I had quite a few problems with importing onto Dragon Software. When i was drawing the frames, (i did not realise at the time) but i drew the frames over two separate occasions, and when i drew the first 16 frames i actually drew the figure walking backwards. It looked like it was doing the moon walk - and that was not the project brief. I exported it anyway to show my mistake and then re-took the frames onto final cut pro with the walk cycle going the correct way.
step back, step forward.
My final walk cycle - i need to loop it in Final Cut Pro, but it is something i will do over christmas when i have more time.
Final Walk Cycle - not looped
Thursday 29 November 2012
Walk Cycle.
Our next task is to create a walk cycle, where a character with simple design walks on the spot, almost like it is on a treadmill. I am nervous about the task as i have never done a walk cycle before but i have animated animals moving. I decided that instead of diving into it i would get a couple of books out of the library as i don't want to jump into the exercise and get it completely wrong.
LIST BOOKS.
The books i got out were extremely helpful, they explain in words and with images how to make walk cycle animations along with all the principles. I want to make sure that i fully understand how to draw the separate frames, i don't want to start drawing it and not have researched into it properly. I have been looking on Youtube as people walking, there is a particular film which really helped, its a really slow walk cycle so its easier for me to see all of the angles that they arms and legs meet when a person is walking.
Slow Female Walk Cycle - www.youtube.com
I found this one really helpful, the grids on the screen show just how much the body bobs up and down when you walk, it demonstrates how you are not at a constant height when you are walking, also its really interesting to see (in this particular clip) that the arms do not move quickly, or even far. I guess if i animated someone with quick swinging arms it would make the character look as if they were in a rush, or even speed walking if the legs were moving quickly as well (it would probably look really naff). If i was to animate fast arms and legs it would not look like the character was running because when you run, both of your feet are off the floor at the same time on certain points, where as when you are walking, you always have one foot on the floor, so it would look like i had made a walk cycle and pressed fastforward on the player.
In the brief, we were told to create a basic figure, the task was not to create a character walk cycle, it was so create a walk cycle, so i decided that i would go for a basic human frame, nothing too complicated, but not as simple as a stick man. The walk cycle has to walk on place, it can not move across the screen.
I wanted to add the circles on the character where the main joint are to act as anchor points would do on After Effects. There are the main points that the limps will move most dramatically. Obviously, they will move from the shoulders and hips, but the movements will be much more subtle and perhaps smoother then they would be at the joints. Also from the film i linked to this post above helps to demonstrate the movement. The hip moves, the top of the leg moves, and then the bottom of the leg extends, and then the heel goes down first. It also helped me break down the basic main movements for my walk cycle. I worked it all out in my book but my scanner is currently broken, so i found a image that demonstrates the main sequence of a walk cycle.
After designing the movements in my book i did a similar thing to the image above by adding striped to the legs and arms that are at the back of the animation, so in this image above, the characters left leg and left arm are striped to add depth.
LIST BOOKS.
The books i got out were extremely helpful, they explain in words and with images how to make walk cycle animations along with all the principles. I want to make sure that i fully understand how to draw the separate frames, i don't want to start drawing it and not have researched into it properly. I have been looking on Youtube as people walking, there is a particular film which really helped, its a really slow walk cycle so its easier for me to see all of the angles that they arms and legs meet when a person is walking.
Slow Female Walk Cycle - www.youtube.com
I found this one really helpful, the grids on the screen show just how much the body bobs up and down when you walk, it demonstrates how you are not at a constant height when you are walking, also its really interesting to see (in this particular clip) that the arms do not move quickly, or even far. I guess if i animated someone with quick swinging arms it would make the character look as if they were in a rush, or even speed walking if the legs were moving quickly as well (it would probably look really naff). If i was to animate fast arms and legs it would not look like the character was running because when you run, both of your feet are off the floor at the same time on certain points, where as when you are walking, you always have one foot on the floor, so it would look like i had made a walk cycle and pressed fastforward on the player.
In the brief, we were told to create a basic figure, the task was not to create a character walk cycle, it was so create a walk cycle, so i decided that i would go for a basic human frame, nothing too complicated, but not as simple as a stick man. The walk cycle has to walk on place, it can not move across the screen.
