means that the design can't vary as much as it could.
3D MODELLING - SPIDER CHARACTER 21/9, 22/9
After all the character design research, it is time to create the 3D model. Although this is going to be slightly different to previous models. The majority of my previous models were created by following instructions - weather from YouTube or class. There have only been a few attempts of modelling with no guidance.
My main source stems from the 4 sketched of potential designs, with reference images backing them up.
What I am saying is that the design isn't finalised and there are no instructions to make it. This is going to be fun...
The first day was the most frustrating. This consisted of creating only the head and mapping the main body shape. The head progression can be seen in the top left corner of this section. Attempt 1 was the most loose, purely experimenting with ideas. I realised that combining many different shapes together left the style up in the air. It created a "Frankenstein affect". If I create the design out of similar shapes, it will flow better.
The biggest issue was in how I will replicate the head shape in the sketches. The shapes were complex and aren't as easy to make. The goal was to create a hexagonal or octagonal shaped creature. I rotated a cube on it's side and bevelled in attempt 2. This gave me an idea. I could select the edges of the cube's sides and bevel. This flattened each point into 2 - formulating the octagon shape.
However the biggest problem in the modelling stage was about to emerge. I started small and went big with my extrusions, 1st mistake. I also held shift e when extruding, 2nd mistake. The shift e command would duplicate the extrusion. So the wireframe would almost fold in on itself. Starting small and going bigger would tear the model with any scaling.
Adding divisions and only deleting the lines left their vertices behind, which interfered with adding edge loops later.
These issues came to my attention when asking my tutor Mitch for feedback. Attempt 4 was his demonstration in how to fix them. Taking inspiration from a screw, he showed me alternative buttons to complete my extrusion and explained how starting big was better.
However I felt like using his model as a base example would be considered cheating. That's his work, not mine. So I started from scratch in what became attempt 5.
These screenshots document my progress as I adapted the model into my character. However day 1 was halted by a "fatal error" message. It happened 3 time since the space of half an hour, rendering my progression all together. Judging by the error messages I reckon that some file seemed to have got deleted, computer couldn't find them, resulting in Maya crashing.
I created another copy of the Maya file in an attempt to keep my existing model and opened it on my home computer. Thankfully I haven't seen the message since. Now that all the previous problems have been solved, I was free to create what I wanted.
Now because the design wasn't finalised, what comes next was pure trial and error. The design itself was primarily based off robot 1 and 2 in my sketches. I took the main body of 1, while using the head and legs of 2. Having the face partially covered gave the robot a more menacing look. Considering the characters role is to hinder the player, it worked better than no 1. Not only that, the sketch of robot 1 almost looked friendly. An ally is not what I'm going for. Although no 1 had a more complete body and closely followed engine designs of the v 5 twin and v8 motorbike engine. I personally liked no 2 legs acting as armoured plating. The spikes would add a nice sharp danger to it's geometry - triangle repesentation.
Speaking of legs, they also went through several redesigns. I noticed using cones (for the sharp point and triangular shape) create a more "natural" look. That was why attempt 1 face clashed so dramatically. If the body and head is extremely stiff and boxy, why would the fangs and legs look organic?
Screenshots of the leg design can be seen in the screenshots scattered around the page. Thankfully, I only had to make 1 leg. It could then be combined and duplicated to create the needed 4. Spiders commonly possess 8 legs. However rigging 8 legs for a 1st ever rig is not a good idea.
The rig itself, 4 or 8 legs, would be equally complicated. However the more joints the more freedom (and difficulty) for animating. Keeping the rig simple is my priority and that has to begin with the modelling process. The cylinders were used to map out basic proportions and where it would fit with the body. Spheres would become ball joints, to reduce the risk of warping down the line. Later on cubes would unionise with the cylinders to maintain the boxy nature of the design. Small indents were added to give texture and break up the basic shapes. The modelling tool kit was essential for this process.
My previous experience with day 1 also meant there were few noticeable issue to deal with in the modelling stage.
Positively, I was actually enjoying this. There was something therapeutic with how the character came together with just basic shapes alone. This felt more like I was discovering the shape as it went along, slowly chiselling away to revel it like a marble statue. It was a completely different feeling to 2D digital drawing.
If anything there required a better understanding of maths, patterns and shapes rather than pure art skills. Although both is necessary to complete the work.
I did come across my next issue, modelling a shape on a diagonal axis. When the shape don't line up with either the x, y or z axis, it becomes extremely difficult to keep the numbers precise.
It took constant readjustments of the camera's angle as well as small transformations to get the shape right. Even at later stages, the bodies piston caps are not entirely level. What I could of done (and if I was to re-model it) is to create the shape out of another cube and later combine it to the main body. This would life the limitation of angle in my design. Ball joints were also added into the design for the legs to rest. Although I could make the model much more complicated, I fear it will become a muddled mess with more detail. Same way that any less detail would make my design far to simple. This is a nice balance of both sides.
