Human Modeling for Games; Week 2

The head is finished. I found the approach of softening edges instead of smoothing the mesh very interesting and useful for the near future. Especially that It gives similar effect ( especially if object is viewed from a distance) and you still have control over the level of detaill which is relatively quick and easy, just by adding normal angle values to selected edges, its crispness was controlled. For example, the lip line has a tight edge, whereas ears have mainly very soft edges.

The Workshop

This is Ivan's birth place. The workshop is a quite and a still place, where models seem to sleep or wait for their moment.

Cold, and dark but still enough cosy, from one respect, because I imagined that it is still a place where those models first got made, so it has to be "a good" place after all.

You should find  all sorts of stuff here . Tools, paper rolls, half built models, blueprints etc. 

Performance Animatic

It was en exercise in visualizing  entire performance of the bird and answering   questions what would he do  at each point.  Hopefully these 216 panels give a  clear  flavor of the animation heading for.

(I posted here the second animatic with a fix at 2:39)

Animation Analysis

Recently I desicded to take Alan's and Phil's advice to analyse the story and find out exactly what each scene is about. That is  what is the feel and mood of each scene. As well as what  exactly Ivan is doing.

Before going into production I'm trying now to answer these questions.

So far this is the breakdown of animation into chunks. Judgement on time intervals was made  listening more to soundtrack's suggested pacing, not as mush as animatic's  ( and I found  animatic's pacing is  off sometimes,  so that will need to be corrected. ).

Atm I'm acting and drawing a  lot. So hhopefully  I'll have a clear  performance animatic in near time.

Animation Analysis pdf

Week 2/10 : Defining Animation in Detail

This week I took some time to revisit and define the character better. In our discussions with Alan, we agreed that bird's model needs to be revisited to make adjustments for animation. Add more expressive body parts ( eyelids, eyebrows, jaw etc.) . as well as the story asks to add other details, such as a lantern in between his hips and chest, a lock and so on.

And the next follows experiments with his jaw :

Then we go underneath the surface. I've gathered Ivan's character profile. This was a note made during this weeks tutorial with Alan. To have a clear map of personality (then go and analyse the animation itself, what is being done atm) which would then drive the animation.

Here you'll find a brief description, main characteristics progression and body language.

As written in my previous posts, story is taking it's better and more defined shape. The idea here  was to present other mish-mash models. They would be presented in the opening sequence, at Ivan's 'birth place'. Suggesting this is a workshop where models like Ivan are made.

My only note is.... maybe these models shouldn't be fully built, but only half way there. Suggesting this is now Ivan's time.
But there you go, a sheet of mish-mash model thumbnails,  meet Buckaloon, Shiball and Spyrer.

As supposed to be done in preproduction, I merged myself with concepts of the animation's world.
Here is the outer environment concept start:

But I somehow didn't feel for this drawing... There were (are) problems. SO I went back to my original drawing, pixie which I'm using as an artwork-inspiration for the environments . The work also defined the colour pallet of use. It was surprising to discover the true tonality and colours withing this work, event to me, the author

So at the moment, I'm drawing a new concept of the shore. It will build on this composition:

Currently I'm solving Ivan's performance issues, and looking in to ways to enshure the animation will be in its fullest potential.
As well as I'm thinking of ways to merge 2d and 3d techniques to make the animation an experience of illustration brought to life.

Story development: solving Act 3 problems

Few days ago I got some very constructive feedback from both Aland and Phil regarding the story and how the animated short is read by the audience. Essentially, act 3 wasn't clearly resolved and failed to convey the ideas intended. As well as soundtrack's tonality contradicted imagery. To solve it decision was made to change the ending.  Plot hasn't changed at all, and  themes remain the same only now the music is transcribed better.

Animations to reference for transcription project

For my influence map here I present the animations which have what I aim to reach  in transcription project.

Main reference for Editing and the logics of character portrayal.

To start with is the animated Short Reach.

The animation is newly discovered to me, so it was surprising to find how many similar it has as well.

But the note on this example is how a character is presented: similarly to Ivan, the little robot “wakes up” and soon discovers more things about the environment (explores the surrounding, interacts with it) and finds more about himself ( for example he is tied up to a wire, he has claw-like hands etc.) . Consequently  robot’s behavior progresses : from  self-unconscious clumsy gadget to a determined, energetic dream-reacher.

Other details also added up to expressing the little robot’s experience and point of view. Such would be , when ever something is shown through his eyes it has a vignette and the sound is dimmed as if passing a glass jar.

I noticed the rhythm of the animation, that what I need to solve in my animation. There were parts where the action was played in a theatrical manner – letting all happen in one long take , camera facing straight. But it didn’t feel tedious as it was then contrasted by a well paced editing.  This was achieved by using intercuts ( for example,  pigeon looks to the robot), reaction shots  and the action itself is  presented in a variety of angles. 

