Working on a page. For now, here's some info...
Due to lack of file space and file type support, all movies are zipped mp4's.
Project 1: Fish
Criteria: Create a model, have that model move through space, either swimming or floating. May not walk along ground.
Thoughts: I like the general appearance of the model, but all things considered, this was really slapped together. Not happy with the final product, but the model would be redone and reused.
Grade: TBA
Project 2: Fish:Evolution
Criteria: Create a model. Using inverse kinematics (IK), have that model travel along land.
Thoughts: I'm satisfied with this movie. Paying attention to each model, I was able to avoid any 'dead' characters, keeping everything moving. I didn't spend time on the background or texturing, and it shows. I'm not terribly proud of these first two projects, but pressed for time, I'm glad that I at least churned them out.
Grade: D (turned in after deadline)
Project 3: Sack of Flour
Criteria: Model is supplied, fully rigged and textured. Do not move camera, change lighting, background, or add any elements. Animation only.
Thoughts: This project was much more enjoyable. Not having to worry about modeling and rigging a character, I was able to concentrate on animating. The 'Sack of Flour test' is a Walt Disney tactic. The theory goes that if you can animate a sack of flour and the viewer can feel the emotion, then you can animate a human (or animal) and pass that emotion along that much more accurately. I tried to break away from what I expected the rest of the class to do on this assignment. Overall, the movie was successful.
Grade: TBA
Project 4: Wave
Criteria: Using a fully modeled and rigged character, animate the
character waving. No moving camera, no facial animation.
Thoughts: I enjoyed the classes response to this movie. The character
is very flexible and easy to animate. It is essentially nothing more than
keyframing. Oh, and watching out for those clipping fingers! Unfortunately
I didn't know we could animate the eyes in this, so he never actually
looks back toward the screen.
Grade: A-
Project 5: Heavy Lifting
Criteria: Have character two weights. Take care to demonstrate weight realistically. No moving camera, no facial animation.
Thoughts: By far my favorite project to date, and I think it shows in the work. This project took about 8-10 hours to complete, plus rendering time. I planned the animation out and make a simple storyboard (stickmen) of the action prior to animating. During animation, I got some accidental outcomes that I really liked, so I tweaked them and left them in. Special care was again given to keep the character from 'dying.' (when a character, or part of a character, unrealistically stops moving, it is dead until it starts moving again, often seen in lower-budget and hand-drawn animation. This can be avoided by very subtle movements, such as a sway or a twitch.) Unfortunately, at the end, the character is still rather floaty. I noticed this hours before the presentation and tweaked what I could, but plan to go back to it to tweak the rest at some point.
Grade: TBA
Project 6: Walk Cycle
Criteria: With supplied character, have the character walk in place or with a moving camera. During walk cycle, character must show some sort of human emotion, such as anger, happiness, etc.
Thoughts: I wasn't too terribly impressed with my final product, but others were. I found the walk cycle pretty easy to create, but it lacked the ability to be truly creative. Overall, this was a more technical skill, as it's necessary to be able to do.
Grade: TBA
Project 7: Lip Sync
Criteria: Using a sound byte 5-7 seconds in length, have the character's lips synced to the audio, so that the character appears to be talking.
Thoughts:
Grade: TBA
Project 7: Open
Criteria: Create a film including everything learned thus far: walking, interacting with an object, lip syncing.
Thoughts:
Grade: TBA
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