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