Busy Busy Busy

The time has come where i no longer have time to breath led alone blog. Between working, actually going to uni and Pieced Together i have very little time to do anything else. Thankfully i have a job where i can sometimes work on production too.

The image uploader is disabled currently so i will just give you a written run down now and add the images later.

I have colour coded my timeline in AE now. Red = No work. Orange = Needs work. Green = Finished. I am hopping to have all the animation finished by Sunday night (24th) that might be pushing it but i have to set tight dead lines now or else it wont get finished. Once i have finished animating i am going to render out each shot at a low res and re import to AE. I will start a new comp with the music and edit the film till im happy with with it play back. I need to tighten the music and sound effects once i have my low res edit. Then need to re render out everything with the new time codes and at full high res. This i assume will take slightly longer but im hopping to use the MAC lab in building 15 and get a few shots going at once (this room now has CS4). This process (depending on wether i met my animation guide line should only take 2 weeks. taking us to the 7th of November. This will give me aprox a week to work on tittles and credits and then i think hopefully it will be 100% FINISHED.

Hopefully i wont run into too many problems during the export and edit. I can taste the end, its so close.

DEADLINES:

25/10/10 - Animation Finished

29/10/10 - Low res export & Edit Finished

02/11/10 - Sound edit Finished

07/11/10 - High res export & Edit Finished

11/11/10 - Titels and Credits Finished

12/11/10 - Hand in for final submission

I currently have 8 more shots to animate. Some are half way some are almost finished and some are yet to be started. If jack has finished the leaves by friday SC12 is finished. I also need to render out 4 - 5 individual puzzle pieces with the girl on them. They will need to go in SC2 (both shots) SC3, SC4 SH2 SH3, SC6, SH4, SC7, SC9, SC10 SH2 SH3 and SC11 SH1. Plus the entire puzzle for SC9 and SC11. I need to animate the girl breathing and blinking for those scenes also. Once thats done that is all i need from Maya.

From that point its basically just breaths and blinks, with exceptions to the fox.

Will upload more currently stills and videos when it comes back online. Enjoy my brain, it is now on a paper.

Update Holidays Week 2

I decided to just do 2 big updates over the holidays instead off serval little ones. No goat steeling this week.

Monday:

I went back over some things i have already done, things i wasn't particularly happy with. I know this was stupid as i have some scenes that have nothing and to go back and redo other isn't exactly productive. Anyways, SC3 has really been annoying me. Originally it was 3 shots, but due to time and overall importance to the story i cut those 3 to 1. The shot was a wide shot but after much fiddling i cut it to quite a close one. It actually worked really well. I managed to position Emmett and his reflection and still have enough room for the focus pull when Atticus enters. I then spent bloody 3 hours trying to get a smaller enough render to upload. Eventually i managed this one but its not great quality so don't judge to harshly yet.

'

Thursday:

After working all day Tuesday and Wednesday i resumed production Thursday. I started rebuilding Atticus in other poses. I created a front head in PS and was about to make a body when i decided to try and use the parts i already had. After a bit of alteration of his profile body i came up with this:

Its not perfect but it saved a bunch off time and to be honest it will 100% do the job for the 2 shots its required it. I also decided to do some editing. SC2 SH3 will probably no longer contain any animation...might just be a scenic shot. Also SC9SH1 will also no longer exist as its ugly and low POV shots are from experience really hard to animate with the little i have to use. Another POV shot SC4SH3 had to be changed. Its frustrating because i worked so hard to get that prospective right but at the end of the day its really just making my life that much harder. Seamus suggested that it be a mid shot that Emmett quickly ducks out and back in off, to suggest he is picking the piece up. Actually SC4 as a whole has been reworked, there will be one more shot added to suggest that the fox is running off without actually having him backing down the stairs. This will be a Close up tracking Emmett's facing expression followed by the long shot of Atticus running off.

I think i need to re storyboard this Scene, but basically it now works as MID E slams door open looks down. POV A on stairs dropping piece. MID E ducks down and returns with pieced. POV A nods. CLOSE E tracks eyes away. ZOOM OUT to reveal A running away. It works in my head so i think it will be fine.

