HoN reskin

working on it but something is happening with the chest region... old harness is still appearing.

Sketches

These are a bit late but here's the workings done in my journal to work through some problem solving and fill in the blanks in the storyboard:

http://eps.id.au/files/sketches.pdf

Final DVD

Glory! Isn't it just glorious? The Lightscribe didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped but it's still there and looks alright. Turns out those sample images for Lightscribe are done at a setting that takes about twice as long to burn. Paranoia's coat in the left DVD is meant to be black :( Oh well, I know for next time I guess.

To make the foam cover I got some square hollow aluminium pipe and hacksawed a section off to make a stamp. I then measured to my best ability where the squares should go and hammered them into the foam. The top creamy layer was made using white bathroom sealant. Thanks to Game for giving me the lovely white DVD cover! You're awesome *thumbs up*. Shame on you JB :(

Final Roughcut

Holy mother of god, it's FINALLY blocked out! Take a look at:
http://eps.id.au/files/animation_roughcut.avi

Also, the DVD cover design! It's a white DVD case with waffle paper for the covers, like an ice cream sandwich ^^ planning to do something fancy with white silicon up the top too!

The original idea was to have the waffle paper on the outside, however it'll depend on what sort of materials I'm able to get on whether it'll just be a jacket sleeve or a nice embossed surface. The actual "Ice Cream" label will be placed in the insert and a window will be cut out of the waffle. I'm thinking foam might do the trick for the cover!

Things I wish I knew before I started this course

1. At least half your work time is spent dealing with software crashes.
2. About 10% of your work time is spent dealing with lost or missing files.
3. About 25% of your work time is spent trying to convert your files to a format that your software will like
4. Only 15% of your time is actually spent getting work done.
   
5. Formats that one type of software likes will not be liked by other programs.
6. Your files will NEVER be in the right format.
7. Adobe cleanscript is going to be your closest friend for the rest of your life. Get acquainted.
8. Your actionscript will NEVER "just work". In fact, you'll thoroughly check your code about 3 or 4 times before you notice that missing semicolon. Sometimes, Flash just wants a restart. Kinda like a memory enema.
   
9. Owning a second computer is a viable way of occupying yourself while you reboot, reinstall your software, or wait for that neverending render to finish.
10. Never leave your computer unsupervised to batch render. When you come back from that walk, you'll find that your render never made it past frame 1 of file 1.
    
11. You will spend a lot of your time at MLIA or Icanhascheezburger.com while waiting for your other computer to reboot, reinstall that software, or waiting for that neverending render to finish.
12. Your persistence in troubleshooting on the Adobe help centre website may not pay off in the end.
13. No one on the internet knows how to fix your problem, unless you spend 2 hours searching.
14. Half of what you will be paid for is learning how to get around your software's major bugs.
    

The list could go on. In fact, as I learn to grin and bear the numerous Adobe Premiere crashes that I've had to endure while doing one of my projects, I'll think of many, many more.

2 mins 25 and counting!

Huzzah! We're finally up to the fight scene! Now it's time to really put this away and do my other project :> feeling a bit more confident that I'll have time to polish it up after it's blocked out. 3D layers are also saving a LOT of time!

http://home.eps.id.au/files/sample_2-25min.avi

Also, little something I whipped up, based on the hero "Pandamonium" from Heroes of Newerth: Face is based on the hero icon.

Cheats and hax

So I'm rapidly running out of time, back to the blocking out idea! The people in the courtyard area are currently static, but hopefully I'll have time to animate atleast a couple of them pointing and gasping. Not for now though, still lots to do! Will need to leave this project sitting for a while, have to start editing my digital a/v project!

2 mins done!

Ugh. Been up to 2 mins for a while now but I've been going back and filling in some gaps. So far I'm limited by my ability to do incredibly repetitive tasks, like dressing each of the walking models. Doing the first lot walking along the train station was ok but now... Have to do other angles for standing around the Superhero when he lands. Ugh. Considering just doing plain static cutouts until I actually get the whole thig blocked out, ones that would be good enough if I ran out of time. Realistically though, the crowds are the most difficult part of this project due to the sheer number of people, but the 30 second fight scene shouldn't be *too bad* given I'll be templating from a fight in a game. Just a matter of copying the animations!

