Reflection On The Week (26): Starting Monday 25th March

Week Summary

Reflection on Practice - Spent the start of the week working on the big presentation on Wednesday. That is now the module finished which should hopefully free up more time for the other 2 modules! :D I think the presentation went well. This module has definitely helped me to start researching animation that I'll be specifically working on for Advanced Production.

Advanced Production - This week's supervisor meeting was postponed again, but had a team meeting anyway to discuss everything we need to do, especially as Kirti will be away for 3 weeks from this weekend. So we made sure we all know what we're all working on.

Going Live - Been working on rigging mostly this week for the model I've been working on. Should be able to start animating next week!

Monday 25th Mar
Putting presentation together for Reflection On Practice module.


Tuesday 26th Mar
Supervisor Meeting has been postponed till at least next week. Still had a team meeting though for a catch up:
- 3D animatic - needs to be finished before next supervisor meeting.
- Shot List is done, just needs the environment locations added once the 3D animatic is complete.
- The Production schedule needs to be re-evaluated.
- Flesh out Production Bible, including Prop designs and foliage designs. (dog house, dust bins, rake, football, biscuit, tools by shed, lawn mower, brambles, leaves, plants, trees, stones)
- Human model to go through the list of adjustments, then re-assess before it goes into rigging.
- Example of mouths needed.
- Bird to be modeled next.
- Who models the dog is yet to be decided, will evaluate how production is going and who is working on what, could find someone else to model it for us if we are all too busy?
- Environment continue to be modeled.
- Texturing tests to be started - with the watercolor look of the concept art.
- Sheng has volunteered along with Kirti to work on the Sound effects.
- Need to find someone to do a soundtrack for the film.

Writing out notes and practicing for the presentation tomorrow.

Wednesday 27th Mar
Mock Conference all day. Presented using the PowerPoint I put together. It went well, glad that's one module finished now though, more time to work on the other 2 modules! :D

Baked some cakes to add to our fundraiser raffle prizes tomorrow night :)

Thursday 28th Mar
Had a class meeting to discuss Going Live and the fundraiser tonight. Kieran and I went discussed the rough Shot List which I'll be drawing up for the wall, so we can all keep an eye on how the production is going and what still needs finished.

Done some more rigging for the Going Live model I've been working on.

Iced the cupcakes I made last night for the raffle, then it was time for our class's fundraiser! Was a great night! :)

Weekend
Done some observational drawing: Click here for relevant blog post link

Drew out the Shot Checklist for Going Live:

Finished the rig for my Going Live model. Now onto weight painting. However I came across a problem where my weight painting never stayed how I had just painted it. Researched the problem and found out it was redistributing the weights every time. So the way to fix it is to switch on the padlock in the Paint Weights Tool Box.

Observational Drawing

Sat down with a peppermint tea in Waterstones book store to do some observational drawing. These are the ones I managed to do before everyone left near closing time :p

Reflection On The Week (25): Starting Monday 17th March

Week Summary

Reflection on Practice - My priority for the first half of the week was finishing the Conference Paper. Now that it has been submitted, I already feel it has freed up time to work on the other modules. Will now be taking my paper and using it to inform and mold my presentation which is next week.

Advanced Production - Done some observational dog sketches, which were for my paper, but as the paper was reflective on practice, they are also helpful for the film project. This also includes the human/dog anthropomorphism sketching exercise.

Going Live - Helped out with the 3D animatic, animating the camera and characters to sort the timing out.
Started rigging the model I was working on. The rigging needs to be finished next week. Animation is also scheduled to begin later next week.

Monday 17th Mar
Presented my work to the External Examiner, talked about what I want to achieve with the Masters course and what I want to do once I graduate.
His advice on animating was to limber up and do simple animation tests before moving on to the final piece of animation.

Meeting with Sharon to look over my Conference Paper.

Group Meeting with the External Examiner. A piece of advice he gave us all was about what to do if there is more than one animator on a project, how to split up the animation jobs. Auditioning for it could be a way to solve this. All the animators could try doing the same shot, and then the group can pick the one that works the best.

Going Live 3D animatic:
Have taken the first shot in the film to block in the action in the animatic and sort out the timing. Talked over what happens in the scene with Kieran, and discussed ideas.

Tuesday 18th Mar
Whilst finishing off my conference paper today I did some extra drawings to include, to relate my research to my own practice.
First was some observational drawing of my dog:

I then did some sketches of someone having their food stolen by a seagull:

I then took the human expressions and applied them to a dog character who has his biscuit stolen by a bird, this was to give the dog more expression and show an example of anthropomorphism:

Wednesday 19th Mar
Started to gathering all work into one place for the Supervisor Meeting with Sharon. Supervisor Meeting rescheduled for next Tuesday.
Had a quick team meeting to discuss what we need to do for next week.

