Video Tutorials

Whilst researching on the web, I found a large number of resources that Taught many various techniques in to the making of certain effects. Here are some very interesting videos that can make quick recipes for effects.

Research: Miscelaneous Effects

Here are examples of a few very interesting particles effects that I came across for my project. Some of these are not directly relevant to my project- however I am particularly interested in particle effects and dynamics and it was a great eye opener to me for all the possibilities that are open with various software packages. The following videos are examples of scripting techniques that I look forward to discovering for myself one day.

Research: Fluid Emitters

The next and probably most central effect in my scene is the fluid effects. My initial idea was to create some paint multicolored fluid to splash against the 3D text "ARTS". This will probably be the most challenging effect to get right as there is an added complication to simulating fluids- Having a multicolored fluid that would create a wide range of dripping paint.

Having done some research into fluids and fluids effects, I found that there a wide variety of softwares availible that can be used to achieve this. Of this- it seems that Maya is the weakest software in this particular regard. There are packages that specialize in dynamics which may be entirely different softwares altogether such as Houdini and RealFlow. However I would be limited to using just Maya in this project. This is a very important point and may be the cause of problems in the future. I have found that of the many programs that are available- one must first find out which ones are the best to invest time in- This is more a thought for the future, but a valuable lesson.

Here are some videos that I found that created the fluid effects that I hope to achieve.

Research and deveopment: Curve Emiters and one short 3D Test

To develop my ideas further I searched the web for ideas that were similar to what I want to accomplish. With this is mind, i would be able to have a better idea of how to achieve certain effects.

The Following effects show examples of curve emitters/stroke emitters. These are very similar to the effects that i wanted to achieve along the the walls. These are examples of 2D effects but similar things can be achieved in 3d by animating textures.























Seeing some of these videos inspired me. My favorite amongst all of the above is "Living Canvas". It has taken the idea of bringing to life an inanimate object through similar techniques to the curve effects. This particular piece made me think if there was anything that i could do to my own work to make it more relevant to the theme.


Here is a small test that I did to see how textures can be animated. In this way I would be able to achieve my growing vine effect along the side of the walls by using a pre-made piece of geometry.

I did this by locating the appearance attribute in the attribute editor. By clicking on the icon next to transparency i was able to use a ramp texture. This may make more sense when we think about color, however, if we were to use greyscale- black indicates no transparency where as white indicates total transparency. This is very useful on its own, however, transparency is a keyable attribute and therefore we can animate it. Using this logic with the guidance of my tutor, i managed to make a very simple test that opens many options. Here is my quick test.

  

An initial idea

Here is a rough idea of what I would like my final product to be. The idea would be to start off with a blank/ white screen. Perspectively however the camera is within a white box/room and we also are facing a set of 3D letters saying ARTS- however they are initially also completely white too and would not be visible.

The central animation will be how the white sign will be splashed/ drenched in multi coloured paint to reveal the 3D logo in a very interesting way through perspective camera angles.

From start to end  the insides of the walls will have very interesting pattern traversing it towards the back of the wall until the end of the animation.

As the music begins to play a set of musical notes from one side of the screen will glide down from the side where the camera is to underneath where the logo is. after spinning around once, two confetti makers will activate and shoot confetti into the air on either side of the logo. Towards the very end, two firework rockets will explode behind the logo.

I also thought of having another effect to apply on the floor but this can wait for now- perhaps coloured ripples.

Here is a rough sketch of what the piece may look like (I left the logo black to give the viewer an idea of its three dimensions).

My idea was developed on a basic and abstract theme. I wanted to stay away from the traditional perspective advert- The idea has been done by channel 4 branding and I feel it could be more original. Instead I wanted to symbolize how "colourless" life would seem without arts and the expression of yourself. Through patterns, music , colours and celebration, this idea was intended to create a sense of what art is. I particularly like the way it starts off as a blank canvass which eventually ends up full of interesting concepts. I intend to keep filling smaller bits of animation until I am satisfied with it.

Logo Idea

Here is an interesting play on the logo. I tried to find clever ways of manipulating the letters of the logo to create an iconic symbol- to me the most interesting was "Film" as the sky arts channel is heavily involved with artistic films as well as music concerts etc.

The attempt was to show a film projector icon: I made an effort to create original concept rather than directly following the sky arts video guideline where they play on 3D perspective. This idea may be very interesting- here it is only demonstrated in 2D, but this could be extended to 3D too. The words may be modeled in maya very simply yet some smart animation could be very effective.

Initial Ideas: Brain Storm

Before beginning Research and Development (R & D) I started a quick brainstorm to give myself idea of what I want to express in my video. With “ARTS” being the theme, ones options are so broad and thus a mind map acted as a filter for the next stage. Here is my initial mind map. It has a multitude of ideas in it, many of which may not be used. However, there are a few aims and constraints that I want to follow: I want the animation to have many layers. i.e. I want a wide variety of animation composed together. In this way I will be able to incorporate a wide number of ideas into one piece. For example the centre of the screen will have a “centre piece” animation with many bits of other clever animations emphasizing/revolving around (and maybe reacting with) the centre piece animation.

The centre piece animation will most probably involve the logo "Arts" and the small bits of animation will most likely involve dynamics and particles etc.

It may seem vague at this stage but the ideas will clarify after some research is done. Then I can start making storyboards to lead up to the animatic.

A "Brief" introduction

The purpose of this course unit is to choose one of three industry related problems. After reading the briefs and analyzing the pros and cons I decided to choose the "Sky Arts" project. In this project (Which in fact is a competition open to all animators) the client wants a student-made creative and inspiring 10 second animation to advertise their product logo based around the word "Arts".

Follow the link for more details

http://projects.skycreative.tv/skyartsstings/brief.php

The reason why I was initially drawn to this brief was the abstract nature of its scope. It has the least number of constraints in terms of artistic creativity. Although I do have an affinity to classical 3D character animation, I also find some of my favorite animations have no characters and sometimes no story line either. One small part of an animation can use "special effects", from leaves falling/blowing in the wind, to interesting curves that follow interesting paths! Even the use of colour theory and music can create moods which form atmosphere.

Through out the research of this project you will see links to videos that will be a reference for what I may wish to implement in my final piece.

Being a second year student at Ravensbourne we are now being encouraged to specialize in certain areas. I have an interest in scripting and would like to use some aspects of Maya's particle systems and dynamics to make abstract effects. It may also give me a chance to start experimenting with compositing softwares such as Adobe After Effects.

In some ways, this project is an ambitious stepping stone for me. To succeed in pleasing the client I will have to create a product which is original, creative yet accessible. This means that I would have to research in to other similar ideas to keep my idea from becoming too abstract. The initial weeks are generally dedicated to research, storyboards and brainstorming.

As the project goes on I am sure that the ideas will mould and evolve- Let us see how it develops.