Week 14: Project Developments

Posted on 19th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

Miro Board Link:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOKHnfj0=/?share_link_id=371325218573

This week I have worked on a walk animation for the fisherman. Even though he won’t walk during the animation I thought that creating one would give me a better idea of how to frame and identify his personality which will have a big impact on the overall animation. In the walk I also added some props such as the fishing rod and the bucket where he supposedly puts the fishes (when he manages to catch any). I consider the fishing rod as the secondary character for this animation, as a sidekick even, aiding the protagonist as they work to achieve a goal (catch any fish), overcome an antagonist (an apparent big fish difficult to catch), or undergo necessary internal development. The mood I tried to achieve for him is grumpy but comic, funny and laughable at the same time since he is quite small and even his clothes are a bit over size for him. I would like fro the audience to emphasise with him and his struggles to a catch a fish.

I have playblast a the animation from side, front and 3/4 point of view which I will edit together for the final process video for the project.

Texturing

In the different rendered frames I have created in Maya so far I have noticed that the texture especially for the clothes of the character seems to be pixelated so I am planning onto edit the texture in substance painter to get a better result as well as increasing the sampling in the camera settings.

the rendered picture as it is now

Animation

For the overall animation process I am noticing that the timing is one of the biggest issues I am encounting throughout the process: since animation is a time-based medium, developing a good sense of timing is very important to creating good animation. Timing is what gives meaning to the motion. The speed at which things happen affect the perception of the scene and give it mood.

Timing has a huge role to play in how your animation will look like. If your timing is really fast or slow, too linear or too long, the overall animation will end up looking unrealistic. Timing is dependent on speed and you can interpret someone’s current state with it. Which is why in the future for the animation I will try to record myself and use it as a reference.

Week 14: Framework to consider in developing the proposal

Posted on 17th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

Research Question and Project Rationale

what do you plan to research? how will you research it? & why it is important to research this subject?

This thesis is intended to create a common thread among all the several contributions made for animation in relation to animals. It wants to make a synthesis of all these different aspects of the subject, since their overall view helps to appreciate the interest it has in a critical study of the evolution of animated cinema, also through the differences that can be detected in this regard before and after the advent of computer animation. The animal characters in the stories told by cartoons always have a role that goes beyond their nature, sometimes revealing more strictly human characteristics and behaviours and sometimes reflecting more directly their authentic qualities, depending on their role and the narrative intent of the story in which they act.

Even though animals have been a recurring subject in animation, their role and identity within animations works, in which they played a secondary or primary role, has been not questioned enough, as the effect that these same representations had on the audience, and consequently the consequences on “real” animals have often been the opposite of the intent of the narration. The filter through which we represent animals to better understand them, the way they move and what they feel, acknowledging ourself in the process, is anthropomorphism: the lens through which humans are able to interpret animals in their entirety. Despite the fact that anthropomorphism is a “natural” process, contemplated by the human mind to understand not only animals but the world surrounding us, if misused it can lead to a misinterpretation of the subjects that were anthropomorphised, not taking in consideration their identity, which leads to another important subject closely linked to this, which is anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism can refer to the point of view that humans are the only, or primary, holders of moral standing, which is why, if animals are seen through this process, their integrity can be spoilt.

The new technological advancements in CGI make the distinctions between reality and fictions very thin

At least 5 keywords

anthropomorphism, anthropocentrism, animals, animation, ecological sensibility, anthropomorphising, CGI

Situate your proposal in relation to key texts, issues and debates.

Name and explain authors relevance to your project proposal

The literature offers many examples of critical study of the use of animals in animated films. These include the book “Animated Bestiary: Animals, Cartoons, and Culture” (Wells, 2009), and the articles They Walk! They Talk! A Study of the Anthropomorphisation of Non Human Characters in Animated Films (Collignon, S., 2008), ‘I’m Not a Real Boy, I’m a Puppet’: Computer-Animated Films and Anthropomorphic Subjectivity. (Holliday, 2016), “Ecological Sensibility Versus Anthropocentrism: An Analysis of Film Ratatouille” (Govind, Vani, Pai 2021). In these analyses several aspects of the subject we are dealing with are deepened; all these aspects are equally interesting and deserve to be mentioned because they show that this subject can be investigated from many points of view, starting from considerations of social order up to implications that more directly concern the ethology, that is the science that studies the animal behaviour. This thesis wants to make a synthesis of all these different aspects of the subject, since their overall view helps to appreciate the interest it has in a critical study of the evolution of animated cinema, also through the differences that can be detected in this regard before and after the advent of computer animation.

