#RP4222

[phooka-animation]

[mariokkounnous]

M Sculpt

I have completed the sculpt for the main character M. This was made from Newplast as I find it easier to work with and you can still maintain a high finish. As this is a sculpt for making the puppet I had to make in parts.

I am making a time laps video of this process and will upload this when I have completed the edit. I am happy how this has turned out as I want to cast this out of foam latex or silicon, then paint it to have full control over the colour and style. I don’t want to use fabrics as this will distract away from an illustrated look I am hoping to achieve.

[orbitaljunker]

Getting Better

The direction of my MA has changed throughout the course, informed by my own journey through learning about and subsequently managing my depression, my anxiety and my ADHD.

This process of what could be called art therapy, as my ideas and discoveries are mirrored in the evolution of my film, has been profoundly helpful. Unfortunately, I am so used to being engrossed in every detail that I struggle to step back and assess from a distance. In doing so for the purposes of reviewing and writing about my course progression, I have realised that some issues that I thought I had dealt with, such as my depression diagnosis and core perspectives which I have utilised extensively in Debris’ narrative development, have not been put behind me.

I’ve been overcome recently with these resurfacing emotions and thoughts as a consequence of this reflection. But, I’m getting better at recognising my unhealthy behaviours. I’m getting better at dealing with depressive episodes and breaking negative thought cycles. I’m getting better at recovery, at overcoming my mental obstacles, as I was able to do last week, processing in two days what used to take two weeks. I’m getting better at motivating myself to push through indecision and overthinking.

That’s what I hope, at least. That’s what I feel I’m doing. That’s what I want to be doing.

I think I am.

I’m glad I am.

I’m getting better at positivity. I’m getting better at time management. I’m getting better at focusing on one task and seeing it through. I’m getting better at getting better.

I’m getting better.

[animation-project]

Reflection

RP4222 - Post 139 - 13/05/2021

To conclude, this has been a difficult learning curve full of caveats and many attempts to problem solve so many of the issues faced when attempting to carry out the basics of actions within 3D rigging and 3D animation.  Unfortunately at this time, some of the caveats could not be resolved, as solutions could not be found or did not present themselves.  At this stage, solutions are due to the lack of knowledge and experience whilst working with animation and rigs within the Maya software.  However, from these unresolved problems, a better understanding of the software and desire to further understand the processes of rigging animation has risen.  Some of the problems documented have been simply down to making sure options are ticked with global settings within the software, which has had a negative impact on the rest of the work.  Further understanding of rigging has been gained by using the Maya quick rig system within the software and comparing it to what has been created during this module.  On the whole, the results from Maya’s rigs have been positive with only minor notable problems, allowing the user to animate the models with the problems connected to the toe control on both models.  Reasons why the toe controls caused these minor issues are still unresolved, despite discussion with animators within the games industry, who are more familiar with Maya software.  It can also be noted through speaking to other animators familiar with Maya, that there is no textbook standard procedure when rigging or animating within the software, but rather working to a comfortable routine for the individual.  This can be frustrating for someone learning the processes, but it shows the adaptability and strengths of the software in its capabilities to be able to provide so many options in its creative processes.  

In regards to the rigs created by myself, this has been more frustrating not to gain the desired results originally set out at the beginning of the module.  On reflection, the simpler the rig, the less problematic it is likely to be.  However, as stated, there is more than one process to creating a rig and not to be overwhelmed by the process or make the rig more complicated than it needs to be.  This was the case with the female figure, which was able to function, however when looped with pre and post infinity curve loops, the results were completely unexpected and confusing.  Fortunately, a solution was found at a later date.  This is also a similar situation with the ATAT vehicles body control.  Although movement and animation was possible, due to the problems developed because of these two rigs in their creation, this created limitations to what they are capable of.  Improvements still need to be made to overall animation techniques, as can be seen with the example female model, which was pre-rigged and accessible with the Udemy course.  The running cycle produced unusual movements when adapted to pre and post infinity loops.  However, it should be noted, the tutor on the course was a rigger and not an animator.

