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3D ANIMATION

combining the three 3D clips i created, i made this: Buzz_ChooChoo_Squeak

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3D ANIMATION

This post is to focus on my animation, created with 3D volumes in Maya.

PROCESS

to start off i had to Pick 3-4 words from the list of Onomatopoeic Sounds, it was important to me to cover more ideas by choosing three different words to the ones I chose for the previous weeks.

i decided on 

BUZZ SQUEAK CHOO-CHOO

which sounds like a bad Tim Allen movie…

I figured that considering 3D animation is typically considered to be a very robotic, futuristic media, i chose words that reflected that mechanical nature, with onomatopoeia that would be interesting to see with the allowance of an extra dimension.

the next stage for me, was to open up Maya, and get designing - I decided to use some predefined volumes, (spheres, cubes and cones) to create my own geometry, to animate.

MAYA

I used standard materials, for this project: Lamberts, Phongs and Blinns - but mostly Arnold, as that was what I was most accustomed to using, through my ‘Introduction To 3D Animation’ Module. I was told to still use the colour swatch for this project, so I imported it to Maya, and applied certain of said colours to the materials, using the colour dropper, to the selected materials.

Animating and rendering the animations. 

The brief asks that the animations we make in response will be short and simple, as the focus is instead on the sound design - bringing the simple shapes to life. 

the process was essentially the same for each of the ‘words’ – I created multiple separate scenes, to model each structure: and then animate them.

I added some simple lighting - through the use of a skydome, to give all surfaces equal lighting - adding to the robotic/ professional aesthetic. 

with that, the animation segment was over - I had to render each animation into a set of JPEGS, import them to adobe after effects, set the frame rate and export as an MP4.

adding sound

Once I had created the animation, i added the sound in Premiere and edited together the sound animations.

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2D ANIMATION

combining the three 3D clips i created, i made this: Pop_Woosh_Crack

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2D ANIMATION

just like last time, we picked a few words from a pre-determined list of Onomatopoeic Sound Words to make an animation for each word and edit them together.

The animations i made were edited together, and accompanied by the appropriate sound effects, they represent.

coming up with visual expressions for the words, and therefore sounds is the difficult part of the process - so using pre-defined shapes, in AdobeAnimate - i began to experiment.

I went for quite an abstract approach: with a combined use of simple shapes, and mark-making: to give off something in between abstraction and figuration - as the sole focus being that the animations visualise the words on some level.

in order to get a wider range of media, I chose 3 different words to the ones I used for the drawn animation:

POP WHOOSH CRACK

after creating the animation I exported each of them, and added the sound in Premiere.

This is the second of the 3 small projects which we need to make.

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Drawn Animation

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MARK-MAKING ANIMATION

our first synchronic task, of three has been set: and after picking 3-4 words from a list of Onomatopoeic Sound (Words) we will be making an animation for each word and editing them together, under one file.

This week’s task asks us to create an animation in the form of either a mark-making or drawn animation, that should be accompanied by the appropriate sound effects. 

i decided on trying my hand at a hand drawn one, because i’m interested in seeing the result - and based on research, think this could be a visually appealing means of creation!

i chose four words from the list that i think can be expressed in visually interesting ways, in this format. these being:

BARK WOOF BONK SCREECH

the story tells itself...

but if you need me to spell it out, here you go: the left dog will bark, followed by the right - the left dog will swing a bat and bonk the other, who will comedically let out one of my famous ‘perfectly cut screeches’

The animation will be a hand-drawn visual expression of the words, and therefore the sounds. the plan is for each word to have an animation which lasts between 2-4 seconds, and the final animation containing all 4 word animations needs to be between 6- 12 seconds in duration.

unlike my next two projects, which will feature isolated clips, one after the other to showcase the different - i want to focus this particular one in the space of a singular scene.

PROCESS

to create an animation using mark-making and drawing techniques, theres various options: a few of which being either analogue, traditional pencils/paint, or digital using Photoshop and a simple frame-to-frame animation approach.

we were provided with a colour swatch, which gives us a warm range of colours to work with - and since I'm doing my’n as a drawn animation - i’ll be doing my’n in pencil, attempting to replicate the... uhh... grey - as closely as i humanly can.

after the creation of the animation, i added the sound in Premiere and edited together - saving it under the naming convention “Bark_Woof_Bonk_Screech”. 

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BRIEF / TASK

we were given an insight into our brief, where it was revealed that for our first assessed project we will create three short pieces of animation - adding original sounds (and/or reworked found sound) to produce three types of animation with sound: 

1. An animation created by physical mark-making 2. An animation created by animating pre-defined 2D shapes  3. An animation created by animating pre-defined 3D volumes 

Each animation will be between 6-12 seconds in length

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ADOBE AUDITION

Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation from Adobe Systems featuring multitrack, waveform and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing and restoring audio content. Designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing as well as deliver a polished mix with pristine sound

as someone who is so very unfamiliar with the Adobe family of Products - I was glad to be able to learn how to use audition, so easily - the interface makes a lot of sense, and provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

after playing around with it for a bit, and experimenting on some voice lines I had pre-recorded for a project: I found there to be plenty of worth to the product, being able to significantly beautify my audio with filters, and such.

I think I’d like to try to keep using this software, in the future for not only this module but the future afterwards.  

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FILM RESOUND TASK

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we were given a short project where we had to create a short edit from 8 short animation clips, and add appropriate sound effects. 