The research of the described theme provides an important panorama of the motivations and points of view with which animals have been used in animated cinema, also in the light of the latest developments in computer animation. The different observations made by the critics who have examined this topic can in fact make it clear that the animal characters in the stories told by cartoons always have a role that goes beyond their nature, sometimes revealing more strictly human characteristics and behaviours and sometimes reflecting more directly their authentic qualities, depending on their role and the narrative intent of the story in which they act.

Bibliography (not included in word count)

Wells, P., 2009. The animated bestiary. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

Collignon, S., 2008. They Walk! They Talk! A Study of the Anthropomorphisation of Non Human Characters in Animated Films Département des Sciences de l’information et de la communication Section Écriture et Analyses cinématographiques.

Holliday C., 2016. ‘I’m Not a Real Boy, I’m a Puppet’: Computer-Animated Films and Anthropomorphic Subjectivity. Animation,11(3):246-262.

Rohini Govind, Aparna Vani .M, Geetha R. Pai 2021 “Ecological Sensibility Versus Anthropocentrism: An Analysis Of Film Ratatouille”, Annals of the Romanian Society for Cell Biology, pp. 17618–17620. Available at: https://www.annalsofrscb.ro/index.php/journal/article/view/7826 (Accessed: 11March2022).

Week 13: Introduction to lighting in Arnold notes

Posted on 17th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

sampling

sampling= refinement by subdividing and recalculating

better sampling refines colours and their definition

In Arnorld we can edit the samples in different areas

In Arnolds Control samples in light systems (smoothing out the shadows)

The higher the sample level is the higher the render is

There are two lighting systems, Maya and Arnold

Maya System

lights:

point light, a point of light

directional light, a parallel rase mimicking the sun, its position is irrelevant only its rotation counts, it has sharp shadows

spot light, like a lamp

area light, a card of light, it ha softer shadows

in each light the following settings are for:

exposure, increasing it would be like opening the aperture on a camera, allowing more light into the scene

radious, spreads out shadows reducing their sharpness to clean up the render the samples are increased (1-5)

shadow density, makes the shadows more translucent

visibility shadows, light contribution to the scene

colour temperature, change light temperature (5000 early morning)

intensity, should always be kept on 1 as default

In the directional light attributes there are slightly different options as well as those mentioned above: the angle option is used to soften the shadows

For the area light: resolution helps sharpen the shadows and spread takes the area lights and spreads the lights

Spot light roundness option shapes the radius and penumbra angle and drop-off soften the circle of light

Arnold system

the lights have more realistic effects

area light more physically accurate

skydive light, a sphere which lights the whole scene

mesh light, a piece of geometry that can be turned into a light

photometric light, reproduce real world accurate light (with value input)

light portal filters physical sky and skidoo to clean up

physical sky, mimics the physical sky and system reproducing the lighting during the time of day

area light has less burn out and works better with arnold render

light filters

light blocker it creates a transform node

AI standard surface to render the scene in Arnold

Lambert transparency activate opacity to make it work turning on space to use the transparency setting to make an object transparent

standard surface lighter

IOR each object has and index of refraction which indicates ho light interacts with it and then bends

Base settings

colour: a diffuse colour

weight: light absorption

diffuse roughness: distribution of light across the surface

metalness: reflectivity of the object

Specular settings

roughness: specular quality across the object (it activates with the meatless of the base settings. geometry tab opacity turned down as well.

