Exploration 5: Show Opening

So for the final project, we were asked to create a show opening of a show that we had came up with ourselves. For my show opening, I wanted to have a sort of 1920's feel, so I developed a sort of story revolving around the press and added a sort of noir feel with jazz music.
The first thing we were asked to do was create a logo. So for a show title I called it, 'The Headliner.' Here is the logo:

Next we needed to create an animatic to help decide on the timing. Here is my animatic:

Next we needed to create a first pass. We had two weeks to pull it together. Here is what I created:

Next we had to deal with the final touches and create a final pass. Here is what I came up with:

Overall, I am satisfied with the final product. Some things I would like to fix are the banding and flickering and my lighting. But all this I will do on my own time.

Exploration 4: Simulation

For this next project we were going to be doing something a little more experimental and fun. We were going to be creating a simulation in Cinema 4D using dynamics. Because this project is simply meant to get us to explore new territory within the software, we could literally do anything we wished.

After going through a bunch of ideas on what exactly I wanted to do I had to come up with an idea of having a glass falling through air and shattering on the ground upon impact. But to take a more practical approach to the project, I decided to make it a commercial for Bounty. I also wanted to take a more comedic approach to the project since there is never really a lot of opportunity for it. To do this I decided to make the animation extremely overdramatic with ambient opera music in the background and extrme volumetric lighting.

Here is  a first pass to the animation:

By this point I was still experimenting with my volumetric lighting and my glass texture still looked a bit like plastic. So for a second  and final pass, I wanted to try and mess a bit more with these. Here is my final render:

There are a few things I wish I could have fixed in time. The music cuts a bit weird, the glass shatter looks a little fake, my lighting is too intense and my blood droplet looks strange. But these are things I can always fix down the line. I am proud of what I accomplished with the dynamics in Cinema 4D since I had never messed with them before. I will definitely get some more practice using this part of the application though.

Exploration 3: Show Promo

We are finally half way through the second semester and we have reached our third exploration. This piece is all about really promoting a single show of a network. For this exploration, I really wanted to work on a show that I have watched and loved when it was first out. That show for me was Invader Zim.

The first step in the process was to develop a storyboard for this 10 second piece. So this is the storyboard I had created:

The basic idea behind this piece is to start underground and pan up to the surface where Zim's house is revealed. Then it cuts to inside of the house where we find Gir and Zim on the couch. Then the logo is revealed. 

To explain this idea further, we were to create an animatic. This is the basic idea of the movement and feel of the piece with the audio track:

The next step in the process was to create a first pass:

There were a few mistakes in this animation that really needed "touch-ups" on. But we were now moving onto our final pass. This is what I had come up with:

Exploration 2: Station Promo

Now that we had finished our first exploration, it was time to move on to our second. For our second exploration, we were to create a 10 second station promo. The basic idea behind a promo is to really create an animation that shows off the network and makes viewers want to tune in for whatever the station offers.

For this exploration, I decided I wanted to do something around HGTV. I wanted to try something different from the style I had used in the previous exploration. I wanted to do something more mellow. So I put together a storyboard for class and this is what it looked like:

The original idea was to have flipping tiles reveal different compositions with different catch phrases and then reveal the logo. 

The next step in the process was to go and develop an animatic. So for an animatic to this piece, this is what I had created:

Unfortunately, I was told that the production value of this piece seemed a little on the low side, so I went back to the drawing board and put together a new idea. 

The new idea was to basically build a 9 room barbie house inside of Cinema 4D with 9 different room layouts and slowly reveal the logo through camera cutting. Instead of starting back at the animatic, because of timing issues, I went straight for the first pass of the piece. As far as the first pass went, this is what I had created:

Because I didn't have any of my textures or anything really done, I had to go and make all the necessary adjustments to finalize this piece.
After long hours spent trying to finalize the piece, I had finally produced the second and final pass on the piece:

Unfortunately, I did not really achieve the texture value that I really wanted within the time limit we were given, but I do love how it turned out. I will definitely go back and rework this piece to make it portfolio ready.

Exploration 1: Network ID

So its time for our first exploration. The goal of this exploration is to create a 10 or 15 second network ID. The network can can be any one currently existing or one that is made up. So the first step in the process is to come up with the one that you want to work with. So for this exploration, I decided I wanted to got with a network that I made up. I decided on the name BE-OND TV.
The next step in the process, was to develop the logo. I spent numerous hours trying to figure out the perfect logo for the network here are some of the studies I did before deciding on a final composition:

But the amount of time I spent on this logo was definitely worth the effort. In the end I had created the desired logo. This logo to me really suited the kind of network I was going for. This is the result of the final logo:

The next step in the process was a little more difficult. Now we were asked to come out with a full storyboard. This would set our ideas in stone and allow to really get going with the animation. At first, I really wanted to test out some compositing with this first project. This was the original storyboard I had created:

The first storyboard I wanted to create was about these small spheres, that at first seemed like dust particles get blown away by a girl passing by. I then wanted here to hold one of them in her hand and have it morph and open to reveal the logo of the network. 

But, after a lot of thinking, I had come to the realization that this was my first time really working in Cinema 4D. Doing something inside the program would be rigorous enough. To add compositing as a factor of the animation would probably make the task close to impossible for the time limit we had on it. So I decided to go back and edit this storyboard one more time. This is the final storyboard result:

After some careful thought to this final storyboard, I felt that it needed more of a "wow" factor in it. So I decided to make this sphere into a time bomb and have it explode and form the logo in the end. I knew that this was the idea I really wanted to do.

