Edwin Nicholson's Year 3 Animation Blog

  FAIRY BREAD PRODUCTIONS  Week(s) Commencing:  4th April - 2nd May VFX HOD:  Edwin Nicholson Crew:  Ian Jenkins,  Vinnie Webb Summary: To start off my report schedules need work, I fell out of flow of writing these reports weekly. So here is the months update. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of it next week.  I have decided that Becca is no longer required in the VFX team. The main reason is with her reluctance to use Blender. This is an issue because our pipeline has been required to use Blender, and all of the VFX shots have been tailored to be created in Blender. Becca is much stronger as a 3D modeler so she should focus her efforts there.  I have redone the VFX shot list again so that it is updated to the current format.  This is based off the new and Improved shot list made by Zeta-rose and Max which is also based on the new animatic.  Some changes include:  The removal of the table bump physics as it was decided that the cutlery would be drawn in 2D.  Addition of Photos

This is Version 2 of the VFX Shot List. This is based off the new and Improved shot list made by Zeta-rose and Max which is also based on the new animatic. Some changes include: The removal of the table bump physics as it was decided that the cutlery would be drawn in 2D. Addition of Photoshop Elements Addition of people assigned Addition of priority More Fluid Sim shots More Cloud Sim shots I feel as of writing this shot list will change again, so I will update accordingly.

Exports Types Storyboard Pro to Premiere - Conform .xml Export Toon Boon to Premiere - .png4 image sequence Its possible to export storyboards to .xml and place in premiere pro. We could make edits and then export out again in .xml so the images can still been edited in storyboard. It may make storyboard to toon boon more effective in the long run. Toon Boom Animation. (2018, March 2). Importing Animatics in Storyboard Pro [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftMLsGHWH24 It seems on Toon Boon Harmony we cannot export a movie with alpha channel to Quicktime as the polytechnic computers do not support that application, so when exporting we will have to export as .png4 with alpha channels.

  FAIRY BREAD PRODUCTIONS  Week(s) Commencing: 28th March - 18th April Editing HOD:  Edwin Nicholson Crew: Zara Samuels Summary: This report is short because there was not much to report on during this time.  After the After Effect test shot (See report 1), My services have not been needed yet on the editing front.  Currently the Director Max Candy and Zara Samuels have been setting up the thumbnail storyboard and the first clean storyboard.  As of the 20th I have been assigned to get ready for the 2D storyboard and the 3D storyboard which will be estimated to finish between the 23rd of April and the 28th of April.  I will be using Max's Version as a reference for how the story will be structured and try and cut out to a similar pace. I am expecting to sort out some pacing issues and do some scene swapping to get the storyboard to move smoothly.  Once the 2D Storyboard is put together then we can give that to the 3D team for reference.  Tasks before next report: Edit the new 2D sto

  FAIRY BREAD PRODUCTIONS  Week(s) Commencing:  4th April - 18th April VFX HOD:  Edwin Nicholson Crew:  Ian Jenkins, Becca Akersten,  Vinnie Webb, Summary: This is a summary for the first semester holidays:   In the past two reports these have been the tasks that I have needed to complete.  Finalize what Render App we are using (Blender/Maya).  Wait for the script to be finalised.  Figure out what other VFX shots need to be made.  Compile VFX shot list  I need to do some blender tests and learn blender more.  Plan for Photogrammetry tests.  All these tasks have been completed in one way or the other and in this report, I would like to take about that as this holiday was used to make sure these tasks were completed.  First off, we have finalised what we are rendering our Animation on. We will be using Blender (Eevee). This is a fantastic opportunity to be using Blender as it has the right style of lighting style, it saves us worrying about VFX simulations being swapped into Maya and thi

Here are my notes for the review: Shorten Scene 1, Water comes out of EVERYTHING We see Pavo's face more Pad opening Scene 2 Linger on Pavo's Face Establishing shot of Pavo preparing for company Establishing shot of Betty entering and walking towards Pavo More Spins on Betty (Two or three) Perspective fixing Waiter Scene 2 Swap some scenes around Make the waiter have progression with his bastardness Fish finger 3 No dolly zoom out Add surreal hand shot from hand hold scene Napkin scence Restaurant Bathroom Window now in shot,  Pavo smacks into the window and then is pushed into the bathroom. Water smacks into the camera. Water opaque Rejig the entire scene. Water return Pavo fights against the water in a wide shot, for a longer period of time. He now slides into the booth. End Shots Toothbrush colours of character Credits Water cascade of sets Everytime something bad happens to Pavo water trinkles in the background.

