Days Before Class
Whilst I was continuing to work on my animation I decided I would restart the whole process. This was due to how overcomplicated the file had become and it was becoming harder to work on all aspects eg: too many layers making it difficult to sort through. However I did import some elements like the backgrounds over to ease the transfer. By the time of the class I had got most of the backgrounds completed.
One on One Session
There was no class today. Instead I had a one on one session/feedback review with one of my tutors. I gave my report on how my animation was restarted and I was having problems working at home due to it being harder to concentrate because of the issue of home study as opposed to a classroom environment. I was told that this was a common issue with several of the class’s students feeling the same way. I was reassured of my task and had my deadlines confirmed and with an element of small talk (i.e. how was you today?), the session came to an end.
Rest of the Week
I would continue to work on the background until it was complete. Then I will begin work on the character models and the table in the foreground. On Saturday I worked on both the character model for the Spy Rat and the Doctor completing them both including, colour and all other issues. Only the robotic arms are left to create and they have temporary stand-ins until I get around to completing them.
At end of the week, the Spy Rat was fully animated while the Doctor has his head animated as well. I used both a mixture of both puppet and redrawn animation. Redrawn is when I redraw elements of the character like the head of the doctor in order to show it turning. Puppet is when I create a character with their limbs and other assets on different layers and move them around on each keyframes. It similar to stop motion and the Spy Rat is completely worked this way with the exception of the head turning which was standard animatation technique. As well as the foreground characters. I started to animate the background elements to bring more life to the scene, but it will take a while due to those elements not being designed for animating in the first place.
Next Week
If I have time I will also begin the animation of the robotic arms (I have already started on the middle arm). I will even try to get them completed. I will also finish off the background animation as well. Then I will fix up the midground filter to have the background bolted out when the night vision is not on.
This Week Work