The End of the Semester: A Reflection

My Project(s)

I didn't really have one "big" project this semester. Instead, my semester consisted of several smaller projects. Most of these involved using effects and plug-ins in Adobe After Effects. My ultimate goal was to become better at using After Effects so I can create my own motion graphics and special effects in the future. Coming out of this semester, I can say that I'm much more comfortable with using After Effects. I feel like I know it better than Maya at this point.

The Process

Wanting to get a better hang of After Effects and its capabilities, I completed a bunch of various tutorials the first half of this semester. I followed some tutorials on Video-Copilot, Youtube, and Lynda, and I mainly focused on motion graphics with some kinetic typography and special effects sprinkled in. I completed a variety of small projects from making a cool spinning logo, using expressions to have color react to sound, using waveforms, recreating a minute of concert visuals (which took a while due to masking). I also made a couple of animations for my school's news program, ONW NOW. 

Color Reacting to Audio

I went to a concert in September, and I saw that not only did the visuals react to the music, but so did the lights, more specifically, the color reacted to the lights. So I went to After Effects and I made several panels of light, and I had them react to the beat of Porter Robinson's Song, Language by using a complex expression. It could still use some tweaking to be perfect, but the beginning of the song came out pretty cool.

The Expression used to have colors react to the music

Waveform

After exploring the effects within After Effects, I found out that waveforms could be reacted, similar to the ones use in Youtube music channels such as Monstercat and Proximity. I wanted to become more familiar with using a waveform and working with audio, so I created my own. To add a unique element to my waveform. I used Video-Copilot's Saber plug-in to make the circle glow when it expanded, but when the circle is whole, it looks a little too white. Other than that it came out pretty nice. 

Spin!

I just followed a couple tutorials on Youtube to make this. I thought it looked cool and it would get me familiar with more effects. There isn't much to say here.

30 Seconds of Concert Visuals

I was inspired by Porter Robinson's tour visuals. I wanted to try my hand at recreating a section of the visuals for his song "Divinity." I only got around to about a minute before I had to start working on another project, but I'm pretty happy with the result. I found the gif of this punching cat online, and I used the roto-bezier tool to mask it. I also had to time remap it, but that didn't take too long. 

ONW NOW

My "deadline" project this semester actually turned out to be creating animations for my school's news program, ONW NOW. I used the Adobe Illustrator vector file for the logo, and extruded it in Element 3D. From there I textured and animated it. 

Next Semester

Starting next semester, I will be working on the basketball animations that I said I was going to work on this semester. I became really busy, and the group I was working with didn't really stay in contact, so I'm going to try and finish up these animations before the basketball season ends. If I don't get them done in them, at least I know they will be used next year. After I finish these animations, I'm going to try and create a good lyric video before the year ends. Hopefully I can get there. 

Borrowed Time: A Review

So I was browsing Reddit a couple of days ago, and I came across a new animation that was made by two Pixar animators. One would think since Pixar animators usually create family friendly animations, this one would be the same. However, this animation was definitely made for adults.

Borrowed Time tells the story of an old sheriff troubled by his past. The story starts out on a windy, dark, and cloudy day. The sheriff looks weak and defeated. He slowly walks towards a cliff.

The story does not rely on dialogue, but rather motion, facial expressions, and physics. It does an excellent job of immersing you in the story. I could feel the sheriff's emotions as he thought about his past, and the physics of the character's movement match the mood and tone of the piece. I don't think I could ever model like this, but I am very interested in learning how to animate in the way this piece was animated, in a very loose way. 

This is a story about accepting the past, and accepting mistakes. It also touches on dark themes such as death, suicide, and violence. It's a story that won't make sense to children, and that's okay. This piece is an example that animation can used to tell any story. It doesn't have to be family friendly. The creators did a really good job of making that clear. I can't really think of any way this piece could improve. It's very beautiful and I highly recommend you watch it!

Watch "Borrowed Time" Here

A Journey Into After Effects and Motion Graphics

After all the struggles I encountered in Maya and with 3D animation last year, I've decided to focus on making Motion Graphics in After Effects. I've had previous experience in After Effects in the past making flash animations, but this will be my first venture into the world of Motion Graphics. My first project involving Motion Graphics was my "Jaded" lyric video I made at the beginning of this year. You can check it in a post I made below.

