So far the film is going ok.
There have been some major changes over the last couple of weeks. Some people
would think changes half way during a production is an unorganised production.
However if anyone has ever done a project management course or has every met a
project manager will know that no project will ever go according to plan. There
are always people who can be sick or people can under deliver what they promised.
(I am no exception and in not targeted at any
one). Most changes that have happened have been to make the film more
achievable hooray. Like making the film shorter, utilising already known
technology, simpler shots and so on.
The dead line is still creeping
up on us and I am happy to say that over the holidays I feel we will have a
solid work flow so that everyone will be able to work autonomously. This to
mean means that I will be able to get into a routine or work flow where I am
able to constantly churn out animation and content for the film.
Story board
There is a new
story board I think it’s the 5th or 6th draft now were we have now come to a
point where some more sold critical thinking has been implemented, Just what I
wanted. I believe a short sited individual would think that 5 or 6 drafts mean’s
an unorganised group. But for a critical thinker it means that some solid time
and effort has been put in to make the story told with quality and
achievability. I am much happier with the current story board and animatic
because the changes have made the film much better with how the story is being
told the mood of each action, the acting choices, the cuts, Audio and
Everything. I am now much more existed to work on this film because of how
happy I am with how the production is now going and when you are existed to
work on something I believe it shows in the final result.
Character rigs
A number of rigs have been made
for the film; so far the advanced skeleton has been a major time saver. Our
lecturer and team player Louie has been most exceptional with helping out with
the project in this department. Not all rigs are completed but what is really
good is we prioritised the characters based on the importance and screen time
in the film. For example the mother doesn’t move much so her priority is lower
that the boy Liam who is almost in every shot. With this taken into
consideration we are able to work on the major animations of the film and not
have to wait for other tasks to be completed before being able to work.
The rigs themselves have all the
required controls for the first pass of the animation. The face controls have
not been added yet but with the power of referencing rigs they can be up dated
into a scene without issues. I find the rigs are great and I have found that I may
want to use the rigs outside of the film for my own personal work in show reels
and such.
Motion capture
In week 6 we hired out the auditorium
to create some motion capture data for our film. We tried to get a full Saturday
however this is not available to the animation students. We felt that the
motion capture we had was not entirely up to scratch and we also wanted to utilise
a full auditorium with more acting space for capture.
With the room being bigger we set
up the cameras equal distances in a circular pattern connecting them to the
computer where we used the application motive to capture the data.
With motion capture some time has
to be taken into consideration for wanding. Wanding is the process of
teaching the software and cameras how far away tracking points are in 3d acting
space. Each camera can only pick up 2d information so someone with a wand has
to move markers around teaching the cameras and software how to calculate 3d space.
With the time spent bringing all
the equipment up stairs and Wanding this left us with about 2 hours of acting
time. We got a lot done however the desire for more time is always wanted. It was
great day and very productive, we got a lot of scenes captured, however taking
the data and applying it to a character was not as simple as open and play.
Unfortunately the feedback we get
from teachers about how to use the application motion builder is quite limited.
Students have actually spent more time teaching themselves motion builder in
the motion capture class. With the level that JMC’s motion capture is at the
moment students don’t actually produce content they are entirely proud of. One lecturer
stated that he believes the motion capture will not be good this semester
because it’s new equipment but it will be great next semester once the bugs and
issues have been dealt with.
I think it’s quite funny when a
teacher states it’s easy to do but when you see them do it them self’s they
realise they are wrong. There is currently limited number of teachers who know
how to use motion builder to clean the motion capture data and produce great results.
With these facts and circumstances
there is a good chance that most animation will be keyed animation. I currently
feel pretty confident in motion builder however people who have to teach them self’s
how to do things can end up with a number of bad habits in the industry. If we
key animate the film there are more resources and support available for us. If we
use motion capture there are limited resources, and we most likely won’t be
able to get the auditorium again if we need to do more shots. The smaller rooms
at jmc just don’t really cut it when animating in larger environments so at
this point it looks as though motion capture is not really working out.
Please don’t get me wrong I have
gained a major educational benefit from learning motion capture and appreciate
the work and effort jmc put into the motion capture classes it’s just doesn’t
look at this point as though it will really be viable for the film. I feel as
though the motion capture I have done at jmc has been an amazing educational experience
but the current facts and resources are not a risk I am willing to take on this
film. Maybe someone will come along and show a process that will change
everything, but if we needed a shot and we could not get the auditorium then we
are in some hot water.
Blocking animation
Currently we are into the good
stuff. With the rigs and the environment’s we have so far the animation
blocking can begin the fun stuff. Animation we are going to block out the
animation so far with simple rigs and have a blocked out animation next week. Doing
a draft of the animation first will give us the ability to review the film as a
hole and identify any areas that may need changing. Can’t wait to show the
final pass as a full sequence.