What can be noted due these problems is, like with a lot of creative fields, rigging alongside animation is a constant process of problem solving and a process of elimination to discover and correct these caveats that arise.  Moving forward, it has been advised to focus on a smaller number of characters.  Re-creating a rig for the female character and Mickey, (Disney, 1929), for example and have them conducting more performances rather than just walk cycles in order to test their capabilities.

[ashtheanimator]

^^RP4222 Resubmission^^

[mariokkounnous]

Rough Concept Sketches

I wanted to practise 10-20 minute concept sketches to help me with my drawing and creative thinking skills. There series of sketches took between 10-20minutes using photoshop. The idea behind these is to provide a little bit detail into the environments that will feature throughout the film.

The tree where M seeks refuge from the start of the storm. I took reference from the tree image I found online where it bridge between two mounds. The ideas of having its routes exposed gives the impression that this feel more alive and roams around the lands. 

The cave entrance that eventually leads M to the Cave of Reflection is meant to look dark and full of history as if this place have existed for centuries. This invites some interesting lighting set up where I need some experience.

The woodland tree line. This is the start of the fantasy part of the film. This introduces the journey and triggers the storm. 

The bench and lamp resting next to the train line features throughout the film and it looks like that M keeps coming to this place. 

I enjoyed painting these design and they took me less than 1 hour to paint as I just led with my hand and see what comes out. 

[mariokkounnous]

New Parts

I have assembled some of the parts printed off to test the tension and to my relief, the new parts seem to work nicely. 

Below is a print of the foot.

The hold is strong and smoother than the previous resin prints. The material is exceptionally light but very strong and durable. It also appears to be cheaper to print, being that we are looking a less than £1 per ball plate as appose to £10 for a commercial plate like the one you can buy from Animation Toolkit. 

At this stage I intend to use a mixture of materials to make my armature but in the hope that most parts will be printed components

I am really satisfied on how these have turned out. However I need to make sure that the parts will fit inside the puppet mould as these plates are meant for hips and shoulders.

[mariokkounnous]

Final Armature Design

This is the current and hopefully the final armature design that fits into the main Character of my film. I assembled it using a combination of materials to maintain stability. 

The head and lower arms were made using square K&S tubing for replacement parts as I expect that I would need a supply of replacement hands. 

The head is made from foam and markers will be placed for object tracking purposes. The assembly was straight forward and simple to make with some clean up of the printed parts. The material itself is easy to file down and will still maintain most of its structural integrity.

The breakdown cost of this particular Armature are as follows:

20xPrinted parts: £6, 24xBall Bearings £14, 6xK&S square tubing: £1, 2xMagnets £1, Foam Free (from scrap), 3xM3 Threads rods: £2, Total: £24 

I believe the costing in itself is a success and as long as the armature passes the animation testing stage students will benefit from this hybrid design saving them around £80.

[mariokkounnous]

Scene 1 Composition Test

After completing the build of my first set for scene 1 I wanted to test a composition with digitally drawn extension. The first thing I needed to do was to take a picture at the angle of the intended shot in front of a blue screen. 

I took this image into Photoshop where I used a stamp tool to extend the foreground and then digitally painted background assets.

I finally took these elements and use After Effects to composite and animate the camera to generate the composition I was looking for. The time-lapse video demonstrates the breakdown of this test shot. The characters are placed in directly from Maya.

Though there are a fw lighting issues surrounding the characters and bench area, I am really happy with how the overall style is coming along as one of my main fears was whether I had the skill set to make the digital painted assets work well with the “real” physical set.

[mariokkounnous]

Set Design: Cave of Reflection

This is a concept that I worked on for the cave scene where M encounters statues that represent past, present and future. I wanted the enclosure to feel chaotic yet natural. The vines and tree roots hold together the cavity whilst looking like a spider weaved it.

