The Snazzies: New Banner

The Snazzies: Kickstarter Initial Final

Hey Catherine,

It took less time then I estimated so that's great it means we get to see the results sooner... I know we still have a little ways to go when it comes to addressing the eyes in the bin and obviously there is some playing with the sound pending. Now, lets get down to what we now have for this final video. I have a few impressions. Firstly music is a must quite frankly, the intro does sound kind of flat without it.

Snazzies Kickstarter Initial Final from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I think we need to hold the black screen from the exterior into the interior just a little longer... They have already walked a few steps into the cinema in the next shot so I think that's a slight problem... The lack of music again in the intro doesn't follow through to when we have music on the interior. But we knew music was needed on the exterior... Other then that I'm happy but I do think a day playing with sound is necessary.

Anyway watch it yourself we will have to discuss.
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 6 w. 7 Playblast REV A

Hey Catherine,

Well here we are hopefully the last test play blast I have to initiate as this is the final shot... It will probably take a few days to render but I am happy with the result achieved... Firstly it didn't feel right to put a cut in the middle of the walk towards the bin... Just looks messy, I can believe a speed walk or run better. It also flows nicer and that's what's important here the flow of the animation and our resulting story.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 6 w. 7 Play blast REV A from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I also decided to alter 6 a little now all POV cuts come from inside the bin... It felt more realistic and there was less jarring between the shots. We don't want a POV to be outside of the bin it has to be coming from the bin. The only thing missing from this shot is the door open sound but I will place that in after everything is rendered. Then I will create you a "Rough Final" which is before sound etc. Should not be too long for a end final.

Anyway check it out and get back to me!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 5 w. 6 Playblast REV A

Hey Catherine,

We are one step closer the end of this animation its going to be a hurrah moment lol. Todays video shows the rendered Shot 5 with the play blast of shot 6. I full screened the play blast this time its a bit grainy but I think it conveys the point better. Anyway I decided on a gradual zoom out from elements within the environment saving the zoom for the big "MIX AND MATCH DATING" moment. I think it works it may be a little too slow paced.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 5 w. 6 Playblast REV A from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

Anyway look it over and let me know if there's anything your not sure of... I will do as I did the other day and wait for your feedback before pulling the render trigger. Environment renders as I said take longer due to all of the lighting in the scene. You have to also try to imagine our purple sky in the play blast because it realty does compliment the objects in the scene quite well. Let me know if there are any issues with it!

Catch you later on! Cheers!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 4 w. 5 Playblast REV A

Hey Catherine,

New update we are on the final 100 yards now but there is still a hell of a lot of rendering I don't have to tell you how time consuming rendering this environment is. Never the less I have plotted a playblast for the next shot (Shot 5). All of the interior bin scenes are as good as done. I added an extra bin opening shot just because it felt right before the POV section. Please check it out and give me your verdict as soon as.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 4 w. 5 Playblast REV A from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

In other news I added your extra gasp shot... after I did that the shot of the bin opening before the POV just felt right. It may be a bit long but I wasn't sure. Besides more then anything I just wanted to make sure it would work. Shot 6 is essentially a series of cuts ending on the Sign which we zoom in on for sparkle to say "MIX AND MATCH DATING". They then climb out of the bin Flame speaks then we walk to the snazzplex... end of.

Anyway I hope you like it!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 3 REV A

Hey Catherine,

Here I am with a new shot we are officially on the last page of the script so I am in a bit of a celebratory mood. Just so you know Shot 3 encompasses the inner bin and the close angle shots you wanted with our blue hue. I also put the bin around them... it felt right. We also have Sparkle in Roses shot due to the camera angle (an because Sparkle is to the right of Rose. I had her giggling in the background... it made me laugh.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 3 REV A from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I sent you that picture of Flame to get your opinion on the framing mainly. I didn't want to differ to much from your specification so that's why I kept them both very simple but the lighting really works. I also added a bit of rim shading to them to separate them from the pink tones of the bin. It really works so again I think its a good move. Anyway please enjoy this shot I will hold off on going further till I hear back from you.

Anyway let me know what you think!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 2 REV B

Hey Catherine,

Okay the render is complete (it took time) I added 2 seconds to the proceedings of the full animation. Usually id render a frame and then just render the frames of animation but in this case the particles make it impossible... You can tell if something is amiss in the frames of an animation so we have to be careful. I have listened to all of the reservations and while I know there is a small amount of sound work due I'm happy.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 2 REV B from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I have also knocked up a change log (some developers do this when they change elements of a job). I also followed this when knocking up REV B so if there is anything missing its because it wasn't mentioned to me on phone or via email. I will post the list below and yeah I hope you can see the changes within the video also but I exaggerated things a bit more they are a little less anatomically correct but convey the concept better.

