Process and Production Sara - Lesson 1

This was my first Process and Production lesson of second year, I was really excited to start and learn new skills so I can expand my knowledge on the different style, medias and softwares that we will be using throughout the second year.

The first thing that we did in the Process and Production lesson was watch a short animation clip that was called 30 Motion Tests in 30 Seconds. I found that this animation was very creative and inspiring because it was different motion graphic pieces in one animation. I thought that the designs flowed really well and connected with each other, which I think is very important when putting an animated and a motion graphic piece together. I also like the style, font and colours that have been used in this design because I think that they stand out well, which is also a very important factor. The music and sounds that have been used within the animation fit well with the effects and motion tests that are happening throughout the film. I think that in the future I will take inspiration from the design again when created my own animated piece.

Here is the animation below:

30 motion tests in 30 seconds from Steffen K on Vimeo.

We were told that throughout second year we will have to create 5 ten second clips and a showreel of our final pieces at the end of the year in the process and production lesson with Sara. We had also been to told that we needed to consider how we our going to present our final pieces, our options were to create a channel on Vimeo, which would hold all our work together. To create a channel on Vimeo you need to go to your account, then select channels and then select the option that says create channel. Finally follow the instructions. Another option was to create your portfolio on a website called Styles.persona.co because you can choose from different styles and then select the one that you like the most, however the disadvantage is that it is £3 a month. 

We then moved on to our own animation, the first thing that I did was create our shapes or items that we wanted to use in Illustrator, I found this very straight forward. I decided to create a Hexagon (Burgandy), Circle (Green), Triangle (Yellow/Orange), Diagonal lines (Light Blue), Background (Yellow). After this we then watched another video called Spherical Video that can be found on Vimeo, once we had done this we then opened the programme Adobe After Effects and created a new composition that we could work with for my animation. The first part that I did was to create my diagonal lines and stripes on my comp, I then created a new background colour and foreground so that the animation that I was going to create would work. To do this I went to Layer > Solid, which opened up a new tab, I then selected then selected the foreground colour layer I did this because I wanted to add an effect to the solid colour. To do this I had to select the option that was Effect > Transition > Venetian Blinds. Before I applied this effect to my design I need to change the percentages of the options within this effect so that it would work.

I changed the transition completion from 0% to 50%, the direction to 30% and need to make sure that at this point the timer was halfway through the timeline. I also changed the width to 70%, after this I had to open up the layer in the menu at the bottom of the screen to the left side of the timeline and press the stopwatch for the layer and the comp. I then went back to the back to the start of the timeline and once again changed the transition completion from 50% to 0%, this then automatically put me a new keyframe.

We then moved on and created a composition and were told to call this Shape Test. I had to copy and paste my hexagon from Illustrator on the new layer (solid) in After Effects, to do this I used the keyboard short cut which was cmd + c. I then used the pen tool to select a place that I wanted to paste my shape into and then used cmd + v to paste it onto the layer. We then looked at the Wiggler Paths, which allow your shape to wiggle, to do this I had add the Wiggler Path. To make this effect work, I need to change the amounts. The first was the size which I changed to 63, the detail to 7, the point to smooth and the wiggles to 11, I found that this was a fun tool to use.

After this we looked at a new tool, which was called the wiggler. This is a tool that makes the object of your choice shake. The first part that I had to do was to again create a new composition and name it as the wiggler, I then chose to work with the circle that I had created in Adobe Illustrator where I copied and pasted the shape on to the new solid layer that I created for this composition. I found that the circle that I had pasted was very small and I need to make it bigger and more visible to me. I then moved onto open the layer and click on the transform option and select the position stopwatch, where I then moved the line on the timeline to the end and create a new keyframe by clicking the diamond at the side of the stopwatch. After this I had to open up the wiggler effect, which was located on the menu on the left side of the programme and select the keyframes and change the frequency to 12.0 and the magnitude to 10.0. I had to change and ask for help for this part because it wasn't working for me. Once I had been given help I was then able to press apply.

