Time Lapse

So first of all I decided that I need to learn how to do time lapse photography. The concept is quite simpe - take a series of photos and then string them together to make a film. Well there is a lot involved as usual and I was quickly coming to the conclusion that I would need extra devices to control the camera.

I don't know if you've ever thought about this before, but when you're on top of a remote mountain there isn't many power outlets for camera's and computers and phones etc. I was thinking I would have to lug a generator up the mountain or buy a huge amount of batteries for phones and camera's and a laptop. I was thinking that I could control the camera with my smart phone using some sort of DSLR remote controller that would give me time lapse functionality - an intervalometer (interval-o-meter).

After doing some research I discovered that there are people out there that are as disappointed in canons DSLR software as much as I am. But they actually did something about it. It's called MAGIC LANTERN, and it's a life saver. It has built in intervalometer and HDR, and you can ever combine the 2 at once and have a HDR time lapse. But I'll get into HDR in another post.

I recommend it for all canon uses to have. It will open a whole new world of opportunity for canon DSLR photographers.

Favorite shot of the day.

So here is what magic lantern allowed me to do.....


A morning time lapse test run for a Uni project I'm working on. I plan to hike up a mountain and shoot the entire day in one go. I'm testing the settings on this shoot.
Filmed in Brisbane, Rochedale South on Baroona street, 22 June 2012.
Equipment - Canon 550D, EF-S 18-55mm, 1/200, f-4.5, ISO 100, Circular Polarizing lens, x-rite color checker.
Canon firmware enhanced with Magic Lantern.

Music: Window #3 by Two Bicycles (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Two_Bicycles/Beko_Crash_Symbols_1/07_Window_3)

University Assignment

So after so many years I have made it back to uni to finish off my degree. Yes, I have left it till the last moment. I started it back in 2002 and now it's 2012. There is a limit to finishing a degree and that limit is 10 years, so as you can see it's the 11th hour.

As always I have chosen the hardest thing to do. I have a keen interest in VFX shots and how they are assembled. So for this project I wanted to create some animation that fit nicely into live action footage using VFX. I've been studying techniques on how to do this for the last few years in my spare time, so we'll see how much I've learned.

The premise is composite a 3d character into a time lapse. Mountain tops make great settings for time lapse so all I needed now was a character. And Rokk Mann was born - an ambiguous figure that is formed out of rock and then after much struggle collapses back to the rock. The short film will go no longer then 30 seconds and will comprise of a time lapse from a mountain top of sunrise to sunset.

Office Mayhem

Office Golf

Advanced Body Mechanics

Here is the lastest of my assignments on advanced body mechanics...

Psychology of Body Mechanics - Class 2

My assignments from Animation Mentors class 2 - Psychology of Body Mechanics. Also, one assignment from the fist class. This is actually my submission for the student showcase of 2012. Fingers crossed I get at least one piece in there.

Psychology of Body Mechanics, Weeks 4-7

Weeks 4-7 was the same as the first 4 - Pick from a list of actions, plan your shot by using video reference and thumbnail drawings, block your shot, do several passes on it to have a polished, physically correct animation. It was loads of work but very rewarding to see the final piece...

PSYCHOLOGY OF BODY MECHANICS

So term 2 for animation mentor brings us body mechanics.They haven't touched on the psychology of it yet, but maybe they'll do it later on in the term.
Weeks 1-4 was all about choosing one little piece of animation and polishing the heck out of it. We started simple with a ball on legs. So we didn't forget all the ball principles learned from last term.

Week 1 was to pick an option from a list (I chose a roundhouse side kick), planning it out with thumb nailing and video reference.
Week 2 was about blocking it out in Maya. Like drawings on paper we had to pose out each key drawing, then go back over it and set up break downs. It's at this stage that anticipation, squash and stretch, and overlapping action has to be built into it. By far the most meaty amount of work is in this second stage.
Week 3 was all about moving inbetweens... commonly known as splining. I like to keep with the traditional terminology because the pencil and the computer is only a tool which could quite possibly be superseded before I retire. So splining could become redundant in animation whereas inbetweens will always be there. So emphasis was on favouring a key frame, whether the head lead the action, or the head followed the action.
Week 4 was split into 2 sections. Firstly we had to finish off any changes our mentor has suggested and then plan another shot by choosing an action from a list, shooting video reference and thumb nailing it.
So 4 weeks to do 100 frames of animation... pretty luxurious. But it's all about getting the basics right at the start.
So our mentor Ray Ross has asked us not to do anything extra with light, textures and props. So striped down to the basics this term.

AnimSchoolBlog: AnimSchool Webcast: Tom Bancroft, Part 1

AnimSchoolBlog: AnimSchool Webcast: Tom Bancroft, Part 1: Last Tuesday, AnimSchool hosted a live webcast with 2D Animator, Tom Bancroft. In Part One of this webcast, Tom reviews his over 25 years ...

I chucked this up so I can remember to watch it later.

Week 12 - Animation Mentor Basic Foundation Fall 2011 Show Reel

 

Week 10 & 11 - Basic Foundations - Introduction to Walks with character & Walk-through Spline Editing Part Two

Planning for exhausted

Planning for the balance pose

Week 9 - Basic Foundations - Exaggeration and Weight

Planning for the concerned pose.

Week 8 - Basic Foundations - Intro to Walks

Planning for the strength pose.

Week 7 - Basic Foundations - Walk-through Spline Editing Pt1

Week 6 - Basic Foundations - Overlapping Action

Week 5 - Basic Foundations - Anticipation and Squash and Stretch

Anticipation is the father of squash and stretch. So in this weeks assignment we did a bouncing ball go through an obstacle course with squash and stretch. We had to show our planning and do another Stu pose showing devastation.

Planning of the ball squash and stretch.

 

Planning Poses for Devastation.

Week 4 - Basic Foundation - Introduction to Timing and Spacing

Timing and spacing... such a big topic. I don't think you quite get this unless you've animated. This is what an animator will constantly think about 100% of the time while animating. No wonder they're a crazy bunch.
This week we had to animate a heavy ball and a light ball coming to a complete stop within 60-120 frames and thumbnail sketching of your plan. No Stu pose this week.

Planning for the bounces. The sketch on the right is side ways.

Week 3 - Basic Foundations - Planning Blocking Methods

This weeks lecture was about planning and blocking. I think the thing that stood out to me the most was visualizing it before you start any planning. I always thought that laying back on the couch and dreaming was a good start to a project.
The assignment was to animate a basket ball bouncing and coming to a complete stop over 50-100 frames. Also, we had to do another Stu pose of someone being excited.

Planning for the Ball Bounce

Stu Excited

On my last assignment my feed back was that I was spending too long on my drawings. They had to be quicker and rougher.

Week 2 - Basic Foundations - The Principles of Animation

So this week was a little more interesting. We had to do a lot of sketching from life. We had to go out and draw people and just observe the world around us. Watch how people move and sit. So in doing this I realised (again) at how slow it is here. I live in the suburbs and if you go out in the street in the middle of the day it's like a ghost town. You won't see a soul. Sure a car drives by... but is there really a soul in there. It might have been a vampire protected from the sun with special tinted glass ( from the Day Breakers for the faint hearted).

So anyway, I left my dead streets and went into Brisbane city where there is a lot more activity. I found it easier to draw people sitting down waiting at bus stops. So a I ended up with a seated pose, bored and waiting.
In the lectures they spoke about having a clear line of action through the body, contrapposto, a clear silhouette, and one idea that reads well.

Sketches from Life. I was advised that I was spending too long on these sketches. The idea was that they were just for me and had to be 'throw away' drawings.

Pose of Stu chosen from sketches

Week 1 Basic Foundations

So it's currently at the end of week 9 and I've finally found sometime to catch up on this blog. Only 3 more weeks to go. Whoa hoooo!!
So Week 1 starts of with the usual bang; orientation. Not much to report on this week. We have to fill in our profile and start a video journal. Pretty much get use to the whole system and the video lectures. That's about it.