This was day 3 of modelling, where the finishing touches were added to the model. The majority of my time was spent on the exhaust, specifically inspired by sketch spider 1. So do I create an exhaust? The straight line is easy, a cylinder. But how do I create the curve? Well I had the bright idea of fusing 2 cylinders together. There is likely an easier way to do this. An example would be to add edge loops and slowly rotate the original cylinder's shape. This is only bring the point up that there are multiple ways to get the same results. When it comes to 3D. It not the instruction by instruction method that works the best. There is no point only learning to add cylinder a to rectangle b.
The trick is to learn the methods used in these tutorials and apply them later in your own attempts. Learn what the "insert edge loop" tool does and how it works, so you can later use it in your creations. This is better than simply using the tools cause you was told to and never using it again. I transformed half the face of the cylinder outwards before merging them together. I used the "weld" tool in the modelling toolkit to merge the vertices of each point. This was mentioned during the human head tutorial months ago, the solution to my overlapping vertices issue. However it lead to the massive tear seen in the screenshot. My tutor Mitch discovered all the problems with attempt 3 head by looking at the wireframe and analysing where the vertices travel. I noticed that a singular point was sticking right in the centre of my model that was not necessary. After merging that point with the centre point directly below it, the tear vanished. Edge loops were added and dragged/rotated to make the curve more gradual, removing the flat in the top right.
In summary, these were the main issues and solutions. The first few designs had too many random shapes built upon each other. This was solved through using a single shape as a base and extruding outwards, creating more flow. The 2nd biggest issue was my method of extrusion. Scaling inwards would tear the shape as it was creating shapes/surface area that didn't exist. Better to layer up the shape. Shift e button would duplicate the extrusion, the mesh would overlap. Easier to press extrusion button in the modelling tool kit to create cleaner extrusions. No 3. When removing edges, make sure to also remove the vertices left behind. Otherwise it will mess up the insert edge loop tool and cause later modelling issues.
When extruding, start with the biggest shape and make it smaller. If you want to get bigger, extrude outwards to break the mesh. Then extrude again downwards. This creates 2 surface areas and automatically creates side faces, resolving the tearing mesh. Although this solution was discovered later in a lamp modelling experiment rather than this spider model.
The final issue was MAYA crashing. I kept receiving a 'fatal error' message. This would crash my software and reset my entire progress to the last save. In the end I was forced to move to a different computer to solve this problem.
Half Way Mark BLOG - 23/9
DEADLINE: OCT 22ND
123, T. R., 2021. Project 1, Task 1 | 3D robot HALF WAY | 2021 09 23. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdp8SSfwst0
[Accessed 23 September 2021].
Rise of 3D and Fall of 2D - 16/10
Much of what was gathered here was discovered as a class. We were set into teams of students to research about box office numbers of 2D and 3D films across several different years. Once we gathered some research, we compared our findings and attempted to discover some reasons why the data was the way it is. The box office numbers below for their respective years clearly show a rise in 3D sales and the incline of quantity and sales of 2D films. But why?
Beginning of 3d and the state of 2d in the 90s and early 2000s:
The teacher's example started with DreamWorks being created in 1994 (1) by Steven Spielberg, Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen. It's first release was ANTZ in 1998, grossing 171.8 million dollars worldwide (2). Although a success, it was overshadowed by Disney Pixar's 'A Bug's Life' released in the same year. This had a world wide gross of 363.3 million dollars (3). Although 2D animated films were still doing very well at this point in time. For example, Disney's 2D film 'Mulan' (1998)(5) grossed 304.3 million dollars worldwide (4). Although That's just 1998. Lets look at the 90s as a decade for 2D releases.
Disney essentially had an monopoly over the 2D market for most if not all of the 1990s. Their 2D releases would of grossed the most so Ill use them as the main comparison. Every number about to be listed comes from the same site 'box office mojo by IMDbPro'. They are also the worldwide gross in dollars. Beauty and the beast (6) made 424.97 million in 1991. Aladdin (7) made 504.1 million in 1992. Then Disney's magnum opus released, Lion king (1994)(8). This grossed 1.063 billion, or 1063 million. The peak of 2D animation at the time. However the money made for 2D films seem to decrease from here. From 1994 to 1998, 2D only lost Money, while 3D made more. Mulan has already been mentioned with numbers in the 300 mill. However the year before (1997), Disney released Hercules. This only made 252.7 million worldwide (9).
The early 2000s didn't improve this. Disney's Pocahontas (1995)(10) made 346.1 million. The Prince of Egypt (1998)(11) made 218.6 million. Post 2000 releases saw even less. With The road to el dorado (DreamWorks, 2000)(12) making only 76.4 worldwide and Sinbad (Dreamworks,2003)(13) making 80 million.
Looking at the data alone, there is a massive drop in 2D sales since 1994.
Now lets compare that to 3D releases in the same era. DreamWorks also released Shrek (2001) grossing 487.9 million (14)! A huge step up from ANTZ. Likewise, Pixar came back with Toy story 2 (1999)(17) grossing 497,4 million. Their previous release, Toy Story was the first fully digital rendered film (1995) grossing 394.4 million (16). Another Pixar release, Monsters Inc (2001)(19) made 579.7 million worldwide.
