Category: Sessions with George

My initial plan was for a character to start an acceleration run after throwing a long stick, then after taking off, to grasp the stick and perform an aerial roll. Interestingly, in the end, he fails to catch the opposite edge and ultimately falls off the cliff.

Afterwards, we can begin production, but we may find that the action of throwing the stick is too abrupt, so let’s delete this part and replace it with a normal running start, adjusting some frames to make this run appear more powerful. Since the stick cannot be thrown, it is designed to be placed on the wall opposite the character from the beginning, allowing the character to complete the entire action according to the original design without needing to change most of it.

The character’s final somersault is still subject to discussion. I anticipate that this somersault could be the most time-consuming segment, although I hope that won’t be the case. In the end, the character’s descent needs to be faster to match the overall animation’s pace, and incorporating motion follow-through will make the action more dynamic.

Here, I present the practice videos from this semester. 

Throughout this term, we embarked on creating an entire animation segment starting from a small spark of inspiration. This process included developing the character’s backstory, crafting the storyboard, and constructing the entire worldview. I’ve realized that the workload of producing an animation independently is immense. This might explain why, in the end, I opted to create a light-hearted combat scene animation. Such a choice likely enhanced my interest and immersion in the animation-making process.

Week Two: World Design in Animation, Creation of Mood Boards, and Storyboards 

Reflecting on previous blog entries, we can discern that the majority of the challenges in production stem from modifications made during the block animation phase. However, this also facilitated a quicker progression in keyframe animation after importing the character models, underscoring the indispensability of ‘animation previsualization’. Here, we can revisit the production workflow of animation previsualization and the preliminary preparations.

Week Five: Scene and Character Construction 

Week Six: Key Points to Consider When Creating Shots

In summary, the tasks for this semester have been successfully completed, and I extend my gratitude to George for his guidance!

adjustment of character positioning. In this shot, the fallen bodies are obscured behind the two individuals, necessitating a clear distinction between the positions of the three characters.

In this context, we must pay attention to the distribution of each character within the frame, ensuring that the animation serves the camera’s perspective. A visually appealing shot requires the creation of animation based on the 12 principles of animation, further incorporating a critical appreciation that clarifies the characters’ silhouettes and the composition of the shot.

This week, we’ve completed the majority of the animation production, and it’s time to start refining some details.

Firstly, there are some issues with camera staging. 

We need to bring the camera closer to make the interactions between characters more apparent. Additionally, during the segment where the zombie charges forward, we should increase the visual impact of the footage.

When the Taoist priest attacks the zombie, the transition between shots needs to be more convincing. Therefore, we introduce certain character displacements to allow for seamless camera switches.

 The final segment is not yet complete, so after addressing these primary issues, we will revisit what can be added at the end. Here, I list the parts that need revision this week:

We plan to introduce some intriguing elements to the first part of the animation. For instance, the person being chased actually has a monster relentlessly pursuing them from behind. I’ve designed a sequence where the pursued individual uses a car in front to make a sharp turn, skidding on the ground like a cat before colliding with the vehicle. However, I realized this lacked a sense of humor in the animation, so I decided to have the character skid in place due to uncontrolled speed, followed by a zombie in a thrilling chase.

It’s not just similar; it’s identical.

Following this, I opt to stay true to the original animation, where after a brief chase, the character is finally caught.

Furthermore, the motion from the first shot to the subsequent one should be coherent, preventing the audience from feeling disconnected from the narrative.

 Subsequently, we can observe that some shots may be modified for enhanced animation effects. For example, characters can exhibit more dynamic movements when dodging; akin to dodging bullets, characters can perform evasive maneuvers to avoid the Taoist priest’s talismans (Zombies! Quick, use the Z-shaped dodge!).

In this context, we discover that our animation production often draws more inspiration from two-dimensional animation silhouettes.

This week marks the beginning of building our scene characters. We can use cubes to represent our basic characters. First, we open MAYA to create characters, and by altering the model shader colors, we can quickly differentiate each character. In the second step, we attach controllers to the entire character, allowing us to control the movement of our cube characters more efficiently. In fact, we can establish a parent-child hierarchy between the cube character’s head and body, eliminating the need for an additional controller ring.

At this stage, we can start creating our animation files, initiating camera movements based on our preliminary animation shots. This gives us our initial camera files. Through this process, we can roughly understand the direction of the entire animation and make timely adjustments, which facilitates the subsequent import of animated characters and accelerates the completion of the final piece.

We have two characters: one is a zombie, and the other is an infected zombie.

 In the character design phase, we annotate the character’s backstory, the setting of the story, what happened at that time, and why the character acts in a certain way. This allows us to understand our characters more deeply and ensures that we stay true to the original concept during the animation production. Moreover, due to the distinct character designs, we can create different animations tailored to each character to better align with their individual traits.

A highly useful model website: https://agora. Community/assets

In this module, we explore the acquisition of 3D models for use in our animation scenes. These models come with quality rigging, and most importantly, they are available at no cost! It’s essential to recognize the significance of accessing functional models in the current landscape.

Another resourceful model repository can be found at https://animationmethods.com/rigs.html

This site offers a diverse array of models, including creatures and those tailored to American-style animation, broadening the spectrum of creative choices for our animated narratives.

Additionally, we share a valuable video reference platform: https://www.gettyimages.ca/collections/bbc-motion-gallery

 Here, you can input desired actions and retrieve a selection of related movements, which are more natural and serve as excellent references for animation.

In the final phase, we may require instructional videos to continually enhance our animation production skills. For this purpose, we can utilize YouTube or other video platforms to access the desired tutorials. (A heartfelt thanks to those willing to share their knowledge.)

Story One: The Taoist

In this phase, I commenced the production of mood boards and revisited the storyboards crafted in the previous week, incorporating additional camera movements to enhance the visual storytelling.

In the concluding segment, I designed a narrative twist featuring zombie resurrection, where the zombie reclaims its body with the aid of the person it had slain, subsequently launching a surprise attack on the still-recovering Taoist.

Subsequently, we can utilize MAYA to craft certain shots, establishing the visual effects for the entire narrative. However, it is imperative to adhere to the predetermined camera setup, ensuring that two-person shots conform to the camera layout, thereby rendering the shots more impactful.

Story Two: Personal Vendetta

Regarding the mood boards, I intend to design a color effect akin to that in Schindler’s List, where the aggressor is highlighted in red, setting him apart from the rest of the elements, which will be rendered in grayscale. At the story’s climax, the avenger, upon executing the aggressor, inherits his color, symbolizing the transfer of fate or consequence.

Storyboard Design: 

Following this, we proceed with the camera setup in MAYA: after modifications, the opposition between the two characters is accentuated.