As we have very little time left and this dog has very little movement, given that she is dying, I made the rig as simple as possible, with only a few drivers put in. I rigged this dog but I received help from Arpit with the weighting and the parenting of the master controller to the joints, controls and IKs. This should be the last rig that I make for my Portfolio and indeed this year.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Last minute rigging
For the dying dog scene in Synaesthesia, we were going to use a dog that we downloaded from the internet. However, while we were testing this dog rig, we found that it was a very poor rig; it was badly weighted, much of the history of the mesh was still present and it had no blend shapes. We could not put in any blend shapes because of these problems. As it would take more work just to tidy up this problematic rig, we decided to use a dog that Perri Wheeler modelled and to rig this ourselves.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Revisions of Shot 2 and Shot 8
I have recently redone some of the animating for two shots of the Synaestheisa film for several reasons. These are shot 2; in which she approaches the cooker and looks at the kettle and shot 8; in which she approaches the piano and sits down. Shot 8 has seemed to take the longest to do out of any shot as it has a range of different types of animation.
You will also notice that there is a brand new shot that has been added to this scene, which is a close-up shor of the kettle, which will eventually have some Dynamics applied to it. We added this extra shot mainly because we found that the previous shot was going on for too long and we could not come up with enough poses or variety in the poses to last that long. We got the inspiration for this shot when we were filming reference for Alex to approach the cooker and we tried different angles; one of the angle we came up with was an extreme close-up of the kettle, which you will see in the video below. We decided that this extreme close-up would make a good climaxing shot to this scene.
Shot 2
This shot was reanimated to have more shoulder movement in her steps because in the first version of this animation, she was gliding along and her movement was incredibly upright. Our tutor, Dan said that she needed to have much more rotational movement in her upper body and that I should focus less on the vertical movement of her body for this shot.
Furthermore, her focus needed to be more on the kettle; I initially animated her head looking up at the particles that would eventually be present, but we decided that her focus should at least start at the source of these particles; the kettle. Once Amelie has created the Dynamics for this kettle, I may perhaps add some upward head movement as then, there will be something to animate the head against.
In order to work out how she should approach this kettle, I decided to record myself in Valentino and Arpit's kitchen approaching a cooker with a kettle on it to figure out how one would make 1 or 2 slow steps towards the cooker.
As you can see, this movement is very much driven by the rotation in the shoulders; as Alex's legs are not visible in this shot, the main way that I will be able to convey a walking forward movement is through the shoulders and arms. In this video, my shoulders start off aligned, but then when I make the breakdown movement, my right shoulder come forwards and then my left shoulder eventually snaps back into alignment.
I have incorporated that movement into Alex's movement as this is a very short and slight movement, yet effective in conveying a walk. You will also notice that Alex now focuses more on the kettle, but that she slightly moves her head up and smiles. When I first joined this project, I initially imagined that this Synesthete is "suffering" from her condition and possibly timid as a result of her Synaesthesia, and she was therefore animated by me in a way that conveys this. However, when I had a listen to her recorded dialogue, I found that she has actually adapted very well to her condition and is content with her condition and herself. As I will elaborate on when I talk through shot 8, I have reanimated these parts to present a more confident and joyful character.
You will also notice that there is a brand new shot that has been added to this scene, which is a close-up shor of the kettle, which will eventually have some Dynamics applied to it. We added this extra shot mainly because we found that the previous shot was going on for too long and we could not come up with enough poses or variety in the poses to last that long. We got the inspiration for this shot when we were filming reference for Alex to approach the cooker and we tried different angles; one of the angle we came up with was an extreme close-up of the kettle, which you will see in the video below. We decided that this extreme close-up would make a good climaxing shot to this scene.
Shot 8
Most of the animation for shot 8 has been redone to accomodate this more confident character that I now know I need to portray. The previous animation was very rigid and had a lot of anticipation which indicated that Alex was perhaps unconfident, hesitant and maybe even reluctant to play the piano. First, she approached the piano and stood for a few seconds and then she awkwardly pulls herself on to the stool before moving up and waiting a few more seconds before she plays.