Link will be provided whenever I can be bothered uploading >.>

Progress: 1 min 30 done

http://home.eps.id.au/files/sample_1-30min.avi
Another 30 seconds blocked out! Things that need to be done:

• People added to platform and trains. Working on this now! Five womens' outfits are done and walking, just need the mens' and childrens' done.
• Industrial scene added above buildings at fly-up scene. I'm not sure how much people will notice they're missing right now but for accuracy it's probably best
• Ice cream man needs some tweaking. His eyes float across the screen too early and you don't get to read the phone screen for very long, so it needs to trail up towards the sky a bit.

The rest are just other small tweaks which aren't as important as getting the blocking out done now, but I'll hopefully have time to pretty it up further when the basics are done.

Mr Paranoia and Ice Cream Superhero

OMG! What we've been waiting for! Full body shots of our protagonist and antagonist! Enjoy :>


I like the small changes to Mr Paranoia: He has plaguebringer-like hands and a deathly awkward look about him. I've also decided he no longer needs feet, even though he appears to walk. It gives him a ghostly presence. Ice Cream Superhero's legs on the front shot need a bit of work... but still not bad. Eating the icecream when flying is a nice touch.

Sample animation

Well, it's not pretty yet but I can see the basics getting fleshed out there! Noted problems:

• Some buildings move too fast at the drop part
• Need more industrial business behind the buildings (cut a bit short)
• ice cream man needs a longer lead in before he messages the Ice Cream Superhero for help.

Other changes I'd like include animated people in the buildings (there's just static silhouettes right now, but it's good enough), and people getting on/off the train. Next I hope to fix the character walk cycles and drop lots of people on the platform!
http://home.eps.id.au/files/sample_1stmin.avi
(file appeared corrupt in my browser but should work fine in VLC)

Ice Cream Animatic

The animatic is done! There are terrible and obvious mistakes but oh well, the general pacing is right and gives a general impression of how it might look. When the real thing is underway, layering for parallax is going to be much more important! There's also a few things missing, like the floating misc object at the start, but it's really fluff that's not important at this point :>

http://home.eps.id.au/files/animatic2.avi

The Fun Begins.... The Storyboard

Queue self-directed project! Below is the final storyboard. Old artwork from the character development stage is still in it but I think it gets its point across anyway. You probably can't read the text but I hope the general idea gets across anyway. It's meant to be a size 12 font. Oh well.

Game picks this month

Playing World of Warcraft chews up a LOT of time. That's why this semester I decided to flat-out stop playing, I might decide to pick it up after the semester, but recently I've realised how many games I've missed over the last few years. To fix this problem, I've been taking up these missed games.

Psychonauts

Pretty much what Zero Punctuation said. I was especially impressed with the unique level design and witty portraits of society that this game made. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/2-Psychonauts for Zero Punctuation's take on it. If you enjoy good platforming, you'll enjoy this. It's really something unique and the art direction is something to really appreciate.

The other component of this "play games you missed while grinding XP and loots" is going back to the good ol' days of sega. One of my favourite games when sega was still cool was Ecco. I don't know why, I never could pass the thing, and only recently I worked out why: it's stupidly difficult. Not challenging, just ridiculous. I thought it was just because I was young. But no, it still managed to stump me today. The fun of being a dolphin somehow outweighs the frustration, and the length of the game was something to revel in given the usually short lengths of sega titles. As in, when I used to play it, I thought I was almost done. Recently I worked out that I was only about a third of the way there. Granted, the length of the game is somehow linked to how many times you need to do the same level again due to dying. My advice if you ever try this game: don't do it without a good emulator with save state and you'd probably want to hunt down a walkthrough for those ridiculous puzzles that you'll likely NEVER get. Or have patience. A lot of patience. In the smallest sense it's worth playing for the story (far fetched but atleast well developed) and for the experience of... being a dolphin. I guess.

