Month: February 2023

WEEK8 Object Design3

Personal process:
This week, I focused on three primary objects: the doll room (modeling), the doll machine, and the doll’s uv and texturing.

Doll’s Texturing

First, I unfolded the doll’s uv and then imported it into Substance Painter to create texture maps.

The materials (left) and painted in Substance Painter.(right)

The doll model’s UV was unfolded in MAYA. Its material are added to the model in Substance Painter. The main map UVs are shown above it. Finally, I returned it to MAYA to paste materials (UDIM).

Toy Machine’s Colour Matching

To make the color of the toy machine more coordinated with that of the doll room, I adopted the color-matching idea of Sophia, a member of our team.

The toy machine color was changed in Maya.

Room Modeling and Compositing

Finally, I spent a lot of time modeling the doll room. Initially, I built the room’s structure entirely by Sophia’s image and achieved the following effect. However, due to time constraints, I could not make some models, and downloaded many decorative materials from the Sketchfab website.

I downloaded about ten models to decorate the room on the Sketchfab website.

However, some problems were revealed. First, the objects placed in the circular-structured room made the objects look less concentrated; additionally, too many objects placed in the room were elements outside the shot. To reduce the rendering time and optimize the scene resources, I deleted some of them and only kept the objects that would appear in the shot.
Therefore, I made the second version. In the second version, to make the colors of the objects and lighting look more coordinated, I used the second version of Sophia’s color matching, which is better than the previous version.

Image of color matching made by Sophia (2D)

Group Progress:

2D Design: The first shot of the storyboard (We want to use 2D animation as the beginning of the whole story) (Sophia and Guowei)

The images were made by Guowei and Sophia.

3D Modeling, Texturing, Rigging and Lighting (Final version):

1. Doll room, doll machine, doll (me)

2. Carousel, gate (Cynthia)

3. Rigging and Painting weight-shift of the hero, doll. (Jonathan)

We refined the storyboard and updated the script for the subsequent animation work. We want to confirm once again each story shot’s length and motion.

Script

Shot 1: Panoramic view of the gate of the amusement park (2D)

Shot 2: Camera from top to bottom (2-3s) Shot the boy walking into the gate (two steps, walk into the gate 2-3s)

Shot 3: The boy walks to the merry-go-round and stops to watch. (walking 3s+ stopping 2s)

Shot 4: The boy with a happy smiling of holding a rabbit in his hand (4s, waving a rabbit in his arms)

Shot 5: Dancing with a rabbit in front of the merry-go-round (small range movement) (5s)

Shot 6: The boy rotates his body close to the camera, and then the camera goes black (3s)

Shot 7: The boy walks into the room. Camera close-up to the footsteps, following the boy into the room. (3-5s)

Shot 8: (NEW) Instead of shooting the scenes of people, the layout of the toy room is shot with the camera from left to right and then from right to left, which is to shoot with a similar boy perspective. (5s)

Shot 9: With the camera still, take a close-up shot of the doll lying in the toy machine. (3s)

Shot 10: The boy tilted his head and looked closer at the doll. Camera angle: Level up, close-up. Shot the boy from the side and above the shoulder. (4s)

Shot 11: Leaning over the machine, the boy looked at the doll slightly frustratedly and asked, ‘Can you be my friend?’ The camera shot about the shoulder (6s)

Shot 12: The doll nodded and pressed her hand against the glass. The boy looked at the doll satisfactorily and put his hand against the glass in response. Camera close-up of the doll and the boy’s head (10s)

Shot 13: The camera’s long view of the amusement park gate scrolls down to show the rabbit under the light beam. (5s)

Shot 14: Camera Close-up of mangled rabbit. (2s)

Shot 15: Camera Close-up, a man holding the rabbit with one hand (take two steps forward from the camera in the first person perspective, get close to the rabbit, and pull the picked-up rabbit closer to the camera) (5-6s)

The total running time is about 1:30 minutes.