Friday:

Friday wasn't a good day, at all. I went back to my 1st week holiday post and checked my to do list. I realised i wanted to have the Puzzle girl redrawn and ready to animate (doing what i'm not sure) I freaked out and started her. I ended up meeting up with Seamus and basically he confirmed that it looked shit and needed to be re done again. He also went over a few shots with me and we decided a slight alternate ending. SC10SH5 will now be the ending shot. It will probably be close to 6 or so seconds and will have Atticus and Vixen outside looking back at the house, 2 silhouettes will appear at the window. One will move as the wind blows leaves down the path. The front door will close and A will nod while looking back. Wind will blow again the the leaf will come up and over the camera (eliminating the need to animate the 2 foxes leaving shot) Credits will run after that. Its going to be a big shot with lots of elements but if it can be pulled off its going to be amazing.

To get Emmett is this rather dodgy pose i references a drawing i had done earlier. The plan was to redraw everything except the head but again it seemed quicker and easier not to. This isn't the final construction but you get the general idea of what I'm going for.

I went home and had close to the worst melt down off production. It involved me not moving for close to 3 hours before dragging myself into bed at 5.30. After recovering in bed for half an hour or so i began reworking the puzzle girl. It took ages but i finally got it. My biggest problem after this neck was her legs. To me it would look totally weird her just standing there, so i changed it to her kneeling, which works as Emmett is also kneeling when they first meet.

Because she is a puppet she needs to have all her body parts separate like A and E. The first image is the original build. The second is the one Seamus hated (and so did i) and the third is the gruelling final product. I don't care if you hate it, please don't tell me i think i will die a little inside.

So that basically summarises the week. Tonight at work i hope to get some more facial expressions done. If i can finish those before tomorrow it means i have basically done everything i wanted to achieve (plus more) over the break, excluding the sound edit. I went in to Building 15 as i don't have FCP but it was locked. So that dream went quickly out the door. I think i will stay back Thursday night and get it done as i have work till 10pm Tuesday and Wednesday.

Also

I went to the melbourne show and tried to steal a goat.

Update Holidays Week 1

My blogging is super slack at the moment. I really need to get back into the routine of blogging at the end of every day.

But lets recap the week!

Monday:

I worked on some of the starting scenes getting there timing right. I think SC1 is basically complete. The only thing i have really struggled with is SC1 SC3, the lighting is really had. I think its because i didn't really light it in PS so now trying to light something from scratch is tricky.

Wednesday:

I decided to start animating Emmett's faces. There are 15 shots that require facial animation, but unlike the rest of my production i thought ahead and made his face as simple as possible. Basically what i have been doing is drawing them frame by frame in flash, exporting them as a JPEG sequence and importing them into AF. Only problem i have encounter thus far is keying out the white sometimes doesn't work when changing the blending modes. I need some help with it but i'm not going to let it hold me back as i can always ask when we get back. I think i will construct a list of things i need assistance with.

Thursday:

Was a pretty slack day to be honest. I just fiddled around with little things.

I began animating the Vixens tail again. I think it looks a bit but she still seems to be slamming it down like she's pissed off.

SC3 originally had 3 shots. I have since combined and cut it down to 1 shot. I also had it zooming to reveal and wide shot of the window, but i have fiddled with it and think with the focus pull it looks much better with it zooming in to a close up. This shot still need work, but its coming together. I think the timing may need to be extended to probably 6 seconds to get the full impact of Emmett first siting Atticus.

Emmett's reflection has been a little tricky but now after changing the scene around i think it will be easier.

Last Friday:
I forgot to blog this, but Jack and i created the puzzle in Maya. It was really simpler and saved me so much time. Now i just need to animate the girl in the puzzle and we can add that as a texture to the pieces, which can be moved individually. I don't have maya operating at home so i am going to leave all that for when i get back.

Holiday to do list:
--> Re draw Puzzle girl/prepare her puppet for animating

--> Finish Emmett's facial animation.

--> Draw Atticus front/prepare puppet and animate in appropriate scenes.

--> Finish sound Edit.

Update

I have kinda fallen off the band wagon atm (not really but sort off). I feel like i havent done much lately but then when i scrub through my running comp i see that thats not really true. I think im feeling guilty that im not doing as much as id like to.

I realised late last week that i haven't even created the puzzle, which is like the main part of the entire story. I might chat with jack and see if he can do a mock up in Maya for me. I think it would look really cool if the pieces kinda floated and spun.

I also remembered i hadnt done the Female "Vixen" yet either, but she really took no time at all. I dont think she will be doing much in shot, just wagging her tail waiting.

SC2_SH2

This needs better lighing and some work on the angle that fox enters, but i'm quite happy with the progress of this shot.