IOR: each object has and index of refraction which indicates ho light interacts with it and then bends

Anisotropy: micro groups for highlighters

Rotation: to rotate the anisotropy

Transmissions settings

it affects the transparency

depth and scatter: retrain the amount of light passing through the object (less opaque)

dispersion abbe: imperfections in glass

extra roughness: rough the transmission

Emissions settings

replicates the incandescence

Coat settings

a layer of specular across the surface that mixes with the specular settings. used in a car paint and skin (the oil on the skin)

Subsurface settings

allows light to pass through the surface to hit the internal parts of it to their subspaces

scale: to decide the depth of the surface beneath

radius: to edit the scatter

Week 14: Project development – UV mapping

Posted on 12th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

UV map

Once the model was ready I started to Uv map it. UV mapping helps you locate your image map precisely on your model. UV refers to coordinates that are independent of the XYZ axes. To work with UV maps, you need to be able to unfold and fold your 3D artwork, and also cut and sew parts together.

The approach I have used is the following:

For each part of the model I first applied a planar projection (Planar mapping projects UVs onto a mesh through a plane). When a model’s form is very organic, and you require a complete UV representation of that model for texture mapping, a planar projection can produce UVs that overlap and appear distorted. So I unfolded the UVs to make them usable.

Once I have planar projected the individual meshes before unfolding them I have used the cut tool. Cuts are an important part of the unfolding process because they allow the UV texture coordinates to freely unfold with as little distortion as possible. When unfolded, the UV mesh should lay flat without overlapping.

For the initial stage I have applied a checker texture to each mesh: the checker pattern shader is applied to the surface of your UV mesh and appears behind the grid in the UV Editor. You can toggle between a simple black and white shader to a color gradient in the Checker Map options. The color gradient makes it easy to locate tiles on your UV mesh.

For the bed head I actually planar projected the different faces according to which axes they were belonging to (x,y or z)

After I have arranged the UV layout of multiple selected objects simultaneously according to their material: so in this case I have separated the wood parts from the pillows, the mattress and the covers so that when I will texture them in substance painter I will texture them separately.

For the rectangle shapes of the bed heads I have edited the the cuts since the way I had initially cut them and stitched together were not ideal for the texturing stage: by placing the cut at the top (except for one edge), at the bottom of the geometry (except for one side) with just one cut on the side edges, all the cut are placed in areas where will not be seen according to the way the geometry is modelled which will leave any discontinuance hidden.

Week 13: Manual Rigging – Skinning Part 2 / Controls & Interfaces Part 1

Posted on 9th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

Corrective Systems

Corrective blend shapes are added to maintain volume and create distinctive shapes within a deformation. However, the goal is to paint the weights as best as possible first, not to rely on the shape to ‘fix’ any skinning issues. Corrective shapes adjust geometry using the (blend) shapes deformer system.

Fall-off joints: Positioned throughout the rig to help extend and blend the twist of geometry. For example, a forearm fall-off joint to help when the wrist twists side to side

On-site shapes: For example, using the Pose Space Deformer system in Maya instead of duplicating the mesh to create a blend shape

Off-site shapes: Duplicating the mesh and creating corrective blend shapes or for additional rigging effects

Influence joints: A series of joints positioned and animated (SDK) to work with the movement of the rig – Maintaining volumes or for adding additional effects.

Influence objects: These can be a simple as a single plane of geometryor full muscle systems

A blend shape is a duplicate of the model which has been edited, and when you target it in and assign it a slider, when the slider is on 1 the original becomes the target.

Behind the scenes the blend shape node simply stores the change sin coordinates of each vertex. After a blend shape is made, the duplicate model (target) can be exported of deleted from the scene

All targets under one blend shape node work together (morph / blend). Two blend shape nodes plugged into one model. This will conflict with each other

For skinned models (characters) the blend shape node needs to be below the skin cluster node so the blend shapes morph onto of the movement (deformation) caused by the rig

The change in geometry is triggered by the rotation of the joint using a blend shape

The shape that is used to correct model is the result of a subtracted shape (positive / negative shapes) to accommodate the skinned mesh.

Corrective shape:
The model is posed and then duplicated twice. First to capture the problem (negative) and second to fix the problem (positive. Both are then connected as a blend shape to the original skinnedmess. Both duplicate shapes are then connected to the original using a ‘parallel blend shape’. The negative is set to –1, the positive to +1, and the rig is reset. A new duplicate is created of the original model and the parallel blend shape deleted. This is the corrective shape that will be used.

