Month: December 2022

Week 10: Unit Review

Over the past weeks, Nigel has given us an overview on the theoretical framework for film studies. In addition, he has also facilitated tools to develop our own critical research topics.

Developing Critical Thinking

I truly cherished the activities in which we have had to analyze short films and experimental animations, as it helped us further our critical skills. Since I do not come from the film industry, the sessions have been useful as they have given me considerable tools to analyze the technical aspects of an animation.

In addition, it has been an enormous challenge to develop critical thinking skills in a foreign language. However, it has been rewarding as I have had the opportunity of being exposed to new vocabulary and new ways of presenting ideas.

Developing a Research Topic

Furthermore, we have had many tutorial sessions to develop our own research topic. Sharing our ideas and research topics with Nigel and our classmates was useful, as we received valuable feedback to clarify our ideas.

Further Thoughts

Developing our own research topic has been extremely beneficial exercise, as we are going to need those tools and skills we have learned for our thesis investigation.

1.10 Week 10 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 10: Unit Review

Three months ago, I started my journey as a 3D animator. Since my background comes from the graphic design field, the past weeks have been extremely challenging, yet rewarding.

Learning Animation & Software Skills

This term, the 3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Unit was crucial as it allowed me to learn about the principles of animation as well as the technical aspects of the software.

George’s sessions were essential, as he gave us an overview on the animation principles, besides from teaching us how to record reference videos. We also received numerous frame by frame corrections, which helped our characters to move in a natural way.

Nick’s sessions were also of utmost importance, as he explained to us how to navigate Maya’s interface. We also learned how to import rigs to our files, but most importantly, how to adapt them to fulfill our animation needs.

In this sense, both focal points were essential as they are complementary in the animation industry.

Receiving Work Feedback

I truly treasure the feedback my professors have given me since it enabled me to learn from my mistakes.

One of the major things I have cherished this term, was the meticulous feedback I received from George over the past weekends. I deeply appreciate one-to-one corrections, as he has helped me to become a better animator and push me even further. In this sense, he has helped me reconsider different issues which have led into a significant improvement of the animations I was working on.

Moreover, the time we had on campus to work on our animations was very limited, and therefore, I invested much time at home and over the weekends to practice and actively connect with the animaiton discipline.

Navigating the Journey

Taking into account that I did not have any experience at all in the animation field, it is understandable that at times the tasks were incredibly challenging for me.

Even though some times I ended up exhausted and frustrated when my animations did not go as I had pictured, what kept me going is my perserverance. Animation, as well as graphic design, is a journey we have to navigate and overcome the obstacles step by step.

Conclusions

I am truly grateful for my professors; the experience I gained; and the knowledge I acquired within the animation field. Furthermore, I am also looking forward to receiving more feedback and comments in order to become a better animator.

2.9 Week 9 Design for Animation

Week 9: Report Structure

Introduction

This week we got an overview on how to reference using the Harvard style and we also focused on the planning of the structure of our report. What follows next is a general outline of the topics I am planning to include in my research.

Critical Report Structure

Title / Subtitle: What role do game narrative and character development have in player identification and gender representation in the videogame Last of Us?
Abstract: The paper explores and analyses which key aspects of the game narrative and character development can help to achieve player identification and gender representation in videogames. It is specifically focused on the analysis of the videogame sequel Last of Us and should set an example for game designers as to how to rethink their game production from a more diverse and inclusive perspective.
Key Words: Gender representation – Player identification – Character Development – Game Narrative – Last of Us
Contents Page: I will add this section at the end.
Introduction: I will talk about the purpose of my report, the scope of my research and how it is relevant in the field.
Literature Review: The following will be divided into three major aspects: The purpose of the game narrative; the connection between the player and the character; and gender and representation studies in the gaming field.
Chapters for main discussion: The following will be divided into four chapters: A brief summary of the videogame Last of Us; the player identification with the character; the female narrative; and gender identity and sexuality.
Conclusion: I will talk about the outcome of my research and its implications on the field.
Bibliography:

Adams, E. (2010) Fundamentals of Game Design. 3rd edn. Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders

Bateman, C. (2021) Game Writing Narrative Skills for Videogames. 2nd edn. London: Bloomsbury.

