Week 9: Final product and getting some sleep

So here it is. The product of nearly 10 weeks of blood, sweat, tears, and coffee. Boy it's been quite the rollercoaster.


Now I'm not gonna say that I'm completely done, since I'm pretty sure after getting feedback from my production class I might have to go tweak a few things (like I completely forgot to add the SOFA logo in the beginning so I need to definitely do that) -- only when I submit this into the screenings server will I proclaim my one-quarter as finished and over.

But for now, SLEEP, HERE I COME.

Oh, and as usual, le motivational comic of the week:

And not a comic, but I thought this was mesmerizingly hilarious:

NOW LET THE COUNTDOWN TO SCREENINGS COMMENCE!

Week 8: Picture-lock and sound

40 shots animated in 3 weeks -- indeed I did what was thought to be impossible. (And for reference, here's the shot list again: AWYEAH )

Here's what my final product will sort of look like -- I think I'm about 95% close to final picture-lock. Sound is preliminary.


And now comes the final task: SOUND. Working with pre-composed scores is more difficult than I had first anticipated -- the score doesn't cut very cleanly and trying to sync it with action is a huge pain in the ass. However I intend to spend these last two weeks working through this problem and hopefully I'll have something decent playing in the background of my animation. If not, then...well, let's not think about that.

To wrap things up as usual, here's TWO motivational comics for the week:

Week 7: New layout and almost complete cut

Like the new layout? I thought I'd change it a bit to fit the theme of my short film. Blue was so last week.

Anyways, I thought I'd be able to finish the animation entirely by week 8, but alas, time got the better of me and some of the final shots I had planned to do this week took waaaay longer than I had expected. So what I present to you is an almost complete cut of my animation, with some parts (namely the splitscreen in the middle) that still need to be revised.


This week I will definitely (emphasis) complete all of my shots, and then begin sound (which I had to put on the backburner again last week, sadly).

Also, before I forget, motivational comic of the week:

Onward to the final stretch!

Week 6: Personal setbacks and trimming things down

So this picture perfectly sums up my productivity for this week, tablet and all

I basically went through somewhat of a mid-year crisis in which I reevaluated my major and life and emotions and couldn't find the concentration to get the shots that I wanted done, done. SO instead of regretting my lack of productivity come week 7, I decided to ease the pain a little by cutting some shots out. As of now I've only dumped like 3 or so, but as week 7 rolls in I'll probably try to cut corners a bit more. I'm gonna keep quality control at max, though, because sacrificing quality for quantity is never the answer. I've also been putting sound in the backburner so I think for this week I'm gonna start collecting my final sound forreals. Since I'm inept and inexperienced at actual sound recording I'll be relying purely on the sfx library and the magic that is free use material. YAY.

Week 5.5: Midterm shot and getting more stuff done

My completed midterm shot:


Walk cycles will be the death of me. (I had fun animating the right side though)

Anyways my progress on shots so far:

SHOT LIST WOOP WOOP

As you can see, things are going pretty smoothly so far. I'm trying to balance out animating both easy and difficult shots -- I decided to scratch the idea of going in order of difficulty since I don't want to save all my difficult shots for last during crunch time.

So yeah production class, contrary to popular belief, I am getting shit done (pardon my language) AND getting sleep (for now).

Week 5: Ambition and getting stuff done

According to most of my production class, my endeavor of completing 45 shots in 3 weeks is very 'ambitious'. And, well, I completely agree. BUT, I consider this a challenge on my part and welcome it with open arms. My schedule for these 3 weeks of production will break down to 15 shots a week -- daunting, yes, but I've handled worse. Of course, along with two other time consuming classes I might be eating those words by the end of week 7, but I'll push through (who needs sleep really).

Anyways, I've got about 12 shots completed so far, not including my midterm shot. That one's gonna be a doozy, so I'll be saving that for tomorrow when I'll have the entire day to animate.

In the meantime, here's a quick animation test since I promised I'd show one last week but forgot:


These next two weeks will really test my patience and ability to consume massive amounts of caffeine. WEEEE, ONE QUARTER!

Week 4.5: Backgrounds and preparing for animation

Got all of my backgrounds for composition done, yay! I decided to go with a simple solid color/shading style for the backgrounds -- something similar to 'Ed, Edd n' Eddy' except not as unorthodox of a color scheme. And speaking of color scheme, I tried to harmonize colors as much as possible within each room and contrast colors between the bedroom and living room (essentially underscoring the difference in environment of the twins). Hopefully that works out to my advantage when I stick the animated characters into the backgrounds during compositing week.

I'm gonna try to post an animation test or two by Sunday, so look forward to that!

And in the meantime here are some examples of the backgrounds I'll be using:

(some of the backgrounds seem empty only because there will be other elements composited onto it)

ONWARD TO MOAR PRODUCTION!