Tuesday 20 December 2016

The Snazzies: Shot 8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15 Complete

Hey Catherine,

New day, new sections complete. I have quite a nice transition going through the most recent shots following Rose and back leading us into our screen for Saggy play. It doesn't always have to be this succinct but I just kind of went with it and it feels right. You should also notice how seamless the Slinkies music moves into the Saggies introduction which thankfully dovetails quite nicely.

Snazzies Kickstarter Shot 8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I'm hoping the next round of shots goes smoother because there are less with all 3 of them (makes render times long and obviously I have to animate 3 characters not one). It would be nice to pull the trigger on the soundtrack for the Slinkies... Like I said they kind of need something. We probably should wait till we see the exterior, just to be cautious. I hope you like how the Saggies appear to me it feels quite seamless.

Anyway I hope you like the progress so far.

xXStItChXx

Wednesday 14 December 2016

The Snazzies: Shot 8/9/10/11/12 Complete

Hey Catherine,

I said today I would show you something took me a bit of time to put it together today. We are literally 2 shots away from introducing the Saggies into the screen and obviously throwing the girls commentary in. The swipe shot was particularly difficult to set up and then when I rendered it out I noticed a few unsightly patches of shadow so I turned them off and fixed the odd frame in Photoshop. I'm kind of fixing things as I notice them.

Snazzies Kickstarter Shot 8/9/10/11/12 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

There are a few pacing issues which I have noticed with this so I may still chop a frame or two from some of the shots so we don't have any more lingering then necessary. I am also going to add a shot after they say "Saggie Jeans" which shows the screen (the 3 Saggie love hearts and then loading... Then we cut back to Rose (who looks at Flame) "now look what you've done". Back to screen videos load - enter Hitch.

xXStItChXx

Friday 9 December 2016

The Snazzies: Shot 8/9/10 Complete

Hey Catherine,

I said I would be here with an update and here I am shots 8 and 9 with 10 (the interface slide). This took a bit of time to make theres lots of individual animation going on and then there's making sure things don't intersect or confuse. The sound was also needed hence the extra ($10.00) I will keep you apprised of every purchase. I have also put a place holder so you know that shot 11 will come right after and what dialogue that section will be.

Snazzies Kickstarter Shot 8/9/10 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

There were lots of soundtracks for a very futuristic style HUD but that didn't feel right for this animation. This world shouldn't be overly technological it should be wacky like a 3D cartoon. You will also notice what I was talking about when I said that the screen wasn't fully covering the shot. How that camera zooms when it goes into the TV is how far I see it going... We don't want to give the impression we have moved into "Saggy world".

Anyway I hope you like it! (password is in email)

xXStItChXx

Wednesday 7 December 2016

The Snazzies: Initial Flythrough

Hey Catherine,

Well it was a couple of days coming but I think you will agree it was worth the wait. The password protected video below shows the initial flythrough of the Snazzy Alley environment for your meeting tomorrow (now today). It has a few passes to make it feel a bit more like a flythrough although when I do this properly they will all be really slow and smooth. I have also used the preview music still (I love it personally).

The video starts by showing the 2D concept which I thought was important to do showing a nice comparison between the artwork and the final render. I just thought it would be nice to any person to know what we had to work with and what was eventually created. The transition is actually pretty close so we are very proud of that. The only real difference is Ross's artwork was a bit more letterbox and the render is obviously 720-1080p.

The image above here shows just the a render from the perspective cam. Very simple but its at a similar angle to the concept art... The video crossfades between these two so people can see its not too far apart. Ross did a good job here there were only a few amendments but very minor. Anyway without any further ado - the video is next and I hope you enjoy it. It's been a long time coming but we are getting there.