Fall-off joints example:

I have created a correct the wrist movements. One option is to insert a joint. After I have inserted a joint in between the elbow and the wrist joint, in order to mirror the joint on the other arm, I have created a locator of which the origin corresponded to the joint origin and mirrored to the there arm to use as a guide to insert the joint.

Add influence to the skinning

create the IK handle but with limiting the movement of the joint so it can rotate on one axis

add expression to make the joint follow the rotation of the inserted one

insert the joints on the legs as well (by duplicating the knee joint and deleting the ankle duplicate and parented it to the knee joint) and add the expression on rotate y to make the ankle and the inserted joints rotate along

skin weight the arm new joints replace the influence of the elbow with the forearm joint with 1 percent influence

after in order to maintain the mesh volume when the forearm joints rotate The influence on the mesh between the elbow and the forearm needed to be shared (by selecting the vertices from the edge loop of the forearm area and either replace the influence with the elbow to add it to the forearm, or using the hammer tool)

same skinning process for the knee and the shin joints on the leg

An alternative to the blend shapes are joints that are parented to the “problematic joints that are skinned to the mesh to correct the shape of them when doing a specific movements.

Corrective shapes example:

first example:

Blendshapes are a process that can be used to correct the Character mesh shape in a specific pose. one the character pose is created the mesh should be duplicated twice: one to use as a positive and one as a negative.

By editing the positive mesh duplicate and selecting the three meshes now a parallel blend shape can be created. in the attributes id the positive is set to 1 and the negative to -1 now the pose would be correct.

Once the character is pose back in the default pose, however, the mesh would be changed and in order to edit it the mesh has to be duplicated one more time (this duplicate would be used as blend shape) and with the set driven key editor with the character set as the driver and the bleanshape as the driven now the pose is finally correct.

Second example:

The second process involves the pose editor. First select a joint and after add poses for each movement with the edit button turned on. for each individual joint every rotation where the problems in the mesh appear should be added.

Once each joint has been added on one side the pose can be mirrored on the other side using the pose editor mirror options set to either object or topology.

Week 13: character rigging and animation workshop part 3

Posted on 8th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

This week I have worked on the punisher animation in the phase between stepped keys and splines and clean up.

In the timeline I have fist edited the Playback speed to real time.

From last week assignment on stepped keys I have actually misused some of the controls I haven’t used the COG correctly as well as the elbow rotation was on all of the axes instead it should have been only on z. So I have corrected these mistakes on each pose first and added some more poses in between. This is the playblast:

splines/auto

I converted the keys in splines on the timeline and this is the initial result:

I after started to work on odd keys adding animation poses, if needed, keying each control each time. The turns that the character does were the most difficult to work on since that I had to establish where the body weight should have been according to the movement. I also paid particular attention to convey some anticipation and overshoot in the movements to make the animation more dynamic and interesting.

I have noticed that from the camera view even if the posed and moments appeared to be corrected in the viewport I have noticed that the feet position and animation in the transitions were not accurate: in some cases the rotation was incorrect and they also appeared to slide in some points. In the meantime I also had a look in the graph editor to check the curves the that the controls in the different moments and axes made and applied some changes when needed. So I have corrected these mistakes as well as adjusting the weight of the body and this is the result:

Week 13: Project development – Modelling part 2

Posted on 7th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

This week I have completed the modelling.

I started from adding some edge loops on the shapes since that when switching from low and high resolution view the model subdivisions where collapsing and also to make the subdivisions to be evenly distributed on each part of the model

After

Applied to the whole model:

This week I also continued experimenting with the blanket model to position on top of the mattress

I started from editing with the cloth I had created in week 12 and used the lattice tool: it surrounds an object with a box-like wireframe structure; this is the lattice the deformer is named for. The points of this structure can be selected and transformed, which also transforms the portion of the surface they enclose.

I also tried to apply the cloth to a squashed tube polygon to see how it would react compared to the plane, although the subdivisions were not enough and it was not folding enough.

