Evaluation

On the whole I am pleased with the work that I have produced. I have learnt new techniques and utilised these to create a believable character, which fulfilled the brief given. I particularly enjoyed working with morpher and using FFD boxes to manipulate the shape of the eyes and facial expressions. These techniques were new to me and I feel proud of how I have managed to use them in my piece.

I very much enjoyed the amount of research within this project with regard to behavioural study and trying to recreate actual expression on my model. I have tried throughout the animating procedure to link the expressions and body language as closely as possible to real behaviours and gestures, studied through people watching and also film clips taken.

I feel that experimenting with morpher, boning and view constraints during the animation production has helped me to produce a relatively realistic impression of a new character. I have realised that I have found a new love for 3D modeling through character animation that I had lacked in previous modules dealing with 3D modeling. I believe this is due to the basis of animating that I came across in this module largely based upon human behaviours and expression which I have always been very interested in. I also particularly enjoyed the scope of being able to create any type of character we wished and to analyse our creations through trying to build a convincing character and with it, his own unique personality.

This module has been one of my favourites throughout my time at University and I hope to continue to produce work based upon my experiences within this project.

Improvements

There are quite a few instances that I would alter or change if I had more time. As I have mentioned previously, I would have liked to include a background and other characters and props to create a more convincing environment for Terry. I feel that I have applied certain techniques to try to communicate the persona I have created for Terry reasonably well although with more time I think I could have made him much more villain-esque by introducing other characters that he could annoy and irritate, as well as becoming frustrated himself.

I would also liked to have spent more time on body language, trying again to include movement of Terry's body and limbs more. More camera angles and scenes could also be used to create a longer and more dynamic piece.

With regard to Terry himself I do like the fact that he doesn't have any dialogue in this instance but in future projects I would very much like to use lip syncing techniques and give Terry a voice. I would also like to use real actors within the piece as, although I am very grateful to my willing participant being the voice of Terry, I feel that by using a trained actor I could achieve an even more realistic reaction for my character.

Compiling the Pieces

After I had generated the audio and the visual I compiled them again within Premiere Pro and exported them as one media, creating the final animation.

Here is the final project. The video above is of a lesser quality to be able to upload it on this site.
I hope you enjoy!

Audio

For the audio of my piece I used Ableton to create a soundtrack to increase the believability of my whole project.

Above you can see the screen grab of my Ableton file.

To start constructing the audio I sourced two alarm rings from freesound.org. I then asked a willing participant to record some verbal aspects to the piece such as the yawn that starts the scene and also the frustrated tut, annoyed groan, angry ringing and the wobble at the end of the piece. The alarm sound effect was quite harsh in tone, so I added reverb so create a more natural sound, that I felt worked better.

I used one alarm for the initial ringing scene and combined two for the frustrated ringing section to demonstrate a louder and more angry sound that coincides with the angrier expression of Terry. I also added a ticking audio section for when Terry looks up and watches his hand move to the 'O'clock' position. After the verbal sections were recorded they were synched to the video. I then sourced a glass smash file from freesounds.org to use for when Terry falls at the end as I couldn't find an actual alarm clock smashing sound effect. This smash didn't work quite how I wanted so I used a low pass filter so it sounded more like a bell, and the sound of an alarm clock fall instead of a glass.

Finally I added the melodic piano version of  'Hickory Dickory Dock' as an intro and outro. I faded out the tune at the beginning as I faded in the ticking. I decided on using this tune as a theme tune due to it being instantly recognised by children and adults alike, instantly creating the idea of a clock based animation. I used the tune at the end to complete the sequence, to balance the piece.

Premiere Pro

As touched upon in my previous post, once I had rendered the majority of scenes I required for my piece, I imported them into premiere pro to edit and to collate the animation as a whole.

Above a screen shot of the premiere pro file is viewable, showing the separate scenes. For some of the ringing scenes I manipulated the effects of the transitions between scenes (particularly at the beginning and end of the piece), added a title scene and I also tried different speeds, speeding up some of the ringing sections to add to the frantic feel of Terry. I realised at this point that my opening scene of Terry yawning didn't really work and so I re-rendered a version of that scene with the use of a camera zoom to 'set the scene'.

Once I was happy with how the audio looked it was time to construct the audio accompaniment.