Snazzy Alley 3D Environment Flythrough from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

Tomorrow I will be back on animating these scenes this has cost me a couple of days but we do have to start reeling people in the sooner the better so hopefully this helps with your meeting. You should also know the password (its the one we agreed on) so I won't restate that here or anywhere for that matter. Please let me know if there are any issues I will follow this post up with an email as usual so good luck!!

xXStItChXx

Sunday 4 December 2016

The Snazzies: Shot 8/9 Complete

Hey Catherine,

Its been a bit of time coming but this is probably going to be one of the harder parts of the interior. I have the sitting animation (shot 8) leading neatly into our idle animation (shot9) which then leads into a zoom into the screen (the next - shot 10 being a close up of our interface). In shot 10 the interface will open to reveal a guy/girl garment choice... They will choose guy garments. When the page loads we will cut back to the Slinkies so they can squeal excitedly (shot 11) before cutting back to our screen where they will do their choice commentary (biggie coats, etc).

I will send the password to your email.

Snazzies Kickstarter Shot 8/9 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

For this shot I purchased 4 sound effects (and used one of Sparkles gasps - I think it works). Chair Squeak, Menu Interface select, card shuffle for the on screen font & a door slam which came with a door open so I can double that with shot 7 (door open). The whole shot cost me $20.00 but it was nice to be able to find everything and have a really high quality choice. I hope all of this is okay... I also found a soundtrack that I like you can only hear a bit in the video but here is the full one... I didn't buy it because I thought youd want some input there but to me its perfect.

You can find the full thing here - https://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty_free_music/songs/on-eggshells.

At the moment its preview so it has an audio water mark. If its not for you then show me one you like but it really does break up the silence to have a quirky track running throughout... Obviously we dull it when we go into the screen.

Anyway I hope you like it so far!

xXStItChXx

Tuesday 29 November 2016

The Snazzies: Idle Animation (10 Sec Loop)

Hey Catherine,

Now this is the idle section for the cinema interior. The point of this idle is for those moments where we want the Slinkies looking passive. They look good from the front and back (I animated it from the front to make sure it worked). To break it down we have Sparkle who is a figit... cant sit still, we have Rose who is cheesed off/bored and Flame who is doing his best to look effeminate.

The gif animation above shows a playblast from the Slinkies front on. Again this is not the angle we are going to be seeing them from mostly but the poses they are pulling here could be a default frame that leads into other animations giving us a good starting ground moving forward. Every section of this animation needs a good foundation so I recommend we use the idles for that. Ill show you as we get further in.

Now the next gif animation (above) shows the same idle animations but set from the back of our cinema so we can see the Slinkies watching our transparent television screen. This is also a 1080 render, I thought I'd get a jump on the rendering just to gauge a timescale for all 3 on screen at once... It took roughly 6 hours 30 minutes to render this 10 seconds out. It is for this reason I still recommend we keep shots of all 3 of them to a minimum.

The gif animation above now shows Hitch in the screen, just so you can kind of see how it looks with the Slinkies watching as the video plays. As you can see the idles loop so you can get away with seeing a few seconds of this loop before cutting to a closer shot or even cutting back to the Slinkies for comment. It just gives us the ability to be a bit more dynamic without having to do more animation, it saves us a hell of a lot of time.

The next gif animation is just the same exact video but with Stitch in the screen. I just wanted you to see what it looks like with each character in the screen to give you a better idea of how things will look going forward. I am really happy with how the render came out and the animation is just subtle enough not to draw attention to the fact it is the same 10 seconds looped over and over. I really hope you like how it's going.

Lastly the Rocco animation (I can only apologise for the page loading times) these files are like 10mb each so unless your watching on a fast connection this post is going to drag lol. I just want to provide you a full picture... The playblast at the top of this post is how I will do most of the animation posting on this blog... for your confirmation... I rendered this idle just because I wanted to scope the time.