All releases from well-known companies, giants in their respective industry, and yet the 3D films massively outperformed the 2D. Shrek and Monsters Inc became the 2nd and 3rd highest grossing film of their year (2001)(18). "2D was losing money as 3D only gained more at a huge rate. This could be due to the fact that 2D was becoming "old fashioned" in the eyes of the audience. 3D was this new and exciting medium. While 2D would of been around for decades.
It was at this point that Disney much of their 2D animation team onto TV projects or onto home video production. Much of their animation team was also switched to CGI Productions, producing films like chicken little and meet the Robinsons (19).
Mid 2000s to modern day releases:
This was where the group work came in. We were to look at the money made and general quantity of 2D and 3D releases in our given year. This means that some groups had incomplete data or very minimal data. While the above was explained by the teacher, where I research and elaborated on his points independently. My and my group was given 2002. Much of the information was originally gathered by other groups, such as the titles of films and a number. I then went away and bulked it up - adding more films, filling in gaps where no film was found, giving reasons behind the numbers...
2002
Ice Age - 383.3 million worldwide (21)
Lela and Stitch - 273 million worldwide (22)
Treasure Planet - 110 million worldwide (23)
2D still had a market in film. However 3D had a clear advantage in terms of numbers. Blue Sky was a new studio, not a huge name like Pixar or Disney at this time. And yet its CGI film Ice age still out did Disney's animation Lilo @ Stitch and Treasure Planet.
2005
Madagascar - 542.1 million worldwide (24)
Chicken Little - 314.4 million world wide (25)
Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew - 37.2 million world wide (26)
Kronk's New Groove - 169.6 worldwide (27)
Very few 2D animated releases. If there are it is normally a branch of another existing 2D film such as Kronk's New Groove. According to Wikipedia, 'The film ultimately made $89.3 million in the United States and an additional $80 million worldwide for a total of $169.6 million— the lowest box office earnings for an animated Disney feature since the 1980s.'(27)
I also found it difficult to find massive releases for 2D films. While 3D films had much more abundance.
This is likely to be because of the large gap in the box office when it comes to worldwide grossing. Studios don’t like to take risks. In the modern industry, a half-competent CGI film will make money(28). Now traditional hits have been few and far between, it is simply a bigger risk to produce. Simply, 3D makes more money than 2D.
2008
Madagascar 2 - 603.9 million worldwide (31)
Ponyo - 204,8 million worldwide (29).
As usual, the new 3D release made a huge amount of money, breaking into the 600 million mark. 3D is still making huge amounts at an increasing rate with no sign of slowing down at this stage. However it's the 2D release I'm personally interested with.
Ponyo is a new case on this list. You see, it is a Japanese release, animated by Studio Ghibli. (30) While the other 2D releases have currently been western produced. Also The majority of it's box office numbers come from 'International'. It makes sense with where the animated company is based. This movie highlights a big shift of market. While the market for 2D films in the west (mainly America) is shrinking greatly compared to 3D's growth. There is still money to be made.
However, it seems that 2D films released in the west are few and far between.
2011
Rango - 245.7 mill world wide (32)
kung ku panda 2 - 665.7 mill worldwide (33)
Batman: year 1 - 6.1 mill on a 3.5 mill budget (34)
2014
Big Hero 6
How to Train your Dragon 2
Rio 2
Lego Movie
When Marney was there
2017
Boss Baby
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Animation Practice 1: Bouncy Ball
During my development of the model, I was still conducting research and gathering context round the general animation industry. This is where the extra research in 3D took place, including its history, recent rise in popularity as well as potential careers and their conditions.
However this ties back into my project specifically. While rigging will need to take place before any animation is made, I still need to understand how animation works in Maya. The bouncy ball animation took place during the last few weeks of year 1, so I already had a basic understanding. This is a continuation and development of that idea. To not only make the ball bounce but to give it direction besides "up".
I explain and show my understanding in the video above. A personal blog recording my progress with the bouncy ball animation. This covers the fundamentals of the timeline, freezing transformations, framerate and key frames (press s or right click transformation). The shape is simple enough to manually move, while freezing each position to create frames. It was a lot of fun. And I enjoyed the challenge in working out how to make it more lifelike.
There was a lot more thought into how physics would affect the ball than anticipated. My background in A-level physics was not necessary but definitely helped. It only required me to think in terms of a graph. How is the speed affected as time passes? How does distance factor in. Simplifying the basic movement as a velocity time graph was extremely helpful. My numbers weren't bang on (rough estimates) but their results are undeniable.
If I was to do this again, I would attempt to calculate some more concrete figures and analyse it's affect on the ball. Either way, this was very helpful in understanding the controls for animation - which will directly benefit my robot animation.
Software Compairson
I already decided to use MAYA in advance for this project. It was the software I had access to during the holiday and was the software used during my college. However it would be foolish not to look at other options. The lists below summarise the key parts of 3 software's, including MAYA.
