Project 2: Self-Critique

I personally believe that I did pretty well with the animation. It came out mostly with what I intended and I am honestly pretty proud of it. Despite that, it is not perfect and has quite a number of flaws.

Firstly, I never touch the graph editor. This results in an animation which is somewhat not smooth at some parts. Secondly, the final animation is very different from the storyboard. This is due to to limitations I encounter in animating, such as the limit the crane can go, so there were a lot of changes. Thirdly, some parts of the animation is either too draggy (e.g. when the crane is observing the red box) or too fast (e.g. when the crane began shaking the box near the end.) Lastly, I had to remove the Orient Constrain to properly animate the magnet head so this results in awkward movements whenever it lifts/lowers a box, though this is not entirely obvious.

Regardless, the animation turns out alright to me and I was able to include quite a number of animating principles. The first green box had a squash and stretch when it sped up and collide with the magnet head. The constant fidgeting of the crane when it is idle counts as follow through and overlapping action or secondary action. There are also a bit of anticipation, such as the crane pulling its magnet head backwards and pausing there before shoving the red box. Much of the crane's animation also follows an arc. Quite a bit of exaggeration were put in, such as the green box's squash and stretch. I also believe that the crane has some amount of appeal.

Well, that's my self-critique.

Project 2: Research

I haven't been able to find much results but I did manage to come across several tips which helps me quicken the speed in which I do my animations.

One tutorial in particular suggests to its readers to keyframe the "start point" and "end point" of an animation. This means that, for example, a ball is supposed to bounce from Point A and Point B, keyframe its starting position and its final position. Once that is done, I can then add in other details in between, such as squash and stretch or bouncing keyframes, with a degree of accuracy better than putting in each keyframe one by one. It also helps in situation where you want one of the model's translate values to be the same at the start and end of the animation but will change in between.

Another tutorial suggests to its readers to avoid making their animations appear stiff, unless the animation involve non-emotional or non-sentient beings. This is to add in some life into the animation and avoid making it appear boring and fake. This is done by making the model fidget or shake in instances where it isn't supposed to move. This can be applied into my robot arm animation; when the arm is supposed to remain still, such as when the magnet is observing the red box, I will make the arm move slightly. Despite being a non-emotional robot, the robot arm is meant to be sentient.

Both tutorials can be combined for effective use. This can be done in one way: When the robot arm is supposed to remain still, I will keyframe the start and end frame of its idleness and add in slight fidget animations in between. This has helped made my robot arm appear more alive and human-like.

Project 2: Storyboard (Assuming 25 fps)

Lefty will start in a pose which implies that it is deactivated or asleep. This is done by making it appear slump or limp. (1 whole second --> 25 frames)

Lefty will briefly shake. After that, Lefty will slowly raise itself to show that it has awaken. (About 5 frames shake. About 20 frames raise)

Lefty's magnet will angle towards the first box, almost as if it was looking at it. (About 15+ frames)

Lefty will then attach itself to the box. (About 20+ frames)

Lefty will raise the box. (20+ frames)

Back View

Lefty will turn about 90 degrees with the box still attached. (20 frames)

Lefty then lowers the box onto a platform. (20+ frames)

Side View

Lefty returns back to its initial position while another box reels in. (20 frames)

The process will be repeated about 1 - 2 times. (100 - 200 frames)

A red box is reeled in and Lefty react with shock. (10+ frame reel in. Another 10 frame shock)

Lefty bent down to have a good look at the red box. (25+ frames)

Lefty stared at it with seeming awe. (About 25+ frames stare)

Lefty observe the box for a while, looking around it. (60 frames)

Lefty look up to compare it with another box behind it. (30 frames)

Lefty moved closed to the red box and "smelled" it. (25+ frames)

Lefty shove the red box lightly to check its weight and material. (80 frames)

Lefty look up again, making a second comparison. (30 frames)

Lefty hits the red box several times to check its hardness. (10+ frames per hit. About 3 hits)

Lefty attached itself to the red box. (20 frames)

Lefty lifts it. (10 frames)

Lefty shakes it frantically. (40 frames)

Lefty ceased its shaking. (10 frames)

Lefty nodded with the red box still attached. It conclude that it is to be stacked with the rest. (40 frames)

Upon stacking, Lefty moved on to the next box. (60 frames)

Project 2: Character

Name: Lefty

The robot arm will be called Lefty in reference to the fact that it is unusually intelligent and human-like for a robot.

