I began this project by looking for available free 3D assets.  I figured that would direct the theme and story of this animation.  When I found Maksim Burgrimov’s fantasy rhino and flying tree, I knew I had a direction.  I wanted to center the flying tree in a world where it was the keeper of information.  This grew into having the Cornell box be a space ship traveling the galaxy featuring a curator exhibition of the tree’s favorite features/animals of Earth.   I placed the fantasy rhino as the motor of the ship.  Once I had that direction confirmed, I looked for additional assets and corresponding videos to showcase (see below for additional asset credits).   My final piece brings to mind a few inspirations: Star Trek (space as well as the Borg), Mune: Guardian of the Moon (color pallet and animation) and Steven Universe (Pink’s Human Zoo).

Challenges:

Unity it’s self does not work very well on my laptop.  I was hoping to have more lighting features but I was not able to bake the lighting into my scenes due to a repeated error of low ram.  I had originally thought to do a scene animating light emitting orbs in addition to various characters.  The orbs in the scene, as well as the outer box, have light emitting material but they are not able to truly appear as I see in my mind.

When filming, I also noticed that one of the orbs fell out of the box.  I had a mesh collider (without material) to keep the orbs within the box.  Unfortunately, the collider blocked access to the gameObjects attached to the button script. 

  I also had issues with the provided button script.  I was unable to get the script to switch the boolean of the video player.  I had designed it so that you can click on the individual characters in order to trigger a video.  In the animation video provided, I was able to have multiple videos play only because of the hierarchy overrode the previous video.  In the future, I would like to fix this error so that the user can switch between videos.  Overall, I enjoy working within Unity.  If I chose to pursue working within 3D environments, I will invest in a desktop computer solely for 3D animation and world building. 

Asset Credits:

Fantasy Rhino and Flying Tree: Maksim Burgrimov
Animated Spire: [prism bucket]
Humpback Whale: Jan Pecnik
Spider Video: Deeana Creates from Pexels
Autumn Leaves Video: INNORECORDS PhotoVideos from Pexels
Whale Video: Nick Bondarev from Pexels
Ice River Video: Wilson Malone from Pexels 
Blue River Video: Svanur Gabriele from Pexels
SpaceSkies (Skybox): PULSAR BYTES

Link

Please see prior posts for additional process and background information.  Post 1  Post 2

Collaboration Process:

Todd and I worked really well together.  We started by breaking down the tasks so that we would eat be able to work on parts of the piece separately. 

Todd and I split up the work as follows:
Visual asset creation (background and characters) – Daniel
Sound design and audio asset creation – Todd
Main character animation (Walkman and CD Player) – Todd
Ensemble and background animation – Daniel

We were lucky enough to be in NYC so we met on the floor to compile our piece together. 

Animation:

After completing the character animations for the Troll Doll and Echo Mic, I started on the background.  Making the scene feel like a club through the lighting peeked my interested. 

I spent some time playing with the movement of the anchor point in order to replicate club lighting.  Here is a shot of the scene without characters and only the lighting. 

While working with Todd to compile the final piece, I noted that the stage reminded me of The Sally Jessy Raphael Show but I want able to place why.  I was able to find the following clip from an episode that affirms my feeling.

I also found this course on character animation by Angie Taylor through LinkedIn Learning to be very helpful. 

Challenges:

Since I was most interested in the process of working collaboratively withing After Effects, I spent time figuring out how Todd and I would integrate our work together withing AE.  I looked out how the files would import, where to place items withing AE so that I could easily identify them, and mapping assets correctly.  In the end, I learned a lot about the challenges faced when merging different versions together and how to do it successfully. 

Overall:

This was a fun project to work on with Todd.  Originally, we had planned a much longer story to tell, but quickly realized that the animation would take much longer then we had to tell the entire story.  We decided to focus on completing the first scene from our story board. 

In the future, I might finish animating this piece as it aligns with my interested in tech reuse, repair and recycling.  This piece was envisioned to be a PSA for tech recycling initiatives, specifically the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s E-waste program.  Unfortunately, that program is yet another casualty of 2020.  I do hope that it finds new opportunity to reopen.

“Wall of ignorance that prevents beings from seeing each other clearly can only be breached by communication. And communication is only effective when we understand the forms that communication can take.”
-Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics was more that just enlightening of how to engage with comics but also in understanding all forms of art. As a pragmatic person and someone who was trained in both music and fashion design, I have tended to focus on the how more than the why in my practice. When looking to go deeper, I’ve struggled with how to find more meaning in the art forms I am drawn to and, for that mater, those that I am not. Specifically, the use of abstraction as a tool in art was made clearer to me through the writer’s use of comics. Seeing how one can move between the worlds of pictures, reality and language to explore form and ideas. Being shown the examples of what have been done by artists in the past using abstraction allowed me to better see what they were focusing on.

The quote I’ve listed above spoke to what I’m feeling about not only my art but the world. Through communication can we start to see each other as we desire to be seen. Unfortunately, we also need to understand how to communicate and the different forms that we as humans use to communicate. I’ve noticed myself being dismissive when people communicate with me in a way that I am not wiling to listen to or that I do not notice. This might be nonverbal, physical, text, or even through buying of a gift. Just like how the various love languages we use with those we care about can be misunderstood, so are the visual forms of communication, like comics, are misunderstood. In learning their form, we can better understand what others are trying to communicate.

On a more personal note in relation to my craft, I am inspired by the authors six steps to creation. I struggle with getting past the outer layer of creation and into experimenting with form and ideas. I tend to get caught up with the physical making while simultaneously being overwhelmed with the focus on creating something deep and meaningful (ideas). I found encouragement in McCloud’s examples of artists working through their craft. I hope to one day be able to solidify my ideas on my art in order to explore form more.

I also too that the six steps in creation are a two way path. The initial creation is followed 1 through 6 but to delve deeper into the art form, a more contemplative exploration in reverse is the path to take.

I was intrigued by the author’s notes on the characteristics of a line. Just like the lines of pencil on paper, the stitches of a textile artist can also convert emotion and story.

This is the second post regarding this project.  Please see here for the first post. Also check out Todd’s post here. 

I started out this week building the characters and the set to place the characters within.  I am still working on the Dance Floor set which will be the opening scene.  I am experimenting with creating a parallax view using a still photo.  Below are my draft sets for the entire story.

Once I had the sets built, I finalized all the characters.  This biggest challenge I had this week with After Effects was learning to navigate withing 3D (2.5D) space.   At one point I lost the navigation tools that are attached to the anchor point which added to the frustration learning this tool.  Not knowing the name of what I was looking for, it took me time to find a video that could help.  I discovered that I needed to select the Toggle Mask and Shape Path Visibility button to activate the tool I needed.

Meet the characters:

In addition to the animations performed in the video above, I did spend some time experimenting with creating the following effects.  In the first video, I layer the troll on top of another image of the entire troll doll body , lowered the opacity and added a rotation on the x axis.  This gives a slight trippy feeling to the troll doll which I enjoy.  

In the second video, I am experimenting with the puppet pin tool.  It took a bit to find the right location to place the pins as not to pull the body too far away from the limbs and eyes.  The pins are placed on the png image while the legs, arms and eyes are all on another layer as shapes.  If there is a way to manipulate the shapes in tandem with the body using the puppet tool, that would open up more possibilities as well as time animating. 

After chatting with Pedro regarding this project, Todd and I decided to narrow the scope of this iteration down to one maybe two scenes.  We are going to focus on the first scene where we meet the main character, Walkman, in a club.  Walkman is being celebrated for their fame and popularity until CD Player busts into the scene.  CD Player is the new and improved format for music which draws the attention of all in the crowd leaving Walkman deflated and heading out the door. 

We feel that this will be enough to fulfill the ask of this class while being able to focus on learning After Effects.  Now that we are this far, I look forward to putting it all together in the scene. 

Todd Whitney and I are working together on this animated short.  We decided to tell a story around discarded tech.  Our tale follows the rise and fall in popularity of the Walkman, the popular cassette player from the 1980s and 1990s.  The goal of this tale is to show how we all have worth, even outdated tech.  Through reuse, repair and reinvention, we, as consumers, can follow Walkman’s lead by seeing the value of the stuff we have in our lives.  Finding new ways to appreciate those things. 

Story:

We meet Walkman at the height of their powers, the 1980’s. They’re the golden child of contemporary technology and the world’s devices adore them. Everywhere Walkman goes they bask in the glory of knowing that they’re top dog of technology. But times change.  

Right at Walkman’s apex a Portable CD player bursts in like the Kool-Aid man, shattering Walkman’s world. Walkman goes from certified loverboy to getting no love and attention from the other devices. The other devices are totally enamored with CD player: so thin!! so cool!! And CD player even dates shiny CDs!! 

Initially, Walkman is jealous of CD player’s fame & notoriety. Walkman lacks a place in the world and is crestfallen. But there’s hope. Walkman stumbles on their long lost love–Cassette. Their relationship rekindles Walkman’s confidence and Walkman has a change of heart: no more hating, only spread love. So Walkman begins befriending other devices of yesteryear and eventually gains a following like Forrest Gump. All the once-cool devices calm their existential woes by knowing their worth.  

Storyboard:

Walkman Asset (created in Adobe Illustrator):