For if the Dark Returns

This has been an incredibly long week. Projects to get back into, new projects to start…then getting sick and a holiday weekend……very long week.

So, what happened?

We didn’t have a full class critique last week and instead meet individually. As you saw from the previous post, I had basically all the line work done as well as the texture for Evil.

After the meeting it was determined that first thing that had to happen was the trees and their texture as this might influence a change in Evil’s texture. 

So that’s what I did. I finished the trees and tried to figure out if Evil was okay or not.

with line

without line

I took a poll around the labs and I’m going WITH the outline.

This past week I also worked on creating more fear it Evil using particles. As you can kind of see in the above images they looked kind of out of place. I worked with them a bit more, played with some textures, then got to a place I quite happy with.

And at that, here is what I have for this week:

Yeah, Pepper still needs color - but I’m going to be working on that in the background now and jump into Water World (WW). this world needs to happen, and needs to happen fast.

Side note:

Somehow, I sub-consciously based Evil’s silhouette off of Aku from Samurai Jack - a series I never watched as a kid but saw snippets of as I flipped through channels. This was totally by accident. What was on purpose was Evil’s eyes and how they look like Beast from Over the Garden Wall. When I watched it last year I though he was so creepy being most of the time just eyes - so I took it.

Seriously, if you haven't seen this show, you should watch it.

This just goes to show what can influence your own work. Normally I collect reference art before doing any type of concept drawing, but with all the different styles I was going for only a few pictures where collected and nothing was shown to you.

7 am the Usual Morning Line-Up

Like I said, last week was Spring Break, so there was no post. Now I’m back from break (so wish it was longer) and it's back to the draft board. Surprisingly I got quite a bit done for someone who actually went away.

Now, it might not look like it, but it really is a lot. All the line animation is finished, the base white layer is is for every one of Pepper, Evil is fully textured, and the trees is for the most part where they belong.

What is there still left to do?

Pepper needs her color, shadows need to be placed, the trees in S1 need to be fixed, the puzzle piece and transition to the next world need to go in, fog and dark particles are also something I want to add in - though that is more for post I think.

So here is the video of EW - and the boards still for WW since the music flows right into it. (annoyingly is was too big to just put on Blogger)

Looking ahead the first point to get done is Pepper’s color. After that I’ll feel secure enough to jump into WW and get the background done first. Shouldn’t take too long to do that since I can repeat most of the frames, but I do need a refresher course on the stop motion equipment.

Sorry to those of you that actually read these, as lately they are a bit short. But right now I just want to sleep. I'll face the fire in the morning.

So Over Due I Owe Them

Yet another post going up later than I wanted….and trust me I’m not happy about it.

Simply put, I’m a bit behind where I wanted to be this week. 

Originally Pepper was going to get done, and maybe even rough out Evil.

Yeah……no.

Instead I got her walk cycle cleaned up, a run cycle created and cleaned, and the opening shot cleaned and colored. I was also able to get this shot mostly right look-wise but I keep second guessing myself with the texture and lighting for the trees. Pepper also still needs a perspective run cycle and reach bit. You can see the 'whole' world underneath.

So why the off-put? 

Two reasons.

One: Pepper.

Coloring her in took WWAAAAAAAAAAYYY longer than I anticipated even if it was the easiest conceived pipe.

Two: Seminar.

As much as classes like to believe they are the only thing in your life I am also taking 5 other classes. Seminar has us doing big critiques this week so I’ve been a bit distracted…..not that Pepper was easy mind you. Coloring her in non-stop took about 5 hours!

Anyway, if you want more information on what Seminar/Thesis is like you can go here: http://kid-a-thesis.blogspot.com (Though it wasn’t updated last week) Vaguely interested in everything else? This one: http://andyouthoughtitwouldbeeasy.blogspot.com

Looking ahead….

Next week is Spring Break so I’m taking a few days off to de-stress and relax at home. After that though it is back to work…a lot of work.

The theory is that EW and Water World (WW) will both be finished over break….meaning that the Break will be very short indeed.

So see you all in 2 weeks people!

No Time to Stay, Hello, Good-Bye

Yeah, I’m posting this a bit later than normal - but it’s still before class.

So this has been a very long week. As I said before I have a lot of stuff for my other classes (see other blogs for details) and I was going home for the weekend to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday.

Now originally the idea for this ‘week 2’ was that all of Pepper would get done. I then said that because I would be away I would most likely change that due to lack of time - and thankfully my calendar allows for that.

Surprisingly, I got done more than I thought I would.

So far I have shot 1 + 2 blocked out — shot 1 is even cleaned! I actually really like shot 1 too and almost want it to be longer……

I also, just for my teacher, put together a mock frame. It isn’t what I want it to look like in the end: wasn’t composed in after effects, not set up in a 2.5D space, not sure if Pepper’s outline is going to be the dominate color of that section or the ‘black’ as if it was a coloring book…

Well, that’s about all I have to say. I know I usually write more, but too bad. 

There is Trouble With the Trees

Another week, another post….a little more insane.

First off lets go over some of the notes from last week, shall we?

-Fan shot

—good

-On the floor shot

—floor is the wrong angle

—need more shadows

-Rack focus shot

—louder ‘grunt’ sound

—better timing on hitting piece

—…some other stuff I don’t quite remember

For the most part MW2 is done. Yeah, the fixes need to be made, Evil need to still pop out in the end - but I can move on now.

So….moving on.

Next that I decided to tackle is Evil World (EW) - which means a lot of trees……again. (Have I mentioned how much I dislike making trees and forests? I really don’t like it)

I’m budgeting myself 3-4 weeks to get this world done. Basically by half-way through spring break I want to move to Water World (WW).

This was week 1.

The idea was that I would work on the <insert word of you choice> trees. I really, really, would prefer to do this on the computer. Why? Charcoal gets all over me, it will get all over the scanner, and ever since a teacher told me to never touch it again I’ve been off the medium.

Well, anyway, I did make a bunch of trees and here are some of them.

I’m playing a bit with the texture. It will look nice alone on white, but then get a bit bland when composed, so I’ve been trying to find a way I like while playing with some new brushes. I'm also trying to decide if it's easier/nicer looking to 2.5D composite it, or to just make layers of pre-composed tree layers....

Other than that there isn’t much else to post. Theoretically I was going to work on Pepper week 2, Evil week 3, then composing it all together week 4. That plan has a 80% chance of changing. My grandma’s birthday party is on Sunday and while I budgeted not working that day everyone wants me there Saturday meaning the weekend is completely shot. Load on all the homework for other classes that have to get done and this project is not my number 1 issue. 

Annoying to toss a plan, but that’s life.

We Had Some Guts and Some Luck

A lot has happened this past week, and most of what had to get done did - somehow.

Now 2 weeks ago when we as a class looked at everyone’s blog I told my teacher that the plan was to have 90% of the animation done for MW2 done by today - that main part not to be animated would the the entrance of Evil since I’ll add him when I add him everywhere else.

Last week, if you bothered to look, I posted a test video of a fan - such a shot was needed for the beginning of MW2. If you haven’t looked at it you should, it was kind of cool.

So everything else had to be done today. I took out a shot of Pepper’s disgruntled face looking down on the piece mainly because I didn’t feel like creating it….though I also realized that it just wasn’t 100% necessary which was a bonus.

Without further ado, MW2...........pass 1.

There are a few things that need to be fixed: the shot looking down it too high on the screen at first, the animation can be smoothed a bit more, the audio - particularly the ‘grunt’ - needs to be flushed out…..and of course Evil needs to be added.

I’ll tell you though, that head turn……2 frames and the rest is luck.

I Make it Look Easy But Honey Believe Me It's Hard

Seriously? Didn’t I just post something the other day? 

Wait. What? That was a week ago already?! Geez Louise that was fast.

Well, I guess you still want a post, huh.

So this week was spent doing a couple of different things that might seem unrelated to you, but makes total ‘linear’ sense to me.

First off I did some color and design corrections on Pepper in MW2. Last week she was a bit pale and I realized later that her face didn’t really match up with the beginning of the animation. In my defense I was using the color codes that I had written down in my notebook…..but I didn’t note the new numbers after I changed some last semester due to a similar comment.

(AN: How I feel sometimes looking at what still needs to get done)

Next there was building more of the assets needed for MW2 that I couldn’t repurpose. Yeah….no, you can’t really see them. They are mostly Illustrator files that you won’t be able to make heads or tails of since it is all in white. You’ll see it next week when, in theory, ~90% of the animation in MW2 will be done.

For now you can entertain yourselves on this bit of animation - a fan going round. And, yes, it is planned to go in the animation. The boards have it being the first shot of MW2 but we shall see if it stays in. For now it is cool to look at though.

Last but not lest I started prepping for the next World I’m going to take on - Evil World (EW). Since it is entirely corrupted into charcoal I decided to do some tests on what could work as back drops. The trick is going to be that all the layers will be various shades of black…..

There you have it. Another post. Now wait patently for next week because I have lots to do, and not just for this animation.