End Of Week Progress

Progress for this week hasn't quite gone as expected, but then I expected that so maybe that means it went to plan?

AD102: Character Design
I have completed the design, elevation sketches and coloured up versions in illustrator. I'm happy with the results, it is strange seeing my character in such an upright (jesus) pose as he will actually be hunched over. I deliberated on whether to work him up in nothing but his bath towel but figured that for my first fully 3D character construction it maybe be easier to have him clothed and the story in which he exists isn't solid yet. Maybe I can construct an alternative body once I'm a whizz at doing so, from our brief encounter in box construction of the character in Cinema 4D yesterday it is obviously going to be a while before the techniques are hammered home.

Stage 1 - Chosen Character to develop (one of several options worked up)

 

Stage 2 - Elevations drawn in the Jesus pose

Stage 3 - Elevations coloured up in Illustrator

I want to really head my head down and push on with what we've been taught so far in Cinema 4D character construction but I'm way too distracted with the following project at the moment:

AD109: E4 Animation

By the end of this week I was aiming to have all the assets I needed to be able to start compiling the animation, and I guess in a way I am but there are a number of elements that cant be animated until the first part is complete. The status so far:

1. Pixilation footage 

This has been shot compiled into a sequence and tidied up.

2. The infamous giant blackberry

Has been developed and animated for the 10 seconds needed, also detail has been taken in developing the correct lighting effects to make this seem real enough to sit along side my footage.

3. After Effects 

I've never used After Effects before Wednesday this week. I've adopted a crash course in After Effects pretty much by searching for tutorials online in how to create masks on each frame. There has been some deliberation on my part as to whether to keep the entire footage shot as it is or seeing as how I'm cutting out the character anyway (so as to pass in front of objects) should I consider enhancing/replacing the background.

A test render decided this for me, due to the hand held nature of the footage the blackberry and shadow seemed too disembodied from the background. I know there are motion capturing techniques but the footage really is made from 125 completely separate shots, there's no smoothness to them by their very nature, so they don't fit with the blackberry it appears to float.

So I'm now masking out my flying character frame by frame in After Effects. This needs to be complete by Monday latest

4. Background 

Number 3 above has lead me to start to create surreal background ideas:

5. Wings

I have started testing the principles of animating the wings in either Photoshop or Cinema 4D, I may paint the basic shape of the wings in water colour and bring them into photoshop to add the E4 logo and motion blur effects.

6. Tongue and antenna 

This will be tackled and rotoscoped at the end of next week when the above footage has been compiled together.

So I'm relatively pleased but so much time has been taken up experimenting, problem solving and adjusting frame after frame rather than actually producing the animation, but that's what it's all about I guess.