Sketch2Photo

My housemate Elliot just told me about this amazing new software now being called Sketch2Photo. It uses algorithms from the same principles of compositing to make brand new images!
You simply download the program and start using the digital sketch pad. Draw the what you want and give them a name - the name is like what you would search for in google.
The program then searches every image on the internet with the name and tries to match similar shapes from your drawing. Finally it composites everything together and VOILA, you have yourself a perfectly stitched and very unique image.

When the full program is available I think it will be awesome to use for research so for things like a mood board!


Soundtrack: The Mars Volta - Ouroborous

PRP Artefact 1 - Blocking The Animation

From the original 52 second animation I have decided to start working on just the first 10-12 seconds. This is all I can do with two weeks and several other projects on the go at once. So far it's going really well. I love using the Andy rig to portray Ren and Max rig is doing a fine job of depicting Stimpy.

So far i've come across a couple of issues but it didn't take me long to solve the problems. Right now i'm blocking and hoping that tomorrow or Saturday I can start completing the proper animation to be ready and finished for Monday. I am also updating the evaluation as I go along. I think this is good practice for the nature of the project because it would be too hard to remember everything I did if I left it until the end of the animation.

Here is a quick playblast video of my scene after blocking a lot of the poses and Stimpy's (Max rig) facial gestures.



Comments please! =)

Soundtrack: Ralph Towner with Glen Moore - Suite-3 x 12- a

The Mill - Work Experience

Today I received the great news that I will have a week work experience at The Mill in London during the spring holiday. I'm so excited about doing this because they are probably the best post, CG and VFX company in the UK at the moment. Their work is very good and inspirational.

Their most recent work in advertisement is the new - slightly creepy, yet visually stunning - Orangina ad


I wondered who is working there at the moment and what is the standard of the people they employ. So i've looked into who is working in the CG and 3D department at the moment and found some very cool videos...

Janak Thakker

Juan Brockhaus - nice introduction!

James Spillman


Aidan Gibbons

Tyre Sculpture

Some of these images were sent over to me today and I think they're fantastic. I've seen one or two of them before I think, but when I saw them in a group like this, in one area, it just makes more sense and appeals to how great they really are. I'd love to have a go one day!











Soundtrack: King Crimson - VROOOM

3 Part Tip For An Impressive Animation Show Reel

Taken from Animation Tips & Tricks blog post...

Part 1...
Your first shot on your demo reel should really grab your audience. It should be the shot that best represents your talents -- the one you are most proud of. If the viewer does not like your first shot, chances are, they are going to turn it off and put in the next demo reel.
I would suggest starting with a strong acting piece -- a line that shows a character's emotion change over the shot: sad to happy, worried to relief, anger to acceptance. This will enable you to showcase your range.

Part 2...
The second shot should show physical animation. "Physical" does not mean a walk cycle, but rather, getting the character from point A to point B in an interesting way. For example, instead of showing a character walk over to pick up a newspaper on the floor, perhaps the character is sipping coffee as he uses his behind to push open the front door and picks up the paper and puts it under his arm while still sipping his morning brew. By giving the audience something completely unexpected but still very much grounded in a realistic performance, you are showing your creativity and your ability to bring something new to the table.

Part 3...
Your last shot is just as important as your first. It's the last thing they are going to see - the last impression you are going leave with the viewer. I wouldn't base your decision on what the shot demonstrates as much as how memorable it is. This could be a catchy line that the viewers will be saying over and over again after they have watched your reel. Or maybe it's a moment that will leave your audience laughing. Whatever it is, the goal is to leave them wanting more.

The most important thing to remember when putting your reel together is that it's about quality, not quantity. One minute of really strong animation goes much farther then five minutes of so-so animation.

by Aaron Hartline


Soundtrack: The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

PRP Artefacts

Research question...
What techniques of acting do animators use to bring characters to life and make them more believable to the audience?

This practical study will include human and anthropomorphic characters.

UPDATE - After a talk with Andy I have revised the areas of research for my artefacts:
Six artefacts: where I will be reproducing short classic scenes from well-known animations. If there are more than one character in the scene I will still only animate one performance.

Current ideas i'm going to look at:

1) Popeye

2) Dumbo

3) Betty Boop

4) Gerald McBoing Boing

4) Ren & Stimpy <- Artefact 1

6) Pixar

5) Monsters Inc.

7) Tim Burton

6) Aladdin (Genie played by Robin Williams) <- Artefact 2

7) Wallace & Gromit

8) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

9) Droopy The Dog <- Artefact 4

10) The Simpsons

11) The Grinch (played by Jim Carrey)

12) Toy Story <- Artefact 3

Analysis of the performance frame by frame.