Anyway I hope this post has been informative and I have given you something to look at. The environment from Ross's side is also on track I will post a flythrough of that on here once he has finished the last of the texturing. We will talk soon!

xXStItChXx

Tuesday 27 September 2016

The Snazzies: Reverse Theatre Set/Video

Hey Catherine,

Another significant update for you to peruse today... it took a day or so longer then I wanted it to but I think I have gotten it to where I am kind of happy. In other good news Ross is getting on the Storyboards for this animation while I wrap up a few things then me and him are going to sit down and crack out your animation in a big shot. I had a feeling this part would be the nightmare and it wasn't easy but it works now so that's good.

The image above shows where I see the fixed camera from behind them sitting... I also sat down and added a normal map to the chair arms (they were quite smooth and shiny on the earlier renditions... something I have addressed now... it was just too shiny. I want to keep this camera still otherwise I have to add tracking which is another thing I didn't factor into our costs. I think its perfect at this angle though.

This image shows the Slinkies in the cinema seats from behind. The Slinky animation will work outside of the video which will be embedded in post. The television has no screen or background so it is essentially an alpha which means I can transpose anything through it. Best way I can explain it is its more like a window then a television. We can see what's going on through the scene because the area has no background.

This is a partial video (animated gif) of our animation running on its own. Notice the white space around it which is where our Slinkies are going to sit over the top of this screen. They can animate over the top because they are independent of what's going on in the background. In terms of layers the video sits at the bottom so everything can happen in front of it. This also has the advantage of allowing us to lay whatever video we want.

Last but not least here is the video again but with our Slinky still over-layed on top. Obviously our Slinkies will be moving but the point is this screen will always have a blank spot so we can put anything in there for them to discuss. This is how I see us handling the back end shots anyway. The reason I want to keep the camera movement still is because this changes the perspective of the whole in the screen...

Anyway I hope you like how it looks. Not long to go now.
xXStITChXx

Saturday 24 September 2016

The Snazzies: Thredz Band Wall Art Design

Hey Catherine,

This is the third and final wall art design for the Theatre set, I hope its what you had in mind. I decided to let go a little on this one and make it a little more whacky hence the punchy text but I think you will agree that it compliments the other two. I also decided to keep it simple although I did recreate your band in silhouette it gives more of a party vibe I find. The muted red sinks the flyer into the back but also works well with the other two.

Ta-da! The final flyer in all its glory, probably my most favourite because I just kept it simple. The deep red and gold compliment nicely and with a nice punchy cream to knock out key elements of the text. The music notes were a later addition but they look right in the void above the bands head. Most of the font also has a nice drop shadow of black to punch them from the background even more... its fun and quirkly... Good stuff!

And once again the demonstration of the poster opened out in UV map form... I think the heavy border is probably what I like best it looks quirky but old school a good combination. I also moved away from the fabric patterns on this design... Just wanted to go back to what worked on the original "who lets the pets out" poster. I don't know why but I get a only fools and horses vibe not sure why lol. Anyway lets move on to the final image.

Last but not least you have all 3 of our posters in the scene lit by our basic light setup. They all compliment each other perfectly and will keep things interesting especially when we come to multiple viewings of this animation. What I love about it is you are advertising other brands which when it comes to this animation no one has seen. It expands the Snazzies universe virally and that will make the whole thing more interesting.

Anyway that's me I hope you like everything!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Killer Heels Wall Art Design

Hey Catherine,

This is the first of the two posters you commissioned me to make extra this is the one with the words "Killer Heels are on the March". I went more towards a muted green feel with the core colour on this one just to make the background more interesting. I think you will find this one more colourful. I also copied the design of the shoe more closely based on the concept art you gave me. The only thing missing is the eyelashes but this works without.

Voila this is the design in full I hope you like it. Originally I had only one heel there but I felt I should add more because its Killer Heel"S". The font is understated but it I think you will agree that it works in the context of this image. I added the "Beware" graphic as an extra I cant put my finger on it... it just felt more right with some kind of warning. This is also more in-keeping with the pop art style we have had on the environment outside.

