Solo Projects

Sometimes, there are ideas that are only worth executing yourself. At least, that's how I feel on that subject. The mere thought of it only leaves me to do but two things; scrutinize the hell out of it or roll with everything until it's done. Occasionally, it's both in that specific order. This week, I've been experimenting more with 2D character rigging and so far it's been quite an experience.

As I've been thinking about it, I feel as if this sort of process would be less stressful for me if I were to put this through After Effects. Albeit it's a heavier program and would take longer to preview, it has a parent/child tool that I fell in love with and would be incredibly viable for what I am doing right now. I feel that Flash is still capable of doing tremendous things as it is very light and can preview in a full framerate without much delays. However, it's still to this day very buggy and somewhat primitive in comparison to other programs.

From what you can see up top is a somewhat complex rig of one of my characters here performing an uppercut in the air. The picture below vaguely shows a variant of what part of the body are specifically animated.

  

Unfortunately, I do not have much else in mind as far as this animation goes. I hope that I can do more fighting animations with a full rig soon and can show it later onto my YouTube channel. I'm nearing 400 subscribers, which is yet another exciting milestone for me despite my recent inactivity with the channel. We'll see what happens, until next time!

Character Rig Setup

My current placement as to where my team and I are with our film is still in its early pre-production stages. Based on the image above is one side of the character sheet we have of our protagonist. To the right of it is a color-based key used to define what parts to break apart to prepare the character for rigging during the animation process. The way of how this this layer order works is what parts of the rig will be placed over each other when brought into rigging. Despite being roughly shaped, it's still a vague reference of how the character will be built. Between us, we are still trying to refine the final design of our main character as there are multiple designs oriented to our own liking.

The position during the development of this film is the animation, most of which will be constructed in After Effects, followed up with 2.5D environments and parallax. I happen to find it very fortunate that our group has strengths spread out across the board, where we are capable of executing the tasks and objectives needed to complete the animation. The only major weakness we have as a production team is our small number of people working together for this.

As of now, things have been piling up along with what I already have going for me right now. Not exactly opportunities, but they're things that I think I can push through. I still am well committed to doing this project with me and am definitely excited with what this pilot may bring.

Environment Concepts

As of late, my colleagues and I have encountered an assignment to our Background Design & Layout class, where our objective is to create an interior/exterior environment that is to be later created in 3D. So to start, we begin with making some sketches and brainstorm. The images above are examples of what my team and I will be using as reference for our environments. I myself will be focusing on the interior of the house. The multiple shots shown here will prove to be most useful to figure out the space and shape of the interior.

After asking my team for some suggestions for what sort of furnishing should be placed within this little house, my results were to be alike a scribes room would be like. Dozens upon dozens of books would be stored, archived, and even carelessly placed throughout the household. The next image shown was an example of one of my first finals during my first quarter attending the Art Institute of Las Vegas. (Upon closer observation, you can see that all of the objects reflect off one another, my mistake!).

What makes this project interesting in particular is that the environment resides in a rural settings, yet the property belongs to a rather studious-type of character. The house that they live in isn't just a plain one or two-story house either, you can see based off the reference images that there is a balcony, a patio, and even some smaller structures around it, possibly used to make the character's lifestyle self-sustaining.

In other words, this is an endeavor that I have yet to partake in. Background design isn't something that I haven't invested too much time in, but I believe that it'll be something that will be the most helpful in my journey as an animator.

Ambitious Foundations

Without many connections or opportunities for networking, it certainly would be difficult to make a name for yourself to a degree. However, it's not entirely impossible. A project that a couple of colleagues and myself have just started is now underway. Well, at a slow pace, as we just to juggle school, work, and our personal lives. The image above is one of the initial sketches for our protagonist done by our background artist, Bernadette Gochioco.

My role in all of this will be the animation (after the art has been done) and all things post production such as video editing, audio mixing, and additional animation. In order to keep the project at a more manageable state, there are only 3 people (including myself) involved with this project.

The idea is to create a short animated film for the sake of making something personal that is not related to school. There has been no intention to monetize anything and our intent is to make everything original, even the music, as we have musically-oriented friend who is willing to compose for our project.

Interestingly enough, this concept alone has us all speculating on the idea of making this concept into a series. However, my view on this is to simply focus on just finishing this one and make it into a standalone storyline. I believe this choice is a good to play safe, in case of the possibility of any lack of reception.

Regardless, this is something I am most excited for!

Giving Back with Animation

It's not too often that someone would make an animation for someone's birthday, and you can definitely say that I'm in that boat. Although, I cannot make one for every friend that I have. Obviously that's too many people and too much work. So typically, the birthday animations exist for special reasons, mostly fans who simply adore the work that I do.

And it's not exactly something as a simple "Happy Birthday!". If I'm going to make an animation, I want there to be content within it, no exceptions. The image you see above is the most recent birthday video I made, for Bernadette, one of my good friends from the school that I currently go to. I myself am still quite nervous about the work that I do outside of school, work that I do for fun (and with a little polish). She came to me with a smile saying that she loved the animations I did. Most people would just sit there silently and simply acknowledge it, but with no dramatic reaction. I sometimes think that my own work is substandard at times, though the reminders and reassurance of being wrong in that regard keeps my confidence held high.

Generally, the animations I do that are unrelated to my own content hold a meaning that is kept with me. Not every audience member doesn't have to understand the full picture, for it was simply a gift from one to another. On a public format that is.