Lip Sync

 

references

 

 

(audio from Sex education 4×06)

 

 

 

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/Mau70sSvvb5z/

 

I took two different videos and analysed the acting and movement using both as I saw fit. My main observations were a combination of extreme disgust and anger; I liked the first video, it leaned heavier into the disgust in some parts, even adding in some fake half-smiles.

 

 

 

I took pictures of a plush at a table to decide the staging of the scene, then got my mum to act out the first part so I could have a sitting reference, using the other videos for the rest. The whole scene is a combination of these images, videos, and my analysis, plus my own acting as I worked.

 

 

 

Development

 

 

Workflow:

• find references for the emotions (along with using a mirror by my desk)
• block out main body
• block out face starting with chin
• switch from constant to spline
• fix glitches
• add pauses and intensity back
• lighting + details

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read through “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. Although I planned to do 3D a lot of concepts were still applicable.

 

 

 

This video was great for the technicalities of lip syncs and working out the specific mouth shapes and how they flowed into each other.

 

 

Although the focus of this module is on body mechanics, I wanted to push myself to create a mood and compelling ambience that supported the audio and emotion from the acting.

 

 

As it was the first day, I was just setting up the scene and prepping for the blockout. I ran into a lot of problems setting up the rig and working with the different versions of Blender, mainly missing controls, broken models, and more. I was only able to fix it by using this video, Blender 3.6 (which a lecturer okayed), and a couple of Blender support threads.

 

 

I looked up some videos to help me visualise the process better and have a better idea of the movement I’m working towards.

 

 

I tried to be very thoughtful with my blockout, taking into account posing, staging, and arcs. This did result in the head having too many keyframes at one point, as I wanted to mark the arc properly, but it just made it jumpy and awkward. This was something Rachel also pointed out and just advised deleting frames one by one and checking the change to see if it looked better. I really tried to make the blockout as good as possible, as my previous animation had been done directly on Benzeir, and they felt really overwhelming, and doing a blockout was not only recommended by the lecturers but also felt like a good way to stay organised and not get overwhelmed.

 

To make the blockout, I used my references and analysis but also my own intuition and a mirror, as there were some moments I saw potential to make better and more impactful than I had originally accounted for, for example, the bar stool falling as Rain stands up, Rain swinging her arm as she stands up, and the camera shake from the point.

 

I feel camera shake actually made a huge difference; I was quite insecure about this decision initially, as I find camera work really challenging, but after consulting with Rachel, I realised how simple it was to implement, and that small addition really improved the cinematography, which made me feel more confident about something that has previously been a huge struggle and also motivated me to improve the lighting, seeing how big a difference using good cinematography makes.

 

I felt the blockout was still lacking some emotion, so I looked back to the animators survival guide and found that I wasn’t utilising the eyes effectively, especially the upper eyelid, which was completely still; however, I was a little unsure if it looked like that because it was just a blockout, so I held off on making changes.

 

 

After switching to spline I realised the issue wasn’t fixed, and more problems arose from the switch to spline.

 

 

Because the glitching was so distracting, I decided to tackle that first. I fixed keyframes that went from positive to negative, which were the cause of the glitches, and I added supporting frames to bring back the strength from the blockout and convey that anger better. I also started animating the hair, which was challenging in its own way. I found myself overexaggerating it a lot, which distracted from the main animation; however, I wanted to have a lot of drag and follow-through to convey the speed and strength of her movement, which matches her anger. I should have found reference for this; however, I’ve had a lot of trouble in the past finding references for ponytails for some reason, and I wasn’t able to replicate that cartoony whip myself.

 

 

I added blinking mainly during the head turns and lowered the top eyelid and raise the lower one to create a squint to convey a feeling of pain.

 

 

I finally figured out how to render the video with audio; however, the audio didn’t sync up properly. I also added in the background at this point (previous steps’ renders were done after the background was finished). I used two lights: one blue one to the back right, which framed her in shadow to convey an underlying sense of sadness, and a softer yellow light at the front to light up the face better as it felt it was too dark and you couldn’t see her facial expression properly.

 

 

I finally got the audio synced up properly and added additional lighting to the bar to create three-point lighting, and the lighting didn’t feel dynamic and interesting enough, and the ambience wasn’t as effective as I wanted.

 

I chose to use 3-point lighting as it accentuates the height, width, and depth of the subject, making them stand out in the shot, and as in the previous lighting attempts, she blended into the background, or her facial expressions weren’t properly visible from the heavy shadows.

 

My fill light is the yellow soft lighting at the front, which helped with visibility; the key light is the strong blue lighting, and the backlight is the bar lighting, which gives Rain a soft rim light, making her stand out.

 

 

 

I tried to add the final part that got cut off but it messed up my timing so I decided to keep the previous version as my final.

Final Thoughts

 

Overall I think I improved a lot, especially in 3D; focusing on the blockout made the process a lot easier and better. But I’m especially proud of my improved cinematography; it’s my first time using 3-point lighting purposely and really paying attention to background and ambience to support the animation. I could’ve added more weight to the movements to better convey the anger, mainly in the hair, as looking back it feels a bit too smooth, which contrasts too much with the harsh motions of the arms. I’m glad I put in a lot more effort into my research and analysis, as it really paid off in both assignments and meant I didn’t waste any time and had fewer steps. I’m glad I took advice from the lecturers and implemented that into my work, though I’m hoping to have a little bit more confidence in my own decisions when my intuition tells me it’s the right choice, as it did with the camera.

Weight Lift

 

I did research and compiled points to keep in mind while animating so I could better recreate the mechanics of movement. My class work getting deleted, so to support my work I did animation analysis and studies instead.