This is the UV layout of the design render to be thrown in to Maya as a texture on our wall frame. It is missing its double border but the UV didn't really work well with it in the scene so like the original one I kept it out for now. You cant really tell but there is a fabric texture to this image. It has an underline cotton finish and the background has a stretched texture... It makes it less shiny and more grounded in reality.

This is how it looks in the scene next to the other poster design... I hope you like it! I think they compliment each other quite nicely I think the next one I make will have a kind of muted red background kind of in the same vein as these two. I will do my best to implement some elements of your characters but they have to be kept understated which means not too many bright colours and we keep to vectors/minimal colour pallet.

Hope you like it!
xXStItChXx

Monday 19 September 2016

The Snazzies: Theatre Set Lighting Tests

Hey Catherine,

Last but not least a few lighting tests I did for this scene. I ranged them from REV A - D I just thought id clear up a few last minute lighting queries should they arise. Each test has 3 ranges of light intensity (from 0.5 - 1) which strengthens light and resulting shadows. I moved the light for some and changed the colour of it just to see it if it was blue. I know you don't want it this way but I did the last light passes for me really lol.

You will have to click these to enlarge them I wanted to keep the amount of images down so I put 3 in a line. The first shot of REV A has an 0.5 light intensity REV A is also our standard white light directly in front of the set. The second shot is the same light position but with an 0.75 (default light value). Lastly the strongest light value of the 3 with an intensity of 1.0 is the third image along... Just look at them and let me know.

REV_B is the light on the right side of the set looking down at them (look at the shadows). It has the same intensity values the shot before I just moved the light to the right hand side looking down at them. I thought I would let you pick this hence why I did quite a few renders. When it comes to lighting we kind of disagree so I'm just willing to go along with whatever shot you prefer... Ask people and just see which you prefer too :)

REV_C is over the left hand side looking down at them... I did this originally and its nice to be able to see the shadows from the angle of the camera. Then again if you look at it from the other side you are potentially losing them again. It might be safer to save switching lights around based on the camera angle to keep the lighting face on. Again though that is completely up to you just let me know which of all these tests you prefer.

REV_D is based on the settings I used before... I kept the colour light in the Slinkies and dark in the background so it falls back. Regardless I just did these 3 for me so it feels like they are in a dark room watching television. I get your motivations but I always say things are more believable the more grounded in logic they are. This is my last look into the topic so whatever you decide here I will go along with. Just let me know your preferred setup.

Well that's me 4 for 4 posts... Now to send you an email.

xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Theatre Set Complete

Hey Catherine,

I'm back with yet another post (3 of 4 if you can believe that). This one is about bringing everything together all the models/assets/characters into one scene for your viewing pleasure. Everything is lit from the light you helped me make from a front on shot (notice the shadows). I have seated our slinkies in their places and the artwork is on the wall. I just hope it doesn't disappoint whoever you are showing this too lol... Anyway onto business.

This is more of a distant render. You have to realise that our camera cannot go outside of the boundaries of the wall (with the exception of the back doors). Otherwise it just looks odd like they are actually sitting in a set. The camera will have to be close to them mostly (as I suspected we would). This is why there will not be much viewing of the side walls its just front and back shots mostly. If I recall its this simple in the script.

This is a shot looking up at them from a slightly lower position it brings their heads into the centre of the shot and also allows us to appreciate our lovely wall art. Its little flourishes like this that make the scene feel alive that were not just floating around in the dark with no substance. If I'm honest I saw us seeing much of this animation close to their faces not this far back... Except obviously when you have a shot of all 3.

This shot is a close up of rose at a slight lower angle. As you can see the wall art is still present in most of the shots as clear as day. In an animation you could appreciate it but the point is that the Slinkies are the primary focus... Little decorations can sometimes inspire multiple views of animations. The colours of the images in the background are muted so they do not distract from the strong pinks on the Slinkies its a nice range.