This was a class task where we had to work in small teams to research into the software. I was paired up with 3 other random students to research Cinema 4D. This meant that a lot of the notes on MAYA and Blender came from other students when we compared notes. A weakness of this is that the quality of notes from the others is out of my control. Furthermore I have no idea of their website sources. There was also a limited time to complete this task, around 10 minutes. We were tasked with retrieving only the basics such as price, companies that use it and what it's mostly used for. This also means that only surface level comparisons can be made between the two. I can always research and add to these notes in my own time outside of the task. However there are areas of the project that take more priority such as the 500 word essay, modelling, rigging and animating my character...
There is much more room for development here. We decided as a team who was researching which area of Cinema 4D. Then compared and exchanged notes so we all had an idea of the software, making the most use of our short time. I was the one to present our findings to the room, demonstrating clear communication and presentation skills to keep the attention of the class.
Software 1: MAYA
Costs 1,700 pounds. So extremely expensive. Add to that you only own it for 1 year before having to pay again. Luckily I am able to get free years through my college. Otherwise this just wouldn't be financially viable.
Coded using Python.
Built for computer software, games and animation. MAYA is a multi-purpose software with the capabilities for texturing, modelling, rigging, animation and more function I haven't discovered yet. However it is most known for 3D animation.
Films using MAYA include Frozen, Wreck it Ralph and Into the Spider verse
Essentially mostly used by Disney and Sony Pictures.
Software 2: BLENDER
Unlike MAYA, Blender is completely free. Because of this, it is commonly used by smaller studios and other individual creators. In recent times, it has evolved to the point where it even challenges MAYA in most key areas - with the exception of aniamtion.
Rendering, Modelling, Sculpting, Animation, Rigging, Simulations, Video Editing and pipelines are all useful functions.
Just as multi-purposed as MAYA.
Blender's main focus is with modelling, arguably more industry standard than MAYA.
Software 1: CINIMAR 4D
Cinema 4D does many of the functions as the other two such as Modelling, Animation, Simulations, Rendering...
It costs 100 pounds a month, which makes it slightly cheaper than MAYA.
Although the software is most known for it's VFX functionality. Commonly used in game development and most types of visual production.
Furthermore, it has the capability to incorporate Live action shots into it's footage. Motion tracking tools, aniamting geometry, creating material, lighting...
It is used by Apple, Disney, Facebook and NBC Universal
Films that used Cinema 4D tend to require high usage of special effects.
For example Tron: Legacy, Pacific Rim and Inception.
However it is also used for advertising and professional TV commercials
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InspirationTuts, 2020. Maya or Blender which is Better. [Online]
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Studio, S., 2018. What is the BEST 3D Software? Maya vs 3dsMax vs Cinema 4D vs Houdini vs Blender. [Online]
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Now a positive to working in groups was how the workload was distributed. In a solo research session, it is down to you to find all the necessary information, document it and finally present it to your tutors and peers. By dividing up the work, you can complete the same task in a much smaller time frame. It also gives you the chance to develop soft skills such as communication, leadership and working together as a team. As mentioned above, the downside is quality control. There were multiple teams, 1 per software. Although I could encourage and organise my own team to complete the work. What the other 2 teams produce is out of my control. This leads to gathered information on all the software's a bit lack lustre. Even my teams software research is limited to the amount of allocated time, not long, and the time used to present it to others. If I was to complete it on my own, it would take more time but lead to better quality work. That is why I decided to go on YouTube after the task and find 2 videos for comparison. The 1st delving into my software of choice (MAYA) against it's biggest competitor, Blender. While the 2nd video provided a quick look at multiple software's, some not even included in the team activity.
These were extremely helpful in understanding an overview. If I was doing this again. I would want to try and experiment in multiple software's before I decide on the 1 I'm using. The college taught MAYA in the end of yr 1 and the 1st term of yr 2. I want to experiment with at least blender as well before it was decided what to use to create my 3D animation. Overall, I am happy with current progress. Although more software comparisons and research can be made in the future of this project.
Shot Composition: CAMERA ANGLES
Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Shot Composition: Composition Rules
Below are some small examples of shot composition I have recently looked at. These will give me some branching off points in deciding my camera angle and how I set up my shot for the animation. Although this area is barely scratching the surface. There are so many more composition styles out there than these 3 below. I am just looking for a simple one to use to support my animation. In all honesty, more research should of been done in this area. However, I am restricted to my timing and deadline. It seems that time management, once again, seems to struggle near the final few weeks.
Golden Ratio
This is a spiralling shape that leads the audiences eye to the centre of the spiral.
Although this spiral is a mathematical constant, used to explain and express the difference between 2 numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.
This mathematical precision is pleasing to the eye, although difficult to pull off successfully.
https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/golden-ratio-designers/
Rule of Thirds
One of the most common compositions. It positions the focus (e.g. the character) in relation to something else in the scene.
It divides the sot in a grid like view and emphasises the focus on the shot border. The horizon line is commonly placed within one of the horizontal axis.
