Over the last few days I have been working on more animation as a proof of my concept. I tried the Chameleon character this time, and this was very different from the Parrot I animated before. Here are two videos that show some progress. I still need to work out how to do the hands and integrate in what he's holding, but for now I'm quite happy with the animation. The colouring is in a different style to the parrot, as the chameleon isn't covered in feathers or fur.

As well as this, I've also drawn more for my production bible. This included a 'hand' sheet for the parrot, which was quite difficult to do when he has feathers, and a few different expressions for the moose character. As the moose isn't a main character, I won't be completing turnarounds for him for the bible.

Ticked Off (3)

Below is a more complete test animation I did for Ticked Off. It's not the final shot, and the characters have since been changed, so while I worked on model before, they are no longer correct. I'm quite happy with how this came out though, and I had more practice in working with the characters and the lineless style. It was also fun to make them interact.

Proof of concept animation

For my Preproduction module, I have to create an animation in the style of my artist. THis has presented a few challenges for me, and it took some tests to overcome them. The first two videos here show both of the tests I tried. One is where the frames are coloured individually using the same colour pallete and order. The second is using a stamp tool. I have found I dislike the stamp tool, as it doesn't flow very well and is very obvious, even though I tried to make it work. While the first process takes a long time, I discovered it did get the best results and that I would continue using this style.

Below is my final animation of the parrot running. The scene is taken from my animatic and has been edited slightly to fit the character model and has been inbetweened. I'm quite happy with the result, and now I will just need to add some kind of background and audio.

 

Paint on Glass Animation in Mob Psycho

This study block I found the free time to rewatch a show called Mob Psycho, which stood out to a lot of people because of it's quite unique animation style despite it being a Japanese anime. It seemed quite rough around the edges in some cases, but this was by choice, and it really made the 'bigger' scenes stand out. The director Yuzuru Tachikawa wanted to adapt the source material in fantastic ways, and I think he achieved this by working with Miyo Sato, a Tokyo University of Arts graduate and animator who has had her work nominated for multiple international animation contests. They  included Paint on Glass animation, which is a very different media from the usual. It was even combined with the digital animation in some shots, but I still think it worked well in getting across the stronger emotions.

Below are some examples.

As a continuation to the work I did in my preproduction module, I was lucky enough for my pitch to be chosen to move forward into the production bible stage. I am now producing and have a small team to work with, and we'll be designing and creating lots of art to go into the final product.

Here are some examples of the work I've completed for the bible so far. Working in the style has been tough but I think I have managed to capture it well enough to be recognisable if you are familiar with the artist. Having animal characters also provided a challenge when creating the expression sheets, but I think I managed to portray some quite well.

Modelling Environment Assets

For Pocket Pals I've started work on modelling for the environments. First I had a go at trees, making a few slightly different variations of Pine Trees (with a different number of layers or tilted). Everything is still in the low poly style, so the bunches of leaves on the more general trees don't have to look more detailed than that.

As well as this, I've also modelled three slightly different logs. It's hard to see now, but on one I have also included some moss, which will show up in texturing. These were more of a challenge to me and introduced me to a couple of new modelling tools.

 

The final environment task I was given was to create bunches of grass. This was my least favourite of them all, but I still tried to find variety with the shapes and directions of the blades. 

Ticked Off (2)

Production has been moving along with Ticked off, and I have recently been asked to complete a test animation of the spider. The one I did before wasn't to model, but now I'm working with the references and the animatic to get it closer to how it will look in the actual thing. In the first video is my sketch, then the second shows the animation. I enjoy working in lineless, although I have had some challenges with getting edges to look smooth, especially on the legs.

 

My next task is to try animating the other character, Wick, in the scene too, showing his reactions and movement.

Inspirational Animation - Double King

Double King is an animation that I was shown by another student, and I found that it has become one of favourite pieces. The sound design is incredible, with the music and foley matching the animation perfectly. The characters have so much personality, and the animation flows so smoothly. One section in particular that caught my eye can be found at 6:45, where the scenery morphs and changes shape around the king. In some places the creator also uses some nice textures on the backgrounds, and it's something I might consider doing in my own work.