This blog is about painting skin weights and blending shape in Maya.
Reference model
Process
Using paint skin weights to adjust the relationship between eyes and mouth.
Shape Editor
Use shape editor to do blend shape to make the model more details and show more characteristics, the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and neck separately.
Rendering Images
This week, we shared the current research progress of the report through group communication.
I changed my original research topic. Due to the apparent stagnation of my research field and direction in the original topic, I discussed my potential topics with the team members and the professor and got suggestions during the course discussion. Therefore, I changed a topic that I was more interested in.
Bowers, M. (2004) Magic(al) Realism.1st eds. New York: Routledge.
Cole, S. (2004). ‘Believing in Tigers: Anthropomorphism and Incredulity in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi’, Studies in Canadian Literature, 29(2), pp.22-36.
Theo D. (1995), ‘Magical Realism and Postmodernism: Decentering Privileged Centers’, Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, pp.191-208.
Assignment requirement:
Read the following paragraph and paraphrase the authors point in your own words.
The authenticity of a documentary is ‘deeply linked to notions of realism and the idea that documentary images are linked to notions of realism and the idea that documentary images bear evidence of events that happened, by virtue of the indexical relationship between image and reality’.
Horness Roe. A. (2013) Animated Documentary. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Paraphrasing:
Horness(2013, Animated Documentary) argued that the reliability of a documentary film is closely related to the concept of realism as well as the realistic concepts associated with documentary images and through the relationship of index between pictures and trues, the concept of images from documentaries had proof the events that real occurred.
Horness Roe. A. (2013) Animated Documentary. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
This blog is about an animation of a ball to walk and a rigging activity of rigging whole body of a box man.
Version One
This is the first time my animation sidewalk tried, jumping of the left to right movement is OK, but the overlapping is not good, there is no gravity bounce when the sphere lands.
Version Two
I tried a second time to get the ball to bounce off the ground, but it didn’t work so well on the legs, and there was a problem with the movement of the feet.
Nick’s course was how to bind a basic box man model through parent constraint, Jnt and circle control.
This is the hierarchy of the bound model, and I have to say, it’s a challenge for me to distinguish this elements.
Image and Video
This blog is about an animation documentary named A is for Autism (Tim Webb 1992).
The documentary A Is for Autism (1992) is directed by Tim Webb. It describes Autistic children and adults sketching out the look and feel of their sensory world in an early awareness-raising film.
According to Honess Roes’s ‘Taxonomy for Documentary’ (2013), Animated Documentary has been recorded or created frame by frame. A Is for Autism is comprised of those and it includes collages of drawings, live-action sequences, and voiceovers that offer an insight into different aspects and forms of autism. Illustrated by collages of drawings, it gives a rare glimpse of the very private and personal worlds of autistic children and adults, their thoughts and feelings, and, especially, their sensory responses to and experiences of the world.
Secondly, Roes argues that documentaries are about the real world rather than a world wholly imagined by its creator. And Webb’s choices in his works to demonstrate the inner worlds of the autistic reflect Rose’s argument. He spent a large amount of time regularly recording the feelings and thoughts of autistic people. Hence, the interview context completely depends on the autistic rather than the director’s subjective thoughts.
Thirdly, presented by the producer as a documentary, A Is for Autism (1992) is underpinned by music made of a flute and a piano, and the assembled sound is edited to help present both individual narratives and the broader picture of the autistic world. The interaction between the sound and the images adds additional layers to a visually dense film, leaving the audience to view it multiple times before fully comprehending its illustrations and associations.
While, in his book Blurred Boundaries, documentary theorist Bill Nichols writes that the documentary ‘is dependent on the specificity of its images for authenticity’ (1994: 29). This documentary film uses the simplicity, uniqueness, and clarity of autistic works to convey the real world of autism. This film relates to the research fields that are more likely to be based on images because it can more specifically illustrate the content and phenomenon. However, Christina Formenti (2014) locates animation documentaries in the realm of docu-fiction due to what she perceives as the lack of objectivity of what we observe on the screen (2014: 108-110). But this movie shows the objective perspective from the real content of autism rather than the subjective comprehension of the director. It is derived from the roles being recorded, while the producer is merely the editor.
In the end, A Is for Autism is more likely to be a documentary because it mainly recorded the experiences of the autism group and it provides opportunities for the ordinary audience to learn about people with autism.
