lennoxanimates: May 2022

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

I've encountered an issue with Toon Boom Harmony. The colour I've applied to my film (as visible in the screen recording below) doesn't show up when I export or render the video clip. Any areas that contain colour show up as black.

Screen Recording of Scene 1 Shot 1 - Coloured

This is what the colour should look like, as it appears in Harmony.

Export Showing Colour Issue

When I exported the clip above, this is what it appeared as.

Export with Lineart and Coloured Hands

I removed the colour (except on the hands, which I forgot), and kept only the lineart. We can see that the issue is not in the rest of the film, and only the colour is showing up as black.

I've been colouring with harmony's vector drawing. One of my peers is drawing in the same way and her colour shows up, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Week 7: Weekly

https://youtu.be/Jbfq20iMGTI

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Experimentation: Teacher Walk Cycle

I've taken some time to properly realise this shot in Scene 2, in which the teacher is shown walking down the classroom handing back test papers. The angle is a bit odd, and I've been struggling to figure out the walk cycle.

Animatic: Scene 2, Shot 2

Early walk cycle test

My initial test of the walk cycle without any reference footage was not anatomically correct at all. The legs moved unnaturally and it looked awkward. Because of this, I took some reference footage to get a sense of the body position.

Version 2 of keyframes

Using my initial round of reference footage, I created the above version. I was still not happy with it however. Through conversation with one of my peers, I found that the position of the feet and the timing of the actions wasn't as resolved as I wanted it to be. In the initial reference video, I didn't include the arm movements, so I struggled with timing the foot movements and the arm movements together. This resulted in a lot of trial and error, and no resolutions I was happy with.

So I recorded another round of footage of myself performing the actions, this time handing out papers to desks and walking towards the camera. I rotoscoped some keyframes in Photoshop, which gave me a much better sense of the body's movements and interaction with its surroundings.

Rotoscoped keyframes

Rotoscoped version

After testing various methods of animating this walk cycle, I'm much happier with the appearance at this stage. I think during cleanup some more development will take place.

I've changed the character design slightly to include boots, as this reflects the reference footage I recorded. When trying to draw the ballet pumps on the character, it kept coming across as though the character was walking on their tiptoes. I will need more experience animating walk cycles and foot movement to better understand how to animate flat shoes. Due to my time constraints, I simply chose to change the character's outfit. In future, I would like to have the flexibility in my drawing ability to animate any type of shoes.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Week 4 Sunday Reflection

This last week I've attempted to keyframe as much of the film as possible. I've largely been focusing on Scenes 3 and 4. I've keyframed most of Scene 1 as well, but there are gaps which I need to fix. I have keyframed Scene 2 Shot 1, and I haven't started Scene 6 at all.

I'd like to use this post to reflect on what I have made and establish my next steps for the next few days. I'm now behind schedule and need to adjust my timings. For my presentation on Tuesday, I need to consider, realistically, how much of the film I am able to complete with the remaining six weeks of term.

If I can complete the first three or four scenes of the film, and leave scene 5 out, I could use the beginning as a trailer of sorts for the film. I could also use several shots throughout the film as parts of a showreel, considering that the first 30-60 seconds should hook my viewer for a showreel.
I'd like to have the story completed. Perhaps I may need to consider how much detail I put into colouring and compositing the film, as these will likely take a long time.

Scene 1:

Animatic:

Keyframing:

Tweening WIP:

Currently, I'm happy overall with the shape of the character and the motions. Once I have the completed audio, I will be able to edit the timings of the scene. I think the interaction between Sunny and their mom happens too quickly, and I need more time for reactions. I also think Sunny isn't as expressive in this interaction as they could be. I need to experiment with exaggerated shapes and expressing anger.

Also, their face hasn't been keyframed at all, but I have the version from the animatic for reference. This may change with the new audio track as well.

Next steps:

- Add facial expressions.

- Complete audio track and lipsync.

- Add more movement to Sunny's head.

- Experiment with expressing anger (try exaggeration)

Scene 2:

Animatic:

Keyframing:

Currently all I have of scene two is this keyframed shot of Sunny sitting at their desk with their classmates moving around them. Sunny's foot should be tapping, I need to make this happen. Their classmate should also be moving their pen more.

These sorts of changes should happen for the rest of the scene as well, with more activity in the background characters, compared to the animatic, which has them static.
The framing and positioning of characters should remain largely the same as the animatic.
Next steps:
- Complete the scene
- Continue adding details to the scene
- Add movement to background characters

Scene 3:
Animatic:

Keyframing:

So far all I have of Scene 3 is this shot, which I've keyframed and tweened a bit of the motion of the locker door closing. I'll need to figure out animating the locker door closing with all of the elements on it staying in position.

Locker lineart for reference.

I want the stickers and art on the locker door to remain in position as the door closes. Maybe I can do this in another program. I'll ask around from my peers if this is possible. Otherwise will dedicate some time to getting it right.

Next steps:

- Ask peers about animating the locker

- Finish the scene

- Keyframe background characters in Scene 3 Shot 1

Scene 4:

Animatic:

Keyframing:

I've keyframed the bulk of scene 4. Some of the timings are a bit odd, and this will change with the new audio. I'm overall happy with the shape language. I do want June to be a bit more expressive with her body language.

Next steps:

- Add facial expressions

- Add to body language

- Lip sync

- Finish the scene

Scene 5:

Animatic:

I've not done any keyframing yet for Scene 5. I'll need to flesh out the panic attack scene more thoroughly, as this will be my most experimental shot. I'm planning on animating this in different media (if I have time), such as pencil and watercolour. To do this, I'll need a clear plan of what to animate.

Alternatively, I'll try using different brushes in Adobe Photoshop to create a similar effect.

The rest of the scene is mostly straightforward, with the most complex shots being at the beginning and end, where Sunny and Alistair are moving around. The rest of the scene is mostly dialogue, so the animation will mostly be lipsync. I do want to pay attention to body language through this scene though, as it will be useful to visually communicate emotion.

Next steps:

- Keyframe the scene

- Plan out the panic attack scene fully

------------------------------------------------

This exercise has allowed me to consider my progress as it stands and where I need to go from here.

Recap of all next steps:
Scene 1:
- Add facial expressions.
- Complete audio track and lipsync.
- Add more movement to Sunny's head.
- Experiment with expressing anger (try exaggeration)

Scene 2:
- Complete the scene
- Continue adding details to the scene
- Add movement to background characters

Scene 3:

- Ask peers about animating the locker

- Finish the scene

- Keyframe background characters in Scene 3 Shot 1

Scene 4:
- Add facial expressions
- Add to body language
- Lip sync
- Finish the scene

Scene 5:
- Keyframe the scene
- Plan out the panic attack scene fully

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Character Sheet: Updated Look for June

New Character Sheet

I've updated June's look to include some hair, and I've changed the colour of her bandana. During the animation process, I've found that drawing June's hair wrap was more challenging than needed, and it wasn't looking very appealing. By putting her hair down, I've got some more substance to work with when drawing her to make her look visually appealing. I've also brought some yellow into her look through the bandana to add to the warm and cheerful personality I wish to convey. The rest of her outfit remains much the same as in the original character sheet (below).