Next Step Work: (3.1-3.5)

3D: Animating

Gate and Carousel section (Shot numbers 2,3,4,5,6,13,14,15,16) (Cynthia and Jonathan)

Doll room (lens number 7,8,9,10,11,12) (Me)

2D: Continue refining the first frame, drawing some elements for end credits.(Guowei and Sophia)

Storyboard-Previs & Ideas

WEEK7 Idea1 PrevisIII

After getting feedback from the class last week, I made new changes to the previs:

Previs3：

Feedback：

I classify the parts to be improved again and divide them into four parts: timing, details of character animation, camera animation and screen structure.
First, when the male character comes out of the store, he walks out and finds the stray dog, cut the shot at this part, and then focus on the moment when the man finds the stray dog. This is to make the two characters more focused in the screen, and also to make the switching of the screen smoother. (Camera animation)
Second, when the man stopped, the dog took a step forward and was attracted by the things in the man’s hand. The man therefore knelt down and took the bread out of the bread bag and took out one of them and handed it to the dog. (Character animation details)
Third, when the dog is walking forward, due to the inconsistent speed of the camera tracking the dog, the dog is sometimes on the left side of the screen and sometimes in the middle of the screen in the same frame. In the process of long shots, the movement of the character should always be kept at one position in the frame, and the left and right sides of the frame should be kept at the same distance. (Camera animation)
Fourth, when the man is playing with his pet dog, let the dog jump out of the frame by playing with a ball. (Character animation details)
Fifth, when the stray dog walks back to its den, always ensure that the stray dog is on one side of the screen, so when the dog is on the right, the next shot, the dog must also be on the right side of the screen . (Frame structure, composition)
Sixth, increase the content of the picture, how the dog walked into the cardboard box, walked forward and sat down in the cardboard box. Pay attention to the distance between the cardboard box and the dog to ensure the composition of the picture, and not make the characters and props too close to appear crowded. (Details of character animation + composition)
Seventh, swap the positions of the man and the pet dog, and the positions of the stray dog and the other two, so that the stray dog remains in the center of the screen, which is also for the audience to focus on the screen at the end In the center of the screen see the expression of the stray dog. (composition)

Plus, this week, I made some resolutions to the problems last week. The original production method is to share the same scene, character and timeline in a single file, and use the time sequncer to divide different shots. It has been changed to turn a shot or two adjacent connected shots into a scene, and name each scene. Such a disadvantage is that it takes up more memory, and it is not conducive to previewing animations in Maya. In this case, I usually import the playbaster of a single scene into AE for compositing to see the final effect. But the advantage is that it is convenient to modify each plots, and it can also ensure the smoothness of software(Maya) use.

Therefore, it is more reasonable to carry out when the timing has been guaranteed to remain basically unchanged in the early stage. In general, the problems caused by sharing all shots in one file are solved.

Storyboard-Previs & Ideas

WEEK6 Idea1 Previs II

After getting feedback from the previous week’s course, I revised the previs for the second time according to Notes.

Previs II：

Feedback:

In order to better summarize problems from the previs, I begin to classify the ways I need to improve. They are timing, screen structure, and further detailed actions.

Screenshot of the section to be modified:

Some notes:

I need to refine a lot of actions at this stage.
First, after the male character came out of the store, he walked forward and turned back to find the stray dog, then stopped walking.
Second, after the dog finished eating, he raised his head and looked forward, which is also to coincide with the action of the next shot.
Third, the male character walks through the alley instead of standing still, and the dog will also take a step forward, which is also to connect with the actions of the later shots.
Fourth, polish the animation details, such as the dog’s ears, the dog’s facial movements, and the tail movements can represent the dog’s mood.
Fifth, in the camera movement, visual fluency is guaranteed. The animation of the character must be explained clearly, such as keeping walking forward, or how the animal is lying down or looking back. The clearer the explanation, the more information displayed on the screen. many.
Sixth, during the transition of the lens, the frame should always ensure that the character remains on the same side of the lens.
Therefore, as mentioned above, my problem at this stage is that the action needs to be refined to convey more information, and pay attention to the performance of the picture, how should the camera be placed to make the whole picture look more coordinated.

In the next modification, I used camera sequencer to make previs. The advantage of this is that I can use different cameras and cameras sequencer in the scene to control the length and rhythm of the shot.

But I also found some trouble when I want to make changes of camera, due to I edit the animation within one file, that means one file shared the same scene and character including various shots. It makes troublesome and time-consuming to modify. I am trying to solve this problem.

After talking with george, next week I will make changes to the scene files. Save and craft each shot as a file. This facilitates the modification of a single shot.

Collaborative

WEEK7 Object Design2

This week I modeled the doll according to the doll design drawing by Guowei.

2D Sketches

3D Modeling (personal process)

I combinate all accessories and painting with their basic color.

I mainly focused on the number of faces and distribution line segments of the doll, which should be paid attention to because of the need for rigging in the later stage. However, the doll’s accessories needed further refinement and enrichment of details through the next step of mapping and material.

Group process:

2D design:

3D modeling:

Next step work: (2.20 -2.26)

2D: The first shot of the storyboard (the effect of the two-dimensional paper-cut and the reversed paper-cut book layer) (Sophia Guowei)

3D: (Integrate all 3D content)

1. Tang: Doll room modeling, doll machine and doll (UV, texture mapping and lighting)

2. Cynthia: Carousel, Gate (Material, Map, uv, Lighting)

3. Jonathan: Hero and doll model (rigging and paint weight shift), rabbit doll (texture map)

Collaborative

WEEK6 Object Design1

Personal process

This week, my main tasks were to design and model the toy machine. I found many pictures of the machine on the websites and drew a rough sketch. Then I made the model.

Since the toy machine is one of the story’s main objects, it would be in the same scene with the hero for a long time. I had to make it more elaborate. I chose different materials such as emission, transparent, and metal parts of the machine. I separately added the Arnord and basic lighting to the machine’s inside and outside to make it look more realistic.

Reference of Toy machine (left) / Toy machine sketch (right)

The process of modeling and unfolding part of UV

The basic toy machine model made in Maya

Added lighting and emission, transparent and metal materials of the toy machine in Maya

The color matching of the toy machine could be improved to better match the scene’s color tone. The color design will be assigned to the 2D groupmate, Sophia. In the next step, I will add more details about the toy machine.

Group process

2D:

Object design: Amusement park gate

Painting of amusement park gate (Sophia)

Object design: Doll

The color matching and modification of the hero (Guowei)

3D:

The model of the toy machine (me) (The picture has been presented above)

The model of the carousel (Cynthia)

The texture of the hero (Jonathan)

Next step: (2.15-2.19)

2D: Design the toy machine room and the color matching of the machine (Sophia)

Painting of the carousel (Guowei)

3D:

Doll modeling (me)

Amusement park gate modeling (Cychia)

Rabbit modeling (Jonathan)

Storyboard-Previs & Ideas

WEEK5 Idea1 Previs I

This week, I will start the creation of the previs.

I made some preparations, I made two simple block models of dogs, and finished their rigging.

Part I: Building a simple dog model

Part II: Previs

After setting up the scene, I set color and material for buildings. Then, I start to make animations.

Process:

Problems encountered during production:

First of all, the rigging puppy I tried for the first time was relatively rough, and the puppy’s joints could not be controlled back and forth so that the movements did not look very accurate when walking. But since it can seem to express rough animation, I kept it.
Second, in the shot below, I was thinking about how to bind the bread paper bag to the person. So I chose a father-son relationship, and bound the paper bag to the immobile hand of the person, so that when the character moves, he will follow the paper bag.
Thirdly, since I have no way to solve the animation of the bread being eaten and disappearing gradually, I choose to cut the camera to avoid this part of the animation.

