Unit 73 - Sound for Games

After the amount of work required for the last unit I've been looking forward to a nice easy unit (comparitively speaking). This one is a short one, looking at sound for games.

The image above is the logo for Video Games Live. It's a stage event with a live orchestra performing some of the music from various video games, so I thought it would be appropriate to use for this post. I've been twice to this show and highly recommend it.

The deliverables for this unit are a 1500 word essay based on a game of our choice, about the sounds and music used and how it was done. Our own sound recordings, video footage with our own sound dubbing, a 500 word evaluation and a CD/DVD with all our work on it.

I can't see there being too many problems with this unit, but I've been wrong before... have I said that before?! :P

Resident Evil Parody

This is my four page parody of Resident Evil. It's focused mainly on Resident Evil 5, with a flashback to the original starting it off.

Indian Ink

During the week I got myself some Indian Ink, a brush and a drawing pen set. Today is the first time I've used it and all I can say is WOW!

It's the first time I've ever used it, but it was so easy to use. In fact, I thought it was easier to use than a pencil or ordinary pen. It's a definate fact now that I will be using it to ink my comic panels.

Comic Book Sketching

Apart from making a few screens for my motion comic, I've started to experiment with comic book style sketching. I will be doing some additional concept art for each character so I know how I want them to look from panel to panel. For now, here are some of my initial drawings with colour tests.

As you may well be able to tell, my comic will be a parody of the popular video game series, Resident Evil.

Update

Just thought I would post an update of my progress. I've been working on my sketchbook recently, trying to get it into shape early. Especially as the last unit sketchbook was finished at the last minute (I don't want a repeat of that!).

I've got a few ideas for my motion comic, which I am currently storyboarding several versions of before deciding what the finished piece will be.

Planning the Unit

One of the briefs ask that we come up with a plan for the units. We did a similar thing with the 2D Animation unit last year, so it was a little bit easier. As I did then, I used Microsoft Excel to produce it.

I added a new worksheet to the unit planner we were given before to keep track of our progress through the course. This way I will be able to keep all of my planning for the year in one place.

I am also using my old method of planning, by making lists of tasks I need to do and ticking them off as I complete them. I will put an example in my sketchbook.

Presentation - Graphic Narrative

I have made a PowerPoint presentation which is eight slides long continuing the SDS task mentioned in the previous entry.

I've made it as easy to look at as possible, with as much information as needed.

Self Directed Study

Continuing on from the semiotics study, we were asked to find to examples of graphic narrative and analyse them. I used Guyver and Spider-Woman as my chosen examples and have stuck the work in my sketchbook.

This work was completed to go alongside the visual presentation we need to produce.

Semiotics

We had a session on semiotics, and their relevance to graphic narrative. After looking at the different aspects of it (Signifier, Signified, Connotation etc) we analysed some graphic novels like 'V for Vendetta' and 'Watchmen', looking at the ideaology behind them.

Units 5 & 55

We've started our next project which is Graphic Narrative. We will also be looking at working from a brief.

As I said before, I'm looking forward to this project but I need to wait for the creative brief before I start coming up with any ideas.

Unit 20 Finishes

I have now finished this unit and handed it in. I'm looking forward to the next unit which is Graphic narrative. This will give me an excuse to buy comics now :)

LAN Parties

Our group had two LAN parties, of which the first was held at Seth's house. This turned out to be a very fun day, and though it wasn't very professionally organised, it was still a success.

The second party was something of a let down for us. Not only had we already done one and wanted to get on with some work, but the game played was not decided by the class as a whole. Also all of the necessary rules were not decided before hand and thus, advantage went to the team who all members of owned the game.

Video Presentation

My group did a video presentation to talk about our decade. My video featured Sonic the Hedgehog as a host character. Though everyone finished their individual videos, we did not have time to edit them into a single version. The plan was to make it look like someone was channel hopping between our videos. I may possibly do this anyway and submit it as an add-on.

My video covered video games console of the era like the Sega Megadrive and was going to be the first video in the final edit.