Reference for Video style: Camera lens and Painterlyness:

Second in line is the animation , thanks to our group blog, I came to cross , is Nokta (Dot) By Onur Senturk.






A very enchanting piece of animation. Watching it couple of time I took a note of techniques used to create one or another effect (the following list serves as a future reference, because it is very comfortable to keep all the notes in one place)

Flashes of colour, as if created by a sudden brush stroke and lens flares, can be seen when the tempo ( the pace within the scene) is high or when a dynamic action takes place .

Dusts and particles suggest a substantial air, atmosphere. As if it has the thickness to it and is fluid ( to my mind it gives dreamy, feel , the one you get just when woken up)

The animation is vignetted and posterized , my interpretation of that was, it feels as if the air itself is animated . That adds to fluidity and painterlyness.

Short depth of field.

Distanced ( in relationship to the object) glow. Creates, so to express, furry and fuzzy feel of environment.

combination of some ofthese elements in specific scenes would help to convey the feeling of the shot and the overall animation.

Use of film language and mice-en-scene:
Lastly, Après la pluie (After the rain) an animation created by Gobelins University students,




Is just beautiful, and is my choice for simply getting back to and referencing. As in one interview Laseter named Miyazaki‘s animations as Pixar studio‘s most referenced ones when they cross a problem. I guess if the studio uses this technique, a student should also :D

Suggesting Ivan's Goals: Revisited Animatic

As previously discussed it was unclear what is the true goal and a driving point for the bird: is it to forfill his nature and become a true bird which can fly, or is it to keep on exploring new things as well as getting to discover more about yourself ? All of those things are true, but one more thing plays an important role: the Island's likenes to Ivan and the suggestion it is his true place to stay and  is his true home.

To convey this idea the Island and more particularly the nesting-box, is brought more as the main focus point.

Dynamics and Game Modeling

Maya classes introduced some new tutorials. Up till now there wasn't much experience  with dynamics in maya. The approach to creating effects like smoke, clouds, explosions etc. is of different to creating..say, a character or environment.The looks, volumes and behaviour is achieved by manipulating physical setings (including forces etc.) Not by modeling the object and conectin it to blendshapes to give an example.

I enjoyed to discover that almost any desired looks of effects can be created from scratch and that there is so much control over it giving the chance to create both unique and highly stylized effects if needed. Also the looks can be pushed even further in aftereffects when it i rendered separately and composited on top.
So yes, nice to see that the part which makes the audiences wow is relatively easily managed :)




As for the second part of tutorials, the human body modeling for games, I found it much clearer and faster to do after having done two full characters before.

Revisited ending

I think problems with the ending are solved. Hopefully even more clarity will be brought in pre-viz where the actual camera moves and angles will be seen.

Roughing out the Animation

I find this animatic closest to 'film' which constantly played in my head.

 At some points I've approached it in experimental ways ( especially at the very end) in order to portray personal vision. It might look to be working and at the same time the opposite.

The Animation so far seem to reach 3 minutes. I couldn't seem to make it shorter from any angle. when it was 2 minutes I failed to convey anything at all.
There are changes from original storyboards as well.

The animatic :

Solving problems with The Mascot (1933)

The first animated short  in a row I looked more into and will use as a reference for problem solving, and solutions for approach towards my own animation, is The Mascot, by Vladislav Starevich (1993)




Mice-en-scene
Acting.

The animation is highly stylized with limited range of expressions. Nonetheless it appears, the puppets are acted in a very expressive manner, in order to balance out the lack of it because of the way puppets operate.
I noticed also the economy of animation: all seems to move in their turns (apart from crowd scenes where everyone/everything moves) . That also helps to direct the eye to constantly shifting center of attention. 

Editing.

Majority of shots appear to be long takes using a steady camera which  faces the action directly from front: this creates the theatrical feeling, as if the audience is watching a play, a puppet show happening in front of them .  Though for contemporary audience it may bring boredom if overused. 

Also almost every action is followed by a reaction shot of main characters, I‘d interpret, this helps to achieve audiences connection with main character. As if we are thoroughly engaging with the puppy and at the end audience is well familiar with the main character, so feels happy for his successes.  

Sound Track
The Animation uses both a diagetic and non-diagetic sounds, where the music plays as a “voice over” – defines each action, change of mood, new elements  (characters or objects which entered the shot in a notable manner ) with  likewise a defined sound effect.  
I found that even if the action wasn’t followed as thoroughly, the music plays as a prompter, making the intended idea also obvious to the audience.

To recap and make links for my transcription project:

1.      The animation could be stylized and in a way overly expressive in order to convey ideas using a model (the constructed bird) which seemingly has a limit to its expressiveness

2.      Animating “in turns” ( avoiding to “move everything)  both is economical and helps direct viewers eyes as desired

3.      It is best to use long takes modestly as it generates the feeling of actually seeing everything happen live in a play ( what helps to reach better engagement) though can be found unentertainingly too long  if overused .

