Animating a tail can be challenging yet rewarding. A tail is an essential part of animals and plays a crucial role in the animal’s movement and communication.
First, we needed to understand how the tails move and behave in different situations. George suggested animating a tail in 2D first to get a deeper understanding of it.
As for my animation, I chose the reference embedded below to understand the relationship of the squirrel’s body with its tail. Additionally, paying attention to the weight and momentum of the tail, as well as its interaction with the rest of the body was the main objective.
After watching tons of references and planning and adding anticipation this is my final playblast of animating a ball with a tail.
By importing scans into my scene from Quixel Bridge and focusing on the lighting I created the main scene and the mood I was going for in UE5. The next stop will be adding snowfalls with physics and the Niagra System.
Metaphor stands as a cornerstone in the director’s toolkit, a versatile device for illustrating subjects and ideas through the juxtaposition of diverse objects or situations. The strategic deployment of metaphors and symbols serves to enrich not only the film’s plot but also its thematic depth and the complexity of its characters.
Within the cinematic realm, one of the most prevalent visual metaphors is the use of stairs. Stairs, in this context, symbolize the nature of concepts without dialogue; Swiftly offering profound insights into relationships, context, and tone within moments of the image, showcasing the director’s skill in conveying depth through visual storytelling.
It’s crucial to note that a metaphor isn’t inherently cryptic or mysterious; its nature varies based on the meaning and style of the work. For example in “The Dark Knight,” a cohesive narrative unfolds, where the interconnections between its components resemble links in a chain. Despite the film’s surreal and modern foundation, it maintains precision and coherence across various levels, lending credibility to its storytelling. The production team, especially the writer, skillfully integrates the film’s superstructure and foundation, infusing real emotions to make the existence of Batman’s extraordinary abilities seem natural.
“The Dark Knight” becomes a poignant commentary on the societal forces influencing individuals, exploring the clandestine and overt ways these currents shape lives like an unwritten narrative. It delves into the intricate processes that society’s individuals undergo, influenced by the unknown, and often flows manipulated by profit-seeking hands forming alliances. The story undergoes significant transformations, highlighting the importance of metaphor in preventing monotony and capturing the audience’s attention by providing depth and calculated speeches.
Metaphor serves as the life force infusing the narrative with meaning and purpose, preventing the story from becoming mundane. It acts as a guiding spirit, illuminating the artistic work and offering solutions to problems. Many enthusiasts appreciate metaphor in new works of art for its perceived ability to narrate stories uniquely with diverse languages and styles.
In the concluding moments of “The Dark Knight,” the hero contemplates death and the societal acceptance of corruption, symbolized by a man whose face embodies both heroism and ruin. The sudden escape of a black dog becomes a powerful metaphor, dragging the entire story with it and suggesting that even a seemingly silent creature has the right to evade the tumultuous human world.
This metaphorical ending prompts further reflections on the film’s overarching narrative, emphasizing that “The Dark Knight” is not merely a collection of small metaphors but a grand metaphor with both particular and universal significance, continuing to astonish audiences with its unique logic.
I’ve always been fond of VFX and CGI and the main reason I decided to study 3D Computer Animation was to work in visual effects after graduating. VFX and CGI allow filmmakers to create spectacular visuals beyond practical effects’s limitations. From environments to fantastical creatures, VFX enhances the visual spectacle of films providing a more immersive cinematic experience.
I believe that choosing a topic related to either CGI or VFX is going to help me broaden my theoretical knowledge. Also, VFX is not limited to specific genres. It’s employed in a wide range of films, from sci-fi and fantasy to historical dramas and animated features. Moreover, my favorite genre has always been sci-fi and one of the skills I’ve been trying to improve is hard surface modeling and design. Sci-fi films often feature advanced spacecraft, futuristic vehicles, and cutting-edge technology; are VFX and CGI needed to impact sci-fi films’s narrative?
My first attempt to import mountain terrains and create snow materials in Substance Designer was a big-time failure. I spent hours working with graphs and materials I couldn’t figure out the tessellation system in UE5 so I had to start over and focus more on scans as I like my scene to be as realistic as possible.
Pendulum Animation:
In physics, motion refers to the change in an object’s position over time. In this type of movement caused by force, Newton’s laws will emerge. Whenever we want to talk about Newton’s laws, acceleration, speed, body mass, gravity, etc will come into play. So there is a beautiful interweaving between physics and animation that makes animation even more interesting.
The law of inertia in physics, known as Newton’s first law; states that a stationary object tends to maintain its position unless acted upon by an external force. Moreover, Inertia in animation causes “Follow through” and “Overlapping action”.
Newton’s second law states that when a force is applied to an object, the object accelerates in the same direction as the force; Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity per unit of time, so that when you accelerate an object in the direction of its motion, the velocity of that object increases and increases.
It is also possible to apply force to an object in the opposite direction of movement so that the object’s speed decreases, and if the applied force remains, the object moves in the opposite direction until it stops and even accelerates. Keeping all of this information in mind and planning the animation this is my final playblast of the pendulum animation.
The first session with our tutor George was fantastic. After the introduction, we delved into the unit by learning about the 12 principles of animation and using the graph editor in Maya. Personally, animating is a skill that I’m lacking. Camera movement is crucial in environment design, and I used to struggle with it. There were times when I wanted to add characters to my projects, but my animations turned out strange, so I ended up not using them. However, the good news is that I am here to learn.
Our initial assignment was to animate a bouncing ball. We learned that the movement of a bouncing ball is similar to the movement of many other objects, such as a jumping child. Despite my first four attempts being terrible in multiple ways, I managed to accurately animate one after receiving feedback from George and making some adjustments. Finally, I successfully animated my first 3D bouncing ball.
In week 2 Serra taught us how to import scans and plants from Quixel Bridge into our scenes, also how to work in levels and sub-levels, and a whole idea of UE5 advantages over other software. With UE5 we can have Bigger worlds hence better stories. As for my first project I wanted to work with snow because it’s a bit tricky and my goal in this course is to improve myself and step out of my comfort zone. Additionally, the picture is my mood board for my UE5 project.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend this class because I didn’t have my visa and obviously not in London. This particular unit is one that I am extremely excited about because it’s related to my interest in the VFX industry, where real-time filming and virtual production skills are becoming increasingly important. Initially, I encountered a setback when UE5.3 was not functioning on my laptop, but after upgrading my graphics card and installing UE5.0.2, I am now good to go J. The entire user interface of UE5 is unfamiliar to me since this is my first time working with a game engine. However, being aware of this software’s immense capabilities motivates me to work harder and overcome any obstacles.
Week one for George’s class was ‘Introduction To Animation’. In this session we saw George’s showreel and got to know his work history, moreover, we got a clear picture of the session’s structure and what exactly we were going to learn. In this session, George talked about the importance of planning and referencing and also the rule of K.I.S.S which means to keep it simple stupid, a nice reminder for all of the students who try to do something complex and mess up the whole project. Lastly, we got informed about the week 2 assignments and watched George animating a bouncing ball.