Moustache Hands

Some of the scenes were rendered quite a few times due to mistakes, such as the outer body of Terry being visible through his open mouth. Once I had rendered the majority of the scenes I required I imported the rendered scenes into Premiere Pro. I then edited and moved them around to create an initial piece (without sound) to show to a few people to gage their reactions, ask their opinions and also to see whether Terry and his facial animations were believable enough for a final render. Most of the feedback I received was positive, although one audience member did question the time change in some of the scenes.

I explained that the hands on the clock face were used for the majority of the piece to emphasise the emotion and gestures of Terry (e.g. yawning the hands are pointing down as if stretching with his facial muscles) and during the second scene there are used for Terry to tell the exact time and to know when to start his alarm call. In the scenes where Terry is not using his hands to emphasise his facial expression, they act as his moustache, at a generic twenty to four position.

Final Scene

For the final scene I wanted Terry to go from being an angry little clock to get his 'comeuppance'. Throughout my research into existing villainous characters, for the audience to connect with the hero of the piece, the villain never ends up victorious. In my original storyboard I had Terry ringing too close to the edge of the bedside table and falling from it. Since I had no environment and consequently no bedside cabinet for Terry to fall from I chose to show him wobbling where he was and losing control of his ringing which made him fall backwards. 

I animated Terry wobbling and I had to try a few different techniques to get him to wobble effectively. Linking and connecting the different objects didn't work as each piece of Terry decided to fly off wherever they fancied. In the end I had to group the objects and make the wobble effect by moving his legs and using rotation. Unfortunately after grouping Terry's pieces I was unable to affect the pivot point, which I wanted to place down on one of his legs. I had to therefore leave it central to Terry which I don't feel worked as well as I had originally intended. In the end I was reasonably happy with how Terry wobbled and how his pupils moved due to the link constraint I had used for him to look at. 

As Terry falls backwards there is no real connection point where he hits the floor as there is no real floor for him to hit. I would like to have added real world physics to this part and assigned mass and gravity to the scene but I ran out of time.

Cameras

To mix things up a little in the animation I used a couple of cameras to zoom in, for example in the opening scene, and also halfway through the ringing to suggest a lengthened sequence of ringing (without having to endure too much of the noise for the audience) I inserted a camera shot that comes from behind Terry and over the top. I also added a camera shot that zooms in to Terry as he falls at the end of the piece, entering his mouth and fading to black.

I wanted to include different angles and camera shots to sustain interest for the audience and also to generate another aspect of movement within the piece, whilst still trying to fill the screen and create that close up and villainous aspect of Terry without being too obvious.

Animating Eye Issues Resolved

When it came to animating Terry when he was ringing his alarm, I was using AutoKey and rotating Terry after moving the pivot point of every object to the same point. The only issue I came across when animating Terry in this way was that the white of Terry's eyes would disappear.

In the first section of ringing I rotated Terry's eyes individually from his body, as I mentioned previously. To combat the disappearing whites of the eyes in the more frustrated section of ringing, I inserted an animation sequence that shows Terry scrunching his eyes up and close them in anger in preparation for a more exerted section. Inserting this sequence allowed me to animate the ringing without worrying about the loss of the whites.

Background and Props

In my storyboard I included a setting for Terry. A background stage, props and a scene in which to 'live' I will not be including these within this project as I have been made aware that I will not be marked on this section of the animation. I feel that without these props and scenery I have been able to spend more time on the characterisation of Terry and his expression which I have enjoyed, and hope that it will demonstrate the time I have spent trying to get his expression right and believable as a character. If I had more time I would have included these assets to increase believability but if the character is not believable, the background wouldn't be so I am glad to work solely on the character.

Once I have completed this module I do intend on carrying on with Terry and animating him with a home to live in as I have become quite attached to him and hope to create a more complete animation in my own time.

Body Language for Villains

During my research of more well known villains I have taken note of some of the body language that is used by these villains. 

Cruella DeVille

Cruella as mentioned previously, is very thin with accentuated limbs and a large fur coat giving her overly large shoulders. She is often hunched and although skinny she fills the space that she is in, for example the room or in fact the screen. She also sweeps around the scene in a dramatic and swift fashion.

