In-depth Analysis

In this post, I will discuss and analyse my animation that I have completed for the CCA module. I fear the general consensus of my animated piece is being overlooked for being overly subtle and/or simplistic.

The intended style of this piece is to be SIMPLE, CONCISE and EFFECTIVE to the needs of the story and situation. I strongly believe that an animation only needs to be pushed in certain ways if it helps to get the point across. Anything else is completely irrelevant and unnecessary. You wouldn't put an ice cream truck in the background of a set just because you spent hours modelling one if it does not fit in the scene you're animating. Similarly, you wouldn't animate a character dancing and/or walking around doing inappropriate large gestures when the voice clip does not call for it.

In this voice clip of A few good men, I have analysed and decided that the character is making a statement. Delivering a lecture, if you will. He is confident, cocky and knows what he is talking about. He is not deliberating, hesitating or giving any signs of doubt, thus the intensity I am portraying on his part as a character. A confident character generally does not fumble around, maintains direct eye contact and hardly ever blinks (depending on how intense). It is as such that I must emphasise my artistic decision to deliver a performance that is incredibly subtle and underplayed to add to the intensity of the character.

It can be overlooked to the point that I have been lazy in the animation and not animated enough gestures and/or big movements. This is hardly the case, and as I've explained above, unless the scene calls for it - will I feel it is necessary to do as such. I will not sacrifice good character performance to demonstrate a wider range of animation skills. After all, story is king and empathy is key. If we sacrifice that to demonstrate animation technicality and principles, no one other than animators would care and/or even notice.

It is also important to note that I did not rush this piece. Ample time was given to properly polish this piece and although it may not be immediately noticeable, I assure you the details are all in there if you look close enough.

More development videos

Here is the video reference comparison:


Some interesting notes:
1. It's mango juice in the glass I'm holding
2. My right eyebrow nerve was cut when I was a baby so I can't move it... ever!
3. In my right hand I'm holding a little mp3 player which connects to speakers so I can trigger the audio to play (which in hindsight, I should've just let it go on a loop instead so I can rest that hand for better referencing.
4. The Jack Daniels bottle was there to set the scene. I wasn't actually drinking it at the time...

Here is the splined version:


Here is the basic lipsync pass:

CCA Render

Watch in 720p HD
Watch in 1080p Full HD

Here is the render, as promised! I will post the other development videos up shortly (splined version, lipsync pass and video reference comparison)

Animation complete. Render tomorrow

This has gone surprisingly fast. Either I have vastly improved, or this could just be an easier scene (fewer body mechanics when he's just sat at a desk). I think it may be a bit of both. But the animation only took about a full week, with polish taking up about 3-4 days.

Will be sending it off to render tomorrow morning so expect the animation to be out around noon tomorrow!

Blocking Pass 2

Blocking Pass 2 - cleaned up poses. Refined a couple more breakdowns and adjusted some timing. Should be ready to spline now :)

Blocking Pass 1

First Pass blocking done for the day.
Tomorrow I will be adding more breakdowns and cleaning up the poses.

Deadline Extended by 1 week

Just got an email from the module leader that the deadline for this module has been extended by a week! Awesome, more time to enjoy the sun and polish (if needed). I'll still do my best to adhere to the original schedule though! :)