Still

More to come. The some shots still need a bit of gamma-correction before I call this thing done.

poster design

Just to get it done with...I`d rather just leave it entirely black, except for the letters. But that seemed too minimalistic. Now it looks more like a bad ad I`ve seen somewhere before...don`t know what product tho. Probably some hi-fi or MP3-player ad. In case I miraculously find myself with some leftover time I will change it...I`ll leave it for now.

Montage

Finally, a montage version I am satisfied with. The timing needs just a little bit more work before I lock it.
The robot rig just keeps acting up. It still has some flipping, I`ll need to fix that aswell...

Mayhem

In the meanwhile, my maya files have turned in complete mayhem. As it turned out, my robot rig wasn`t foolproof...at a point it kept flipping over. So, the only solution was to add a Forward Kinematic function including a FK/IK switch...
Some technicalities:
- A regular FK system wasnt possible, due to the fact that the root of the chains was at the base, whereas I needed them to be at the tips...so I improvised a Backward Kinematic system routing IK-handles back to the base.
- Then every bend in the arms needed controllers, so I can animate them (those are all the blue circles in the pic below). I accidentally created them to big, but I`m affraid to go back and fix that...since everything is routed in a way now that it seems to work.
- I dont know how I parented everything, but I`ve got stray joints visible. This causes some more clutter in the screen.
- Working with 7 separate camera (the green things, hovering around the character) for my montage in 1 maya file...but good old traditional paper helps keep track of what frames I eventually need to render out from what camera.
- Number of file-versions: rocketing

Ah, well montage is coming along, hopefully online later today or tomorrow. Then I can focus on making things pretty.

progress...

machine: check.
Still needs quite some work, but it`s ready for animation.

Finding the moves

Down below are you can see a rough setup for the animation. Sofar I`m trying to figure out only the moves. Camera will be adjusted once I finish the choreography. Also, I made a union-skin like picture of the fall. Because it would be too small to see if I had put it in the vid like that, I actually do prefer the camera position from the side.

Falling

I felt it was time for another update, so here`s a small one. Some time ago, I finished the final rig for animating and started to block in the final thing. Along the way I came to realise this project isn`t exactly as straight-forward as I thought when starting it. Main focus is the movements of the characters. In their movements their motives should become clear. Though they are pretty straight forward, the turning point has proven quite difficult so far. It is a full reversal of motives between the two characters. The other day I had someone check out my project who had absolutely no previous knowledge of it. She suggested to let the dancer just take a long deep dive and having the robot still catch her. As I thought about it, this event would obviously show the dancer and the audience that she`ll be safe, no matter what. So here`s a picture of the deep dive, from my rough (cut up) model. I`ll stick with this solution for now, though at first I had in mind it would be more interesting to have the dancer devieate more and more from what the robot intends untils she has fully taken the lead.

Blocking...

Since the previous method of animating obviously didn`t work for me, I`ve resorted to a more conventional method where I place the keyframes first (without letting maya interpolate the motion). This gives a much clearer idea of where the accents are and makes it way easier to time...tho I`ve done a pretty rotten job at it sofar. I`d rather not continue on it now, since it works so well I am affraid I`m gonna have to redo the whole thing when my final rig is done...
So, planning for now is first finish the final model and rig, then block in the whole animation. Time. Refine, refine refine...
The beauty of computer animation is, that I can refine the parts I`m happy with, leaving room for drastically altering the rest. I can even refine the model when I`m halfway done with animating. So yeah, tho I was a bit reluctant toward a `non-material` and over technical way of working, I am beginning to see the obvious benefit of being able to experiment throughout the entire production. I have yet to see if I`m going to be able to take full advantage of it, but I am being optimistic about it now.

Another animation test

This is the second animation test I did. Used simple block with a heel-piece for the robot for now. Quite frustrating, the robot was really hard and I`m still far from satisfied with the result. Why is this so frustrating? The robot as a character moved very confident/straight. With as few keyframes as neccesary and without follow-through. Yet, because I have only some blocks to work with for now it is really hard to imagine them as being part of a machine...so, some arms to come.
As for the dancer...I changed the arm controlls to FK wich works better, except that I need to correct the shoulder so that it doesn`t move the entire arm anymore (this isn`t something you can see in the animation, but something I noticed while animating). The animation now, is a lot of swaying back and forth. And it seems more like she is pulling her foot out of a jam than that she is pushing off from the platform. For a lot of movements that originated from the hips I corrected the spine so she would be in balance. Now, that is pretty much `on key` with the hip motion. It`ll probably be better when that is off some frames to create follow-through.
But, by far the most frustrating thing of all is that I haven`t been able to put any character in it. Yes, it moves and perhaps convincing too...but no character; I`ll need to work on that. But I guess that I haven`t exactly made it easy for me...after all, how do you portray a clear character that is all alone in a very empty space?

