October 11 Second Club Competition Final

The past couple of weeks, has been quite a draining experience. I was really pleased with what I was then able to achieve, from brainstorming and annotating the audio file given, to the final end product, an animation. Below you'll find the final piece.

I was able to complete a first draft for my animation a few days early and get some initial feedback. However, the problem I then had with this was, I had University lessons conflicting, with what I could potentially have free time, to improve my animation. So a-lot of the points raised when I had asked my classmates and peers, about how to improve my animation, I couldn't add. I then instead tried to re-fine and polish areas with the limited time, as best as possible.

For my next project it'll be for my final animation for my university module, as I only have a month left.  , till my deadline. But, I will still be doing another 11second club competition for November alongside with the upcoming project I have planned, as I believe that this will continue to push my skill as an animator plus, it's a good way to learn and get into practice to working towards deadlines. So I'll see you next time and Happy Halloween.

AndyCodex Animation

October 11 Second Competition Part 3

Hey guys, it's been a while. I've just finished my first draft for this month's October competition, where unlike last time, I didn't have enough time to get feedback from people, so I can improve it. Though, there's not really much time to improve, however, I'm in a better position than I was, last month.

What I'm really hoping is that the people which I'll ask for improvements, can give me a fresh perspective on my animation. Therefore say for example, the facial lip sync is a-bit off, or how the character body performance isn't really smooth enough. These comments will really help me improve my final animation, when I'll render in a couple of days time.

It's been a long week but, I loved every second of it. Animating for this competition really felt like I have progressed a-bit more in terms with my, animation skills. I've learnt from my previous animation what to do and don't, and it's really rewarding how this month animation has turned out. Though it's not to say that I haven't nailed it. So, I'll have the final one uploaded soon. Bye.

AndyCodex Animation

October 11 Second Competition Part 2

Right, this is just going to be  a quick update, as I don't have the energy to work at the moment. I've been ill throughout this whole week and, it's been really difficult for me to focus on my work. On the bright side, I was able to make a quick test for this current competition. I wanted to try and focus on lip synching the words as i knew this was where I really struggled from the last animation.

So, when you play the video above, you will see my workflow and how I approached the animation. From blocking out the first few key poses and slowly polishing up the animation.

Now, if you compare my previous animation video (below), you can see the dramatic difference from the video posted above. You can see the flexibility of the mouth , and the squash and stretch being applied, whereas the one below, it feels floaty and lifeless.

I really wanted to get the lip sync to match with the animation, as closely as possible. So I really took my time with my planning stage, and when I started animating. One really important thing which I always had in my mind, when I was animating this, was to "not allow the computer to do everything" for me. This really stuck with me, as I didn't want to repeat my mistakes from my last animation. Another similar saying was, "not allow more than 4 frames" for the computer to do.

No more than 4 frames

I'm really pleased with this mini test, as it reassured me that, the things that I was learning was getting through to me. However, that's not to say that my test so far, was perfect. I could definitely see a-lot improvement needed to made. But, I'll get to that when I begin animating for the competition.

AndyCodex Animation

October 11 Second Competiton Part 1

Hey guys, I just did some work on the current competition for the 11 second club and so far, it's progressing well. I quickly, made two different characters, using the morpheus rig, though I think I need to think about my character designs, as the two characters I'm using are quite generic.

Confused/ Lost guy

Old Guy

So these are the two characters that I'll be animating until the end of the month. I was really pleased to get back into Maya and start setting up my scene. The only problem which I had was modelling the table and chairs as, it's something I haven't done for a while. Though they were simple designs, I hate the look of them and found them to be quite distracting. the reason for this is because I know I can do better, but, I'm not focusing on the scene objects, instead more on the animation side. So I try to let it go.

Building the sets for the scene

I have a rough idea of the storyboard and the starting positions of my characters, but I'll need to go over this with someone to see if it's alright. Therefore I know I'm getting the right camera angles and so on, for people to watch. I have however, already shot my live reference as well, thanks to a friend who has acted/ mimed with the audio. The videos which I've recorded was perfect, as, if I had acted it out, I knew that i would over exaggerate the scene and make it look unnatural and stiff. So thanks Mike. I'll load some of these up later on.

Scene 1?

