Animation Update: Wall Dismount

A little test I did waaayyy back in June in lunchtimes and between projects.

Hope you enjoy.

So life!

Hi all! Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for not keeping everything up to date, it's just been such a huge year! A FANTASTIC HUGE YEAR.

Summer 2014

 Where do I begin? So I graduated from University of South Wales last year, had an amazing time there, and met so many animation geeks like me.

 Then I worked in the summer as an animation workshop assistant, with Turnip Starfish, as part of First Campus. They ran a course for kids aged 10-18, and I had the inspiring opportunity to work with these young people on their films. You can check out their work here:

Also you should check out their channel for other goodies, like how to draw Elsa, and Showreels from previous summer school years.


Then I had a fantastic opportunity to join Aardman for work experience for two weeks. I worked with Matthew Rees during this time, and saw many exciting projects in their various stages of production. It was amazing! I have a shot that I was working on there, however i'm currently retopologising a prop, as it's far too dense for my computer to handle! I shall write up more about this at a later date I promise!
But it gets better
As of October last year, I became a Junior animator at Oysterworld!!

I feel like the luckiest person, I still don't know how to process that, haha! It has been an indescribable experience. I get to work every day doing what I love, with truly inspirational people. They're all so talented, and I cannot wait to show you what I've had the opportunity to work on.

I've been so fortunate the past year, it might not come across how truly thankful I am of it, seeming the small paragraphs, but that's because I don't know how to describe it to you... How do you go about describing an experience like this. I've wanted to do this since I was a child, and now I am, and it leaves me speechless. Which, if you know me, is quite an amazing feat.

I'll update you with more... sooner this time... haha! As a side note.. I really need to update the colour scheme of this blog don't I?!

Hope all is well with you readers,

Claire

Some doodles from different times

These are from my travel sketchbooks, I always have some form of sketchbook... Even at formal occasions! Always something to draw!

Allow me to guide you through the different sketches and when I drew them:

Tokyo - Feb 2014

Still need to write up the Tokyo trip. However here are some sketches I made during a museum visit, all these were of statues of various sizes.

Aardman June 2014-

Another write up I have to do for you all, but recently I spent two weeks work experience at Aardman!! I was in the cg department, it was crazy fun. More details on that soon, but in the mean time...

On my lunch breaks I went out and sketched, either people or environments, was really fun!

This is from Florida Apr 2013 -

I was very fortunate last year to visit Orlando, Florida, and stay at orange lake. Here is a sketch of their main water attraction - river island.

Broad Haven July 2013 -

A lush summer in west wales, really sunny and warm and... Lots of locations to draw! Haha! These were some of the better sketches, minimal detail so I cannot think I stayed that long!

Well that's all for now, see you later,

Claire

Sorry for lack of updates

These are the final weeks where all my university friends are in cardiff, so I've been very social! Unfortunately, other than an animatic and a load of sketches, I've not had time to update; sorry.

I've now moved back home, and am clearing spaces, so there may be a bunch of sketches loaded on to here.

The first is the bone sketch I did for the BFX competition, of the Roc, this was later turned into a rig diagram!

Lots of fun.

See you soon,

Claire

From Start to Finish - PMF Director

Hi All,

For my dissertation this year, for which I scored a high 2:1 - YEY, I studied the 12 principles of animation. More specifically my dissertation looked into the 12 principles and how they are applied differently to the different mediums. Eventually the conclusion was CG uses motion blur to aid in quick movement that is often seen in 2D animated films, however, like 2D, it also uses 'smear' frames; where one segment will stay with the beginning, or hit the end, of a big movement. This technique causes huge extremes in certain part of the body...

So how did this work with this piece:
Obviously I ended up using ARNOLD's motion blur features, however I also used some features on the malcolm rig (which is insanely flexible), to stretch out some features to aid the blur. In this piece, fingers were elongated, arms bent and stretched, and the head sevaerly stretched until it didn't really look like a head anymore!

Obviously I will be experimenting with the technique in future animated pieces, including the full film of this.

Hope you enjoy!

Oh yeah! That's me, and that's my dialogue too...

See you soon,
Claire

Painting Fun times: More alien mischeif

Now to animate....

Zekros in his bounty hunter garb, which glows in the dark.. he's pretty arrogant with his hunting, but likes to hear from the hunted's point of view; so he wants to be seen...
Anyway he's holding his Salak Kahim, which loosely translates as his 'beloved mind' in his language... The Tharinos do not normally speak like humans do, as their sandstorm ridden planet dislikes their throats, so they have developed a way of psychic communication. Their equivalent of a thumb, index and middle finger have nerves that can transfer thoughts and feelings to another Tharinos, while it started off like this (which is already a crazy stretch), it evolved into them generating small psychic fields around themselves for communication (this would help particularly grouchy Tharinos understand each other from a distance). Then it developed as the species grew, as more joined the world the network grew, until the connection of 'beloved minds' were formed. These are two individuals who would be mentally healthy for each other to be around, it is a mutual connection felt by both involved. This does not make them mates or anything, just able to hold healthy conversations and understand each other on a further level. With the Tharinos, a connection is formed when both are mentally advanced to the psychic stage, then the need to find each other grows like fire.
As the council expanded the psychic fields for all species in their airspace, the Tharinos found themselves connecting with other species.

A millennium since the first Salak Kahim bond between Tharinos formed, the first bonded with a human. The human is a gifted psychic, unable to control her powers fully her mind reached out for help, and an adolescent Zekros heard. No one from council space is legally allowed to enter earth's solar system, and all must be cloaked to avoid detection. Zekros, driven mad by the years of wanting to meet his Salak Kahim disobeys all orders and laws and finds the 'great psychic' he's dreamed of... But she's small... and fragile and not at all what he's expecting... Until she unleashes her powers.

Months later his ship unexpectedly beams her and him up, and she is soon the first and only human in council space... or so they think...

ANYWAY

This image??

He doesn't understand the idea that human's don't like their butts grabbed, his species doesn't have this social problem, butts are hard and not seen in that way. Humans do have this problem... and she's about to let him know that....

Painting fun times

Filed under 'This is not the work you should be doing'

A quick colour and shade of my Alien character Zekros. His species, the Tharinos, have an adaptive carapace that allows them to adapt to most environments, however this does not account for clothing... So they tend to walk around naked on their own spaceships. The design basically became 'make a human bearded dragon', because bearded dragons are my favourite lizards.

They put on clothes around other alien races so as not to make them feel uncomfortable... (Also to save line mileage on those scales!).

No... I have no idea why Zek is pacing aggressively on his spaceship...

See you soon,

Claire