Week 6-8 Journal for Strategic Media Project

After decide not use real world photography as material of background, I use Photoshop to design an animation scene.

Original free picture from Internet

Background is designed by Photoshop in process

Background layers combination view

First scene is an indoor scene. I draw a very simple sketch to tell our character designer about the views of characters and also use them to be my simple storyboard.

 

 

My animate work get stuck on first scene for a long time.

Because first scene is the most longest and most animate part for this project. In addition, I faced lots of problems. Here’s the list of problems I met and through research and study to solve:

1. 2D animation use 3D animate manner.

For this part, I need clear distinguish lots of layers location. Layers are 2D, but they are set up like standing papers in my AE work frame. I have two screens, camera top view and active view, to view their location, scale and movement.

 

2. Camera movement in AE.

I refer a Youtube video as a tutorial to learn how To Create 3D camera move with Photoshop and After Effects. As I’m the first time to use camera movement in AE, 2D layers locations are very important to sort out. If I’m not care, when camera move, there will be tricks in the animation, like there’s a slit between roof and wall appear, wall ‘run’ out of the door and so on.

3. Animate.

I referred to an illustrious book for animator, “The Animator’s Survival Kit”, to understand animate theory “The combination of straight ahead and Pose to Pose”. And then I set up each character as a new composition. So I make the main animation – the storytelling animation, the keys. Then I put characters’ compositions in main animation. Working on main animation composition and character compositions together, so I can edit details on characters’ compositions and edit where they move in the main composition at the same time. In a short words, separate animate characters’ details and big scene, but at the same time.

4. Characters’ walk circle.

I also referred “The Animator’s Survival Kit” to make characters’ walk/ run circle. Pay attention to set the tempo, as “the first thing to do in a walk is set a beat” (Williams 2009). The only walk/run circle in scene one is mad scientist running, so I set 6 steps a second.

In addition, as the simple storyboard showed before, we have 5 cuts in scene one. So I use Premiere to do the editing and add sound. Some of the sound effects was downloaded from freesound.org include atmospheric sounds and animation/ game sounds effects.

 

 

 

Reference:

1. VidMuze, How To Create 3d Camera Move with Photoshop and After Effects Tutorial 2011,  5 December, viewed 25 April 2016, <https://youtu.be/NmynUfkgOpo>.
2. Williams, R 2009, The Animator’s Survival Kit, Expanded Edition, Faber and Faber Limited, London.

 

 

 

 

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