Module: NCI547
Compositing evaluation

For this project we were asked to animate either a 2D or 3D object within a live action environment.

To help plan out how we could begin our animation we were reintroduced to the 7 basic story plots comedy, tragedy, overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return and rebirth. For me I chose comedy, voyage and return and rebirth as my main source of inspiration, spawning many ideas from the spider-diagrams that could be related to anything to do with the themes such as the life, death and resurrection of a phoenix. Eventually I settled on producing a monster rising from the water, the evolution of a velociraptor in to a modern day bird and a giant creature flying up the river.

We were then given a few CAAD sessions where we once again tried compositing shapes with different backgrounds resulting cubes in forests, cubes surrounding buildings and my personal favourite placing a large doughnut shape around Big Ben.
Then there was creating a floating ball in Photoshop that once animated could have been edited in After-effects which once again I had difficulty in operating.

Cubes in forests attempts

Box surrounding buildings

Big Ben Doughnut

Attempt at animating a ghost ball

Before I used a digital camera I walked around town with my phone to look out for areas that were related to my themes such as the Leases Park lake, boats around the river Tyne, the band-stand in Leases Park, snakes in the Hancock museum shedding their skin, a field of grass with trees in the distance, the Odeon cinema, the Theatre Royal and Central Station railway.

Leazes park lake

Boats on the river

Leazes park band-stand

Snakes in the Hancock museum

A field of grass with trees

Odeon cinema entrance

Theatre Royal entrance

Central station railway

As for my research I looked up eight examples that could have helped influence my work. Most of the advertisement’s featured stop motion techniques along with added effects such as 2D and 3D animation. Even though I found most of these examples very interesting I figured it would have taken too long to animate and rig a character in 3D so I settled with a simple 2D animation such as the Nickmad commercial. 

I was also introduced to new software known as Premier that could  be used to help change the colours to great affect on the background along with blending the animated object. On my first attempt I ended up transforming the entire background of the river Tyne into pure bright pink just to test out how the controls worked. 

Premier color experiment

After some searching around the quayside we were able to collect a mixture of photos to choose as a background such as the river Tyne, bridges, old platforms, arches underneath the bridge, an arch that lights up at night, a giant acorn made out of metal and a fungus infested area.

As for my final pieces I was only able to composite one voyage and return and one rebirth as my animations since I found it difficult in producing a character for my comedy theme. For my first animation I produced a giant octopus’s tentacles slowly rising from the river wrapping its limbs around the support beams and other surroundings. I was able to change the colour of the background a little, to make it look like the scene was taken as an ancient aging photograph; this was achieved through the use of Premier.

The kraken rises

As for my second animation I produced the evolution of a velociraptor in to a bird while using a grassy area around the Quayside as a background. I was hoping to use a sandy beach for the background instead, but since Newcastle doesn’t really have any beaches near by I settled with what I had, plus with a sandy environment it also helps represent how ancient evolution is and since prehistoric findings have been found in the sand over the years. To help structure the evolution cycle I sketched a frame-by-frame sequence that was influenced by an ostrich running cycle since they have the same leg length that is similar to a raptor’s.

For both pieces I didn’t bother going in to full detail and had them illustrated as simple 2D silhouettes slowly moving in the specific background. I did have plans to create a 3rd animation that involved a massive creature flying up the river Tyne that represented another voyage and return theme since many creatures how been know to migrate over great distances and eventually return home, sadly however I didn’t have time.

Overall I have found this project quite interesting and challenging learning how to composite an object with a live background and how to use Premier to experiment with colours. I believe I could have done much better with my projects by adding more detail and to plan extra time, I hope to improve on this for future projects.

 Twice weekly report

These past two weeks have been quite challenging with compositing an object within cinema4D. First off I have researched a total of eight animations that I particularly like due to their styles and colourful appearance. There were 6 2D animations involving metamorphoses and 2 3D stop motion animation portrayed by carved out models and combined with CGI effects.

As for the CAAD sessions I have been trying to independently produce 3D shapes either merged or surrounded by a nearby building. On my first attempt I have tried to make a 3D cube emerging from a building along with trying to animate it but had a little difficulty with it. However my second attempt has turned out more successful where I have been able to place a colourfully patterned donut around Big Ben.

Swot analysis

• Little bit rusty with using Cinema4D and After-effects to form and animate objects.
• 2D animation and metamorphosis still updated could be improved a little more.
• Newly introduced to the Premier software, need to experiment with it more in personal time.