4.      The risks of using solely diagetic sound is that it might be unclear what the story is about as it takes greater engagement to understand the turns in the story solely from what is shown, whereas  with the use of additional sound effect the action and mood can also be suggested.

Project's Pipeline for Transcription Unit

To start a project the brief asked to establish a profession pipeline.
It brakes the entire project into steps, which, if followed and put into consideration should lead to successful project conclusion.

This exercise was an eye-opener. To see what is still waiting ahead made think about how well organized the project time has to be. I'm going to refer to it as a check list in future.
Pipeline for Animated Short

From Waking up to Going up

Here are the storyboards for Ivan the Bird. Hopefully there isn't a big need to write what is happening as storyboards speak clearly for themselves.

But just to keep it brief: In the opening scene we see a Model of a bird. Soon a little Match character jumps in and wakes him up. Still disy the bird is curious of the surrounding. Few seconds later he jumps out of the window as he's most attracted by the "other" environments out there. But there was something to even bigger surprise to Ivan: he discovers the magical Island and attempts by any means to reach it: he attempts to float. To his biggest disappointment instead of swimming he sinks :/

Crushed , he goes back to the shore when.. Match! Is struck by an idea. or rather he remembers what he could do for Ivan. Match jumps on his chest, opens birds belly and strikes fire inside him as Ivan is a lantern. Moments later Ivan lifts in the air and to both biggest joy reaches the Island

The style of storyboards varie as it indicates the change of worlds and feelings of environment.
I'm glad to finaly have the story drawn out as it was playing in my head almost every day  till now  :D
Hope anyone who takes a moment to analysi it leaves some feedback, as I hope to make the story clear for the audience as well .
But at the moment its time to travel a bit :D

Thumbnail Storybords

As it has became a usual method, first I sketch out the basics of the script. Capturing the essence of story line first, then again, restorybording in a more definite manner focusing on nuances, bringing balance to what is seen throughout the time of film ( perhaps some angles were overused etc.)

 

Script for Ivan the Bird

The idea for animation now is resolved in detail , baring in mind camera moves, character acting, nuances etc.
In short time I'll post thumbnail storybord.

Script for Ivan the Bird

Ice-breaker Research: Sky Lanterns, Ship Workshop's, Dream Island and Styles

Discussed and arranged by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte* 

Sky lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern are constructed from oiled rice paper) oil prevents it from burning) on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell.

When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, and by lowering air’s density the lantern raises into the air.

The sky lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern floats back to the ground.

Other than that I've been looking to Ship modeling workshops.

Also gathered some  reference for the dream Island.

To keep the style and feel of animation consistent, I’ve gathered some of my favorite artist’s works which I thought pictures well what I have in mind so far.

But as stated previously, I’ll try and aim for my own stylization. There is a work I favoured since I’ve painted it, I think it fits this occasion well. 

So my brain was really soaked into visuals, I feel ideas are bursting now. Still not having other choice ( to maybe focus on the more relevant projects)  , I’ll gladly spend some time sketching them out 

Analysing Soundtrack's Rhythm and Adapting it to Story's Structure

Since I couldn't work on studio projec ( because of the snow in the way to take the relevant files from univeristy) here again I come back to the soundtrack I'll be transcribing in the future project. After having talked to Alan, I decided to return to the music and analyse its  rithm because it then  suggests the structure of the story. This was  done before but only intuitively. But now it is dead clear how to plan the action of animation.



I think this analysis might be very helpful to the following processes , I'll use it as a guideline.

Transcription Project Proposal

 It's the story which miraculously unraveled to me during the summer. It follows the musical storyline I was delivered that time.

A story of a mash-up Bird.

It starts when we see a mish-mash bird „sleeping“in ship model workshops. A passing by match-character wakes him up and soon after the bird finds himself overwhelmed with the surrounding, not fully satisfied he continues on exploring the place: jumps out of  the workshops to the outer world. There, to he is struck with the beauty of a little island in the lake. The island has something so attractive to the bird, he can‘t help himself but try do anything to reach it. 

So he tries to swim there (surely, since he is made out of ship parts) . But in fact there are lots of  holes and as he also realizes, he isn't constructed perfectly to funtion, he sinks.

Disappointed and he gives up while still looking towards the island dreamily … Match-character constant accompanier, struck with an idea, jumps onto the bird, opens something in his chest and Ivan pops open into a sky lantern!
Match matches the fire inside Ivan, and gasses start lifting Ivan to the. And then with little effort of his own, in short time the wondrous island is reached.

The metaphorical story tells about looking into the world, having dreams then trying to reach them. And that often  means also looking wor ways to reach it, for changing (improoving)  yourself . If you take the challanges, the reword is always there.  And perhaps most importantly  that everything best was already  there and waiting inside .

I really  feel passionate to express this one. We'll see how it goes.