Thursday, October 23, 2014

Value Contrast

I don't want to give anything away, but here is another sneak peak into my thesis process! 
Enjoy these screen shots straight from AE. I threw an adjustment layer over my comp with the black & white effect on it to evaluate my color / value choices before second critique on monday.






Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Walk Cycle Development

My main character, I shall name him Carl the Cage for now (I love alliteration), has a very important walk cycle. I mean all character walk cycles reveal a lot about themselves, however in my pieces he is mainly walking hence the emphasis on the need to finesse his walk.

Check out how far his walk has come since this summer:

First rig & walk cycle
To be honest I wasn't quite sure what he would be doing so this is pretty generic. 

Second rig & first walk cycle
Doing ok, but still seemed to light on his feet 

Second rig & second walk cycle 
Now the way he pulls the string makes more sense and he feels a little heavier... 

Still in the works but I've gotten this far in time for our second critique. his walk will continue to be pushed but you won't see it till the end-- I got to leave some things about my thesis a surprise still! :) 

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Handmade Alpha Mattes

My thesis is very illustrative with a focus on hard work and being handmade. 

Here are some behind the scene shots of my handmade alpha channels! By recording the motion of black paint and ink on a white background, I then translate that information to opacity-- so black will be see through and white will not. I'll be using the paint / ink motions as scene and color transitions in my piece :)

In the container & on screen:
Dropped ink in a tall, clear container of water (seen here), soapy water and milk.
 

Working behind & in front of the camera: 
Clamped bristol paper to outside of fish tank and dripped ink, watercolor and acrylic paint.
 

The paint & the painting:
Taped velum paper to inside of fish tank and painted with acrylic paint.
 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Colorful Color Tests!

(Although most of these images are on my Tumblr I wanted to post about them together here)

These are a variety of color tests I have done for my thesis + the color palettes they are based off of. Big thanks to my illustration teacher Mr. Hodges for helping me push that atmospheric perspective!!

These are from the first round of color play to show day & night:

 


This round came after as I developed the story with seasons and these shots are straight from after effects with color palettes that inspired them: 
Winter 
 Spring 
Summer 
 Fall 



 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Ted X = Sarasota | The Spark



I made this short animation for Ted X event in Sarasota.

Given the challenge of making a piece relating to 'sports' my group of 5 & I had to create animations that could be played individually as well as together. Mine goes first, hence its title: The Spark.