Console Research

Though I have not included prints of every bit of research in my sketchbook, I have plenty of links to information used during my project, which I have included on the CD found in my sketchbook.

Videos

During this unit we have watched some interesting videos. One called 'King of Kong' and the other called 'The Podfather'. Both videos were very informative.

The Podfather Part 1

Above is a link to the first part of The Podfather. You can link to the following parts via Youtube or use the links provided on the CD in my sketchbook.
This was my favourite of the two videos we watched as it had some important information about how we got to where we are to doday.

King of Kong Part 1

King of Kong was a strange video, which seemed to be heavily staged at points. Again other links are available in the same way as the previous video.

Update

Well I finished the poster, but it hasn't changed from the previous one seen on an earlier blog entry.

The video presentation is well underway but still incomplete.

I need to consolidate all of the LAN party evidence and organise it in my sketchbook.

I need to make an Evaluation for the unit.

And several more blog entries!

Research Progress & Notes

I meant to post this before the sketchbbok post but I'll I'll do it now anyway. I have decided to start putting some of my research on this blog instead of printing it out for the sketchbook. This will save printing costs as well as allowing me to make better uses of website links.

The only draw back with this is the fact that I find it easier to work with printed notes, therefore it stands to reason there will be some printed off at various points throughout the year. These will be stuck directly into my sketchbook with relevant information highlighted. I have already done this with one of the websites I used (see sketchbook).

Sketchbook Progress

I have finally made a start on my sketchbook for this project and I am already at 10 pages. By working on this I am finding it easier to focus my energies towards completing the tasks set. Unfortunately it has also shown me how much I have left to do in a very short space of time. I fear a few late nights coming on again!

Promotional Poster

This is a draft of my poster, designed on A3 in Photoshop. The picture of Blaze the Cat was drawn by me and coloured in Photoshop. It is a poster to promote the LAN party we will be having next week as part of the college course.

I am hoping to add a background and if possible some further images relevant to the task. I will update when the time comes.

LAN Parties & Posters

Today we started off by looking at the LAN parties we will need to organise as part of the unit. This should be a really fun aspect of the course but we need to make sure we are organised and ready to record data from the experience. We looked at what sort of things we should be looking at using a mind map (see sketchbook).

We also began our work on promotional posters for the parties. I have been doing some artwork for it tonight so hopefully it should be finished later today.

Work & Work

Today I went to work for most of the day, and when I finished that, I did some homework. What a depressing weekend!

On the bright side I finished one task and nearly completed another. Unfortunately the college intranet is somewhat tempermental and won't allow me to use what I need. I shall just have to try again tomorrow after work.

My next plan is to work on the rough draft of my report which follows on from the first self directed study task.

New Planner

Yesterday we started using a planner which we could fill in ourselves. Obviously it's not finished yet, but it will help me to keep on track with my work.

Unit 20 - Computer Games Platforms & Technologies

In this unit we will be looking at the constraints of gaming technologies and develop an understanding of the history and evolution of gaming platforms. I am fortunate enough to have seen how computers have developed over the years from the Commodore 16 all the way through to the current generation of games consoles.

So far we have broken up into groups to study a decade of platforms and technologies. My group is looking at the 90's, which fortunately is one I remember very well. I've been using the internet to research this decade ready for writing a report and preparing a presentation.

Here we go Again!

Hello all, and welcome back to my reluctant blogging. I am now in my second year at college studying Games Development. For those of you who are interested, I got distinction for the first year and hope to continue this form in future.

This year is going to be a tough one having now seen my new timetable. It has a lot of conflict with real life things like work, which I need to do to be able to afford to study!

Oh well! Wish me luck.

Unit 18 Evaluation

I managed to finish most of the unit in a very short period of time but I'm suffering for it now with my eyes hanging out of head. The sketchbook has been completed with a total of 22 pages (more than double the minimum requirement).

As you can see from the images above, my evaluation is two pages long with over 1000 words. It does mean that the unit is now finished and I can hand in my sketchbook tomorrow. YAY!

