Assets, MORE ASSETS!

So here is a small list of what I still need to make though not in full priority.

This is generally just to keep me above theoretical water on my project.

Asset List

Physical

• Factory placeholder built
• UI – FIND SIGNS OF LIFE
• Blocks shaped like bushes
• Rough pathway
• CD
• UI – SCAN ITEM
  ANAZLYZE CONTENTS
• Cartoon FLASH
• UI – SCAN COMPLETE
• UI – ITEM IS A STORAGE DISC
  CONTENTS – MUSIC
• UI – ALLOW TRACK TO PLAY?
  Y/N
• UI – WARNING
  UNAUTHORIZED LIMB CONTROL
• Placeholder scene for the robot to run through
• Log for the robot to trip over
• UI – HOW YOU REMIND ME
• UI – crisis state animation of fluid levels etc.
• UI – EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN IMINENT
• UI – Animation of a startup sequence.
• UI – Animation of track 2 being deleted.
• Placeholder scene for robot to dance through.
• Suitable placeholder scene for robot to dance off.

Sound

• Heavy sliding for doors
• Heavy metal foot steps
• Mechanical panning noises for eyes
• Heavy crunch foot steps.
• Zoom noise
• Flash noise
• beeping noise for text
• Beeping noise for notifications
• Large metal crash
• Pound sound effect
• Warning beep
• Reboot beep
• Reboot jingle

Storyboard complete! This time with music!

So for the majority of yesterday and today I did alot of storyboard work.... For those of you that dont know me, I hate doing storyboards. So this wasnt a walk in the park for me.

After creating the scenes I put them together to the music and made a rough timeline, I hope you enjoy and be nice!

and heres the scenes if the video isnt your bag ;)

Aumo. The musical robot.

Finally it takes shape, Well sort of.

After getting my proposal feedback I carried on with my sprint work, First step (after making the script) create Aumo!!

As part of the feedback was to ignore modelling the environment for now and focus on the animation I decided to create the robot and begin my steps on rigging.

Now because Aumo is a main focus I tried out a few ideas on how he was going to be modeled starting with the Head.

An idea with the eyes mounted on antenna like devices. I ended up not
using this design as I wanted to add more features to the face.

An idea with the eyes in a jar floating in a un-known fluid which would act as
eyebrows. As much as i loved this idea the eyes would prove to be very difficult to animate
as they were surrounded by another object.

I began with the face, I based it off an earlier sketch with
the other designs shown above.

Using the box tool i extruded a rough leg shape and
added a stretched cylinder into the middle for a spine.

I then built a rough torso designed to look powerful
and intimidating.

Once this was done i created a small neck joint and
applied the chamfer modifier to the original models.

Using the box tool I then extruded a few times to create an
elbow and 2 arm parts before making one end larger
for the scanner attatchment. After adding in the gears
for elbows and shoulders I cloned the arm and placed it on
the other side.

I used the box tool to create a rough claw shape and auto
smoothed it to make it look neater.

A front view of the completed model before the screen
was added in for emotion display.

Completed after the screen was added.

 Next step, Storyboarding!

BELOW HERE LIE SPOILERS!

This is a brief blog of my script plan, Although I didn't want to upload this I figured people can decide whether or not they want to read it now.

If you like it, Comment.

IF YOU CONTINUE READING YOU WILL SEE SPOILERS.

LAST WARNING

The scene fades into a run down abandoned factory. The years have taken its toll on the building and there are obvious signs of decay on the door and walls.

As the camera stops the doors open to reveal a dark room.

Large metallic steps are heard from inside before the camera swaps to a POV shot from the Robot. A digital UI reads,

FIND SIGNS OF LIFE

The camera swaps to a close up of the robots face as its eyes look around the scene before walking off scene.

Cut to long shot as the robot walks along a path in between overgrown foliage before the camera pans round to the front of the robot as it stops in its tracks and looks down at an unknown item.

POV as the camera zooms in on the CD

POV shot as a UI reads,

SCAN ITEM

ANALYZE CONTENTS

Shot of the robots face as it raises its hand off screen as a large flash appears off screen before the robot looks back down.

