Kris's 3D Animation Blog

Tag: Final Submission

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Advanced and Experimental 3D Computer Animation Techniques George's Class Serra's Class Term 3

Submission Post: Adv&Exp – Project 2

Even though I wasn’t able spend as much time on these pieces as I would have liked due to health issues this term, I’m happy with the results and how much I learnt.

For 3D animation, I was able to get more familiar with body mechanics and figure out what I want to improve on going forward. I also learnt a lot with the acting shot, including a lot of nuance with how the face should move when expressing emotion and talking.

For the experimental project, I was able to learn so much of Marvelous Designer and make a head start on creating the clothing for my FMP characters. While I would have also liked to have experimented with some visual styles, I’m glad the project allowed me to experiment with a new software that I might have felt too time stressed to do otherwise. I also really enjoy using Marvelous Designer despite the difficulties I had with it, and seeing the similarities between the interface and my experience physically making clothes and clothing patterns.

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Advanced and Experimental 3D Computer Animation Techniques Previs Term 2

Submission Post: Adv&Exp – Previs

Previs Development:

Same as last week, mostly small fixes. I did swap out the tall guy with the main character in Shot 0110/0120/0125, and adjusted the animation accordingly. While there’s a lot of things I want to fix/improve on/add to my previs, I did really enjoy this project and it feels good to already have a good visual plan for my FMP. I do wish I had delved more into previsualising transitions between shots and such, but I’m planning to do this once I am able to come back to the development of the previs along with adding additional shots I didn’t have time for.

Previs Feedback:

  • In opening shots, the main character’s pose is too visually boring. Have hips and shoulders angled, head tilted, elbow more out, etc
  • Consider cutting Shot 0060, and have previous and next shot meld together instead (camera just getting closer). Something to play around with
  • Lots of character in Shot 0120. If buff guy was more stoic it would feel like a power struggle between him and the main character, with hyper kid just on the side doing his own thing. Instead there’s a nice contrast between stoic main character and hyper kid, with the buff guy acting as the big friendly giant trope bringing everyone together. These character’s feel like a team
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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Animation Term 1

Submission Post: Animation

I really enjoyed the animation assignments this semester. Even though I learnt most of the equivalent material while studying for a year on 2D Animation on my BA, I skipped over a lot of them when learning 3D animation because, at the time, I didn’t think I would need to relearn the fundamentals. Yet now I can look back at my animation work before coming to UAL and see where not having relearnt them held me back a lot. At the time, I might have had the knowledge from my time on 2D, but I wasn’t always applying it to my 3D work.

The feedback sessions were super helpful, both for getting feedback on my own work and seeing the work of my classmates.

I would like to do more of these exercises (such as the previously mentioned ball bounces with different weights), so I plan to do this in my own time as personal work.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Immersion Term 1

Submission Post: Immersion

Learning to use UE5 this semester with no prior experience was a huge challenge, but I have very much enjoyed the process once I was able to get over the hurdle of not knowing where to start. I’m excited by the possibilities of this software in my future practice, especially because I have previously struggled with other programs because of the lack of live visual feedback. I feel like using UE5 will allow me to focus more on animation, which is what I want to focus on most, as previously most of my project times were taken up with parts of the pipeline I found a lot easier and faster to do in UE5.

As shown in my Formative Presentation, the production process for me was as follows:

  • Visual research
  • Storyboarding
  • Animatic
  • Environment layout
  • Shot set up
  • 3D Animating (Maya)
  • Texturing/creating materials
  • Lighting
  • Making custom LUTs
  • Rendering
  • Editing

I briefly mentioned it in my Formative Presentation, but if I had more time to work on this unit I would prioritise animation clean-up, adding more characters to the environment, and material creation. I did enjoy making materials in UE5 a lot, but I didn’t feel like my project idea gave me the time to fully delve into the process and possibilities. Early on in production, I really wanted to explore 2D line art materials, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to fit it into my schedule. As previously mentioned however, UE5 allows for easier editing of the different parts of the project in the future, so I will definitely be returning to this project as personal work to improve on existing parts and to add new assets.

Credits

Apollo rig, M-rigs (Maya): Ramon Arango

Subway train (UE5): Dekogon Studios

‘Slow Trap’ music: Anton Vlasov

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Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Term 1

Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language: Critical Report Presentation

Research presentation with audio recording
ResearchPresentation_PowerPointDownload

Images:

Background image 1. Russian Doll (2019) [Screenshot] Available at: https://www.netflix.com.

Image 1. Russian Doll (2019) [Screenshot] Available at: https://www.netflix.com.

Image 2. 12 Steps of the Hero’s Journey, StoryFlint [Image] Available at: https://www.storyflint.com/blog/heros-journey-christopher-vogler

Image 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8. Russian Doll (2019) [Screenshot] Available at: https://www.netflix.com.

Videos:

Vid 1, 2, 3, & 4. “The Great Escape” Russian Doll (2019). Season 1, Episode 2. Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com.

Vid 5 & 6. “The Way Out” Russian Doll (2019). Season 1, episode 7. Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com.

References:

Hodgin, N. and Thakkar, A. (2017) ‘Introduction: Trauma Studies, Film and the Scar Motif’, Springer eBooks, pp. 7. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41024-1_1.

Quinlivan, D. (2014) ‘Film, healing and the body in crisis: a twenty-first century aesthetics of hope and reparation’, Screen, 55(1), pp. 103–117. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjt053.


Hazen, M. (2020) ‘Exploring narrative complexity in Outer Wilds: A textual analysis on how user agency and a time-loop influence the narrative complexity’, BA. Thesis. Utrecht University. Available at: https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/865


Cabeen, C. (2023) ‘Trauma Responses in Social Choreography: Accessing Agency and Opportunities for Healing through Mindful Embodiment’, Arts, 13(1), pp. 4–4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13010004.


Graßl, K. (2018) The representation of drugs in movies: narrative and social functions. Thesis. Available at: https://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/2878997.


van der Kolk, B. (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. London: Penguin Books.