Update time!

Below are some things i have been working on.

Image 1 and 2 are stills from SC6_SH1, i have also started SC6_SH3. They looks absolutely retarded. I am thinking i will go through and do all the key poses and then animate the inbetwens as i am still working my way around AF

This is SC1_SH4. Darren and I have been working on getting the fox's shaddow over the boy and cast on the wall. This is just a test and i have had a few other ideas/suggestions of how to do it better. Emmett also rolls over in this shot. Again ATM i just have key poses, i think im going to need to draw a few more puppetts ie: between profile and 3/4 profile etc.

After getting alittle frustated with character poses, i started animating some of the backgrounds. I really enjoy seeing these static images come to life, esspecially with the 3D space tool in AF. In this shot the camra pushes pask the tree and the lights inside turn off. I think the light need to turn off sooner as atm it cuts to the next frame just after.

So i have a few things in progress. I think i am going to work on putting my Atticus run cycle in a few relvant shots today, like SC2 and SC4. Its comming together.

ALSO, I have done some work on sound but have hit abit of a wall. Im really trying to just keep moving fwd, not just with sound, but with everything. Like if i hit a wall i just move to the next thing and will come back to it, rather then wasting time on 1 individual thing at a time.

Atticus Profile Run

Finally "finished" the foxes run. I not 100% happy with it but it will do for now, as i need to keep animating.

Today i think i will work on sound and get that 100% finished and ready so then all i need to do is focus on animation. I think i will animate Emmett first and then come back for the fox.

Emmett Finished Puppets

Are you kidding me?

So i have spent close to 8 months looking for fox reference clips and for some reason today i stumble upon about 12 after a dream i had last night. I dreamt about a Rabbit run cycle and how it might be similar (clearly not but stay with me), So i get home this morning and youtube a Rabbit cycle and BAM! FOX ANIMATION TESTS CYCLES LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE!

Below is one that particularly stood out.

Animation Check list

Just finished drawing up an animation running sheet. There is a lot to do but i think its attainable. The bulk of the work resides with Atticus profile and front run cycle, however Emmett has a few different puppets that need to be drawn, coloured and finished. I wont know what kind of movements Emmett's puppets are capable off until i get them into After Effects.

Emmett Puppet - 3/4 and Front

I have only just realised i need to break up Emmett's limbs. But here is the coloured versions of 3/4 profile and front puppet.

Emmett Puppet

Blue Shorts?

or Brown Shorts?

Atticus Run - 3/4 Finished

After redoing the front legs, i have really struggled with the back 2. I have actually animated both back legs but it looks really really weird so i have hidden one. I have 3 variation of the back legs but they all don't work. I've decided to give it a break for a little bit and start Emmett's puppet.

I think the cycle below (13 frames) even looks weird so there is no winning. Suggestions are welcome please.

Fox Puppet 1

Above is the only footage of the fox before AE crushed my spirit. Its okay though, ive started again and up to the second leg. That will be finished in about an hour so i will post when thats done. Ignore the music, apparently that uploaded to!

After Effects hates me

So after finishing animating the front two legs, body, ears, head and tail of the fox...i opened my AE file this morning to find the front two legs are warped and the right ear is displaying as a line. I have know idea why? I tried closing everything and restarted, i tried opening earlier versions of it but nada. They all look like the below. Its really strange because when you click into them they display normally but once your back on your comp they are fucked. Looks like i'm starting again, again. Its just shit cos i had planned to finish the back legs today, which i have redone in PS about 3 times now. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHAH.

Atticus Puppet

Finished Fox Puppet. I have had some troubles with his back leg and have redrawn in about 3 times. Hopefully i have got it right now and it can be animated.

Fox Puppet

After recovering from my melt down, i am now starting work on my puppets. Both then Fox and Emmett will need to be broken up in profile, front on and 3/4. They will also need replacment heads. I think this method will aid less animation but with a more effective result. I want them to look as though they are made out of paper, but the easiest and more time effective way is to do them digitally. Below is is the divisons for the profile fox puppet. I will place this over my orignal outline in Photoshop and then use the selection tool to cut the outline into sections. The paper background will be used to create a paper effect. Fingers crossed..i dont have the time for this not to work!

Animation Melt Down

So after wasting id say close to 3 days attempting animating (all up) i have thrown in the towel and decided that frame by frame isn't for me and will know be trying my hand at Boning using flash.

