The Final Piece...

The Natural History Museum Ident:-

N.H.M



I decided to add my final piece, on this very last post to my blog. Firstly just in case for some reason the CD doesn't play, or is corrupted in some sort, so its more or less here for a back up.

I also wanted to make a couple of point about the final animation sequence. Putting all the scenes together was a bit of a challenge because i had to make some changes of the order they suppose to appear as shown on the storyboard i drew out.
As you may noticed, i didn't include the globe scene because after many viewings over and over again, i realise that particular scene wasn't as strong as the others and just didn't really connect nor make sense, so the best option was to get rid of it.

As a whole i realise that i ran way over schedule with my timing. I originally stated on my brief that it will be a max of 10 seconds for my ident, but unfortunately i exceed an extra 31-2 seconds of footage. I couldn't help it as i realise that 10 seconds was very quick, and was quite hard to fit something interesting on such a short time sequence. So overall that was one of the objective's i failed on, and had to mention on this post.

Overall i am happy in the way the ident has turnted out, but has been quite challenging at the same time. I think at the start getting the ideas out and on to paper was abit tricky because i was getting really indecisive and couldn't settle with a positive plan.
But in terms of my new approach to the research, i feel has run alot smoother than the last project, so theres definately improvement in my mind. However i am glad that i did devote this terms project, to 2D. Because i still see this as a learning curve for me as a student, and to continue to try out different aspects of work is positive and clear way to making a right decision for my chosen career path, and as a flexible individual.

Clouds...On Test Run.

Clouds:- Scene 1

To do this, i took the clouds i worked from on photoshop and just merged each cloud to one layer, saving them as an alpha channel as i went along, then uploaded on final cut, and slowly moved each set of clouds, frame by frame starting from either the left or right. I kept the timing very minimal as i didnt want to take any unesscessary seconds, so that the sequence wouldn't play for so long.

The Opening Introduction...Scene 1

Scene 1:-

As i elaborated on previous posts of how i wanted the opening scene to be perfect. This is all the elements i worked on separately finally coming together in one scene. I kept this quite busy with alot of moving images coming in at center point, but moving at a steady pace so that it is easy on the eyes.

Closing Credits..

The "Bones Effect"
Test Run:-



Just a test run of the animated bones spelling out the initials to the museum- N.H.M. To do this, i moved each bone individually, rotating each of them at a pivot point to not lose the positioning of the shape, then it was a case of repeating the process for the remaining lines to spell out the letter.

Popping In...

I just came in today's session to find out if new extensions have been added on to all modules, which is always a good thing. This way i can further work and improve on the existing areas i already have.

Also stated on the email's, a lecture will be held this afternoon by an animation guest lecturer named Ravi Swami. A commercial director user of after effects.
Since this lecturer sounds like he's a whizz on after effects. It will be an excellent opportunity to introduce myself to what after effects can do as well as improve on my skills. So i'll see you there this afternoon....

Painting The Museum...

Sketch of Museum:-
Just a quick sketch of the museum, done very roughly not worrying about the use of lines i used.

Museum
Heres the final look to the museum. It's exactly how it stands today. The idea was i didnt want to change the appearance to the museum because at the end of the day my aim to this project was to promote the museum, attracting visitors to come and see the exhibition and what the museum has to offer.

I did this through my sketch outline of the museum, to start with. The added features such as pillars, staircase, windows etc. were taken from photos i took, and referred back for reference. The colours were all done by smudging, blending and colour burning using photoshop. This took alot of time to get the image perfect to my standard, but i feel the time and effort has paid off.


Just a print screen image of how the final look to the museum.

Mini Me...

Mini Towers...

Next are the set of mini towers, the same like shown below, but will extra buildings attachs. Where i will place these elements are for my opening scene, so the appearance, colour and shape has to look perfect.

Single Towers...

Single:-

These single towers were taken from the main museum structure and cut to individual sizes.
Below are examples of the two towers,

both left and right it shown:-

I'm On CLOUD nine...

As the cheesy tagline states, this post will specifically focus on how i came to tackle the clouds.

Just a quick run through, i drew the clouds very roughly, for my template and started to colour

them with photoshop.


Next i used the smudge tool to bring out the line features to really bring out the character in the clouds.
I remain to keep the look very cartoony, because i didn't want to lose the sense of animation in the piece and is something that would appeal to younger viewers (teenager/younger children)






To my right, is just a blue background in which the clouds willing be passing through from. Kept simple, with simple tones of sky blue and the hint of navy.

SCENE 2-3....

SCENE 2-3:- EMERGING LEAVES - N CUBE

This here is the final layout and structure of scene 2-3 put together. It has come a long way trying to put these elements into the scenes but has worked well in the end. The idea intentionally was when the leaves separate from each other, it reveals a whole new scene, which opens up to the N cube sculpture. I didn't want any scenes to be so obvious, but still include some sort of element of suprise.

BackGround LoGo

For scene 2, as the n cube model appears on screen, i realised that the background looked alittle bare, and needed some element to bring the model alive. So it got me thinking back, to the visit i made at the museum. I could use the logo (above) and duplicate it several times, lining them up in a diagonal line, finished off with a grey scale image. This is so that the background doesn't over power the main feature which is the cube of the scene.

Rhino...Its THREE

1st Running Cycle Test Of Rhino

As it states in the title, the first test experiment of the rhino running cycle. taking my drawings as reference to produce the animation, i drew the rhino's feet down and lifting up, to achieve the run and as i incorporated the drawings in final-cut i just added in between frames to increase cycle and make it to a much smoother result.



I think to improve on this test, i will need to add more frames in between, before the animal takes off and it makes before impact/comtact to the ground...some pointers i'm going to work on.

Part 2...To The Rhino

Shown here are the drawings brought to life with some colour. I chose to texture them using photo shop, clearly because i am alot more confident with the software, also i was able to blend colours and achieve great tonal results whislt changing the brightness and contrast, using the "Smudge" tool.

Rhino image after take off, both feets off the ground, with added dash lines to increase emphasism on impact take off.

Rhino image before take off. Both feet firmly making contact on ground & both feet drawn and aligh in position already to animate run.

Its RhinO...!!!!!

The First Stages Of Building This Fella...

This drawing was brought as the final picture through many, many research on rhinoes and alot of concept drawings. I wanted recreate a sense of realism to the animal so that it would look very effective on the editing process.

Also a few touches on style of drawing and interpretation to the creature. I increase the size of his hump, extended, broader shoulders. Gave him more of a "rabbit ear" effect and finished with a mishaped horn. That's it to the completed rhino design.