Rough animatic - sketchy sound effects and all!

I finally drew my storyboard, so today I scanned it and timed up the panels in iMovie. There aren't many frames, just enough to get the main story points across, so while some frames last for a long time without much happening this is because there will be action and movement in the animation!

I quickly recorded some sound afterwards to help clarify some of what was going on (and add some more humour).

Now that I have uploaded it, I wonder if an extra twist on the end would improve the whole piece - for instance, that error sound playing again and the student's eyes flying open... haha! The ending seems a bit too soft and happy at the moment, so an extra moment of comedic peril might be a good idea (even though I do not wish that on any animator).

The main thing I have got out of this animatic is seeing, finally, how long the piece will end up. At nearly two minutes I'm a little concerned it's too much animation to take on, but I'll think on it. A lot of the shots require very little movement, so maybe if I can make a shot list that details how much is going on in each bit (in a more practical way than the script) I can get a better idea of the workload.

Caitlin :)

Schedules and surveys

After finalising my script, I have been able to properly dive into my project now - or, in my case, take tentative steps into storyboarding! (It is not a stage I particularly enjoy, but it is a crucial one!)

The first thing I did this week was to make a schedule - a plan of what tasks I aim to get done week by week. I've learned over the past couple of years that while I can be pretty useless without some sort of plan to keep me on track, with a plan I can be very effective! It also relieves stress as I know that if I stick to the plan it will get done in time. Here is my lovely rainbow schedule:

(Click to enlarge. For a more up-to-date view you can see the actual spreadsheet here.)

I'm currently in week 4 of term time, and judging by the number of coloured boxes this is quite a busy week! I basically just want to have my idea storyboarded and made into an animatic (which I then show to friends around me to see if it conveys what I want) as soon as possible so I can confirm all the timings and move on to the rest of my planning.

Another task I set myself for this week was to, as part of my research, create and distribute a survey/questionnaire that would help me define what other people think of animators - in case my project idea is something no one else understands - and the industry in general. Once I close the survey I will format the results nicely and post them in a new tab on this blog. It is a digital survey, done through Google Drive's 'form' creator, that I posted on my Facebook page, in a forum, and on my Google+ page. It has been online for just over a day now and I've already received some very interesting, helpful and insightful comments from those who have taken part. They are all anonymous, which make it more intriguing for me as I can't guess what was written by whom!

I plan to leave it online for a week or so, so if you are reading this before November 2013 and you would like to help me gather as many results as possible, please take part in my survey here. Thank you!

All in all, things are moving along nicely.

Caitlin :)

The first stage - the project proposal

Hallo! Just a quick update to say what I'm up to with my project. The first official deadline has passed now (yesterday, in fact). It was only a small one - worth 5% of my total mark - but it required a lot of thinking! Before my project could officially go ahead I was required to write and submit a proposal that has to be approved by my tutor. It is generally more of a formality, as very few people will request to do something that would be rejected; it is mainly to get us to think thoroughly about our projects before ploughing ahead with insufficient planning, as it required us to detail what the project is about, why we are doing it, what it will involve, in what time span we plan to get it done, and what research we are going to undertake to support it.

The good thing is my supervisor likes my idea, so I didn't have to change it before writing my proposal! I'm also excited about the research phase, which I didn't think I would be. I've chosen some texts and websites that are both valuable and interesting (this list is not exhaustive of everything I have included in my submission):

• Acting for animators by Ed Hooks, in which he uses classic acting theory to describe how we can improve our character animation;
• Cartoon animation by Preston Blair - an older book about traditional animation with awesome drawings of poses and cycles and methods for animation;
• fxguide has new articles almost every day from industry professionals on all things film and 3D;
• Digital-Tutors has hundreds of video tutorials on software, subjects and methods (Teesside University currently has a group subscription to this);
• and 3D World magazine has a variety of articles from theory and art to specific tutorials, so I will be using some of these to strengthen my work, too.

I mentioned in my last post that my piece will be character animation based with simple block environments; here is a student project (also from Teesside University) I found online that shows the kind of look I'm after - clean, polished and understandable:

I've cut down my lengthy script to more reasonable length now, so after I've made a more thorough schedule I should be able to start storyboarding. Hooray!

Caitlin :)

Introduction - this blog and my project

While I already have a blog on which I post updates on my 3D work, I was advised to create a new one for my final year project -- one that would make sense to anyone marking my project or judging if I'm appropriate for ExpoTees, for example, without being distracted and confused by loads of stuff that isn't directly to do with this project!

For those who don't know, ExpoTees is Teesside University's own student showcase, where the best students in the School of Computing can, if they are chosen, exhibit their final year work and have employers from animation and games companies from London and all over look at it. Needless to say if you want to nab an awesome job it's somewhere you should aim to be!

So for clarity, this is where I will post everything to do with my 'Computer Animation Project' module, showing every stage of the process along the way.

Since I want a job as a 3D character animator when I leave uni, the focus of my project will be on creating some really awesome character animation. This means lots of emotion, acting and comedy in my character, with very simple block environments to keep the audience's focus -- and mine! -- on the animation. Rather than creating a showreel I want to make one cohesive story -- not a short film, as such, but a one- to two-minute piece that shows off the different kinds of animation I am capable of and my ability to tell a story.

The idea I am going to focus this piece on is "The Life of a Student Animator". This means I will effectively be animating someone animating! I want to portray the humour and trials an animator faces through their day, from pulling funny faces in the mirror for reference to nearly falling asleep while waiting for a render. I want this piece to be relatable -- something that aspiring, current and used-to-be animators can all watch and say, "Man, I know that feeling!" and that at the same time can have non-animators watch and say, "Wow, they go through a really crazy process!"

I have written my proposal, so that just needs to be approved now, and while I have a first draft of the script it needs shortening quite a lot before it will be something that I can realistically finish for hand-in by the 21st March next year. I aim to have the planning process -- script, storyboard, animatic, reference footage, scheduling -- done my mid-November. I'm glad, at least, even if the whole idea of doing the project seems a bit scary at the moment, that I know where I'm going and what I need to do next. Having a blog also motivates me and keeps me excited, because even though I don't know if anyone is reading I am still eager to share what I'm up to.

Caitlin :)