Only a small amount left to do in my Concept Art book and the course is finished. I will be continuing on in the second year so the chances are there will be more blogging in the future.

Flash Banners

Since I finished my work on the poster I have been blasting through my sketchbook work trying to get it done as soon as possible. I'm now up to 19 A3 pages with another three planned. This will finish my work on the unit.

Unfortunately these pages can't be done until I have something to fill them with. One is for the Evaluation and one is for the CD (plus contents). But what about the other?!

The final page will be dedicated to the Flash Banner work I have just finished working on. I've created two banners, though one of them was an experiment to learn some new effects in Adobe Flash. I have a short storyboard ready (more of a plan), but I've skipped the animatic as I already had all of the graphics I needed for the finished banner.

Game Poster

I wanted to create a poster to advertise the game using the same design as the box cover. For now I've used an A4 document, so it was made mainly to show the layout. It has been created in CMYK so it is better suited to print.

I added the console logos for Playstation and XBOX 360, as well as the NovaCat logo.

I've also decided to use an idea given to me by the college marketing department about an in game reference as a slogan. In this case I've chosen "Apartments available in Metropolis", which goes across the top of the poster.

Again the full sized poster will be on the CD I submit with my sketchbook.

DVD Cover Update

This is just a short post to show the updated version of the DVD cover. As you know there were a couple of changes that needed to be made to the layout and the logo. I have also added the age rating to the front.

So here it is! The full sized version will be on the CD I submit with my sketchbook.

Progress So Far

I thought I would make a blog entry covering all my progress with unit 18 so far. I have created a finished company logo which you saw in the previous entry, as well as completed my three mood boards that caused me so much trouble to begin with.

I have also created a DVD cover which still needs to be updated with the feedback I recieved. The statement of intent needs to be updated too to reflect the feedback and show my progression.

The thing I'm working on at the moment (apart from this blog) is my sketchbook. At the moment I have seven completed A3 pages with quite a lot more planned. Unfortunately I have long hours at work this weekend so I won't be able to do as much as I would like to do.

Tasks that I need to start are the animated Flash banner and T-Shirt designs, but these won't take too long with my experience from the previous animation unit.

Logo Version 2

After the visit mentioned in my previous blog entry I made more versions of my alternate logo, the design which the marketing department prefered. I will be using this version on anything that requires it from now on, though I think I will probably stick with the black and white logos.

Marketing's Second Visit

I got to bed at about 4am in the end so I haven't had much sleep. Today I was able to get my DVD cover design ready for a second visit from the college's marketing department.

The DVD cover is one of a couple of things I need to make to market the imaginary game I chose from the unit brief. Any manga or anime fans will notice the use of images from Masamune Shirow's Appleseed. The font used is the same as that used in the 1920's film Metropolis, just with colour and texture adjustments.

First thing I showed them was the logo designs I had come up with. I will need to update my work to reflect the feedback I recieved, as one of the design I created but didn't use was the prefered one. As a result of the feedback I will also need to update my Statement of Intent.

The next thing step was to go through the mood boards I created and describe the vision behind them and the game. This also went well and I think I managed to get my views across successfully.

I plan on trying to complete the majority of my sketchbook this week so I can concentrate on improving or adding to my work pieces.

A Moody Night

No don't worry, this is not a rant and I'm not in a bad mood. It is now 3:05 in the morning and I have just finished all three of the mood boards I needed to do!

I have put colour palettes on all of the boards and the layout on each is very similar. I have also put a small company logo in the top corner of each.

I still need to look at typography before I can do any other tasks. I will have a quick look at some tonight before I pass out which should leave me ready to complete the final stretch of the unit.

Tomorrow... or rather later today, I will be presenting ideas and what I have done so far to the college marketing department. I am still quite unprepared for this (just like last time), but I'm sure I can get enough done before then to satisfy them.

The Logo

I have had a very productive evening so far! I have now completed work on my logo and am now a third of the way through my mood boards.