This can be another useful way to tell a story and infer information to the audience without them even knowing.
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/rules-of-shot-composition-in-film/#2-rule-of-thirds
Triangle Rule
Triangular composition relies on the use of triangles to align your shot. The golden triangle is a variation on the rule of thirds. This is a specific formation of triangle composition. The same effect the rule of thirds accomplishes is used for diagonals rather than boxed shapes.
https://expertphotography.com/golden-triangle/
https://digital-photography-school.com/triangle-composition-in-photography/
SPIDER CHARACTER - RIGGING - 27/9, 28/9
Now it is finally time to rig my model. God damn it was difficult. I was right in trying to keep the model simple. Because it was made out of basic shapes I shouldn't have to much of a hassle rigging it. Except I have never done a rig before. Everything was new. Much of this knowledge is what was shown to me in class.
For starters it required a entire host of new controls, all located on a new panel. It started with the create joints icon. by dropping a point, holding shift and dragging from it, I was able to create the basic skeleton. Using multiple camera perspectives I then positioned them within the ball joints. The final step was to change it to the "rigging" setting, select skin and bind skin. This linked the polygons and the rig together as one. Now immediately issues arose.
For starters the body would warp every time I combined it to the skin. Without the attachment to the skin, the rig was useless. I tried a no of solutions. From adjusting the position to re-creating the rig in different views to weight painting. In the end the solution was long and came from my tutor Mitch again. He had a look at the rig and noticed all the joints had a random rotation. This meant the model would warp and bend with the joint. Because the spider was one complete shape, the body would also be affected by the leg joints. Add to the fact of the middle joint.
So on the advice of my tutor, I rotated each individual joint to match with the bottom left corner showing the axis. That was all the joints roughly faced the same direction in 3 dimensions.
Once the skin was bound to the skeleton, it was then possible to add IK joints. This is a rigging tool that lets me manipulate multiple joints through the transformation of a single joint. This makes it much easier to animate than to animate every single joint.
However the body was still warping every time the legs moved. And turns out it was to do with the skeleton. I only need the body to rotate up and down. So having a spine to the body isn't necessary. Because the parent joints came from the spine, the lowest joints were all affected by it.
The Ik handle would also warp the leg when put into place. it wasn't until the joints were rotated that this problem was minimised.
I had multiple attempts in using the paint joints tool as an alternative solution. This can be seen in the "Final rig fixes" section. I will talk about it in more detail there.
There was a simpler solution to painting. As you can see in the screenshots, the model no longer has a spine. The original idea was to have the model as a single object and the rig as a single skeleton. I had multiple attempts followed with a lot of trial and error.
I had a plan.
The first thing I did was go back to an old save file where the model wasn't combined together yet. I then imported the single skeleton into the broken up model. If the body isn't connected to the legs then hopefully the legs wouldn't warp. This didn't work.
So I tried another solution. What if I broke both the model and the skeleton up? It would be better to have the model and rig as a single object. However I only need the model for a specific purpose. And I know I can achieve it with my model in bits. Although it would be better to have a complete model. That way I could use it for multiple purposes. I would do this if I had to create the model and rig again.
A negative to the idea of separate pieces is how many problems it caused in the animation process. To put it simply, it would of been much easier if I didn't have to separately move 9 points of control.
I created a brand new rig on a flat plane in a fixed view. This minimised the amount of new rotations I had to do. Once transformed to align with the legs, it resulted in minimum warp of the model. I created a single rig just for the leg. The body no longer has any connection with the legs, so it isn't affect by any leg movement. Once the rig worked, I copy and pasted it to match the other legs. Now I have 5 objects and 4 rigs.
That doesn't mean the entire process was smooth sailing. The main body was in chunks at this point, combined later on to make the body a single object. What I didn't realise was that the exhaust was selected when the leg and rig were attached. This meant that every time the leg moved, the exhaust would go with it. This meant that I had to undo a big portion of my work to solve the selection issue.
The final part of the rig to do was the control points. I was introduced in class to circular controls. These allowed me to manoeuvre the joints without election the rig joints. This makes it much easier to animate later down the line. Due to their 2D nature, I also have more control in which axis I translate in. I created a singular control joint and duplicated. Each were assigned to a leg, a bigger one for the middle rotated and a final outer point for the whole model.
Parent constraint – attaches curve to joints (click constrain then parent).
Orient constraint – to attach just the rotation of a curve to a joint.
Pole vector constraint – to direct an ik handle.
While no issues arose with the majority of the joints, the massive outer circle never connected. This was because the model was 5 objects close together. It would only parent to the body. This is one of the many drawbacks to come with animated a model in 5 pieces and 4 rigs. The paint tool would of solved this issue if I gave it more time. However I was forced to move onto the animation due to time constraints.
Although I never made use of them, a locator could of came in handy in keeping the legs from twisting. It would force the face of the model to stay in a set direction.
