lauan503research-2

2D Animation

For this module, I am working with 2D digital animation. There are many strengths and weaknesses to the different techniques used when working with 2D digital animation, compared to the techniques used in traditional 2D hand-drawn animation:  

The strengths of 2D digital animation are:

• Once an image or drawing is created it can be stored away onto a memory stick and reused at any point. This means that the image does not have to be redrawn to be re-used and will result in saving valuable time. 

• No need for the use of paper as the software on the computer can create the main key frames and you can easily flip back and forth between each frame. As well as this, you are able to play the sequence without having to take an image of each individual frame to see the final shot. 

•  2D digital animation also allows you to add more detail into your drawings such as, special effects like fire or the movement of water. 

The negatives of 2D digital animation are: 

• The price of the software could be a problem if you are unable to afford it. As well as, not being able to afford it there are many rules when showing your work after using certain software. Where as, in traditional 2D animation there is not many rules you have to stick to because of the software. 

• The program used to create the animation can have limitations that you would not have in the design if it was hand-drawn.     

 
The strengths of 2D traditional animation are :

•  If the image was hand-drawn on paper then it is less likely for you to ‘lose’ the work. Where as, digital animation comes with the risk that you could possibly lose all the work you have done forever, if it is not backed up effectively.    

The weaknesses of 2D traditional animation are:

• It takes a lot of time to complete an animation drawn my hand. Resulting in the animation costing more money to make.    

Figure 1

Figure 2

lauan503research-1

2D Animation

2D animation is the art of drawing a movement either drawn by hand, on computer or the combination of both. Many people in history have had an impact on how 2D animation has grown throughout the years. Many creations such as, the Zoetrope and the discovery of hand-drawn animation may be the reasons that 2D animation still ‘exists’ today.

For example, 2D animation was said to have started when William Horner created a device that he called the ‘Zoetrope’. The Zoetrope was created by William Horner around 1867. The device is a wheel that is made of a drum and an axis. On the inside of the drum is images containing, step-by-step drawings that can be seen through little slits on the outside looking in, creating that appearance of moving images for the audience when spun. When the drum is spun this device shows a clear picture of each frame drawn. These would of been drawn one after the other clearly demonstrating the illusion of a motion-sequence.

(Pepple Studios, William Horner: The History of animation.Accessed 2/12/2018 https://www.pebblestudios.co.uk/2017/07/29/william-horner-the-history-of-animation/)

As well as the invention of the Zoetrope, 2D animation has changed over many years and moved onto hand-drawn animations. Hand-drawn animations allows the animator to flip back and forth between the pages to check the sequence of the movements. Along with this new process ‘Disney’ used storyboards and script writing to help aid their animators when drawing the animations by hand. An online source explains how hand-drawn animation works and why is was so effective for Disney at the time. The use of a pencil and paper meant that the animator could easily flip back and forth between the drawings to check the sequence of the movements without having to use a Zoetrope.

(Ryan Nothard, Blog-post, 2D Animation, Snow White and Techniques Research. Accessed 2/12/2018, https://kcimgdryannothard.wordpress.com/2017/05/26/2d-animation-snow-white-and-techniques-research/ )

 

lauan503talk-1

Talk This Way 

Talk this way was a study task set by the teachers. I started by picking a voice note to use for my lip sync, I chose number ten. By looking at the reference given to us by the teacher called the, 'Preston Blair Phoneme Library' I created my own lip style to fit with the reference as this would help me with the vocal breakdown with the mouth shapes. Once the simple mouth shapes were completed I created a folder with the sound and lip designs so I could opened them up into After Effects.

I used the dope sheet given to us and filled in the letter of the mouth shapes for each each sound when playing the voice note. The dope sheet helped me to plan what mouth shapes I would need when making certain sound with your mouth, so when I came to slotting them into after effects I didn't have to guess which mouth shapes would be used for each sound. As well as knowing the mouth shapes, using the dope sheet would be effective when slotting them into the sound because the sheet would tell me what mouth shape is needed and where, when the sound is played.