After giving the audio a proper listen, I found that she is not awkward about her condition and she is in fact confident in her ability. In this scene, we will see that she knows how to play notes on the piano to orchestrate the patterns and colours that she sees. Her movement in this sequence would need to involve her approaching and sitting at the piano more swiftly, with any anticipation added just to emphasise the natural movement.
The shot originally had a few technical errors which needed to be amended. Firstly, there was not enough rotation in her shoulders and chest during the walk cycle. In addition to this, when she sat at the piano and put her hands towards the piano, her hands make a strange circular movement in which the rotate around the keyboard before touching the keys. In reality, this would be a more diagonal movement.
With these points in mind, I decided to film myself approaching and sitting down at the piano in Valentino and Arpit's house to figure out how one would sit at a piano naturally, so I could apply the same to the Alex character rig.
Several pieces of movement in this clip caught my eye and helped inform the animation work; first of all, rather than pulling myself onto the stool or focusing to lean on the stool, I make the rather simpler movement of stand in front of the stool, which I approach by putting one leg forward and then simply sliding the other into position. Secondly, I do not use my arms to aid myself in sitting down, I look to see where the stool is and I just rest my weight down on it; my arms move to rest my lap during this piece of movement.
As I mentioned, the movement of my hands from my lap to the piano keyboard is simple and diagonal rather than the circular motion I came up with previously. I used these aspects of my movement very strongly in the revision of the shot 8 animation, which made for a much more natural and relaxed piece of animation.
This walk cycle and sitting animation is far simpler than what I had come up with in the previous post, but then again, it is a simple set of movements. There is still anticipation in this animation sequence, when she looks down at the seat, but this is merely for the character to calculate where the seat is and therefore where she should aim to rest her weight; her focus is very much fixed on the piano itself. Interestingly, Arpit and Valentino both really liked this looking down action before she takes her seat.
The shoulders in this walk cycle sequence are more animated now and do move forward with the weight of the body. Lastly, her hand move in a more diagonal direction towards the piano keyboard; in order for the hand to not go through the keyboard, I broke the tangent right at the end of the Translate Z channel in the Graph Editor and rotated it to accommodate for of a curve.
As these two shots have been redone or tweaked and shots 3, 4 and 5 have also been finalised, this now means that I have completed a total of 5 shots and that I now have 5 shots left to animate. I am halfway towards finishing now. Next, I need to start working on the dog scene in which Alex strokes her dog, shortly before it dies and fades away.
After giving the audio a proper listen, I found that she is not awkward about her condition and she is in fact confident in her ability. In this scene, we will see that she knows how to play notes on the piano to orchestrate the patterns and colours that she sees. Her movement in this sequence would need to involve her approaching and sitting at the piano more swiftly, with any anticipation added just to emphasise the natural movement.
The shot originally had a few technical errors which needed to be amended. Firstly, there was not enough rotation in her shoulders and chest during the walk cycle. In addition to this, when she sat at the piano and put her hands towards the piano, her hands make a strange circular movement in which the rotate around the keyboard before touching the keys. In reality, this would be a more diagonal movement.
With these points in mind, I decided to film myself approaching and sitting down at the piano in Valentino and Arpit's house to figure out how one would sit at a piano naturally, so I could apply the same to the Alex character rig.
As I mentioned, the movement of my hands from my lap to the piano keyboard is simple and diagonal rather than the circular motion I came up with previously. I used these aspects of my movement very strongly in the revision of the shot 8 animation, which made for a much more natural and relaxed piece of animation.
This walk cycle and sitting animation is far simpler than what I had come up with in the previous post, but then again, it is a simple set of movements. There is still anticipation in this animation sequence, when she looks down at the seat, but this is merely for the character to calculate where the seat is and therefore where she should aim to rest her weight; her focus is very much fixed on the piano itself. Interestingly, Arpit and Valentino both really liked this looking down action before she takes her seat.
The shoulders in this walk cycle sequence are more animated now and do move forward with the weight of the body. Lastly, her hand move in a more diagonal direction towards the piano keyboard; in order for the hand to not go through the keyboard, I broke the tangent right at the end of the Translate Z channel in the Graph Editor and rotated it to accommodate for of a curve.