Throughout its work, Lefty will be thinking about its assigned job, along with the idea that all boxes that he needs to lift will be green in color. He is, for the most part, focused and on task, although he occasionally wonders about trivial things, such as why the boxes are squarish and why he is doing all this, inciting learning capability. At times, he even counts the number of boxes he has lifted so far and also begin to count the time it takes for him to lift and drop each boxes. This is to display a certain amount of boredom. Regardless, these thoughts are not shown physically.

Week 13 Exercise 4

1)  Apart from their different sizes, it is obvious from Luxo Jr. that the big lamp is “older” and that the small lamp is “younger”.

How is this communicated by the animation? Give at least THREE examples.

Do NOT say because the small lamp is playing with a ball, or that its name is Luxo Jr. – you should be looking at the animation, how the lamps move and emote (emote means to express emotions).

The big lamp is shown as being older by its slow movements and curiosity over the ball, displayed by it look at the ball for a while before interacting with it. Unlike the small lamp, the big lamp simply looked at the small lamp playing with the ball, apparently watching over the small lamp and only playing with it when the ball comes to it. Even then, it does it with lesser enthusiasm and does not shake erratically. The big lamp also shake its head when the small lamp plays with the big ball, probably an alternative to a sigh as the big lamp may be tired entertaining the more active small lamp.

The small lamp is shown as being younger by its tendency to jump and its rather quick movements, implying youth. Its different parts sometimes move independently, like its base, and unlike the big lamp, who stays in place, the small lamps moves around and jumps a lot. It also poses more joints which allows it to move more frantically. When the ball bursts, the small lamp turn to the big lamp, seemingly trying to see the big lamp's reaction, an action typical with children when they break stuff.

2)  Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.

The timing of the small lamps sudden stop in movement after its consistent jump on the ball gives the illusion that something just happened and the slowness of the ball's squash motion makes it appear funny. The big lamp's quick, though startled, reaction before the appearance of the balls also gives anticipation and adds humor at its reaction to the ball's appearance.

3)   When you create a joint chain, these form a hierarchy, with the first joint at the top and the last joint at the bottom. Explain why this is necessary for the joints to work properly.

Selecting the first joint affects the rest of the joints while selecting the last joint only affects itself. Hence, it is necessary to place joints in the proper place.

Week 12 Exercise 2

1)  Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 2D animation? Explain your view.

Personally, I don't think you need to able to draw well to create good 2D animation. Some very good 2D animations comes with very simple drawings, often in the form of stick-men or dots. Good drawing only adds to the appeal and does not guarantee a good 2D animation. Also, focusing too much on drawing well could lead to neglecting good animation.

2) Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 3D animation? Explain your view.

As with the above, I still do not believe that you need to draw well to create good 3D animation. It is not the design that matters for 3D; rather the key-framing, the outlining and the rigging of the model is what is more important. Simple design makes it easier to animate and this usually leads to good animation.

3) What do you think would separate a piece of poor animation from a piece of good animation? In other words, how would you go about deciding if a piece of animation is good or bad?

 I think the one thing that separates poor and good animation is whether or not the movement is believable should a similar situation happen in real life, unless the animation is meant to be cartoonic. If it is supposed to be cartoonic, I think it is the smoothness of the animation that will determine its quality.

4) In 2D animation, you need to be very aware of timing at a frame by frame level, using timing charts and other techniques - but for 3D animation, this is handled using the graph editor, which is more concerned with manipulating rates of change over time.

Does this affect how you approach your animation work? Explain.

 No. Technically, both of them are similar as it revolves around the timing of the animation. The only main difference I see is that 3D requires the user to pay some attention on the model's surrounding while 2D model only have one view to worry about. 3D animation is also more varied and flexible.

5) Give a brief critique of Maya as an animation tool. Don't just say Maya makes animation difficult, or easy, or that you need to learn a lot of stuff to use Maya - explain what Maya does well and not so well in terms of creating animation.