By selecting all the small circles, with big circle last and pressing p (parent). In theory the model could be moved as a single unit. That didn't happen. In the end I managed to group all the individual pieces together in a folder and selected that to move the entire model.
This made the model able to be translated and moved around my scene. Which is important when it comes to experimenting with camera, lighting and movement.
Overall I found rigging incredibly frustrating. The actual lessons were very rushed and most of what was learned was through a mixture of happy accidents and asking for help. The demonstration was far to quick to understand what was going on without prior knowledge. This was a common issue with lesson work. I also looked at the Internet for help, YouTube tutorials to learn rigging. This let me understand the very basics. Although it was incredibly confusing. It took 3 days of experimenting and many mistakes to get a functioning rig, let alone a practical one.
Final Rig Fixes - 4/10
Also, in the final weeks of my project, I also attended extra classes to understand MAYA better. Mind you this was more for rendering and learning new tools over rigging. I made steps in advance to learn where I needed more time. Above shows the screenshots of the 2nd attempt in painting. I was adamant I wanted one more attempt before I started animating. If I could use a complete model and rig, it would make it so much easier later down the line. The white area shows the part of the model that's being affected by the selected joint. The black area means no interaction. Even though the entire body was blacked out, I was still getting warpage in the model's body.
Still, this is complicated stuff for a level 3. That's what I'm told. However I try and hold my standards to the lowest level of university. All my work I consider how I can get it ready for a portfolio. What skills can I learn now that will increase my chances of getting into my chosen universities? I am happy with the progress I made. A basic understanding of rigging now means I have a start point to build off of going into university. I would say time management was my biggest issue at this point. If I had more time to develop my rig, it may of made it easier to animate later on. I should of also experimented with more controls. This is actually something I do later on, experimenting with lighting and camera in particular. If I was to do task again. I wouldn't change much. Keeping a calmer head would definitely help. Expecting it to go wrong as well. The biggest takeaway is that I should go into these expecting to make mistakes. They will happen. Positively I learnt a lot of subject specialist skills, especially in 3D modelling.
Bournemouth Open Day: Unity Experiment - 2/10
MAYA is not the only software I could use. This came up by chance, independent to my school work. I travelled to Bournemouth for a university open day in preparation for my application process. It was during the games design talk that I was given the opportunity to experiment with Unity. Unity is a game engine first and foremost. However it makes use of similar controls to MAYA. The basic transformations, rotations and scale tools act the same as in MAYA. The models were pre-made for the open day.
My Unity experience was very brief (30mins), but I enjoyed my time there. This could of been a viable software to animate in. I already decided on MAYA back in the software comparison work. However had I found this earlier, it could of been a contender. Going outside of my college to discover new experience has helped me dramatically in my work. Although the experience is a small part of my overall project, I found it incredibly valuable.
1. HALLWAY - MODELLING DEVELOPMENT - 5/10
It has been my intent for many weeks to produce a walk cycle of my 3D character. However, instead of having it in empty space, I should construct a background to set it in. This was brought to my attention during my tutor Rachel's class. She gave us the task of creating a storyboard to plan our animation movement. This is where the hallway idea was discovered. The storyboard itself showed the spider walking up the walls and the floor. However the way my rig is set up, that would be incredibly difficult. I could always do this if I get time in the end. For now I'll stick to my walk cycle.
The aim was to have 2 doors open up to reveal the model. The model would then walk towards the camera (which is facing down the hallway). Once it reaches the end of the hallway it will stop and look directly down a the camera, which is positioned for a low angled shot of the character. This is the initial overall aim of the animation. The low angle will make my character look much scarier. The hallway will ground my character in a solid world and will also direct the viewers attention to the centre. The simplicity of what I made produces a 1 point perspective that will direct the viewer and make my spider the main focus. The very fact the character is a spider will automatically play into some peoples fear of spiders - adding to the scary vibe.
My main inspiration for this is the bolder scene in Indiana Jones 1. I want to the viewer to run away. The character's 1st person perspective to try and escape from the massive threat coming down the hallway. I could even make the door close behind it, to give a momentary sign of safety. Then have the door reopen for the spider to loom over the viewer and finish the job.
Now the hallway itself. There was very little research put into this. It was an unplanned part of my animation. The hallway show above was only meant to be a prototype to see how my character would interact in the surroundings. It was also needed so I could plan and experiment with my light sources, although I'll go into more detail later about that. The 1st attempt showed a cylindrical shaped walls with a flat board for the spider to walk across. The curved surface may of made it easier for the spider to navigate the walls. Likewise the flat board will make the walk animation much simpler, restricting movement to 2 planes.
However it didn't match the overall design of the robot. I was getting a similar issue to when I originally started modelling. The combination of shapes contrasted too much with each other. I found that making the hallway octagonal, the original shape of my spider, the background matched the character design better. The trick then became how I was going to decorate the interior. Because it was a prototype, I was only focused on the bare essentials. A path for the spider to walk on. Columns to block light sources from other parts of the corridor. The frames for the doors...