As these two shots have been redone or tweaked and shots 3, 4 and 5 have also been finalised, this now means that I have completed a total of 5 shots and that I now have 5 shots left to animate. I am halfway towards finishing now. Next, I need to start working on the dog scene in which Alex strokes her dog, shortly before it dies and fades away.
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Playblast for Shots 3, 4 & 5
These are another set of shots which had quite a lot of revision. This scene originally consisted of an over the shoulder track shot to the book room and a POV of the book, with words coming out. We decided to make this more succinct by transitioning from the previous scene to a long shot that pans slowly from left to right of Alex sitting at the table reading a book, with the cup of tea that she made in the previous scene (probably with a small amount of Dynamics omitting from the cup to follow on from that scene). The shot then cuts to an over the shoulder shot in which we see the words coming out of the book.
This then cuts to a POV so we can get a better look of the words leaving the book. In an interesting twist, she puts the book down and then we suddenly see her walk out of shot. This means that shot 5 functions as both a POV shot of what Alex sees but then seamlessly becomes a long shot of her walking to the next room. This is where I animated a walk cycle of her walking to the next room to have the next experience.
This then cuts to a POV so we can get a better look of the words leaving the book. In an interesting twist, she puts the book down and then we suddenly see her walk out of shot. This means that shot 5 functions as both a POV shot of what Alex sees but then seamlessly becomes a long shot of her walking to the next room. This is where I animated a walk cycle of her walking to the next room to have the next experience.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Shot 8 Final Playblast
Shot 8 is finally done; Valentino wanted me to increase the overall speed of the walk. I initially made it a lot faster than I originally had it, but then Valentino asked me to make it a little slower again. He also wanted each step to be slower than the last.
As for the sitting movement, they liked it, but they wanted a little more anticipation when she approaches the stool before she sits down. As for the part when she moves up the stool and into the correct position, they thought her behind went too far up in the air, so I took that down and made it flatter in the Graph Editor.
With all the relevant changes made, here is the unrendered playblast of shot 8.
I am back in line with my personal schedule for the Synaesthesia project and I am intending to start work on shot 3 and shot 4, in which Alex sits at a table with a book and words start to move around.
As for the sitting movement, they liked it, but they wanted a little more anticipation when she approaches the stool before she sits down. As for the part when she moves up the stool and into the correct position, they thought her behind went too far up in the air, so I took that down and made it flatter in the Graph Editor.
With all the relevant changes made, here is the unrendered playblast of shot 8.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Shot 2 Playblast
Shot 8 is not yet finished, but just needs a little cleaning up; however, I have been working with Arpit and Valentino and in that space of time, I have got all the main poses done for shot 2 of the film (technically shot 2 and 3). This shot consists of a POV shot of Alex walking through her hall and is eventually followed by a cut to a Mid Shot of the kettle boiling; in this shot, Alex approaches the kettle and sees patterns omit from the kettle, a phenomenon that she describes as a "heat mirage".
This is a very simple shot which consists of her taking one slow step towards the cooker, looking at the kettle and then looking at the colours that emerge from the kettle. This shot has been altered from its original form, which originally consisted on an over the shoulder shot of Alex approaching the cooker, after being tracked all the way through the hall and simply standing and staring at the kettle, before it transitions to the next shot.
Here is a playblast of the whole shot and Alex's actions as she approaches this kettle. This is accompanied by her dialogue.
This shot was altered mainly because Arpit and Val had words with Dan, who helped them out with cutting it down and only including necessary shots. When Valentino was putting together the camera shots for this scene, I helped him out and suggested possible transitions between each shot, such as with the transition from the POV shot to the Mid shot, where I suggested a straight cut, rather than camera movement which moves away from Alex's perspective and to the Mid Shot.