Module: NCI547

Compositing research

Flamboyant paradise Branca Menta – Not to Scale

I particularly like this style because of the mixture of bright colors and that it represents how entertaining it can be having a drink while one is out at a nightclub, partying with friends. It is also a good way to display how different forms of music can be visualized such as Pop, Rock N’ Roll and DJing. As for the compositing you can obviously see that it first starts with a live action shot of pouring beer in to glass then it quickly morphs in to bright swirling wave liquid that covers the entire screen until the end.
This kind of style is one of the most popular uses for advertisement idents that quickly morph from an animated scene to live action such as the inside of a human body to the outside, I can tell that this will be most likely used again for future projects possibly mainly aimed for commercials that are suppose to be child friendly.
Another example of what it represents is that the animator is also trying to display that when Braca Menta comes into contact with the tonic ice and creates bubbles the drink will be enjoyable to taste.

As for the technique the animator had used traditional 2D animation, to create movement with the characters and effects. With todays technology I can see that someone could make a more 3D version of this animation transforming it in to something more life like along with experimenting on the metamorphosis of the waving lines.

Since this is a short advertisement the sequence has been broken down into smaller fragments that allow it to play for only 30 seconds, since during commercial breaks on television usually take about five minutes before resuming the program.

As for the concept the animator was probably inspired by a visit to the local nightclub that had a band playing there along with people dancing and drinking. This could of possibly of been what influenced them to create the idea for the advertisement.

Nickmax Nickelodeon

Punga

I find this animation interesting not only because of the style is traditionally animated, but since it also includes the many recognizable characters from popular TV shows such as Hey Arnold, Spongebob Squarepants, the Wild Thornberries and Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius that have all made Nickelodeon the channel it is today. The style has been traditionally hand drawn with complete detail to make it appear cartoonish, slowly moving due to frame by frame.

Since this advert features familiar characters that belong to the channel I could possibly see more additional characters to be placed in the animation due to many new programs having been introduced to the company over the years. I could also see a combination of 2D and 3D animation, allowing the characters to interact with each other and improve the graphics on their appearance giving them an updated version for today’s society.

The timing takes about 43 seconds for the whole animation since once again this is a television ident that advertises the entertainment which is being broadcasted from the related channel, allowing five minute breaks to be shown between programs.


The concept was probably decided together by the staff to promote the channel’s popularity and display how far it has actually come through the collection of the characters it is recognized for.

The animal who never saw Christmas

The bear and the hare 

Hornet Inc.

I especially like this animation not only because of the story but also because of the style that was used to portray the characters facial expression. I recognized the style immediately since it has a similar appearance to the Disney film Brother Bear that was also traditionally animated.
This advertisement was used to promote John Lewis’s Christmas campaign, reminding viewers about the spirit of Christmas giving friends and family presents out of friendship and love, this is clearly shown when the hare feels sorry for his friend the bear having to hibernate and miss out on the festivities which is why it saves him a present until he wakes up and joins the others.
This type of advertisement shows that you don’t always need 3D animation for all products today, even though it takes a while with stop motion and 2D animation they are still highly favorable for modern ideas.

In a making of video I found out that before the animals were fully animated they were made from illustrated cut outs and then recorded frame by frame by a digital camera just like a walk cycle. As for the background, objects and environment they were all created as hand made props by most of the crew while as the daytime and nighttime lights sun/moon rays were projected from studio lights allowing the crew to also capture the casting shadows.

The time and animation for this video took preciously 2 minutes due too the amount of stop motion sequencing to capture every single movement with the multiple animals.


The concept of this idea was produced by Elliott Dear and Yves Geleyn who were most likely inspired by the festivities of the season not only to spread the Christmas spirit but possibly to also show that animals are just as important to be involved as well.

Rice krispies

Yves Geleyn

Hornet Inc.

This little animation portrays the imagination of a young boy who daydreams of rice crispies being alive and living in prehistoric times of the dinosaurs revealing how they interacted with each other in playful harmony. I like this sort of style, not only because of how basic materials have been used but also how imaginative a child’s mind can be coming up with a basic adventurous plot from the simplest food product.

By looking at the background and environment you can see that they have been entirely made out of all sorts of materials such as cardboard, paper, fabric and paints, while the dinosaurs on the other hand have been hand crafted in wooden carved out puppets. As for the rice krispies they have either been computer generated or made from the same resources to a much larger size.
Just like the bear and the hare project the entire habitat was hand crafted and painted by the staff, while the dinosaur puppet’s movements were operated by strings and stands allowing them to be captured frame by frame then digitally edited within the computer along with masking out the stands and strings.
I could see these characters becoming fully 3D animated instead of using 3D stop motion models since they are time consuming.

Just like other 5-minute breaks for television this children’s food product took about 30 seconds to be broadcasted, but it is possible it could have taken longer since the early stages of moving the characters limbs through stop motion take a while to be captured frame by frame.


Since this advertisement features a child it is possible that the concept came from him. Many children sometimes come up with better ideas than adults due to children being young they have the no limit for when it comes to imagining something from the simplest object. With many adults today have a closed mind and don’t bother to expand beyond their own boundaries reducing their inspiration.