Previs I：

Some Notes:

Course Feedback: Modify previs

Through talking to George, I noted something that need to be fixed.

In shots 1 and 2, the camera moves up so that the camera follows the dog’s movement up. And the dog’s ears will also go from drooping to up, making the movements appear smoother.
In the 3rd shot, add a shot of a character coming out of the door, the male owner comes out of the bakery, then twists his body and finds the puppy. After communicating in the form of performance in class, I can better understand what the effect of production should be.
In the 4th, 5th and 6th shots, after the puppy finishes eating, he then raises his head to connect the next frame. And in this frame the puppy is going to see the male character walking forward and disappearing into the street. It was only later that I was attracted by the male character and went to another street to find the male character.
In the seventh shot, since I am doing a right-angled movement steering, in order to make the movement smoother, it should be changed to a circular arc trajectory.
8~9 shots, this frame needs to be lengthened to give the audience time to react. Similarly, these 10 shots also need to be lengthened by about one second.
In the 11th shot, in this shot, add some details, the puppy droops its tail, expressing its frustration through actions.
The 12th shot, this part has a big change, I missed two frames of the storyboard, the puppy needs to go back to the cardboard box next to the trash can before being discovered by the male owner.
In shot 13, when the puppy and the male owner come home, some details are added to the action, and the tail of the puppy is swayed to show that the puppy is happy.
Shot 14, when the puppy turned back, the male owner and another puppy continued to move forward. To ensure the continuity of the animation.

Collaborative

WEEK5 Scripts and Storyboards

Post author By Jiazhuo Tang
Post date 9th February 2023
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This week, we shared the progress of the current project in the collaborative course and enjoyed the brilliant project concepts and production process of other students in this course. It is essential for us to receive inspiration and to reflect on our previous work for the next step of the project through others sharing concepts, progress, and suggestions from teachers and classmates.

Two suggestions were collected:

Focus on the storyboard. There are a lot of parts that could be clearer; add more details to make it more accurate. This will help the group work better to distribute specific workload.
Due to the large project volume at the beginning of a plan, we should always review the tasks and improve the contents to ensure that our tasks can be carried out as planned and completed on time.

Project progress:

The project changed dramatically, and we scaled back the story. The main focus is on the plot outline, the dialogue of the storyboard, the character’s movements, the expressions, and the setting and lighting environment. After getting some suggestions from George about storyboarding, we nailed down the storyboard and decided on the next step, which were more specific components of our project. For example, we started working on 2D concept painting and 3D production models.

Storyboard:

Story concept:

The idea for the story came from school bullying. In the backstory, the hero is considered odd because of his feminine appearance, so he gets a lot of snubs, jokes, and unfair treatment. The boy’s personality became withdrawn and reclusive. He has been living in a paradise of his imagination, using the facilities as tools to not to be alone. He longs for friends but does not trust them, so he oscillates between destroying them and longing for them. Some toys at the amusement park become targets for the boy to bully.

Group division next step: (2.11-2.14)

2D Object design:

1. The gate of the amusement park 2. The doll 3. The color matching of the hero

(Assigned members: Sophia and Guowei)

3D Object design and modeling:

1. Carousel (Modeling Cynthia)

2. Doll Machine (Modeling) (Me)

3. Character model refinement and materials of character clothing (Jonathan)

Reflection:

During team work, arguments and disagreements occurred quite frequently. But through communication and agreement on different solutions, we will eventually resolve conflicts, and our plans can be executed with higher quality. Secondly, it is vital to specify the task for each person. When we push forward to the next step, we must fully clarify the plan or idea of the previous action before carrying out the next stage of work distribution. Task assignments and work content should be evident to be maintained at smooth progress. Clear and timely communication is crucial.

Collaborative

WEEK4 Character design, storyboard and to-do list

Post author By Jiazhuo Tang
Post date 4th February 2023
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This week, I participated in a group discussion on character design, story, and to-do lists.