It is not yet apparent in this playblast but we have come to the conclusion together that the first piece of dialogue ("Every frequency is a different colour...") coincides with the POV shot and the second piece of dialogue, where she talks about her "heat mirage"should be placed over the Mid shot in which she approaches the kettle. As for the final piece of dialogue ("It's like seeing that, but coming out like a huge plume..."), this come over the transition from this mid shot, just as the scene is flooded with Dynamics, to the next shot which we decided would be a Slow Panning Mid-to-Long shot of Alex sitting at the table with her cup of tea and a book, ready for the next piece of action.
As she displays very little movement, I decided that in order for it to still look alive, I included a slight swing of her arm, which would continue very slightly after she had finished her walk. The only thing in this animation that is not quite finalised is her head movement; the plan is for her to look down at the kettle and as the patterns start to omit, she looks up at them. This piece of movement cannot be done properly until the dynamics for this shot are completed by our Dynamics Artist, Amelie Lim. Once this is in place, I will be able to animate her head (and chest movement if necessary) to follow the movement of these patterns.
This is a very simple shot which consists of her taking one slow step towards the cooker, looking at the kettle and then looking at the colours that emerge from the kettle. This shot has been altered from its original form, which originally consisted on an over the shoulder shot of Alex approaching the cooker, after being tracked all the way through the hall and simply standing and staring at the kettle, before it transitions to the next shot.
Here is a playblast of the whole shot and Alex's actions as she approaches this kettle. This is accompanied by her dialogue.
It is not yet apparent in this playblast but we have come to the conclusion together that the first piece of dialogue ("Every frequency is a different colour...") coincides with the POV shot and the second piece of dialogue, where she talks about her "heat mirage"should be placed over the Mid shot in which she approaches the kettle. As for the final piece of dialogue ("It's like seeing that, but coming out like a huge plume..."), this come over the transition from this mid shot, just as the scene is flooded with Dynamics, to the next shot which we decided would be a Slow Panning Mid-to-Long shot of Alex sitting at the table with her cup of tea and a book, ready for the next piece of action.
As she displays very little movement, I decided that in order for it to still look alive, I included a slight swing of her arm, which would continue very slightly after she had finished her walk. The only thing in this animation that is not quite finalised is her head movement; the plan is for her to look down at the kettle and as the patterns start to omit, she looks up at them. This piece of movement cannot be done properly until the dynamics for this shot are completed by our Dynamics Artist, Amelie Lim. Once this is in place, I will be able to animate her head (and chest movement if necessary) to follow the movement of these patterns.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Blend Shaping for Alex
I am still working on the walking to piano shot, but I can say that it is nearly done and ready to be sent to Arpit and Valentino; I just need to smoothen one or two hip tangents and also feminise the walk a little more (probably with the aid of a Digital Tutors tutorial). Towards the beginning of this process, I was chronically stressed over it, but as it has gone on, I have become more relaxed; mainly because I feel as though I have been reacquainted with the Graph Editor and I have remembered what I useful tool it is and that it I can become easily confident just with continuous practice. The animation for this has taken a while to perfect primarily because the animation must look realistic and natural, as opposed the the exaggerated cartoon effect that we have done several times in the past few years.
In the mean time, Arpit and Valentino have asked me to do some blend shapes for Alex's face. I have created separate sets of blend shapes for the eyebrows, eyes and mouth. The eyebrows can be raised or lowered separately or together, the eyes can blink and can also be creased, which is particularly useful for creating a realistic and convincing smile. In order for her eyebrows to raise, I set the drivers that control her brow blend shapes to also drive the eyebrows that have been modelled in either direction.
Her mouth can be widened or narrowed and her upper and lower lips can be raised. I have also set the drivers that control the movement of the lips to also drive the Translate Y axis of the jaws in the relevant directions. I have also created a special driver and respective set of blend shapes called "Mood", which if the user sets in the +20 direction, she smiles whereas if the user sets it in the -20 direction, she frowns. This mood driver can bring the smile or frown pretty far and exaggerated, so I suggest keeping the Mood to a minimum on either side of the scale for more subtle and natural results. Doing the smile and frown blend shapes took me the longest to perfect until I could make convincing smile and frown shapes without making her look like The Joker.
Here is a video demonstrating the range of expressions that Alex can now convey.