 Maya does well in allowing a large number of options for modelers to create models and animators to create good animations. The options seems almost endless and there are so many of them, I think it will take a very long time to learn and understand them. However, it can be laggy and not really user-friendly, especially for new users as a lot of jargons are used. Regardless, tutorials can help and overall, the tool is very good.

Week 11 Lab 2

1) Why is squash and stretch so useful in animation?

It makes objects appear real rather than static or stiff. In addition, squash and stretch actually happens in real life, albeit not being so obvious.

2) Think of a situation in which extreme squash and stretch could be applied to a character - try to be original.

In a cartoon world, a character may be pelted with objects dropping on his head thrown by another unhappy character. It begins with small objects and lesser squash and stretch before bigger objects comes down and hence, more squash and stretch. This applies to the character and the falling objects. Rather than falling down onto the ground, the character remains still, allowing the squash and stretch to appear obvious, and exaggerated.

3) Think of an animation example where squash and stretch would NOT be appropriate

When a crane or a character gently places an object onto the ground regardless of hardness.

4) If squash and stretch doesn't really happen so obviously in real life, why do you think is it so effective in animation?
(Look at the title of Disney animator Ollie Johnston's famous book about animation - do an Amazon search ... there's a clue in the title!)

It gives the animation and the object the image of it being real or alive, or the illusion of life in its movements.

Week 10 Lab 2 Exercise 2

1. What is ease-in ease-out in reference to animation?

Ease-in ease-out refers to the proximity of the distance traveled by an object between each frame. Ease-in normally refers to when the distance traveled by an object slowly decreases while ease-out is the opposite: it increases. In terms of reality, this is mainly caused by gravity pull, although the cause may vary (Exhaustion, acceleration, deceleration, etc.) In the basic bouncing ball animation, ease-in ease-out occurs when the ball bounces off the ground and due to gravity pull, slows down mid air and decelerates before going back down at an accelerating speed.

2. What does frame-per-second mean?

Frame-per-second, abbreviated as fps, is the number of frames (images, pictures etc.) viewed on the screen every second. This method is used in videos. Normally, 24 fps is the average fps used by most videos and the human eyes can only detect individual frames as no more than 25 fps. Regardless, at higher fps (normally 60 fps) produces very smooth videos.

3. The spacing of the ticks in the animation chart is for an object bouncing with linear speed over 12 frames - draw a similar chart, but with ease-in and ease-out.

As the ball moves up, it decelerates due to gravity pull. At frame 4, it begins to ease-in, peaking at frame 6. After frame 6, it begins to fall down and accelerate, easing-out till frame 12.

Week 10 Lab 2 Exercise 1 Part 2

For the final part of Exercise 1, I chose the punching video:

The above is the animation chart for the scene, showing little by little how the pose of both the puncher and victim should be like. A lot of squash and stretch is involved for the puncher while the victim has a lot of secondary actions.

The above the actually animation for the scene, with the actors replaced with stickmen. This whole process is very tedious to make but overall, I am honestly proud of it despite its simplicity.

Week 10 Lab 2 Exercise 1

The above is the bouncing ball animation. It is set at 24 fps and possesses a combination of squash and stretch along with ease in and out. Squash and stretch is especially noticeable when the ball is about to hit the ground. With this example, I has an easier time doing the next animation.

The above is the animation chart for the bowling ball. The 5th frame (bottom left most) is a keyframe and has a minor amount of squash and stretch unlike the bouncing ball.  This is due to the hardness of a bowling ball. As it goes on, it slows down and the easing in and out gets more prominent.

The above is actually animation for the bowling ball. It is set at 24 fps and when compared to the bouncing ball, bounces less and slows down faster. In addition, I add in a rolling effect when it stops bouncing.

Week 10 Lab 1 Exercise 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQlgA68z_L4


The video displays the squash and stretch principle through the movement of the kicker's right leg. It changes shape as it is about to kick the soccer-ball. In addition, the kicking back of his leg shows anticipation right before he kicks the ball. Also, the goalkeeper's stance, along with his reaction to the ball being kicked, shows anticipation. The shaking of both the player's clothes shows the follow through and overlapping action as it continues to move despite the lack of movements from both player. The speed of the kicker's leg and the speed of the ball as it flies decelerates over time, showing the slow in and out principle. The ball and the kicker's leg move in an arc, hence another principle.

