Roles in animation
Where is animation used today
Entertainment
Court
Visualisation in engineering
tv commercials
Storyboard artists
As i found out from the roles before storyboarding is required in all of the jobs and is very import as an animator.
The reason being is that it allows the animator to visualise any stories quickly and see if it would work as a story for a film etc… Story boarding is a profession that is used in the advertising agencies and film productions
Storyboard artists are able to quickly drawing a put together a story. Nowadays its done more using flash and photoshop. They are know as the illustator and are most commonly freelance artists, hired by art directors or film directors.
The tool that a lot of them use is a wacom graphics tablet saving a lot of time which is a major priority for storyboard artists.
Tv commerical industry.
In this area it is used a lot to pitch ideas to the clients to persude.
Film industries
In this area they are hired at the beginning of the project for visuals. The artists must breakdown the script into shots which can be shot. This is done under the supervisions of the film director. This makes sure that the directors vision is kept.
Storyboard artists have different goals in different industries:
Animator
In an animation, storyboard artists continue to work throughout the production. After a sequence is edited the director and/or storyboard artist and team may need to rework the sequence as it becomes evident that changes need to be made for timing and story.
3D
Key skills required for animation in 3d
Framestore
- Several years of experience in a similar role.
- Experience in creature and character animation.
- Excellent communication, organisational, and interpersonal skills.
- A thorough knowledge of Maya.
2D
framestore
The 2D Paint and Roto Artist is responsible for clean up, wire/rig removal, dust busting and rotoscoping elements within film scans.
Responsibilities:
- Rotoscoping, painting, tracking and rendering work as needed.
- Examining and evaluating the look of mattes and paint fixes for visual consistency and quality.
- Meets project deadlines / milestones, as set by their supervisor(s).
Qualifications:
- The basic skills of rotoscoping, painting, tracking and rendering are a prerequisite.
- Ideal candidate will have some experience working in feature films.
- Knowledge of Nuke or Shake required.
- Knowledge of Linux desirable.
- Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills.
Pixar
Responsibilities
- Receive with each assigned shot: storyboards, story reels, recorded dialogue, set layout, and direction. The Director shows each new sequence in layout and describes what is expected for every shot at a “blocking meeting”
- Read soundtrack and plan shot
- Block in movements in rough animation and show for the Director’s approval in a daily review
- Finish work for Director approval in a timely manner
- Attend animation dailies
reference
http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/index.html
http://careers.framestore.com/
Summary
In conclusion all animator positions require excellent story board telling. Reason being is that it an excellent way to show your idea. Furthermore a lot of the 2d animation there is a lot of cleaning up the animation. Unless your the leading animator.
How the Final Animation could be used
This 2d animation could be used for an up and coming promotional ad for a basketball competition. I think that the final look of the video is engaging enough and would help promote
Thoughts
I could of had different camera shots which would have made it more interesting. However since i was concentrating on the basketball player evolving through different styles i wanted the player to be central a lot of the time.
Types of Animation
There are a range of animation types:
– stop motion
Stop animation or stop motion animation is a technique to make objects move on their own. Here, a few images are drawn with some different positions and photographed separately. Puppetry is the one of the most used frame-to-frame animation types. Some famous movies that are animated via stop animation effects are King Kong, The Dinosaur and the Missing Link, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and and The Lost World. (ref By Vaishali Satwase)
– cell animation
Cel animation refers to the traditional way of animation in a set of hand drawings. In this process of animation, various pictures are created which are slightly different but progressive in nature, to depict certain actions. Trace these drawings on a transparent sheet. This transparent sheet is known as cel and is a medium for drawing frames. Now draw outlines for the images and color them on the back of the cel. The cel is an effective technique that helps to save time by combining characters and backgrounds. You can also put the previous drawings over other backgrounds or cels whenever required. Here, you need not draw the same picture again as it has the facility of saving previous animations that can be used when required. (ref By Vaishali Satwase)
In cell animation they had another technique which gave the animation depth. This was done by using a multi-plane camera which had multi layers which could be adjusted to give a more 3 dimension feel. below is what is looked like.
The closer layers would appear to move more and the furthest like the moon would not move as much giving a feel of depth.
here is what it looks like.
– computer animation
Computer Animation is the latest technique of animation that includes 2D and 3D animation. These animations not only enhance the hand-drawn characters but also make them appear real as compared to the above mentioned animations. (By Vaishali Satwase)
Cell animation has become antiquated. A lot cartoons such as family guy or Simpson’s were created using this technique, but have changed over to 2d computer animation as its much efficient.
Digital illustration 2
This is my 2nd illustration keeping with the same theme as my first one, which is this idea of heaven and hell fighting.
Subtlety Study
Drew my hand at different stages, then drew some in between frames.
5 frames
5 main stages that i drew
3 additional frames
3 in-between frames which i drew to make the animation more smooth
Thoughts
Again this hand animation i really like the sketchy look of however ever in terms of finally piece work i think it would take too long.
Experimenting with the pain style
Having tried this paint/ circle style on the horse animation i am going to try it on a basketball move to see how it looks.
Study into animal movement
The reference for this animation was from Muybridge and the style was from the basketball videos earlier on. The style is very basic and effective which i might use for my final animation. I think if i did this plus layered up some more effects on top like couple of sketches it would look really good.
Thoughts
The 2 experiements above were an influence from the video i made before. Especially the basketball player. Still really like this sketchy look . The horse was done by using Muybridges 9 frame picture of the horse. I used my influences from other style. I just used paint brush in photoshop and plotted circles everywhere. I started plotting them at major joints but then got carried away. However in doing that i made me think that in my finally piece i could have it evolving. starting really simple and as the animation continues more and more detail is revealed.
Test i did with girls jog cycle
Analysing animation
This video shows animations and follows a supporting video to back the animation up.
The 1st animation (dribbling under knees) is a true representation as the reference video shows after.
The 2nd animation (Basketball dunk) is an exaggerated animation of the real thing as show after. The animation character jumps a lot hight with a lot more hang time compared to the reference. Having said that is works very well and the movement is realistic.
Thoughts
These movements i really like and need to make sure i depict them well in my final piece. Also the style towards the end is one that ive not seen and find interesting. Its rough, sketch and eye catching. Its not too rough that you cant make out what it is. This is one that i will definitely try out.
Digital Illustration
Contrasting Opposites
give it a vote on digital arts website
Description
The destruction war leaves behind and how god is struggling to contain this evil.
Further tests
Basketball dribble
This test was done to be more specific to my idea and also to create more realistic movement. 9 frames in total being looped
Thoughts
I really like this style and might incorporate this style into my finally animation. I think this sketchy look work well with basketball. Furthermore i think if i were to develop it more i would add streaks of lines to show movement. Over this could achieve a good result how ever this would be very time consuming.
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