 

 

Notes from video:

• Force: strength exerted on an object. The more force a person exerts on an object with less reaction the more heavy it will appear, If I want to make the weight believable I have to make the person struggle and exude a lot of force.
• weight & balance
  • Pose- Poses are the main way to communicate weight. To make sure I did this properly I recorded myself and used many references and analysed and chose the best poses that conveyed the struggle best.
  • Centre of gravity: A weight supported by the centre of gravity of the person will always appear heavier.
• Anticipation, arcs & follow-through: the heavier an object, the more build-up for the lift will be needed. I think this was the only point I struggled with as I there were some part my arcs were clear and there was nice secondary action but other areas were overlooked.

 

 

 

I liked the heavy weight in this animation and the use of the whole body to manage it. I also strongly believe that storytelling is an essential part of animation, so I try to include character and appeal in all my animations.

 

 

I added my own twist by making the person lift a fat cat. Despite this presenting a couple of challenges, overall I think it actually resulted in a stronger final piece with more technical skill, as I wouldn’t have considered some details if I had gone with a more basic approach.

 

Challenges:

1. Because a cat is an organic weight, its shape changes and the weight shifts any time it’s moved. To create a convincing animation, the person’s handling of the mass had to mirror that, which meant a lot of movement and shifting weight from one side to another.
2. Perspective: I opted for a simpler perspective to focus on the movement; however, that actually meant I had to do a lot of foreshortening, making perspective a challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I showed Aodahn my progress for feedback, and the response was mixed but encouraging. The beginning worked, but as I suspected, the actual lift and walk backwards didn’t, it was awkward and relatively boring. Additionally, although I added the back steps to play with perspective and dimension to make the animation more visually intriguing, it actually made it harder to see the movement and cat, so the humor and appeal were lost.

 

The red drawings on the images above show the feedback given to me. There were 2 suggestions on how I could improve:

1. Flipping it forward
2. Swinging it sidewards.

 

I found it difficult to picture which would be most effective, so I recorded myself attempting both lifts. I used a couple of videos on lifting rocks so I could better replicate the weight of the cat and the struggle to lift it. I ended up going with the swinging sidewards, as it allowed me to explore more animation principles, mainly exaggeration, appeal, staging, and arcs.

 

• exaggeration—although I could exaggerate a forward swing due to the angle, it wouldn’t look as good unless I pushed it into cartoony territory, which I don’t tend to like
• Staging—this was the main factor in my decision, as the first option has the cat and lift happen in the same spot; the cat would end up blocking the person the whole time. The other option also does that somewhat but to a lesser extent.
• Appeal—Although appeal is somewhat subjective, I felt the side swing was ridiculous but in a funny and impactful way, which made it more appealing.
• Arcs—again, simply due to the staging, a forward swing makes it much more difficult to show the arcs in the lift.

 

 

 

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/NzhhYjVkZjQ5/

 

 

 

 

 

The SyncSketch link has the full video I used with the frame-by-frame analysis. These are a couple of standout frames that highlight my process.

1. I started by finding the key poses and marking them on the top left with kp-; I also marked some big shapes I felt would be helpful.
2. I then used a red pen to mark each change from the previous key pose; I looked for shifts in weight, elbows and knees moving in, the head coming down, etc.
3. Analysed the bag and the straps; this was helpful for depicting the follow-through of the cat’s legs and tail.

 

This the most time-consuming step ; however, it made animating very simple. I didn’t have many steps in the animating phase, as this analysis blocked out my key poses and everything for me.

 

 

My analysis and research meant the animating stage was fast and simple. I followed my notes and completed the person exactly as intended. Although the drawing is rough, I also think this gif best highlights the subtle movements of the person. There was a little bit of a size loss as I was working intertagibly from pose to pose and straight ahead, but I managed to fix it later on.

 

I asked for feedback on it, there weren’t any major issues it just needed cleaner lines; however, as the other module’s hand-in was approaching, I was told to focus on that. I was really happy with this animation and the feedback was really encouraging, although even then I still felt there was room for improvment. Mainly the cat missing some follow-through, and some additional inbetweening at the start would polish it further, but on the other hand, I wasn’t sure I had time, so I focused on the cleanup as I was advised.

 

 

I cleaned up the line and added the cat; I personally prefer the rough lines, but it does make it harder to see the shapes. I tried to add more squash and stretch in this stage along with other principles of animation. I exaggerated the drag on the cat as it swings to play on the humor a little and also adjusted the person’s arms so they would fit around the huge cat, as I hadn’t accounted for its size in the original.

 

 

This is the final animation. I cleaned up overlapping lines and fixed some other issues. Although I’m very happy with the person’s movement and feel it convincingly shows weight, given a little more time, I would try to add a little more animation to the cat, as there are some parts where the body is completely stationary, which breaks the illusion of this organic dead weight whose weight is constantly shifting, making it impossible to lift.

 

 

I decided to make a couple changes last minute as they were really bothering me

• added more movement to the cats tail and corrected some awkward movement
• added squash and stretch to the head where it was previously still
• edited the hands a little so they weren’t as jittery

 

Final thoughts

 

Overall, I think I was a lot more organised with in this assignment, and the research and analysis of references I made were invaluable. However, I didn’t like the line weight, which actually made me prefer the rough version to the clean one. I also realised that I found myself gravitating towards straight-ahead animation more than pose to pose; thankfully, because of my planning, it didn’t cause any major issue in this animation; however, it was a problem for the cat, which suffered a considerable loss in size throughout the animation.. I feel I was able to successfully convey the weight and struggle of managing an organic mass.

Portfolio

 

WeightLift

LipSync