After wards I carried different experiments where I have deformed the plane before applying the ncloth to it such as the soft selection to move the vertices of the plane subtly with though ruining the subdivisions levels

I ended up using a mattress cover, since I have noticed that the bed in the painting has one, and adding a deformed plane (on which I have applied the cloth to it) on top. This time I have also added as a passive collider the bed head so that the plane would bounce on it and create creases.

This is the final model:

Week 13: Project Developments

Posted on 6th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

Miro Board Link:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOKHnfj0=/?share_link_id=371325218573

Shotlist

This week I have created a shortlist for my animation. I have carried out a research too see which elements I should include.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-what-is-a-shot-list-how-to-format-and-create-a-shot-list

What is a shot list

A shot list is a document that maps out exactly what will occur and what will be used in that particular shot, or scene, of the film. It serves as a detailed checklist that gives the video a sense of direction

How to make a shot list

organizing your shots based on the shot location. Group similar shots makes it easier to shoot because you are able to film everything you need at one given time. It’s important to note that this may not necessarily be in order of shot number.

Type of shots

Decide what kind of shot you’ll be filming. In addition to the type of shot, the camera angles and camera moves should be specified.

It usually includes:

Shot number: the reference number assigned to each individual shot.
Shot description: a short description of the action and/or dialogue.
Shot size: how big or small the subject is in the frame.
Shot type: the camera angle, or how the camera frames the subject.
Movement: how the camera does (or doesn’t) move within the shot. For example: Static, Pan, Tilt, Dolly, Zoom, etc.
Sound: how the sound and/or dialogue are captured.

I have after started creating my shot list in excel including all these elements and applied them to my short animation and I also included a gifs of the different shots as well. I order to keep everything organised I have also created a drop down list where I would be able to edit if I haven’t started or I am working on or even completed a shot.

This is the link to the shot list I have created:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18I1hHR3N70d8InXhCBCqDKg_H6GHAvfa/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109842034962512965279&rtpof=true&sd=true

Fishing rod controls

This week I have also added few controls to the fishing rod to facilitate the animation

Animatic Sound

This week I also added some sounds to the animation I have created last week. I have used some sound I have found on adobe stock which I think fit perfectly to what I had in mind for the animation sound design: I have downloaded song which included sounds that worked as a sound effect conveying emotions through instruments. I have imported them in after effects along with the animatic and synced the images to the sounds making use of the audio levels keys to make sounds fade in and out.

Animation Test

In order to get used to all the controls and to get a better understanding of how I am going to animate the characters and all the props I carried out an animation testing of the fisherman throwing the bait out in the water.

These two videos are to excerpts I have found on youtube which I have used as reference for the arm/hand/body movement that fishermen do when throwing a bait: At fist I thought they throw the fishing rod with both hands backwards and after forward into the water with an elaborate movement, however this moments is very subtle as it can be seen in the videos, so I have tried to recreate it in the animation.

I have fist imported all the assets in the scene and I have edited the boat as a collider in the boss editor so that the water would react to it

I first worked on stepped keys to block the animation poses

In order to make the props moving along with the character without positioning them every time I have parented them to the character controls

I have also created a camera and frame the scene using the a grid to position everything.

For the boat floating movements I have created different animation layers each corresponding to a different movement.

This is the playblast video of all the poses. I have saved the keys following the hierarchy of the controls chain, starting from the root control all the way to the arms. Moreover in each key I have saved I have selected each control and saved them each time I created a new pose.

Afterwards I have turned the stepped keys into splines and correct some curves

Week 13: Research strategy

Posted on 5th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

Finding claims or assertions:

Critically engage with the research and ideas of others in the field(s) the new research intends to address and identify limitations of the previous research.

The limitation may be an unresolved question, a missing piece of information, a paradox, a theoretical inconsistency, or some other weakness within the existing understanding of the phenomenon under study.

Identifying a knowledge gap is important because it: introduces and explains findings that support the new research; synthesises the main conclusions of literature relevant to the topic; highlights unresolved issues or questions within the literature; establishes the originality or “significance” of the new research.

In fact, despite their massive and unique contribution, animals have been largely ignored by film scholars, including those in the field of animation. That said, the few studies that have combined animals and animation have indeed been excellent. Yet given how common animals are within animation, far more research is needed. There are so many aspects of animation to be studied in relation to animals, such as anthropomorphism or anthropocentrism. Therefore, the potential of this field is huge.