^ this is my response.

I went a bit overboard with my’n, the task was to create an edit of about 12 seconds long - with edits from at least 3 of the animation clips.  I wanted to get some more practice, and produce a bit more work, so instead I used all of the resources. this was honestly quite a fun, and simple task: and without being funny, I’d actually argue that the hardest part of this task was finding and selecting the audio to resound with. 

the editing part is tedious, sure - but relatively speaking: quite easy.

it’s honestly quite strange how much adding such simple stock sound effects can enhance the animation. you can even compare the results for yourself! just watch through the video, and then rewatch it muted.

SUMMARY OF PROCESS

Creating the edit in Premiere, was simple: once I downloaded the clips, I opened premiere - where I could drag the media onto the timeline, automatically putting them in a sequence.

from there, I had to select which parts of the clip I wanted to use, using the Scalpel tool to subdivide the clip into sections, and deleting the pieces I didn’t want to use.

the next step was my favourite, and the most crucial: Choosing Sound

essentially all this involves is just slowly scrolling through the clip to find the point where sound needs to be inputted, and putting it there.

this isn't a sponsorship (obviously) but www.freesound.org is brilliant for finding stock sounds. and this is what I did, when editing in Premier.

however… the outcome you’ve watched, from the first time I did this task: I used iMovie, due to the free sounds that come WITH it.

when redoing the project, in premiere to gain the experience most people had, I found it a hassle to search for appropriate sounds - as the platform has an intimidating amount of audio to choose from. plus downloading the sounds takes up file space, that I'm already lacking in, on my device - as sound fonts take up a lot of space... hence why using the uni facilities worked better for me, as not only could I use Premiere without having to download, or stream it via Citrix: but I could download the sounds, due to the extended storage.

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ANIMATION WITH SOUND

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due to the weird way Tumblr works - I had to post this separately to my last entry. but alas: here’s my response to the sound animation ^

As I said, earlier - Im pretty happy with my outcome. to have such a simple task, come out with a decent looking outcome is really pleasing, to me.

as a bonus, the way the sound cuts allows for the animation to replay, smoothly - which makes it an excellent loop.

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RE-SOUND TASK

we’re a few weeks into our course now, having missed our class last week for our uni’s “animation day”: I think this is our 4th lecture? it feels sort of strange how little work I actually have to show for so much time passing… 

but that’s why I’m excited to be sharing my practical progress in this week’s lecture! we were first introduced to an exemplar of a really visually interesting music promo - to showcase the idea that animators can get away with doing long stretches of animation, by doing very minimal actual work.

The Knife - “We Share Our Mother’s Health”

"The animation starts with a girl that wakes up from a long sleep and starts searching for a sacred apple. At the end of a nightmarish story the girl is able to find her apple but only to discover the real price that she has to pay for it." - Motomichi Nakamura

the way the animation flows in time with the music, is seamless - using the sound to its advantage to create visually appealing transitions between very stylised shots.

the aesthetic of this music video is very interesting, to me - with such bold contrasting colours. the constant use of the same three colours, in such a simple colour scheme, makes the overall composition look much more interesting, in my opinion. the way the red and white are so sharp makes them feel a lot more polarised, with the bright and dark, really going against one another.

from an animators perspective, the music video uses very minimal actual animation, with most of the shots consisting of still objects - moving across the screen, in quantities to distract the viewer; and keep their eyes fixated. but I think due to the way they designed the style of the music video, this is a strength rather than a weakness.

ANIMATION CIRCLES - RESOUND TASK

our first task, of this module was relatively simple: we had to create a short, simple animated loop - in response to a sound we were given, consisting of shots we composed. 

I opened PhotoShot, and using two very simple, circular shapes, I began to create my shots: I used black, white and red - following the influence of the music video we just watched. (but dulling the red a bit to spare viewer’s eyes a tad..)

After finalising the design of the arrangement I was happy with, I finished the creation of the frames I wanted to use, in my ‘Adobe Photoshop’ file, and I opened up ‘Adobe After-Effects’.

In After-Effects, I began to place each keyframe chronologically - in the order I designed them in, to create a visually interesting movement between the two types of transitioning shapes.

I originally had problems with the audio, causing me to have to re-download it, under a different file name; although, this didn't effect the process, and the outcome was essentially the exact same.

the task was relatively simple, and easy to execute. create simple shots, and transition between each shot, in time with the music.

I thoroughly enjoyed editing this, and as simple as the outcome was - it’s still quite rewarding to see it in motion. 

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SOUND

“sound is everywhere. and that... is p-pretty gosh darn cool.” - Ike Pearson

The film-maker George Lucas famously suggested that sound is 50% of the experience of cinema. This equation is particularly true of animation as animated images do not directly reference experienced optical reality but are drawn from the imagination and sound is used to connect these imaginary images with our emotional and material experience of the world.

Animation is more than movement in the frame, but is created in the mind of the viewer through the composition of images and the sequencing of images through editing.

as a very amateur voice actor, and equally amateur part-time freelance music producer - I can appreciate the importance of sound in media production. As evidenced through some of my “quality” re-sound productions from prior years.

if those gave you a quick ol’ chuckle, then I'm glad. screeching is one of my strongest V/A “talents”.

but with all seriousness: I'm looking forward to working on this module, and hopefully produce a high quality outcome. thanks for checking my blog out!