The Process

To get an idea of how to start making Motion Graphics, I headed over to Lynda.com, a website where professional tutorials are made for people wanting to learn how to use software and how to create digital media, to learn more. There I went through a couple of courses that taught me the "rules" of Motion Graphics and how to make basic animations and such. https://www.lynda.com/

Next, with the After Effects skills I learned in Lynda, I went over to Video Copilot to check out some tutorials. I learned how to use the Saber plug-in, and I learned how to make 3D intros and outros.

I also learned how to use an audio waveform, and how to customize it's settings. Expressions were later introduced to me, and I used them to have a solid's color react to the bass of a song. Converting audio into keyframes helped with this too. I'm feeling more comfortable with After Effects every day.

The Project

Being interested in Motion Graphics, my animation teacher offered me the opportunity to work on some animations and graphics for our school's news show, ONW Now, and for the tri-caster that will be used to project animations at the basketball's game this upcoming season. It's my first "real project." I have a client, a deadline, and expectations to meet. I'm a bit nervous, and it's a daunting task, but I know I can do this. I'm working with a couple of other classmates on this project, so we can give feedback on each other's work, and help each other if need be. To make these animations, I'm learning how to use the Element 3D plug-in created by VideoCopilot, and I'm having so much fun learning how to use it. It's very powerful, and you can create so much with it. 

The Future

I'm hoping the experience from this project and watching tutorials will allow me to apply my skills into making my ideas come to life. I'm really interested in concert motion graphics. I was watching a set by Porter Robinson, an Electronic Musician, and I took notice of the graphics that were playing on the screen behind them. It was immersive, and really cool to see how the graphics synced up with the beat, and followed the meaning, and emotion of the song. I was inspired. His graphics involved a lot of drawing and 2D flash animation, I don't necessarily want to create that, but rather create graphics that immerse people into the music that their listening to. I'm hoping to start creating my own graphics next semester. Porter Robinson's Tour Visuals.

Jaded

The last month or so of this semester, I have been working on a lyric video for Disclosure's Jaded. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the entire thing due to missing lots of school due to robotics, but It came out pretty okay for my first lyric video. Check out the first min below (EPILEPSY WARNING!):

A Yearly Reflection

  As the end of the school year is approaching, I would like to take time to reflect upon what I learned and how I've changed this past year. This past school year, I learned my strengths and weaknesses in Animation. I found that 3D modeling isn't the aspect of animation I want to go into. It was a tedious process and I struggled greatly in modeling my character. Rigging wasn't too bad, it was fun to do even though it took a while. I found it is motion graphics that I have the most potential in. My technical skills in timing are strong. All I need to do is learn how to create original and creative graphics to use. I learned how to manage my time and communicate more effectively.  Also: don't bite off more than you can chew. It is also important to be passionate about your work. Passion allows you to work at the best of your ability.

  To learn how to model and rig I mostly referred to tutorials on Youtube and on Lynda. There were some instances where I had my animation teacher help me, and there were other times that I figured out things on my own. So for motion graphics I used past knowledge of after effects and I had to use some tutorials to figure out new ways to animate text and to figure out how to preview a project with audio. Learning communication was tough for me. I consider myself a huge introvert. I don't talk all that much, but I managed to make myself feel more comfortable talking to those I don't know very well. FIRST Robotics has allowed me to learn how to communicate with my peers and my superiors in order to get work on time and in an effective manner. I also learned from the many mistakes I've made throughout the year. At times I was lacking in responsibility and knowledge, and I paid the price. I learned to save and backup frequently. SD cards should always be checked for content before deleting what's on them, and sometimes, searching up how to do something is better than figuring it out yourself.

   All of the skills I have learned this year, even the technical skills, will allow me to grow as a person. I have learned so much about communication, time management, and leadership throughout the year that I can see the importance of these attributes in a career. I can begin to further develop my professional personality. I can see who I want to be and what I want to do. This year has started to a light a path to the future I want to see happen. I have to focus on refining the skills I enjoy doing in animation to ensure that my path for the future is bright.

