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July 28, 2008
new stopmo demo clip
by sven at 7:00 am
There's a job opening at Laika right now for assistant animators. I'm applying.
Most of my animation so far has been character-driven... So to round things out a bit, I put together some clips of inanimate objects.
The work was done last week over the course of two days. The forest set was recycled, but everything else was made from scratch (including the flower).
I probably could have squeezed out another clip in the time I allotted myself... But at the beginning I got unnecessarily bogged down with hi-def workflow. It was taking 40 sec to capture a frame -- and then, later, 60 sec to translate RAW format to jpg. After the first project was done, I downgraded to a DV video capture workflow -- which made things go much more speedily.
I did my first significant work with rigging and rig-removal. Obviously it was necessary for the leaf. But surprisingly, the red ball needed a rig too. I couldn't find another way to keep it from rolling away from me that didn't also make the ball impossible to animate precisely. The rig wound up acting like an axle.
Lesson learned, though: A white background will show every little mismatch between your clean plate and the frame you're PhotoShopping. Not fun.
I'm excited about the leaf clip. It's the closest I think I've come to translating my 2D aesthetics to 3D. It has my brain burbling with new possibilities.
posted by sven | July 28, 2008 7:00 AM | comments (12) | categories: stopmo
Comments
I must say it all looks great!! Graphically the leaf is very exciting. However, I must admit the animation of the leaf feels a bit unnatural. When the leaf begins to dive downward after it floats into frame, the sudden change in direction feels too abrupt. It might have had a more dynamic flow to it if you had continued it on its slow descent (in an organic figurure 8 pattern) before getting caught in a violent gust of wind. And maybe even having a second leaf or three to motivate the sudden gust. That way you could clearly show the speed changes between gliding and dipping, and really punctuate it with the gust of wind at the end. The way it reads now, it's like your leaf stem hits an invisible stopper then glides upward again. Again, I say this with the best of intentions. But just remember, don't let your rig dictate your actions.
Posted by: gaijinking at July 28, 2008 9:05 AM
i think gaijinking is probably right about the leaf. i know you had ideas about 2 or 3 objects in the same space (not necessarily interacting), but it's still lovely & i'm very excited to hear that it represents a style you want to explore further. crossing my fingers!
Posted by: gl. at July 28, 2008 5:35 PM
Ooooooo, new stop mo from you :) Yay! Nice job on the flower blossom, and I love the look of the set for the leaf, I thought for a second I was looking at a windswept plain, then realized, nope, fur...very painterly...and speaking of, I'm loving the sketchbook entries too...
Good luck with the assistant animator gig!
Posted by: ubatuber at July 29, 2008 2:06 PM
Hi Kelly! ...It's nice to see you here -- I've read your comments on SMA, and Mike Brent's credited some pithy stopmo wisdom to you in email exchanges a few times.
I see what you mean about the sudden change of directions. A figure 8 would have been a good way to go. And having a couple more leaves in action -- yeah, that would have helped sell it...
Thanks for the input -- I really appreciate it!
Posted by: sven at July 29, 2008 11:11 PM
@gl.-Thanks for the crossed fingers! The waiting is a killer... But I think the thing to do now is just sit tight and not look desperate. (callmecallmecallmecallme)
@Uba-Thanks, man! Yeah, I'm really happy with the painterly look... It has me aching to go lock myself in the studio to explore this direction further... But we've got a house guest coming this week -- so no go.
I should have taken more photos of the flower while making it... The petals have four layers of aluminum foil laminated together with 2 layers of tissue paper on each side (4 paper layers).
Gotta find myself some aluminum or tin foil that's more heavy duty...
Posted by: sven at July 29, 2008 11:21 PM
SUPER AWESOME NEWS man!!!
jeez.....you guys are totally killing me with the LAIKA animator jobs.
I am so jealous....and I wish you the very best man. I truly believe you have a shot.
good luck and keep posting animation...I love it when you do.
jriggityPosted by: justinrasch at July 30, 2008 2:27 AM
Hey Sven, for stronger foil you could either get some blackwrap from a grip site like Setshop: http://www.filmtools.com/blacstudfoil.html (about twice as thick/strong as regular aluminum foil) ... or get some of those aluminum pie pans to scavenge for smaller pieces of foil.
Posted by: darkstrider at July 30, 2008 11:40 PM
Oh, and if you do end up getting blackwrap (I'd recommend it.... great stuff to have on hand for controlling slight spill and so many more jobs), you should also treat yourself to some honest-to-goodness gaffer tape. Better than any masking tape or duct tape or electrical tape I've ever used. Something similar might be available in hardware stores or something, but if so I've never seen it. Masking tape is weak, and made to be easily removable, electrical tape is... well, pretty much crap! And duct tape has that insane super-sticky adhesive that gums up and never comes off! Gaffer tape is the perfect medium if you ask me.
Posted by: darkstrider at July 30, 2008 11:44 PM
LIGHT spill... not slight spill! For slight spills paper towels will work!
Posted by: darkstrider at July 30, 2008 11:46 PM
Pie pans!! Great idea! :)
Posted by: ubatuber at July 31, 2008 2:05 PM
the leaf rules! very nice.
Posted by: grant at August 7, 2008 6:49 PM
Update! Update! Update! ;) :P
Posted by: ubatuber at September 9, 2008 2:41 PM