Flash submission - finally! - Qing loses her magic pearl... Again.

Flash project draft compile

Draft video of Qing Loses her Magic Pearl Again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B-w1BeblNU
Grr - aspect ratio compromised..

Background concept art - Jar Pixie

Tradigital walk-cycle showing secondary action

This one was from a while ago - clearing out some projects to make way for the final. I got stuck on processing the images in photoshop - I ran into a funny little thing where any adjustments I made wouldn't apply - it put me off it for a while. Eventually I figured out a work around. So this is a pencil drawn walk-cycle, scanned and imported into photoshop, enhanced, bitmaps brought into Flash and vectorised in flash. Backgrounds drawn in flash.

Max Frenkel kobold - Ushan Boyd walk cycle

This link will take you away from this site. You need the Quicktime plugin to view.

https://www.me.com/gallery/#100050/kobold_walk_loop2

It's Alive!!! harharhar.

This link will take you away from this site. You need the Quicktime plugin to view.

http://gallery.me.com/ushan#100050/line_ani_wings

My first animation job

Is teaching high school students animation. I landed at Applecross SHS under the wing of Liz Rankin, following up an email sent from FTI. Applecross are the "Special Art" school - they have a large program of art encouragement. So they are running animation this year and I lucked in. Following in the esteemable footsteps of Steven Grant :)
It's cool, they have dedicated laptops, and programs. However for the first couple of weeks they didn't have tablets (to draw into the computer with). So I started them with plasticine and found objects, and showed them this cat that I had prepared earlier - my own first attempt at stop-motion animation:


And lo, they were inspired...

First Caveman model

Thats my first proper mouth sans mouthbox. Very entertaining.

Anita Salamanca's Pixie Slug won the day

I should update to the latest for the course. At the FTI Animation Course, there is a process for choosing one script per 4 or 5 people out of however many scripts (1 per student - in our case 4). The pitching process is the method of elimination. This involves pitching your brilliant idea to a panel of adjudicators and a room of peers. Elimination is used because in order to complete a script on time you need to have a coordinated team going hammer and tongs on it.

Each of our ideas had merit, according to the panel. In the end, Anita's idea was more open and accessible -  for instance my idea is fairly locked down - I have a defined a lot of it and it doesn't leave much swinging room. However, Anita's Pixie Slug is cute-as-a-button and with a cast of supporting characters and a wonderland to play in, there is plenty enough for everyone to sink their teeth into.

Heaps, in fact. So much so that we need to focus very hard to be sure of getting the job done in time. I am finding the backgrounds are lingering a bit. They need a bit more work than I initially thought to do a job I am satisfied with. Because this will be shown on a big screen, I need to zoom in while painting in Photoshop ( a skill I'm forever grateful for ) in order to get the accuracy required for smooth lines. And that is just the start.

More updates forthcoming. Animation writers group tonight. I shall make the pilgrimage to Leederville to see what the biz is. Part of the reason why is because I have a few stories I want to develop after this course. I can see one method of gaining experience is to create as many jobs as possible through the funding method - for which you need solid story ideas. But more on that another time.

Backgrounds to complete - horizontal and vertical pans

The backgrounds must be done quickly, and well. They will be the first completed items, along with the character designs.
We are feeling the pressure of having a small group. Everyone will have to haul hard to complete this project in time.