  My strengths in animation include rigging, timing, and actual animation/keyframing. One of my personal weaknesses is slowly becoming into a strength, leadership. My weaknesses include modeling and a good creative outlet. What I mean by a creative outlet is an ability to think outside the box to manipulate a project to turn out a certain way. I struggle with this. Also my knowledge of photoshop is rather basic... I improved my skills in After Effects just by being patient and taking the time to learn the tools and their functions. I improved my leadership and communication skills by forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone. I am trying to push myself to be more open, and I am trying to build the confidence to be a better communicator. 

   I will use these skills to create what I want to create, and to be who I want to be. I can use my rigging skills to help out other modelers by animating their models, and I can use my knowledge in After Effects to create new projects from 2D animation to special effects to motion graphics. 

The leadership and communication skills I've learned will help me collaborate with others more efficiently and open up opportunities to expand my career in the future.

      If there is anything I would change, it would be not spending as much time trying to get myself to like modeling as I did. I wanted to like modeling, but as much as I tired I would still find it tedious and annoying. I didn't have the patience for it. Modeling the man was a learning experience. I learned so much about modeling and human topology, but I also learned that modeling wasn't for me. I should've made a sooner transition into After Effects. I enjoy using After Effects. I am upset that I didn't get more time to use it. I don't own it, and since the school year is ending I won't be able to use it until next school year unless I buy it. Otherwise, there isn't anything I would change. This year went alright.  

     Overall, it was a decent year. I was disappointed in how some of my projects turned out such as the simple man I made, but I managed to make up for that by finding my interest in After Effects. I will continue to expand this new interest and hopefully become very proficient in After Effects, but I'll also continue to learn how to rig and animate 3D models so I can show future employers that I have knowledge in more than one area in animation. I feel like I made good use of my time, and I didn't really spend that much time doing nothing. I was almost always trying to learn or trying to come up with a new idea. Over the summer I hope to improve my skills in After Effects and motion graphics. I have been given the responsibility of making motion graphics for my school's basketball games next year, and that will be an interesting experience. I can't wait for next year and for what lies ahead. 

"Nicky Romero-Lighthouse" analysis

To compliment my venture into motion graphics, I decided to do an analysis/critique of the lyric video to Nicky Romero's song, Lighthouse. The font and the visuals in the video compliment the song very very well. The timing between transitions is flawless and it is really fun to watch. The video made a strong connection to the ocean (the metaphor in the song is the lighthouse), but it lacked in making a connection with the song's message. As for what I can learn from this project, I have already learned how to be precise in timing, but I could really improve in the variety of transitions I use from phrase to phrase. In my own lyric video I find myself becoming repetitive in my transitions. I could also implement 3D elements into my own videos. I would have liked to see a deeper connection to the meaning of the song by the creator, but overall it was an excellent video.

Link: http://www.animationarena.com/working-for-pixar.html

"Working for Pixar"

In this article, animator Alex Orrelle talks about his career at Pixar and the steps he took to get there. Born in London and raised in Israel, Orrelle studied at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He uses his past experience to make the claim that to get into Pixar you "have to be good.. You have to love animation." Orrelle does a good job at explaining life inside Pixar, but he lacks in explains how exactly he got there. He mostly credited timing to being hired, but doesn't go in depth with his explanation. He concludes with the key to being hired: following and building on the aspect that one is good at in animation. One cannot master every aspect of animation. He stresses this several times. The article was really great way to take a peak inside life at Pixar. It gives guidance to those who are lost in their animation career.  For me, this really encourages me to follow the aspect of animation that I enjoy. This seems to be motion graphics at the moment. This article is a great source of guidance and a bit of inspiration. It is worth a read: http://www.animationarena.com/working-for-pixar.html

Kinetic Typography: A Basic Tutorial.

Kinetic Typography

Disclaimer: You should already have a basic knowledge of After Effects and its interface before using this tutorial.

Hey guys. Today I am going to go over the basics of kinetic typography in the form of a lyric video. The song I am using is Jaded by Disclosure. Let's get right into the learning!