The evaluation will describe what I have discovered, who influenced the performance - significance in performance, what it means to me.


Soundtrack: Quincy Jones - Behold, The Lamb of God

Deadlines - A compilation of Uni's best third year dates

Okay, so for a while now i've been trying to gather all the dates this year. I find it really weird how in our third year they throw loads of dates at us (unlike the previous two years) and expect us to continue on as if we were used to it. I can see why they've had to do it as it seems to be the nature of the briefs. But their should've been more effort in preparing us for exactly when all these dates are. So, drum roll please, without further ado, I give you, DATES!...

SPP3
2nd March -- Assignment 1 - Post-graduation package
24th March -- Assignment 2 - Exhibition Package

CLIENT
25th January -- Aural presentation before proposal hand-in
30th January -- 1000-1200 word proposal
26th March -- Final product agreed and submit
30th April -- 3000 word evaluation

PRP
1st February -- 1st Artefact & 300 word evaluation
15th February -- 2nd Artefact & 300 word evaluation
1st March -- 3rd Artefact & 300 word evaluation
15th March -- 4th Artefact & 300 word evaluation
29th March -- 5th Artefact & 300 word evaluation
12th April -- 6th Artefact & 300 word evaluation


Twelve dates! *phew* finally got there at least! Still feels to me like i'm missing some though... hella lots of work to be doing this year!


Soundtrack: Stump - In The Green

Client Gantt Chart

I got some feedback today from Andy my tutor and Client and PRP supervisor. He said it would be better to create a Gantt Chart for the client project rather than use the calender setup so i've done just that in Microsoft Excel...

This is really cool because it means if I see anything changing I can just edit the numbers in the excel spreadsheet and my GANNT chart will be automatically updated!

Modeling is well underway. At the moment working on the legs and so far it's going quite well.


Soundtrack: Stump - Orgasm Way

Planning the next two months of work aka. procrastinating

When my Client, Rebekah from Smoke & Mirrors sent me over the brief she included their own schedule calender which looked like an intense month to forfil all requirements; hence why I now have this job. When she asked me to provide her with a schedule I decided to create a similar calender like they used and include, for myself, dates of PRP and SPP3 where possible.





I think there are dates missing, though i'm not sure where yet so this isn't the final calender. I've now got this on my wall in front of my desk too so I can keep referring to it by simply looking up!


Soundtrack: Blonde Redhead - Mama Cita

The Hero

I just found this from a friend and course mate Tom Pearson. You'll need quite a good internet connection as it may take a while to finish but it is worth it! So so good! :D

THE HERO

Soundtrack: Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues

Alice In Wonderland - Disney Games Brief

Last month I received an e-mail about a year internship with Disney. I decided not to look at it until last week and really regret not bothering at the time because the brief seems quite cool and I could've spent this time working towards it! Thanks to a friend on the course Troy for reminding me about it too this morning. If I can squeeze it in with my other work I will definitely give it a go!

The brief requires me to pick one of the following aspects of the games features; PUZZLE SOLVING, COMBAT, EXPLORATION. Then visually communicate one or all of the following story elements of the game:

1. Grown up Alice finds herself led back to Wonderland by the White Rabbit
2. To rid Wonderland of the evil Red Queen and her loyal subjects
3. Alice meets both familiar characters from the original books and a whole new cast
4. She sets out to prove that she is the one to slay the Jabberwocky and put an end to the Red Queens evil reign.

Medium to visually communicate:

- Storyboard

- Animation

- Video Montage

- Web Flash Game

- Concept Artwork

- PowerPoint Presentation

etc.

Key words:

- World of Illusion

- Distort Reality

Target Audience:

7-18 years

Platform:

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

End date:

26th February 2010

Soundtrack: Yasmin Levy - Una Noche Mas

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! Term two already!

First day back of the second term and I have the same old feeling of uttering the question: 'what the hell is actually going on?' and of course my favourite... 'what the hell am I going to do?' *sigh* I can't imagine life without that same old lost feelings. In this situation though, it's good for me to write down a few thoughts so I can check back later and make sure i'm heading in the right direction.

PRP - Practice-Led Research (Term 2 & 3)

• Create 6 or more artefacts - important to show variety, originality, coherence and quality of ideas, rather than a final polished product.
• Show strong reasoning.
• Connection as to why they have been created.
• Substantial quantities of material i.e. log/sketch book, journal etc. documenting creation.

