Donatella's 3D Computer Animation Blog
My 3D Computer Animation Progress

Author: Donatella Mikulasch

Categories
7.1 Week 1 FMP FMP & Thesis

Week 1: FMP Proposal

Introduction

What follows next is a brief description of my final major project, the synopsis and the concept I want to communicate.

Final Major Project

Final Major Project

In order to define what type of FMP project I want to develop, I asked myself where I would like to work in the future.

Since I picture myself working in an animation studio, I wanted to create an animated short that focuses on character animation.

Furthermore, it will showcase the skillset I learned during the course.

Animation Synopsis

Stylized Animation

I want the animation to be stylized, as it is targeted at a younger audience.

This will enable me to create unique character moments and exaggerate the movements of the characters.

Animation Concept

Visual Language: The Grotesque and The Uncanny

For my FMP animation, I would like to explore the use of the grotesque and the uncanny, which is given by the distortion and unfamiliarity of elements.

To do so, I will apply the findings of my thesis in the design of the visual aesthetic of the animation.

Combining Thesis with FMP Animation

My thesis question is:

How does Tim Burton make use of the grotesque and the uncanny in the characters of his movies to evoke empathy and create an emotional connection with the audience?

Even though my thesis research is focused on the emotional impact the characters have on the audience, I will apply my findings regarding the use of the grotesque and the uncanny in the visual aesthetic of my animation. In this sense, the FMP is a great opportunity to apply the theory and analysis I developed in my research.

Creating a Collaboration Project

Furthermore, I decided to collaborate with a sound artist student from Argentina, as I wanted my FMP to have an unique background music and special sound effects. To do so, I shared them my previs animation so that they had a guideline regarding the timing of the sequences. The idea was that they create a piece that would enhance the storytelling of my animation.

Categories
6.1 Week 1 FMP & Thesis Thesis

Week 1: Defining the Research Question and Aims

Introduction

Last term we worked on our thesis proposal and got some feedback sessions with Nigel to enhance our research. In the following weeks, I will post the process behind the study I am conducting, emphasizing on my literature review, my research methodology and findings.

Research Question

Research Question

Research Aims

– Analyze the physical aspect, personality traits and backstory of Tim Burton’s main characters to understand how they communicate meaning.
– Compare and contrast the physical and emotional patterns the main characters of his animated and life action movies have to portray the idea of a grotesque and the uncanny.
– Explore what key elements Tim Burton uses in the design of his characters to achieve an emotional connection and sense of identification with the audience.

Research Contribution

Given the fact that for my research question I will design my own data collection tool (by adapting and editing preexisting studies from different authors and fields), I am contributing to the animation community in that I am providing a new method to systematically gather information to analyze characters.    

Conclusion

In order to start working on improving my research methodology, it is crucial to clearly understand what my research aims are. In addition, it is also vital to analyze how the study I will conduct can be beneficial to the animation community and how my data recollection tool can be used and adapted by future researchers.

Categories
3.20 Week 20 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 20: Animated Artefact Review

Introduction

Over the past 10 weeks, I have worked on my animated artefact, which was a great opportunity to push my animation skills to the next level. In addition, I practiced how to manage my time and create my own animation workflow to deliver the project on time.

Animated Artefact Render

Concept

I developed a short animated film to showcase my body mechanics abilities. My source of inspiration is Buster Keaton’s silent films, as the body was the most essential part to communicate an idea. In this sense, I focused on exaggerating the movements of my character in order to communicate the story with a non-verbal storytelling style.

Inspiration: Buster Keaton

Photography of Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton inspired Photography

Buster Keaton Tribute Frame

I decided to include a picture frame in the background as a way to tribute Buster Keaton’s films.

Narrative: ‘Paranoia’

My animation tells the story of how the character has the feeling he is being observed by creatures and it is his fear and obsession that leads him to a paranoid state of mind.

Cartoony Visual Style

As regards my visuals, I followed a cartoony style as I wanted to create an absurd animation targeted at a younger audience.

For this reason, the elements of my room are stylized and do not follow a hyperralistic shape.

In addition, whereas the background follows a pastel pallete, the creatures have applied vibrant colors so that they are highlighted in the scene. This applies also to the character’s hair and pants.

Pantomime Character

Even though I did not model and rig the character, I made sure to personalize the design and clothes.

I decided to create a pantomime as a reference to my concept and convey the idea that the body is a powerful ‘tool’ of communication.

Feedback Sessions

What follows next are some of the videos I discussed with my animation mentor George, who guided me in improving the movements of the character. I started my process by recording reference videos, then creating my previs scene, and finally replacing the placeholder elements with the character and props. The feedback sessions I had were crucial as they truly helped me to enhance my animation quality and learn from my mistakes.

