Animation and video games - Darkstalkers

I came across a cool little blog earlier, with an article pointing out the excellent use of the 12 animation principles in the 2D fighting game, 'Darkstalkers', by Japanese game developer Capcom. http://art-eater.com/2010/07/test-1-darkstalkers/ There are some lovely examples of walk cycles, squash and stretch, and plenty of overlapping action. Well worth a read.

Keith Lango pointers

This week, we were given a lecture consisting of some top tips top tips to student animators on spline polish and workflow. Some great advice was given, which I found extremely useful. Cleanup 1) When cleaning up curves, start from the root of a bone chain out. The action of the chain root is amplified along the chain. 2) Delete if necessary. "Take away the noise", curves can be simplifed by removing any unneeded keys that have little or no bearing on the curves trajectory. This greatly reduces any stray wobbles, or "noise". 3) Watch out for "Mushy Motion", when converting curves from linear to spline, it's very easy for overshoots and undershoots to appear, instead of nice, crisp peaks and bends in your curves. These overshoots can make your animation seem drifty, and sloppy. Remove and fix as necessary. 4) Define curves in linear. Never jump straight from stepped to spline. Workflow 1) Stop taking captures or previews after every tweak! Take on capture, then study. Study hard, take notes on what needs fixing and changing. Only take another capture, once you've worked through said fix list. 2) Work like a sculptor, details come last, start rough, and build up your animation in layers. "Detail is just icing, and icing needs good cake". 3) Stop and think! These pointers may seem obvious, but I really did need to hear them. It's easy to get bogged down by the sheer complexity of animation, and sometimes, the simple things need bringing into view again.

Wonkey Donkey - Progress.

A slightly bigger post than usual, to bring everyone up to speed with my progress on the song and dance assignment. Step 1 - Blocking The first major issue pointed out from the blocking phase is the characters jig at the end of the shot, just before the kick. We agreed too much may be happening in too small a time frame, so I think I'll end up chopping that segment, in favour of a less active performance. I really wanted to capture the jig performance Hershali gave in our reference filming session, but it looks like I'll have to tone it down a notch. Part 2 - Bridge Dialogue I really enjoyed working on this part. There's still some tweaks to do, generally just polishing curves, getting rid of some "noise". I Wasserstein really surprised how fast this shot came together, in just over six hours worth of work, a personal record for me. I really wanted to push the mouth shapes here, after all, anybodies mouth movements are exaggerated whilst singing, and even though this prt isn't strictly singing, the exaggeration still fits the mood of the piece, doesn't look out of place. Part 3 - Opening Strut Walk cycles. We meet again. I'm still finding walk cycles difficult, I still can't seem to pull of a smooth walk, without it looking slightly jerky in places, perhaps I just need to really polish the curves on the characters leg effectors, I think as the rig is such a leggy, lanky character, any little stray movement seems to be exaggerated. I've also ran in to a spot of trouble regards the legs at the end of the walk, his legs seem to pop for about 4 frames, at round about frame 170. I've inspected the graph editor at this point, and nothing erroneous is showing regards frames, and even if I go in to adjust the frames manually, the legs are locked, almost like the knee joints have vanished. This will take some time to figure out. Other things that need work are details on the hands, particularly the fingers. Just to add the little bit of extra secondary motion.

Wonkey Donkey - reference reel

Everyone really chipped in at our latest filming session, we got some great footage. Hershali really knocked it out of the park, and gave exactly the performance I was looking for, straight off the bat. I experimented with two versions, one keeping with my original idea, featuring the cutaway to a facial shot, and a version without. I think the cutaway version is a little bit more interesting, especially as the music dies down at that point, almost creating a lull in the rhythm of the piece, only to jump straight back in to full tempo for the ending dance. We also filmed a guitar-less version, Raf suggested we might capture a performance with more freedom, not hindered by the guitar. Although I won't be ditching the guitar in the animation, Raf provided some nice movement, some nice head bobs, which followed a nice arc.

Wonkey Donkey - Animatic

Animatic for the song and dance sequence. I think the idea for the dilapidated stuffed donkey toy came from an old tv show I watched as a kid, which had a segment called 'wonky donkey', and involved such a toy. I really want to push the comedy aspect of this assignment, to match the mood and tempo of the accompanying song.

Alarm - added polish.

Okay, I went back in and started offsetting some more. One of the main issues brought up at last weeks feedback session, was that the piece was too stiff. I found after adding a little bit of a delay to the head was a good start, things seemed to be moving a little more fluidly.

