Evaluation

Seeing as I have real trouble with 3d Studio Max, I was dreading this project slightly. Despite having done 3d projects in the past, I still seem unable to create models of any real complexity or realism. However, in the end I found the project rewarding, and have learnt a great deal throughout.

I enjoyed conducting research for the character's movements and personality, as I find body language very interesting. I am only sorry that I was not able to convey any real subtlety in terms of facial expression or body movement due to my lack of skill with the program.

Having said that, I am quite pleased with the end product, as I managed to overcome many problems that occurred during the process, and feel that the animation does have a lively feel to it, and that I managed to convey Chris' character and personality to an extent.

I was very disappointed that I was unable to use the skylight, as I feel this would have given the animation a much nicer look and feel. Given more time, I would have spent longer on the textures, and perhaps used more props.

Exporting and Animation

Once the animation was complete, I exported each scene as a MOV file. I was going to export the scenes as AVIs, but again I head real trouble with this, as the files were very jumpy when it came to importing them to premiere pro. I exporting them at a high resolution, 1440 x 1080. Once they were in premiere pro, I placed them in order in the timeline, and added transitions, using both dip to black and dissolve. I also added titles at the beginning and end. Finally, I added music. I chose to use 'Big Noise from Winnetka', as I felt this added a lot of character to the piece, and fitted the character's personality. The video was then exported (at the correct aspect ratio) and the animation was complete.

Animation, Cameras and Lighting

For the first scene, all that was required was a simple tap of the foot. This was achieved using the auto key function and the rotate tool. A target camera was used, which was attached to a line using the path constraint function. This allowed me to create a smooth zoom.

For the second scene, I wanted a close up of the characters 'face', and a simple animation consisting of the eyebrows moving up and down. Again using the autokey, I raised and lowered the eyebrows using the move tool. The camera was steady this time. 

The third scene was a little more complicated. I wanted to show the character jumping onto his skateboard, and to make this in any way realistic I looked at the physical process involved when a human (or animal) jumps. 

These three frames show that the person jumping bends their knees and crouches slightly, before straightening their knees and pushing off with their feet.  

I tried to replicate this in this scene of my animation, moving certain vertices of the character's legs with soft selection on, and then moving them back with the auto key on. Again with the auto key on, I raised the character and lifted him onto the skateboard. The camera zoomed outwards as he began his journey (again using a line and the path constraint function).

For the next scene, I wanted Chris passing by the (fixed) camera, which was achieved by using the move tool and the auto key function. I also bent his legs slightly, and bent his arms. 

For the final scene, I wanted a simple zoom into the character, who would be in a similar pose to the first scene, in order to 'bookend' the animation. 

In terms of lighting, I had intended to use a skylight, as this gave the animation a really nice look, with subtle shadows and smooth, rounded edges. Unfortunately, every time I attempted to export the animation using the skylight, the program would freeze, so I had to find another suitable light. In the end I chose to use the omni light, which gave at least an even light to the scene. 

Facial Expressions

I initially wanted the character to have no mouth, but seeing as his eyes would not be visible, I felt this would limit the amount of emotion I could convey. I decided to give him a small mouth, and with the eyebrows I felt this would be enough to give him some form of personality. The character Wall-E had no mouth, and yet was able to convey a wide range of emotions just from his binocular-like eyes. I hope to be able to do the same with my character through his mouth and eyebrows.

Storyboard

Here's a storyboard showing how the animation will progress. 

Bones and Rigging

Once the modelling was complete, I began to attempt applying bones to the character, allowing me to animate him easily and smoothly.

However, I had real trouble with this, as I could not seem to get the character to move without vertices moving in the wrong direction and certain areas not attaching to the bone. Seeing as the character will be on a skateboard for most of the animation, I decided not to use the bone tool, and instead simply use the move and rotate tools to animate Chris.

Modelling

I began by creating a basic cylinder, before converting it to an editable poly and extruding the polygons on the top and base. The legs and arms were created using smaller cylinders, with a Turbo Smooth modifier applied to them. The sunglasses were created using cubes, as was the skateboard. Cylinders were again used for the skateboard's wheels, and two spheres were used for Chris' feet. I wanted to keep the model fairly simple, as I wanted to concentrate on the animation, and giving the character personality and emotion.

After the modelling was complete, I added texture. I created can's texture by using the UVW modifier, and adding the classic coca-cola logo.

Here's the finished model, complete with skateboard.

Chris the Coke Can

I've now decided on my character. His name will be Chris, and he's going to be a coke can. I wanted to give him a clear personality trait, and I've decided that he'll be cool. Perhaps wearing a leather jacket. The main inspiration for this was The Fonz, Henry Winkler's character in Happy Days.

Here's an idea of what my final character might look like.

I thought this would be a good idea to go with because it instantly gives the character a distinct look and personality. 

Don't Rubbish Essex

Although I liked the idea of creating an alien, I didn't feel the character had much personality. I decided instead to base my character on the idea of litter, perhaps to be part of the 'Don't Rubbish Essex' campaign. I like the idea of doing either a crisp packet or a coke can. Here are some early sketches (with a bit of colour added).

Physical Characteristics and Expression

I liked the idea of having the character's limbs floating, separate from the body, an idea which I got from Rayman, a character in a computer game from the 90s.




I'm aware that the proposed character has very few features, however do not believe this means he will be unable to convey a wide array of emotions.  

As for the character's expressions, my main source of inspiration will be several different Pixar films, such as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Monsters Inc. I find the (at times very subtle) use of expression and body language in these films to be sublime, and I hope to replicate that (to an extent) with my character.

Character Ideas

Before the 3ds Max work could begin, I had to think about the character I wanted to create- its mannerisms, characteristics, and, of course, species. I decided to go with something relatively simple, as I wanted to concentrate on working on the creatures movements and expressions, as I felt it was this that would bring the creature 'to life'. I chose to model an alien. To begin with, I sketched a few basic ideas (and added a bit of colour using Photoshop).

I decided to go with the round, green alien, simply because this was the one that I felt had the most character.

First Task: Creating and Animating Eyes

These eyes were created using a simple sphere. We cloned this sphere and changed the hemisphere to create the eyelids, before creating an FFD Box, which allowed us to manipulate the movement of the eye.