*Why animate in place? There is one main advantage:
You only have to draw a single stepping cycle, then you can reposition it across the screen, saving time and paper.
The main disadvantages of animating in place:
1.It can be confusing.2.The "arcs" on the character can look weird when the character is moved across the screen.3.It can be difficult to match the character properly to the background, if he has to register to something on it. * http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml
I wanted to add the circles on the character where the main joint are to act as anchor points would do on After Effects. There are the main points that the limps will move most dramatically. Obviously, they will move from the shoulders and hips, but the movements will be much more subtle and perhaps smoother then they would be at the joints. Also from the film i linked to this post above helps to demonstrate the movement. The hip moves, the top of the leg moves, and then the bottom of the leg extends, and then the heel goes down first. It also helped me break down the basic main movements for my walk cycle. I worked it all out in my book but my scanner is currently broken, so i found a image that demonstrates the main sequence of a walk cycle.After designing the movements in my book i did a similar thing to the image above by adding striped to the legs and arms that are at the back of the animation, so in this image above, the characters left leg and left arm are striped to add depth.
Thursday 15 November 2012
Importing onto Dragon Software and Exporting
I had a few minor problems when capturing my images on dragon software e.g. light bulbs blew, computers overheated, the lighting we blue and other problems which are easily solved. I managed to get the frames onto dragon and exported it to a quick time movie with all the normal settings.
However, when i played back the film i was not happy with the outcome. I have over animated the eyes to an extent that the character is looking around the room constantly, the eyes look like a yo-yo constantly looking around squinting, blinking, frowning. I made the rocky error of not going back to my notes and looking at how i designed the characters movements and where. The most frustrating thing is that i had done the work, I just got so into the drawing i forgot to refer back to my notes.
Here is the original animation:
Lip Synch - no sound. Origional.
Due to the frantic movement of the eyes, i really could to have it as my final project so i decided that i would use After effects to make some masks and slow down the eyes to try and improve the animation. However after doing that the eyes did not then have a strong relationship with what the character was saying so again it looks disjointed. Here is the basic masked animation:
IMPORT MASKED FILM FROM VIMEO.
Again, it needs tidying up and due to the weak relation between the eye expression and the rest of the animation i will need to draw the eyes again as i am really not happy with it. Also i think i will make the eyes slightly mobile across the face as the eyes stay at a fixed point for the whole animation. After speaking to my lecturer we decided that i should tidy up the animation with the masks (which i will upload at a later date) and then re draw the eyes in the Christmas break so i do not get behind on the walk cycle.
However, when i played back the film i was not happy with the outcome. I have over animated the eyes to an extent that the character is looking around the room constantly, the eyes look like a yo-yo constantly looking around squinting, blinking, frowning. I made the rocky error of not going back to my notes and looking at how i designed the characters movements and where. The most frustrating thing is that i had done the work, I just got so into the drawing i forgot to refer back to my notes.
Here is the original animation:
Lip Synch - no sound. Origional.
Due to the frantic movement of the eyes, i really could to have it as my final project so i decided that i would use After effects to make some masks and slow down the eyes to try and improve the animation. However after doing that the eyes did not then have a strong relationship with what the character was saying so again it looks disjointed. Here is the basic masked animation:
IMPORT MASKED FILM FROM VIMEO.
Again, it needs tidying up and due to the weak relation between the eye expression and the rest of the animation i will need to draw the eyes again as i am really not happy with it. Also i think i will make the eyes slightly mobile across the face as the eyes stay at a fixed point for the whole animation. After speaking to my lecturer we decided that i should tidy up the animation with the masks (which i will upload at a later date) and then re draw the eyes in the Christmas break so i do not get behind on the walk cycle.
Mouth Movements
I forgot to make a post about the mouth movements that i worked out for the lip synch. I haven't don't a lip synch animation before so i feel a bit of pressure to get it done right. I have borrowed some books out of the library to make me feel a little more confident about the task. I read online that one of the ways to get accurate mouth movements is to look at yourself in the mirror and word out each letter of the alphabet and draw the mouth shapes at the widest point of each pronunciation. Once i had done this i could ban the letters into groups. I spent a good while doing this, all of my sketches are below to demonstrate how I worked it all out.
