#secretsidekick

[pollitq]

Sugwei. peanut butter & jelly time 🍌 . . . #banana #bananarepublic #costume #dog #chris #cartoon #portrait #yellow #green #iphonex #portrait #cartoon #secretsidekick #procreate #art #pollitq #pol #subway #sfx #animation #gif #iphonexs #guatemala (at Rafael Landívar University) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn-IfKngaE9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1t3po7u1fxmvo

[greeecko]

A new adventure with @proyect1324 #SecretSidekick. "In my daily life I always tend to lay down in the garden and see what is happening at my around, one day I looked out other way and saw this little guy. This fellow had lived all his life under the dirt and one day he decided to go up and see the world that he didn't know. After that day everyday Sunday we meet in the garden and he helps me with the orchard that I just started, then I show to him something of my world, like the cinema or an amusement park. He is the reason why I always try to take care of the nature, I mean who knows who lives there." #draw #ilustration #cute #imagination #sketch #underus

[laurendenel]

The little pear is happy when I spill my coffee @project1324 #secretsidekick #pictoplasma #3d #photoshop #pear #character #design #art #illustration #coffee #desk #fruit

[pictoplasma]

#Repost @zinkete ・・・ This place in Sevilla is called "Las Setas" (The Mushrooms) but for me it looks like waffles. Always I pass by there,I imagine what kind of character could eat it, maybe an enormous "cani"(chav)? This is my submission for @pictoplasma and @project1324 #secretsidekick challenge ... I'm out of age range for the competition, but I wanted to give my vision for this part of my city #illustration #pictoplasma #secretsidekick #sevilla #3dsmax #vray @igerssevilla @sevillaciudad @sevilla_secreta

[idnworld]

Pictoplasma 2019 — Secret Sidekick — Berlin, Germany http://www.idnworld.com/potm/Pictoplasma2019-SecretSidekick

[carolinacoroa]

Rabbits too deserve fresh carrots delivered on Sundays!

my submission for the Secret Side Kick challenge from Adobe, Project1234 and Pictoplasma :)

[zak-graphicarts]

Stop Motion in Real Life

In this post, I’m discussing my experiments into greenscreening my stop motion animations, looking at incorporating a simple approach to motion tracking to allow my character to walk in our world.

In a recent blog post exploring examples of an exquisite corpse in animation, I briefly the idea of animated characters interacting with real world actors. This is a concept called The Roger Rabbit Effect, named after the 1988 animated classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit, who perfected the idea. The idea of animated characters interacting with real people is one of the oldest special effects in Hollywood, with a great example being Gertie The Dinosaur - an animated film from 1914 which saw animator Winsor McCay interacting with the animated character in real time.

The main example that inspired me the most, however, was a quick sequence from Rick and Morty Exquisite Corpse, where a digitally drawn Rick and Morty are thrown into our world. I mentioned that I wanted to explore this idea using my stop motion developments, having my character walk through areas of my local area. This is something that I discussed in my early ideas for an FMP, I wanted to explore a new way of working and develop my digital skills further.

Rick and Morty Exquisite Corpse. (2017).

The actual green screen process was relatively simple, dragging an ‘ultra key’ effect onto the video and colour picking a green from my frame. Initially, this resulted in a scratchy figure but playing around with the choke and colour effects allowed me to have a successful green screen effect. The main problem to solve here was removing the rig from the sequence. Initially I tried dragging another block colour image over the rig, but this resulted in a clunky effect.

After doing a bit of research, I found that I could add a ‘mask’ to the video file. Premiere Pro allows you to draw your own shaped mask, and when you shift the mask to any direction - what’s in the mask is gone from the video. This wasn’t a smooth process by any means, though, with the software automatically trying to track the mask through the video resulting in my character losing an arm for a few frames. My solution to this was a rather long one, resulting in me moving the mask frame by frame to avoid any loss of limbs.

To begin with, I experimented with a plain background - like my digital Character Animator pieces. Whilst it would fit the theme I’ve somewhat already established, I feel like this doesn’t have the same effect. As it’s a stop motion sequence, having a singular colour background takes away from the physicality of the medium, I think. It’s quite pleasing in it’s minimal approach, but I want to throw my character into our world, in response to the Rick and Morty sequence.

I’m not ruling out this one colour approach, however, as it is quite visually pleasing, and may work better in my final exquisite corpse sequence.

From here, I went out and shot a few videos for motion tracking, filming paths and streets as I was walking in a slow, stilted movement in order to capture my character Mick’s motions.  

My initial tests using these filmed sequences weren’t too successful, with my character seemingly running across the screen or walking into a tree repeatedly, like a failed video game character.

This ultimately stemmed from a lack of understanding of my animations themselves, and after watching and timing the movements, I produced another test which was more effective than my previous attempts - whilst still not a smooth blend of stop motion and reality. This sequence was just my character walking - a continuous motion that was almost too fast for the animation.

After understanding this, I wanted to use my final stop motion sequence, where he walks, stops, and continues walking again. This stop and start motion lends itself to The Roger Rabbit Effect, I think, as the audience can see that the camera is moving in tandem with the stop motion character - creating a more authentic illusion of life.

With this in mind, I shot a slower video, with myself walking, stopping, and then continuing to walk again. This allowed the video a realistic pace, and when green screened with my animation, resulted in an interesting piece.

Whilst it’s not perfect by any means, this is definitely my most successful piece out of these motion tracking tests. The green screened blend of my stop motion character with the film is actually quite effective, with the rig being erased from the film with relative success. The walking motion is quite realistic, taking large, slow strides in an effort to show Mick’s tired personality. It looks like the character is using a lot of effort to walk here, and that was just my intention.

