My first animation

(Refer to animation 1)

I mentioned on the last post that I would not be able to create an animation for this project, but I was wrong. I didn't realise how fast a basic animation could be created using Adobe Flash. I found a tutorial on YouTube that helped me. 

I am reasonably happy with the results of this animation considering I have never created anything in flash before. I think it could be smoother which I could do but it would take a long time and I don't think it is necessary. This shows the basis of my concept which can be developed at the end of the project if I get time. 

I think this animation would be greatly improved if I could zoom in and out and pan with the camera to follow the movement of the white silhouettes. I imported the animation into after effects and tried to create a pan. Again I have never used this program so I found some tutorials on YouTube. 

(Refer to animation 2)

Considering this is my first use of After Effects I thought it went reasonably well. The problem I did have however was that the animation and the pan had to be set to the same speed which is tricky. Also the smoothness of the pan could be improved but I think it is a good start.

(Refer to animation 3)

Here I added zoom to the animation. As a whole I think it looks cool and the idea is good but it could just be executed better. The quality isn't very good because I converted the original flash file into a AVI file and it lowered the quality so I will be able to improve the quality next time I recreate this process.

Story Board

I wanted to use the images that I have created to make a form of story board.

 

I didn't want to create the basic layout for a storyboard so I thought I could use images like this to show the action of the game. This is just an example of a storyboard but if I develop the idea it would develop much like a comic. The issue I see with this is identification of characters. Now I think if it, that would be extremely hard. Characters would have to have an identifiable feature that is visible from a silhouette. I will try it anyway using the main character to show what the action could consist of in the game. If I can't use this as a storyboard I could use the same idea but create detailed drawings rather than silhouettes.

At the very least this could be a poster...

Going from the poster idea I created this using the same concepts.

 

I have had time to think about it and I think this concept would make a great animation. The white could spread like ink with the camera zooming in and out. The white would form the shape of the first silhouette and then change into the line and progress to the next silhouette. The camera could pan along with the line while it is being formed and text could sit on the line. This would make an interesting advertisement. I don't have time to develop this idea but if we do carry the project through for the next brief then I may be able to develop it then. 

Silhouette problem

It is hard to know what an image is going to look like when it becomes a silhouette. I created a drawing of a man flying through the air because he is being shot. It looked good as a sketch but when I removed the detail it became a blob. I may try to use it anyway but change the shape, at the moment I am undecided. I will be adding the man shooting him which may put it into context.

Certain things do not translate as well when they are a silhouette such as hands and feet. Hands are hard because of the placement of the thumb can make it look strange. 

I have decided to recreate the man being shot. Before I have created sketches and then filled them in. This time I will just draw the basic shape of the character. This may not look as convincing because there will be less detail but it will be a faster process. 

This is the finished image. I am happy with the results. I hid the 'shooter' in the background which looked better because it adds a subtlety to the piece and adds relevance to the background. I added a blood splatter against the mans head with a crimson colour which may be stereotypical but I think its looks good and adds to the narrative.

Whoops!

I decided to have a break from the Maya work for the day and create some character ideas. Rather than look at what the character looks like I thought I would concentrate on how he would move. I started creating basic sketches on Photoshop. I was working on one piece and I accidentally selected the wrong thing with the magic wand. I then painted over the sketch without realising the mistake. I received a result that I have never done before and I think the aesthetic is interesting.

 

I may try to develop this idea because it links well with the noir style that I have been using.

 This is the same image but I used a few different brushes for the background. I think this looks better than the original. I may now try to fill in the character with white. 

 

I like this piece because I think it looks quite epic. There is a lot going on which I think it makes it look like the character is moving. I may try to create several pieces like this with different movements. I think this aesthetic could work well as an animation with the paint moving to form other shapes of the character.

Bridge concept

I was thinking of a good environment that would be relatively easy to create that would lead up to the prison. I thought of a bridge because then the prison could be surrounded by water which would make a nice mise en scene during the game.

To start the bridge I started to create a support in Maya. Ignoring logic I thought I would create this and then go from there rather than plan with some sketches of the bridge before I started the Maya work. With no real direction I created this support.

 

This is not finished obviously but its a good representation of the shape that I was trying to achieve. The idea for this was that there would be two of these on either side of the bridge supporting it. It would have a futuristic aesthetic but not so excentric it looks stupid. 

 

This was the next stage of the design. I finished the general shape and filled the hole. It is starting to look like what I imagined but it looks like a piece of furniture so I will need to make some changes. 

I thought it might look cool if I crossed the two pieces to form an x above the bridge. The shape of each piece makes it look strange. Again it looks like furniture so I will change the shape and see what happens. 

 

Here I removed the strange quiff part half way up the structure. I think it is better than it was but I am still not happy with it. I am beginning to think it is the wrong shape for the idea that I have and I should probably start again but I don't want to view the time i have spend on this as a waste so I will look for other ways to use this piece. 

I was messing about with it really and I came up with this;

 

I like the aesthetic of this so far which is the important thing even though it has no relevance at the moment. It can have several different possibilities for its application though such as a building, or a monument, or an architectural detail for a building. I will develop this idea and see where it takes me. 

How many faces?

I decided to improve the face count on the prison concept. I have decided I want to see it rendered to make a decision where to go from there.

This is the model before I made any changes;

Bad poly count

 The model after the changes;

With squares and rectangles it is easy to remove the edges in Maya to create one large face.

Prison concept 1

As I have already mentioned I want the present to be set in a prison. This is the scene that I have the most amount of ideas for so I will start with this idea.

 

This is a screenshot of the environment in maya. I will not be rendering this idea because I will create other ideas that will more than likely take me down a different route but I think it is a good start.

I created the bridges to make the building look menacing while providing and idea to the gameplay possibilities.

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The polygons are a mess on this environment but I am not bothered about this because it will not be developed any further. I would tidy it up if I were to take it further.