More Flash tests...

Since I haven't had as much time as I'd have liked to get more traditional animation done, I've made a few short tests on Flash in order to get a feel for the character's movements and how its expressions would work.

I quite like the 'flying in' motion I got for the morph. This was in part inspired by Eris from Sinbad's movements, and I think it suits the character well.

 The blinking is pretty simplistic, but it was basically to see how I could use the lines around the characters eyes for expression. If I have time I may do some cleaner tests that also involve head movement and the hood/shoulders, just to see how body language can show emotion and character too.

Cinema 4D...

So I have this working rig from last year-

-which I could switch out with my new artwork so I won't need to redo the rig. Once I reloaded the parts...

I moved the joints and the artwork so that they slotted back together. 

Now the character is generally poseable, but the limbs are a little messy, and somehow I think I've damaged with the rig. I'll have to find a solution tomorrow.

Morph: traditional frame-by-frame + Photoshop

I wanted to try at least one traditional animation test, so I drew up some frames using pencil and markers and imported the images into Photoshop.

Using the frames panel, I sequenced each frame and adjusted the timings. However it didn't look particularly good since I'd sketched the initial frames quickly, so I added new layers above each existing frame and began to draw on top of them. I also added details like the head and hands in this way.




The animation was jerky in areas, so I tweened certain frames to make it a little smoother.

Then I overlaid a textures and gradients to make it look more interesting.

The result:

I quite liked how this ended up looking. It looks quite traditional despite the addition of digital drawing, thanks to the brush I used, and the texture gives a papery, almost storybook look to it. 

Unfortunately, using frame-by-frame in Photoshop may not be suited for more complex scenes, and would get far too messy. However I could create moving backgrounds in this style using Photoshop's timeline instead while this style of character animation again using Flash, which is far more suited to bigger projects.

With more time and the appropriate resources, I'd also like to try using completely traditional methods and with a range of materials such as charcoal and inks, since this morph shows it would work well with my character.

Final model sheet- COMPLETE.

After applying the same colouring technique to the drawings I last posted, creating the model sheet was a simple case of applying it to my background, then thinking of some descriptive text to clarify the motion depicted in the pictures.

I think it's turned out very nicely; I like how the feathers make quite a gradual shift into the cloak, and the way I've laid it out looks simple but effective. 

... I believe I might actually be done with this first unit. Huzzah!

More model sheet progress~

For the final model sheet I've decided to focus on Scavenger's shapeshifting ability. Since it has a limited range of poses, I thought it would be a lot more interesting this way, and it will provide good reference for me later when it comes to animating the transformation from bird to humanoid.

The outlines so far:

So far I think it looks okay, though the lines for the last couple of drawings will need to be tidied up later since I started getting a little tired (oops). But I do think that the drawings portray the transition quite well, and would serve as a nice reference for later animated morph tests.

Next up, colouring!

Crow sketches.

*see annotations*

Inspiration.

I've been taking a look at some character's that have a similar shape to my own (i.e. robed and hooded) to observe how they've been animated and hopefully influence my own experiments.

Hexxus from 'Ferngully: The Last Rainforest'. He is the living embodiment of pollution, and though his body is in a constantly shifting state, he has smooth, flowing movements that are drawn in high detail and have an amazing texture about them. I love that his smoky form is only three layers of black/grey tone, yet the movement and opacity makes the character look no less detailed than the sludgy one. I'd certainly like to try animating my character similarly to the top image.  

I'm mainly looking at Disney's Hades because of the smoky tendrils at his feet, which I've always thought looked excellent. They're a little more blurry than the rest of the character illustration, which makes them seem less tangible and enables them to be constantly manipulated to create interesting shapes.

The animation for 'No Face' is probably closest to the style I'd like to create for my character, mostly because of its shifting transparency and fluid movements. Also this shows that the more spectral body works well with more solid limbs, which is pretty much how I always envision my 'Scavenger' to look.

2/3 model sheets done!

I'm very pleased with the outcome of my model sheets so far. The colours and textures work well, giving a dark and grungy effect, while the typewriter font contrasts a little with the more natural themes of the story.

For my final sheet I'll be drawing some of the poses, plus the transformation from a crow.

Using Adobe After Effects.

One of my first experiments was to use After Effects to build my character in a cut-out style. Firstly I had to create my assets (I chose to draw them by hand and scan them in) then cut them out digitally and on individual layers on one .psd file.

After that it was a case of dragging the .psd into After Effects, then from there I started dragging layers down onto the timeline.

With each asset I dragged down, I had to rescale them and set the pivot points like so:

Eventually with my character set up, I could parent-child my layers together. All the hands were parented together, then parented with the lower arm, which was then parented with the upper arm, and so on. This means that when I needed to change hands or body angles, the pieces were already in position.