I feel that I have captured a sense of ethereal but sombre. This design will allow me to play about with interesting on set lighting, which I would like to explore in more detail as I have little experience in this.

 I came across these images which inspired the design style and composition of the area. This is an ancient ruin on Cambodia.

This is something that I was looking for when imagining what the cave will look like. The sense that nature takes over and envelopes ancient ruins. I particularly took interests on how the roots looks like a spider’s web. 

[mariokkounnous]

Time-lapse: Cave of Reflection concept art

As well as documenting my progress I wanted to make this time lapse video so that it informs my teaching and use it to help students when it comes to designing environments. I can use this as support material as I explain my methodology and process on coming up with a concept design like this.

I hope that this provides some idea for students to use as an example of design method.

[mariokkounnous]

Animation Tests

I ran several tests to determine the ease of function with my armatures and the results indicate a few things that I will discuss in more detail through this post.

I found out in this test how much I cannot animate in stop motion. I am so use to digital methods that this woke me up a great deal about actual animation. It was difficult to measure up poses at first and it is evident in this tests below and the subsequent examples following that I have a lot to learn about stop motion animation.

The second thing I can confirm is that this armature is able to sustain a pose and even though it was difficult at times to work with, I believe that progress has been made to utilise this technology.

I would like to provide samples to professional stop motion animators and see what they think of this taking in to consideration that this is a supplement for students to use as the costs are reduced considerably if using one of my printed armatures. I hope to have Linda McCarthy and Barry Purves to try these out. Their input whether positive or negative will be most valuable.

As tests go, this armature does work but may be limited in movement. I have determined that the hips need another joint to allow more movement around this region. I will redesign the hips to allow for this or simple reduce the size. I will run several more test.

With regards to my animation ability, I can only practice using this armature, not only to understand and improve my animation skills but this is an armature that needs to be practice with to understand it’s limitations.

[mariokkounnous]

RP4222: Armature Number 5

I have had another go at the armature and this is the 5th version. The adjustments I have made to this version ore the pins. I have made them thicker to allow better connection with the ball bearing threads. I can thread the parts in when the material is softer and before it is cured properly in UV light.

The parts did fit much better and they feel more solid and durable. I found out however that the ball bearing threads vary in size ever so slight, which I found a little bit frustrating so a thread could not be cut in the the material, 

I disassembled version 4 for the nuts since I am waiting on a shipment so that I could assemble version 5 to test out. Even though the connection of the joints are much better and smoother when posing the armature, I feel that the tension of the plates aren’t tight enough and this is because of the resin material. I believe that there is too much elasticity to the material so it fails to grip the ball bearing like a metal plate would. 

I took a metal ball joint plate and used it for the spine. Obviously this gave the spine more rigidity. So as far as this experimentation goes and with the resource I have access to, I can conclude that a hybrid of materials and products will need to be applied when making an armature through 3D printing. 

I will run some animation tests with this configuration to determine how feasible it is to animated with. My definitive goal when it comes to armatures remains the same, as I want students to benefit from this technology and reduce costs but maximise productivity and quality.

[mariokkounnous]

Animating a Cat in Maya

This is a brilliant tutorial the outlines some of the key techniques when animating a quadruped. Though the motion is not perfect, this gives me a starting point for when I animate the cat.

[orbitaljunker]

[orbitaljunker]

Debris Script used for audio recording.

This is the revised script used for the dialogue record. Sarah arranged with Terry Chapman, UCLan Senior Lecturer in Acting, to have two Acting students record the dialogue for Debris. Sarah handled the recording and direction to show me the ropes using Logic Pro X.

Tatti Haslam voiced Amy and Lydia McCudden voiced Hana.

They were both spectacular and really elevated the script, bringing the characters to life far better than I could have imagined. I was taken aback at moments, especially when recording Amy’s panicked breakdown, which was so raw and impactful. I’m so glad of Tatti and Lydia’s performances. I feel the need to step up and try to match my drawings up to the amazing work they’ve done.