3D Animation Assessment

As part of our assessment we were asked to pair up and animate two selected fairground rides. The ride I chose to create and animate in lightwave 3D was the octopus ride.

The Precious Dagger - Animatic

As part of a group of five in an animation planning module we were asked to prepare the research materials, paperwork and pitch for a basic animation. This was the final animatic. 

3D Fruit Image 3

3D Fruit Image 2

3D Fruit Image 1

 For our first assessment in 3D animation we were asked to model fruit and place them in a shallow bowl on a plinth these are some of my final rendered images.

Squash and Stretch

For the first part of our Animation Planning module we were asked to explain the principles of animation the current and previous posts are such.

Grants an object weight and flexibility giving it realistic properties. One rule applied to this principle is that the volume of the object should always remain consistent; this will help to create a more life like movement.

Anticipation

This tells the audience that something is going to happen preparing them for an action. E.g. a character looks down at an object before attempting to pick it up.

Staging

The purpose of staging is to direct the audiences’ attention and create clarity on what is most important in a scene at any given time. The animator must use different techniques to ensure that the viewer is looking at the correct object at the correct time.

Follow through & Overlapping

This allows movement to look more realistic and adopts the laws of physics. It is largely used with the creation of character movements. When a character kicks a ball the leg will follow through the action by continuing forward after contact with the ball has been made.

Straight Ahead Action

This is when the animator starts at the first drawing in a scene and then draws all of the subsequent frames until he reaches the end of the scene. E.g. using the kicking a ball example, the animator would draw every movement of the action one after the other from start to finish.

Pose-To-Pose Action

Unlike “Straight Ahead Action the animator draws out only the key positions in the animation to start with and then returns to fill in all of the in-between poses after. E.g. in the example of kicking a ball, the animator would draw the starting position of the foot and the ball, then the contact of the two, and then the final position of both. Once this was done he would then go back and enter all of the steps in-between the movement.

Slow in and Out

This principle allows the animator to create acceleration and deceleration within an animation. It can be used to show the speed that an object should naturally move at. E.g. when a person is about to jump they would slow down to crouch and then accelerate through the air until they reach the ground and then decelerate to their landing position.

Arcs

Arcs can be used to show the natural effects of gravity and to achieve the natural movements of humans and animals. This can apply to a limb moving by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving along a parabolic trajectory.

Exaggeration

This is generally used in animation to exaggerate an expression or an element within the scene. There are many different forms of exaggeration and it can be used to reach different goals. Exaggerating characters facial features could give the audience a distinct insight as to how the individual is feeling.

Secondary Action

This is an action that can directly result from another action and can give a scene more life by supporting the main action. E.g. If a young girl was skipping (main action) along the street the secondary action could be her pig tails bouncing up and down along with the main action.

Appeal

In relation to a character, appeal would relate to the charisma of the individual. The important thing about appeal is that the viewer feels that the character is real and interesting. One method to achieve this is to avoid mirror symmetry. Asymmetry can be more interesting and appealing to the audience.

King Kong Animatic

Dr Dexx (Character I created last year)

Age: 172 (Turtle years)
Occupation: Destroyer of planets
Height: Unkown
Hobbies/Interests: Enjoys Kidnapping, Backstabbing, Lying/General Deceitfulness, Creating Despicable Gadgets, and causing Jack Rabbit pain!

Jack Rabbit (Character I created last year)

Age: 3 years old (Rabbit years)
Occupation: Captain onboard the SS Carrot Mark 1
Height: Didn't show up on measure day
Hobbies/Interests: Saving the Galaxy, Enjoying a box of Sardini Carrots, Pistol Training, Digging, Foiling Dr dexx's plans, and general hopping around.

Master Kuen (Character I created last year)

Age: 67
Occupation: Martial Arts Specialist and Master of the Ti Wi Fi Dojo
Height:5ft 6inches
Hobbies/Interests: Meditating.. The rest is Unkown.
Master Kuen was Ricos mentor of the martial arts, until Rico found out that Master Keun had an evil side and his Dojo was really the resting place of the Kai Gang, the most evil gang in the whole of China. Now Rico seeks to put a stop to Master Keuns plots and use his martial arts skills against him!

Rico (Character I created last year)

Age: 19
Occupation: Martial Arts Specialist
Height: 6ft
Hobbies/Interests: Martial Arts, hanging out at the local Dojo, helping people in need, eating Hong Kong style sweet and sour chicken with fried rice.

Shadow Lurker (Character I created last year)

Age: Unkown
Occupation: Unkown
Height: Reports indicate between 5ft 8inches, and 6ft 6inches Actual height Unkown.
Hobbies/Interests: Unkown
Detective Screech has been hunting this character in the streets of London for years. No-one has seen his actual face or knows anything about him. He only appears at night time and is commonly seen fleeing from a scene of a crime. Detective Screech will one day persue and capture the Shadow Lurker it is only a matter of time!

Screech (Character I created last year)

Age: 7
Occupation: Detective of the OWLS Association
Height: 5ft
Hobbies/Interests: Wine connoisseur, Reading Books,
Walking around the streets of London, Smoking Cigars.

Mr Rigid (Character I created last year)

Mr Rigid is really jealous of Mr Rubber, he is your typical bully. He has a job for a Games Development company, but really struggles to get by so instead of loosing his job he tries to find ways to steal the work of 'Mr Rubber' who is one of the best game creators around, however Mr Rubber is much more intelligent than he comes off to be and is always one step ahead of Mr Rigid with some sort of invention to prevent him from stealing any of his latest games and normally leaves Mr Rigid confused as to why he can never get his hands on any of them.

Mr Rubber (Character I created last year)

Mr Rubber is really amazing at creating games infact hes known all over from his creations. He's also really intelligent and always happy and smiling. He is used to being annoyed by one particular 'Rubber Being' named "Mr Rigid" who is continually finding ways to attempt and steal Mr Rubbers game materials, however Mr Rubber is alot more intelligent than Mr Rigid and foils his plans at every turn.

Castle Dung

Geremy The Beetle

Ninja Bug