haha, its all gone horribly wrong...
I can't get the particles to move the way I want, the cameras are playing up which also doesn't help as the particles are only visible through cameras!
The solution is to scrap the large composition, and think about my film more intelligently. Using a series of cuts I'll be able to render x amount of separate movies that can then be editted within final cut pro. It'll make the footage look my professional.
Its just gonna take more time... which I don't have as the Youth music projects starts next week (which remind me must open another blog) and I have to do half of my self promotion project by monday!
oh well...
tj -x-
Friday, 8 February 2008
Camera path
In a huge composition I've plotted a camera path. When I figure out how to render it to a suitable file size i'll upload it.
tj -x-
tj -x-
Testing shadows
Because the emitter is essentially a solid layer the size of the composition, with everything but the particles keyed out I wasn't sure what would and wouldn't cast shadows. In the end everything worked out fine! Its just a shame everything after this fell to pieces...
The first test was to see if the individual particles actually cast shadows.
The next tested whether to not particles accepted shadows from other particles, as I intend to use many layers.
lastly, as I want to use alot of ripped footage I wanted to just make sure that shadows could be cast onto footage. In order to make the screen look more back lit I changed the light transmission of the particles to 50%, so you can still see detail on the screen just at a raised opacity.
I now think i'm ready to begin the final animation. No doubt i'll hit more stumbling blocks though.
tj -x-
The first test was to see if the individual particles actually cast shadows.
The next tested whether to not particles accepted shadows from other particles, as I intend to use many layers.
lastly, as I want to use alot of ripped footage I wanted to just make sure that shadows could be cast onto footage. In order to make the screen look more back lit I changed the light transmission of the particles to 50%, so you can still see detail on the screen just at a raised opacity.
I now think i'm ready to begin the final animation. No doubt i'll hit more stumbling blocks though.
tj -x-
Wiggle(x,y,z)
Now I have to get this swarm of squares to look like a school of fish, I played around with the physics settings, my A-level physics and (erm... unfinished...) A-level maths has given me a basic understanding of the functions, so I didn't need to spend to much time understanding the capabilities to a laymans level, although the possibilities are vast, and I think it'll be more a case of "oh that looks cool" rather than pre planned when it comes to the final animation.
I Whacked up the turbulence>affected position function amongst others, this means the squares will move according the the particles (other squares) around them, much like a school of fish. I then got into expressions, little pieces of programing code that affect the animation. It's great! you can use trig to plot the movement of an object along a path, and...
... and I wondered why they called people who used photoshop and illustrator designers and people who use aftereffects and flash geeks...
I tried to make the squares move more randomly, so I used the wiggle(x,y,z) expression within the position function, where the parameters in the brackets are that of the 3 axis you're using. The expression will randomly plot a path within those 3 parameters along the keyframed position.
But in comparing an animation with and without wiggle, wiggle was just to sketchy.
tj -x-
I Whacked up the turbulence>affected position function amongst others, this means the squares will move according the the particles (other squares) around them, much like a school of fish. I then got into expressions, little pieces of programing code that affect the animation. It's great! you can use trig to plot the movement of an object along a path, and...
... and I wondered why they called people who used photoshop and illustrator designers and people who use aftereffects and flash geeks...
I tried to make the squares move more randomly, so I used the wiggle(x,y,z) expression within the position function, where the parameters in the brackets are that of the 3 axis you're using. The expression will randomly plot a path within those 3 parameters along the keyframed position.
But in comparing an animation with and without wiggle, wiggle was just to sketchy.
tj -x-
Injecting the animation with chaos theroy
My Fish squares are now all individual with the addition of ink splatters, i have about 90 of them now. The idea behind the ink splatters are that although they are all 'connected' within the school, their individuality shines through in their markings much like herd animals like cows... but not sheep... and I'm really not sure about fish.
You'll see examples of the new improved textured fish in the following animations.