Not to mention I was getting issues with extruding the cylinder. By extruding the face upwards, it was simply moving the original face up to my desired location (path). The sides didn't exist and the bottom of the cylinder became concave. Essentially faces were being created but no extra polygons, which lead to the mesh tearing. This can be seen in the screenshots above. What I found to solve this was to extrude the edges and use the bridge tool. This would create the 2nd face between 2 selected edges. The doorways were made by inserting edge loops and extruding inwards. It lead to the selected face moving into the cylinder/corridor, leaving the outer shape concave.
Thankfully my camera wouldn't leave view for the outside of the corridor. As long as what looks in shot is ok then it is safe to move on. I used this principle for a time save with my doors. 2 simple cuboids. I animated them to move through the corridor to seal and open the entrance. It would simply clip through the ceiling. However, because the outside isn't seen, I can simply leave the doors suspended on the ceiling when open.
Wireframes were constantly checked to avoid the problems with my previous modelling attempt on the robot. That way no unintentional vertices were added, no random edges and access to all tolls such as the insert edge loop. I also experimented with the bevel tool and calculated it's limitations. A big cube, so my progress isn't affected, with extra loops inserted. The bevel would only work to that loop.
Overall I am happy with how I've progressed. I have solved the initial issues with limited hassle. The fundamental ideas of my animation have been established as well as the parts of my design to support the scene. If I was to do this again, I would research into hallways. Create a mood board for my background. Take some photographs of urban hallways. Even research into alternative locations to set my animation in. A internet research into possible themes. Several attempts and ideas created in MAYA. Sketches in Photoshop or my sketchbook. There is so much room to back up, improve and experiment with this area. I am limited to my timeframe. As much as I want to design and prefect my background, the focus is on the animation. A background that fits the purpose and frames the shot is good enough at the moment. Positively this was achieved. Although it is a negative on the lack of research that went into it. If I have time at the end of my production then I can go back and alter the hallway further.
2. Lighting and Extra Hallway: 5/10 - 13/10
As mentioned above, one of the primary reasons for a basic background is so I can experiment with lighting. Now lighting was experimented with and carried on adapted right up until the final renders. This section is lighting specific, although it will be mentioned in other sections as well moving on from initial attempts.
The first thing to do was go onto the internet and form a basic understanding of possible lighting set ups. It was shown to us in lesson that 1 directional to 4 directional is commonly used. We were told to find examples, upload and give a brief description on our wix site. This is bare bones at best. We were also advised to take photographs. So tennis balls were handed out and I gathered a small team to organise an experiment. With initial group there wouldn't of been enough phone lights to complete the experiment. With multiple groups working together, we had 4 lights for the set up as well as another phone for the photos.
This meant we could photograph and share examples of 1 directional to 4 directional lighting. This was amazing to see first-hand how each light affected the tennis ball. A negative was the set up. The room was bright and subject to the weather outside the window so conditions were loosely controlled. We solved this partially by conducting the experiment on a chair to block out unnecessary light. Likewise organising a team bigger than 4 individuals was much more difficult. I had to keep the attention of and co-ordinate 8 people simultaneously while making sure we got the results in the task time deadline. As you can see above, this was achieved. Overall it was a fun experiment, I also got to work with people I'm not used to working with. It was definitely outside my comfort zone but I feel like I've improved a lot because of it.
The next tricky bit came to applying my new insight to my MAYA project. I need to light my scene enough for the viewer to see what's going on, to establish the setting. But I don't want to flood the room in light. I want to use darkness to my favour. Early attempt made use of pillars to block the light sources. I found 4 different kinds of light to insert into the scene. Directional lights was my first go to. The issue with them was it lit the entire scene up, regardless of polygons blocking the source. The lightbulb icon allowed me to see what my lighting did to my scene, without this new tool I would literately be shooting in the dark. The hallway was useful to get a rough idea how light interacts with my scene. The hallway above in the screenshots was also the 1st ever draft of the background, before the octagonal design was decided. This used the same technique to create as my bedroom experiment. By creating a flat floor and extruding the edges up to create walls. A ceiling was also used to see how light would react in an enclosed space. This brought to my attention the directional light issue to begin with.
If I wanted to light up only a single area of my scene, the spotlight light source was more effective. It's best described as a torch light, only illuminating a certain radius rather than the entire scene. I also found later in it's attributes, I can adjust the colour, size (cone) and drop off. The rest was simple trial and error in placement and intensity.
I also experimented with camera angles. The screenshot above is my first attempt in deciding a deliberate shot angle. Using what I learnt about low angle shots, I thought I could use this effect to increase the power of my character. Likewise, this was the same time I found a viable way to move my entire character around my scene. By grouping the individual pieces together, it meant transforming it's location became possible without any singular part moving. This let me move my character to any point in my corridor, which was invaluable to find out how the lighting affects it.
A lower light was added to illuminate my character as it looks down. This will put all the focus directly on the face, the final scene the viewer will see. The white light makes it almost haunted feel. It feels extremely artificial. Although I also found how to change the lighting colour in attribute settings.