POV shot as a UI reads,

SCAN COMPLETE

New Text appears

ITEM IS A STORAGE DISC,

CONTENTS – MUSIC

Another icon lights up on UI.

ALLOW TRACK 1 TO PLAY?

Y/N

The camera swaps to a closeup of the robot beginning to twitch and nod as “MIGHTY MORPHING POWER RANGERS THEME” begins to play.

00:00 – 00:10 the robots face looks puzzled and its feet befin to twitch in anticipation.

00:10 – 00:20 its logo changes to a smile “:D” and a UI shot shows a warning message.

WARNING

UNAUTHORIZED LIMB CONTROL

00:20 – 00:38 The robot sprints down the overgrown path with a huge smile on its face, the camera initially allows it to pass before catching up with a closeup showing how excited the robot has become

00 :38 – the robot trips over a log causing the music to stop.

The robots eyes roll around as it regains its balance. It thinks back to the CD and chooses the next track on its UI.

The UI shows a song called “HOW YOU REMIND ME” The robot begins to think to itself as the music begins.

00:00 – 00:16 The song slowly fades in and the robots logo changes to “O_O” as the robots face changes from excited to confused.

00:16 – 00:26 The logo changes to “:’(“ and the robots face changes to almost upset as its fluid fills to the top and its eyes lower in the tank and the head twitches as if its sniffing.

00:26 – 00:40 The robots UI pops up showing a readout for fluid levels and malfunctions in the limbs again as the robot begins to walk slowly, heavily and skulks into the brush.

00:26 – 00:40 The robots UI pops up showing a readout for fluid levels and malfunctions in the limbs again as the robot begins to walk slowly, heavily and skulks into the brush.

00:40 -1:00 Closeup of the robots face as it falls to its knees and begins to pound the floor

1:00 – 1:10 UI shows “EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN IMINENT.”

The robots eyes roll back into its head and falls flat on its face.

A startup animation plays over the UI showing a reboot system.

As the robots eyes roll forward and it stands up slowly.

POV shot of the UI as it shows track 2 being deleted. Track 3 begins to play.

00:00 – 00:15 Robot looks around and smiles as its eyes widen, the logo on it changes to a pixel PSY logo.

00:15 – 00:27 The robot begins to walk in a confident stride nodding its head to the music (Disney)

00:27 – 00:29 The robot slides off screen (camera behind)

00:29 – 00:44 Very close shot of head and shoulders from front as the robot continues to walk getting closer before going off screen.

00:44 – 1:05 Shot from behind of the robot dancing in place happily as the music gets faster (leading to the chorus kick in 1:05) and the camera gets closer to the face.

1:05 – 1:08 Close up of face as the robot turns to the “OOPA GANGNAM STYLE”

1:08 – 1:11 camera behind as the robot begins to dance the Gangnam dance.

1:11 – 1:15 the robot rides off down the path doing the signature dance.

1:15 Fade to black as the robot rides off.

Credits

A script without dialogue? Seems legit!

So this week I started my steps to making my dissertation, Step 1? Pre production.

I know I know. After watching me research like there was no tomorrow to get the proposal finished and submitted..... You would of at least expect to see the robot greyboxed roaming around an environment. Just kidding we all knew that would take a while but heres what I did this week.

After looking at the range of emotions I decided to stick with excitement, Depression and Happiness as the 3 types of music tracks I wanted to animate to. Although I had originally planned to create my own music I chose to use pieces that already existed as it gave me more flexibility with how I plan my production. It also meant that I would have better quality music than what I would be capable of creating.

For excitement I chose the theme from the popular "Mighty Morphing Power Rangers" as the build up to the main theme gave the right feeling for the robot experiencing a build up of excitement before charging off.

For depression I chose "How you remind me" by Nickleback. This was more of a personal reason as I have always found the song to be quite depressing and the bass sounds like the rhythm of a slow heavy walk.

Finally, to end my piece and show happiness I chose to use the very popular "Gangnam Style" by the South Korean band PSY. I chose to use Gangnam style because the video contains alot of smiling and is a generally uplifting styled song. I also chose to choreograph the robot to do the dance shown in the video as it is a very active dance and thought that maybe it would be a fun view to see the robot riding off into the sunset on the "invisible horse" part of the dance.

