Jump: Tree Scene Blocking

Blocked Malcolm in the last scene.



Going to pass the file on to Rachel so that she can block Aaron. Here's the sketches I did for the blocking. The sketches stop before Malcolm falls because the reference was a bit different to what Malcolm could do in the scene (branches were a bit closer than the 'branches' in the reference footage). I still used the reference for timing but I had an easier time working it out in Maya straight ahead as I could see the space I had to work in better.

Next I'll be blocking Malcolm in the fight scene.

It was suggested that we take individual control of some scenes (for example, I take control of this scene and say Rachel controls the fight scene) and block the entire thing ourselves. The main reason was so that we didn't have to pass it back and forth for timing and changes.
We've thought about it and decided that we were happier doing it this way, even if it's maybe a bit unorthadox. We've already started working the way we're working now (I primarily block Malcolm and Rachel blocks Aaron) and we discussed each other tweaking each other's timing or making minor adjustments to the other character and have agreed that it's fine to do so. So far we've had no problems working in this way. And as they say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Rachel's Blog

Jump: Clouds

The 3D clouds were distracting in the previous renders so it was suggested we go for a 2D background that would blend in with the overall scene better. I've rustled up a few different attempts at a 2D cloud background with the intention of picking one and using it in our scenes.

I dislike D. the most and like B. and C. the most. Rachel likes B. and C best too. I think I'll post this up on the Masters facebook group and see what the others think..

Jump: Blocking 'dare' test 1

Here is the first playblast test I did to have a look at the characters' timings. I used the edited reference for timing but Aaron was blocking without reference (we didn't have it at this time). The characters at the moment are out of sync so we have a few options which I've just posted up on our facebook project page to discuss with Rachel. We need to tweak the timing on one of the characters. Basically we either tweak Malcolm to respond to Aaron's timing or tweak Aaron to match the reference material. Then it comes down to either I shift the keys about while I work on this scene or finish Malcolm and let Rachel have the file back to tweak herself. The only difference will be how long I work on this file for. I honestly don't mind either way but as it is Rachel's work I would rather she decide.

 Here are the sketches I've done so far which are what I used to decide my key poses and block Malcolm up to where I've got to. I will be continuing this way. To draw these key poses, I looked for good pose in the reference material and sketched them down as Malcolm.

There's a lot more detail to these sketches because I had reference to look at and I was noting/sketching down some of the small movements that I particularly liked. This will be very helpful when it comes to putting in the breakdowns and going on to linear as I will be able to better animate natural movements.

Rachel's Blog

Jump: 'Tricks' Sketches

Yaaaay got to a scanner! These are the sketches I did for the 'tricks' scene I was working on. There's not a lot of detail other than the key poses I thought I wanted because our supervisor thought it would be best to just go for it on this scene. I ended up adding and/or changing some things because I thought it worked better otherwise. I'm glad I just went straight ahead with this scene and went into linear probably sooner than usual because it made it easier to create breakdowns between the key poses to keep an airy and floaty animation.

There are a lot of notes on this however because there were certain things I wanted to remember for creating Malcolm's posing. For example, I felt it was important that Malcolm's arms were as straight as they could get when he flings them down in anger. It gives a good 'looney tunes' feel to the animation plus his arms need to be that straight to look like he's resisting the air (by locking elbows).

Rachel's Blog

Jump: Start Blocking!

Spend most of yesterday setting up, re-doing and setting up again the scene I will be starting to block in.

Me and Rachel have agreed that one of us should work on one file at any one time to avoid losing any work. We've split the animation up into 4 scenes so that we can work on different bits at different times which are:
#Scene 1: Plane (where the characters are interacting in the plane and then make their jump)
#Scene 2: Tricks (the characters start to compete with each other)
#Scene 3: Fight (the characters fight, we decided to separate this from Tricks as it could be a challenge)
#Scene 4: Tree (after the crash, characters fight again in the tree)

This is also an insurance decision, if the animation was to be done in one file and something happens to that file (corrupts for example) we could potentially lose a lot of work. Splitting the animation up means if one of the files goes wrong, we've still got the rest and it's not a whole animation file we'll need to re-do.

As Aaron takes most of the lead in the first scene, Rachel will be working on that one first. While she's doing that, I'll be working on Malcolm in Tricks. I had to make a new scene yesterday as the original was suffering from major lag. I couldn't find why so I started a new fresh scene with only the necessary things imported/referenced. Other things will be added when necessary. I will be starting to block today.

Excuse the blue, the lighting is a little bit too intense at the moment! That will be sorted later!

There will be 'show and tell' classes every Tuesday for feedback from the tutors and the class so I'm sure I will be posting up the feedback we get every week.

Rachel's Blog

Jump: Scene set up

Rachel and I have been working on the scene set ups today. After some initial hiccups, Rachel has put together a master file for us to work from which is extremely useful. The idea being that we create all scenes using the master file as a foundation and saving as a separate scene file.

From it I've sorted out the last scene with the tree I made yesterday. Here's what it looks like at the moment:

There are no clouds in the background as of yet because we need to sort out some consistent images to use (sky and clouds). The grass I want to change, I don't like the square grid we've got. Perhaps we could draw from our main influence, the Bricklayer's Disaster and have a plain white floor and have the clouds fade to white towards the ground.

Rachel's Blog

Jump: Back!

After a much needed few days off, I'm back on track!

We aim to get all scenes set up and ready before we start blocking. That way we can both work on different ones at the same time.
I've started modelling a tree for the last scene in Softimage (figured it would be faster as I know it better than Maya, modelling in Maya will be a hurdle to jump another day):

A lot of things are not working here. The background at the moment is just there until we get a proper one. I was experimenting with the texture on the tree and I'm not convinced. It might look better with a textured background (with clouds and all) but if not, I think it'll be a plain lambert (non-shiny!) colour like the 'leaves'.
More importantly, I tried to get the shape very similar to what was drawn on the animatic as it will be important for when the characters are placed.