Previs Animation
Character Animation
Environment Modeling

Further Comments

In the future, I would like to keep polishing the character’s animation in order to get smoother movements. However, even though every animation project can be enhanced, I am truly satisfied with the progress I made during the past 10 weeks as I learned how to create my personal project from scratch and deliver the animation on time.

https://youtu.be/aVibxasP_N0
Categories
3.20 Week 20 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 20: Lip-Sync & Body Mechanics Review

Unit Review (Term 3)

This term, I truly enjoyed working on my body mechanics and lip-sync animation, as I can include them in my showreel and apply for a job in the industry.

Whereas the body mechanics animation helped me to understand the motion of the body of my character, the lip-sync animation enabled me to understand more in depth how the facial features move when the character is talking. In this sense, both exercises were essential since I have gained the resources to work on a character-oriented animation project.

Furthermore, having nine hours of session per week with George was crucial as everyone got personalized feedback from him. Besides, sharing our animations on the big screen with our classmates was helpful in that we learned from each other’s strengths and mistakes.

Lip-Sync Animation

Lip Sync Animation (Optimized Quality for WordPress Optimization)

Idea Development

For my lip-sync animation, I have used the quote ‘I am as mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore’ from the movie Network (1976). I put that line out of context and created a new scene in which a middle-aged man struggles hard with his computer and expresses his frustration out loud.

Critical Analysis

Even though I set my main priority into creating a believable character animation, I was not able to explore more in depth how to properly light and texture a scene due to time constraints. Nonetheless, I am truly satisfied with my animation process as I have worked hard and implemented the feedback I was advised to enhance my result. I also learned how to record reference videos specifically for lip-syncing animations and got an overview on the workflow.

Body Mechanics Animation

Body Mechanics Animation (Optimized Quality for WordPress Optimization)

Idea Development

For my body mechanics animation, I wanted to show a short sequence in which a girl follows a balloon and when she finally catches it, as a plot twist, lightning strikes on her.

Critical Analysis

Despite the fact that at the beginning I felt frustrated as my scene did not have any proper textures, I realized that they would disrupt the visual coherence of my animation. Besides, the focal point of my body mechanics animation is to showcase the movements of my character. Even though I can always improve my animation in terms of overlapping and polishing some postures, I feel truly satisfied with my process throughout this term as I had several feedback sessions which helped me to enhance the character animation.

Final Thoughts

Now that I have gained an overview on the fundamentals of body mechanics and lip syncing, I will need to practice more in order to push my skills to the next level.

Categories
5.20 Week 20 FMP & Thesis Thesis Proposal

Week 20: Thesis Proposal Review

Unit Review (Term 3)

Defining my Research Question

When it comes to my thesis proposal, this term I focused on narrowing down my research question and adapting the key authors for my literature review. Even though I knew which topic I wanted to explore (Tim Burton’s characters and filmography), the question I submitted last term was too broad.

Old Question (Term 2): To what extent do film semiotics play an essential role in world building and characterization within the horror genre?

New Question (Term 3): How does Tim Burton balance horror and empathy in the characters of his movies to create an emotional impact on the audience?

Editing my Literature Review

After I established my new research question, I had to expand my bibliography with authors that focus on the concept of emotional engagement and identification. Since they all had different points of view, I can approach my research question from different perspectives.

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that my authors come from different fields such as semiotics, animation and psychology. In this sense, I was able to combine different areas of interest and apply them into the field of animation.

Exploring Different Fields of Interest

Working on an animation-oriented thesis has enabled me to explore several fields of interest. Not only do I have the opportunity to analyze the artwork of my favorite director Tim Burton, but also conduct my study from different approaches.

Attending Feedback Sessions

Receiving feedback from Nigel was crucial, as he helped me to polish my research question and establish the golden thread of my paper. This enabled me to organize my ideas and have a clear understanding of my workflow.

Preparing for my FMP

Since for my FMP I would like to create an animation which is influenced by the grotesque style, my thesis will help me to create the theoretical background for my short film. In this sense, I would like to focus first on developing my research and then apply all my findings into my FMP animation.

Categories
3.19 Week 19 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 19: Lip-Syncing – Spline Animation

Introduction

This week, I worked on changing my lip-sync animation from stepped to spline and replacing the placeholder elements.

Work Methodology

Attaching a Camera to Face

In order to start working on the lip-syncing animation, I was advised to attach a camera to the face.

I used a parent constraint to attach the camera to the forehead controller.

This was extremely useful, as I have already animated the key poses of the character.

Using a Mirror as a Reference

Apart from the facial reference video that I had recorded, I also used a mirror to help me animate the mouth.

I had to hear the audio over and over again whilst repeating the sentence out loud. This helped me understand which parts of the lips were moving.

Spline Animation Process

Spline Animation (Body)

Before working on my facial animation, I only focused on the body.

I changed the keys from stepped to spline in the graph editor and then cleaned up the animation curves.

Spline Animation (Face)

I started creating different mouth movements based on the phonemes.

I used Studio Library to help me create the poses for each phoneme.

This saved me a lot of time as many of the sounds appeared more than one time during the audio.