Handed in final conference paper after battling with my printer this morning.

Been working on Shot 1 of the Going Live animatic. Added all the rough animation to the 2nd half to sort out the timing within the limited time frame.

Also had a look and tried a variation on the model for Going Live.

Thursday 20th Mar
Done extra modeling and tweaks to the model I've been working on for Going Live.

Picked up rough environments from team members for 'Tug of Biscuit' 3D environment.

Friday 21st Mar
Started rigging the Going Live model I have been working on.
Dylan was in the studio for 3D support today, so I asked him to check the rig I had started and get some advice, so I can hopefully avoid any problems with the rig as it progresses.

Weekend
Downloaded some free rigs of human and dog characters that I can use in the 3D animatic and also use for early animation tests.
Set up a new computer at home.

Reflection On The Week (24): Starting Monday 10th March

Week Summary

Reflection on Practice - Been working mostly on my Conference Paper this week, including anaylsing my findings from the Focus Group. The paper has been my main priority this week due to the deadline being next week.

Advanced Production - Had a look over how the Shot Lists could be put together to convey as much useful information as possible for the production of the film. A team meeting on Friday was a good chance to look over everything and work out what we all need to work on next. The 3D animatic and animation tests will be my priority.

Going Live - Sang had a look over the model I have been working on for the project and got some advice about rigging it. During a class team meeting on Thursday, worked out what everyone is working on, and I then created a personal production schedule for myself so I know what I'm working on. This also created some deadlines for myself as there are only a few weeks left on production for this project.

Monday 10th Mar
Sent Kirti (Production Manager) example pages from the Shot Lists I created last year. I think a document of this sort will definitely be useful for the team to use as reference for all the information about individual shots and also act as a checklist. On reflection, the 2 documents I produced last year (a Shot Stages and a Shot Description document) would have worked better on the same document, for ease of use, with all the information in the same place. Here's an example I put together today:

Working on my paper today for Reflection on Practice module.

Also finished off some freelance work today.

Tuesday 11th Mar
Working on Conference Paper all day, specifically going through the Focus Group transcript, highlighting and making notes, then typing up the report for a chapter in the final paper.

Wednesday 12th Mar
Individual tutorial with Sharon - go over paper and presentation
As I have a lot I can talk about with the Focus Group Findings, putting that chapter at the beginning of the paper might help. I can then pieces of information from that chapter and discuss them in greater detail within the main body of text, backing up with references and relating to my own practice.

Carried on working on my Conference Paper. Rearranged the structure of the paper based on the feedback from this morning. Also have been finding some references to use from a relevant book.

Thursday 13th Mar
Had a Going Live class meeting this morning. We discussed the overall production schedule and what everyone is working on.
My personal schedule:
Mon 17th Mar - work on the the 3D animatic.
By Fri 21st Mar - Have 3D model for the asset I've been working on done, pass to Kieran to UV-map.
By Mon 24th Mar - Have asset rigged.
By Tue 25th Mar - Have collected all animation refs and have carried out some animation tests.
Tue 25th Mar - Begin animation!

While our class was all together, we quickly discussed the upcoming fundraiser and potential bake sale to raise money for our degree show.

Continued work on my Conference Paper.

Friday 14th Mar
Had a group meeting:

• Looked over the production schedule.
• I suggested that we should collate all of our pre-production work into a Production Bible, PDF doc, this also highlighted areas that need some more work. Included in this collection  of work will be: 

- Character Designs

- Character Expressions

- Concept Art and colours (update with new designs)

- Environment Designs (need some designs sheets for the plants etc in the garden)

- Prop Designs (design sheets needed for these)

- Storyboard

- Script

• Shot List
• 3D Animatic - Next Tuesday scheduled to work on it
• 3D models - Discussed the updates on these
• Texture tests - Would be good to start once some models are finished
• Print off work for the walls in the studio

Went over the shot list with Kirti. Decided it would be useful to print off the storyboard thumbnails. Drew on the sheets to work out where all the camera cuts were in order to figure out how many shots our film has. At the moment the total is 20. Also used a blue pencil to pick out which drawing best represented that shot for using in the Shot List Kirti is putting together:

Sang was in the studio offering some 3D support for Going Live. Showed him the model I have been working on for one of the assets. The topology is looking fine. Talked about how it might be rigged and disguised at the beginning of the film story. Could contort and twist the model at the beginning, and then unravel to show what it actually is in the story.

Weekend
Put together a PowerPoint presentation for a meeting with the External Examiner next Monday.
Continued to work on my Conference Paper.