The Background

The background I am using here is very very very basic. Once you have all the words animated you can go back and customize it to make it your own. To make the background above, I just used a green solid and added a ramp to create a shadow around the edge of the screen. My priority right now is to animate the words.

The Audio

Once you have your audio, import it, drag it into your composition, select it, and press "l" twice to reveal the waveform. The waveform is very useful when making a lyric video because it allows you to see the beat and when words are spoken. It makes timing the words easy.

The Text

As for the text, it is up to you to choose your style. Usually I use Century Gothic or Helvetica. Choose your stroke, text size, and spacing. Make sure to make each word a separate layer. We want to animate every word individually. For this animation we are going to animate the position of the text and just have the words move on to the screen. Place the words in the position they will end up in at the end of the animation. 

The position at the end of the animation

The Animation

Once you have placed your text, highlight the first word that is being animated and press "p." This will bring up the position animator. Find the place in the song where the word is said, drag the time indicator to that place on the timeline, and press the stopwatch by the graph that is on the left of the word "position."A diamond should appear where the time indicator is. This is a keyframe. Make sure to easy ease in these keyframes. It will help the animation look much smoother. Then, drag the time indicator back the smallest bit, and move the word to its starting position. Another keyframe will be created. Make sure to easy in this one as well. You could end up with something like this:  

Keyframes

Starting point outside the frame and the endpoint inside the frame.

Make sure to RAM preview it by pressing this button on the upper right to make sure it lines up with the word: 

Once it lines up, repeat the same step for your other words. The trick here is to have a group of words appear on the screen at a time with the same animation, and then transition to another animation that introduces the words such as opacity, scale, etc. The possibilities with kinetic typography are endless. This is just one basic way to do it.

Pixels

Pixels

Pixels is a short animated film about the video game characters and elements essentially, "invading" the real world. The film doesn't have a set story, but rather sets up very well crafted senarios of invasion. There is an instance of the space invaders turning taxi cabs into pixels, and Pac-Man riding along the metro eating stations, as he would eat the white dots in the video game. The 3D aspect of this film is something I would really like to learn how to do. The pixel effect is a breath of fresh air, I've never seen anything like it. One thing I am assuming the creators did in the creation of this film is create masks to place the special effects, and I recently learned how to do that a couple of months ago. The effects and cinematography was very well done. However, I would like to see a fully-developed story made out of this concept that isn't Adam Sandler's sad excuse for an adaption. I look forward to onemoreproduction's future creations. 

Jean, Patrick. "PIXELS / The Short Film." Vimeo. Onemoreprod, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

https://vimeo.com/10829255

A Simple Man

   This is the result of the project I started back in first semester. My objective was simply to model a man, and animate a walk cycle. Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to finish modeling his ear and hair. He came out okay nonetheless. I didn't have much time to animate the walk cycle after modeling, so I went with a simple walk cycle.

   For coming up with the design of the model, I contacted my fellow animator, Erick Vidal, for a design. 

 

This is the design he came up with. Unfortunately, the nose and neck don't line up perfectly. I had to take this into account while modeling and improvise. I thank Erick for his time and drawing skills (they are much better than mine). I highly recommend working with him. As small animators, we are trying to create the best content possible, and working with a fellow upcoming animator is the best way to do that. 

I covered the modeling and weight painting phase in a previous blog post. Scroll down to read more!

Throughout this project I learned to save frequently due to the small chance of a project corruption, and to be patient. Taking time to learn how every step is done is key to improving as an animator.

If there was anything I could've done differently was to model the arms horizontally instead of vertically. This caused me many issues while rigging. Something I would've liked is more time, however that isn't always possible.

I did improve my skills as a modeler. However, I decided this isn't the route I want to take with animation. I really enjoy rigging, and it is definitely something I want to explore.

Overall, I wasn't satisfied with the end result. When playing the animation, the foot would glitch out at around 120 frames, and I had to work my way around it. The model looks awkward in some places such as the elbows and the gluteus Maximus, and he has solid ears! I will take the skills I learned and apply them in my future projects. 

This semester, I will explore the realm of motion graphics and special effects.

Subscribe to my blog for more original and innovative content produced by my fellow animators and I.