Motorola

Yves geleyn

Hornet Inc.

This advertisement was used to express the exciting features of the new Motor G phone app by portraying a fully illustrated young woman who is shown exploring what the product has to offer such as IPX7 water resistance, all-day battery power, 13MP quick capture image, color selection, 4LTE speed and 5’HD display. I like this animation because of the mixture of color tones that quickly merge together and then go through a metamorphosis to become something more attractive.
This type of animation is highly used in adverts today such as car insurance and other app logos, so it is most likely that this kind of style will used for projects related to product advertisement.

Before all of this was fully animated a live action scenario was performed allowing the animator to copy the motion and shrink it down to the screen’s size. As for projected animation where the distances were angled, the motion control was synchronized as a turntable, so that it would be in a précised position for when the tabletop spun in clockwise rotation.

The timing takes about precisely one minute and three seconds due to the animation of the colors constant change, along with the characters movement and interaction with objects.


The concept for this advertisement possibly came from piecing together what the separate features offer such as swimming (water proof), constant travel (persevered battery power), camera (improved imagery capture), multiple color selection, running (uploading/downloading speed) and enhanced imagery/videos (high definition).

Sparkle

Clim

Hornet Inc.

This animation features a marble that is slowly rolling along while portraying the four particular strengths of sparkle an Italian telecoms company. I can’t really tell how it is trying to represent the four strengths but I guess that they somewhat represent the four seasons such as spring, summer, autumn and winter either that or different weather conditions such as a sunny mild day, a blazing hot day, a rainy day or a white cloudy day.
I also believe that it is also trying to portray that no matter what happens whether the weather intervenes or that you hit a bump in the road you’ll always make it through in one piece, this would also explain the small bending lines that help the marble along the way.

Once again this is another 2D animation that has been illustrated frame by frame and then edited so that the colors have a bright shining effect along with them quickly morphing into another.
With today's advanced technology I could see this animation being updated into a 3D improved version of the original making it look more live-like.

The timing takes about 30 seconds since the background has only 4 main scenes and the ball is the only character that is featured moving faster then anything else.


Since this is an advertisement for a telecom company Clim was possibly asked by a client to produce an idea that featured the four strengths, but with Clim it seems that he wanted to portray them in a different way.

The letter

Otto

vimeo

I really like this film because of how determined an old postman is willing to deliver a package to a young man who had given the letter to him as boy yet misplaced it and after all these years desperately makes haste to bring it to him in person.
This film could easily be updated to a more 3D version, which could look out for areas of improvement and use it for more advertisements related to certain events such as Valentines Day or Easter.

As you can see the entire film was animated through 3D stop motion models along with a handcrafted environment. With new graphical software of today this film could become life-like.

The amount of time that it took to animate this project took precisely 1 minute and 22 seconds due to the time consumption of continuously taking photos of the characters movement frame by frame.


The concept for this story could possibly came from a real life experience where someone gave a letter to the postman who accidentally misplaced and didn’t realize until decades later.

Cartoon network tooncast

Not to scale

Le cube

Out of all the examples I have researched I would say that this animation would be my favorite, not only because it features popular characters that I am really familiar with but also because how they are portrayed interacting with each other combined with their traditional illustrated styles that have been updated a little. A small addition to the style that I like is the dark and light tones that display the shadowy/bright areas on the characters.
I could see this idea being brought forth for other projects that could help inspire those who wish to create a similar collage with current cartoons such as Adventure Time, the Amazing World of Gumball, Steven Universe, Teen Titans Go! and the Regular Show. This also gives animators a chance to celebrate the anniversaries of channels that originally broadcasted them, showing viewers how far cartoons have evolved through the years, so for Cartoon Network it will have been 24 years since it aired cartoons from the golden age.

The animator Le Cube used traditional 2D animation to animate the characters with their original styles while editing them a little to become updated modern versions of themselves. As for the Tooncast logo that was obviously made as a 3D model with the surrounding outline having been digitally illustrated.
Even though new technology could be used to create an entirely new 3D version of these characters, it would sort of ruin their appearance since they are what influenced many current 2D animated shows like Adventure Time.

The amount of time that it took to animate this whole video was 1 minute and 30 seconds. The main reason for that is since this project contains hundreds of classical characters that were all traditionally animated back in the day, had to be hand drawn and motioned frame by frame afterwards. 


Le Cube was possibly inspired after watching similar cartoon bumpers from the channel itself, since at the time producers of the channel decided to have all the characters from every show interacting with each other in a large 3D animated city that was made up of all popular settings of their specific city such as Townsville from PowerPuff Girls, the Cul-De-Sac from Ed Edd en Eddy and the house from Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends.