Animation

 

Vocational Scenario or Context:

You are a Junior graphic Designer working freelance for the The Irish Environmental Network. This is a network of individual environmental Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) that work to protect and enhance the environment, and to place environmental issues centre stage in Ireland and internationally https://ien.ie .

You have been asked to assist one of their associated NGO’s to prepare and design visual information to inform/ educate a specific target audience about what they do. It must make the target group clearly aware of what the organisation’s mission is.  The message must be relevant and relate to the target group.

Your client, an Environmental NGO Group who is a member of the ‘The Irish Environmental Network’ has commissioned you to research and develop educational/promotional material for a specific target group.  You are to create a 1 minute long information animated video for education and promotion of the NGO. The style should be in the form of your previously produced booklet/comic/graphic novel/E-Pub/infographic.

The Irish Wildlife Trust ( IWT ) aims to conserve wildlife and the habitats they depend on throughout Ireland while encouraging a greater understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the need to protect it.  The Irish Wildlife Trust was founded in 1979 as a non-governmental organisation and charity (Charity no: CHY 6264).

 

Investigate animation production styles.  Research a number of music videos, film’s, animated shorts, animated documentaries. Keep a record of these videos/images on your blog and accompany with written/typed notes with analysis relating to style and potential influence on personal work.

For this project, I began by researching music videos that revolved heavily around animation. The following are music videos I really admire but also styles I would like to use in my own work.

In terms of animation styles, I really like more.. 2D vector animation. Although I would really like to try out Frame Animation by drawing each frame by hand.

For this project I have also been looking at different styles of animated videos specifically around otters. My NGO project was called ‘Bann, Be Careful’ This was based around a young Eurasian otter who ventured off alone and got into trouble when he got caught in the polluted river.

So for this, I was looking at how other people have animated otters and their very slick, smooth ways of moving.

Describe the software  applications and techniques commonly used for 2D digital animation production.

Digital 2D can be created using computer programs such as Flash, After Effects, Cel Action and TV Paint. These programs have varying options for animation – from simple stick-person animation figures, to entire worlds. Just as in traditional animation, 2D animation can use different layers to build up pictures. It can show anything from backgrounds and landscapes, to multiple characters and crowds.

Digital 3D uses programmes such as Maya to create animation with more depth. An animator will often create a very simple version for a digital character and build up from this with digital muscles, skin, hair, pores etc. The animator will use keyframing to set the character’s position, similar to traditional animation.

Motion capture is method used to make 3D digital animation as life-like as possible. An actor will be filmed doing actions, speaking, or even acting full scenes, whilst special sensors on their body and face are ‘captured’ by a film camera.  This is then translated into a digital character, which can be controlled by the animator.

Stop motion is a simple, but time-consuming, form of animation where objects are physically manipulated and filmed frame-by-frame.

Traditional animation is sometimes called hand-drawn animation or cel animation and, for most of the 20^th Century, many popular animated films were created this way. It was a lengthy process.

Someone who’s work I really admire is that of Eric Goldberg. Eric Goldberg is an iconic character design and animator.

The following is a list of all the productions that Eric has been part of over his years as an animator and voice actor.

For this project, I have been reading Eric’s book ‘Character Animate Crash Course’. I’ve take a lot of tips from his work and have used it in my own work.

 

2D Animation

2D animation focuses on creating characters, storyboards, and backgrounds in two-dimensional environments. Often thought of as traditional animation, the figures can move up and down, left, and right. They do not appear to move toward or away from the viewer, as they would in 3D animation. 2D animation uses bitmap and vector graphics to create and edit the animated images and is created using computers and software programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, and Encore. These animations may be used in advertisements, films, television shows, computer games, or websites.

The company I’m looking at is Walt Disney Animation. They use a number of programmes to get their work done.

Autodesk Maya. This is a 3D animation software which allows different video professionals who work with any kind of animated film, programmes, visual effects and game design.. to create highly professional 3D cinematic animations.

ZBrush 2018. This software is a concept art and creative sculpting software. It can remove polygons (Polygons are straight-sided shapes) which is combined with brushes. It stores lighting, colour, material and depth information for all onscreen objects.

