Post Critique Animation Fix

Some times it takes others to point out what you are missing. This is one of those cases. As the creator, I knew the back story behind the scene that I originally animated. Due to this, I didn't watch my animation from the viewpoint of a viewer who knew nothing about what I was doing. I did know I was missing something, but what? the "why" part. "Why was she running?" That is where the critique from others came into play, and jarred my brain to create the missing pieces. 

I really utilized sound effects to connect the dots, and add life. The following is the result:

Rising Up

As this course whines down, I am leaving with a lot more knowledge to be successful within Media Arts.  You learn and grow from your mistakes. You also have to start from the bottom to work your way up. I have found my strength in animating words and motion. My whole project will not be an animation, but it will include elements of animation. 

I plan on animating photographs and/or illustrations that reveal gender inequalities and stereotypes of a female.  Depending on the image will depend on what is animated. For example, I am planning on using the negative association of a female tattoo coined 'tramp stamp'. I might have an image of a girl's lower back tattoo and animate that tattoo. 

I learned making a part of a story as an animation is a lot of work. The key to it being successful is the initial thought of how you want it to go from beginning to end. The next important thing is getting all of the accurate poses and transitions correct. When these lack, the whole thing can crumble. For my Media Arts project, I need to make sure I have a solid idea and not leave gaps. I am in the process of thinking of how to combine and connect the overall project. I have what inequalities/stereotypes I want to use, and an idea of how I want to execute the visuals, but can't think of how to make it all work together.   

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Process: Difficulties

I learned later on in the making that adding on and adjusting the layers was extremely difficult in timeline animation. I originally started in frame animation, but this type of animation was restrictive in the actual animation part. It is great for rendering each layer and time rate, but awful for effects with animation (example the smoke). I converted my frame animation to timeline, and found some things did not transfer over well into timeline. Hence the pause/gap/glitch around 14 seconds. Whatever information frame animation allowed, timeline seemed to have dropped, and vise verse. For example, the only way I could adjust the time rate for each layer would be in frame animation, and the only way I could add sound effects was in timeline. When I converted back to frame animation to adjust the frame rate, I lost all of my sound effects and when I converted back to timeline they did not return and I had to redo inputting them, placing them at the right spot, and adjusting the fade in and volume. 

Speaking specifically about my vanishing scene at the end: Timeline animation made working on an individual layer near to impossible. Shutting off all of the layers to focus on that one scene would have been a nightmare. I could have but I would have needed to make over 170 layers non-visible in order to do this. I had to scrub ahead to the scene I needed to adjust and try and figure out which layer that was on. Then the issue of adding more layers came into play to make the smoke roll in smoother. For some reason those added layers would not appear when played back. I adjusted the placement on the timeline in any way I could, but the scene would just hold or disappear. The smoke filter that Photoshop offers was able to happen when I placed it on its own layer. I could not flatten these layers down or the 'moving' of the smoke did not work. I am happy I had enough layers prior to add this alternate ending.

Process: Timeline vs Frame

Timeline vs Frame

I have been saying 'timeline' and 'frame' throughout my blogs, and this may not be easily understood to those who are not aware of the different animating techniques, in Photoshop. I certainly did not know the difference. I had to read about each from http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/video-animation-overview.html. 

Frame: This is the easier animation process. Think of frame animation as a roll of film. Each square has captured a moment in time. If you took consecutive photos, then each square changes just a little bit. If one was to 'play' out the roll of film, they would get the action in which they captured into stills. This is what Photoshop has done. Photoshop is able to take the layers that you created and drop them into it's own frame. The frame portion allows you to 'play out your layers'. Frame animation can be restrictive. For one, you cannot add music or sound effects. If you needed to alter a layer, or add layers, you need to delete all of the frames that were created- losing the frame rate you changed, change/add layer, then 'make layers into frames' again, then go back and change the frame rate. Frame rate is the amount of time that you want that image to run/hold for. Whether it be for 5sec or .01 of a second. Below are screen shots of my animation in the frame mode:

Timeline: I look at timeline like video editing. This option has more options, and for the most part is more flexible than the frame animation. Timeline animation uses layers which have properties you can change like transform, opacity, layer mask position, etc. This gives you much more flexibility when creating an animation. You can also scrub which lets you see what you are doing and if it is working out. I found this site to be helpful in figuring out timeline animation: http://www.tutorialboneyard.com/Pages/photoshop_timeline_animation.aspx. 

