A brief update.

Last week I started as a PA in the Lighting Dept. at Blue Sky Studios.
Ås I start totalling up my time there, I spent Feb - May as an intern helping out in Story, Animation, Fur/Materials and Lighting. At the end of the summer, they called me in for an 8 week temp assignement as a PA in Story and just when I thought I'd be let go, they called me upstairs to Lighting.

It's been great every step of the way. I hope to be there through January as they finish up Horton Hears a Who, but as a temp you just never know. But as I start week 2, I'm just enjoying my time there and learning as much as I can.

I haven't done too much myself in animation since I finished my thesis, but I've been a little burned out.

I'm going to try some modeling and lighting as well as some body mechanics work, but I've been beat after long busy days.

I'll try to add more as time goes on.

Some lessons learned ...

Overall, I'm pleased with my final piece. I still see flaws and can keep working on it forever, but I think I'm better off taking what I've learned from this project and applying it to future work.

Firstly, I took the opportunity to try and add some humor. I made the characters a little sillier, especially the flamingo, with some fun angles and camera shots. I need to push exageration ... which brings me to modeling and rigging.

I ran into problems with my models and rigging didn't always cooperate. I was pleased they actually worked, but my next character will need to be more flexible with better facial rigging.

Animation will take many, many years to learn and I'll work on smaller, less complicated pieces to improve. However, I think my timing has improved as well as layering and offsetting motion. The tails and bodies of both birds added some nice balance and counter balance to their movement.

It's been a great opportunity to learn, improve and do the best that I can.

DONE!

I've completed my thesis, rendered, edited and delivered to Kathy at CADA. Here are some small files for review via dial-up in the back woods of MA or VT.... I have smaller sections below ... but here is the whole thing at about 10MB. The other files are about 1MB.

FINAL EDIT:
http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/sm_DebScott_final.mov

DEE PUSH:
http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/DeePush_sm.mov

LEG BOUNCE
http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/BounceLeg2_sm.mov

More to follow, but I'm off to put a DVD in the mail for Tuesday delivery.

The Horror!

Rosa is horrified that the Fakes have been "killed".
Improvments - going for less spliney, shortened the middle which dragged a bit in the original. Added subtle body movement.
Shut the mouth earlier. Expression is the same as original.

I really like that sinking feeling you get when her body moves down a bit. It happens in two spots.

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/300_SUMHorror.mov.qt

Hopefully this is working, I had a slow internet connection this AM.

Rosa Snub

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/200_SUMRosaFace_snub.mov.qt

This is one of the few scenes I felt I got right in the original.
I like the expression, the body language, the humor with the tail ... the only changes I made were the background and I lowered the camera angle. Not only do we see more of the wings but the haughty look increases as the camera is that much more beneath her -- literally and figuratively.

And FWIW, this was the scene that gave Rosa eyelids. I needed that aloof look ... so created & rigged them in a day following some online tutorial that thankfully worked like a charm. At some point AFTER this is all over I'll rig real eyes with aims and controls.

Render test with Blur

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/Blur_Dee.mov

Well that was successful. I'll be sure to use that when rendering the flying sequences.
I used the default settings.

Dee Pushing the rake.

Here's a render to show how the background blends into the Image Plane. This was using David's suggestion of adding a ramp shader to the transparency of the the ground texture. I like the warm light, but have to check the concrete texture on the top portion of the wall.



Here's the QT. I *might* stretch it out to slow it down a bit. Might try a blur but am not sure.

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/245_SUM_DeePush.ma.qt

Dee Intro Alternative

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/201_SUM_DeeIntro4.mov.qt

I rather like this intro for a number of reasons. First, it just works better.
Secondly, I like the way it's the opposite of Rosa's intro. She pops up, Dee flies down.

Thirdly ... I think I'll use this landing technique when she flies over to the flamingos and use something similar when she flies over to the shovel.. I always felt it was difficult to see her flying over from the birdbath - basically going from very small to large in the fore ground.

