And I think what they said was perfectly reasonable.
My loop was very plain, and not very interesting to watch, but it was a learning tool for me and I am very pleased that I have done it still.
Instead of changing my first design as I am proud of it the way it is, I thought I would make a 2d animated creation, as I haven't animated in a while and it is a way for me to practice ready to animate on my larger project.
Here was my first attempt
second attempt
Here is the finished video I have submitted with sound.
This week we had a conversation with tutors, one said that the friends didn't work, the other said that the shadow man didn't work. So I started doing some variants.
I began by changing the height of the girl, as girl typically grow quicker than boys she should be taller.
I do plan on changing Charlies eyes as they don't really match the other two characters eyes.
I also tested out how the characters would look with the backgrounds, and I am quite happy with the outcome.
I've also done some variants of the shadow man as I wanted to see if there was something better I could make.
I showed these to our group and they thought the original was the best, so we plan on keeping the original design.
We found a tag on twitter that people had been using to show what there sleep paralasis looked like, and our original design matched the things people had drawn the most.
I created some finished pages for them and also did some versions of them in pyjamas.
We decided that Megan should be waring long pants as one she is meant to be a little bit of a tomboy, and two a girl of her age would probably feel rather uncomfortable in shorts.
The yellow of his top is a little bright though, so I will make that duller.
I also made a turn around for the shadow man.
And a height comparison page.
T-poses of Megan and Charlie, I was really happy with these as I liked the yellow background I used as I felt it made them feel lot more professional.
I did some turn arounds for the extra characters - Anthonys two friends
Im not paticually happy with the girls turn around, there for I might re-do it, and the boys hair was a struggle to animate, but I am much happier with his than hers.
In an earlier blog post I stated that the shadow man design need work. Therefor this week I decided to remake him .
We are a lot happier with this version of the shadow man, he's a combination of two earlier designs, and the mix of them together make a much more well rounded version of the shadow man.
I also spoke with our background designer, Bach, and we tested how the character would look when compared with his backgrounds.
We both thought that they worked quite well together.
I also contacted a music student, that Carla and I spoke to during the social event. He was happy to help us, and I have sent over our animatic now.
This months (February's) loopdeloop topic was 'Pig'.
I hadn't animated in a while, and was honestly a little nerves, so to counteract my nerves I thought I would try learning something new.
I had animated in after effects before, poorly and I couldn't really remember how to do it, but I wanted to at least try. I had also never really created anything using illustrator before there for I thought Id challenge myself and create my animation using these software's.
I began by drawing the pig.
This was my first attempt, it was okie, but I didn't really like the ears. I had also layered it all wrong.
I watched some tutorials to get a better understanding on how to create something in illustrator and they helped a lot.
I then tried another version, but I didn't like the legs all to much, they looked a little janky and out of place.
My final version had rounded feet that made the pig look a lot cuter.
I also made a baby pig, using the same shapes but changed the colour and some of the attributes.
My attempts at animating to being with were to put simply, not good. It looked more like a stretch than anything else, so I gave up on this design after figuring out my layering troubles and began working on the new pig.
The second animation looked as if the pig was dancing, so I thought Id seek some advise and found some videos on youtube that helped a lot.
A test to see what he looked like moving, he was two quick here but I was pleased with the outcome.
I created a version of the pigs walking one behind the other using premier pro, and created a background in illustrator in keeping with the characters.
Durning the beginning of week four, I was commissioned to create an illustration of a couple for Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen, which is more or less welsh valentines day. I was sent some reference pictures and she explained that she liked some styles Id done already as she had seen my instagram, and that I could choose a design that would suit me. I created a few sketches sent them over, after the okay I made the final image:
Here's an email I got saying that she was happy with the finished project.
For this months (January's) character design challenge the theme was 'Worrier Mouse' here is my design :
I felt this design was a little out of my usually comfort zone. This for many reasons, I don't usually do anthropomorphised characters, especially armoured ones. I am not accustomed to doing so many small details on an outfit before, and especially one that I then paint to shade and colour. It was a whole new experience but definitely one I enjoyed doing.
I enjoyed doing this, and did do a few versions, here is another one that I did but decided not to take forwards.
Here was another version I considered submitting, but decided against it. do like this mouse, but I felt it wasn't up to a standard that I could do, there for I kept trying, and so feel this was the best idea as I much rather the other mouse drawing as he is a stronger design and lot smarter dressed.
