Category: Storyboard-Previs & Ideas

Previs Ⅳ：

Some problems in process:

I’m having a little problem here when the character takes the bread out of the bag and gives it to the dog. I don’t know how to synchronize the bread location with the hand movements by key each frames. So I choose to use constraint to solve this problem. Also, I set the keyframe of parent constrain in the value column, I set off when I don’t want the bread to follow the hand, and I set on when I want to the bread follow hand.

Feedback:

As in previous weeks, I still categorized issues with my animations so that I could analyze them.

According to the situation last week, I divided the total file into different individual scenes, and I couldn’t preview all the shots, so there were a lot of timing problems. Some get longer and some get shorter. Therefore, I further modified the length of time in a single shot, some extended by about 1 second, and some directly cut off the lengthy part.

The second part is to refine the character animation in order to maintain a smooth flow in the picture, convey more details or connect the movements of the front and next shots.

Third, it is still a common compositional issue, when the character stays to one side of the shot, make sure the character is always on the same side of the shot.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The content of this week is divided into two parts. The first part is to modify the 2D storyboard after receiving feedback, and the second part is to find materials on the Internet to build the story scene. I mainly focused on the 2d storyboard changes, and spent a small amount of time finding assets and setting up the scene.

Part 1: 2D Storyboard Modifications

《Accept a stray dog》

Because the ending of the previous version of the story was a bit blunt. So I drew a second version of the 2d storyboard to modify the end of the story.

Part 2: Creating Establishing shots

Before the story begins, I should concider where the story takes place. My story takes place in a small town, based on the pictures I made in the mood board last week. Therefore, I chose flat houses and streets, shops and so on. I chose some assets to build my scene from Sketchfab.

Plan: Next week I will continue to complete the construction of the scene and create a 3D storyboard.

This week, to further develop idea1, I started thinking about building the world of my story. Include scene setting and prop setting in it, and think about how these items will affect the character. And I should consider a very important content in the formation of this animation—the mood board, which uses color as the emotional tone of the story, and can also use this color to consider the environment and color of the subsequent story to affect the direction of the entire story.

• First, I learned what is worldbuilding.
• World building: The content required for the setting of the world view includes the era of the story background, if it is history, which stage of history is it, and what events affect the story. Or consider where the story exists, from the perspective of geographical location, which country it is in, what kind of style and architectural appearance it has, and so on. From a biological point of view, you can also analyze what kind of species live in your story, how these species will affect your world, whether it is a barren environment or a rich wild environment, etc.
• Secondly, I began to consider the relevance of the world building and prop design, as well as the importance of prop design.
• Prop Design: After creating the story and the background of the story, consider the props that might appear in the story. These props may be used in the scene to affect the advancement of the story, or to assist the background of the story. From the perspective of geographical environment and architectural style, props can be used for decoration.
• After understanding these contents, I will further add the world setting and prop design to my story.

Following last week’s script, I created a 2D storyboard.

2D Storyboard：

Plot：A homeless puppy was fed by a man heading home with geoceries. The puppy tried to look for the man door to door and finally found the find man’s house. Looking through the window, the puppy found out the man’s plan to adopt a Shiba Inu. Feeling hopless, the puppy crawled back to the carton boxes near the trash in the alley. Surprisingly, the man appeared at the end of the alley. He walked towards the puppt, bent down and had his hands out to the puppy.

Moodboard:

After deciding on the content of the story, I created the mood board. The story is set as a puppy living near a park near shops and residential areas, so it can easily deal with local residents who buy food, and in the case of following the residents, it finally finds its own home.

I personally prefer the style of two small towns. The first one is the style of small towns in Europe and the style of streets in Japan. I want to set the shops and parks close, and there are narrow roads, so that the story can be unfolded easily. So I tentatively choose one of these two as the place where the story takes place. Second, the story revolves around a sad stray puppy, so blue is set as the emotional tone. In the following pictures, I searched for a large Japanese-style street or a more traditional old European street town as an emotional version of the picture, as a reference for architectural style and color reference.