Unlike frames, timeline lets you add audio. A major downfall to timeline is the challenge of altering and adding new layers and adding them into the animation. I discovered this when I wanted to change the way my animation ended. I detail out this in detail in a later blog post. Below is a screenshot of my animation in the timeline form:

Process: Images

1. Below you will find the 6 sketches of the running character I drew up in early March. I moved each pose into a separate file where I colored them. These same poses make up the 'run sequence'. I placed pose #1 down, #2 followed where #1's foot landed, pose #3 was placed where #2's launched, and so forth. I repeated this cycle over and over, with alterations of placing higher if jumping, and lower if landing. I know there should have been 'stretch and squish' poses for launching and landing. After reading a segment in " The Survivors Guide to Animation" did I realize this. I also read up on how to draw characters from this site: http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/11624/1/1/how-to-draw-action-poses.htm and utilized this image I found on google: 

2.  The following images are of my background that I rendered up in photoshop and used the same ones over and over to create the 'moving' background. I created a total of 8 base images that I shifted, stretched, skewed, and cloned areas to keep each background image within the dimensions of the animation;

 

 

  

3. The horse was not originally apart of my animation. I added it after I made a little running horse animation for Second Life's media arts festival. I utilized an image I found off of Google to achieve the horse running. 

I copied each individual run pose, made each it's own layer, deleted the man on the horse ( which I later replaced with the knight), and colored the horse. I placed the horse poses just like the girl character, using the feet as placement for the next pose. 

4. After I got all of my images set in their own files, I watched tutorials that I found on Youtube on how to animate in Photoshop, as well as this tutorial from Blooper Animation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAb-URz6qvA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smcUfgi8EUw

http://www.bloopanimation.com/portfolio-item/6-steps-animation/

As you saw in earlier blog posts, I created separate animations for each character: the girl and horse.  

The girl animation originally had a background image I found ( I discarded that early on), and a simple black and white one I made after not liking the found image:

I did not like this one either after rendering up another animation. That is when I made the colored one. 

The next couple of blog posts will be glimpses into the breakdown of what you see in the animation.

Critique

Now presenting

The Escape:

( If you would like to view in bigger window click -> The Escape )

Questions, comments, concerns? Go easy on me! 

I know the ending is the weakest part, as I executed it waaaaaay after everything else. I did not like the original ending because it simply just ended. It is a challenge to put an afterthought into the program because I could not lower the opacity of the previous frame to be accurate on the next frame. I tried to make this new ending cohesive and flow with the ending credits. 

The timing is also a challenge. The characters are running, which makes for a quicker time rate, but is too quick for the viewer. If I slow it down, the actions are all jumpy and not realistic. 

Reflection

"If this business was easy, it would be a sin." 

-Hayao Miyazaki, Animerica Magazine. 1993

That quote tells it all. Animation is hard. We, the viewer, do not realize just how challenging animation is. We sit back and enjoy without a care in the world when we watch little Nemo swimming in the big blue, or ice crystals forming from a character’s hand. Teams of people were employed and their hair turned grey in order to make that snow flake fly!  

It is not easy to get characters to move the way you want them to or line up sound the way you want it to, and that is not even the start of what animators have to consider. Fabric, hair, grass, leaves, water, clouds, insects, animals, bubbles, rainbows, unicorns- you get my point, right- have to move also. A lot of time, we are talking years, go into making an animated movie. It took me 4 months to make one little girl run! I give credit to all animators who use whatever form of medium they choose to work with.

I loved this experience, even though a lot of it was frustrating and disappointing, I would not retract choosing this study. In March I started with an idea, and now in June I have a playable animation. In a course of 4 months I started with a thought; drew out a ton of layers that consisted of character poses, backgrounds, and effects; placed them accordingly to appear as in motion; tested out; adjusted; tested some more; added sound; altered, tested; adjusted; and finished. This knowledge and appreciation I gained is extremely satisfying. I may not have created a flawless animation, but considering where I started from, I am very happy with the end result.