I then began, posing out the first pose for each character. This time, I took my time as I knew that this is a crucial stage for any animation, and I had to get the right silhouette so that the audience can get the idea what the character is doing from just a glance.

Work in progress

Is this the right pose?

I stopped my work around here as I have to go somewhere, but before I continue posing out my characters, I'll need to make an animatic and watch some more live references i.e elderly people walking and so on, just to make sure that my animation, feels believable and that I get the timing right. These are still very early stages, so I'll see you guys next time.

AndyCodex Animation

The Truth Hurts

Right this is just a quick review of my 11 second Club animation from September's competition. I have to face it sooner or later. I have looked at my results and seen where my animation has come, and i'ts very bad. I guess I can't really excuse myself saying I didn't have enough time and so on, but to sum it up, my animation was poor.

Constructive Criticism 

My animation was rater 2.6 stars out of 10, which means that it's basically poor. That I need to review my animation principles and study a-bit more about life. 

Was really Happy when Will gave feedback to me

Now, I guess this is kind of a good thing, as I can look and compare how much I got to learn, before I can really become a better animator. It's good to look at myself and see where I stand and, it's going to be a long road ahead. The fact that I also seen the comments is a great thing, so now I know where to work at, and what my next action plan is rather than, worrying if I'm doing this right or not. Obviously I'm not.

The truth hurts- never give up

So, I'm really going to push myself and aim high as it's not the end of the world. I mean, meeting Cassidy and Ronan at Canterbury over the weekend, really inspired me. I want that dream job, to maybe one day work in a major company like Dreamworks or Pixar and to be part of a team working  what they love doing, with passion. But the most important thing right now, is to improve my character performance and lip sync.

Just really want to thank everyone who commented on my animation, whether positive or negative, this will help me be more determined to get better and improve bit by bit.

AndyCodex Animation

September 11 Second Club- Final

I have to say, I'm really chuffed on having completed this animation which I had planned out. I know that may not sound much to you guys but, I never really though I'd be able to animate something like this a few weeks ago. Though clearly, there is much need of improvement, I'm happy with where and how far I have come from.

I know that I could improve this later on and make it look better but, I wanted to put myself in a restrictive deadline as though I can't improve and that, I've only got one shot at this. This way, I could put pressure on myself and try and remember all the skills which I had learnt, and try to apply it to my character. I could definitely now take a step back and look at, where I need to improve.

Another reason why I'm looking at this project from a restrictive deadline is because the deadline for this project is on Sunday, as it's a competition. I therefore won't be able to have anymore time to improve it as I've got work which I can't avoid.

A few things which I need to improve are like, lip syncing, the shape of the mouth for the dialogue, adding subtle animation principles and so on.

I'm not looking to win to be honest, though I may have it as a goal, when I've reached to a certain point with my animation skill. But, right now, I'm mainly looking for feedback and constructive criticism, as well as the animating side. So, I really can't wait to start animating my next project really as, I had fun with this project. See you next time.

AndyCodex Animation

September 11 Second Club Project

This is just a quick update on what I'll be working on in a very short period of 2-3 days. So, I had been thinking of doing the September 11 second club competition for quite some time during this month but, because of preparation for uni, I had to postponed it. I was going to decide to give up and continue on another project which I had already started. I then thought that this would be the wrong choice, as whether or not the animation which I'll produce may not be, up to scratch; it'd be good to get some feedback from the community.

Morpheus Rig

This would also give me a chance to review myself on where as an animator, I am at the moment. Like I said from a previous post, " I can't just stop and wonder, what I could've achieved and have pure regret, on the opportunity which I had missed out on'. Plus, I know that the only way to become better is to learn from my mistakes.

I think the hands are too big, but will focus on the animating side instead for now

The images which is posted with this blog, are some of the few blocked out poses which I had begun, for this September competition. I still got a-lot to do but hopefully, I'd would've blocked it all out by tonight and, begin breaking down the animation sequence and begin refining it, as I progress further on.

Blocking out each poses

I only have to the end of September to finish this, which doesn't really give me a chance to improve. However, it's a good test for myself to see how much, I've learned from the Digital tutors and apply theories from various of books I've read, early this September. I also think with this tight deadline, it will really bring out the best of my skills and show where I'm still weak at.

AndyCodex Animation