Ursula

Ursula is huge compared to Ariel (the heroine of the film the little mermaid) and she dominates both the screen and also seems to surround ariel with her tentacles. She moves quickly in a creepy way with her tentacles seeming to be everywhere. At the ending of the film she even grows to massive proportions and creates a whirlpool of the sea, becoming enormous in an attempt to kill the heros.

Darth Vader

The main body language of Darth Vader is that of sweeping around with his large black cloak, again he is taller than the other characters and a lot of the camera angles are from ground level looking up at him, making him seem larger and more dominating.

Doctor Who Villains

Looking back at the research I did regarding children's magazines and TV shows, the Dr Who villains in the majority also tended to be much larger than the heroes and also have more of a robotic style of movement, moving away from the 'personable' feel of the heroes. Examples can be seen in famous Dr who villains such as the Daleks, Cybermen and the Judoon.

Sharks

Filling the whole screen and scene in which they are in tends to be the key here. Also their speed. Whether talking about the film Jaws or indeed in more recent adaptations of Sharks in Finding Nemo and Shark Tale.

Most of the villains that I have researched for this project tend to err on the side of madness or psychotic. To show this trait in some fashion I decided to give Terry his OCD and his time-keeping as a sign of being on a mental knife edge. As I have mentioned before, I didn't want to go too 'obvious' with my character so he is not 'mad' but there is scope there for the potential to turn which I hope to demonstrate in his frustration and anger at being ignored.

Again, the majority of the characters looked at show size to demonstrate their villainous temperament. As Terry is short in stature I will be utilising camera angles to portray him as filling the screen to add a menacing feel to the animation. This technique can be seen in many of the different types of media I have researched about villains and their body language.

There are many clips and sequences on YouTube of 'Top ten best and worst villains' and similar videos. This one below demonstrates great villainous characters that are larger than their enemies and camera angles that show their size, for example King pin, Scar, Green Goblin and Lord Voldemort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hutIsu7GjU0

I also looked at popular children's video games and literature as part of my research to cover all areas as nowadays most characters get turned into franchises that create films, games, books and toys all aimed at the target demographic that this brief entails. Video games include disney games, mario, sonic and Harry Potter. The literature that I researched included Harry Potter of course, having read these books I must say that the villains are very striking and again tend to be very quick, intelligent, large and frightening, verging on madness.

This link below was useful as an initial starting point when I was creating my character, giving him slanted 'evil' eyes for the majority of the piece. I also used red for the main body which has connotations of danger, and blood which (as shown by previous research) is common among villainous characters. The polished brass of Terry indicates his OCD traits with time keeping and punctuality which can often transverse into tidiness and his pride in his personal appearance.

http://www.ehow.com/how_8517826_draw-villain-characters.html

Animating Issues

Due to how I had modeled the eyes (explained in a previous post) I couldn't attach them to the face and still manipulate them the way I wanted to (with the FFD boxes and rotating the eyelids for blinking). So I kept them as separate models and manipulated them individually. This was working well when I created all of the facial expressions (a few examples are displayed in my previous post) the issues came when animating Terry as a whole object.

In the scene where Terry gets agitated that no one is paying him any attention, he gets quite frustrated and wobbles from side to side in an effort to ring harder and louder. For the rest of Terry (excluding the eyes) it was simply a matter of rotating every model at specific times, using Auto Key, after moving the pivot points to the same position.

When it came to using the same technique on the eyes, when I tried to move the pivot point of the white of Terry's eye, it disappeared altogether (see above). Unfortunately in this scene with Terry ringing I had to manually move the eyes into position once I had animated the body. I tried to move and rotate them to coincide with the movements of the rest of Terry although you can still see it doesn't quite match up precisely which I am unhappy with. Due to time constraints I pressed on with the animation and if I was to have more time, this is one thing I would definitely try to resolve further.

This clip shows the eye movements separated from the rest of Terry.

Another issue I found after 5 hours of rendering was in the beginning yawn scene. I realised too late that when Terry yawns, part of his outer body (in red) can be seen in the bottom of his mouth. This clip can be seen below. To rectify this was relatively easy as I had kept each part of Terry separate, I went into the editable poly of the outer body and manipulated the vertices so this didn't happen.

Morpher Facial Expressions

Here are the new morpher facial expressions created using the still images from the video of Oscar acting out the story board as a reference. I firstly did some preliminary sketches of these in my sketchbook before adapting the sketches to the 3D model.

