Bye for now...

I'm off to do a short job at Topix.

See you soon!

 

 

 

WEEK 10: Motion Studies - Game Cycles -- Walks, wrap-up, transitioning to runs

The famous 'human/dog' comparison scene from 101 Dalmations

We'll wrap up the final stages of the walk, adding subtle details that can make your walk look unique and polished.  There are lots of great examples of hand-drawn cartoon walks from on "Walk Cycle Depot" and "Pencil Test Depot" for us to have a look at.  Good luck with your deadline this weekend!

Next we'll get ready to transition into run cycles which start next week. Remember all of your cycles must link together as one sequence, including transitions (anticipations and follow throughs) to blend them seamlessly.



Please welcome my replacement, Mike Swiegot who starts next week.

WEEK 10: 2D Digital Art 1 - Sprite Animation in PS

 artwork by Eric Frech

Assignment 4: Sprite Animation in Photoshop 
BRIEF:
CREATE A SET OF 2D SPRITES AND ICONS FOR A TOWER DEFENCE GAME OR SIDESCROLLING GAME. YOU MAY CREATE ITEMS FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT 3 LEVEL DESIGN


YOUR ILLUSTRATOR/PHOTOSHOP FILE MUST HAVE:
2 SPRITES EACH WITH FULL RUN ANIMATION
4 POWER UPS WITH ANIMATION
2 STATIC ENEMIES (TURRETS, ETC)
2 VEHICLES
2 OBSTACLES

DELIVERABLES
AI/PS SOURCE FILE WITH A JPEG PREVIEW
FILENAME: donovant_sprites_000.ext
DUE DATE
WEEK 13 (Nov 29th) @ START OF CLASS
HAVE SOURCE FILE AVAILABLE
MARK BREAKDOWN
2D SPRITES AND ICONS: 20 marks
VALUE 20%
Followed Brief - 4
Run Animation - 4
Art Style Consistency - 4
Techniques - 4
Detail & Rendering - 4
* Late projects are subject to a penalty of 1 MARK per day.
All projects must be submitted within 1 week of the
due date or they will NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Please welcome my replacement, Mike Swiegot who starts next week.

WEEK 10: Texturing & Shading 1: 3D Painting with Viewport Canvas and Photoshop

Viewport Canvas in 3ds Max

Did you know you could have been painting right in your 3DS Max viewport this whole time? Well.. you can, with Viewport Canvas and Photoshop's relatively new 3D toolset. We'll take a crack at it and very quickly learn what advantages and disadvantages there may be to painting in the 3D viewport.

There are lots of helpful resources for these tools:
We have 3 helpful tutorials:
1 - Intro to Viewport Canvas
2 - Viewport Canvas part 2
3 - Viewport Canvas part 3


Click here to download the material files for this class. 

Click here for the Digital Tutors: "Using the Viewport Canvas" - video #44 in the Intro to 3DS Max series.

Click here for the Autodesk Help pages about Viewport Canvas.

Autodesk's "Viewport Canvas toolset" is a good brief overview as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shEl4iMebxM

3D paint in PS

Click here for the Digital Tutors course:"Painting on 3D surfaces in Photoshop"

Please welcome my replacement, Jamie Richards who starts next week.

WEEK 10: Character Acting 1: Run Cycles, continued , plus tips for polishing your animation

Speed drill o' the day - the get-up that didn't get done last time ;o)
the rig: Heavy - in all likelihood a guy that big would require some sort of extra deformation to lie him down with nice ground contact. But we'll pose him lying down and have him stand up making him look as heavy as possible - in under 1 hour - great practice exercise!
------------

Run cycles, continued -
If you're looking for some interesting naturalistic run reference I highly recommend the 1998 movie "Run, Lola, Run" by Tom Tykwer (who also directed Cloud Atlas). This movie is a study in running. You'll see Lola's run from every angle as she tears through the streets of Berlin.

Click to view larger

Click the image for the animation

There's a lot of detail in this 15-frame run so I took it apart for you. Check out all the secondary action, the extreme twisting in the spine and counterbalancing and looseness in the hips and shoulders. Also note she isn't a world-class sprinter, so you'll see extra energy-wasting movements that Usain Bolt mght not have, details that might be just the elements you could borrow to give your runs a human touch. Note the extension of the legs and feet as they propel the body forward and the dynamic line of action that flows through the whole body from head to toe. There's a lot to study here.

Click the images for the animation

I also want to make sure we're getting a handle on blending from the walk to the run. This is something you should film or try yourself.


Lastly, we'll talk about polishing your animation -- cleaning up arcs, adding in subtleties that make it look professional and crisping up your poses so they can be read clearly.

For the next 3 classes, you have Fight Direction  classes with guest instructors, Simon Fon and Mike Dufays from Riot A.C.T.  Class starts at 12 sharp in the Octagon.  Dress for action.

Please welcome my replacement, Mike Swiegot who starts next week.