Intro Scene

Blue Screen

For my intro scene, I initially wanted that the character was mad at his computer because his rendering process had failed.

However, I reconsidered my decision as I felt that my character was too old for that situation.

For this reason, I adapted it into the blue screen of death in Windows 10.

Spline Animation

Categories
3.19 Week 19 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 19: Animated Artefact – Animation Polishing

Introduction

This week, I focused on polishing my animation and adding for the first time the creatures into my scene. This means, that I finally managed to replace all placeholder elements and can entirely focus on enhancing my animation. I also had one feedback session with George, which is going to help me to take my animation to the next level.

Animation Polishing

Overlap: I specially focused on creating some overlap when the character moves around the room (turns around, holds the bucket and stands up).

Dust-Off: After my character stands up after crawling backwards, I attempted to animate him dusting off his shirt. However, I definitely need to revise that action as the hands should feel as if they are pushing off from the chest.

Stretch and Squash

As regards to the creatures, I made sure they were slightly squashing and stretching (see green function in the graph editor).

However, in order to improve the animation, I am going to treat them as if they were bouncing balls and in addition, they are going to appear in the air and then fall to the floor.

Iris Shot Film Technique

I decided to include an iris shot at the end of my animation, as it is a technique which was widely used in silent and cartoony films.

In addition, it highlights the fact that the creature is attached to the back of the main character.

Hero Image

If I had to choose one hero image that features my project, it would \be frame 384 as it is the moment where I metaphorically show the character’s paranoid state of mind.

Animatic vs Animation Shots

Looking back at my animatic sketches, I can say that I managed to maintain the main essence of my ideas. In addition, I also gave my story some background context by adding some furniture and elements into my scene.

Further Comments

For next week, apart from polishing the animation and working on the feedback, I will focus on adding some color and lighting into the scene. In addition, I will also include some special audio effects and background music.

Categories
5.19 Week 19 FMP & Thesis Thesis Proposal

Week 19: Key Words & Introduction

Introduction

This week, I focused on establishing the keywords of my research proposal and I also worked on writing the introduction.  

Keywords: Tim Burton – Gothic Fiction – Character Engagement – Empathy and Identification

Introduction

The following paper will explore and analyze how Tim Burton balances horror and empathy in the characters of his movies to create an emotional impact on the audience. This study will be conducted from a structuralist perspective, by understanding each element of a character as a meaningful sign. It will focus on the analysis of the physical aspects of the characters, as well as their traits, personality and backstory and how these elements communicate meaning.

Categories
3.18 Week 18 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 18: Lip-Sync Animation – Blocking Plus

Introduction

This week, I focused on working on my blocking plus animation, making sure I keyed every part of the body.

Blocking Plus

First Outcome

This time I focused on adding keys to each part of the body and adding more breakdowns into my animation.

The part I struggled with the most was when the character points at the computer as I could not control the rotations in a smooth way.

However, I was advised that I can polish the movements when I start working in spline.

Feedback

  • The first thing I need to improve is the body movement. I need to add some moving holds and create some overlap with the torso, neck and head.
  • I was advised not to include the last part when the character takes the mouse, as I should not overcomplicate the scene.
  • I need to add some animation to the eyelids.

Second Outcome

For my second attempt, I focused on creating some overlaps with the body, neck and head.

I also added two moving holds (one at the beginning and another one when the character looks at his screen).

I adapted the last part so that my character would walk away without taking the mouse.

Further Comments

Now that I have created the key poses of my character, I can start working in spline, which means I can now focus on animating the mouth and lips.

Categories
3.18 Week 18 Advanced & Experimental Project 2

Week 18 – Animated Artefact – Animation

Introduction

This week, I focused on polishing the animation and cleaning up the poses of my character. I also had a feedback session with George, which will help me to improve my short film.

Spline Animation

IK/FK Switch: This week, I made sure to improve the scenes in which I made the IK/FK switch in the arms, which has been a major challenge because the movement between the frames was abrupt.

Turning Around: I also worked on improving the moment when the character turns towards the creatures (see frame 303). Last week, my leg and knee were broken, so I focused on adjusting the knee controllers.

Crawling Backwards: Furthermore, I focused on improving the crawling animation by adding a wobbly effect into the movements of my character. I also rotated the chest towards the sides where the hands were touching the floor.

Fix Camera: After receiving my feedback, I noticed that I had to adjust the position of the camera as it cuts off the hand of my character in frame 275. I must have moved it by accident, as last week I did not have this issue.

Replacing Placeholder Elements

Adjusting Proportions

Apart from polishing the animation, I also focused on replacing all the placeholder elements with the models I created last week (bed, door, frame and bookshelf). However, the most important aspect was to adjust the proportions between the character and the furniture in the room. In this way, the room now has a more stylized appearance and the sizes of the elements seem to be more accurate.

Further Comments

Next week, after polishing the character’s animation, I can start working on the creatures and get my final feedback session before the submission.