I need to get quite a bit ready for tomorrow so I'll probably be up quite late (again). Anyway I'm quite proud of my logo, but still not sure if it will look exactly like this (below). I might play around with the colours and the position of the text.


Must dash, need to get on with the rest of the work!

Too Hot!!!

Today was quite a slow day in terms of work generated. The room we are in at the moment is incredibly hot, so concentration has been low.

I've managed to plan what I'm putting in my sketchbook for the Graphic Design unit and have started working on my logo.

Unit 1 Ends!

This should be my last entry for the research unit now. I have created a CD with all the files I need and put it in my now finished sketchbook. EndCat has now ended this unit.

Blog entries for the foreseeable future will be for the Graphic Design unit.

Unit 1 Evaluation

Unit 1 has now been completed with the exception of running and organising a LAN party of our own. I'm just adding the finishing touches to my sketchbook and I'll burn a CD with all of my files during class on Monday.

I'm finding it much easier to write evaluations nowadays. When I started this course it was thing I dreaded the most, as I absolutely hated talking about my own work. Below are some thumbnails showing my completed evaluation. I have included it in my sketchbook.

It's nice to lay another unit to rest, especially if it's running alongside another. Now I to get on with the Graphic Design unit, which will have to wait until next week due to work commitments.

Research Case Study

I mentioned the essay I needed to do in one of my previous blog and I am happy to report it now finished. It is four pages long with with a selection of images carefully picked to make people willing to read it.

It has taken me a while to build up the motivation to finish it, having started it last week. I have used techniques I learnt during my workbook task, as the bibliography was a very important part of this task. I managed to use one of the examples from the workbook in my essay too, which I believed was an important thing to try and do. This way, it shows there is some progression from one task to the other.

I have included a copy in my sketchbook and on the CD I will be submitting for the unit.

Research Slideshow

After a short break I have started to get back on track. I have now completed a PowerPoint slideshow summarising the methodology of my research. I decided to include a picture (above) mainly to stop the page looking too boring.

The slideshow has been designed to last approximately 5mins. I have highlighted keywords that show my progression and thought process.

Unlike any previous slideshows I have created, this one is not very nice to look at and could be labelled quite boring. But I believe it shows the information required.

Research Workbook (02)

Last night I managed to finish the Research Workbook mentioned in a previous blog entry. This will be used as part of my evidence as well as help with the next task, which is to write an essay about the chosen subject.

Researching

Today I concentrated on my sketchbook, making sure things were annotated and all the notes were included. I also worked with my group to discuss the direction of our logo.

Everything else has been put on hold now while I complete the Research Booklet we recieved from the library. I will use new keywords found from various searches to expand my sources and knowledge.

The book will be added to my sketchbook and used to help me write an essay based on the focus of the workbook (Competition Gaming).

Marketing Department

After a very long night (and a couple of angry outbursts) I went into college today with very little to show for it. The mood boards were still in kit form, so I needed to talk through the images I had downloaded on to my hard drive from the internet.

I was able to speak clearly despite my nerves and covered all aspects of the concept. I explained that I had not looked at the different font types yet, but it was next on the agenda. I hope to get feedback on my small presentation so that I can add it to my sketchbook work.

I hope to have most of this work up-to-date again by next week.

Statement of Intent

I have been working on my initial statement of intent which I needed to finish before finalising my ideas for the mood boards.

It is mainly to detail how I intend to tackle the task and meet the requirements of the client, in this case the brief. It will also help me focus my ideas and keep me on track when working on other aspects of the unit.

I have included a copy in my sketchbook and will be included on the CD, which will be handed in at the end of the unit.

Mood Boards

Today was the first (and only) day we have had to work on our mood boards, required for Unit 18. Before today I did not even know what a mood board was, so before I could get on with the work I needed to research what they were before I could proceed.

First of all I looked on Google Images for visual examples of what I need to produce. I also looked at Wikipedia for information on what they are. Thanks to this and a document I downloaded from Moodle, I understand what a mood board is but I first need to establish what style it is I am trying to achieve.

