The film

Untitled from Tara Dulake on Vimeo.

Hand in

Managed to get my work to disc despite the problems with my Mac not writing to disc, but im not the only one who has been having this problem..... All Done, All Good, Now we just need to get our work ready for degree show.....

Eagle Rig

Some how i forgot to add the eagle rig into my folders, So here he is working......

Schedule of what happened overall to our project....

My General Feedback....On Myself

My Artistic Folder

This folder i'm quite please with, I would have liked to do a couple more concept work on landscape design and do some really detailed pieces, but I had a lot of other work to do and Artistic wasn't my main folder. A lot of the landscape was designed as it was modelled.

My Animation Folder

I didn't think i would be any good at animating to begin with, but it think I did ok in it, I would like to have finessed it a bit more but I think every one was at the same standard for animating in the group so all of it could be finessed to a higher standard than what it is. Rob really Helped us out with his Animating, I think his was better out all of it.

My Technical Folder

I was pleased with this in the end although the rigs could all still be finessed a bit more in looks and in painting weights they worked enough to get some good animation out of it. I would have

liked to have spent even more time on them than i did, i only spent two days on the frank rig and two days on the Joey rig, so i feel these could have been more perfected.

The Blog......

Probably should have updated it a bit more but its got all the information needed I think.......

My schedules - how it has gone.....

First Term

My Schedule for Second Term

Here is my schedule for the final term.

Scheduling over all.....

With scheduling, I composed a Schedule at the beginning of term one. This stated on which week group members should be carrying out their jobs. This however was not stuck to as everyone seemed to go and do other things and jobs got jumbled up when it came to doing them. Some of the modelling got held back and some of the design work, so that started off a brick wall on our film. No-one wanted to get started on the UV mapping and When Dean was struggling I helped out as it was allowing the rigging to not be finished.

The UV mapping has to be finished before painting the weights or the texture will keep moving on the character.

Th main thing that was holding our team back in the first term was the Anamatic, that didnt get sorted out until mid way through term two.

How well have we worked in a Team?....

When the group formed, we had a really great team and mix of people. We all decided to work on Davids project as the other projects already had enough people working on them as it was. One problem for this was because more than one person was working on more films, so I decided to ask David if he wanted to carry on with his project, the Project was a chase sequence, and although the story wasn't quite there, there was a good vibe when we started the project. Everyone started to put into the film, Hayley did some great research into design and films and ideas, David and I started designing and Dean and Sam were in putting there ideas in.

The first term was very beneficial because for one of our projects we were allowed to practice what our specialism was and learn more about it so that when it came to it we would be able to do our work with more knowledge and less problems.

Over Christmas I think we all lost a bit of interest in the film as it wasn't pulling together as we would have liked, the Anamatic we were having problems with and the story kept on changing all the time.

When we spoke to Mike he suggested we look more into the Tex avery style of films like the coyote and Road runner. And some of the ideas got taken from some of the films. David and sam went through the anamatic together as too many people were trying to input into it and the film wasn't working.

When sam and david came back to us with the new anamatic, some of the camera shots could still be changed, but we decided that we had the story and was best to crack on and change the camera shots when some of the animation had been blocked out.

Everyone was pulling together in the second term, Hayley was testing my rigs, helping me to improve them and Animation began to start. Sam came up with some good renders. Although we had Dissertation this term, I think this was the most productive term.

The third term was a bit rocky, Ideally we needed everyone to be in college at the same time to discuss shots, problems with rigs and animation, but found that not everyone would be in at the same time, or some members would decide to work from home and then when problems came it was hard to correct them quickly.

We had some issues with the animation this term, what some thought was good enough for the film others did not, and i think it was down to not having enough animation practice that the animation has fallen in the film and could have been finessed to a much higher standard.

How the projects gone.....

Overall I think that this project has gone very well, I have managed to get involved in every aspect of the making of the film from concept right through to animation. I'm pleased with some of my concept work, although my style is very simplistic I like the marmot designs I came up with and was glad to start modelling the character. I ended up rigging the marmot a couple of times, and found it a huge learning curve when things went wrong or the rig broke. 
I wasn't suppose to be doing uv mapping,but created maps for each of the characters when David was struggling with trying to texture the characters, mine although not perfect seemed to help matters and we went with using mine. 
When animating, I got into it using my rigs, and many were having problems with hayley's rig, so I decided that over the weekend would re-do the Mongolian rig, which when it was finished seemed to work better as it has elbows and knee joints. This did mean that rob then had to re-do his run cycle as he preferred to use mine.

Last Week of Work before Hand in.......

Schedule:

To Do: Folders

I need to put together all the animation that i have done, play blasting all the passes and editing them together.

I also need to film my rigs working using Screenium to show the rigs working properly and edit them together for my technical folder.

Need to hand in and finish my 2000 words for E and E and do some Blog work. - Monday

Collect all the images i have done for the project and put them into my artistic folder.

