Crazy Animation Project

grr argh

barefootanimator — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:01:27 +0000

Ok….so I went and got myself really, really sick with the flu thing. I have pretty much given up on getting a final product in time for Fandance. I am still going to work on it and try to get a workable final product, but there is no way I am going to get it done on time now. I would have 2 days. I have several sequences left to shoot, I still ahve to do audio, and for some reason I am having problems with my rendering applications. I am frustrated, sad and disappointed. But I am still working on it. Just because I couldn’t pull it off in 2 months doesn’t mean I can’t pull it off. I hope.

My Set Up

barefootanimator — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:34:42 +0000

I decided I needed a break, so I thought while I am relaxing for a minute I would post pics of the set up I am using.

This is my set up for shooting.

The paper in the picture frame in the middle of the table is my light diffuser for hte left side light.

As this light is by the wall I taped a diffuser to the door frame for this side.

Background for the castle set.

I used pictures printed on plain paper as the background for the sets. This one is for the scenes in the bad guys’ castle.

Outdoor background

And the backdrop for the outdoor secenes. Again, pictures printed on regular paper so it didn’t reflect the light.

OK, back to work.

Prelim

barefootanimator — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:08:34 +0000

OK…so i got busy and I have a bunch of it shot now. It has been fun. I have set it all up on a card table in my dining room. I am feeling like progress has been made. I am not happy with how Windows Movie Maker is rendering my prelim, and my Windows machine does not have enough RAM to run MonkeyJam, so I am currently recharging the battery for my Mac. I hope that I will be able to get enough power and enough time to get some of this done in Adobe After Effects. Well, all of it really. I figure if I shoot it, transfer it to the Vista crap machine, prelim it to see if it is what I want, then I can run it to the Mac, set it all up in AE, then while the battery is charging again for the Mac I can shoot some more. I would rather do it all at the same time, but as my power supply output is caput I have to make do with what I got.

So…as a treat for being so patient with me, here is the prelim rendering I did in Windows Movie Maker for a scene with Haveroth (dragon thingy) and Balderoth, the green monster. Enjoy!

Wow…I am SO far behind….

barefootanimator — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:55:07 +0000

Real life took precedence once again, and so I am really far behind production schedule. If this were professional, I wouldn’t let studies and a migraine slow me down. As it is, the other things need to be done first. SO….

I have started shooting, though my script isn’t really completely done, just kind of sketched out. I figure since the mouths don’t move, it should be just a matter of getting the voice actors to time it right and I don’t have to worry about specific dialog looking good. I can’t help but feel like at this point it is being half-assed. Production wise I mean. I could do better if I concentrated on it. It would also be easier if I had another person working on this with me. Note for next time: Get Production Assistant. I am great at getting ideas, but as far as carrying them out and follow through, well, not so much. I was seeing this as a chance to practice the follow through. I think part of the problem is I am a bit of a perfectionist, and if something isn’t going to be perfectly how I want them to be I don’t want to do them at all. That is fallacious thinking. It doesn’t get things done. And you don’t get better at things by thinking about them. You get to that good product stage by doing. As my mentor Wil Wheaton says, it is easier to make crap into something great than to make something great out of nothing. Or something to that effect. If you can’t tell, I am feeling a bit discouraged right now.

And insecure.

I think that is normal. This is my first production. Well, close to it. I shouldn’t expect anything great this time. That is what I want, but that is not realistic. My goal should be something amusing and fun, that entertains. I need to let go of my fear of failing and just do it. I am not going to be able to do Coraline quality work right out of the gate. And fear of failing…I think that hit the nail right on the head. I have not succeeded in anything in my life. I so want to NOT fail. But seriously, failing and making mistakes is what makes us better. Someone once said that you get 1 win for every 100 or so fails. And also, to add to the trifecta of cliches, if you never try, your fail rate is %100.

OK…enough of the pep talk. I am going to go work on fleshing out the script then head to bed. More updates when I get further along.

And I promise….no more sniveling.

Another Sequence to add

barefootanimator — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:01:20 +0000

I worked on multiple character movement yesterday. Here are the results:

it didn’t work as I had hoped. The action went too fast for you to really see anything. Haven’t figured out how to fix that yet.

Test Sequences

barefootanimator — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:51:28 +0000

All the little soldiers are snapped together, and today I have been working on test sequences. These will help me determine how best to shoot the scenes I want, and what kind of movement will work for these figures.

Here are a few of my results:

The Trylobite sequence

Trylobite head movement/ speaking sequence:

Random movement sequence on a soldier:

And test fighting movement:

These weren’t meant to be perfect. They were meant to test movement. I think it’ll be cool though. Looks like everything works. I still want to do test sequences for Raptillion and adding more soldiers in a battle scene. I also need to get a set built and do some test sequences in it. I will post video of it when it is done.