Either way, I think this works nicely as an intro.

Dee Intro revisited.

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/201_SUM_DeeIntro3.mov.qt

Goal: Add more flit-flit movement, improve wing flapping, adjust feet grabbing and letting go.

Reference book - Tezuka School of Animation Vol. 2 Animals in motion.
Osamu Tezuka & Tezuka Productions very helpful book on animal movement including small birds.

I'll be posting Dee in Flight QT this evening.
This is when she flies to the flamingo.

Leg Bounce
- Fakes have fallen down and Dee comes to sit on one of the legs.
Rosa watches and decides she like Dee.

http://d10234246.serv63.ixwebhosting.com/downloads/315_LegBounce.mov.qt

Improved animation:
Faster tempo, more balance on Dee's part, better expression/Connection on Rosa's part.

http://64.17.142.111/downloads/101_SUM_lookAround1.mov.qt

Opening scene over the wall. Working on pace and sharper movement.

http://64.17.142.111/downloads/201_SUM_WalkAround5.ma.qt

Walk_On revisited.

Working on weight, timing, and balance, as well as trying to add a bit of character (excited!)

http://64.17.142.111/downloads/201_SUM_WalkAround3.ma.qt

This clip has Rosa walking in to meet the Fakes.

The goal was to show an elegant neck and awkward feet.
Emotionally, Rosa is excited to meet the Fakes and her neck directs the motion as she enters the garden.
I tried to vary the pace and even offer a hop at the end with a little hang time to give a feeling of lightness and added some quick steps to show excitement. I think the weight looks OK, need to tweak some sliding on the contact spots.

Added secondary animation in the tail, wings, head and beak.

Need to add lights, shadow and color correct - I want the fakes to stand out a little more, they're competing with the background. But I like this scene. I may try it with Dee as a foreground element watching Rosa enter the scene.

DEE INTRO

The wings are still rough, but I like the expression and the push up/settle down.
This will be cut into the walk in scene to show she's excited.

Face needs some tweaking at the end.

http://64.17.142.111/downloads/201_SUM_DeeIntro2.mov.qt

COLOR and ENVIRONMENT CHANGE

I put a background in the camera's image plane and I liked the result. I'll have a few backgrounds to alternate.
Added a vignette for some depth. I've been working on desaturating the color in AfterEffects. I think this is pretty close.





For comparision - here's the original

Animation Files I'll be putting up this weekend:

Rosa Walk Cycle (http://scottscorners.com/downloads/RosaRig_WALK.qt)
this will be incorporated into the garden scene where she walks in.

Rosa greets the fakes. (http://64.17.142.111/downloads/130_Rosa_Hello.mov)
I like the movement, but I'm going to make this a bit faster.


Meet Dee (chickadee)

Dee's Bright Idea.

Environmental scenes/models:

Background/trees

Mushrooms, grass and Sunflower.

Met with "Women in Animation" tonight at Little Airplane productions at the Seaport. A really nice meeting re: writing with a panel of 4 children's TV writers. Met up with 2 "Academy" alumni and it was great catching up. Couldn't make it to The MIll social gathering, but I was glad I met up with some "old friends". The whole session was inspirational and I'm looking forward to thesis work tomorrow.

Partitioning my day ... the afternoons will cover all things thesis - lighting/modeling/animation.

This afternoon I will start slow and add some props to my scene like: Mushrooms near the birdbath, patches of grass, and perhaps work a little on the tree ling. I will continue to blog to keep myself on track and will add a shot list tomorrow.

The result is in, I received an Incomplete/Pass for my thesis project, but got a lot of good feedback and supportive remarks. It's been recommended I make a punch-list of items to fix or improve, so will start here and update as I go along. Here's my to-do list along with Halbstein's comments...


Here are some of the changes I think are necessary to "complete" my project. Most were brought up in the panel discussion and I agree with them.

