In this post, I want to talk about the Animation subject at UOC and how I managed to create some of the movements in the practices. The truth is that it has been very entertaining despite the many hours dedicated! ;) I have attached the PDFs with the more technical parts for those who want to dive deeper into how movements are made in 3DMax, so the post doesn't get too heavy.
The final result consists of 2 videos, each about a minute and a half long: Tommy and StarChess.
I recommend that you watch the videos via the vimeo link in HD, full-screen, and with the volume up!!!! :)
Leave your comments at the end of the article!
ANIMATION (UOC)
Subject Manager: Llogari Casas
As in most subjects, Animation is divided into two parts: the theory part and the practice part. The theory part is by no means heavy, it helps to understand the history of animation, the principles of 2D and 3D animation, and goes deeper into the lighting that was previously worked on in 3D Graphics.
You can see here the beginnings of the adventure with 3DMax in the 3D Graphics subject.
The first PAC asks you to put these principles into practice, I recommend reading it. Its work focuses on 2D.
Once the PAC1 is completed, we dive into the first Practice of the subject, the assignment asks us to create an animation of chess pieces using the deformers in the 3D Max software. A minimum of 5 movements must be created, and optionally work on lighting, textures, and sound. Always, of course, applying everything you have learned in the theory part about movements and their principles!
PRACTICE 1: TOMMY
Here’s the result of Practice 1. My idea was to represent a game over time. The white queen and king repeatedly draw Tommy's attention, one of the white pawns, to make him move forward. However, he ignores them! He is playing on his tablet, and even though the knight warns him, he forgets about his task and gets lost in what’s happening on his screen. The queen, upset and with no more patience, makes her way to see what’s going on; forcing a movement that will result in 3 casualties ;). Finally, when the queen reaches Tommy's position, she sees what's happening on his tablet and can do nothing but shout to the sky! I won’t spoil the ending! Let’s see what you think! :) Leave your comments!
What a lot of work! But as always, once everything is finished, it fills you with joy. Ah! After presenting it, I had to speed everything up by 50%. Thanks Llogari! Sometimes, the perception of time and Timing (a basic principle) is not so easy to grasp!
You can read the more technical part in the Practice 1 PDF.
Once the practice is presented, we move into the second and third PACs. These aim to perfect the use of deformers and the camera work with movement guides. They lead into the practice whose assignment we still don’t know.
You can see the content of the PAC2 and the PAC3.
PRACTICE 2: STAR CHESS
Now, it’s here! The final has arrived. They describe the content of the second practice. It is based on a chase between a police spaceship and a fugitive’s ship. In this short, we need to give importance to the lighting and once again the cinematography to create rhythm. They provide us with the ship geometries and some boxes that serve as backgrounds for us to work with.
The first thing that comes to mind is to create the ships again, but then I think of changing the police ship for the fugitive’s ship and dismantling them completely to create internal cabins with lighting that will give a lot of play throughout the short with close-ups. I don't like the texture of the pirate ship, so I modify the bitmap to make it a bit more "rough" ;).
With the cabins created, the idea is clear, I want to put the pawns from the first practice in the second one, don’t ask me why? I just found it amusing.
I start designing the hull of the two characters and texturing the interior cabins.
The panels and their light, as well as the cabins with transparent windows, will give a lot of play to everything; the ships won’t look like simple boxes moving through a background.
Now let me explain the IDEA! The plot, the crazy idea!
They’ve closed PirateBay, and at the beginning of January 2015, the law came into effect that will block links from portals to downloads protected by copyright. So here’s the story. Tommy downloads an illegal song, and as soon as he plays it, he is chased by the police (a black pawn). Finally, the police manage to take down Tommy’s ship: “The pirate bay”… but that’s not the end...
The final practice is made up of 23 scenes plus the intro. The work of almost a month for just over a minute and a half.
Here is the PDF with the more technical explanation for those who want to go deeper into how everything was made.
A huge effort, as always. The truth is, when you see the work that goes into a one-minute short, you realize the effort behind an animation movie, no matter how bad it may be!!!
For the next one, we’ll definitely continue with the 3D animation elective. This one delves into movements with rings and UVW Map textures, among others, I’ll keep you informed!
Thanks for commenting! See you soon!