The brief seems to be quite open and leaves me with a lot of choice on what I can cover. I have had quite a bit of trouble with this today so far, however, I am confident that once I find a direction, everything will progress smoothly again.

Company Name and Logo

As part of our design project we have been asked to come up with a company name for ourselves and a logo to go with it.

I have come up with a few names that I have added to my sketchbook. These were created by writing down anything that came to mind. I am working in a group and have discussed our individual ideas, deciding on the final name of Nova Cat. The next step is to come up with a logo design for the company, which is only in the initial design stage at present. The logo will need to be simple yet striking and be possible to create as a vector image.

Research Workbook

Our first task for Unit 1 involved a visit to the college library for a session on using the resources available. We did something along these lines when we first started college, however, this was a bit more detailed.

We now have workbooks to fill in, which we started in our last lesson. I also picked a booklet describing how to do the bibliography proprely. I will include both of these in my sketchbook.

New Units to Work On!

We have been given the briefs for the next units now. These are Unit 1 - Research, and Unit 18 - Digital Graphics.

They both look simple enough but I may have a bit of an issue with the timing required due to work commitments. However I shall attempt to keep up as best I can. This should be made easier by the fact that we can work in groups.

Unit 12 - Evaluation

This is the first unit I have done the unit evaluation on my blog and probably the last. Usually we have sketchbooks to work in, however, this time I have produced a small folder and all of the blog entries you see here.

I've never really taken to the whole blogging thing as I find it hard to update it regularly and usually end up typing all of my previously planned entries at once. I much prefer working in sketchbooks as I can lay them out as I see fit, and there's a sense of urgency about completing them that I just don't get with blogs.

Even so, I have learned a great deal about working from them. At times they are very convenient since you can quickly say what's on your mind without worrying about filling up the page (by which point you probably forgot what you planned on writing).

This was definitely the unit I had the most difficulty in doing. Unit 7 & 12 were supposed to run alongside each other, however, unit 7 started later than planned. This meant that unit 12 didn't seem to have any real purpose at first.
On top of this the entire unit was based around research and consisted mainly of written documents with the odd slideshow. I had a lot of difficulty getting motivated to get the work done.

We started off with Company Structures and Roles & Responsibilities. Using the project brief. This involved us looking for information about a company of our choice's development structures. As stated in my earlier blog entry I chose CAPCOM (view previous entry for details). This part was quite simple because of the quality of CAPCOM's corporate site.
The Roles & Responsibilities section was a different story. To get the information required I needed to look through several different websites.

The Project Management task we were asked to do was a little bit more interesting because we needed to create slideshow to show our understanding of it. As an additional part we needed to look at how project management was applied to a game title of our choice. This was slightly different from what the original brief stated, but provided me with some nice looking slides. It was this that prompted me to look for tutorials covering Flash slideshows, to enable me to integrate it into my own site as the unit 7 brief required.

Having been in the workplace for a number of years prior to this course I already had an understanding of Project Management, Contractual, Legal & Ethical Obligations, which made these tasks very tedious. At the same time I can understand the importance of them, and can now see how they apply to the games industry.

Throughout the unit I have been working on my own development planner detailing what I have learnt during the course of the project in terms of software knowledge. It is good to see how I am progressing and reminds me of what I have achieved so far.

This is my last blog entry for this unit. But before I finish off I should give an overall view of what the unit has been like. Though I found producing the content difficult, it has been completed and used on my now finished website. The length and style of some of the content has forced me to research the different software platforms I planned on using and changed my initial approach to the website unit to what it is now.

Design Plans

This will be the last entry based on the design of the site. I have included two images below showing my initial ideas and the progression from them.

These didn't take long to produce. After talking as a group with the course tutor I had a good idea of what I should and shouldn't do on my site.

Website Map

This is a map for my website. Originally created in MS Word, I used this when creating the layout for the site in Photoshop. I made this so that I would know how many buttons I would need for links etc, however, I still managed to forget the Ethics page right up until I was ready to create it. I decided to put the content on the Home Page instead.

The Website

I thought I would show you what my website looks like (see image below).

This is the links page, but all of the pages have roughly the same layout. All of the buttons have a rollover effect and link to another page, website or content. I will be including design scans in the next entry to show the layout.

Contractual, Legal & Ethical Obligations

I mentioned this piece of work in one of my previous entries, and it's one I really wasn't looking forward to. This document involved a lot of research and a lot of typing to answer the questions set out in the brief.

We watched a couple of videos on the Ethics involved in recent video games and how they influence the people playing them.

Link to video

The video shown above claimed to be a scientific study to determine whether violent video games influence children in a negative way. To me it seemed to be condeming them from the start and had already made the decision before hand. It was painful to watch, but forms part of my research for this task.

I also looked at the BECTU website to help with the contractual side of the task. For some of the specifics I used several sources including experience from my previous job (holiday, health & safety).

I visited the BBFC and PEGI websites to get information on the legal side of things.

Development Planner

I decided shortly after my previous entry that I wanted to use Flash for the main content area on my site. Flash gives me more freedom with visuals than Dreamweaver does.

Moving on, I have created a planner in MS Excel to help me organise my own work and learning. Having done planning during one of the previous units, I decided to apply what I had learnt to these units.

Using the previous unit's planner as a template I created a new one with content to suit the current work.

I have also added a sheet to help me keep track of what I had to learn.

General Update

I'm overdue for an update again so I thought I would bring everything up to speed with this entry. We have started working on another unit alongside Unit 12, covering Web Design. These two units go hand-in-hand, as one will be producing content for the other.

I submitted my PowerPoint presentation as I said I would in my last entry and have been given a further task for the unit covering Contractual, Legal & Ethical Obligations. This will take the form of a Word document and will be used as content for the website I have been asked to create.

I have also been producing work for Unit 7 - Web Design which will become content for the site. The first task was to research a web technology, this could have been anything from Web Browsers or Flash, to Scripting Languages etc.
The second was to create an integratable slideshow about design issues. This was done by reviewing examples of Good, Bad and Dynamic websites.

Currently I am looking for tutorials and information which might be useful when creating my own website. I haven't decided whether I'm using Dreamweaver or Flash yet but I will decide by early next week how I'm going to proceed.

Project Management

We have been asked to create a PowerPoint presentation saying what Project Management is. So I've spent what little free time I have between college and work researching the subject and how it applies to the video games industry. the presentation is 15 slides long so I won't be posting any images from it this time.

I will be submitting it tomorrow.

Company Profile & Structure

Following on from my previous entry which detailed my draft for this piece of work, I have now uploaded my Company Profile & Structure document together with my Roles & Responsibilities document.

Above is my Roles & Responsibilities document showing the different jobs in the games industry and what they do.

Here is my finished structure document. This was more difficult than expected due to lack of information on actual production processes used by Capcom. Instead I found general info and applied it in a way that was most likely to be used by them. This was achieved using Capcom's annual report from 2009, showing their development setup.

Developers & Publishers

During Wednesday's lesson we were working on our research of games developers and publishers using the internet. I've decided to look at my favourite company, CAPCOM, who are both developer and publisher. They are resposible for some of my favourite series' of all time including; Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry.

Their corporate website is very impressive, with annual reports, company history and information on the different market sectors they cover. It has been a challenge just going through the amount of data available. As a result I was only able to make a small start typing the document we are required to produce. I stuggled to find any reference to production processes in general at first, but now I have a couple of websites to look through that may aid me in creating a flow chart.

I have uploaded a draft of the document on Moodle as requested by the tutor, and am working on it when I can over the weekend (when I'm not at work). I plan to include a more detailed history of the company before describing the production processes used by CAPCOM and other similar companies and finishing off with a flowchart. When this is completed I will upload a copy to this blog.

Unit 12 - Understanding the Games Industry

As one set of units finish another take their place. From here on my blog will cover Unit 12 of my college course, Understanding the Games Industry.

The Future Beckons

Here it is. The moment I've been waiting for, and hopefully you too! My completed 2 minute animation, The Future Beckons.



I've had a few late nights during the past week as well as a small bout of sickness, but now it all seems worth it. Especially as I can look at my final piece and say " I did that!". Obviously I didn't upload the full quality version, instead this one was compressed using MPEG4 at 480x348 resolution.

I need to get some feedback on it a.s.a.p. so if you have the time please feel free to leave a comment about it. Enjoy!

Vintage Film

I finally managed to find a video with similar colouring to that which I want to use in my own animation. I found this a short while ago and meant to make this post before the previous one (better late than never).



Obviously I want mine to be a higher quality picture, but at the same time I want to capture this kind of feel. From what I've managed to create of my animation I think it's going well. Hopefully I can keep it up right up to completion.

Cel Animation

I've decided to use a form of cel animation for my final piece rather than any of the others I have researched. In this method, characters are drawn on cels and laid over a static background drawing. This reduces the number of times an image has to be redrawn (source). Disney were well known for their use of cel animation, but they stopped using this process in 1990. Their last film made using it was The Little Mermaid.

My method is slightly different from the traditional one. Firstly I'm not using acetate mainly due to budget. Secondly I will be using After Effects to place the cel footage on the background rather than shooting it. You may be wondering how I've managed to do the frames without acetate. I actually used normal plain paper and a home made light box to draw the sequences.

You may remember one of my previous entries showing the penguin animation test consisting of about four frames. Below shows the continuation of that test with about eight frames drawn for the penguin.



The finished scene, which will be used in my final animation, will contain multiple penguins. I'm really quite proud of what I've managed to create and I hope you like it too.

Animation Research

I've been looking at different animation styles that I can use in my final project, or in future projects.

I decided to make my own stop motion animation to form part of my research and looked for some examples on YouTube. I managed to find a very entertaining video (below). If you want to see the whole picture you may have to double click on the video to open it in YouTube.



I kept mine short and simple, using only an A4 piece of paper and a piece of cardboard to cut shapes from. I used an Olympus SP-500UZ camera to take the photographs. So without further ado, here is my first stop motion animation.



The hardest part of this animation was rendering it. I have several renders using different qualities and codecs. In the end I had to just export it from After Effects so that I could upload it. 42 photographs were taken in total.

Copyright Quiz

Just a short entry this time. Today I took the quiz which forms part of the unit, and am happy to report that I got 100%. I would like to mention that some of the questions could have been worded better, particularly the one involving a copyright agency.

The Future Beckons - Animatic

This is one step further on from my storyboard. An animatic is essentially an animated storyboard which allows you to check the timing for each scene and give you a rough idea of what your final animation will look like. Below is my animatic for the project. I took one scene out for this upload (known in this version only as 'SECRET') to keep it a surprise.



I find it's a bit boring to watch in this form but I can see why one would be required for a project such as this. I've included a rough soundtrack to give a better idea of pace and the atmosphere I'm aiming for.

Storyboards

I thought it was about time I put my storyboards up here. They didn't take long as I already had a firm idea of what I wanted to achieve.

I also created an alternate ending to my animation which I have also storyboarded. I actually prefer it to the original ending but it doesn't explain the world this is based in well enough.

If I have time I would like to make this ending anyway.

My First Stickman Animation

I've just followed a tutorial on YouTube showing how to make an animation in Flash using a stickman. This was the first time I had ever used Flash so I was expecting it to be a lot harder than it was. I expect some of the functions in Flash can get quite complicated but for now I'm happy with what I've managed to to.



It's not great I know, but it was made in the space of half an hour. At the end it looks like he's been dragged off stage by an invisible cane, but it's amusing at least.

Once I get more proficient with the layout and tools I believe I could make some very high quality animations with it, especially if I use it in conjunction with Illustrator.

I think Flash has a very distinctive look to it so I'm reluctant to use it in my final animation.