Progress

cancelled everyone coming in so we can all finish off folders and promotional stuff can be sorted next week. Sam knows what he has to render and composit the film

Progress

went over to David's to talk about promotional stuff today, decided on a display of 2d concepts and the other of some renders.

Communication

Most communication was through email and text, and we were beginning to find it difficult to find out who was doing what and at some points there were times where I felt other members were not doing as much as they could have. Therefore as much as I could have I tried to make myself available at college for if problems arose and needed solving. The one day i did miss was because of a funeral.....

With passing each other files Dean had a bright idea in term one to set up an Adrive account that we could all log into and upload and download files that others would need for the film. It worked really well and although took some time to upload and download and crashed on me a couple of times it meant we didn't have to wait for the following day to get a file from someone that was too big to send by email......

Mongol Shot 27

I thought we were having the mongol tease the marmot that he s got the chicken, but apparently not. This is the animation i started for it, the block out, but we are changing it to the man about to eat the food and then he hears wings flapping in background and then when he turns around the food gets snatched by the eagle and flies away.

Im glad i'm not teasing the marmot, its gonna take too long to get the arm animation right.

Untitled from Tara Dulake on Vimeo.

The Sniff Shot - Shot 2

This is how the sniff shot animation came out....

I tried to make the sniff shot so that the marmot stands up, that way it would link better into deans scene. The cameras all wrong, but this could work if the shot was from behind the marmot getting up...... Ill give it a go tomorrow.

Sniff Shot from Behind Rock

This shot was not for me to do. Dean was having some problems with some of his key frames so I took it off his hands. It made more sense me trying to help due to me doing the sniffing shot at the beginning. Heres how it turned out.

It changed quite a few times. He popped out quite fast to begin with. Then it looked like he was sliding out. There was too many sniffs going on so i cut it down to one. I changed the expression for the marmot and added in ears and took off the eye blink and kept it to just being closed his eyes when he sniffs.

The shot worked out in the animation well, but after putting the shots together, it doesn't really work in the film, and we may just go straight into Deans animation and cut this shot all together....

Grabbing shot

Dean was meant to be doing this shot but he said it was pointless?? Any way it needed doing so i stepped in... Above is the ropey second pass but the hands look like they are all over the place......

Below is the block out i started with, i used the animation from the sliding shot before and changed the marmots position along the ground....

Untitled from Tara Dulake on Vimeo.

Production Scheduling

Our work hasn't all gone to plan like it should have done, everything has been pushed back by a few weeks and i think the animation could have been finessed a little more than what we have finished it to.

Rob has been the biggest help to our film with helping us animating. He has done a brilliant run cycle of both the marmot and the mongolian. The runs look so well done in the film.

He by accident found how to create slow motion in one of his run cycles, so it has help when the mongol runs and trips over the rock...

With out him, I don't think the film would be finished. Hes our little star!

Week to Deadline - Progress so far......

1. Camera Zoom in eagle view, Mongolian walking to fire.

This has been renderd, but Davids deciding to change the camera back to the test we had before going through the trees. This shot may not be ready for hand in but it should be ready for the degree show.

2. Marmot sniffing the smell

This shot has been fully animated by myself, it has been rendered also, sam has put some rocks in it and added the lights ect.

3. Marmot poke head up behind rock. Mongol is cooking by fire.

After Dean did the block out, I took his animation and tidied it up a bit. It has been finessed, but not rendered. Sam and I have had a debate as to wether the shot fits within the film after my sniffing shot.....

4. Marmot sneaks up behind man

The animation to this shot has been done by Dean, the Mongol sitting by the fire part to it we were waiting on, but it was complete yesterday by Rob who added the mongol rubbing his hands together....

5. Mongol looks around, Mongol and Marmot come face to face

This shot has been changed slightly, we are now having a love sequence with the mongol and the chicken......

6. Marmot steals the Chicken and runs away

This is still being complete.....

7. Reaction Shot of Mongolian upset and Angry about food being taken.

Still being complete....

8. Marmot runs away over hills in distance add more trees

This has been finished with the marmot run cycle. Its being rendered.

9. Mongol runs towards camera add more trees

Snatched Shot 009-010 Man Running To Camera from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-size:12.0pt;">This has been completed and rendered out....

10. Mongol runs over hills after marmot.

This shot follows on from the last

11. Mongol chase marmot up a hill. Marmot Jumps on rock and goes to start sliding down the hill. Mongol Trips on rock and fly’s forward (in Slow motion)

Snatched Shot 011 Trip Part 2 from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

Rob has finished the animation for this and it has been rendered out

Snatched Shot 011 Trip Part 1 from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

12. Sliding down hill.

I have completed the animation and its been rendered out.

Snatched Shot 012 Sliding Shot from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

13. Camera shake towards log – Hands Shaking

I Have also completed the animation for this sequence and its ready to be rendered out....

14. Marmot and Mongol Sliding through log.

Snatched Shot 014 Exit Log Camera from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

David has completed the animation and it has been renderd out, sam is not playing with adding an angel light ray in when they slide through the log...

15. Both slide out of log, Marmot get grabbed in mid air

David has finished the animation and its been rendered out.

16. Free-Fall Fighting

The animation has been completed for this shot and is ready to be rendered out....

17. Climb out of ditches both Mongol and marmot.

Dean has done the animation for this. The cameras have been changed slightly.

Snatched Shot 017 Part 1 Blurry from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.

18. Marmot and Mongol run cycle over the hills

Using the run cycle from Rob this scene has been finished.

19. Mongol runs up hill, side view no legs showing

Rob has finished the sequence and has been rendered out

20. Marmot Jumps over Rocks

Daljeet was doing this shot, but we don't know if we will be using the shot in the film, it was an added extra by sam which isnt really needed within the film.

21. Mongol reaches top of hill slowly – out of breath, Marmot dancing

22. Mongol takes chicken from the marmot, Reaction shot from Marmot.

23. Zoom out- Eagle Wing shot and Fly over

24. Marmot points out the eagle behind him, jumping up and down and flapping his arms to try make him protect the food.

Animation completed by myself, its ready to be rendered.

25. Mongol looks around at bird – Reaction shot as food gets swiped from his hand.

Animation completed by myself ready to be rendered.

26. Bird snatches chicken close up.

Ive Completed animation by myself ready to be rendered.

27. Bird fly’s off with chicken

Ive Animated and completed, needs to be rendered.

28. Reaction shot of both of them, Mongol gets his great idea

David has completed the animation and its now ready to be rendered.

29. Marmot swinging from Spit

Sam has completed the animation and its now rendered.....

Eagle grabbing the chicken.... Shot 25

This shot camera was not the one we were originally using, but stumbled across the camera when it was parented with the head manipulator. I believe it will start just before when the marmot jumps and then show the bird grabs and then flys away...

The marmot animation is the same as before when i did it, i have just repeated the jump for a little while longer by a couple of jumps using the same animation.....

The Birds flap doesn't need to keep flapping, maybe glide down after a flap or so, as they are already high up on the mountain.....

Untitled from Tara Dulake on Vimeo.

Progress

Today we came in really early at 8 Sam and Hayley came in later at twelve everyone seems pleased with the film and there are just a few animation things to be sorted.

Progress

daljeet gave us a sample of the animation today, it's looking good, but I was discussing with David where it might fit in the film. Some of the camera angles will need to change and perhaps add the mongolian in somewhere
We met up again to discuss the project,Sam came in dispute the renders and tried to get the film playblasted to see what else he needed. Hayley could not make it as she went home to Manchester for the weekend, but James managed to come and show us his work, I saw the block out last week and he has taken on board all the poses within the anamatic so the timing is perfect.we sT with him the whole day and went through where he could improve it. He had a lot of key frames that went needed and he added the chicken in. He finished it with us that day so that shot was completed if hayley's was not yet finished,
DAljeet came back to us and he had a problem with his marmots tail, I think he was using the rig before I fixed him. So I re imported the newest one and copied the key frames across so that the animation was the same and he didn't need to re-do any of the animation apart from the tail which was now easier to use. 

Story Board Changes

Looking at Hayley's animation for the marmot stealing the chicken, the Scene is not working in the film, the camera angle is all wrong, and it looks like the mongolian is just giving the chicken to the marmot, and theres some unnecessary animation on him grabbing the hat.

With only two weeks left, its a bit late to change the story but as its an important one then it should be changed now rather than the whole film not working later on......

David decided that it was a more important scene to get right so Rob and I came up with an Idea of the mongol in love with this chicken and then the marmot coming in and stealing it all shown through smooth camera pacing and slow zooms in.

The sequence: The marmot comes in from behind the Mongol, Then we see a close up of the mongol so happy and in love with the chicken, and then we see the marmots hand come in slowly and the mongols expression change. Then there is a cheeky smile from the marmot and he runs off........

We have spoken to hayley about changing the whole sequence and she said she will have a go with this scene. Rob will also be doing it too for his folders for second year as it was part of his idea. This would mean some of hayleys animation is now void, but it can still be used for her folders.....

Progress

bob has been animating the slow motion over the rock and I asking about camera angles to Sam, I think though we could change them depending on the block out. 
SAMs rendering again from home and I'm in college hayley has come in to join me and hopefully we an get some of her animation sorted so we can start rendering out some of those vital scenes.

Progress

had a e and e meeting today, was ment to be meeting with group but others got withheld doing there e and e projects, 
31st may
David and I have both met at ten at college today. James has shown us his block out and we have given him some feedback as to how he can improve it. I believe he is going to change a few of his poses. 
Dean has also sat with us, and he's been working on the shot when the marmot and mongol get up dazed from the crash at the bottom of the hill. His progress has got a lot better than at the start of the film, I think we have found something he likes doing! :-)