Story Animation

Main Point

The main scope of this project was for us to learn how to put many animation skills together into a complete story with a beginning middle and end. We had to use the animation techniques that we had been learning throughout the quarter and find a way to put them all together. This was also my first larger animation so I was also learning project management and how to use time effectively and find ways to make things more simple.

 Process

This project had a very long process including preparation work and creation of backgrounds/ characters, then animation work trying to bring it all together and even editing after the final was done and feedback had been received to try and make the animation better. The time spent one these areas was very large but overall was worth it and the result of the project was worth all the work.

Pre Creation 

The first step was to brainstorm for ideas I could use on the project such as the tank escape or maybe a robot destroying a city, most of these ideas got scratched early on and he final idea for a tiki getting captured and then escaping was picked. Then I created a plan for my animation including a story line pyramid and story boards. After that I tried to figure out what would be the easiest was to create the many scenes and how I could reuse backgrounds to make the project a little easier. Then I drew my main characters and used a scan to put them into the computer.

Creation

Once on the computer the first thing I did was take the original character scans and use the paint bucket tool to color them in and then use the paintbrush tool to give them ams and legs. Next I started to create the backgrounds for my story which took a lot of time due to the fact that my story took place in a rainforest and there is a lot of detail that I had to put into making the trees and vines look right. This was defiantly the most time consuming part of creating everything for the animation but did turn out looking how I wanted it. Then I went back through h and created the other prop type objects I would need and fixed or fine tuned anything I found that looked off when I was double checking.

Animation

At this stage I was ready to combine everything into one final animation but it would not be as easy as I thought. To create a story with multiple scenes in Adobe Premier you are required to create multiple compositions and add them all together into a final composition. The individual compositions each gad to be made as if I working on operate projects and they took up large amounts of time trying to figure out how I could make things look the way I wanted

Change

If I were to redo parts of the project I would use the critics I got from my class to help me know what would be best to change. The first thing I would change would be to make some of the walk cycles more smooth and keep the feet from slipping as much. I would also take more time on making the trees that are further back look more faded and have less detail so that it looks more like they are far away. Another thing that could be better is I could connect the scene where the tiki falls in the hole and the next scene where he's in a cage better so that it makes more sense.

Favorite

My favorite part of my animation is the overall art works and how all of it looks like its the same style and that it all looks like it goes together, I think this is a very important part of an animation so that it looks like one complete animation not a bunch of things thrown together. I also like my tiki characters and think they are well done and help add a lot to the story.

                                   Takeaway 

The biggest take away for me from this project would be project management because this being our first larger scale project and I had a lot of things to get done for my animation Sometimes it was hard to find time for everything. I found that keeping your files organized and knowing what you want to have done by certain times is very helpful in keeping things running smoothly and making sure the project ends up done on time.

Conclusion

In conclusion this project was a lot of fun and taught me a lot about how to manage my time and eep things on track but didn't come with its struggles. The project has helped prepare me for other large projects in the future and proved to be a very valuable experience. although there are things that could be worked on more I am overall very pleased with the results of my project and am very glad I put the time into it that I did so that I could make it who I wanted.

Castle Project

Main Point

For our first 3D animation project we had to build a castle which helped teach us a lot of the tools in Maya and help us get used to the program. For me the main point of doing this project was to get used to Maya because it is very different than other programs I am used to and all the controls on it can be very confusing.

Process

Before we started on this project we had to learn the basic controls of Maya through instructional videos and then also we watched our teacher create a castle and talk through what he was doing so that we had some idea of the process before starting. Then we stated creating our own castles staring with making one tower by combining cylinders through the difference and union tool. We then took the top of the tower and used the extrude tool to raise every other face making a castle top look. Next we copied our tower 4 times and made was in-between the towers. Finally the door was cut out by combining a cylinder and cube and then citing them out of the wall. To add some personalization I added color, a moat, and a hill for the castle to rest on.

Learning 

While doing this project I learned a lot about how to use Maya and about some of the cool things that it allows you to do with shapes. For the project i mainly use the extrude, booleans (union, difference), basic shapes tools and also the color tool. I also learned how to change between four perspective window and the one perspective window. These windows made working on my castle much easier because sometimes you want to see four perspectives at once but other times it is better to have a close up of one perspective. The hardest thing we learned was how to add texture to our castles because the process was kinda confusing and messing up one or two things could mess all of it up. Finally I learned how to switch between object mode and face mode and why using these two modes can help make creating the project much easier.

Change

If I could redo this project the ting i would change is make my castle have five towers and be in more of a pentagon shape or try to add more small details such as cannons or flags for the castle. I feel like these would help make my castle more unique and interesting.

Favorite

My favorite part of my castle is the moat because it is something I figured out how to do by myself and isn't something that was required for the project r taught but just something I wanted to add. I would defiantly keep the moat if I redid the project and I would also keep the double layered walls because it helps the castle look more realistic.

Takeaway

My main take away from this project is that when doing 3D animation keep things simple at the start and make them more complicated later. this project helped teach me that if you make the project fit the requirements first and make it simple but well made it is then easier to add things and make it more complex. If you try to complicate things early problems can arise and not always be easily fixed.