Production Documents

As with all things in todays world there is paperwork involved in animation. In this case we have been asked to create a Client Proposal Document and planners for our projects.

Though the timing between our pre-production and the 2D animation units was a little off due to the weather, I have managed to get an understanding of how pre-production works and how important it is in the industry.

I first set out to do the Client Proposal document. Using the information provided on Moodle I was able to create my first draft. I struggled a little bit with the abstract as I needed to find out what it meant, beyond the stylistic reference.
Yesterday I was able to finish this document, so all I need to do now is work on the planner side of things.

I have managed to complete a draft planner using the template provided. As usual with Excel spreadsheets I believe I can make it look nice as well as functional, so I have begun work on the new look version which I hope to have ready before final submission of this unit. I would like to think that I can use this new look spreadsheet in the future.
Getting back to the essentials we need to produce two of these planners for our projects. One is to show when we plan to start and finish aspects of the project. The other is to show when we actually managed to get them done.
After this we will be writing a short evaluation comparing the two.

I'm hoping to get all of these finished by early next week.

How'm I Lookin?!

Let's step away from the animation side of things for a moment and have a look at my blog... yes I know you're looking at it now! I mean the way it looks.

Blogger is customisable with different themes and gadgets as you know. So far I've had three different themes for my blog. The first one was the default look which was quickly changed to one of the many themes you can download from here. Thinking about the look of my animation I chose the one called One More Night. It looks nice and the colours are similar those I want to see in my finished piece. However, navigating around my own blog became a hassle, with some functions no longer working.

What you see now is the result of having got fed up with One More Night. It's simple, easy to navigate round and you can't really go wrong with black...

Changing the subject a little bit, you may have noticed my pet penguins to the right here (they're great aren't they?!). I quite often end up dragging them of screen and seeing how long it takes them to waddle back on. There are more gadgets available from aBowman (I highly recommend the Hamster if you're looking for one).
As you would have guessed I picked the penguins as they relate to my animation, but they are cute.

March of the Penguins

As you all know my animation is all about penguins, so it seemed fitting that I watch one of the best known documentaries of all time. Recently I purchased the DVD of March of the Penguins to form part of my research materials. It's probably the best source I can get without acually going to the South Pole (and I really don't plan on doing that!).

Having watched the film I can say my respect for these creatures, as high as it was before, has increased dramatically. It surprises me that they've not become extinct based on the hardships they have to endure. I really recommend watching it if you haven't done so already.

Anyway, looking at it specifically for my animation requirements the film provided me with reference materials for all of the Emperor Penguins I would like to include, and their movements.

First Animation Test

Over the past few days (when I've had time between work hours)I've been drawing some of the frames for my animation. To make sure I was on the right track I decided to create a very short video, making sure there was enough difference between each picture.



It seems to be ok, despite only being a second long . I will clean up the images I've created so far, as well as draw the rest to finish the complete movement of the penguin. I will probably need to adjust the timing on each frame but I'll get to that at a later point.

General Update

This entry is a bit late I'm afraid, so I'll take this opportunity update you on status of my animation work.
I've been doing a lot of research into various aspects of my planned animation. The first things I looked for were pictures of penguins I could use for reference.

Above is an example of one of the images I found (and probably one of my favourites).

Not only have I been looking at penguins, but also 1920's style buildings and artwork. Art deco was the style of the time, which has clean, strong lines. I will be incorporating this look into my animation.

Aside from research, I've completed my treatment covering my animation idea. This includes the subject, structure, visuals, sound, technique and target audience. I've also finished my initial storyboards. The next step is to create an animatic to help bring my ideas together, get the timing right and see if it will be entertaining.

Even though I have a strong idea on how I want the finished piece to look, I plan on researching different animation styles I could potentially use instead (e.g rotascope). This means I will probably try experimenting with them too. Not only will this give me bigger scope, but also give me experience in different methods.

At the moment I am working on my Client Production document, which seems to be an extension of the treament I completed previously. This document goes into much greater detail on what's involved in the animation. I will have finished this before my next entry.