In the mean time, Arpit and Valentino have asked me to do some blend shapes for Alex's face. I have created separate sets of blend shapes for the eyebrows, eyes and mouth. The eyebrows can be raised or lowered separately or together, the eyes can blink and can also be creased, which is particularly useful for creating a realistic and convincing smile. In order for her eyebrows to raise, I set the drivers that control her brow blend shapes to also drive the eyebrows that have been modelled in either direction.
Her mouth can be widened or narrowed and her upper and lower lips can be raised. I have also set the drivers that control the movement of the lips to also drive the Translate Y axis of the jaws in the relevant directions. I have also created a special driver and respective set of blend shapes called "Mood", which if the user sets in the +20 direction, she smiles whereas if the user sets it in the -20 direction, she frowns. This mood driver can bring the smile or frown pretty far and exaggerated, so I suggest keeping the Mood to a minimum on either side of the scale for more subtle and natural results. Doing the smile and frown blend shapes took me the longest to perfect until I could make convincing smile and frown shapes without making her look like The Joker.
Here is a video demonstrating the range of expressions that Alex can now convey.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Female Walk Cycle + References
I have been working on the walk cycle part of shot 8, but while I was animating the walk cycle, using the methodology that I adapted in the first year (two central points, keyframes, breakdown, inbetweens, etc.), I did find that the walk cycle had a huge amount of gravity; particularly for a teenage girl who was just supposed to be strolling.
Observe.
This makes Alex look as though she is almost trying to force herself through the atmosphere of the scene; it also makes the character seem more manly.
In order to create a younger, more serene and ultimately more feminine character, I started to look for references that would help me in creating a convincing walk cycle.
Synaesthesia director, Val gave this link which features a woman walking. Her walk here is very elegant, and furthermore, I notice that one of her arms sways considerably more than the other; the other arm is even completely still at times. Her hip movement is also very prominent in this walk.
In addition to this, it is apparent that females tend not to lift their legs from the ground as far as males and that the movement between each foot is far more slight. This is a theory that is demonstrated very vividly and humoursly by good old Richard Williams in this video below.
This video also has a good example of a female walk cycle being animated in the newly released Maya 2013.
In all honesty, it has been a little while since I animated a pure walk cycle so I have decided that there is no shame in once and a while, reading over various manuals and notes that I have acquired over the past 3 years just so I can brush up on what I already know.
For extra reference in producing a walk cycle I have used this image on the break down of a single walk to create the poses for my own walk. This is taken from the blog of James Dunford, which was sent to me by Valentino.
I have also been reading this tutorial that I downloaded from Erik Westund's site just to make sure I have not left anything out.
Here is a video of the walk cycle that I animated and smoothened in the graph editor. She has a very slight walk to establish her femininity and youth and also that she is strolling at a very leisurely pace.
Observe.
In order to create a younger, more serene and ultimately more feminine character, I started to look for references that would help me in creating a convincing walk cycle.
Synaesthesia director, Val gave this link which features a woman walking. Her walk here is very elegant, and furthermore, I notice that one of her arms sways considerably more than the other; the other arm is even completely still at times. Her hip movement is also very prominent in this walk.
In addition to this, it is apparent that females tend not to lift their legs from the ground as far as males and that the movement between each foot is far more slight. This is a theory that is demonstrated very vividly and humoursly by good old Richard Williams in this video below.
This video also has a good example of a female walk cycle being animated in the newly released Maya 2013.
In all honesty, it has been a little while since I animated a pure walk cycle so I have decided that there is no shame in once and a while, reading over various manuals and notes that I have acquired over the past 3 years just so I can brush up on what I already know.
For extra reference in producing a walk cycle I have used this image on the break down of a single walk to create the poses for my own walk. This is taken from the blog of James Dunford, which was sent to me by Valentino.
I have also been reading this tutorial that I downloaded from Erik Westund's site just to make sure I have not left anything out.
Here is a video of the walk cycle that I animated and smoothened in the graph editor. She has a very slight walk to establish her femininity and youth and also that she is strolling at a very leisurely pace.
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