1. Improve animation.

I'd like to go scene by scene and make adjustments, corrections, improvements where ever necessary starting with some of the more problematic scenes. (when Dee flies over, walk cycle, Dee getting mad.

Strengthen the "Bright Idea" scene where Dee decides to knock over the shovel and rake.

I think Rosa needs to show a little frustration that the Fakes aren't responding to her. Just add glimpses of frustrated facial expressions in between her smiles.

HALBSTEIN: Animation is about two things - character and weight transfer.  You will get a lot of mileage if you address these things with Rosa; her desire to be graceful and her natural ungainliness are rich fodder.  It's almost like she's two birds in one - very graceful from the neck up, but this is attached to a very uncoordinated body.  The three areas that I think need the most attention are these:

         1.  Her entrance - as she peeks over the wall, you really need to exaggerate the "S" curve of her neck and the movement.  If you accent this now, the ungainliness of her walk cycle will be very funny.

         2.  The walk cycle - here is the area where you can introduce the imbalance of her character.  The lower half is about weight transfer and balance; the top half is about grace AND dealing with this imbalance.

        3.  The "dance" - I think you need some more reference material here - we can talk about this in more detail, but I don't get the sense that her body and her feet are connected, nor do they seem affected by gravity. 

Based on the comments at the critique, I think that the most important thing to do with Dee is to make her movements very quick - fast start, fast stop, motion blur on the wings.  While Rosa has to move very carefully or she'll tip over, Dee is more of a  "Flit, flit, flit ..."; this provides a nice physical character contrast between the two of them

2. Improve lighting

Help! I'd like to add shadows but would like to keep the light warm and outdoorsy. I want the piece to stay bright and cheerful but need shadows for depth and help define the animation. (i.e. When Rosa is dancing and her feet come off the ground and then land again.

3. Environmental Design.

Add a few more things so the garden doesn't look so barren. Nothing cluttered, same simple design. just more (i.e. tufts of grass, some mushrooms under the birdbath, additional leaves near the roses, bend the tulip stems) These changes will also happen ASAP for rendering purposes. (although if needed, I can add elements in post)

HALBSTEIN: Agreed.  I really like the look of the "Chicken Little" reference, you can use that as a springboard.  I would suggest maybe using an illustration as a background - you draw so well it's a shame not to use it in your piece.  Along the lines of what Darryl did, though using your own style and maybe not so much Photoshop stuff.  I agree that the whole garden looks a little stark; it would definitely impove things to dress it up a bit.  We can strategize the layering elements so you can move forward quickly and retro-fit shadows and other elements if you need to.   I have lots of ideas as to how I can help you with the lighting.

4. Textures

Add a slight texture to the grass area. check the wall and path textures.

HALBSTEIN: The last thing to worry about here;  do it if it looks bad after all your other improvements, though I'd rather see you put most of your effort into the animation.


TIME FRAME.

I think had I been at this point in my project in March, I would have been able to finish my project, so I think 2 months should cover what I need to do. I don't want this to drag on, and to be honest, I have another project waiting in the wings, with a group effort to follow that. Ideally I'll be done by the end of June.

http://www.scottscorners.com/downloads/DebScott_ThesisWeb.mov

Here's the final. My defense is on Wednesday.
I'm going in tomorrow to watch the procedure and some of my classmate's work.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. The ending came together in a simple but fun way. Music worked and renders look good.

It's going to be close, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

I've recruited a friend of mine to help give me direction. She has a theater background and has acted, directed and written plays. She's been enormously helpful and will get a credit. She's been a director. We go over staging, timing, camera angles and we've really made the most of several shots. She's also offered suggestions that will help one scene flow into the next.

What really helps is sitting with FCP open and experimenting with the scene order. What if Dee looks at her first? What if this happens next? She's repeated many of the things I was told by David and Steve. About working "in threes" and I think I've finally succeeded in making that happen.

One nice change was in staging - where Dee gets mad and turns her back on Rosa. Well, that sets it up perfectly for her to be facing the camera while we watch Rosa try to interact/impress the fakes. We even worked in her little dance as she first lands on the fake flamingo. It's a much more balanced piece.

Now if I can just get it done.

Off at 4pm today, half days next week, and of course the whole weekend.

Opened a fortune cookie tonight:
"Determination will get you through this."
Says it all, doesn't it?
I taped it to my monitor.

Blend shapes (instead of wraps) working really well!!!!!!

Dee is very simple with a smile and some raised eyebrows, so I quickly did her facial blendshapes, edited the membership to include only the face CVs, made a duplicate of the low-poly, made THAT a target of the original low-poly and then smoothed it. Worked like a charm.

Now, Rosa was a little different. Since I already made her blendshapes and used a Wrap deformer just on her face, I decided to keep them the way they were. Instead, I deleted the existing Hi-Res Rosa that was also connected via a wrap, and used the same technique as above - duplicate the low poly, make that a target, and then smooth it. I was still able to use the existing blendshapes, just used a different deformer to effect the hi-res.

Also, I deleted the blendshape geometry and (of course) the blendshapes still worked (another Steve recommendation) so my file was that much lighter. From 24MB to 8MB. WOW!!!

The file opens up MUCH quicker!! Perfomance wise, I'll have to wait and see, but so far, it's all good.

Plan B.

Time is becoming a serious factor so I came up with an alternative.
A little editing, a little reordering of scenes and here's a new cut:

http://64.17.142.111/downloads/3_27_edit.mov

After reviewing with Steve and hearing David's concerns, I thought I'd take a stab at some
editing, while maintaining the key points - friendship between the the two real characters. It's now 52 seconds and 15
scenes. It's pretty much the same thing but without the "conflict" -- they no longer chase each
other and then reverse. The flamingo will knock over the Fakes with her exuberent dance. Truth is, you don't even
miss the middle part and staying in one corner is easier to follow. So maybe this will work for the better - a more
concise piece that reads better.

Got some good info on wraps vs. blends from Steve. Might do some stuff with Dee, but might work on it AFTER my Thesis.

David went over Render Layers, which I was really nervous about, but will give them a try. I'll test it for the program picture.

I'll render as I go, so I think I'll be OK and I've got a nice process down for AfterEffects and FCP.

Schedule-wise, the kids are away for this weekend and I'm using next Tuesday as a full work day. CADA is having an industry critique next Thursday for 3D animation that I'd like to attend, but I'll have to be MUCH further along ... which I should be.

I'm off Good Friday and told the family I'll be working on my project through Easter. (I did this last year for Digital Production and it worked out really well).

A few set backs and a few solutions.

Quick background - I have 3 files that I'm referencing. The flamingo, the chickadee and the garden (including any props).
I have 30 scenes. The referencing has been working well, until today.

Everything was working peachy keen. I updated my model and texture, had a smoothed version of it, made my blendshapes, created wraps, and it was all working nicely. I swapped out the old file with this new, updated one, and it worked beautifully as a reference file - EXCEPT for a few pesky CVs that didn't like to be scaled (50% ). If I were to do it all over again, I'd have made characters so wouldn't have to be scaled, but it's just too late in the game to change that. I'm sure there's an easy answer, somewhere in the wraps or weighting, but the easiest thing was to NOT scale the model BUT just scale up the set and props (200%). With this change, everything works. They're not ginormous, and the info isn't all that complicated. Just a time-wasting PITA.

I figured it was just easier to start with new, clean files and fresh references. The down side is that what little animation blocking I had done won't be used. The upside is that I had only done very little AND all the testing, experimentation, camera angles are pretty much set, as well as the timing and number of frames.

The upside is that everything is working. I can animate on a low-res model and render with a high res one. I can update my reference files, and they'll update all 20 scenes. My blendshapes work. My wraps work.

Maya really is an amazing program.

One other issue, that funnily enough I fixed in a old file, but am dealing with it again, is that I have a cycle error on one joint.