Finally, the timing principle is displayed. The time it takes for the ball to reach the goal post before being deflected to the goalkeeper's face is nicely timed, appearing realistic rather than too slow or too fast. The time it takes for the kicker to reach and kick the ball also applies to this principle, along with the goalkeeper's reaction to being hit by the ball.

Week 10 Lab 1 Exercise 1 and 2

Squat and jump

As seen in the video, Kevin’s legs and arms stretch out while jumping, appearing different from when he was squatting down. This shows the squash and stretch principle. The squatting position itself is in anticipation of the jump, showing the anticipation principle. The change of pose from squat to jump shows the pose to pose principle. The camera position is about to move in preparation for the jump, showing the staging principle. Kevin’s clothes and part of his hair does not move along with his body; rather it continues moving after he landed, following the laws of physics and the follow through and overlapping action principle. As he jumps, gravity begins to pull him down, slowing him down before descending. This is the slow in and out principle. As he jumps, his hand swings briefly, showing the secondary action principle. Lastly, the time it takes for him to land also shows the timing principle.

Punching

Jeremy’s hands and Vanan’s whole body shows the squash and stretch principle due to how it changes shape and position throughout the whole punching scene. Also, Jeremy’s very slow but brief jerk, along with the angry expression on his face and the clenching of his fist shows some amount of anticipation for his punch. I think Jeremy undergoes straight ahead action as his change of pose is minimal while Vanan’s reaction to the punch is pose to pose due to how he changes from standing to falling. Jeremy’s sleeves have follow through and overlapping action principle as it continues moving after the punch, although it isn’t so obvious. When Jeremy was about to punch, it started out slow before he got a swift punch. Vanan’s reaction was initially fast but slows down. Hence, both shows the slow in and out principle. Jeremy’s punch move in an arc, along with Vanan’s whole body after the punch. The clenching of Jeremy’s fist, along with the angry face, before the punch serves as secondary action. The timing of the punch and its following reaction keeps it realistic.

Throwing and catching

The way their arms move and changes shape shows the squash and stretch principle. Also, in anticipation for their throw, they swing their arms back before throwing. In addition, the catcher’s hands are stretched out, ready to catch the ball; another anticipation action. The camera movement, shifting between the thrower and catcher as the ball moves, shows the staging principle. Both catcher and thrower shifts from standing position to catching position before going to throwing position. This is the pose to pose principle. The shaking of the strings on Kevin’s jacket shows a minor amount of follow through and overlapping action. The speed of the ball constantly shifts from fast to slow and then fast again as it descends, showing the slow in and out principle. The ball’s movement, along with the movement of the catcher and thrower’s arms, move in an arc.

Throwing and catching with fakings

Most of the principles mentioned previously apply, though there are some additional actions that feature some of the principles. The fake throwing attempt shows the anticipation principle as it is similar to getting ready to throw. The movement of the arms while faking is in an arc and the slight change in shape before throwing is the squash and stretch principle. Also, while faking, the camera focuses on the ball, showing the staging principle.

Running

I grew bigger as I get closer and the change in shape for my whole body shows the squash and stretch principle. The camera’s focus being locked on me displays the staging principle. The movement more or less shows the straight ahead principle as there is little change from one pose to another. As I reach the top of the stairs, I begin to slow down, showing the slow in and out principle. The swinging of my arms is in an arc and serves as secondary action. The exhausted look on my face also displays secondary action. The time it takes for me to run up the stairs displays the timing principle.

Pushups and recovery

The bending of Jeremy’s arms displays the squash and stretch principle. The change of posture between each pump, along with his recovery from the pushup position shows the pose to pose principle since he changes pose multiple times. His clothes continue moving after each pump and after standing up, hence the follow through and overlapping action principle. As he does each pump of pushups, he descends quickly before stopping. He then pushes himself up at a slower pace. Thus, this displays the slow in and out principle. His arm moves in an arc for each pump and the movement of his arms as he recovers serves as secondary action.

Project 1: Self-Critique

Original Toy:

Model:

The model appears similar to the toy and has the general shape. It possesses similar colour with the toy and a Phong E texture to show its shiny, plastic appearance (The toy's plastic but the actually monster is metallic. Hence, the texture served a dual purpose). Much of the proportions are alright and the shape of the eyes, nose and hole on the head appear circular. Extrusions are properly applied for some of the details.