Group project research: the Faerie

(originally posted on http://argideas.blogspot.com/)
The Faerie are strong in great numbers. Their supportive enchantments aid their allies in creating an impregnable mesh in battle. Faeries are social, intelligent, magical, and spiritual, but weak in hand-to-hand combat, especially solo. Types of Faeries might include battle-mages (a type of melee spellcaster), priests, shapeshifters, and enchanters. Some images to inspire character design are shown. (credits: Kael'thas Sunstrider of World of Warcraft, Iron Maiden of Quake 4, Nymphora of Heroes of Newerth, Felblood Initiates of World of Warcraft.).

Group project research: the Hunter

(posted originally on http://argideas.blogspot.com/)
When I envision the hunter as an ideal, I think of survivalists, of a race of beings living on the savage edge of humanity. Hunters are calculating and stealthy, striking only after hours of careful observation. The Hunter is resourceful, cunning, and brutal, but vulnerable to large scale attacks. Types of hunters might include snipers, trackers, spearmen, and quarterstaff bearers (experienced in melee using a quarterstaff). These images from Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath might be of some inspiration for character design: The sniper from Team Fortress 2 kinda follows this style too.

Failure

FAILURE
Is just success
rounded down
"oh well"

I think I have to buy this shirt :> Or use the image as my header. Lucky the creator of this image is super cool and likes stuff being shared for non commercial use!

The story

The Story
Mr Paranoia wants to keep the city living in fear. Fear of interaction, fear of individuality, and fear of fun. He does this by implanting threatening thoughts into people’s heads, using threatening gazes and whispers. This keeps the people in fear. There can be many copies of Mr Paranoia in any given area. The Icrecream Superhero, on the other hand, wants the world to lighten up and have fun, as he thinks it’s not natural for people to live in fear. In order for the icecream superhero to do this, he needs to expose the cloaked Mr Paranoia, baring his vulnerable identity for all to see, and they will realise they do not need to fear something they know, and can overcome this with fun and human kindness.

The Script
* Dark & depressing urban environment, rain, people looking around scared. Train station, tall looming buildings. Camera descends from the smog in the air down into the trainstation environment. Most of the scene colours are extremely washed out or almost black and white.
* Mr Paranoia among the crowd, peeping in and out of areas on the screen, there are many copies of him. He whisper’s in someone’s ear “you’re going to get what’s coming”(synchronised to the song). Person becomes wary and whimpers, but continues on his journey along the platform. Camera follows person.
* Person struggles with paranoid thoughts 'icecream is going to save the day again' (song lyrics). Focus turns to an icecream stand which shines with heavenly light. Camera flies up into the clouds, sky is brilliant pink and blue, clouds resemble vanilla icecream, beautiful snowy wonderland. The Icrecream superhero flies by, his face stern with pride. But he senses wrong in the world below, and looks down to witness the doom and gloom. He strokes his chin for a moment in contemplation, wondering what he can do.
* The Icecream Superhero descends from the sky, a small child on the street points in awe as he flies by. The crowd around fixate on the Icecream Superhero as he lands in a circular courtyard nearby the trainstation. He starts handing out icecream (obviously in a super cool fashion like magicks!).Patches of brilliant sun begin to shine onto the world below, revealing brilliant colour. People begin to look happy.
* Mr Paranoia catches sight of the Icecream Superhero while hiding behind a building, and cowardly flings a knife at him. It grazes his shoulder in slow motion. The crowd is shocked and panicked. After a moment’s pause, the Icecream Superhero chases after Mr Paranoia. He finds Mr Paranoia on a top of a building. (insert epic battle scene).
* (mid battle) cut scene to the Icecream Superhero dancing with two citizens under a disco ball 'I don't need a number, I just wanna dance with my shirt off, dance with my shirt off' (song lyrics).
* (Dramatic fight end here!) Mr Paranoia is defeated, and the sun shines brightly as Mr Paranoia turns to dust and flies away in the wind. Freed from the hidden Mr Paranoia, the crowd cheer and the children play. (heartfelt ending here!). The scene is now shown in full colour and everyone is super happy.