Another issue has to do with the low neck position David mentioned. When I went to put a new attribute on the neck controller, it wiped out my other attributes, like neck curl and "classic" flamingo pose, not to mention IK/FK switching. My work around is to have a separate file with a low neck position and use that only on the scenes that require it.

Again, I'm sure there's an easy fix or even something that demands more explanation, but I'm just going for the quick fix and this will work.

The remaining 5 weeks will be about Animation.
Strictly animation.

I've gotten a lot of good ideas watching AnimationMentor showcase Quicktimes. Especially for acting, body mechanics and facial expressions. Even though animation is my "major" I've got so much to learn.

This week's scenes - Rosa's facial expressions for scenes:
101_LookAround, 140_smellRoses, 420_Is it dead, 360_Fakes fall down, 330_Dee angry at Rosa, 510_HopOn.

I also want to work on 355_onStilts when Rosa's on the rake and shove.

I'll try to put sequences together so I'll get a better sense of how they work.

So much to do!!

Very helpful feedback in class today.

First off, HUGE thanks to Christine for recommending "delete history" to fix my rotating texture problem. Glad it was an easy fix and that it worked!

From David: Watch weighting and twinning. Also, may not need the foot poking in on the "are they dead?" scene. Jessen had a fun recommendation ... have Rosa look up at the audience in an uh-oh moment.

From Darryl - watch the framing. Going out of frame when it's not intended just looks like "bad film making". Too true. Possible fixes - lower neck position and/or camera angle.

Went over batch rendering. I'll test that tonight.

Other than that, I think we all need to be more mindful of the time. I was sorry I couldn't see everyone's work.

Schedule wise ... tomorrow I plan on finalizing blend shapes and Dee's Rig.
I need to swap out Rosa's older model with the new one and adjust the weights. I'll try copying them again, but I've had limited success with that.

Then, I think I'm down to updating and improving my animation and I'll render everything out from now on. I have my render settings down with some testing to do in AfterEffects re: color adjusting.

I feel like I've made a lot of headway these past few weeks, but I feel very limited time wise. Once I get a few of the tougher scenes in better shape with render times worked out I'll be a lot happier. I think my render times will be around 5 minutes per frame. Maybe more the ones with water in the bird bath.

Whereever I could, I went procedural. The roses are now ramp shaders. The only textures I have are the birdbath, the bricks, Rosa, Dee and the wooden handles on the shovel and rake.

I'm really pleased with my tree gobo.

A big step will be replacing the garden sets in my existing scenes with a referenced version of the latest.

One day I'll write about my adventures in ZBrush, but not tonight.

What's left to do for Tuesday? The updated shotlist, schedule, problem areas and any new animatics I can produce.

Rosa painted in ZBrush then the texture brought into Maya ...

Dee painted in ZBrush and the texture brought into Maya - I like her back a lot. I might have one version that's lighter and switch when necessary.

I like the soft water color quality of this render, but I think it might be a little too low in contrast. I'm going to bring it into AfterEffects and see if there's an color correct. That will save me fumbling around with lighting and endless rendering settings. Haven't tested ambiant occlussion, that might be helpful, but I'm not sure I'll have time for that. I might add flowers to some sections, but will leave it for now.

Here's the latest cut, 3D blocking, playblast.

http://www.scottscorners.com/downloads/3D_blocking.mov

Some of the more complicated scenes are very rough - neck roll, dancing, balancing on the rake and shovel.

Note: I changed the rake to be a more traditional leaf rake, the older scenes have a flat rake.
Will post more on the weekend, including schedule, to do list, and some render stills.

A new semester and there's lots going on.

On my to do list this week (2/10):
Finalize Rosa's rig (90% done)
Finalize Dee's rig (25%)
Update production schedule.
Update animatic

I'll be posting torture tests on Monday (if not sooner).

Bit of a bummer. I heard back from the music industry. $500 to use "You're so Cool". (yikes) I'm going to explore some other options and if nothing works out, I'll just pay it.