The picture above is the sort of shot we'll be looking to do which is very similar to our animatic!

2 Days to go...

Been busy with some last details over the past few days. Me and Rachel have met up to discuss what last things need doing and sorted out a to do list for ourselves.
Mine was to:
@ finish sky dive test animation (done)
@ write an 'about me' for documentation (done)
@ Sort out a folder containing everything we want on a CD for the hand in. (done but still needs video diaries)
@ Make the images for our pitch presentation slides (done)
@ Make video diary

Here are the 3 images I've done for the presentation. We're not putting together slides with writing because it's only a 2 minute pitch, half of which will be our animatic. This just puts up something to look at while we're talking and hopefully having something visual will help the audience understand the idea.

Going to put them into a powerpoint unless Rachel thinks there's a problem.
Here is the final sky dive test animation:




Rachel's Blog

To do today.

Been sketching a bit of Malcolm and Aaron in photoshop:

Today I need to:
@ photoshop some clouds for adding layers into the test animation.
@ work on test animation - sort of right hand, torso and head, clouds and camera shakes.
@ work on Synopsis and Treatment.

Rachel's Blog

New Storyboards

Right, as promised yesterday, here are the new storyboards. It's missing the dare before the scuffle on the plane because the change wasn't made until after I'd drawn that part. I've added notes on the storyboard and will be adding the dare in the animatic which I'm working on now!

Rachel's Blog

Doodling Malcolm and Aaron

Been doodling Malcolm and Aaron in preparation for drawing another storyboard, which I have now started on.

Also had a think about the background in the animation (clouds particularly); whether it should be drawn, simulated with particles or have it is a projected image. I have used particle simulation before but in Softimage. The hardest part was getting the render right and while I'm aware it is possible to do in Maya I suspect we might have the same problem or a whole other one. It's probably best not to consider it as an option.

Animatic WIP and why Kat might crash

Update on animatic posted just earlier. Going to start to next bit soon. Been thinking about why Kat won't be able to pull her parachute in time, being an instruct and therefore a professional this kind of mistake wouldn't happen so there needs to be a reason why she can't - something needs to happen. I thought if Malcolm were to lose control, he'll probably go into hysterics and grab Kat and not let go. This would hinder Kat greatly and if he has her arms as well, this would mean she cannot pull her strings. I sketched out the idea to show Rachel

Rachel's Blog

Storyboard for Alt idea.

We waited for the some feedback from the group but only one person gave us his, which was for the idea with the female character (now called Kat) kissing Malcolm on the cheek at the end. So we went with that.

I've drawn out a rough storyboard for this idea while Rachel has done some character profiles and sketches.

Rachel's Blog

Feedback from Tuesday

Just a note first, I'll be adding a link to the other Rachel's blog at the bottom of every post so that both sides can be seen/read.

Me and Rachel presented our sketches and storyboarding on Tuesday and explained where we were up to with our development.

The main question that was asked was 'Why does she win?' What does the female character do right or what does the male character do wrong to lose?

It was suggested that the female character should be scared and male character should push the female out of the plane, giving a good reason why he should lose. Our only concern was that if the female was scared she wouldn't be doing any poses. Then a classmate said that contrast is funny. Can't argue with that!

So I've sketched out this idea (will add scanned sketches tomorrow when I get to a scanner!). Rachel brought up the idea of a gender switch, so the characters could switch places in this scenario. Perhaps with some variations.

Rachel came up with a lovely idea of the male character trying to impress the female character by doing goofy things. She would be a professional skydiver and unimpressed by his antics. And being the professional she is, she'll be keeping an eye on her altimeter watch and pull her parachute when it is time. However, the male isn't paying that much attention and ends up pulling his too late and end up crashing into a tree. He'll be hanging there when she approaches him, wishing the ground would just swallow him already. And she'll give him a kiss on the cheek. Aww :)

This was going to be a sketch for this idea but he's too fearful of the fall to logically want to try and do tricks to impress the famle character. However, the drawings still work for the gender switch idea.

At the moment, we're unsure what to go with as we were a bit fond of the original idea and feel everything's been tipped upside down a bit. We're determined though so we're going to put these ideas to the rest of the class and get their opinions.

Rachel Rubenstein's Blog!

Pre Production Sketches

Been sketching over the past couple of days for the Pre-Production. Slowly working towards starting a storyboard...

I imagine I will have to draw a plane or two for this module so I googled some planes (specifically the sort they use for skydiving) and shamelessly copied them because I'm not much of a vehicle doodler.

I will be using the Malcolm rig for the final animation as it's the rig I am most familiar with. As fun as it is to play with new rigs, I'm not going to risk any sneaky problems that might crop up later just because it's a new rig. So anyway I did some facial sketches and a few poses that might be used for when the characters get silly with their skydiving antics.

I found myself drawing a few poses for the female character that Rachel R will be using too!

Now here is the planning for the beginning of the animation. Not quite storyboard form yet but it contains what I'm seeing in my head at the moment plus a lot of notes about concerns, ideas and general thinkings. I also noted down how long people roughyly get when skydiving in accelerated freefall (AFF. There are two ways you can skydive - 'AFF' or 'Tandem' where you are attached to someone, generally used for introductions and training). Will be asking Rachel R to look at this and tell me what she thinks.

 

Also had some thoughts about where they might be landing.

I'm going to add a link to Rachel's blog on the side of mine here. Just so it's easier for people to see who I'm working with and her work too :)

Collecting pictures of sky diving antics.

Collecting for inspiration, research and potentially a moodboard later. Mostly looked at stunts and things people do while skydiving.