Research - Meet the Engineer

For the song and dance assignment, I've decided to go with the 'Wonkey Donkey', clip, now this is going to require a character playing a guitar. The above film is one of many promo trailers for Valves 'Team Fortress 2' video game, now all these trailers are excellent, Valve have some of the best character animators in the business working for them at the moment. This trailer features so e gorgeous guitar playing. Not so much the tune, but the animation is beautiful, so fluid. Natural, yet in-keeping with the high stylisation of the character. One of my weaknesses when it comes to my own animation, is proper offsets and overlap. There's something about it I just haven't quite mastered yet. I seem to either use way too much, or not enough. I can learn a lot for this clip. Watch the engineers hand as he strums. The use of offsets and overlapping action, particularly on his thumb, give his hand a very lose, fluid feel, yet not so lose that it just flops about everywhere, there's still a little bit of tension there.

Learn 2D effects!

A recent post over on Cartoon Brew (www.cartoonbrew.com) just alerted me to a new online course in 2D VFX animation, from ex Disney animation effects animator, and online web animator Adam Philips. 2D effects is one of the Harriet animation art forms to master, and there is also one book series that I can think of that covers the subject, (Joseph Gilland's Elemental Magic) unlike the wealth of books and media available for character animation. The course is 3 months long, and only costs $24 a month, or roughly 87 cents a day. The subscription is cancellable at any time, and you still get access to the months worth of material you paid for. Month one starts of slow, covering topics like lightning bolts, small flames and smoke, month two takes it up a notch and moves on to ripples, dust and surface tension. Month three covers flames, steam, and how to add lot and shadow to your 2d animation. I think I know what I'll be doing once I graduate. Find out more about the course, and more about Adam Philips and his work here: http://bitey.com/2010/08/bca-fx/ EDIT: Adam Philips has since said the course is currently up to six months in length, and will keep going until he runs out of content.

Spot the Difference - progress 16/01

A really rough lip sync pass. Just wanted to get the basic shapes and timing down. I think I can do a lot more with this, really push it some. Will post results tomorrow.

Alarm - almost there

I think I'm almost there. Having added lighting and texture, and a little polish, one of the few things left that bugs me is the 'anybody' in the lip synching. Will work at it some more, and any other issues that crop up on Wednesday's feedback session.

Favourite Animated Moments - Herbstlaub

This week, a little more abstract. I remember being shown this short in a History of Moving Picture lecture by Teesside's very own Justin Greatham, way back in my first year, late 2007. Now, experimental animation isn't something I come across often. I admit I do have a bad habit as to stick with what I know, character based animation. however this piece has stayed in my memory ever since I first set eyes on it, and I think one of the main reasons for this is the 'ear worm' of a tune the film is set too. Animation and music go hand in hand with each other, so Herbstlaub is a great, if not unorthodox, piece to study before moving on the the song and dance assignment of the AP2 module. Herbstlaub is a sort of 'coming of age' story, and the main character is, a dot. Yes, a dot. The film shows the dots birth, journey through life's many obstacles, and finally meeting another, like minded dot to continue on life's journey with.


Obstacles of any shape and form are encountered...


... Although varying, each obstacle shares and follows the same pulsating rhythm...


...lead to the beat of driving, a capella vocals...


... Creating a highly synesthetic effect. The music the film is set to was created by the films creators and resident animation department choir at the German Filmakademie Baden- Wurtemberg, especially for the film. It is my belief that having both the visuals and accompanying music created by the same team, lead to a fully synesthetic experience on screen. Although not a piece of character animation I the literal sense, the film is not without character. There is still an identifiable lead, with a purpose and a goal, something for the audience to latch on to and relate to. I find a certain point from Ed Hooks' 'Acting for Animators', is just as applicable to this film, as any other piece of acting, "Movement is an effort to survive in the world." Every little thing motion of the dot on screen is driven by one desire, by one motivation, to survive, in an increasingly busy, ever changing world.


The dot's desire is fulfilled when it meets another dot on it's journey...


... They form a union...


... The pair continue on their journey, facing any oncoming obstacles together.

Daily Doodle #8 - Year of the Dragon

Falling a little behind with these daily doodles. Have a new one. Really wanted to play with perspective with this one.

Alarm - progress

Okay, been working away at some curves, trying to get rid of some unnatural pauses that were seemingly making everything 'snap' too much. I like how it's going, still needs a little more polish however, particularly round the middle, ("but I think..."), and some more expressiveness in the face.

Alarm - Initial Spline

IN major need of polish. The opening just seems too snappy to me, but I think once I polish out a few curves, and some overlap and delay, should be okay. More to come.

Spot the Difference - Blocking

The initial blocking for my "Spot the Difference" clip. I have to say the reference footage we shot really helped with some of the finer gestures, especially hand motions. I think I may have to chop or at least tone down a few poses mind, might look a bit OTT once splined... Watch this space.

Reference Footage - Jan 4th

The reference footage reel from Jan 4th, for my "Spot the Difference" clip.

Interesting Shorts

A selection of shorts, both from Teesside and other institutes, for use during student interviews. "Beetle on the Run" - Teesside " Herbstlaub" - Filmakademie, Germany "Fetch Promo" - Teesside (by me)

Daily Doodle #7 - Bowerbird

Sorry for the lack of doodle yesterday, spent most of the day at the vet with my cat. Anyway! To make up for it, here's a Bowerbird in his grotto. I wanted to restrict the colour palette, creating a bit more of a challenge, whilst working on my background work too. Enjoy!

Lip Synching - Stepped Progress

Okay, worked a little more and added some more breakdowns. I think I'm nearly ready to start splining this one. However the first part of the lip synching still bugs me. I don't know if it's a timing issue, or just too much going on. I think I mig just chop some keys and redo it.

Daily Doodle #6 - Policeman

Result from a twitter conversation with Satish Shewhorak and Scott C of Double Fine fame.

Favourite Animated Moments - Kung Fu Panda

Every week from now I'll be doing a spot on my personal favourite moments from the various animations I've seen, ranging from the mainstream to the downright obscure. To kick things off, one of my favourite 'blockbuster' animated features of recent years, Dreamworks Animations' "Kung Fu Panda", and it's fantastic opening sequence.


The sequence can be viewed in HD here ---> http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/10/03/kung-fu-panda/ , due to copyright issues, YouTube took my version down. Image from ArtOfTheTitle.com In my eyes, Dreamworks' attempts at 3D animated features could never rival those of Pixar, I felt the studios strengths lay with it's 2D features, such as the, in my opinion, highly under rated "Road to El Dorado". However, Kung Fu Panda was the film that would signify a change in my prejudices towards the studio, and cement their place as one of my favourite animation houses. I entered the cinema in the summer of 2008 expecting a standard, pop culture reference fuelled, lacklustre kids comedy, to fit in with the studios previous releases, pumped out to fill a void in the summer kid film market (Shark Tale anyone?). I couldn't have been more wrong. The film opens with a new, stylish, 2D animated logo and title sequence, which immediately got me excited. What soon followed was a sumptuously illustrated backdrop of ancient China, and a lone panda warrior, like something lifted straight from a graphic novel.


The highly graphic style, often compared to that of Genndy Tartakovsky's "Samurai Jack" had me instantly hooked. With comic like pacing to match the visuals, an all out, bare knuckle, Kung Fu brawl explodes on screen. A high contrast palette of Red, Black and White mimics the ferocity of the panda warriors kicks. The warrior is soon joined by 5 more Kung Fu masters, the "Furious five", and an epic, butt kicking, tour de force ensues, against entire an entire demon army.


High contrast visuals reflect the action on screen


Hugely impressive shots of seemingly hundreds of characters make for an unforgettable show. And so the battle begins to play out, 6 heroes leap towards their destiny, straight into the mass of raging demons, when snap, both the panda warrior, and the audience, are thrown straight back into the real world. The 3D world.


The action is suddenly halted...


... And both Po and the audience are brought back down to earth. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the film, the 3D CG animated feature advertised, is a great film. I just feel the opening 2D sequence was so much more powerful, it's what sold the entire feature to me. The opening sequence was produced by, the now sadly no longer existing, James Baxter animation studios, the very same James Baxter who brought Disney favourites, Belle (Beauty and the Beast), and Rafiki (The Lion King) to life. The shot was directed by Dreamworks' head of story Jennifer Yuh Nelson. "It captures the energy and freneticism of anime," explains Nelson, "but it has it's own over the top style." Dreamworks Character Designer Nico Marlet provided Baxter with character model sheets, Nico's graphic, 2D styling lends itself perfectly to this sort of punchy, 2D animation. From watching this movie, I have become a great fan of Marlet's work, and he has since gone on to influence my own work. During Animex 2010, I was fortunate enough to meet face to face with not only James Baxter himself, but also Mark Osborne, the films director. Needless to say, this is one film that certainly has made a laying impression on me, and my work.


From Mark Osborne, in my Kung Fu Panda art book References: ArtOfTheTitle.com The Art of Kung Fu Panda - ISBN: 1-84576-926-0

Initial Lip Syncing

Here's my first attempt at the lip synching exercise as I described before filming some ref fence footage, just the first 60 frames. As I said in my previous post, it seems over acted, some toning down is needed, particularly on 'anybody', and I think I generally added too much movement to the mouth corners.

Daily Doodle #5 - Winter Wood Elf

After talking briefly about drawing environments last night with ex Masters student Miss Ford (frenchbird.wordpress.com), I thought I'd better get into the practice of putting my characters into worlds, not just floating in some void. Not much going on by means of perspective here, but it's a start.

Lip Synching Ref

Okay, so I'm finding lip synching a little challenging. Maybe I'm out of practice. Time for some reference footage!

I think I've been over doing it in my animation, too much exaggeration on every syllable, I know, classic student mistake. I'll upload my current efforts in the morning, then compare with my animation after taking the reference into account. EDIT: sorry for the horrible video compression, I only had my iPad to hand. The camera isn't great.

MA Character Hoodies

That's right, hoodies! The class has decided we need some snazzy new hoodies to hopefully sport at Animex this year.


We decided on a fitting 'Masters Red' for the hoodie, and I drew up a course logo, spoofing DaVinci's Vitruvian Man. I'm currently vectoring the final logo image, and should hopefully talk to the Uni next week about getting these bad boys ordered.

AP2 Assignment 2 - Spot the Difference.

I built upon the initial sketches I posted a few days ago, and put together this short animatic for the next sequence. I wanted to pin down the hand gestures, get a better idea of the timing. I think I may need to tone things down a little, as the dialogue moves so fast, some of the gestures look OTT when playing through so fast. I think some filmed reference footage is in order.

Daily Doodle #4 - Foxy puppy

More iPad doodling. Just a small one today, work to be done.

Daily Doodle #3 - Hellboy

Dark Horse Comics' Hellboy. Done for the #drawhellboy tag running on Twitter at the moment. Done in under an hour, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro for iPad. Did I mention I'm on Twitter? Twitter.com/EmTheLimey

Daily Doodle - Raptor

Daily Doodle #2 - Raptor. Autodesk Sketchbook Pro for iPad.

Daily Doodle #1 - Dragon

Today's doodle. After talking about dragons in class today, I had to doodle one. Done in Autodesk Sketchbook for IPad.

Christmas Viewing - The Gruffalo's Child

After the 2009 BAFTA and Oscar nominated adaption of the popular children's book "The Gruffalo", by London based studio Magic Light Pictures and German studio Studio Soi, this years adaption of "The Gruffalo's Child" was top of my holiday viewing list. I've always admired Axel Scheffler's illustrations that bring author Julia Donaldson's woodland adventures to life, and the art direction on the film adaption really does do justice to the source material. Both the characters and environments have been crafted with the same rustic, yet refined aesthetic of the original illustrations, beautifully supported by soft, yet confident lighting. Any screen shot is easily just as pleasing to look at as the pages of the original book.


Faithfully crafted sets and characters, beautifully lit and rendered make for a wonderfully appealing treat for the eyes. The animators did an excellent job at bringing the varying cast of characters to life, with Subtle, yet believable performances throughout. All to often I find many an independent short, commissioned for a prime time slot like Christmas day for BBC One to be overacted, but not so in this case. The star performance of course comes from the Gruffalo's child herself, a brave little up and coming adventurer, with just the right childish nuances make for an adorable show.


Constantly curious, the inquisitive Gruffalo's Child leads the audience on a magical, night time, woodland adventure. This isn't a glossy, pristine, blockbuster style production, like most over cg productions, it has a down to earth, hand crafted feel. The animation itself also feels very hand made, and almost has a stop motion feel to it. It may not be the biggest, flashiest, production, but by no means has any less care or attention gone into it. If anything, to me feels a lot more approachable, almost homely, familiar even, a generally more well rounded production than many a recent cg theatre release in my opinion. That's what "The Gruffalo's Child" has to be one of my favourite productions. Definitely my favourite of the year.


Familiar, lovingly crafted, and downright entertaining. The Gruffalo's Child is a winner with me!