Storyboards coming up next!

Robot concept sketches, GO FOR THE FACE

So after all of the character development research I conducted this week I finally sat down sketched some facial expressions on different character sheets.

To begin with I looked at my initial idea and what the flaws
were with the design. After that I began to sketch
different designs and listed their pros and cons.

After some ideas i decided to stick with the complex design
as it had more facial features to show emotion.

After finishing the last of the face reactions I looked at
minimal ideas like Wall E and created a rough idea
of a simple concept.

The concept was designed like the human face but with
a more robotic feel than the previous ones.

3DS Max Modelling for Games - The final book of research....

To round off a week of research, Sketching (Gotta be patient!) and watching far to many Disney films I checked out my final book to help me with the model. For those of you that haven't guessed, This book is one of those generic help ones that tell the reader how to use 3Ds Max and what the suggested plan of action is to get the best result.

This volume is dedicated to Game character, Vehicles and Environment Modelling with guides on low and high polygon modelling. The book also covers advanced techniques like alpha transparency and smoothing groups. This would be useful for the overgrowth in the apocalyptic setting the robot has woken up in as it also has guides for modelling landscapes and buildings in a fallout fashion.

Although the majority of books that I have used as research have been note and take back, I feel that this book will be checked out of the library for the modelling stage and will be referenced alot for guides on texturing with the environment.

Another part of the book that I found interesting was the low poly modelling guide for characters as it was something that I experimented with in my second year as my major model but didn't get the desired effect that I had planned. After looking through the book and reading the tutorials that they include I can see where my model's high polycount came from and where I could have saved time in the long run.

The texturing sections really helped me to understand how to better sort the UV's out on my model when it came down to it and simple steps that would make the texture more professional and visually appealing.

Bibliography

• Gahan, Andrew. 3ds Max Modeling for Games: insider's Guide to Game Character, Vehicle, and Environment Modeling. Amsterdam: Focal/Elsevier, 2011. Print.

Cinematic techniques, Cross platform? I sure hope so!

After talking to a librarian about what books are often taken out by film students (as well as asking in town about animation books) I was pointed towards "Flash Cinematic Techniques" which on first glance looked to be useless for me as it was the wrong platform but nevertheless the subtext "Enhancing animated shorts and interactive storytelling" was enough to pull me in.

The book starts off by covering types of animation and how they would be used to replace  iconic scenes. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Animated characters have to over compensate on their display of emotions as they are not director friendly like human actors are which the book goes into detail on.

The book also covers a general FAQ about the flash workspace (which although interesting was not necessary to my project) as well as teaching the reader about different techniques they can use to get the best result in art.

The main section that I knew I would be using as reference was the in depth descriptions of the camera angles and the general shooting space. This chapter demonstrates how camera angles can be used to create a better scene, for example if a camera is placed above a character the viewer will perceive them as a small or insignificant character. If the camera is lower down however and they see the character from a low point they will perceive him as tall, powerful and a stronger character.

The book also helped me understand storyboards more clearly and how detailed they needed to be for the emotions to be captured properly. With this in mind when it comes to the laying out of the storyline (after it gets approved) I  know where to start and hopefully finish as well as allowing me to better plan my time along which scenes could take the most time or would need additional editing and planning.

Bibliography

• Jackson, Chris. Flash Cinematic Techniques: Enhancing Animated Shorts and Interactive Storytelling. Oxford: Focal, 2010. Print.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck 50 Years of Happy Frustration.....

As a final look into character development I had a choice, Micky mouse or Donald duck. Sure, there is alot more variety when it comes to studying animated characters but hell noone does it like Disney in my eyes.

The book (yes the title really features the words happy frustration) gives a unique look into one of the most beloved characters in Disney's arsenal and how he came to be. Aside from all the amazing stories and reference pictures that it offers the book is also a heart warming story of how Donald and Walt shared a theoretical bond of emotions which lead to Donald becoming so 'Alive'.