Character design

Character setting concept:

The central theme of the story is school bullying. The protagonist Nimo is a boy who has a traumatic childhood experience. He could not forget this memory; over time, he could not understand the beautiful things in his lonely life.

He has destructive thoughts when he encounters these good things. He became distrustful of intimate connections and became insecure. The character is set up to be a dark person.

We tried a variety of color schemes, such as black and blue, to express this feature physically. Through this, we attempted to contrast the dark inside with the innocent and kind exterior.

Storyboard (First version):

The little boy got lost while playing with his companions. A long time passed, and when it was dark, the boy did not find a playmate, but his lively nature attracted him by the glowing grass, and he burrowed into a new world — the amusement park Kingdom. He looked at the building in disbelief and went inside. But along the way, he was attracted to strange things like horse-faced figures sitting on chairs, talking dolls in doll machines, carousels with severed heads, and laughing funhouse mirrors. The boy was frightened and cried. He tried to get out of the amusement park.

Story concept: The story tries to trick the hero with fantasy rides that allude to bullying. We tried to have this visual way of expressing the inner impact of bullying.

But the current situation is that there are too many shots, and some shots are not connected and need to be clarified. We need to cut out some shots without affecting the expression of the theme and make the story more concise.

Group to-do list:

We put together a general task list to make it easier to assign tasks more clearly.

3D part:

1. Modeling and material paste (object design: amusement park gate, carousel, doll machine, doll, Ferris wheel, etc.)

2. Character binding (Hero rigging, doll rigging)

3. Integrate files in Maya and animating

4. Light and render

5. Compositing and sound effects

2D part:

1. Object design (door, room of toy machine, and carousel)

2. The first shot is presented in the form of a 2D image

3. 2D elements appearing in the shot: musical notes, falling ribbons, potential other elements (not discussed)

4. Sketch at the end of the credits

Group process:

Amusement park map

Character modeling

Character drawing( Painting by Guowei, presented above)

Storyboard (Made by Sophia, presented above)

Storyboard-Previs & Ideas

WEEK4 Idea1 3DStoryboard & Characters

Post author By Jiazhuo Tang
Post date 4th February 2023
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This week’s task is divided into two parts, 3D storyboard and character design.

Part 1: 3D Storyboard

First, I lay out the scene, props and characters in Maya. And shoot shots according to the rule of thirds. According to the beginning of the story, the establishing shot is that the protagonist stray dog is lying next to the trash can next to the park next to the box, and is attracted by the male character who is buying food across the road.

The stray dog’s course of action is to walk from the trash can in the park to the store, and then go door to door looking for male characters. In the story, the puppy spent a lot of time looking for it, and the scene went from dusk to night (if I want to develop it into a complete work, I must pay attention to the changes in time and lighting in the animation).

Through the communication with George, I got feedback and suggestions and made some changes to the storyboard:

I cut and added some new scenes, like the shot of puppy sad and shot of the puppy returning to it terrible habitat, which can better convey the emotions of the characters through the story.

Part Two: Characters

In order to better develope the content of the story, I began to consider designing characters.
The content that needs to be considered in designing a character includes clothing, body shape, personal personality, and personal advantages and disadvantages.
So I wrote a few key words for my character and drew around those words.
There are three characters I need to consider, the hero and the two puppies.

The man I set up is an office worker who lives alone. He looks cute, honest and kind, and he got a lovely appearance, because I think it is easier to attract puppies.

Domestic dog: (a creature similar to Fadou, with a fierce body but a kind appearance), so it is full of kindness to pity the stray puppies on the street.

Stray Dog: A stray dog is a common small dog that is abandoned on the streets. She doesn’t have the ability to fight and compete for food. Although she was abandoned by her former owner, she still hasn’t given up dealing with kind people. She still wags her tail when she sees good people.

Due to the previs I just focus on the story, scenes, shots, timing and some rough animations. Therefore I will not create 3D character models in previs. I will use the reference character model and make my own cube dogs to replace them.

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