Conclusion

In conclusion this project was very fun and taught me a lot about how Maya works and how it can be used to make many interesting and fun things. There were some difficult parts if the project but by running into them now i am more prepared for them in the future and will be able to deal with them more efficiently on a large project.

How to Create a J and L Edit

What they are for

J and L edits are used to make videos more interesting to watch by putting B roll over an interview sound byte so the viewer does not have to watch someone talk for long amounts of time.

 What is a J and L Edit

A J edit is when a sound byte has been playing from an interview and you have been watching someone talk but then it changes to a B roll clip but the person's voice from the interview is still going and you are still hearing there response. A L edit is similar but occurs at the start of the interview sound byte. you are watching B roll when the voice starts form the interview sound byte but B roll still plays over it then changing to the interview vide after a while.

How to

To create a J or L edit the first step is to have video from an interview and video for B roll.

Next import them both into the video editing program you will use.

Then drag the video into you time line to prepare to edit. (shown below)

Now that you have the clips we want to use you need to unlink the video from the audio so they can be moved independently form one another.

Then create you L edit by clipping part of your interview video at the beginning off and deleting it. Then move your B roll video into this space (shown below). Line up the audio from your b roll under the audio of the interview and make sure to turn the volume level down so the interview can be heard over it. If done properly when you play the video the interview sound will be over B roll

As seen above the videos overlap each other.

Now to create a J edit you delete a small amount off the end of the interview video, delete it and move the B roll clip into this space once again you must put the B roll audio under the Interview audio and turn the volume level down. (seen below)

Thats the end now you know how to create J and L edits and can make your videos much more interesting to view which will extend your audiences. 

Feature Story

What I Did 

For my latest project I did a feature story on the affect of new teachers on the school environment. This topic seemed interesting to me due to the fact that we have lots of new teachers this year in part because of our new principle. I interviewed 3 students on what they think new teachers are brining to the classroom and what they think these teachers can improve on.

The Process 

Pre interview

To create this video I had to first brainstorm a topic and decided what angle I was going to take on the story. This was one of the most difficult parts since there are so many topics to chose from and the angle you can take on your video drives everything that comes after including the interview and final project. Next I set up my interviews and started to brainstorm questions for my interview keeping in mind the angle 

Interview

During my interview I had to find good angles for the camera and make sure there wasn't to much headroom while filming. The most difficult part of the interview was making sure I got enough footage for my video and was able to cover everything I needed.

Post interview 

After the interview I had to film B roll and create and record a voice over to put in my video. finally edit the video and sound to make it a complete feature story. I then exported my video and posted it to my Youtube account.

Conclusion

This video was a lot of fun to film and helped me learn a lot about how to set up and conduct an interview. I also was able to learn a lot about how much natural sound can add to a video and how J and L edits really help add appeal to a video. My favorite part of my video is my interview clip, I feel like they are good quality and i was able to use them to tell my story. If i could go back and fix anything I would film more B roll.

Interview

For our second project in class we picked partners and interview them about their summer vacation. Through this project we learned how to setup an interview, what type of questions you ask while interviewing and also how to write a voice over and create b roll. Our final product did not include b roll or images over audio from voice over due to time restrains and inability to take video of the places our partner visited over the summer.
If I were going to do this project again I would change the angle of the camera during the interview so my interviewee is facing more towards the camera and i would make sure i know my angle of the story before I interview. The biggest thing I would change would be even out the sound when I am editing the video. I would keep my questions the same and the order in which I had my clips in the final package.

Procedure

For our first class project we created a video on class procedures. My group decided to do a video on classroom procedures. we wanted o have some fun with it so we made the video focus mainly about what not to do and then show what to do after. We had lots of collaboration in our video wee we tried to get the class to help act and our teacher to play a role also.                      To create our video we had to first story board and figure out what scenes we wanted in the video. Next we had to get people to act in the video and also figure out where we were going to shoot our video. next we shot all  the clips we would need for the final video and uploaded them to the computer. Finally we edited the video and exported it into a video file.

Along the way i learned many things including how to use adobe primere to edit my video. this was a brand new program to me but was not that hard to figure out. I also learned how to use the panasonic ac 90 cameras and tripods to help make my shots crisper and more steady.

If i were to do this project again I would change the music and spend more time trying to find music that fits. I would also think through my shots longer to make sure I could get all 6 shots into my video and add more emotion and a better story. i really liked the some of the scenes in the video and would keep them if I were to redo the video. I would also keep the people acting in the video the same since they did a good job.

Final porject

Future Inc. Teleporter 

For our final project we had to make a product and work with a team of 4 to pitch it to our classmates including graphics, a video and a animation in our presentation. 

Teamwork

Our group worked well together with making sure we all knew what we were supposed to be doing and giving positive feedback but also constructive criticism when needed. We helped pickup what others couldn't do when needed so they had more time to get there part done.

Our team struggled with getting all parts of our project finished since our final website was not finished and we also struggled with the final presentation. 

How we could improve

Next time we could plan out our presentation at the end better so everyone knows what to say and it flows smoother. we could also manage time better to get our final website finished on time.

My Part

I have improved on my time management and video editing during this project along with my ability to work well in group.

During this project I made the product model in the animation and combined the parts of the animation to make the final animation. I also help with coming up with shots and scenes in the video and did part of the final editing. The final logo was made by me I also helped on one of the web flyers.