I've decided that its a real ball ache animating each of the 90 squares though, so need to find a way of telling after effects to do all the hard work. The first step was to get after effects to generated them (the fish) randomly. The particle emitter effects within after effects are incapable of generating custom particles but this was definitely the route to go.
I found a plug in that would generate custom particles by referencing another composition. The next problem was getting after effects to generate fish with different markings, the default method was just to reference a composition and generate a copy from the emitter, so I told the emitter to reference a random frame from a composition that was built up from a stop frame animation, constructed frame by frame from the 90 or so different squares (and thus markings) I had created. The result was a swarm of squares (the physics need changing to make it behave like a school of fish), each randomly generated and different! I really chuffed with myself, it actually worked.
tj -x-
You'll see examples of the new improved textured fish in the following animations.
I've decided that its a real ball ache animating each of the 90 squares though, so need to find a way of telling after effects to do all the hard work. The first step was to get after effects to generated them (the fish) randomly. The particle emitter effects within after effects are incapable of generating custom particles but this was definitely the route to go.
I found a plug in that would generate custom particles by referencing another composition. The next problem was getting after effects to generate fish with different markings, the default method was just to reference a composition and generate a copy from the emitter, so I told the emitter to reference a random frame from a composition that was built up from a stop frame animation, constructed frame by frame from the 90 or so different squares (and thus markings) I had created. The result was a swarm of squares (the physics need changing to make it behave like a school of fish), each randomly generated and different! I really chuffed with myself, it actually worked.
tj -x-
Maya
I went into uni on friday just to hand in a camera, that was all... Instead I spent the next 5 hours playing with a computer program called Maya. The reason for this was a continuation of trying to give the little green squares some depth. Maya is not just the name of my ex, its also a 3d modeling program so I was able to create my shapes in 3d space and then animate them.
I've decided to dump Maya in favour of AfterEffects. Even though it looks really good, Maya is just too time demanding, completely unintuitive, far too over sensitive and its really hard to push all the right buttons...
tj -x-
I've decided to dump Maya in favour of AfterEffects. Even though it looks really good, Maya is just too time demanding, completely unintuitive, far too over sensitive and its really hard to push all the right buttons...
tj -x-
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Fish movement tests
Looks like i've mastered Exporting...
Now to make the green squares fish like they've got to move like fish, so I ran some tests:
The first was a basic 2d test Then I moved onto camera angles
The slight jump is where the camera starts to move into the school, it's still actually moving, but the lack of background gives you the "rewind" illusion, something to avoid there. Then I added lighting!
the annoying thing about motion graphics is how it doesn't let you sleep!
tj -x-
Now to make the green squares fish like they've got to move like fish, so I ran some tests:
The first was a basic 2d test Then I moved onto camera angles
The slight jump is where the camera starts to move into the school, it's still actually moving, but the lack of background gives you the "rewind" illusion, something to avoid there. Then I added lighting!
the annoying thing about motion graphics is how it doesn't let you sleep!
tj -x-
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
fast as lightning!
ok this is alittle fast, and lower quality as I didn't want to want !godknowshowmanyhours again exporting the damnthing!
all green this time around.
tj -x-
all green this time around.
tj -x-
Static School of fish test
This took nearly three !mindnumbinglyboringhours to render, and all I got was this poxy 9 second animation that resembles the channel 4 idents of yesteryear!
enjoy...
I think the multicoloured approach is well... outdated. Time to think about making it more my own, I have some idea about how individuals (am I the only one who uses google search engine as a spell checker?>) within a herd have distinct marking to tell them apart. I also have an idea about having the squares newspaper cuttings of current TV articles, a message in a bottle motif.
tj -x-
enjoy...