Reflection On The Week (23): Starting Monday 3rd March

Week Summary

Reflection on Practice - Finished transcribing Focus Group audio. Next I need to read through it again to summarize my findings for paper and presentation. Prepared and presented my practice presentation. Will use the feedback from it to help finalize my presentation. Will now be concentrating on the paper since the hand-in date is before the final presentation.

Advanced Production - The dog design has been finalized. This took more time then planned, but it was important to get it right as it is the main character in the film, and the one I will be working with the most. Reviewed the model Kirti has been working on and explained some adjustments and corrections that the character model needed before it is finalized. Had a meeting with my team at the end of the week to go over what we are all working on next, in preparation for next week.

Going Live - Been carrying on with modelling of one of the assets for the project. Also tested out the modelling with a quick rig to test the geometry. Checked over the models progress with the director and some of the team to gain some feedback and make adjustments.

Monday 3rd Mar
Finished transcribing my focus group audio recording... over 4000 words, 10 pages long... next I have to read through it again and summarize my findings and interesting points that I can use in my paper and presentation.

Also done a bit more modelling to the Going Live asset i'm working on. Put a quick test rig into it to see how well the geometry was moving and creasing. I think it will work well for what we need that asset to do in the film, as it will be one main movement needed.

Helped Sheng again with looking over the dog design. Think it has finally been cracked - it was just that front view that seemed to be causing trouble!

Tuesday 4th Mar
Had a Going Live Team Meeting to check where everyone is in the schedule and and what they are doing in the production.
I might have a look into Paint Effects for the asset I am working on. Also showed the current model and test rig to Kieran and John for some feedback. All the objects are smoothed, in order for the edges to catch the light, therefore I need to move some of the vertical lines in the geometry to fix this. But all the horizontal lines in the geometry will be the same as they are needed to allow the asset to bend properly with the rig.

Been doing more modelling for the Going Live asset.

Working on research work for rest of day.

Wednesday 5th Mar

Practice Presentation - Click for relevant blog post link

Formatted Transcript document.

Had a look over the model for the Owner character which Kirti has been working on. Put together a document detailing adjustments that were needed and explained these to all of the team, to allow for any other thoughts and ideas to be discussed regarding the model.
Character model adjustments document:

Thursday 6th Mar
Spent most of today carrying on with modeling one of the assets for Going Live and updated the Going Live blog with my progress. Next for this asset I need to model something additional to help with it's concept, reveal and role within film. (This would make more sense if I could add details about it on this blog, but will unfortunately will have to wait until the project is complete!)

Friday 7th Mar
IBL workshop in the morning: Click here for relevant blog post link

Put together structure of Paper into a word document and added transcript and abstract to it.

Mini team meeting:
Discussed the bird character's wings. In order to work out exactly what movements the bird needs to do I played through the animatic and broke down the movements. There is only time in the film that the bird will be flapping it's wings a lot is during the tug-of-war scene. Apart from that the bird mainly swoops into and out of shots. We agreed that the bird's wings should move fairly realistically in flight. However it might be good for expression and acting to have the feathers at the end of the wings curl slightly or move like fingers/hands.
Looked up some examples of cartoon bird's and real-life birds animation and flight cycles.
Also mentioned that we still need to put a shot list together, this will help out the organisation of the 3D animatic which will be started next week.

IBL Workshop

My notes from Sang's class today on Image-Based Lighting:


IBL = Image Based Lighting - representation of real-world light.

You have to think about the size of your scene and environment.
Build your character in real scale instead of scaling up after texturing and rigging to avoid problems!
Check your working unit in Maya.
Linear: centimeters
(can change to meters if it suits better)
Can use measure tool to check measurement of object.
Camera attributes of selected camera:
Near Clip Plane: 0.001
Far Clip Plane: 10 000 000

Turn off Maya Defalt lighting.
Use Mental Ray for IBL.

Render Settings - 'Create' IBL in Indirect Lighting tab.
Change quality to production first then switch on Final Gather.
Point density 0.1 under Final Gather render settings.

Render stats in IBL globe attributes.
Turn off primary visibilty so you don't see it in final render.

All monitors are RGBs.
Linear Workflow:
'In practical terms, Linear workflow refers to a rendering workflow in which image gamma is carefully taken into account in order to assure proper light computations in a render' - Pixar 'Linear Workflow'

The two numbers to remember! 0.454 and 2.2

How to set up linear workflows in Maya?
Render window
Display - Colour Management
input = linear sRGB
output = sRGB

Hypershade:

Use directional light.
Use ray trace shadows.
Leave light rays and shadow rays as low as possible.