Give a presentation every two weeks with supervisor and group for new artefacts and 300 word evaluation.

One of my first artefacts will be a survey to provide me with broad understanding. The other artefacts, *i think*, will be very short animations in conjunction with the research paper question, showing different ways of bringing a character to life through different processes of animation e.g. eye movements to show thinking, moving the hip leading to show confidence etc.
I will set up the same sort of tests to make them easier to compare.

Final presentation (viva voce 1) tells a broad story with evidence.

IT'S ABOUT ENQUIRY - COME OUT WITH A STORY TO TELL

Live Client Project

• My Client is the 3D department of Smoke & Mirrors, London. They created an ad for Telekom Austria in August 2009, but were not satisfied with the animation and compositing of the 3D sheepdog because of the time restraint.
• You can watch their ad by going to www.smoke-mirrors.com > reels > 3d > 'Telekom' Austria.
• They want me to recreate the robotic sheepdog (sheepdog of the future) animate it herding sheep and composite onto their footage.
• The final product will be approximately 8 seconds of footage, which is four different shots. However, if time doesn't permit me I can choose to only take on one, or however many scenes are realistic.
• To keep with the studios software and facilities I will be modeling, texturing and rigging with either 3ds Max or Maya, animating, lighting and rendering with Maya and compositing with either boujou or PFTrack

After speaking to Rebekah, Head of 3D at S&M, I have learnt that the problem with the dog was the comp; the sheep wool was washed over and looks too white. And the animation; the dog needs more weight and it looks like it's moving on a track.

I'm happy to be doing a quadruped animation, even though I have only worked with bipeds because I think it will help me understand FK and IK rigs better. Also, to be exploring compositing a little bit with some help from Rob Antil is good because I know nothing about it really. After my phone call to Rebekah, she was surprised that I didn't know much about compositing as a junior!
My only disappointment with the project is that it isn't focusing on narrative; a story. I would really like to be making a short film or something. But this I suppose, is the realistic truth that a lot of 3D work (for example, Hot Knife) is going to be in the future; for commercial purposes.

I am however, on a more positive end, very excited about working with Smoke & Mirrors on this project. The dog is something that they are going to be working on again soon so I feel privileged to have been given the chance to work on it before they do because they are bound to see my work and who knows what could happen if it's good enough...

Notes
1. Viva Voce is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice," but most often translated as "by word of mouth."
adjective
(esp. of an examination) oral rather than written.

adverb
orally rather than in writing.

noun (also viva) Brit.
an oral examination, typically for an academic qualification.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from medieval Latin, literally ‘with the living voice.’


Soundtrack: Kol Simcha - Hakotel

The Third & The Seventh

via clusta
Wow! Simply stunning short film by Alex Roman. Very inspirational piece of work. All the work; CG to score, all done by the same guy! This really shows talent!

[It is a] FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces. Sometimes in an abstract way. Sometimes surreal.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I've recently been reading the Steve Martin autobiography; Born Standing Up. It's been fascinating to learn more about one of my favourite comedians and over the past few days, i've had one of his sketches replaying in my head so I decided to post it on here.

The Great Flydini...
Enjoy! :)

Tom & Jerry

I just watched this review of the Tom & Jerry: The Movie (1992) over at Cartoon Brew. It's so funny and true and I had to share it.

The Cartoon Brew article talks of a new live live action/CG hybrid movie soon to be made by producer Dan Lin.



After watching this I really hope Dan Lin gets it right for the fans of Tom & Jerry!

Happy New Year!

And happy new decade! 2010!!

I don't usually set resolutions because they're either too short term e.g. get some early nights and wake up early / go for a jog. Or too easily subject to change. But I know what's happening this year inside out, because it's been on my mind since the beginning of 2009! But there is a lot to think about and work on this year. My degree course will be drawing to a close and I will have to be ready to start a Masters degree, or find a job.

Multimedia BA projects:

Live Client - I've already lost a month and I will have to give ideas soon, after this holiday, to a company for some kind of animated character.

Practice Led Research - Creating six artefacts including; survey/questionnaires, short animations/drawings and others which I haven't thought of yet. Each artefact should be in conjunction with the research paper written last month.

Successful Practice & Principles - Is a project to guide and prompt me to act on successfully completing a CV, showreel and Exhibition.

Exhibition - As i'm the one organising it, it definitely deserves its own section! I need to put together a team, much like I did in the music society that will consist of a familiar authoritative structure; President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and so on...

I can see this structure working best to get the most out of people and creating the best exhibition that we can.

I'm looking forward to 2010!