My Honours Project - The Extended Cut
Hi once again to the handful of readers. Like many of my fellow students, our honours project blogs have become pretty neglected in the months after completion. I too thought I was done with the project side of things hence the tumbleweed.
When I first returned from my meningitis hiatus, it was agreed that I would aim for completing my project in time for our showcase and would write my dissertation afterwards. Under normal circumstances, the dissertation is written at the same time as the project. For someone recovering from a brain inflammation, doing all that at once would not have been much fun.
Once I had caught up on all my semester one hand-in’s it became a case of tweaking some of my projects aims with the new time schedule and starting the fun task of cramming an honours project into 2 months. The deadline of 20th May was looming and with me handing my project in on the same day of my showcase opening I had mixed emotions. It felt great to have met the deadline which gave me an initial sense of relief but as a result my showcase was a bit lacking. Either way, the party that night felt well deserved and was thoroughly enjoyed.
A week or so later, lecturers wandered around the showcase to moderate people’s work and agree upon a grade. When it came to mine it was agreed that perhaps 2 months wasn’t enough time. So, as well as my dissertation, I’ve been given an extension on beefing up my project some more as well.
“If you knew that then where the hell have you been?” I hear you cry. “Pipe down” I say. I planned on taking some time off. I only managed about a weekend of being bored. I think one of the things about spending 6 or 7 weeks doing nothing at the start of the year has turned me into a bit of a workaholic.
With some of my friends receiving offers or opportunities off the back of their honours projects I worried that I might get left behind in the career stakes. So naturally I swallowed my pride a bit and just straight up asked people if I could join their projects/if they could put in a good word for me.
Next thing I knew I was working on a promotional video for Food Research for uni and had been asking about the visual effects on an indie film called “Boat” (check out their website btw and you’ll see why I wanted to work on it - boatthefilm.com). Since wrapping the promo video I’ve been working on water tests for Boat as the film is set in a flooded Edinburgh. What was naively thought to be a quite simple task was slowly starting to take up more and more of my time. One slight change to the water would take 15 minutes to preview each time. Trying to juggle this with more hours at work and the extensions for my dissertation and project started taking their toll a bit. Alarm bells started ringing and I had to re-prioritise. Not wanting to let anyone down made this quite difficult.
I could waste energy talking about how if everything had gone to plan this year I’d have finished the same time as everyone else and would have had enough free time but there’s no point dwelling on an “if”. So, I’ve had to speak up and put uni back at the top of the list, which is arguably where it should always be. Once that’s done I’ll have more free time but before all that, it’s time to knuckle down and do the best I can.
In what seems to be a recurring theme with any return posts from me, I’ve rambled long enough. Expect to see some more activity here again in the coming weeks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, my honours project in video form. Thanks again to all those who helped me out whether it be acting for me for reference, lending me some 3D models, creating an amazing rig for the world to use, giving me some of your music or most importantly, giving me feedback - thanks again to every last one of you.
(Source: vimeo.com)
Emotion Through Motion Test 4 If you’ve got time, could you please answer the following questions about the accompanying animation. Thank you. Animation created by me using the Morpheus Rig. Chair and laptop model by Kyle Anderson
1. Which emotion is this character conveying?
2. Can you think of an example scenario where this animation would work? i.e. the character has just been told some good/bad news.
3. Did the character design prejudice your opinion of the performance?
4. Was the emotion clear without facial animation?
If you’ve got time, could you please answer the following questions about the accompanying animation. Thank you. Animation created by me using the Morpheus Rig. Chair and laptop model by Kyle Anderson
1. Which emotion is this character conveying?
2. Can you think of an example scenario where this animation would work? i.e. the character has just been told some good/bad news.
3. Did the character design prejudice your opinion of the performance?
4. Was the emotion clear without facial animation?
(Source: vimeo.com)
JIMMY JAB
Updates have been sparse round these parts, as is often the case around crunchtime. 3 weeks now of 9am-9pm shifts at uni so don’t take this silence as a sign of ignorance. Been a busy boy.
Anyhoo, this is a Playblast of a shot from the animation I’ve been working on, where the character Jimmy is trying to get his older brother, Bob’s attention.
It’s not complete yet, needs some tightening up on timing and some secondary animation added to Bob and ain’t a final render either but the observant among you will notice the leotards are gone. They thankfully no longer look like a family of gymnasts.
I’ve been rendering as I go and we have a deadline for the uni showreel tomorrow that can last up to a minute so expect some final shots soon.
Enough rambling, there’s work to be done.
Credit for the rig and character in this shot again goes to Josh Burton
(Source: vimeo.com)
Animation Maths
5 steps in 6 seconds
6x24=144 frames
Start at frame 72+144=End cycle on frame 216
144 frames/5 steps = 1 step every 28.8 (29) frames
This is how to plan animation, where’s my dope sheet?
If you’ve got time, could you please answer the following questions about the accompanying animation. Thank you.
Animation created by me using the Morpheus Rig. Chair model by Kyle Anderson
1. Which emotion is this character conveying?
2. Can you think of an example scenario where this animation would work? i.e. the character has just been told some good/bad news.
3. Did the character design prejudice your opinion of the performance?
4. Was the emotion clear without facial animation?
(Source: vimeo.com)
Jazz hands people! Been animating with the Morhpy Rig, created by Josh Burton and friends.
This rig is an absolute godsend and has allowed me to just focus on animation, which is what my honours project is about. While I appreciate a skilled modeller and rigger, I’m not being marked on these areas of the animation process, but on the performances.
Richard Williams, Animator’s Survival Kit - Animated (2008).
Ironic and poignant quote that’s going to help me plan my animation appropriately