Some of the model's flaws followed. The arm are symmetrical while the toy's isn't. Though this doesn't really make the model horrid, it still does not follow the original toy. Another immediately noticeably flaw is the size of the model's head, which is large in comparison with the toy. The lower jaw is especially large and unlike the toy, the head is straight. The head is supposed to tilt downwards, hence another flaw. The model itself in standing straight while the toy is hunched. Body details are too small. Also, the legs and body are squarish while the arms are to circular, hence it does not exactly resemble the toy. The body itself and very wide and the head appears squished. The tail appears flattened and barely circular while the toy's tail is circular. The tail's vertexes are also not merged with the main body's and merging is virtually impossible due to different number of vertexes. The second "fin" behind the head does not resemble the toy, instead being concave rather than convex. The teeth are also flat, unlike the thick teeth of the model. The model is also missing the tongue, although the mouth it still coloured pink to resemble the tongue.

The final model resembles much of my initial conception. I somehow knew that it will appear cubic rather than circular for some of the limbs, most notably the legs. I also conceived the head to appear flat from the front but it will greatly exaggerated in the model, hence I had to stretch it out to appear large. Overall, despite the many flaws of the model, I am satisfied with the model.

Project 1: Research

I've searched and read quite a number of tutorials on how to do models of dinosaurs and claws, since Aron himself appears like a dinosaur. Thus far, most of my research shows similar ways on how to make sharp edges of dinosaur-like models with ease and it isn't entirely new to me: Vertex and extrusion.

Modifying vertex little by little along with multitudes of extrusions seem to help achieve shapes which may appear intimidating to make at first, despite its simplicity and tedium. Taking my time to modify the vertex for the detail and extruding to move on to another limb may yield good results. Extrusion especially helps when dealing with a cube since quad faces needed to be maintain. Regardless, however, once I make the pointed edge of the claw, the faces around it will be triangles when I merge the vertexes together.

This may apply to Aron's horns. Initially, I wanted to make a separate model for it, using the primitive cone. This may seem simpler but I will have to merge the vertexes of the two models later, adding to tedium. Then, I switched to using a circle and a curve for it to extrude on but once again, it will produce a separate model. Hence, I have to add in more edges to the main body using the edge loop tool and pull out the vertexes little by little from the main body, making a horn.

Regardless, some of the "failed" techniques is still useful in other areas, most notably the tail. The tail lays on the ground and bends to Aron's right, losing any possibility for making symmetry for it unless I use a method which allows it to bend, which I was unable to find. Merely extruding the tail from half of the main body will not yield the intended result, unlike the horns or claws, which has symmetry.

Hence, for the tail, I will use an extrusion along a curve, using a circular drawing or a cube. Scale shall be set to 0 to make a pointed, a method I initially planned for the horns.

Another method which I researched on is to simply make a large plane polygon and place a texture on it, showing an image of your intended model. It can then serve as a guide and multiple images can be used for the different views. Some videos show that this can greatly help in making virtually any model, even the ones that may appear complicated such as a dinosaur shaped model. Along with extrusion and vertex modifying, I won't have to rely on imagination or assumptions anymore.

Project 1: Design

This is the plan I had before going about with making the model. Most, if not all, of the models will start out as a cube and will undergo many extrusions or vertex modifications to make up Aron's shape. Cube was chosen because I want to maintain quad faces rather than triangular ones, although I may have to make triangular faces when dealing with sharp points such as the horns. Even the curvy parts, such as the paw and the legs, will start out as a cube. I may, or may not, use beveling but I will use a lot of smoothing so that rounded areas will appear rounded instead of jagged.

Project 1: Shape

As the story may have suggested, the toy is a monstrous looking beast. There will be about 4 different parts: Head, Tail, Leg and Arm. I will probably try to use cubes for all 4 parts and create a symmetry once I am done.I may add smoothness, phong and bumps as the monster was supposed to be metallic.

I will mostly likely use a lot of extrusion as I will try to maintain a quadrilateral shape for the faces. Other aspects, such as beveling, may not be done. The model will be a challenge to do but I believe I can do it.