Next we have Sparkle at a slightly raised angle which I did similarly before... I kept these poses generic for now. No point in working your ass off on test shots. The lighting is quite nice here you cant even see the flaws in the geometry. If we had more time we could have done normal maps to give the chairs more depth and the walls but again that's more time on this and if I'm honest I wasn't supposed to go this far with the set.

Last but not least we have flame I moved her hand out to get rid of the shadow but just so you know a front on light will cast shadows of their faces should they put their arm infront of their faces etc. so you'd best keep that in mind for the next post (lighting). Flames angle is less central here more off to the side. I figured you may want a bit of range in the camera angle as they discuss things... I don't mind going with my gut however.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this journey so far.

xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Poster/Wall Art Designs

Hey Catherine,

Long time no speak (joke lol). From our discussion I get what you are saying about the poster designs but stylistically the poster I made is meant to be kept "low key"... I didn't want it taking attention from the Slinkies and putting bright wall art behind them will not only merge colour with their bodices it will potentially distract from the animation. From a style point of view these posters shouldn't have fine detail they should be quirky.

Enter my design, now I get what you are saying people might get confused as to what it is in this style but I think it proves the right amount of intrigue. The style lends itself to classic golden age of film making when posters were crude. You said to me the other day that we are not Pixar and to me they are all about the bright colours and the "norm" of creativity. This breaks it from the present and takes us to a time before them.

This is the poster laid out ready for distribution onto the model in the scene... I love it. The thing I love most is probably the fact that it nods to something that to this point no one knows about (other then a select few). The only thing that bugs me about it is that I couldn't put on it "Featuring Croc the Lethal Pet". Just forgot I guess but regardless It still works. Anyway enough rattle about this one lets move on to yours.

To be fair this could be a good film poster if you put a slogan with it. It could just be a standard run of the mil advertisement reminding people to wrap up warm for winter or something. These are just pie in the sky ideas but still its a very valid route. The white light in the models ambient occlusion may need to be adjusted a bit for this shot because of the white but I think I have a way round it... watch this space in a sec.

Second not up yet (patience) this is the third poster layout you wanted... This is probably the only one which to me doesn't really work. If it were me I would have made a band poster about a gig on the 30th or march or something. Its what I was going to work on next as a poster design. Regardless you are probably right these posters do take time to make I just wanted this set from our close angles to look as lively as possible.

The drum roll has finally ended VOILA. With the front on white light which you picked when we met a few weeks back... that's how the frames look lit. As you can see they light quite nicely. Do you see what I mean about the potential slogan for the white jacket one. It could have a kitchy font underneath or overlapping the picture with a drop shadow... Either way send these to whomever you wish and I hope it helps you make a decision.

That's another post down, I'm on a roll!

xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Texturing Theatre Set

Hey Catherine,

Quite a bit to cover but I thought it was better dealt with all at once really just so you can think about it over the next day or so and show it to whoever you wish. This first post is about our set to be honest your not going to be seeing much of it cuz I always planned for us to be mostly in the Slinkies faces... I know you mentioned grunging on the phone but I have spent more time on this then I should have so I think we should leave it.

Well here is the standard checker map to see how the textures have gone on.... You should know what this is by now. Basically even spacing for each checker means there's no distortion on the faces of the geometry which means when we lay textures they lay EXACT... Without bumps or any nasty tearing anywhere... The other side doesn't matter because we don't see it hence why its got no opposite side... It looks pretty good to me.

Enter our set UV maps which from this angle look pretty basic (because they are)... I didn't account costings for a set because I wasn't originally going to make one. I was just going to make a very crude box but I wanted it to look nice for the animation... hence why there is not much room for tweaking. If we had added a proper environment to your costing it would have been easily another £500.00 either way you have done good here.

As you can see it laid out really nice on the basic geometry made for the set. I ask that you ignore the side walls... They are there to box the light in the room not so much for decoration... The focal point of this animation is in front of and behind the Slinkies as they chat. The floor is a standard theatre carpet and for walls I made wood because this setting felt more like a shed in a dump... I hope I got that right anyway.