This lead to me changing the colour to red. Monochromatic light has very powerful effects on the overall tone and atmosphere of the scene. Red is associated with danger, blood, death and war. It heightens the danger of the scene, make my character look much more terrifying than without it.
To add some difference to the red scene, I also added the front facing spotlight to orange. It compliments red and carries the similar energy/intensity. Although after receiving feedback, viewers were confused with the orange light and preferred the red glint as singular.
I also expanded the walk way. Instead of cutting off the path as a sheer drop, I had the walkway fade off gradually. This improved my options in regards to the camera. I could make the camera travel further out the corridor without the background causing visual issues.
Likewise, an extra light was added to the back of the corridor. Now I have a 3 light system to illuminate the character and background. I also have a singular light at the front for a 1 light system, specifically to create high shadow on my character. Keep pieces in darkness will add to the mystery.
However, this light system caused many issues. For starters, the 2nd half of the corridor was completely covered in darkness. Without any model selection, the character is basically invisible before the door even closes. I was forced to add a downwards facing light to illuminate the character before the door closes. Although now there are far to many sources and the scene is becoming too lit.
The intensity was also causing issues. The lighting went through several small adjustments throughout all later stages of the project. For example the side lights were made softer and their positions changed to bath the floor in light. The back ceiling light was made more intense with a bigger drop-off, resulting in a bigger yet softer experience. The orange light was changed to red to match the background. After some experimenting, I found a solution in tweaking the shading. A combinations of light and dark reds help improve the contrast that I was looking for. Likewise timing the doors to open and close allows me to block a portion of the lights, helping control my set better.
This was a very fun stage of production. What I did learn is that you are never finished when it comes to lighting. There is always a small adjustment to be made. I found that I was never quite happy with the result. I would love it 1 day and change it all again the next. Although the result and effect it has on my scene is definitely positive. All of the associations with my shade of red is essentially mimicked when the viewer experiences my animation. It's intended effect works. If I was to do this again. I would experiment with other colours of monochromatic light to see what effect it has on the animation. Likewise I could also explore other lighting set ups. In conclusion, I am satisfied with this experiment.
3. Animation - Character Leg and Doors: 7/10 - 9/10
123, T. R., 2021. movement experiment - youcut. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg9v-dTAuwQ
[Accessed 13 October 2021].
The animation, with maybe the exception of rigging, was the most difficult bit to get right. Like all difficult plans, I decided to plan out my movement first. I used the sketchbook for a visual reference and experimented in MAYA to see how the movement occurs. MAYA showed me the very basic timing. I originally decided to make the legs move every half seconds. Every quarter second the other leg would begin it's 12 frame cycle of moving up and down. It was very clear at the start that exact movement was needed. The movement was conducted by adjusting the transformation of x, y and z. The x would move by 1 every 6 frames, with y translating 2 up and then 2 down. This process would repeat until the end door closes. If the door closes before the spider reaches the end it will save time and half the amount of animation needed. The door reopens and the spider will look down at the camera for that low angle shot. End.
Now below I have 6 videos recorded to show the animation in various stages of development. However I left my webcam on main view for sections of when I wanted to show my MAYA screen. this meant a part of the animation is lost to time. The audio is still present. It's usefulness is reduced with the lack of video, although it may inform the watcher of this site partially during the time of creation.
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Supporting Videos - Experimentation and Blogs
123, T. R., 2021. 1. 7th oct 2021 leg experiment initial ideas. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFKPqkcgkSU
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 2. 7th oct 2021 legs pt 1 rough leg movement. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySWdOQa3O28
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 3. blog 8th oct 2021, hallway, robot, lighting, current progress. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUw06JEiiKI
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 4 2021 10 09 12 21 32. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEFa_i7KNL8
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 5. leg timings 9th. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlreonQI3Ug
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 0. 7th oct 2021 hallway rough. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzSpmI0utfA
[Accessed 14 October 2021].
4. Camera Work: Camera Composition and Animation 11/10
123, T. R., 2021. 5 2 dutch tilt, no texture or camera ani. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMg9Z13iIc
[Accessed 13 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. 5 3 premonday, camera ani. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzjwmRCtW4M
[Accessed 13 October 2021].
out of time to write up, in evaluation
5. Texturing and Final Touches (Door Modelling, Camera Animation, Lighting...) - 12/10
6. Rendering - 12/10, 15/10
123, T. R., 2021. playblast1 attempt 1 - ver 1, no sound, 12/10/21. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac_2nppBNYg
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7. FINAL RENDER - MOVIEBLAST 2 - N/N
123, T. R., 2021. movie blast 2 - FINAL SPIDER RENDER - NO SOUND. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUPakjuLYEk
[Accessed 18 October 2021].
123, T. R., 2021. robot playblast no 3. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nty5tQNJGH8
[Accessed 18 October 2021].
8. 500 WORD ESSAY - ATTEMPT 1 - 19/10
8. 500 WORD ESSAY
ATTEMPT 2 - 19/10
out of time areas in evaluation
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