Here’s my last four animation shots
for First Hand Stories:
Geese
Initially this shot was
longer but we had to split it in two as it got too heavy and Flash
would crash all the time. The cross-dissolve effect will be applied
later in After Effects.
The challenge with this
shot was creating smooth
motion path for the geese, especially Goose close-up.
Keith showed me couple of tricks how to improve my animation with
Grandpa’s hands and geese. I loved the one with making flat geese
flip their wings by adding just two extra keys. That was awesome!
Grandpa
This shot was more about
acting and tweaking Grandpa which was done under Craig’s and
Keith’s supervision. Figuring out smoke effects took some time.
While I was looking for the right type of smoke on the database I
found a cool campfire and added it to the shot. Making stars twinkle
on the background was the easiest.
Norma and Caribou
After I was done with
cloning caribou using three different caribou walk cycles; tinting
furthest caribou blue with different percentage so that there is a
perspective effect on them, I got stuck with the problem of timing
caribou plus their feet were sliding on the ground. Animation
awesomeness Keith showed me how to solve that as well and also showed
to me some cool cinematography tricks on how to give depth to the
shot by adding filters, fog, vignette, etc. One of the best learning
experiences ever!
Caribou and Mandala
I rushed this shot as it
was my last one as I was trying to finish it and fix all the little
flaws that I could see. It was tricky because I had to break the
central caribou’s walk cycle and bring it to a nice smooth stop. I
had lots of trouble with that. Mandala didn't want to behave neither
as it got jumpy and didn't want to sit in one spot. Truck in camera
move wasn’t smooth either. Under Keith’s generous supervision I
managed to somehow fix some problems but not all of them. I still
think it needs a fix.
On my last day on Friday we went to
Nirvana restaurant and had a farewell lunch. That was awesome!
Thank you Keith and Alex and Darien and
Craig and Stephan and Julie and Joel and Rich and Peter and Chris and
Mike and Jonas and everyone. I have worked with you guys for almost
four months and yes it was absolutely amazing priceless
experience. Before my summer internship I used to perceive myself
more of a character designer but after learning symbol animation and
effects and being able effectively work in Flash I did develop
confidence as an animator. yeey! I also know better now how to
approach my 4th year film. Thanks for the invite to drop by
and to ask your advice on my film. It’s very much appreciated! I
will!
Thank you so very much! I will miss you
awesome Smiley Crew:) See you all on facebook and linkedin!!