My initial idea for the character was to have him be a stop motion version of Michael - my CA character. In the building process, however, he evolved into his own character, more older, melancholic and heavy. Gone was the initial tall, lanky youthful character and instead was an older Mick, with a sharp jacket and shiny black shoes.

The walk and camera movements are somewhat synced, with Mme speeding up as Mick steps into the last few frames and slowing down at the beginning, easing in and out of the motion.

Despite this, as Mick slows down to a halt, the camera keeps moving for a few frames. This results in the floor sliding, something which instantly shatters the illusion I want to create with the animation. It’s not as important as to detract from the entire piece, but I would want to edit it further if I were to add this sequence to a reel.

In terms of the idea, however, I really find it interesting and effective. The Roger Rabbit Effect isn’t something I’ve played around with before, but there’s something very charming and fun about animated characters interacting with the real world. It’s an idea I’ve spoken about before on this blog, inspired by the works of Jon Burgerman but also most recently the #secretsidekick challenge by art festival and publisher PictoPlasma that encourages artists to create characters interacting with the everyday. With these examples and the recent Rick and Morty Exquisite Corpse, it seems like the idea of characters interacting with the real world seems to be gaining popularity in contemporary graphic art scenes.

If we compare this motion tracked sequence to the plain colour, there’s an instant lack of world building and sense that our character is anywhere. I think the block colour background works for the digital animations because of the clean, minimalist and flat design aesthetic of the characters themselves. Having a stop motion character do the same seems a little incongruent, not really fitting the pop scheme. With a little bit of quick editing, I was able to minimise the floor sliding of the sequence, and I think it’s quite an interesting experiment and animation - one that will contrast nicely to the digital minimalism of my Character Animator pieces.

The purpose of this session was to explore an alternative approach to walk cycles and the block colour aesthetic I’ve looked at in my previous digital developments. I wanted to look at how I could make my stop motion character interact with the everyday, in response to my analysis into the Rick and Morty Exquisite Corpse. I’ve been able to discuss those experiments here, and produced a successful piece that I could include in a final exquisite corpse animation. In the process, I’ve learnt some new skills in editing and post production, allowing me to remove parts of a video or image that I don’t want, using the masking feature. When I do begin creating the final sequence, it’s important that my animations aren’t too similar, that they evidence a few different styles and mediums in order to keep the audience’s attention - so breaking away from the block colour background, and into the real world is one way in which I could do this.

The motion tracking here proved to be successful, though a potential development would be to take this a step further and film more footage in more exciting locations and produce a more smooth camera movement, avoiding any sliding floors. I filmed a quiet area to show a calm, collected and uninteresting everyday life, but I could experiment with more visually interesting areas and locations, interacting with the public, perhaps?

Having moved away from the digital animations, I want to continue to explore alternative approaches to animating a walk cycle - experimenting with different analogue drawing techniques and mediums. Inspired by Oscar Barany’s flashing ‘Mugen’ walk cycle, I want to create a walk animation that is an exquisite corpse on its own - using these analogue techniques and mediums.

Actions

Create a flashing walk cycle using analogue materials, inspired by Oscar Barany’s ‘Mugen’ example

[heyfutures]

Cyan(ide)

This demon lives in one of the ponds in the park and gets (sooo) mad cute when passersby throw coins at it.

[danielhondermann-blog]

my own submission for #project1234 #secretsidekick #contest

[pollitq]

Hola Chojuwe . . . . . #cartoon #illustration #caricatura #character #design #visual #media #drawing #art #red #green #iphonex #wacom #digitalart #pol #pollitq #springbreak #ss2018 #procreate #wacom #portrait #secretsidekick #tested @project1324 @adobe @pictoplasma #pictoplasma #berlin #adobe (at Design Rotulos)

[graceccano]

My entry for the @project1324 and @pictoplasma challenge #secretsidekick It's Jenga time! Right in front of my office, there's this building that was never finished. Sometimes, magical friends use it to play jenga. That's a view that I would love to see everyday ;) Link: https://project1324.com/projects/TNbOx?share=link

[has-lamb]

Found a wandering good boy sidekick #SecretSidekick #pictoplasma #dog #drawing #illustration

[pictoplasma]

#Repost @bryndon_diaz ・・・ Amigos de Guatemala y el mundo, no los veo compartiendo su pieza #SecretSidekick 👀, Berlín los espera (www.project1324.com) 💫 Tienen solo 4 días 😱. . . . #illustration #pictoplasma #guatemala #ilustración #art #characterdesign

[beautiphil-flower]

A Very Sleepy Bean @project1324 #secretsidekick #project1324 I always sleep in this very bed to be well rested from the daily grind of studying, going out and about, or just to have a chill day at home inside the warmth of the blanket. I spend lots of my creative time in my room and sometimes when I look back at my bed I see this sleepy bean, hogging my bed all for herself just snoozing. She's a great reminder of my childhood where it was more acceptable to sleep during the day. Or as a baby, all the time and nobody would have a problem with it. Geez, that bed looks real comfy, I wonder what would happen if I were to.... Z z zz z z z zz z z

[pollitq]

peanut butter & jelly time 🍌 . . Inspired by: @chrischann . #banana #bananarepublic #costume #dog #chris #cartoon #portrait #yellow #green #iphonex #portrait #cartoon #secretsidekick #procreate #art #pollitq #pol (at Paseo de la sexta avenida zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala)

[pictoplasma]

#Repost @yazu_min ・・・ This is the shelter that lies within the centre of my hometown. When I was young I used to run and hide under its ceiling, waiting for the rain to stop. It’s been here for a long time, helping any passerby in need. ☔️ Competition entry for the #secretsidekick challenge by @pictoplasma ! And @project1324 . . . . #adobe #pictoplasma #secretsidekick #illustration #characterdesign #art #childrenillustration #street #centre #illust #illustratoroninstgram