This blog is describing a short animation named Vernunft & Triebe which is considered a formative experimental animation.
It is directed by Bennet Meyer in 2017, and recognized to be an expressionist artwork. The author aims to show a conflicted, impassioned tone and a concept of the inner struggle between the humans’ good sense and their internal impulses and desires.
Composed of lines, planes, a three-dimensional female figure and other patterns, the animation is a dynamic collage to show the feelings of humans. For example, the connection between black and white lines and inner emotional fluctuations, as well as the difference in color contrast between black and white lines and red and blue ripples, show the ups and downs of people’s emotions through spreading, stretching, and extension of pattern forms.
The female body is also a typical symbol in the animation. The model rotates, lies down and dances, while being skillfully cut into several parts: and the head, chest and buttocks are cut off respectively. While the model is moving, the streamlined body shows the connection with inner desire, impulse, and power.
Spreading lines Red and blue lines, as the third element of the picture, extend on the chest, head, and legs, combining with the model’s arm and other movements to visualize the spread of desire. But at the same time, it conflicts with the calmness of the facial expression, which also represents a competition between good human nature and inner desires.
In his work, he used two-dimensional dynamic patterns that loop infinitely, three-dimensional real patterns, and visualized video editing software such as AFTER EFFECT. The authors cropped digital images in a nontraditional, nonlinear editing mode to represent a difference from traditional clip art. In addition, the use of ripples, lines, the female body, and facial expressions functioned as a medium to convey the desire and inner impulses.
V&T (Vernunft & Triebe) fits the standard for formative experimental animation, which is animation with movement, rhythm, color, and light, along with the fact that the author develops macroscopic emotional concepts in the form of concrete figures and patterns.
Thank you for watching
We used Flour-sack models to show how to use models for movement, and we changed the rig-group hierarchy to get the model the movement to walk.
Image
Video
This blog is about describing the film of Stuart Little plot, analysing the archetypes of characters and creating a new timeline.
1.You 【background setting】
The story is based on the happy life of the Little’s, Mr. and Mrs. Little along with their son George, and the protagonist who is a mouse named Stuart from an orphanage.
2.Need【A desire to belong】
On Christmas eve, George wished for a younger brother believing that a brother would provide him accompany and he would be able to take good care of the brother. The family visited an orphanage and met Stuart who was also seeking a sense of belonging and a family. Since Stuart was a tiny mouse, no one was willing to adopt him since he came to the orphanage. However, the Little couple developed an affection for Stuart and decided to take him into the family.[
3.Go【Crossing the Threshold】
As Stuart became the new member of the family, everyone had to adjust to the new family structure. George was in disappointment when he found out that Stuart was different from a brother in his expectation. Due to his small body size, Stuart was frequently unnoticed and got into trouble when Mrs. Little was doing chores, such as being thrown into the washing machine. Also, Snowball the cat, did not welcome Stuart to the family, chasing Stuart around and sometimes even trying to eat Stuart until Mr. or Mrs. Little found out.
4.Search【Adapt to new situation】
Looking for approval and a sense of belonging, by starting conversations with George about things George finds interesting, Stuart was able to earn George’s acceptance and they became friends. Stuart agreed to help with George’s toy boat race. On the day of the race, as George was giving up for his remote control was crushed, Stuart volunteered to steer the toy boat. Fortunately, Stuart managed to win the race for George even though he had to go through sabotages from other children’s competitors.
5.Find【Get what they wanted】
Winning the race, both George and Stuart were awarded and the whole family took a picture together. In addition, the family also introduced Stuart to their relative proudly as George’s little brother. With this, Stuart gained approval and love from the family while the other family members found the happy family they wished for.
6.Take【Pay a heavy price for it】
On the other side, Snowball still wanted Stuart to be out of the family and started conspiring with Smokey the stray cat against Stuart. They asked a mice couple to pretend to be Stuart’s real parents. Having to choose between his new family and his ‘real parents’, Stuarts made the decision to bear farewell to the Little’s reluctantly. Although the mice couple, feeling guilty, told Stuart the truth, Smokey did not give and began hunting Stuart down. Ended up on a run, Stuart injured himself and almost died to a trap on his way.
7.Return【they return to their familiar situation】
Realizing the true meaning of family, Snowball changed his mind and eventually saved Stuart from being hunted by Smokey, bringing Stuart back to the Little’s.