We just watched the most recent version of the animatic. Here are some notes that I've been taken: I think there might be some pacing issues in the middle before the fish gets put on the table in the restaurant. Everything's really close to the characters in the restaurant. I agree with Rach on the transition to the restaurant. There's something missing an I can't quite put my finger on it yet. It might be that his anxiety is a bit lost in the visuals. The Opening restaurant shot is too quick. You don't get much of a read of a character Betty takin Pavo's chair looks like a weird move to make now. Perspective fixes The waiter is an asshole immediately, scene need swap round. Some emotional beats don't real well. Weird Consistency I think the part between Pavo getting out of the bath and Pavo getting to the resteraunt needs an extra scene to establish that the water is a manifestation an/or show Pavo is going on a date. Slow zooms cause dear air at the end. E

 On the 14 Zara had a plan. for Camera and character Reference she wanted to film some live action scenes. I volunteered to be Pavo for the first Scene and some shots in scene 2. The point of this test was not only to get movement reference and emotion reference but mainly to see what type of digital camera lens and movement we will us during the production. We had done something similar to this weeks ago but this time we are using the final version of the script and using our thumbnails as a visual reference which was very helpful. As of this writing I don't know if we will have time to continue the exercise but it was good to do anyway.

On the 13th, I started the VFX Shot List on the 14th I finished it. I used the notes I took in the last 3D meeting to start off the list. After that I used the updated and refined shot list to add VFX that I had missed and also to add accurate shot numbers. Here is what it looks like: This was create in Microsoft Excel This list will be a reference for my team to complete VFX Shots. Some maybe change or remove in the future if we or the director deem it to be changed. Here is the link for the Shot list which will be updated over time: https://sitnz-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/personal/2013005769_student_sit_ac_nz/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?e=NWfnWN&share=EVEgRX0Sf5pPnCXeP7m7iUYBMvUTO1xmI17AXC0vD-AvIA

List of Simulations in summary form Bath Water Rising Bathroom Water spill Bath Water spill on 3D Hand Water slosh on legs Fish photogrammetry Spit Sim (Globs with crumbs) Crumb roll of Pavo onto table Storm Sim (clouds and lightning) Underwater shots of legs Fish 'Drown' Betty Submerged Pavo's run to the Restaurant Bathroom Underwater shots of whole restaurant Big Wave Restaurant bathroom Splash enter Restaurant bathroom Splash exit

 

This is a blog about my first time doing a water test in blender, which I have only used once before. This experience will not only benefit the production but also benefit me as I do want to learn Blender. First of all I needed a 2D stand in double for the test shot so I grabbed a concept image and shaded the image using the burn/dodge tool in Adobe Photoshop.                          Concept Image                          My Shading This shot was made possible by me following this tutorial which was very informative. This is the video: Making an animated toon water shader for Eevee | Blender 2.8 Tutorial Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTIsEJvQddw Above is what the water would look like. I showed this to our director Max and he said that this is what we are looking for stylized water. Below is the 'set' I used to start the test. These screenshots show the node menu in Blender and how I have to use them to make the final render. It was like connecting the dots with puzzle

  FAIRY BREAD PRODUCTIONS  Week(s) Commencing: 28th March - 3rd April VFX HOD:  Edwin Nicholson Crew:  Ian Jenkins, Vinnie Webb, Becca Akersten Summary: With the script finally being completed, I know now what VFX shots need to be done with water sim, which is our top priority at the moment. By the next report I need to compile a list of VFX shots, so we know what exactly we are doing. I have started already by going through the script and highlighting every part that requires simulations. I have also been talking to Max about scenes that he wants for VFX. It turns out that there are opportunities for other simulations, like basic physics for example. The team is keen to try these out.  Ian and Becca have been continuing to produce water sims over the week with good results.  Ian's Blender tests are very impressive, in this week he has produced a water rising test and a few water ripple sim tests. he has also played around with the texture of the water and it looks beautiful. Ian a