Cloth test

A short cloth test. For the dress of the dancer. This is just a single render-pass, the background is composited. I`m still not entirely satisfied with the final look. The dynamics is fine, but additional post-processing will probably improve the look. At least now I know the nCloth module of maya works at a acceptable speed. And setting up the cloth is reasonably intuitive.

Designs

I meant to do some animating today, but got distracted in the designs again. What started as a quick model for a plateau (I needed for an animation test) ended in a short research for a style to fit with my machine. This is what resulted from that; a plateau with chainlink top, a cogwheel and a piston:

Although I like it, it somehow seems to Burtonesque and perhaps to fragile to fit with the character. Also, the warped shapes will most likely keep the cogs from interlinking properly. The chainlinks will find their way to the final design, I`m sure of that. The previous design evolved as well last week, but I forgot to post it. A shot of the base and of the first two joints:

First moving stuff

At last I got around to actually animating some stuff for the project. This is still a test-run of the rig and getting myself familiar again with the maya way of animating. No intense movement here. Main thing I noticed, is that I am gonna need A LOT of practice. Maya animation is sortof the other way around as, well perhaps most comparable, puppet animation. In stead of manipulating the puppet from the torso outward (to the fingertips for example) you manipulate the extremeties...which means a lot of tweaking so that it seams she is moving on her own rather than that the hands seem to have a will of their own. Perhaps maya animation is better compared to actual puppetry with the strings and stuff. These are just some thoughts I keep in mind and perhaps can use or exagerate in the next tests.
The design is heavily inspired by the gorgeous film `Pas de Deux` from Norman Mclaren.

Machine sketch

Here`s some construction plans for the machine...Still pretty sketchy (...) but I`ll make up the rest of the details as I continue modelling. Oh yeah, the things at the base of the arm are supposed to be cogwheels and NOT flowers...

Change of approach

I was kindoff getting lost in the complexities of meaning I wanted to get into the animation. I had nearly every part of it defined already, leaving so little room for things to just form naturally. This demotivated me, so now its back to the basics. All that I leave standing now, is the machine, the girl and their interactions.
More focus on movement now. For that purpose I made a simple biped-rig. FK and IK controlls both appear in this picture, but an expression hides one or the other set if it doesn`t influence the rig anymore.


...which looks waaaay more complicated in maya`s DAG :]

character developments

dancer
She is the human character, and perhaps a bit shy. She finds herself in a situation that is completely unknown and somewhat ominous to her. She is a captive, her prison two small platforms that support her feet. As the machine moves, she moves. There`s no other choice.
From pure necessity (if she doesn`t move, she will fall), tracing the steps of the machine becomes somewhat of a game. As she steps beside a platform, she is sure that is her end. To her surprise, she is still standing. The robot continues and she is forced to follow. Defiantly she strays from the laid out path of the robot, noticing that it wil correct to catch her. What starts as small deviations at first, becomes her path entirely. She takes the lead and even stops noticing that she is only supported by the two small platforms.
In short, the dancer gets more confindent and takes greater liberty in her movements.

machine
It is the controle, the power. It is a massive construction, imposing. At first it takes very little notice of the dancer. Predefined movements are executed, nothing more. As the dancer improves, a sort of game evolves between the two. She steps beside the platform. Without thinking the robot corrects to catch her. This is also a reflective moment for the robot. It finds, that it has more freedom than just executing the predefined movements. It`s role is now more supportive than leading.
In short, de robot breaks its routinely movements, taking more freedom.

So I started to model...

The first models for my project. First to had to be impressions of atmosphere; the pit below...and I failed completely in my attempt. At least i know now that the background needs to be way more subtle than this. As it is now, it starts to tell stories on its own and will greatly distract from the story I am trying to tell and the characters.


Faces for the main character...also failed sofar. The obvious thing to say is her eyes stand too far apart on most models. This was deliberate. I started from more conventional proportions and tried little tweaks...It needs some abstraction in my opinion, while at the same time some anatomical details are preserved...defeniately needs a lot more work.


Some machine parts. Not so sure about this either. Yes, in a way it serves its purpose, because i want the animation to become quite realistic. But again, it needs some sort of abstraction or character. Perhaps I shouldn`t try to find that in the individual parts and see as it evolves through the completed structure...will continue from this for the time being. Oh yeah, this part is supposed to be the base for one of the arms. Sofar it has two axes of freedom, which will be three eventually.

