Steffan Wilby BA1b

In this project as well as learning new a new software, I’ve learnt some of the principles and processes of what it takes to match animation with sound. And I’ve learnt through utilising audio programs and dope sheets to identify phonemes the process of animating lip sync becomes more streamlined. With the two different tasks in this project I took very different approaches. With the first task my focus was on learning the software and seeing how far it can be pushed to try identify if it’s something I’d like to use in future projects which it seems it is. With the second task my focus was on timing and emphasising the key words by changing more than just the mouth shapes on the face, for example also moving the jaw. I feel that in both tasks I was successful in achieving my own aims as well as the brief. However, that being said I think I could have done better by experimenting in my own time more alongside a broader range of research. So if I were to do this again I would I try develop my ideas more through iteration and experimentation. Overall, I’d say that this project went well and has given me a lot to work with in future projects with the main take away that can be applied to any project and any discipline is how visuals can be used to emphasise a sound and vice versa.

I don’t feel like this project went particularly well mainly due to the fact that it was introduced so late into the unit when my attention and time was needed on concluding the other projects. As such, there was a lot I would have like to have done but didn’t feel that the time spent on it would have been as worthwhile as spending the time to conclude months of work. For example, I would have liked to create a small animated intro or at the very least a logo to try make it stand out but instead I ended up salvaging an old animated experiment in an attempt to make the intro less static. I did manage to implement some of the factors that help make a professional showreel like sound levelling, reducing the background music to highlight audio in animated clips where it’s important to show the relation between the visuals and the audio. The one positive to take away from this project is the new understanding of what makes a successful showreel like tailoring the music to the visuals and trying to match the rhythm of the music to action of the visual along with consistent resolutions, titles and displaying progression. So going forward, when it comes to actually making a proper showreel I feel that I’ve got a better understanding of what it takes.

This week consisted of researching and evaluating what makes a good showreel. After looking at several examples both in the presentation and my own research I was confident I identified some of the key principles. After being taken through the basics of video editing software, I then tried applying the new knowledge to making my own year 1 showreel to some success.

This week we presented our findings. As a group I think that we did well, however, due to my difficulties with public speaking I don’t feel that I conveyed all the information that I had planned to get across which is slightly disappointing but in the end the research was carried out to benefit my understanding of the role and industry and I believe I succeeded in widening my understanding of it so in that regard the project was a success.  

I emailed a few practitioners, not expecting to get a reply in time because I’d left it so late but luckily I got a reply from Dean Faulder a 3D artist who's worked mainly on the VFX side of the industry but this gave me another factor to look into. The information was really useful and I’ve incorporated it into my research. So with all the research collated, over the weekend I will prepare my slides for the presentation and as a group we plan to rehearse in preparation to present on tuesday.  

This week I carried out more research and managed to narrow down the area I want to look at to be the aspects of the industry that influence the role and responsibilities of the modeller and their career. Again, I forgot to email someone in the industry. This being my only way of obtaining primary research makes it essential so I’ve been quite foolish in this regard. This will be my main priority next week.

Over the break I started some general research on the role of a CG modeller but what’s clear is I need to focus in my research so that I can go more in depth on the role because it wouldn’t be right to present the very basics of what a modeller does to a room full of people that will most likely already know. It’d be boring and unnecessary for that audience. Something that I intended to do but forgot about was contact someone in the industry, I need to make sure I do this soon so that I give enough time to actually get a reply in time to incorporate the findings into the presentation.

This week I decided to go with the CG industry because it has more relevance to me and my work at the moment. Now that the group and brief are fully established I can start to carry out my own research.

Now that I have the brief I’ve got to decide on what area of animation and roles to focus on. My initial thought is I’d like to cover the CG industry to coincide with my work for the mystery box project as I feel like it’d be beneficial to add some wider context to work I’m currently doing and enjoying. However, I’d also like to look into the 2D industry as well. This is something I’ve got to consider for next week.

In this week’s session the presentations were presented which made for an interesting overview of some of the roles of the industry. My group’s presentation went fine I feel but going forward I’d like to concentrate research on roles that have more relevance the direction I’m more likely to take rather than stop motion.

This week marked the introduction of this project. My initial reaction is that this project has the potential to lead to research that has more of a direct relevance to me and my future compared to the previous research projects and I look forward to it because of that. This week working as a group we prepared a short presentation to present next week with my focus being on phase of production and discipline of a stop motion animator.

In this project I managed to take my own design from drawing into a 3D model in which I then rigged, textured and animated. Through this project I found there to be an emphasis on experimentation and problem solving and through both of these factors I feel that my final result was a lot stronger than it would have been without and shows a clear progression of my skills in a new area. As for the performance and animation I’m happy with the result and feel that it’s some of my strongest work so far but I feel that I could have prepared for it better by updating my animatic to reflect the slower direction I took with the movement to ensure that my timing was correct which could’ve helped in avoiding overrunning the 10 seconds specified in the brief by as much as I did. One issue I ran into through the earlier stages of this project was concluding on a design. I kept reiterating on my designs, which is a good thing, but I found it difficult to settle on a final design which pushed back the modelling to a later time than it could have been. For this particular project that wasn’t too much of an issue but for future projects that kind of indecision could result in delays that have a bigger impact on the timeline of a project which is something I want to avoid going forward. So if I were to do this project again, the main thing I’d do differently is make sure I plan the actual performance better and update the plans to any changes in design to make sure it’s appropriate for the brief.

This week after finishing my animation and finishing a second render after fixing a problem I had with the first render I think that I’m ready for submission tomorrow. As for the final result, I’m happy with the quality of the model and the animation as it’s a lot better than I had originally thought it’d be at the start of the project because of this being my first time modelling, rigging and texturing.

As I said last week, I had the problem with my rig but I did manage to fix it with locators after a couple of attempts. With this done, I managed to finish the bulk of my animation this week so after a few minor improvements I think I can begin rendering next week so as far as I can tell I’m doing fine to meet the deadline.

This week I roughed out some of my animation starting with a stepped version of the walk and moving onto some of the follow through and overlapping action. I across another issue with my rig regarding the feet but I think I can fix it with some locators so that will be the first step next week.

I spent a lot of the time trying to establish the look of my robot by experimenting with textures and considering how I wanted my robot to move. In the end I decided I want a slow, heavy walk and a dull metallic coloured, battered appearance. As expected this means I should revisit my storyboard as it wasn’t designed with this in mind. As well as that I corrected an issue I had with the legs of my model where the ankle clipped through its brackets when the leg rotated. I did this by changing the model and the rig very slightly but at this point both the model and the rig seem to be complete so I tried some quick animations testing the rig and I think I’m ready to move onto animating when next week.

I managed to finish the model by the end of this week as well as most of the rigging. Small parts of the rig still need to be finished like the eye, the eyelids and the fingers but at the moment the majority of the rig seems to be working just fine. I feel that I made good progress this week.