FINAL POST: 1 February 2010- Final Consultation in Week 16

Today is the day I finished my animation...almost. My animation is completed, but it’s missing credits, audio, and more importantly, the necessary edits.

Also, my lecturer pointed out that in Shot 40, the horizon needs to have trees.
So, now, it is time to put in the numerous amends needed.
* Rainy shots (thicker rain and rain dots)
* Improve the mouths.
* Correct movement in Shots 6&7 and Shots 8&9.
* Add more movement for Shots 26&27.
* Put fog for flashback sequence.
* Redraw ¼ views.
* Skipper should bend more in Shot 37.
* And maybe a lot more…

Animation done…time to edit!

UPDATE: This happens to be my last blog post. As of now, I am 95% done. All that is needed to do is the report and documentation, and my submission will be on Feb 11 at 11am. Wish me luck, it had been fun ☺

26 January 2010- 1st Consultation in Week 15

I finally completed my so-called important shots, and so I showed them to Mr. Ronald today. While he was fine with a few shots, he said that it needs more action, like the conveying of rejection:

* Shots 26 & 27: The girl bunny should lift her hand behind up and wobble it a little, instead of letting it rest.
* Shots 26 & 27: The boy bunny who is facing front should wave his palms.
* Shots 26 & 27: The boy bunny who is facing the side should also wave his hand and put one hand on his head.

Wow, looks like I have a lot of editing to do. I hope to finish production by this Friday, and I have four shots left. Then, it will be editing over the weekend.

21 January 2010- Interim 2

VERY VERY IMPORTANT NOTE TO SELF:
* NEVER EVER BE LATE.
* COME 15 MINUTES BEFORE PRESENTATION
* FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN FAILURE AND THUS, WASTED EFFORT

Still, although I was nearly 10 minutes late, I have to thank the lecturers for giving me a chance. * Phew *
So I showed my lecturers my Gantt chart- from this week until Week 17- and improved animatic (and informed them that I am in the middle of a few important shots).
They said that I still have a lot of editing to do, and they pointed out the main problems lie in the rainy shots and flashback shots.
* For the rainy shots, a variety of dots are needed. Also, the lecturers were kind enough to spare a moment in demonstrating the creation of 3D rain and cartoon rain.
* For the flashback sequence, my lecturers also taught me to add a white foggy mask to create that “reminiscing” effect. Ah, it was half-way the demo that I remembered that they taught “masking” in a previous module. =_=

Well, those were the so-called main edits. It is now back to production, and considering how fast time is ticking, I better complete production quickly…

19 January 2010- Consultation in Week 14

I am nearly in the last stretch of production, but I am feeling unmotivated and unproductive...when I really need to be since I am now stuck with the harder shots.

Anyway, I have only managed to do one shot since the last consultation…so I suppose it is less mistakes.
* Shot 19- The quarter-back-view of the cat looks really wrong, I have to re-draw it. Also, the arm of the bunny girl moves too continuously and needs pauses.

This is all for the consultation today (it was just one shot). Back to production, and Interim 2 is on Thursday and Friday…

15 January 2010- Mini-interim in Week 13

Ever since the last consultation, I have done around three more shots, and thus completed my ‘flashback sequence’…or so I thought.
When I showed my completed ‘flashback sequence’ to Mr. Ronald, he pointed out yet again a few more edits:
* Shot 37- the skipper needs to bend more before he jumps up.
* Shot 40- from behind, the legs in motion look very wrong.
So what to do, now that Interim 2 is just next Thursday?
* Continue with production.
* Make as much edits as possible.
* Make a new Gantt chart from Week 14 to 17.
For now, it’s back to production…

11 January 2010- Mid-Point Review in Week 12 and First Consultation of Week 13

My apologies for not blogging last week, I was pretty much behind schedule and distracted (so I re-shuffled my schedule to get me back on track).

Anyway, this is what happened last week on 5 January for Mid-Point Review. Basically, a lot of edits needed to be made, especially with the rainy scenes.
* Edit the mouth (add a lower lip) and hair (make a bit rounder) of cat.
* Remove the wind in Shots 8&9.
* Make whiskers stop moving in the shots where the cat is moving.
* Thicken the rain for the rainy scenes. (Thickness: 20)
* Put raindrops on bunny’s hand in rainy scenes.
* Shot 21: Make feet move on a lower plane.
* Shot 32: Add rain-dots on trees and cat, and pan with the rain
* Shot 34: Make rain more transparent and fall faster.
* Most importantly, in Shots 8&9, DON’T TWEEN. Animate one frame by one frame.

I plan to do these edits as soon as I am done with production by late-January (God-willing I follow my schedule accordingly).
Now, onto consultation today; I showed Mr. Ronald the shots I worked on since the mid-point review (Shots 25, 30, 33, 38, 42), and these are the edits I need to make for them:
* Shot 25: Move the waving hand closer to the body.
* Shot 30: Hold the “open-mouth” longer for eight frames.
* Shot 38: For the girl-cat, make feet on ground level. Lighten color of mouths and nose. Make cat close her eyes and sigh longer.
* Add a variety of sizes for rain-dots.

That is all for now. Time to continue with production and keep to the schedule.

4 January 2010- Consultation in Week 12

From the last consultation, I managed to do the necessary edits and also produced ‘two’ more shots…one of which involved a head-turn that took me hours to do. (NOTE TO SELF: Listen to your peers, and do a 3D model of your character to help with reference).

So after putting in the new shots and edits into my improved animatic, I showed it to Mr. Ronald. Sad to say, there still was a problem with Shots 6&7 and 8&9.
* I should not be tweening the walk cycle in Shots 8 & 9. I should be animating it bit by bit. This can take a lot of layers and a long while…
* Use a dissolve transition between Shots 6&7 and Shots 8&9.
* The wind in Shots 8&9 should be thinner.
* In Shots 6&7, the two male bunnies walking in the background should alternate.

Guess these edits should be left till after production or the next scheduled break. Mr. Ronald also pointed out some minor edits in a few more shots:
* In Shot 21, the feet should lift off faster.
* In Shot 32, raindrops should be added on the trees and character.

This is all for now…I shall continue with production. Mid-review critiques are tomorrow and Wednesday.