How to make available MIP shaders in Hypershade:
optionVat -intValue "MIP_SHD_EXPOSE" 1;

mip_rayswitch
mib_lookup_spherical

Copy rotate value in IBL globe.
Paste into mib_lookups.
Delete original IBL globe in render settings.

Practice Presentation

Done a practice presentation this morning for the Reflection On Practice module.

'Title' PowerPoint Slide

'Outline' PowerPoint Slide

The feedback was that it was well organised.
All of my images need to be labelled; so as to distinguish what is my own work and what are just reference images.
I only spoke for 7 minutes out of 15. However I know where the gaps are that need to be filled. Mostly in the Practice / Methods section and the Results / Evidence section.
It was good talking about the comparison of dog owners versus non dog owners in the Focus Group findings- will expand on this slightly in final presentation once I have evaluated the findings from my Focus Group more.
I need to watch out for how I talk, instead of saying 'you' in a general term, I need to say 'I' to make the presentation more personalized and reflective on my own practice.
I should also include a definition of 'anthropomorphism' at the start, for anyone that does not know what this word means.

Feedback to everyone: For the final conference, be engaging as the audience and ask questions!

Reflection On The Week (22): Starting Monday 24th February

Week Summary
Think my work has been more balanced this week for each of the modules.

Reflection on Practice - Now that I have done my Focus Group this week, I need to finish the transcription and then read through it again to summarize my findings to include in my paper and presentation.
Also started working out the structure of my paper and presentation, so need to flesh the bullet points out with the information and references.

Advanced Production - This week has mainly be focused on fixing the design of the dog, which needed to be right as it is the main character. I do feel this has been achieved this week and am much happier with it. Also through sorting the dog design out we have also sorted lots of the colours out.

Going Live - Started working on one of the Going Live assets, it is currently in the modelling stage.

Monday 24th Feb
Wrote out my exact Focus Group Protocol for tomorrow to use.
Booked and picked up audio recorder for tomorrow's focus group.
I also participated in someone else's Focus Group today.
Then in the evening I baked cupcakes and jammie dodgers for my focus group tomorrow :)

Tuesday 25th Feb
Focus Group day! It went well and there were some interesting answers to the questions I asked which will definitely help with my paper/presentation.
Handed in the signed consent forms to the office.
Fixed a few things on my Abstract and handed the final one into the office.
Started transcribing my focus group audio recording.
Wrote out bullets points to try and summarize the structure of my paper/presentation.

Wednesday 26th Feb
Had a meeting with Sharon in the morning to discuss my final Abstract and the structure of my paper/presentation. Also went over what will be happening next week with the practice presentations.

Supervisor meeting in the afternoon to look over designs and the 2D animatic: Click here for relevant blog post link

Typed more of Focus Group Transcript.

Thursday 27th Feb
Went along to life drawing in the morning: Click for relevant blog post link

Had a team meeting and looked over different dog breeds to decide what one would be best to base the dog design from. Also looked up the top 10 most owned dogs in the UK. Then Giorgos went and brought back a dog book from the library. Searching through everything from bull dogs, to Labradors, to Scottie Dogs, finally decided upon the Jack Russell terrier. It is short-haired. A small-medium sized dog. Has clean facial features - easy to see expression. Is originally a British dog breed.

We all sat around and sketched dogs and tried to help towards the dog design. These are some sketches I did:

As it was the Masters open day today, a group was in our studio and we showed them our animatic. It was good to see new people viewing our animatic and seeing their reactions to it - good to know they laughed at the right places!

More feathers were added to the Bird character's arms/wings. Also the tail was elongated slightly as it wasn't too noticeable before.

Friday 28th Feb

Did some more dog drawing today, trying to help figure out the dog design now that we now what breed it should be based on. These sketches here include testing out a short-haired terrier overall shape and colouring's:

Trying out different colours with the shape I was happy with, based on real dogs:

This one with added jumpers and dog coats to see what will work the best:

Got feedback from the group and, along with me, the dog with the dark blue jumper and red stripes seems to be the current favourite. Giorgos then pointed out that the colour of the Owners clothes might have to change now that the dog's colours had been sorted. So I tried out so me variations:

I then thought that a dark red cardigan might work better, so I used the original colour concept which Sheng had done to test this out quickly to see how it looked against the environment as well, with all the characters:

Sheng's original environment concept with my added dog design, and dark red cardigan.

Same again but with a dark blue scarf as Giorgos wasn't too sure about the Mustard yellow scarf. The dark blue however makes the owner and dog look too matching.

However myself and Kirti thought the Mustard scarf might work better, so I tried it in the other environment concept that Sheng had created:

Sheng's concept art with the added dark red cardigan to test out.

Weekend
Started modelling one of the Going Live assets.