Presto. Disney Pixar also uses their own animation software named Presto. Presto is used in-house. It’s not available for sail.. so there isn’t too much that people know about the software. Pixar used to use an older software of theirs called Marionette but it was replaced in 2012 just before the creation of Brave. This programme is very detailed. From the video below, it says the creation of Sully in Presto has over 1,200 live action controls

Hyperion Renderer. Finally, another programme Disney uses is Hyperion Renderer. This is a rendering programme which takes all of the material, models, animation and textures as well as lights and other objects and produces the final imagine by calculating how the light moves around a scene.

 

I also looked into different principals of animation. We went through this last year and have created clips using these principals.

For this project I want to try using already made vectors:

But I also want to try and use the character rigging tools. I have been looking at some portfolio’s.

The following video explains the tool very well.

Investigate the pipeline of one 2D animation studio. Describe the software, hardware, process and different roles of production staff.

I have described above all of the software that Disney Pixar uses. As well of how they function. Disney has creative strategy stages. The dreamer, the realist and the critic.

The dreamer asks questions that help describing ideas and though such as the following:

• What do we want?
• What is the solution?
• How do we imagine the solution?
• What are the benefits of applying this solution?

The realist asks questions that will in turn get the job done:

• How can we apply this idea in reality?
• What is the action plan to apply the idea?
• What is the timeline to apply this idea?
• How to evaluate the idea?

The critic then questions what could be missing from the ideas:

• What could be wrong with the idea?
• What is missing?
• Why cannot we apply it?
• What are the weaknesses in the plan?

The following were just some of the open jobs that Disney are looking for for their studio in Burbank.

Describe the requirements of at least 1 of  following digital animation audiences.

My book ‘Bann, Be Careful’ is aimed at audiences between 3 to 7 year olds.

• What is the age bracket of your audience?

The age bracket for my audience is 3 to 7 years olds. But maybe also their parents who would in turn read to them if they can’t yet read.. this could be from 20’s up to 50’s.

• What percentage is male or female?

The book isn’t aimed at any gender and so it is open to all children.

• What is their level of education?

These children would still be in primary education.

This book would be aimed at children who around curious about life and are keen about education and learning. I think it would appeal to really any child as the illustrations and language are very simple and I feel like children like to follow any story protagonist and find how they get out of any hardships during the story.

Devise an idea for the content of the video – use mind mapping techniques with drawn illustrations. 

Write a simple synopsis describing the events of the video and then create a storyboard, which describes the actions, shots etc.. Note the animation must contain some animated type.

Find appropriate sound effects to enhance the video experience. Use online resources and the provided Foley library. Create an animatic with sound Effects and or music.

For this animation i think I’d like to use sounds from otters themselves. Their call is like a little clicking noise.

My NGO project was called Bann be Careful. This is about a young otter named Bann who gets trapped in the polluted river. This is supposed to educate children about the effects of pollution on the environment and conservation.

For my animation I was to continue in using the vector graphics style that I have used to illustrate my NGO project. I done vector work in After Effects last year and I really enjoyed the process of it so i think I will stick to a similar style.

I began by making a mind map. I knew what style I wanted to go for but still, i put down different ideas such as collage, drawings or 3D stop motion. But after weighting up all my options, I decided to stick with my animated graphics

For the first frames of my animation, I want to really involve typography. I was looking at some different styles but found this style on Youtube.

For the first frames I would like to put down a lot of facts and figures and mainly information about animals and their habitats.

With my typography I’ll use the shape tool and make up some objects under water.

Bann could swim under water and disappear out of shot while the camera can pan around, bringing up type and facts.

The following are facts I will include:

• Less than 2% of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water.
• Of all the earth’s water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas.
• 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based sources.
• More than 100,000 chemicals are produced commercially. They represent a threat for oceans through accidents or transport. They can also be emitted in the atmosphere, the soil or the water and reach the oceans.
• 6.5 million tons of litter enter the world’s Ocean each year. 50% is long-lasting plastic that will drift for hundreds of years before it is degraded.
• The global economic cost related to pollution of coastal waters is €16 billion annually, much of which is due to human health impacts.
• It is estimated that every square mile of ocean has more than 45,000 pieces of plastic floating in it.