That's a rough outline of the story. The official storyboard isn't yet ready for public eyes, but it'll go up as soon as it's ready. In the mean time, enjoy this animated gif of one of the children spinning! (click to see spinning goodness)

Artwork

Preliminary artwork. I'll likely use these as finals but they're up for scrutiny. The idea is for the crowd of adults and children to look like they're from the same depressed collective, moving like drones through the crowd. The Ice cream Superhero and Mr Paranoia, however, look far more natural and have smooth flowing lines like the artwork found in oldschool comic books. Rectangular eyes are a style feature to help with expressions. I think they work very effectively at making the crowd look robotic yet hopeful.

I just realised I haven't really explained the story yet either, the storyline and storyboard will follow shortly and things should start to make more sense.

Inspiration

Blank- looking civilians, ultra-stylised superheroes and villains, and wonderfully delectable background work. This is what I'm going for. I mean, edible backgrounds? Awesome. Or even backgrounds that LOOK like candy. Images from top to bottom: Ultimate Showdown, Johnny Bravo, Captain Excelsior, James Pond 3 Operation Starfish, and Super Mario World.

Dinosaur comics

if you don't read this comic strip, you should probably start, because not only is it great but there are over 2,000 comics on the site, and it will probably take you forever to get through them. Chop chop!
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php

Ice cream ideals

Sourced from Rock Paper Cynic. I like those ideals about ice cream and think that kind of approach will be good for the animation.

New Project 2 concept (to be reviewed for approval)

Muscles- Icecream is a snapshot of behaviour in society today. The song deals with issues surrounding social expectations, awkwardness, silence, paranoia, fear, anxiety, hope, identity, happiness, and kindness. I want to create a short animation that deals with these themes and is synchronised to the song.

The animation will draw out the themes and issues dealt with in the song. The intention is to create a highly polished animation that makes commentary on society today, but also appears fun and glossy. The biggest theme present will be of superheroes and villains. Most of all, the animation sets out to answer the questions: how does icecream save the day, and how did it save the day last time? The style will have this bubblegum-gloss to it with shiny vector shapes and bright colours, but also have this uneasy undertone of repression. This will be achieved mostly by designing the crowd of people wandering the streets to appear cute and glossy, while also looking confused and sad. Exaggeration will be another key tool in portraying the issues dealt with in the song, using exaggerated facial expressions and features.

Here's a link to the song. As far as I can tell, there isn't actually an official video clip for the song, which is unfortunate because it's deserving of one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_eyfvYdAiU

Audacity of Huge

Final video

The video won't upload just yet but I hope to get it up tomorrow :(

Also! Check it out, The Real Titan Kill on Youtube! Goonfleet will be using that for some upcoming propaganda, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :D

Gallery setups

Some consideration into how reflectivity might work in the gallery space: The first example unfortunately doesn't work due to the dropoff not producing enough of a clear image, but the examples below might create some interesting reflects. Also below is an example of what the gallery space might look like with the images projected.

Storyboard

Sample Animation

Here's a small sample of animation, forgive me if it turns out a bit stutterly but I've recently had this revelation that *movieclips shouldn't be used for animation because AVIs don't record nested timelines, only Quicktime*. Well, I guess better late than never... I'll be doing this in After Effects anyways. The clip gives a small taste of what to expect from the concept of "Transitional Animation".

Artwork

Some artwork inspired by the mood board. I'll probably use these as a framework for animation, however I'd like to refine them further and make them look pretty. Some of the colours were distorted in the export process, and they should look a bit more natural when it comes to production (ie, the ant one is not really that bright).

Animation mood board

These images might give one an idea of what type of imagery will appear in the animation. In particular the photo of the lone flower is very powerful in my opinion and I will likely start my storyboard using a replica of that image, or atleast in that style.