I think the multicoloured approach is well... outdated. Time to think about making it more my own, I have some idea about how individuals (am I the only one who uses google search engine as a spell checker?>) within a herd have distinct marking to tell them apart. I also have an idea about having the squares newspaper cuttings of current TV articles, a message in a bottle motif.
tj -x-
Tests to achive a 3d look to the fishsquares
I'm trying to find a way of creating 3D squares (the fish) in after effects. Fish off, I tried to trick the program by creating a 3d looking shape in illustrator and then importing it... it could have worked! I tried getting my computer drunk beforehand so it wouldn't notice my sneaky tactics...
*sigh* it wasn't going to be that easy was it... So I thought back the days when I used to sit an make Quake levels so I'd have the upper hand when send a virtual explosive up the ass of a friend in IT lessons (that was over a decade ago now... my i feel old), and thought to make a little cube out of 6 component parts.
This was all very well and good in theory, thing is I can't get them to move together! so its useless for what I want to do! So I'm back to square (hehe) one, I'll run with a flat square and just be very careful with my camera angles which means I may have to adjust my story board somewhat. I applied a small filter to the last test I did, and instead of moving the camera around I moved the object within 3D space.
Kinda reminds me of playing wing commander back in the day when all we had was 2D sprites, VGA and speech packs came separately... whats with all the retro game references today, maybe i'm having a nostalgic moment about an innocent youth before the discovery of cigarettes and alcohol? when all that mattered was simulated ultraviolence...
tj -x-
*sigh* it wasn't going to be that easy was it... So I thought back the days when I used to sit an make Quake levels so I'd have the upper hand when send a virtual explosive up the ass of a friend in IT lessons (that was over a decade ago now... my i feel old), and thought to make a little cube out of 6 component parts.
This was all very well and good in theory, thing is I can't get them to move together! so its useless for what I want to do! So I'm back to square (hehe) one, I'll run with a flat square and just be very careful with my camera angles which means I may have to adjust my story board somewhat. I applied a small filter to the last test I did, and instead of moving the camera around I moved the object within 3D space.
Kinda reminds me of playing wing commander back in the day when all we had was 2D sprites, VGA and speech packs came separately... whats with all the retro game references today, maybe i'm having a nostalgic moment about an innocent youth before the discovery of cigarettes and alcohol? when all that mattered was simulated ultraviolence...
tj -x-
Schools of fish
A theme that i've been bouncing around the inside of my skull, has been that of people refering to the TV as the fish tank or fish bowl etc etc. How does this link with connectivty... schools of fish of course!
These videos observe the movement of the fish
So if I can get my little square to move like this, they need not look like fish as the movement will be enough for the metephor.
Its been done before of course... which is a good thing for my confiedence.
at the start of this...
And more impressivly at the end of this
tj -x-
These videos observe the movement of the fish
So if I can get my little square to move like this, they need not look like fish as the movement will be enough for the metephor.
Its been done before of course... which is a good thing for my confiedence.
at the start of this...
And more impressivly at the end of this
tj -x-
Monday, 21 January 2008
Graphic magazine Sound and vision special
Some videos from
References to connect 4
Love the way the pine needles form shapes
Camera following the foot prints
I also really liked these, which were shown by another student in my tutor group
tj -x-
References to connect 4
Love the way the pine needles form shapes
Camera following the foot prints
I also really liked these, which were shown by another student in my tutor group
tj -x-
Materials
Story boarding isn't going to well, *sigh* but i've been thinking about materials, the after effects tutorial today gave us potential for lots of layers. I've already created an animation using illustrator shapes and it looked very flat, I want to add alittle texture to my final piece. I saw the TMF Ident today with the lil chanting jungle men, something like that using a combination of a set and animation.
tj -x-
tj -x-
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Target Audience
I should be aiming at a young audience demographic - 16-34 - as it says in the brief. These people suggest, by the way they submit movies, vote, and form online communities that they're familiar with the web 2.0 movement.
