What we done in the 2d animation class today really opened my eyes. The translation of body language through animated figures is quite a potent tool! There are several things i have to address when i have another crack at the exercise. For a start i forgot one of the most basic rules of animation and made my figures volume change. I think this is because i was motoring along at hell of a pace to try and keep the movement and idea fresh in my mind; and that basic principle was lost. Also there is not enough anticipation and the gestures are not bold enough. Then there is the area of the screen that the animation is taking place. Its at the bottom. And that's it. so i have several things i have to address; and hopefully next time i can put them right.

In the respect of my circle animation i have a few points that i wish to address. If i were to do one in the future i would probably not be as daunted as i was last time. The reason i say this is i have done a lot more drawing since then (even though it is only 2 weeks ago), and i feel my drawing has improved in that period. Don't get me wrong i am still no Leonardo; but i feel i am getting to grips with form and shading and feel a lot more confident putting ideas on paper. The evidence i have for this is in my skech book; which you are welcome to look at.

I am now thinking that the life drawing classes will be over all too soon. the relationship between movement and the live model has become more apparent as we dealt with sporting poses and weight transfer. I wonder if this can work as effectively for a fully clothed person who is not posing for you? The movement is probably more easy to remember in the minds eye than the actual detail of the subject; and this ;i would think a lot faster to get down on paper.

As for the history part of the course; it has left me wondering how much of today's entrenched values of class, race and stereotypes have there roots in animation.

We are all coded to laugh at the cat when he has his teeth smashed in. But when does this coding stop as the format of the animation gets nearer realism. With the advent of more sophisticated software and more believable characters, this is a question i have to ask. If a near perfect representation of a cat was made i am sure it would make traumatic viewing; but add the moving melodies swanny whistles and usual sound effects then the effect may be a whole lot different.

Because coding is present in one scene, does it mean that the values of the whole peice are effected? Does the title music at the start of a moving melodies cartoon prepare your senses for the probable ultra-violence and shield you from your normal values?

Can the same be said for a less obvious things such as genre?

Maybe british gangster movies?

Or maybe a certain director?

Pre-installed values carried by genre are a very useful tool in this way; they take a lot of the mystery out of the film industry and also cushion the blow of any shock content. This is probably a lot more effective than the BBFC method of cetification and a lot less like the sledge hammer approach.

Hello again. This is my circle animation. I know its not that origonal; but hey it woks and i was just glad to get it out of the way. Oh yes; i had better upload it on moodle, silly-billy.

For a start; let me appologise for the lack of visual content on my blog. I know its crap for an animation blog but i have no memory stick at the moment and short of sending it all back to my email address i am knackered. But look forward to some visual content soon.
Today we delt with stretch and squash. Apparently two bedfellows that we are going to run into time after time in animation. As a member of the itchy team we were introduced to the concept firstly in Maya. We learnt how to plot it on a graph; change the tangents; alter the attack velocity and beziere curves. This exercise was very interesting and the results much the same as using a gravity field and non passive rigid bodies from the dynamics menu; but the control was much simpler.
We also studied anticipation; this is the action befor the action; the draw back before the punch, etc. I likened this to the touching hands exercise in tai-chi when you know where your opponent is going before you actually go in that direction. We also got an animation pencil (its blue) and a clip thing today. Here's to next tuesday. Yip-yip.

Thank god for that; had trouble logging in this morning, but now all is well. We had our first life drawing class today which i feel went quite well. It is one aspect of the course that i felt a bit daunted about as i am not much of an artist. The emphasis was put on picking out the movement and lines of power that was going through the subject; and i found myself remembering some tai-chi classes that i went to several years ago; the feeling of being 'grounded' and the energy running up my body. This put me at rest somewhat. Looking forward to the coming weeks and getting stuck into some 3-d modelling work. I must admit the simplest task that we have had so far (the 12 cards) i have found the hardest as i hit a creative blank. I can only relate this to a writer when he looks at a blank peice of paper and literaly seizes up. Get a grip. Until next time.

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is only a short entry as i have to go and get the train to Falmouth; where i will be attending the forth day of the second week of a Digital Animation Degree course. There is more i want to tell you about, but for now its hello and goodbye.