CHANGE LOG - 31/01/2017

REV 2 - SHOT 2 - SNAZZIES KICKSTARTER ANIMATION

1. COMPLETE RE-RENDER SHOT 2 - ADDING MORE SPACE (SCENE/PARTICLES)
A. EXTENDED INTRO BY 24 FRAMES (SHOT_2_INTRO/SHOT_2_INTRO_PARTICLES)
B. EXTENDED BIN OPEN BY 24 FRAMES
C. COMP FRAMES FROM -24 TO 444 (ORIGINALLY FROM 0 TO 420)
D. BIN CLOSED FOR 24 FRAMES BEFORE OPEN (TO HEAR CAR DRIVE AWAY)
E. BIN CLOSES SAME PLACE BUT MORE FRAMES INBETWEEN
F. DELAY BEFORE EYES APPEAR

2. 2D EYE CONTROL
A. EYES FACE CAR ON OPENING
B. ROSE EYES (CENTER EYES) LOOK AT SPARKLE IMMEDIATELY AFTER "...LIKE CONFETTI"
C. MOVED FLAMES (LEFT EYES) TO REACT TO SPARKLE TOO

3. SHOT 2 COMP AUDIO
A. ADDING SPARKLE NOISE (OOH,AHH,ETC)
B. INCREASED CAR DRIVE AWAY SOUND TO +5DB
C. DELAY BEFORE VOICE SPEAKS

CHANGES PENDING
SOUND "THERE GOES THE BRIDAL GOWN" (NOT "GOWN)

Those are the changes... Hope you like!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 - 2

Hey Catherine,

I said it would be here and I am a man of my word... The delay has been mostly due to render times of which Shot 1 took about 3 days solid and Shot 2 took about 2 days on its own then I had to render out the eyes etc. So its been a bit of a long haul just for an introduction but we are there... Its due mostly to the amount of things we have in the scene all of which need lighting to be calculated etc then you have animation.

Snazzies Shot 1 - 2 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

The video above shows Shot 1 - 2 and how they lean in to each other. Once again I am going to let you and Ross make the verdict here... but please do give weight to the fact that it takes time to render these out... So unless its something really game changing please keep changes here simple. Regardless, I think it conveys the message nicely... In case you were wondering the next shot is inside the bin before POV.

Okay, go away and discuss! Discuss!!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies Shot 1 (with & without Music)

Hey Catherine,

Okay it finally finished rendering there is a minor hitch with the particles some of the later ones go black because of the lack of light in the front of the environment. Its a minor issue really so barring a re-render I think we can live with that. I also added a "click" sound after she screams at the shredder... as if she's hitting the switch it just feels better. It would however feel better if it was a thud (like she's smacking it).

Snazzies Shot 1 with Music from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I did 2 versions of this animation one with a music track which conveys a bit of mystery (sneakiness) I think its perfect for the scene. Ultimately its up to you though it comes with some nice looping tracks but again its about $50.00. Either way I will leave it with you to decide. I think I will include Ross in our future posts as we are starting to get into nitty gritty things and I am probably too close to it to be objective.

Snazzies Shot 1 without Music from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

Anyway I hope you like the video at least!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Introduction to Shot 1 Rev 2

Hey Catherine,

Hope this is more of what you had in mind... I haven't rendered it this is a playblast so I can be sure this is okay before I render. This render is probably going to take my computer out for today tonight and probably a huge chunk of tomorrow. The environment is huge and rendering in 1080 is a huge endeavour. I will probably call you after sending you the email if not please get in touch with me ASAP because I gotta get this going.

Snazzy Kickstarter Introduction Playblast from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

I did what I think you wanted the text is missing but like I said its lacking a render I wasn't going to put it in my comp unless its a render. You are going to have to ignore the crying until I get angry in there again I used it mainly to map the shots so I could just dump the render in after it is done. I did cuts and gradual pans/zoom ins & outs. I kept the person out of shot through camera placement I hope this one is acceptable.

Well get back to me after seeing it.
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Introduction to Shot 1

Hey Catherine,

Okay while I do sort of understand what you are trying to do with your framing of this introduction to me it seems a little more like overthinking. To show the scene with sound but no one there will almost feel like there's a ghost on the loose. It wont translate well to people which is why I said to you we should make the sound of the intro the focal point entirely. Instead I animated some text to flow with the sound as we are lead in. (see video)

Snazzy Intro Test to Shot 1 from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

Basically we are being brought into a moment with sound only as the intro text scroll comes in. I animated the text to the sounds to make it more wacky. When we finally enter the car has left the scene leaving us with a shredding sound. We then throw in a couple of simple establishing shots before we get to a shot of the shredder looking over to the Bin where slinky eyes emerge. This for me is the way to go.

I hope you like it, please let me know what you think!
xXStItChXx

The Snazzies: Full Interior Scene (Shot 8-30)

Hey Catherine,

Well this is the entire interior scene done it is quite a duration (5 mins) but like I said to you one the Phone I'd keep a full version and make cuts as required it always helps to have more then you need because it can always be reduced. I purchased the Slinkies track and it came with a looping track among other things so I will probably see if I can use that for the exterior scene. Anyway I really hope you like what you see!

Snazzies Kickstarter Full Interior Scene from Free Fall Interactive on Vimeo.

The credits are precursors at present it would be nice to break down mine and Ross's name under the Free Fall Interactive header we can have the text come in and out a kind of more stylish credit scroll. It would also be good form to credit the musicians for the tracks we used and the sound website we used for the effects. All of that we can rattle off when we sit down for our meeting to discuss our next steps forward.

Anyway please enjoy and let me know what you think.

xXStItChXx

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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