Music

It may seem like nothing has happened in the past weeks, but that`s not true. Work on another project has delayed me considerably on my final project and my dissertation as well (which in turn delayed the other projects as well...errmm...). Both my dissertation and the extra project are nearing completition so I`m regaining focus on my final project. Images will begin to appear on this site again soon...
But, despite the busy schedule I`ve managed to find a composer for the soundtrack of my film: Lennert Busch. His work is absolutely amazing and I think he will be able to add a great deal to the project. Samples of his work on earlier projects can be found on his site `Scoring for Film`...be sure to check

Short Recap

Basically my graduation year will consist of four parts. The obligatory graduation film and a paper. Besides these, you will find experiments of any kind and some short stories on this blog. These last two, because I want to develop my storytelling skills aswell as my image language but not be dependent upon the results for graduating.

The story for my graduation film is pretty much done, but will still hold a lot of challenges to make it right.
It is a story about a dancer, who finds herself in a rundown theatre. Underneath her is a deep pit. Her feet are only supported by two gigantic robot arms which reach from the depth. Slowly, music starts to play, the robot arms move and the dancer is forced to move aswell. The steps she makes are awkward and she is very afraid she`ll make a mistake. But, slowly, it starts to look as a dance.
Then, she makes a mistake and steps beside the platform. To her surprise, the robot arm has still caught her. The music had stopped, but graduately regains tempo. The dancer has more confidence now, moving more fluidly, taking more risks. She doesn`t even notice the robot anymore. The robot is now following the lead of the dancer, adjusting his arms so they will catch her steps. The dance is finished, curtain closes.

In my previous posts (here and here) there are some images I made to this story...Perhaps the relationship between the characters and their situation is better explained there.

Newton, plaatjes

Ik vind het geweldig om met papier te werken...heel erg `zen` alle details er in snijden. De foto`s zijn nog niet geheel zoals ik het me had voorgesteld. De eerste vind ik nog de beste, omdat er veel diepte in zit en de details in de armen niet tot een chaos worden. Toevallig ook goed belicht: op plaatsen licht, waardoor het een contrast vormt met een donkere achtergrond en op plaatsen donker waar het dan weer een contrast vormt met een lichtere achtergrond.

Newton`s 3RD (revisie)

Belicht door de zon, die nog met veel moeite de weg in het theater weet te vinden, beweegt het doek zacht in de wind. De voormalige gordijnen van een podium waarop vele verhalen verteld zijn, dansen gedanst. Een machine beheert nu het podium. Er is geen vrijheid meer van de planken, enkel een paar platformen gevormd door de uiteinden van robotarmen. Vanuit de duisternis kijkt de machine naar zijn podium. Zijn volgende act, een meisje, heeft haar plaats genomen op het podium. Ze staat daar, ogen dicht alsof nog in slaap. Een plotseling licht brengt daar verandering in. Wakker, maar nog niet helemaal. Langzaam wordt haar situatie duidelijk. Vrijheid ontnomen, veilig waar ze is, en niet daar voorbij.
Een derde plateau nadert. Ze weet niet wat ze moet doen, totdat een van haar voeten beginnen te zakken. Een steun zakt langzaam weg. Twijfel is niet meer, ze zet haar voet op het nieuwe plateau. Even staat ze recht, maar al snel verschijnt er weer een nieuwe plateau en zakt er weer een voet weg. Langzaam begint er muziek te spelen, noot voor noot, plateau na plateau. De snelheid wordt hoger en haar stappen beginnen al op een dans te lijken. Onwennig, dat wel. Het is nog moeilijk om de balans te houden en een misstap kan niet vermeden worden. Ze verwacht dat dit haar einde is. Bang voor wat komen gaat sluit ze haar ogen. De muziek stopt. Als ze haar ogen weer opent, merkt ze dat ze nog staat. Trillend op haar benen, zwaar ademend van de schrik staat ze daar. De robot kijkt toe. De lens waardoor deze observeerd draait. Ze is nog niet verloren, zij kan de dans wellicht afmaken. De muziek start weer langzaam en ook de dans wordt vervolgd. Het tempo blijft verhogen en het aantal misstappen van het beoogde pad ook. Zonder onderbrekingen nu. Vallen kan ze blijkbaar niet. Of dat wil de machine niet. Het vertrouwen in haar dans wordt groter, ze ziet niet meer waar ze haar voeten plaatst. Ze raken grond, daar zorgt de machine wel voor. De machine kijkt, volgt haar bewegingen. Ze zijn sneller en sierlijker dan hij haar had kunnen leiden. Hij zal haar voeten vangen, opdat ze niet valt en de dans vroegtijdig teneinde zal komen. Haar voeten gaan snel, maar zijn te volgen en de plateaus snel aangepast.
Het muziekstuk en daarmee ook de dans, komt ten einde. Het meisje maakt een buiging. De lichten dimmen en het doek sluit.