After all of my assets were ready to use, I changed the colours of each section so that they were easy to differentiate on the timeline. Then I started going through some simple motions, moving only the body at first but adding a size increase in addition to the movement.

A method I used to switch out hands/faces was to modify the timeline and layer visibility.

For longer sequences I'll need to create compositions, but considering this was my first real attempt at After Effects I was quite pleased with the result. Video upload should come soon!

Model sheet design.

The model sheet itself is going to have a decidedly grungy look to it. I've made the background using a pre-existing, royalty-free texture, some gradients and a colour background and blending modes. I like how the transparent body of the character really shows here.

For the pantone references I've stuck to simple smudgy shapes with added strokes to make them stand out more, and an old-fashioned typewriter style font.

Result so far:

I think this font works pretty nicely because it lends to the dark tone without being too obviously 'spooky'.

Using the guides has been a great help for laying out my character sheet and allotting specific space for each piece of information.

Creating model sheets - the character.

To make my model sheets I've used a range of different programs for different things. I started off by scanning in a light sketch of the front, back and side views of my character complete with proportion guidelines.

Firstly I drew out the linework in FireAlpaca. I like using this program for lineart most because of its simplicity, user-friendliness and the correction feature.

Then I decided to bring the drawing into Paint Tool Sai. This is my preferred software for colouring because it's designed to lend a painterly, traditional look to your art, whether it's markers, pencil or paint. I set the eraser to the same brush settings in order to get that smooth but streaky look to the body of my character.

With the initial layer of colouring done, I chose a fuzzy setting on the watercolour brush and painted beneath the layer, darkening it up and adding more texture.

Since the hands and head are a lot more solid than the rest of this character's body, I chose to colour those in block white with the standard pen. I temporarily turned the lines white to make the cleanup of messy edges easier.

The result so far:

At this point I brought the image into Photoshop. The fully black linework makes the design look a little flat so, locking the transparency on the line layers, I've used a soft, chalky brush on white to make certain lines stand out more; also towards the bottom of the body I've done the same so that it looks more transparent/spectral.

The result:

At this stage I'm ready to design the model sheet itself!

Time Plan: Thurs 24th - Thurs 31st October.

24th-25th Oct: 

• Completely finish up model sheets
• Organise research and any digital development I have thus far ready for print.
• Annotate all initial ideas/sketches/development/making of pages
• Create cut-out digital assets for my character (since I'm not entirely sure if I liked my traditionally-drawn ones...)
• While I'm in college on Friday (25th), take advantage of the printing facilities and software. Do another animation test using After Effects- this time creating a composition.
• Render out any After Effects videos I may have.

26th-31st Oct:

• Keep experimenting! The aim of the second unit is to come to a decision about which method will be the most efficient and effective when creating our stories. I must experiment as much as possible in this time frame.
• Be sure to screencap any digital work for my 'making of' pages (may have to print these off at a friend's or the library unless I can get some new printer ink for at home).
• Constantly evaluate the creative process to come to an informed decision.

List of software/techniques I'd like to use:

• Cinema 4D
• Flash and Photoshop
• After Effects
• Traditional, hand-drawn frame by frame
• Rotoscoping
• Traditional cut-out.

Development - 'The Scavenger'.

This is the first time I've drawn this character entirely digitally, and although I love the scrawly style of my traditional drawings I feel as though I've gotten too carried away, when in fact the smooth, stark tones lend this character a more sinister presence. The lack of detail in the body also makes it look more 'ghost-like' than before. 

As far as the background goes, playing with various textures and blending modes has yielded a nice result. I'd definitely like to make the model sheet for this character dark and grungy, though I'll be experimenting with some mixed traditional media in order to make it truly unique.

Inspiration.

This design from the anime 'Soul Eater' is quite a contrast to the other, more obviously macabre examples I've been looking at. The character manages to be quite cute despite him being a shinigami (death god), thanks to the simplistic design, poses and expressions. I think the stark black and white gives quite a striking effect.

Inspiration.

This is some concept art for the banshees from the game 'Fable II'. It makes me think about the texture of the hood/robe- will my character's 'robe' be actual fabric, or part of its actual body?

From this screencap from the game itself we can see that the banshee hovers above the ground and is always surrounded by mist, though her 'children' are simply black, semi-transparent shadows. I think it may create a nice effect if my character was always hovering, but shifting and manipulating its body as it moves. I'd also like for the black areas of its body to be vaguely transparent, both because its a supernatural creature and to make the skull and the hands stand out.

This also makes me consider attempting a puppet for my character, which I could construct with various black/grey rags, wire for support, and Sculpey.