8.Change【a change of conceptual】
At last, the whole family changed their attitudes toward Stuart and accepted him, allowing him to become a true family member. Along his journey, Stuart not only found the family love he had been longing for but also build a strong bond with the Little’s.
Stuart：Protagonist
The protagonist in the story is Stuart who is in the spotlight of the story and the heroic role that showed courage and optimism.
Little Family: Sidekick or Allies
Mr. and Mrs. Little along with George are the sidekicks and the allies in the story. Besides supporting Stuart in all kinds of situations, they also push the development of the plot.
conversations of toy boat: Herald
(The one who brings the Call to Adventure. This could be a person or an event. )
The toy boat race is the herald through which the protagonist changes his life. Stuart earned approval from most of the family members after the race.
Snowball and mice couple: Shapeshifter
(The shapeshifter blurs the line between ally and enemy)
Snowball becomes the shapeshifter in this story. Started as the one that rejected Stuart from joining the family, he ended up changing his mind and save Stuart from the life-threatening situation.
Smokey：Antagonist or shadow
Smokey the stray cat can be identified as the antagonist. As the villain, Smokey was the one that brought suspense to the story by providing Stuart with challenges and predicaments. In this story, Stuart’s life was threatened by Smokey.
The Little’s adopted Stuart from the orphanage successfully and managed to get used to his presence in the family.
Upon meeting his ‘real parents’, Stuart chose to leave the Little’s and started a life with them. As Stuart found out his ‘real parents’ only cared about their materialistic lives and constantly come into conflicts with him, he started to miss his life with the Little’s.
Overhearing conversations between his ‘real parents’, Stuart realized the reason they came to the Little’s looking for him was to exchange for food. In fact, his ‘real parents’ are scammers while his actual parents died in a car accidents long time ago.
After learning the facts, Stuart started to find his way back to the Little’s. On his way back, Stuart almost got eaten by stray cats and lost his life.
Meanwhile, the Mr. and Mrs. Little also found out about the truth from the orphanage and began looking for Stuart. Being sympathetic to Stuart, Snowball tried to help the couple out and managed to find Stuart and bring him back, returning him to the happy and family.
thank you for watching 😉
This blog is about the two nimation: the movement of a ball with a tail and the box hand throwing ball in the basket.
I made anmation of a ball jumped in a side profile, like a squirrel jumping and waving up its tail.
I tried to make a squirrel animation. The movement trajectory of the squirrel ball looked OK, but the deformation of the ball and the movement of the tail looked rigid.
Version Two
I tried the second version and tried to optimize the tail wagging motion, but I found that the tail wagging motion was too fast.
Final Version
After much more editions, I finally simplified my squirrel animation, and as George says, “keep it simple!” It helps me to better grasp the rules of movement, and the effect is better than before.
Version one
This was my first attempt. At the beginning, I could only master the use of one location and let my hand control the sphere.
Version Two
In the second version, I tried to add a second location, which improved the movement of the sphere.
Final Version
This blog is about a potential topic title share and some ideas.
Title: How Futurism affects resistance and violence in postmodern game plots and animations?
Keyword:
Futurism, postmodernity, game and animation plots, resistance and violence, robot, human
Introduction:
Futurism in the 20th century has brought great changes to architecture, industrial products and daily life. However, the cult of technology has led some artists to question the impact of excessive pursuit of technology on people’s life and spiritual life. Specificly, Some artists leverage the postmodernist style of animation and game plot, under the description of the futuristic environment and through the plot of resistance and violence, to reflect on the pursuit of science and technology.
Reference (possible related):
1.Antonio, S. (1914) ‘Manifesto of Futurist Architecture: Reference “Lacerba”’, Lacerba, https://library-artstor-org.arts.idm.oclc.org/#/asset/ARTSTOR_ 103_41822003438734
2.Sammond, Nicholas (2018). ‘Race, Resistance and Violence in Cartoons’. The Animation Studies Reader. Nichola Dobson, Annabelle Honess Roe, Amy Ratelle, Caroline Ruddell (Eds). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
3.CD Projekt RED (2020) Cyberpunk 2077 (video game). Publisher: CD Projekt RED.
4.NetFlix（2019）Love,Death&Robots(animation). Publisher : NetFlix.