Enter our blue chairs (your choice :) they set off quite nice against the yellows of the wood and the reds of the carpet... its making me yearn for a bit of green in the scene but now I'm just getting a little carried away. Its a really basic setup... to do it properly we would have made everything in great detail from scratch... Its quite a costly exercise but when you see the end result its usually an amazing sight.

Anyway that's one post down, I hope this gives you something to show people/think about.

xXStItChXx

Wednesday 14 September 2016

The Snazzies: Crude Theatre Set

Hey Catherine, Another quite substantial update... I thought this was going to take longer but I had a good wind tonight so its more or less there... Its perfect for all front end shots (the shots of their faces). I will add a screen and develop the front more (deleting the back wall for the back end (silhouette screen) shots. Ill probably get stuck on that tomorrow... You can probably tell from my email that this has been another late one...

Having not heard back from you about your preferable colour I just dumped in the green ones for now until you have made a decision on the seat colours. Anyway I bunched them together (pictured) the back 3 elevated a little higher then the front (for obvious reasons). I don't think you should need more then 6 chairs we can just pretend this is a home cinema or something... Render times as I said for a big cinema would be longer.

Next I thought id add a little wall art... One of the things you don't want is a bare set. You cant just put these characters in a box if we are to have them quite well lit so we have to consider how the cinema looks around them... I'm not saying we add a loads of things but stuff like skirting boards are so commonly overlooked by people looking to knock together a quick environment... It makes a difference.

Then we create our set... I built this around the other objects it just made it easier to visualise. As you can see borders around the entrance ways (there are usually 2 in cinemas) I put an upper and lower skirting board just to make the wall a little interesting. I also added a protruding wall feature I imagined its where cables would go but anyway it just makes the scene look less empty. You also have the step that raises the back chairs.

Next we bring it all together (pictured above). We can use the lack of a front screen to look back at the Slinkies as they natter. The roof and doorways can be kept empty unless you want them to be closed but id recommend keeping an open roof... We want as much range as we can get from the front camera. Please also bear in mind that I have yet to texture the set... its lit by occlusion at the moment... Textures will make it better.

Next I brought in the Slinkies just to see how they rendered with the lighting situated above at an angle... I wanted to try a few shots just to get a feel. I moved the camera to the opposite side of the light so we could appreciate that lovely shadow. It looks really good from more distant shots so maybe that's something to bear in mind. It will look 20 times better once the set is decorated and the wall art has posters in it...

I did a close up render using the same light setting but I wanted to get closer and get my "album cover shot"... Seriously it looks like they are on a bands album cover lol. I think you will agree that its all coming along nicely here. Having those minor details in the background keeps the shot interesting. It will look miles better when we add textures the shot will suddenly come alive. It just doesn't look boring and that's key here.

I did a few renders to play briefly with camera angles... The shot above with Rose is on a low angle creating a kind of superior prescience... It also has the awesome feature of kind of showing the pictures behind the Slinkies which is just a nice bonus. I did these just so you can look at the Slinkies one on one really... See if it helps you visualise anymore how you want things to go down. You can think about it while I'm texturing.

The shot with Sparkle is a bit higher not so low more of a close mid angle. Its less superior. If you can be thinking about these things Catherine in case there are any shots you want specifically for certain sections let me know... I know you told me to go with my gut and I intend to but just in case there is anything you were thinking about. The set pretty much allows us to look anywhere because we have nothing to hide.

Last but not least we have Flame which due to the angle of per pose I did a mid angle shot across the chairs as opposed to face on like the other two. This again is just to give you an idea of the camera range. It will save on render times to keep it shoulder height but we could probably get away with the odd shot or two. I know you also may want a few of them together and we wont find that out until we kick off a render.

Anyway sorry for the mouthful post but I wanted to keep you apprised...

xXStItChXx