To conclude with this study task, I really enjoyed making this short animation as I learned a lot about reference and how using reference is a good tool when needing some inspiration. And it is a good tool to use when struggling to imagine it yourself. By practicing using the dope sheet, I hope to learn what mouth shapes make what sounds resulting in a more effective lip sync.

lauan503weekly- 10th week

Week 10 

When all my animation was complete, the rest of my group still had some animation. As I had free time I got set the task of putting together the 'art book' for the pre-production of the animation.  I started by collecting all the design art boards and putting them in the order that the pre-production moved in.  This ordered started with the script and storyboards, moving onto the character design sheets, and the pre-production finished with the background design sheets. After placing the script, storyboards, and all of the design sheets in order; I kept the theme of the green background for the majority of the slides however, in the more plain slides I added the background designs used in the animation, in the background of the art-book. I put some of the background sheets behind to make the art-book more colourful and eye-catching. I wanted the design to be eye-catching so the viewer would be drawn to the booklet and would know that this was the pre-production booklet for 'Gone with the Wind'. 

lauan503weekly- 9th week

Week 9 

I chose to animate on photoshop so I could take the work home and so i did not have to complete the animation all in the university. I started by adding the right background to each scene. By adding the background first I would know where the action would take place in every scene. Before starting any of the animations, I watched the animatic to get an idea of how long each scene that i was animating needed to be so the animation stuck to the time limits. After I knew how long the scene was, I would plan out the key frame before doing the in-between frames of the rough animation copy. Once the rough animation was complete and I was happy with the outcome, I put the final outline over the rough animation copy and added the final colour by following the character design sheets. 

After three weeks and slightly over the Christmas break, all the animation that was given to me was completed. I struggled mostly with the scene of the sloth getting the swans attention. I struggled the most with this scene because I need to improve my timing on the sequence. I did my animation in 24 frames per second and put key frames every 6 frames to help me with the movement of the sloth as he comes down from the trees. The animated sequence I enjoyed doing the most was the sloth helping the bear wash with the leaf. I enjoyed this animation sequence the most because even when I struggled with the arm movements, I used my friends to film a reference video of them moving their arm to help me animate.  

lauan503weekly- 8th week

Week 8

Once the scripts, storyboards, animatic, character, and background designs were all completed it was time to start animating. Cameron printed off a picture of all the scenes from the animation and we  picked as a group the scenes we wanted to animate. This was a good method as we all knew what scenes we were animating and what other people in the group were animating as well. The scenes I chose to animate were: 

• The first opening scene with the swan swimming.

• The sloth spotting the swan in the water. 

• The sloth trying to get the attention of the sloth. 

• Lastly, the close-up of the swan.

I would start my given animation by doing a rough animated sequence of each scene before outlining the rough animation. I chose to do this so I could see how the sequence before finishing the animation and realising I made a mistake. 

lauan503weekly- 7th week

Week 7

Week seven was used to finish my backgrounds and get all my final designs together so the group could start animating on the eighth week. My last background to complete would be figure three: 

Figure 3 

• This is the scene where the sloth spots the swan through the leaves. 

• The first design was completely off from the aesthetic design that the rest of the backgrounds hold.

• I started by changing the colour of the background to match the light green of the others.  I had not added any trees in the background and this confuse the viewer as the style of the backgrounds would be changing and it is important to make the backgrounds similar so the audience know the environment has not changed.  I changed this after the feedback was given and improved it by adding the trees and the leaves in the bank. 

• After realising I would have to animate the leaves in the front of the background, I had to recreate the background so I could put the leaves on a different layer so animating the leaves would be possible. 

• because this scene looks further down near the lake I did not need to put any of the red leaves on the trees because these would not be seen. 

lauan503weekly- 6th week

Week 6 

By the sixth week, I was on my second and third background design sheets. I carried on creating the  design of the background nut before leaving it and saying it was done, I spoke to my group and peers I got feedback. This was so I could improve the backgrounds before I made the final art-boards for the animation. My second background was a close-up on the bank, when the sloth tries to get the swans attention: 

Figure 2 

• As well as from my first design, I failed to make the woodland area look as busy and left too many empty spaces taking away the realism in the design. My peers suggested that I add more trees into the background to create depth. I went back and created more trees. This was effective as there is less empty space in the background making the background more aesthetically beautiful and realistic. 

• After looking back on my first background in figure 1,  I realised that I had added grass into the banks. However, I had not added any in figure two. This would have been a design mistake as I did not take into consideration that the first background set the scene and the designs should have similarities within them so the audience know that they are in the same environment.