The next step in the process was to create an animatic. This is where the really tricky stuff starts happening. This is the step in the process where you had to figure out exactly what timing you wanted on the piece for the animation to actually work. This is not an easy step. But after finishing my models in the program I created an animatic. This is the result:

Unfortunately for this animatic, I still didn't really grasp the timing and ending I wanted. It felt a little bland and at some points, really fast. So it was time to go back in and make major adjustments to the piece. This is where the first pass comes in. The first pass would finish off any timing issues and other major adjustments that needed to be fixed. For this first pass, here is what I had ended up with:

There were still a few things off about the piece that I wasn't quite satisfied with, but I knew that could all be changed with the final pass. I didn't enjoy how low the intensity of the button glow was and how the logo was a little off center. But these were minor adjustments that could be solved fairly easily. As a final pass, this is what I had created:

I am satisfied with this being my first piece in Cinema 4D. Of course there were mistakes and other problems that need another look at, but overall I feel accomplished for what I have done. The only thing I can hope for is that other people enjoy it and that I do better on the next project.

(1/27/12) 5 Second Study: Motion Transition / Camera Moves

During class, we were taught all the basic to using cameras in Cinema 4D. And to be honest, the basics are still somewhat confusing. It obviously will take a lot of time and practice to truly figure out the camera systems in the program. That is why the next three studies will really help us because they explore these camera systems.

The first of the three studies is centered around motion clips. The idea of a motion clip is to be able to shoot footage of one motion and add it to a separate composition as a single layer. This is an incredible tool because it allows for someone to be able to save a motion and be able to manipulate it, without destroying the original just in case you needed to go back. It also is a nice way to avoid clutter in a file. The goal of this project was to incorporate two of these motion clips in a single composition. For this, I decided to use two swinging torus' that have a rotating pyramid at center. The first clip explores the torus' simple rotating around the pyramid and the second clip is about the objects falling beneath a plane after completely stopping their movement. 

This is the result of this study:

The second of the three studies is one that relates to using target cameras. For this, we were to set up a simple camera that was targeted to an object and clearly show how the camera followed that object when moved in space. The focus would always be on the object no matter the position. This is the result of this study:

The last of the three studies dealt with experimenting with using more than one camera. To do this you would need obviously more than one camera and animate them within a composition and then use a stage object to animate the cuts between camera movements. This is the result of this project:

(1/20/12) 5 Second Study: Cycle

As a next 5 second study, we are exploring the ability of using F-curves. F-curves is a very powerful tool in Cinema 4D. Just like the Graph Editor in After Effects, it allows you to have full control over your movement in an animation. It allows you to speed up or slow down positioning, scaling and even rotation over time and other amazing things.
But for now, we are specifically concentrating on the idea of creating a cycle. This is an animation that can be played in a loop and be completely fluid, where there are no jumps or cuts. Mike in class had shown us an animation he had been working on, which happened to be a space craft that hovered in place. Seeing this idea of something cycling gave me inspiration to create a yoyo. The yoyo would continuously move up and down and that movement itself would be continuous.
So as far as the results go for this study, here they are:

In order to create this piece, I actually created a spline using the B-spline tool and a Lathe-nurb to create the body of the yoyo. I then created the sting using both a b-spline and a circle that were then made children of a sweep-nurb.
The modeling portion of this piece actually wasn't too difficult, but the animating portion was. Specifically the string was a little more difficult to animate. For some reason, it kept detaching itself from the body of the yoyo and actually had to be rotoscoped in order to feel right.
I'm a little disappointed with this piece mainly because of the forgetfulness when it came to textures. There is rotation on the body of the yoyo that can't be seen without the proper textures. But this is an easy fix. As far as the rest of this study goes, I'm happy with the look of the model and how it animates.

(1/14/12) 5 Second Study: Two Deformers

So for a first 5-second study, we were asked to develop an animation that uses two deformers. So what I chose to do was make my name using an extrude-nurb on a text spline for the "ALE" and then use an explosion deformer to break it apart and pull it together. Next I used a bunch of shear deformers to make the "X" and had it grow over time with the rest of my name. Then for extra fun, I used a particle emitter and had small pyramid shapes fly across the ground. Here is the result of this study.

This was in fact my first time using multiple deformers in C4D. It was a lot of fun trying to come up with a way to use multiple deformers and create a cool little animation out of it. There are a few things I didn't like. For instance, the pyramid shapes flying through the ground as if they were little ghosts and the fact that my name is breaking apart into very generic pieces. But seeing how this was the very first study, I really didn't take it too hard on myself for experimenting. 

Day 1 - Overview

So today was the first day of animation class and all seems like the class will be something I will get a lot out of. At first, I was really scared that the class would be too difficult. I thought this, because we are mainly basing our animations for this semester in the program Cinema 4D. After spending all break going through the program, it still feels a little bit overwhelming. I still have a lot to learn and it scared me that there was a chance that we would just be diving into projects without any teaching involved. But after meeting with the instructors, I feel comfortable that the class will provide challenges, but they will be challenges that I should be able to handle if I spend the right amount of time with them.

Some things I would like to get out of this class, are both mental and physical capabilities. By this, I am talking about the ability to use Cinema 4D with ease and be able to think creatively through the program without feeling restrictions as to the capabilities I have received through previous experiences. I am very excited about upcoming projects and spending time learning the new program we have been faced with.