I entend of actually physically making the characters out of paper, scanning them in and assembling them like a paper puppet in flash. Id love to do a Green Screen shoot but i think the time contrains are unrealistic.

Im really happy with this new avenue, as its what i actually wanted to do originally.

I think i might run into some troubles with prospective, as a few of my shots have some tricky angles...Solutions are being thought out atm and once i have done some tests i will update and hopefully be on my way to a much better suited style for my animation.

I dont think hand drawn would have actually looked that good so im glade ive figure that out before it was well and truely to late!

Below is my very very squashed badger attempt!

SC1_SH1 Redesigned

Below is the first Background i did and now the last. Progress wise they look completely different but i think i was on the right track for my first PS background attempt.

Anyways finally managed to get this scene done after every time i went to save it Photoshop would either crash or tell me it couldn't save...Continuity isn't actually that great as in Scenes after this there is about 25 more trees in front of Emmett's bay window...but this looks good and i don't want to spend anymore time on backgrounds.

Oh Holy SHIT

Photoshop just crashed and refused to save anything say "Cannot preform action due to software fault". So essentially i just shat my self and am now doing a complete HD backup before attempting to open PS again!

Meanwhile, i finished colouring Emmett's house yesterday only to realise when i changed the colour that id have to change about 4 scenes...thus i am now RE colouring his house AGAIN, this time now makes 4 after crashes and retardness by me.

Going to try and reopen photoshop...wish me luck!

Emmetts House

Once i finish redrawing/colouring Emmett's house, ineed to replace it in about 5 scenes. Im having some troubles with the colours though, I want to change them but and cant figure out what to..tricky very tricky...

I think when thats done Animating can well and truly begin.

Running Comp

I have just finished a basic running comp. Basically, using AfterEffects, i have complied all the finished backgrounds plus and sound and timing. So its more or less like a coloured animatic. Each scene can we "clicked into" like a symbol in flash and there the editing can be done, e.g: Camera moves, lighting, animation. I am thinking of getting Jack and Darren to help me with the background animation.

The plan for the next two weeks is:
--> Finish redrawing Emmetts house and replace the house in appropriate scenes
--> Study Fox reference material and compose a soild 9 frame loop
--> Begin background animation

Backgrounds are.....FINISHED!

BTW

You might have noticed that the times aren't correct on my posts. Thats kinda why i have been using screen shots as they have the proper time and date in the right hand corner. Just thought id let you know (Jack). I realise i could change it and upload proper images but this is way easier so yep.

SC10 BACKGROUNDS FINISHED!

Bit of a milestone tonight. I have officially finished all backgrounds up to SC10. Thats a whopping 22 backgrounds!! Only 3 to go! Must finish before 0600 27/07.

Rejigging Emmett's front door

I couldn't figure out why a lot of the shots which include E's front door looked funny. I just realised its because they dont actually have a door. I didn't draw one originally as i new i would have to redraw it to animate it later...BUT it was really pissing me off so at least now the scenes looks finished when secretly there not...shhhhh

Progess is futile!

Attempts at making the run cycle look less like a cat and more like Atticus are currently failing.

Animation Test

Finally gave into the pressure and did an Animation test. Cheers animators survival guide, couldn't have done it without you! I realise it looks nothing like the Fox..YET!

The Last Trees

I was only about an hour ago i realised im actually up to last 3 Scenes of my production... Only 8 more background to go! Below is the (hopefully) the last trees i will ever draw for this production. Autumn.

Problem solving at its best!

Problem solving for SC6_SH4:

I was having trouble with space due to the bushes being so large. At first i put in less trees, but it look blank and continuity suffered. I then realised i could put in just branches and if put in the back ground they can connect to the other bushes. Thus having more trees with more space!

Problem solved. Sort of.

SCENE6

Animatic + Sound

Here is a copy of the animatic with my rough sound. It needs work and the sound FX need fixing but i wont be doing that until ive got more animation done.

Animatic from Isobelle Taylor on Vimeo.

Weekend production - Negative

SC6_SH1

Work in progress. Afternoons production class. Got a bit done, only had the outlines at the start of class.

Emmetts Mug

In SC6_SH1 and SH2 Emmett is stiring a cup of tea. After some reseach i think i created something i can invision him using. The mug has actually has a face, But i wont add that untill i animate. I think it will kinda be like a dog, so as Emmett stirs the mug, its face twitches.

When sketching isnt enough!

SC4_SH3

Above sketch by Edward Rocha