The section that I had originally found most useful (aside from the entire book!) was the small chapter devoted to the animation of Donald. The animation team mention that, "A picture is not started upon in the Disney Studio," and "it happens into being by fortuitous circumstance. It evolves as a result of interplay between the happy accident and intense concentration. As a result of the free cooperation of minds, ideas are in constant circulation....always being improved upon."

After looking through the variations of designs and methods that Donald was created through I decided to take a different approach on how to design my robot. Piece by piece like a jigsaw rather than entire blocks of a building.

Bibliography

• O'brien, Flora. Walt Disney's Donald Duck: 50 Years of Happy Frustration. Tucson, AZ: HP, 1984. Print.

Understanding Animation. Key frame by Key frame.

Understanding Animation by Paul Wells is one of the smaller books i've been looking into as part of my research that covers a lot of ground on the history of animation as well as the variety of media that can be used to display animated pieces.

the book was also used to convey theoretical designs towards animation and housed a very moving quote that sums up not only what a child sees when they watch an animated film but also what we all have experienced at one point or another when watching one. Sergei Eisentein says that, "We know that they are.... drawings and not living beings.
We know that they are projections of drawings on a screen.
We know know that they are.... 'Miracles' and tricks of technology, that such beings don't really exist.
But at the same time:
We sense them as alive.
We sense them as moving.
We sense them as existing and even thinking."

As I mentioned before, It makes me feel like this is what a child would feel like whenever they watched an animated film, though if an adult watched it they would remember how that felt to think like that. The author also raises this as a point as he goes on to say that, "Everyone it seems has a childhood memory of a Disney film. This is such a taken for granted yet uninterrogated fact, that it seems absurd that little attention has been given to Disney films and the nuanced responses of their audiences." 

Overall the book was an interesting read for me as it contained alot of the views that I hold to animation and portrayed them more professionally than I could in my own words.

Bibliography

• Wells, Paul. Understanding Animation. Abingdon: Routledge, 1998. Print.

A quick pause inbetween character design to think about sound!

So after some heavy character development work, (Gonna blog it soon!) I figured maybe it was time to look at the other stuff that needed to go into the project, Namely sound and music.

The book that I read through was Aaron Marks "the complete guide to Game Audio for Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers and Game Developers" and was quite suprised at what I really took from it compared to the other books I have blogged and read recently.

For example, the opening chapter doesn't describe what sounds are used for in the world of gaming, It instead describes the ambitions of people who want to work in the industry and gives possible reasons for them seeing it as a luxurious career choice before explaining his story on how he became a sound artist.

The Early chapters of the book are mainly devoted to preparing the reader for the industry and what challenges they should expect to come up against and prepare for in advance. It also leads into getting your foot into the doors of the industry and how to find the best jobs suited to your abilities as well as what to charge if you go freelance and sell your pieces.

The late chapters are mainly about what I had originally suspected the book to feature as the author describes different types of music and how well they are suited to situations (which is why I picked the book up in the first place) or emotions. The author mentions that, "The right music with the right visuals is pure magic." which I found to be something akin to what Walt Disney would say.

He also mentions that, "When we are emotionally "Up" or psyching ourselves to be that way, we listen to music that is upbeat, has a positive rhythm and makes us feel alive. Conversely, when we feel down or making an effort to relax, we feel better listening to slower, less complex music." I found this interesting as it was the reverse order of what the basis of my project was. It described what music we play when we feel a way rather than what music makes you feel a certain way.

The book also helped with the opening of the project as the author describes how, "the first piece of music the player will encounter is the opening or introduction sequence. This is presented either as a "main title theme" or a score accompanying cinematics." and that, "closing and credit sequences are normally where the final musical cues occur. This late in the game, they might not enhance the players opinions, but they still serve an important purpose in the overall scheme."

I found the book both moving in its best efforts to get the reader out there making music with some advice and tips but also how it tells the tale of the authors journey to it. I also loved the section about how to get the most creativity from your work with jam sessions and general activities and why a game being shelved is not always a waste.

Bibliography

• Marks, Aaron. The complete guide to Game Audio for composers, musicians, sound designers and game developers. Burlington, MA: Focal/Elsevier, 2009. Print.