After finishing the storyboard, I started working on the animatic in the beginning of August. Each day I would try to complete at least one or two animatic shots. But, as with anything, these shots varied in complexity and each could take upwards of two hours. Luckily, as I progressed through each of the scenes I became faster at animating as I learned the quirks of the software and its shortcuts. I've learned to find elements I could loop in my drawings so I didn't have to draw 100 of the same frames. Most of the waves, the fish, and the dolphins are all loops and have made long scenes as easy to draw as the ones that last only a few seconds. Secondly, after watching more tutorials on animating with Photoshop, I have installed an extension (Animdessin2) to add the animating function of Photoshop since the program was not originally designed for animation. I have also re-recorded the voiceover which, after a few more modifications, should be the final audio. Then I cut up the audio in Premiere and imported each of my 28 Photoshop files to piece together the animatic. Next I will:
0 Comments
Now that I have started my animatic, I am looking for any chance to include movement of either the camera, characters, objects, or all three. This will create a dynamic shot, full of movement and will keep the viewer interested. At the moment I have laid out about 15 shots full of movement and I am about half-way done with my animatic. After watching a few tutorials on animating with Adobe products, I have learned that Photoshop is the best tool. In Photoshop, I am able to lay out a timeline (sequence of frames) to transform each layer into individual frames. I am able to use onion skin function to better see the previous frames and I can even set the frame rate and import audios. This will prove more useful in the future when I begin the line art and animate at 12 frame per second. For now, I am animating every three to four frames for the animatic which helps me get a sense of the movement in each scene. Since it is not the final product, this process is faster than animating every single frame. Hopefully by the end of the month the animatic will be completed and uploaded to Youtube in time for the Fellows summer work presentation. I have encountered some difficulty in animating rotating camera movement since it is difficult to get a grasp on an imaginary 3D space. Similarly, I found that characters/objects that turn/rotate are some of the hardest to animate. 30 seconds into this video has helped me understand both camera and object movement as it includes the extremes of both: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDfu4iEeyro . For specific objects like the birds in the video clip below, were done using real-life video and picture reference to keep proportions accurate while they turn. The video references especially help with the placement and angle of the wings as the bird takes off and flies. Next, I will finish the rest of the animatic and prepare my presentation. Then, I will get started on refining the style I want throughout the animation and set a timeline for each scene to be completed with line work.
This past week I worked on rewriting the script and for the main idea I finally decided to talk about marine debris and its impact on the planet's oceans, while also detailing my trip across the Atlantic. The ending needs to be improved upon but most of the script is good. After I was happy with this draft of the script I recorded and chopped up a rough draft of my voice over in Premiere so that I could begin drawing a storyboard to go along with the narration.
Next:
|
AuthorI am a student at Severn who would like to understand the process of writing and animating a short film. This opportunity combines both my love for drawing, animating, and writing. The film explores my experience of living on a boat for two years. Archives
September 2021
Categories |