Research ethics for my topic to go in detail: animal perception being misinterpreted and misconstrued.

Primary research refers to when the researcher produces their own data. Primary research might involve a researcher developing a questionnaire or survey to give to participants. The feedback provided from participants is then used as data that the researcher can then analyse. While undertaking primary research, a researcher is required to consider the kind of data that they are interested in gathering.

Secondary research refers to the use existing research. Secondary research differs from primary research in that secondary research has not been generated by you but by somebody else. Secondary research includes books, journal articles, artworks, films, design works, sound works, newspaper and magazine articles, exhibitions etc. that have been produced by others.

Research skills:

Research is the careful search for answers, ideas or explanations based on an approach or method. It is one of the most rewarding aspects of academic study and is the essential pathway for academic success. Often the first point of assessment in grading an essay or assignment is the bibliography, which lays bare the depth and range of reading you have done as part of your research. The ability to research effectively can be transferred to many aspects of a subsequent career, improving skills in problem solving, developing the ability to think creatively and in acquiring new knowledge.

Different types of research

Research manifests in different ways where a researcher will use or draw on different tools and materials to help them explore their selected topic. When we discuss research tools we are usually discussing the research methods that have or will be used in order to undertake the research at hand. Understanding the different types of research methods can help you to enhance your research practice.

how did I find out more information about a subject area

what type of research did I gather and understand the new information . what type of research was it, primary or secondary? qualitative or quantitative?

Getting started with research

Your area of research may arise from a specific example from which you can develop different contexts; for example, aesthetic, political, technological, cultural etc. Alternatively, your research may start with a more general question or particular area of study. Key concepts and keywords can help to generate searches in library catalogues and online.

Where to look

It is your decision as the researcher to identify the research material you think is most useful to your topic.

Getting started on a topic

How do you familiarise yourself with a topic you have little to no knowledge of?

A reader is a collection of writings associated with a particular topic, field of study, theme or authorship. A reader can help you get an overview of the key writings associated with a particular theme or topic. Readers can also help you to identify some of the key writers or figures associated with a topic or theme. A reader is often organised into several parts that aims to cover different elements regarding the topic or theme at hand.

Useful reader link for animation and media:

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tpar20/current

Week 12: Bed Model

Posted on 4th May 2022 by Marianna Caprio

This week I have started to model the bed from the painting for the project

I have started by importing the image of the painting as a reference

I have started by modelling the bed head starting from a cube adding some subdivision levels and selected the vertices to shape it. In the whole process I have switched between low and high resolution (1,3 key) to check that the volume was not collapsing.

In order to add volume to it I have extruded some faces on both sides

After I have mirrored the bed head and made it bigger for the other part which would be the other corresponding to where the pillows are.

To create the blanket and the pillows I have followed this videos tutorials that I have found on youtube and took inspiration from them.

I also created the side of the bed from a cube and used the insert edge loop to add subdivisions

I also bevelled the corners to made rounder corners and mirrored it to the other side

I after created the the mattress by scaling up a cube and bevelling the edges of the corners

I also started experimenting with the blanket shape and model using the nCloth simulation: simulates a wide variety of dynamic polygon surfaces. For example, nCloth is flexible enough to simulate all the following surfaces: fabric clothing, inflating balloons, shattering surfaces, and deformable objects.

So I have created a plane increased the subdivisions levels and added the cloth simulation to it. I have also created a passive colliders from the bed polygons mesh in my scene and have it passively interact with nCloth. I played the simulation with the plane starting from a tilted position on top of the bed and waited for it to fall on it and decide the shape. I after duplicated it and deleted the history of it to keep the final shape.

For the pillows I have scaled a cube very thin and increased the subdivisions levels and applied the cloth to it. This time I edited the gravity of the effect to be very low so that it would not collapse and played the simulation on the timeline choose a key where the mesh had a “natural” pillow shape, I duplicated it, deleted the history and positioned it on the bed.

Initial stage of the whole model:

M.Caprio lcc 3D Computer Animation

Just another myblog.arts site