PREVIS 1:

 In order for us to get proper timing down for our animated sections we were told to create a “3D Previs”, which simply just means visualising a scene before creating it. As I was off this day I had trouble trying to understand how to animate using the cameras and basic models, however through the online videos I was able to create a really rough visualisation based off of the refined storyboards. I used very basic shapes to nail down the framing etc as final designs/models for our characters weren’t finished at this stage and I wanted to animate from a neutral standpoint.

This is the video I used to base my previs around, using very general shapes to get the basic idea across of what the scene will play out like:

I had a strange, reoccurring issue that kept arising when I would render an animation. The main tutorial I use when rendering an animation would be the one below:

However when rendering my previs I found there was a massive lag between frames, or the animation would jump back a frame a few times before moving forward. I tried the various troubleshooting below, however I couldn’t find out for the life of me how to fix this issue. I tried rendering as a flat out video format too, but to no success.

https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/99469/blender-rendered-animation-is-not-smooth

It could very much have been a simple issue to fix however I just couldn’t clock it, so I put my video file into capcut and attempted to have the end result be as smooth as possible. As it was just the basic previs I didn’t mind, however when it comes to rendering I hope to get it right the first time to ensure a smoother process. The result is still a bit jarring but I attempted to cut between as many issue frames as possible.

I focused mainly on interesting angles and continuity. I also wanted to vaguely try unique lighting that would enhance the scene and pull different colourful hues to enhance the environment. One thing I found strange when working with camera angles and models was that the lighting could be very harsh depending on your position. I tried to balance the lighting so the models weren’t oversaturated.

Previs 1:

We presented our 3D previs’s in front of the class through a powerpoint, however we found that we didn’t execute the exercise correctly. What was asked was to focus mainly on one section each of the animation where we as a group created our own individual previs’s. Despite doing this incorrectly it was a nice way to see how my group interrupted our animation and gained new insight into how my group would like the animation to play out. All our previs’s, despite pulling from the same source, was very different in execution which brought new perspectives into the exercise.

How the group originally worked was us voting on one previs to use as the final, we were going to use Andrea’s however we ended up voting on which section we wanted to focus on for the proper previs. Recalling from a previous post we split up the sections accordingly, based on the image below. How the sections were allocated was of follows:

Red – Ellen.

Green – Aaron.

Blue – Kaitlyn.

Purple – Andrea.

Orange – Myself.

PREVIS 2:

When it came to our second Previs I had to use an entirely different method compared to the first time around. We were able to use our official models (without textures, at this stage) to establish a better feel for what the scene would look like. I was able to select different meshes and scale them, inserting a scale keyframe to hint at different emotions, and experiment with different camera movement (although it was tricky having the camera track the models in time.) It was fun syncing up character movements and reactions as I would focus the basic location of the characters first, then when in to add secondary actions/smaller details.

I was having an issue attempting to frame the camera how I would like for this shot, as the characters were too close to the wall. I attempted to scale them down but due to the active camera looking onto their movements in the next cut you could visibly see the sudden change. To combat this (although there may be a simpler method of doing this, and less brutal on my poor computer 🙁 ) I copied the set and alternated between the two sets when it came to cutting between cameras. That way I was able to position the camera so it didn’t clip through the wall while also allowing for the claw and frog to travel a longer distance for the tracking shot.

Below image showing the framing issue. The right being the only way I could frame the camera to get the shot I wanted without clipping through the wall, although the frog takes up too much space, where the left the objects are scaled down and repositioned to get the required shot. This also allowed me to position the claw in frame, similar to the composition of the storyboard.

The two sets. This allowed me to cut between different cameras/model sizes while having it be the same setting.

I had to get rid of the glass doors to both the interior and exterior of the machine to clearly see the frog in this frame. Added a light source to light up subject as the frame was very dark.

 

Similar case for this scene, where I had to add a light and adjust the strength to illuminate the frog’s face. At this stage we didn’t have an official hand model so I tried to create my own. The sculpting/topology stage worried me a bit due to not being very good at it, so in the end I didn’t take this hand model anything further than the basic blocking stage. However it worked for what I was trying to convey in the scene.

In the end I was happy with how my previs came out. The only thing I wished I did was upload it so my peers could see it. Due to the complicated route I took to piece together the previs I didn’t have it completed for the final cut to show the lecturers, so my section was left out. I had shown pieces of my progress however so my team weren’t in the dark about what my section entailed and eventually added my scene to fit with the rest of my team members. I think I was also too precious with my previs, as it only needed to be a very rough layout of the animation.

My final previs (I added sound to get a vague idea on possible soundbites/what the final outcome would look like):

Edited to fit overall previs: