Client Project Update

Here is just a quick update with our Client project for One Piece. I am about to start modelling the objects necessary to complete our composition idea, so far I have modelled the logo in 3DS Max (as seen below). Tom has been doing a more detailed storyboard and researching the equipment necessary to complete the project. We need to start filming in the next week or two if we are going to pull this off to a high standard.

Artefact 2: Exaggeration Roulette

For my second Artefact I used the Morpheus rig in an animated performance to see what different levels of exaggeration help to convey different emotions. I already know from the last Artefact that I cannot hyperextend this rig as it has a limit as to those of a real human being due to the realistic nature of the character.

The idea behind this artefact is that the character is playing at a Roulette table as it allows me to embellish the different emotions someone may feel when playing, such as happiness, excitement, hope, nervousness and sadness.

Below is my second Artefact:

Feedback from a questionnaire that I undertook showed similar results as to my first Artefact that the character can’t handle too much exaggeration. It shows all the emotions well but the animation in itself is quite dull and the rig doesn’t allow the character to overly exaggerate for a stronger performance to make more exciting for the audience and build a stronger emotional connection.

For my next Artefact I am going to try using a character rig known as ‘Moom’ he is more of a cartoony rig as he is more flexible and able to hyperextend which will allow me to add more exaggeration to the performance. 

The Morpheus rig overall didn’t allow me to exaggerate to a huge extent. Using another rig such as Moom may allow me to show what happens exactly when hyperextension is possible and how exaggeration enhances the characters emotions but keeps the believability of the performance to the audience alive.

Artefact 1: Comparing levels of Exaggeration

I wanted to investigate using the software Autodesk Maya, I wanted to adapt my character animation skills within this program as it is vital for me to get as much experience in a variety of software for when I work within the industry. 

For my first Artefact I want to show the direct comparison between an unexaggerated emotion with an exaggerated one, I chose anger as it is recognisable to anybody and can be portrayed in a variety of ways. Although this Artefact are still images I believe it was a good place to start as it allowed me to run an unbiased test on the public as to which represented the emotion of anger, best.

Below are the two characters that were presented to people in order for me to receive feedback:

The feedback that I received clearly showed that the majority were confused as to what emotion the character on the left was attempting to portray, they felt that the character was possibly too unexaggerated therefore it looks as if it ‘shocked or confused’ at the situation presented before him, however, they like how the hand sizes make it appear as if it is leaning towards you. I received feedback from my tutor Andy and my tutor group who thought that the character on the right was overly exaggerated and that the rig was pushed past its limits and therefore causing the character to slightly deform in the corners of the mouth. The small hands also make this character seem reserved slightly, the bigger hands would have emphasised on his emotion. 

Overall, from the feedback received it was clear to me that this rig can only handle a certain level of exaggeration. Just because there is a limit doesn’t mean that it cannot be exaggerated at all but the performance may not as strong as one that has a more flexible rig. For my next Artefact I intend to animate Morpheus to test exactly to what extent his emotions can be exaggerated to convey a story to an audience. 

External Client Presentation

Below is the presentation that we presented in our tutor group last week, there a few problems with presentation I uploaded as it did not upload the exact fonts I used. One Piece like to stick to strict branding guidelines which we tried to continue through our presentation, so the fact the uploaded version isn't exact to the original we still followed the branding rules.

George pickles externalclientpresentation from gpickles