The Groups:
The Groups:
A and I
E
U
O
C, D, G, K, N, R, S, Y, Z
F and V
L and Th
M, B, P
W, Q
H, J, T, X.
UPLOAD IMAGES OF MOUTH MOVEMENTS
Once i worked out all of the mouth shapes for each letter and sound i decided to work out the main mouth movements for the speech. I want to be organised so i can see how the mouth moves should look, once i have done that i can manipulate the drawings to fit in with the doping sheet. So even though the word 'That's' is 5 letters long, it takes up 7 frames on the doping sheet.
1xTh + 2xA + 2xT + 2xS = 7 frames.
Once i worked out all of the mouth shapes for each letter and sound i decided to work out the main mouth movements for the speech. I want to be organised so i can see how the mouth moves should look, once i have done that i can manipulate the drawings to fit in with the doping sheet. So even though the word 'That's' is 5 letters long, it takes up 7 frames on the doping sheet.
1xTh + 2xA + 2xT + 2xS = 7 frames.
Lip Synch - Drawing Frames
I have started drawing the frames for the Lip Synch project. It been very quick to begin with as the first 20 frames do not have any speech to it will just be my character looking around the room.
The speech of the clip is:
Frame 1-20 = BLANK
The speech of the clip is:
"That's it, I've had enough. If it meant my film career was over, I didn't care. The bullying had to stop."
Frame 1-20 = BLANK
Frame 21-30 = That's It.
Frame 31-40 = BLANK
Frame 41-52 = I've had enough
Frame 53-67 = BLANK
Frame 68-104 = If it meant my film career was over
Frame 105-115= BLANK
Frame 116-134=I didn't care
Frame 135-145 = BLANK
Frame 146-157 = The bullying
Frame 158- 161= BLANK
Frame 162-176= Had to stop
Frame 177-200= BLANK.
Unfortunately... annoyingly, since looking back through the frames there is a big change from the design of the character from frame 1 to frame 20. I can demonstrate the change by scanning in frame 1 and frame 22.
Ideally, if i had time i would go back and change the first 20 frames to make the design consistent the whole of the duration. However, due to the tight time frame it will have to wait until i have finished and completed the animation. Only then will i go back and redraw the beginning drawings. Now i have been drawing the character for a while i have got into a routine and have got a feel for the character and therefore the character design is not changing too much. This could mean that i did not develop my design enough and i should have spent more time changing and tweaking the design.
Designing for Lip Synch
After working out the doping sheet i decided that it would be a good idea to design the character. I have listened to the audio many times now and have build an image of the character in my head. For me the character needs to include:
- Female
- Age = 40-60
- Hair = curly bob, short cropped curly hair
- Slim, not well built.
- Pursed lips
- Large eyes.
The list above are aspects that are important for me for the design of my character as i imagine this features to go with the voice. obviously everyone has different ideas, so everyones will be completely individual, but this is how i feel the character should look.
lip sync project 23/10/12
The image on the right shows is a photo copy of the dope sheet that i was given in class. After researching into it i found out what all of the columns meant.
1. SC. = scene number. On a series you would want far more information such as production title, episode number, sequence number and so on.
2. FTG. = footage, or total length.
3. SOUND the breakdown of the soundtrack will be written here for lip-sync.
4. ACTION can be used to indicate key events in the scene, e.g. “balloon bursts”
5. frm. = frame number. Some productions may well use timecode as well to place the scene’s position within a production precisely.
6. the separate levels of animation; usually the column to the extreme right will contain the background
7. CAMERA this is the column in which opticals and moves are indicated
8. SHEET this is of course the page number. When there is more than one sheet in a scene, I recommend indicating the number thus: 1/3 – this would mean that this is page 1 of a total of 3, (so the last sheet would be marked 3/3).
There are parts in the audio where there isnt any speech, on these parts you are either meant to cross the box with a wide cross however some animators prefer to write 'BLNK'. I went through the whole audio and worked out all the stuff on the doping sheet.
IMAGE OF DOPING SHEET
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