Project 1: Story

Feared by many for his menacing appearance, Aron was deeply saddened when other toys turned him away. Few truly knew him, a kind gentleman with a shell of a monster. The rat have been observing him, having plans for the kind monster. Hiring him, Aron played a huge role in the race, serving as the menacing monster who stood between the rat and the finish line. Though he is finally glad to be hired by someone, having his appearance abused once again saddened him within.

Week 3 Exercises

Making the bucket wasn't too tough, though tedious. Everything went smoothly with the instructions except for the Boolean > Difference portion of it, where I have to make holes for the connectors. Maya did not seem to be able to recognize the cylinder, instead creating a Boolean > Union. Hence, I was forced to skip the step. Regardless, it wasn't too hard and making the vase was rather quick, though not as neat as my bucket.

 The tracks were finished faster than the bucket and with the tutorial, I learned how to make my own model from a sketch. Initially, I thought bending the track requires the use of Vertex but I never imagined that it needs to revert to Animation mode. Unlike the bucket, no serious errors were encountered.

Just like the tracks, the washing board was done rather quickly and without any serious errors. The only true problem I had was the Align Tool, since I still not sure on how it is supposed to work. In the end, I had to manual align the pieces myself. Still, it turns out pretty similar to the intended model.

Week 4 E-learning

 Multi-tasking is a very common sight amongst students these days and I admit that I do multi-task at times. I would sometimes eat while playing a game, or listen to music while listening to my lecturer in class. Most of time, I do it so that I can accomplish several things at once, though not effectively. At other times, I multi-task to prevent myself from getting bored. Multi-tasking sometimes stress me out, however, as I usually have a hard time doing many things at once and I feel that I should try to avoid it if I can.
 

• Does multi-tasking give you a real or false sense of having accomplished something?

                No, I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment. I tend to panic when I was forced into multi-tasking because I know I will miss something important out. The only exception is when I listen to music, as music prevents me from getting dull. One ear listens to music while the other listens to the teacher.

• Is learning 3D and design different from learning programming, or is all learning the same?Why?

                It is more or less the same as it involves understanding the basics before going into the advanced stages, like learning the primitive shapes or the simple coding in Action Script. Both subjects also require full attention and a bit of common sense to properly understand it.

·         The article states that “Learning is actually a very complex operation for an individual”. Do you agree with this? Do you feel that you approach your learning in the best way – if yes, how, and if no, how can you change your work style?

            Yes I do agree. Yes, I do feel that I approach my learning the best way. I will generally try to listen as much as I can in class while avoiding distractions if I could. Outside class, I occasionally try out, in the case of IN3D, making some random models, do projects or simply read more about model making. I might even explore more, such as animation or colouring.

·         What are your thoughts about the last paragraph in the extract?

           I think that the paragraph makes sense as I personally have seen teams crumble in the past due to miscommunication or total lack of communication. Success cannot always be grasped alone and communicating with fellow teammates will make journey smoother and merrier. Communication also helps with our skills in speaking with strangers, especially in jobs where a client is involved.

·         Should your lecturers also focus on your work attitude, or just leave you to sink or swim on your own? Why?

            I think our lecturers should also focus on our work attitude. Some of us may find that annoying as it is similar to nagging or forcing a change but some of us tend to appreciate the attention we get. Hostility is more likely to occur if lecturers show little care for one’s work attitude and students can better understand their own problems when approached by a lecturer about their work attitude.

Week 2 Works

Week 1 Lab 2 Exercise

Original Model:

Primmy:

 Name: Vader

            In the wake of the recent wars, many men died and left widowed wives and orphaned children. Thus, many fathers were lost and the search for a replacement is virtually impossible. However, a team of scientists create a prototype robot created with the brain of fallen soldiers and the programming of several AIs.

            This first prototype, named Vader, became the first known robot which is capable of fathering a child and doing things which a father was known for doing. Many were fearful of Vader’s very advanced AI, which made it think like a typical humans; driven by emotions. However, throughout its lifespan, it remained a docile, peace-loving friend of men and when it eventually shut down, copies of it were built. In its legacy, many Vader models were built, taking over the role of father for most families affected by the war.

Companion Robot: TLH-247 (Tiny Little Helper 24-7)

Scanner blew up at the worst possible time. Made a 3D model of my sketch.