Brown, J. (1996) Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the “Point of No Return”. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 (Accessed: 29 November 2022)

Butler, J. (1988) Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 (Accessed: 29 November 2022).

Calleja, G. (2011) In-Game from immersion to incorporation. London: The MIT Press

Naughty Dog (2014) Last of Us: Part I. Sony Computer Entertainment.

Naughty Dog (2020) Last of Us: Part II. Sony Computer Entertainment.

Shaw, A. (2015) Gaming at the Edge. Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture. London: University of Minnesota Press.

1.9 Week 9 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 9: Lip-Syncing

Introduction

This week, Nick gave us personalized feedback on our lip-sync animation. In order to improve my work, he suggested to go over again the skin weights and smooth the transitions. So before creating my phonemes’ blend shapes and working on my lip-sync animation, I painted again my skin weights.

Part 1: Paint Skin Weights

This time, I made sure to smoothen the skin influence on the edge.

In this sense, instead of only having black and white parts on my face rig, now I have also grey ones.

Part 2: Phonemes

After painting the skin weights, I moved on to my lip-sync animation.

The first thing I had to do, was to analyze the phrase my character was saying in order to determine which phonemes I had to model.

Phrase: Oooh, that’s a bingo! Is that the way you say it? “That’s a bingo?”

Then, I used Gary C. Martin’s article on american character animator Preston Blair’s phoneme series as a reference for my animation.

Phoneme A,I

Phoneme O

Phoneme U

Phoneme B

Phoneme N,S,Y

Here, I would like to point out that Christoph Waltz has a tendency to show more his teeth in the upper jaw. For this reason, the teeth in the lower jaw are hidden.

The Rest Phonemes

The Problem with Phoneme TH

When I wanted to create the blend shape for the phoneme TH, I realized that the rig we were working with did not have any tongue.

For this reason, I replaced that phoneme with another one to fill in that sound, and hope that this week we can learn how to import a tongue to our rig.

Part 3: Lip-Syncing

Outcome 1

Even though I managed to create several blend shapes, instead of using Preston Blair’s phonemes as reference, I am going to focus more on Christoph Waltz.

I am planning to redo the lip sync animation, focusing specifically on his smile and facial expression.

Lip Syncing – Final Animation

Conclusion

Having reference pictures of the phonemes was an essential tool to create the different blend shapes. However, they can only be considered as a general guide due to the fact that every person has their distinctive way of talking. For this reason, the most challenging thing was to adapt them in order to visually communite Hans Landa’s face expressions.

Reference List

Blair, P. (1994) Cartoon Animation. Walter Foster Publishing: California
Martin, G. C. (1996-2007) Gary C. Martin CG Imagery Development. Available at: http://www.garycmartin.com/phoneme_examples.html (Accessed: 5 December 2022).

1.9 Week 9 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 9: Body Mechanics Spline

Post author By Donatella Mikulasch
Post date 5th December 2022
No Comments on Week 9: Body Mechanics Spline

Introduction

After shooting our own reference videos for our body mechanics animation, we already started animating our rig.

Body Mechanics – Animation Progress

First Outcome

In my first animation, the upper body of my rig is barely animated and for this reason it appears to be extremely stiff.

Second Outcome

In my second animation, the hips are moving much smoother than the first version.

However, the chest of the character still appears to be very stiff and furthermore, the foot is sliding on the floor.

Third Outcome

In my third animation, I can say that the upper body is slowly becoming more flexible than before.

However, I still need to keep working on the rotation of the upper body.

Fourth Outcome

For my fourth attempt, I decided to delete the arms of my rig in order to focus on the animation of the body.

I learned that I first needed to polish the body animation in order to go on with the arms animation.

Fifth Outcome

Finally, I managed to get a smooth animation of the upper body.

In other words, the chest, abdomen and hips are forming a smooth “C” shape while they are rotating.

Now that the body is animated, it is time to start with the arms.

Sixth Outcome

After animating the arms, I realized that the timing was not going so well.

In addition, in some parts it looks as if they are being dragged from side to side, rather than swinging in a more natural way.

Furthermore, I was pointed out to rotate more the feet when they leave the ground.