Yawn

This is the Yawn scene that will start the animation. I altered this slightly so that the nose rose with the eyes and the open mouth did not touch it. I feel the eyes and mouth shape worked particularly well to generate a facial expression very similar to the one seen on the left.

O'Clock

Here, I tried to get the mouth and eyes looking at the big hand and 'concentrating'. I feel this face looks very much like the human counter part and am chuffed that I managed to get the mouth to almost close, in a similar shape to the still image of Oscar, even regarding the constraints of the turbosmooth issue.

Peek

This is where Terry takes a peek to see if he has awoken his intended target. As Terry is the villain of the piece I gave his eyes a more 'evil' look, by pointing them downwards and showing Terry peeking upwards he is short in stature with 'small clock' syndrome, looking up rather than Oscar does here.

Ring.

Here I had trouble making Terry's mouth properly shut due to the challenges explained earlier with turbosmooth. I did feel however that this expression of mouth almost shows the same expression as Oscar - as close as I could manage. The FFD boxes on the eyes were manipulated to make them more 'scrunched' as in Oscar's image. With the movement of the body and also the bells I believe this will look similar to the human image.

Morphing Issues

After changing the material of Terry's face (in retrospect I should have foreseen the problem and changed the material before using morpher) of course I had changed the initial model. This meant that all of the morpher targets I had created were not the same model and therefore morpher stopped working. To solve this problem I tried many many different things involving changing the order of the stack and creating more morpher targets but for some reason each time I did this I couldn't get morpher to work. Due to morpher being an integral part to my animation this was a problem that I had to resolve. Eventually I managed to get morpher working once more by using a 3DS Max file of Terry minus his bones. Therefore the movement of his face and his limbs may have to be done seperately.

New morpher targets

One of the other problems I came across when remorphing Terry is that each of the morph targets required turbosmooth to be removed from their stacks (or at least did when I tried!) which made it quite difficult to create the correct expression on the actual model of Terry. On some of the targets I had to cross vertices quite substantially to try to close Terry's mouth.. this made editing the targets quite challenging. This happened I think, due to the changing amount of polygons on the targets and the final model that has turbosmooth applied. I edited the targets to the best that I could without generating folds and problems on the final model when the expression was changed.

Face Materials

After boning Terry and playing with morpher to move his mouth, I wasn't happy with how the material on his face was distorting when his mouth moved. I took a photo of my personal alarm clock and edited the photo of Photoshop to take away the hands and centre ring. I then added these to Terry as a bitmap.

I still wasn't happy with this material, mainly due to how Terry ended up looking like he had eaten some numbers every time he opened his mouth. To avoid this issue I used a multi-sub object material to make the inside of his mouth black.

In the Polygon Material ID section I assigned the outside of Terry's face to the clock bitmap via smoothing group 1, I then selected the polygons inside Terry's mouth and assigned them to smoothing group two and put a matte black vinyl material on it via the material editor.

Boning Terry

As my character is an alarm clock.. I decided that he should look and act to an extent as an alarm clock would with regard to his movements. My animation is based largely on facial expression as the bells (which will move to dictate the ringing and hopefully some body language) and legs are the only limbs that I will bone and rig on my character. The main body of Terry will act as a regular alarm clock body and be rigid as I don't feel it would add very much to the animation and I foresee it creating problems.

I wish for the face of Terry to show his impatient nature and demonstrate his very short fuse.. getting angry when people don't wake up and pay attention to the time/him. This I will demonstrate through his frustration.

Here are the bones that Terry has in his limbs.

Characterisation

Throughout the animating process I have constantly been thinking about the character of my piece. I found this piece (see below) on "lazy-villains" by a writer that inspired me to keep my character mute (no generic evil laugh!) to an extent (there is an audio soundtrack to the piece). I have also (through anthropomorphism) tried to step away from the 'typical' villain. I wanted to use the research I had gathered on existing villains and use some of the traits in my character but not to make a clone of a pre-existing character. The brief was to generate a new villain so that is what I hope I have achieved through my work.

http://nusseymagazine.com/abigailnussey/?p=455

Facial Expression - Storyboard

To enhance the believability of Terry in my animation I took a series of videos of a willing participant to act out the story board I had created so that I had some real facial expressions for which to translate onto my character. Below are the videos taken, put into sequence with premiere pro.