Progress

My plan for this semester was to have scene 1 done for his semester. I feel a little short, but I feel confident to catch up by the end of December.  

Test, test, and more tests.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been learning ToonBoom and doing tests hear and there. I've had some success in what I can incorporate to the film.

This test is titled "Oger vs El Wimpo". This was my first attempt at animating a detail puppet to get a feel of how the film may turn out. Although far from done, this was only meant as a test. One good lesson learned here was file compatibility. In the office, I'm using Animate , but at home I have Harmony. Although developed by the same company, I could not open my work file at home.

My second test revolves around using bone deformers. The idea was for it to save time by creating less pieces in the arms legs and torso. Basically I was able to rig the drawing like a 3d model to bend non segmented body parts. The early results are a bit jinky. Joints fold into each other or stretch other unintended body parts. Unlike Maya, there is no obvious way to lock the feet to the ground when attempting to crouch the character. Final, the network system and complete hierarchy of deformer bone structure became to  overwhelming and time consuming, which defeats the purpose.

As for the film, I've decided to animate traditionally and utilize what I've learned so far to complete the film. Since Harmony files can be read on Animate, (not the other way around),  I will rough at home and clean up in the office.

The Survival Guide

My Senior film  is called the Survival Guide to China


The Log line:
 A charismatic merchant finds his mark in a oblivious tourist who doesn't know his way around China.

Generally, my film is about my memories traveling across China in 2007.  My goal is to produce a beautifully animated 2 minute film by May 2015.

In terms of inspiration, I really loved those coming of age shows like Doug and Pepper Ann.

I find these shows in particular were rooted somewhat in a believable world with just enough "fun" to shake thing up a bit.

I wanted my character designs to similar to a degree but a bit more angular.  

The protagonist is myself of course and I am the target of a very crafty merchant who will stop at nothing to get his buck.

My plans for now work with ToonBoom and see if it's direction I want to go in.  I'm doing small tests to get a feel of the program. I may do half and half, a little puppeting hear or there. I want to have more fluid movement for many of my scenes and the simplistic nature of puppeting may hinder this.

I gonna spend some time researching traditionally animating and cleaning up and manipulating through Toon Boom.