Finally, because the story has a warm ending. Choose classic orange as the mood for the second half of the story. Among them, in order to reflect the change of the puppy’s inner emotions through the environment, falling snow and orange flickering lights, dim and warmer street lights reflect this emotion, which forms a contrast with the previous blue and black street colors. Or, another kind of picture can be used to express this kind of mood, the street scene after the rain, the sunshine, and the lively and warm atmosphere formed under the shade of the street trees, which is a metaphor for the acceptance of the new family. The design of the emotional version is very useful for my story. I can imagine the development of the story in this environment, because the color can feel the change of the content of the story.

The task for this term is to create three ideas and choose one from which to produce a previs.

Before starting previs, I learned some of the noun about concepts of animation.

• Mise En Scene/ Camera animation Rule of third, camera lenses, sets/props, character designs, lighting, camera types; handheld/crane/static. Types of shots; Establishing, mid, close up etc.
• Mise En Scene: Mise En Scene is a general word in film. It’s a collection of on-camera illustration. The content of the presenting includes the scenes, characters, props, costumes, lighting, and the effects of camera shots.
• Camera animation: The motion of the camera. There are up and down, around, push, pull, shake, shift and other different operation of camera. These modes of camera operation present different visual effects, and different implications.
• Rule of third/ Golden Ratio: Divide the picture into the following form, place the characters and objects are intended to highlight on the dividing line, and people’s eyes will naturally focus on this focal point. It also makes the picture look more comfortable because the characters and background are evenly distributed and balanced.

• Camera Lenses: Different lengths lens take on different effects. The length of a long lens can be used to shoot faces or other close-ups shot. Short shots can be used to take full shots or establish shots, often accompanied by lens distortion, such as making the scene appear larger and boarder.
• Props &Sets: The design of props & sets is an important part of setting and includes a lot of items, such as props, costumes, hair, makeup, etc. These are designed to serve the story and important information of the plot. But it’s important to note that items are meant to convey key information, not the more items the better.
• Character designs: As key to the content of the story, the character needs to be considered in terms of dress, appearance, facial expression, personality, mood, etc. The character’s characteristic can be conveyed to the audience laterally by designing the character’s actions.
• Camera types: handheld/crane/static
• • Previs& Postvis: pre-visialization and post-visialization including rough shots, character actions, timing, and scene design to show the content of the story. Such visualization is more conducive to communicating ideas with collaborators. After shooting the action, the special effects or three-dimensional models to be used are roughly cut together with the film, which can also save costs and convey effective information.

Knowing these nouns helps me with previs. Over the next ten weeks, I will come up with three ideas and choose one of them as previs, a story I am most interested in.

About First Idea

About the first idea. I am very interested in the topic of pets. I have a pet, a stray dog ​​my family picked up in the park. Because too many young people buy a puppy as a pet but often abandon it because they don’t have a stable home or job. Therefore, you can see puppies that are abandoned for some reason in the city. Because of these poor stray dogs, I wanted to create a story for them.

Because I consider that my original story text has too much content, I may not be able to finish it in the limited time, so I’m just using it as an entry point for my new story. Then I made a simpler story script:

The dog was lost on his way when he was attracted by a customer coming out of a bakery. As the man was returning to the car, the dog jumped in. The man smiled happily and looked back at the dog. However, the dog was not accepted by the man’s family for some reason, and finally the family opened their hands and accepted the dog as their family.

And I did three scene as start:

The significance of making these three scenes is that after I understand the function of the above concepts.

I used knowledges to make an attempt on the my scenes,such as rule of thirds or other layout.

For example, I divided the dog and the human into the left and right parts of the picture, and adjust the picture to a lower angle to better simulate the dog’s perspective.

In addition, I simply tried to arrange some long objects, doors or buildings, and flowers and plants in front of the door. This provides a split layout for images. This makes the picture look less monotonous.