Back to work!

Finally a new update

barefootanimator — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:56:58 +0000

OK…..tough time is past. Now time to refocus on project at hand.

As I don’t really have time to play with sculpting my puppets, I am putting the armatures aside for future use. I instead went to the toy store and found some articulated figurines.

Here is what I found:

Plasmaverse Figurines

The back two were from the Plasmaverse collection, and the front guy is from the Plasma Dragon set. I didn’t realize the guy has no legs. But there are a lot of those, so it might not be a problem. I got the Plasmaverse guys in one box, which also included a zombie I probably won’t use. The little guy I got in a box like this:

Plasma Dragon

I got about 7 or 8 boxes, at $2 a peice. There are 8 guys in plastic frames that need to be unsnapped and assembled in each box. They each have a set of weapons and a sheild. That should be handy. When I opened the first one up I found it is actually an RPG (role playing game). There are cards included with stats for each guy, and you role dice to have them fight each other. That is just a bonus for me. they won’t just end up on my shelf when I am done with them.

Raptillion

This guy came in this egg, with this rubbery stuff around him. Yucky. I might be able to use that stuff.

Trylobite

This guy came with his own egg/slime combo as well.

So now that the script is going to change, I will be working on it this weekend. I still plan to start filming on schedule, whether I have a completed script or not.

I am really excited about getting to use a professional studio for my audio. That might be best for this kind of movie.

Tis all coming together, and I am happy. I really do not expect anything professional looking. Just something fun to watch and better than the snail movies I did.

Be back when I get a bit further.

The non-update update

barefootanimator — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:08:48 +0000

OK….so I have to move. I have hod a week to find a new place, pack, and move stuff. Everything will be hauled tomorrow. That means this project is sidelined for a few more days until I am done with all that. Will be back on track Wednesday with pics of my models. I hope this doesn’t make this project undoable for my deadline.

On the plus side, I had a talk with my Audio Production professor. As this project will the the first where I will do actual audio instead of just a music track behind it I will be able to use it for my final project for the class. So even if I don’t get it done in time for submission for Fandance, I have a project goal for the class.

Also due to the loss of time working on this, I have made a hard and fast deadline to start stuff.

Here is the schedule:

February 6th: Have all puppets and sets completed

February 8th: Start shooting

February 20th: Finish shooting

February 21st: Start editing and creating audio

February 27th: Start on final edit; preview for friends to get feedback

March 1st: Make adjustments based on feedback

March 10th: Mail to Fandance judges

I am hoping this is a realistic timeline. I will do my best to stick to it. If I can’t, you will probably read about it.

Bonus: I will be able to record sound with the school’s equipment, which is much better than mine. I will also have an audio professional helping me. I hope it turns out as good as I imagine it to be.

Non-paid plug: the stop motion animation movie Coraline comes out on February 6th.

Looks awesome!! It is based on a book by Neil Gaiman. Been told by someone in the know that it is really good. I have seen previews. I am very impressed with the hair. I am probably going to spend the whole movie trying to figure out the hair.

Wire Armature Attempt

barefootanimator — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:06:05 +0000

Ok….so I have played a bit with the wire. Pathetic.

Attempt #1:

No neck, way too short body. Not quite right. I think I will keep it and se what kind of monster I can figure out for this frame.

Attempt #2:

Still not great, but much better. I think this will do for my first puppet. I got to thinking, and decided it might be more stable if I add a piece of wire to support the chest piece, so here is what I added:

I will probably play with the epoxy this weekend. I won’t have time for a day or two, so stay tuned for the results…..

Shopping Pt2

barefootanimator — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:48:49 +0000

I got some more shopping done today. I did some research and came to the conclusion that though I like the durablitiy of solid metal armatures, I don’t have the tools or the knowledge to build one myself….yet. So instead I am going to build wire armatures for my puppets. It seems the best guage wire for armatures is between 19 and 14. I didn’t hav much time, so I only went to Fred Meyer. But while there I found some 14 guage wire and some epoxy putty for the “bones”. Building bones on your wire armature crates hard places so it won’t bend where arms and legs don’t normally bend. Generally there are hard pieces built up with places left for knees and elbows, wrists and ankles. There is also a chest piece.

Here’s the wire I will attempt to use for my first armature:

And here is the epoxy putty I found:

The wire are about $3.00 for the roll, and the epoxy putty was $3.19 for a 2 oz stick. I bought 2 sticks of epoxy, as I wasn’t sure how much I will use and it was on sale. Will post pictures of my first attempts when they are done.