Political content seems to be centre/left with conscientious views on environmental issues, human rights and civil liberties. Likewise Cultural content is alternative with quirky documentaries, and art house animations/films to Japanese bug fighting and other extreme 'sports'
The Target audience don't seem to take to well to globalist companies such as coca-cola for instance, so we see little if any brand advertising. If there was to be brand advertising then it would have be companies with conscientious aims like the audience (Howes and timberland have been mentioned as examples by jonny).
The people who watch the channel are also the people who make the 'Spots', that's the point, so film makers must make up a larger than average audience to support the "by viewers for viewers" ethic.
tj -x-
Political content seems to be centre/left with conscientious views on environmental issues, human rights and civil liberties. Likewise Cultural content is alternative with quirky documentaries, and art house animations/films to Japanese bug fighting and other extreme 'sports'
The Target audience don't seem to take to well to globalist companies such as coca-cola for instance, so we see little if any brand advertising. If there was to be brand advertising then it would have be companies with conscientious aims like the audience (Howes and timberland have been mentioned as examples by jonny).
The people who watch the channel are also the people who make the 'Spots', that's the point, so film makers must make up a larger than average audience to support the "by viewers for viewers" ethic.
tj -x-
Objectivity?
I think i'm being to objective here. I need to think further afield, rather than concentrating on shapes and objects what about, how people connect, in what does connection mean, how does it feel, what does connectivity do?
tj -x-
tj -x-
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Intial visual reaction
Hey and welcome to my rambling on the YCN Current TV project 2008. The brief is available at YCN, if you have no idea what i'm talking about. basically its a motion graphics project - create an advert for Current around the theme 'Connectivity'
The Four Square logo seems to be my spring board
We have Connect four, they're square like a TV, they're green like erm... spinach? or Tetris! The tetris blocks are up of four squares, lets start there.
Oh and remind me about domino's.
Why does this bloody thing always put my image tags at the top of the document?!?
Guess what Finland's Famous for?
Theirs a bunch of these building games, snake, & a space shooter thingy
oh domino's
hehe!
Squares + connecting
It could travel around a landscape filled with visual metaphors and such. Lots of cuts and camera angles - keep this idea floating around.
Maybe i'm just looking for an excuse to play with toys?
I also have an idea that involves miniature sets, raisins and rare earth magnets
So questions...
Who is hot in motion graphics
Whats going on, on current TV other than
Target audience?
Politics - I doubt a channel owned by Al gore and Joel Hyatt can be "politically neutral" - "Saving the planet in our 4x4's and keeping the internet a bastion of free speech... except in china..."
Whats the politics/culture of the viewers?
How would you get a green goldfish? I doubt i could breed one in four weeks.
Today I have learned that spray mount was made on the 8th day
Des Coleman is made of win
& ZOMGWTF!!! spike in torchwood?!?
tj -x-
The Four Square logo seems to be my spring board
We have Connect four, they're square like a TV, they're green like erm... spinach? or Tetris! The tetris blocks are up of four squares, lets start there.
Oh and remind me about domino's.
Why does this bloody thing always put my image tags at the top of the document?!?
Guess what Finland's Famous for?
Theirs a bunch of these building games, snake, & a space shooter thingy
oh domino's
hehe!
Squares + connecting
It could travel around a landscape filled with visual metaphors and such. Lots of cuts and camera angles - keep this idea floating around.
Maybe i'm just looking for an excuse to play with toys?
I also have an idea that involves miniature sets, raisins and rare earth magnets
So questions...
Who is hot in motion graphics
Whats going on, on current TV other than
Target audience?
Politics - I doubt a channel owned by Al gore and Joel Hyatt can be "politically neutral" - "Saving the planet in our 4x4's and keeping the internet a bastion of free speech... except in china..."
Whats the politics/culture of the viewers?
How would you get a green goldfish? I doubt i could breed one in four weeks.
Today I have learned that spray mount was made on the 8th day
Des Coleman is made of win
& ZOMGWTF!!! spike in torchwood?!?
tj -x-
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