ADVANCED ANIMATION - PROJECT 2

11.06.2020 - 30.07.2020 (Week 9 - Week 16)

Helen Angelia (0336203)

Advanced Animation

Final Project - Character Animation

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Module Information Booklet (MIB)

 

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Week 9

As our second and final project was to make an animation of a rocket girl based on a movie scene and our recorded video acting, this week we were looking at out submitted acting videos. It was really embarrassing that we had to show our acting to the whole class, but it was also funny at the same time. 

For my acting video, I chose to do a Despicable Me - House Rules Scene where the adopted girls (Margo, Edith, and Agnes) first came to Gru's house. Gru warned the girls some things since they will live together with him at the same house.

Despicable Me Role Play - House Rules Scene

I felt that my acting is really bad because I could not act, but the whole class seemed to be entertained and Mr. Kannan said that the video is good. He said that these are things he wanted to see.

Week 10 - Week 11

This week, Mr. Kannan gave us a tutorial on how to move the character and told us to familiarize ourselves first with it. He then showed us how to input audio in Maya which is by Trax Editor and Import Audio.

Rocket Girl 1st Attempt

I showed Mr. Kannan my first trial and he said it was a good try. But for the hands, they might still a bit stiff. Mr. Kannan gave us a demo and tutorial again for us to get a grip on the controls, etc. He gave us tips that if we want to watch the timing of both Maya and rendered result, change the time slider into 2X. After that, he showed us how to do 2D and 3D animation combined.

Week 12 - Week 13

I showed my progress to Mr. Kannan of the animation block out but I haven't rendered it. Because my scenes have 4 characters which are: Gru, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, Mr. Kannan said I should model a character for the little girls. 

He recommended me to visit the website highend3d.com and take a look at the 3D creations there. Also, he showed me about old animation called "Higglytown Heroes" which its characters do not have hands or feet. It was another way to substitute the girls' model rather than leaving the one talking a ghost.

Fig 1.1

Higglytown Heroes Reference

Rocket Girl Block Out Attempt

Mr. Kannan told the class to make a storyboard, but I did not know how I should start with it because the shots were already there and I would just follow it. So in exchange for creating the storyboard, I made a block out the movement of Gru character and continue the whole animation from there.

Week 14

This week I tried to make a lip-sync for half of the animation, but I haven't rendered the camera shots yet, so it was still in Maya form. The rest of the animation is done, but it was still rough and needs to be polished more. Mr. Kannan told me that the animation is there, but with the way, I am working, (which is doing every pose from the beginning until the end, 0-820 frames) it would kill me. 

I should have made it scene by scene, so if there were some parts unnecessary to animate, then it would be easier for me to make it. The lecturer kind of told me (again) for not being so perfectionist in working. It is good to have that trait, but being a perfectionist would only slow me down. Be perfect when working on the last or finishing part.

Week 15 - Week 16

There was no more class, so the students were all continuing our progress from last week. But when I was going to work on my animation again, I accidentally did something very clumsy which is pressing the wrong button of "some button" and it resulted in an error in Maya. The worst scenario is... I could not undo it. So I had to remake the animation all over again.

I was not sure if I could do it in 1 week's time, since next week is already the final deadline. I told the lecturer about this and he said it's fine as long as I can submit it on time. 

Suddenly, I remembered Mr. Kannan said something to me in week 14, which is to work smarter, not harder. I followed Mr. Kannan's suggestion to do the parts one by one and render the camera shots first. I did what he told me and I could do it faster than before. I also paid attention to Mr. Kannan's past lectures so I guess it was kind of easy for me to animate it better than before. I am really thankful to the lecturer for this.

First of all, I tried to replace the adopted girls' characters into something like a Higglytown Heroes, but now the "Minions".

Fig 1.2

Minion Models

After that, I just duplicate 2 more of it and resize them according to the height and size of the girls. When I am done with it, I moved on to modeling the background. I made the background as similar to the one in Despicable Me - House Rules Scene, which is the kitchen.

Fig 1.3

Kitchen Background

Fig 1.4

Character Animation Progress

To make the final animation in only one week time, I always had this step to make it easier for me:

1. Figure out frame no.X to number XX and animate the necessary parts in there.
2. After dividing the frames, I first started with animating the lip-sync. After that, expressions (eyes and eyebrows).
3. Body pose.
4. Walk cycle (if there's any).
5. Eyeballs movements.
6. Setting the camera.
7. Render through "Playblast".
8. Compile the pre-comps in Adobe Premiere Pro.
9. Render the final result.

I asked Mr. Kannan for feedback knowing I might not be able to revise the work, but I wanted to know his opinion for my further improvement in the future. He said the animation could be smoother and that the walking feels like sliding. The camera can be adjusted and I can render the scene and compose it in Adobe After Effects.

I felt like I could have done better, but with the limited time and perfectionist side of me, I was not confident I could finish all of them. 

P.S: I think punctuality is not my virtue (peace).
 

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REFLECTIONS 

 EXPERIENCES 

It was actually really hard to work on the animation with all the other subjects' projects and assignments going on. I could not focus on this subject and I sometimes got scolded in the class because of my incompetence in dividing my time. But Mr. Kannan was really patient with me and he really cares for my growth as an animator. Sometimes he would scold me and be hard on me (which is really scary) because he wants me to improve, at least that's what I believe in.

Even though there was an error exactly one week before the final deadline, I could finish the project thanks to Mr. Kannan's lecture and tips on how to work on it faster and more efficiently. I am really thankful for his guidance throughout the previous and the current semester, and he said I could still ask him for advice in the future.

 OBSERVATIONS 

I actually learned a lot while working in this project which is enough to make me have a sharp observation in my work. Yes, I do realize my work is imperfect and with Mr. Kannan's feedback, I could know which part needed to be fixed and to be improved. When moving the character, adding the expressions, curling the fingers, and do the lip-sync, I noticed that they are all important parts in making a good animation.

 FINDINGS

I found out that in animating 3D, I should make the block out first and render the camera shots so I could have an image of what I wanted to do with the whole animation. Work smarter is also important for time-efficient. If I look at my other friends' works, theirs are more detailed in some parts and they also have shadows and lighting going on which enhances their final result. If next time I wanted to animate a character again, I would keep Mr. Kannan's tips in mind so produce more brilliant work.