We then moved onto looking into a new tool called the Shape Morph, which I found was a really interesting tool to use in my design. I firstly selected the Shape Morph tool and changed the duration to 2 seconds and again copied and paste my chosen shape on the solid layer, the shape I decided to use for this design was the Triangle. I then click on the shape layer and select the contents option > shape > path > and then clicked on the path stopwatch, where this would then create a keyframe at the start of the timeline. I then moved the line to 1 second on the timeline and used the pen tool to make the triangle into a different shape by adding extra points to the shape that I had before. After I had played around with this tool I thought that the shape that I had morphed my triangle into looked like a Rabbit's Head.

For the rest of the animation I had to create several other designs using the tool and methods that I had learn't whilst in this process and production lesson. So I decided to copy and paste the background stripes layer and change the hue and saturation, so that the colours I was using would have a contrast between bright and dark colours in the animation. The next animation that I created was a circle using the Wiggler Path and a Hexagon Morph.

However I firstly had to created a title for this animation. To do this I had to create a new composition and use the text tool to add a name to my animation, the font style that I decided to use was Avenir Next Condensed because I thought it was simple and easy to read and wouldn't cause any problems for me. I placed the stripes layer to the back of this and changed the stretch to -100.00% so the stripes would open and close a different way.

The final part that I did in this process and production lesson was to create a final composition that would be made up of my final and little animations that I have created throughout my process and production lesson. I needed to make sure that I rendered out my video out as an Apple ProRes 4444, to get the right quality. I found that this process and production lesson was fun and I am going to looking into these tool later in my own time and future to experiment with them even further and see what I can create.

Motion Graphics from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

Year one Finale - Animation

This was my final Process and Production lesson that I had with Sara, I found this lesson was very fun and different to the previous lessons that I had with Sara because in the previous lessons we focused on Kinetic Typography, I found that this task that we had been given was very different and very fun. The task that we were given in this process and production lesson was creative collaboration with everyone in our group, where each of the students had to create a 10 second animation on the theme of objects or creatures that live in the sea, which will be edited together into one continuous sequence. I thought that this task would be fun and would defiantly look creative after the designs of each students have been put together.

Within the previous lesson, we were told to think about a sea creature of our choice that we wanted to create for this final piece, the first thing that popped into my head was Killer Whales after I had seen them in real life when I was little, so I decided that I wanted to create something that connected well to me. To create my design I had to use the programme Adobe Illustrator, which allowed me to create a professional and vector Illustration of the sea creature. I think that the programme was the best suited for this task, to create my Vector Illustration of my Killer Whale I used a photograph that I found of my photo when I went on holiday as a reference to my design. The tools that I used to create this design was the pen tool, paint bucket tool to add a fill to the design, so that it would stand out to the target audience and they would be able to understand what is being shown on the screen. The colours that I used for this design were Black and White because it would stand out and was relevant to the colours of a real life Killer Whale. 

The first part that we did in this lesson was to place my design into a new after effects document, where I was then able to modify and create an animation that I could use to for my final 10 seconded animation for the final collaboration. After I had placed my design into the the new document, i was then able to look at making my design move across the screen, I thought about how I wanted my Killer Whale to move a lot because I wasn't sure how to display my animation. I then thought about how Killer Whales jump out of the water, which got me to think about whether I could move Killer Whale from the side to centre, where it then turns and moves upwards to look like the Killer Whale is just about to jump out of the water. I thought that this was a real creative idea and was different from going from one part of the screen to the other side, as I thought that this was very basic, which I found was a little boring. To move the Killer Whale from one side to the middle of the screen, I had to make sure that the positioning on the timeline and on the screen were correct so that the design would flow in a nice way. I then had to use the rotate tool to make sure that the Killer Whale rotated upwards, however I needed to make sure that the Killer Whale Illustration rotated at the correct time that I wanted it to. To make sure that this was correct, I needed to make sure that the timing on the timeline was correct, but I needed to make sure that the design flowed well. I then changed the positioning of the whale again after the Killer Whale had tilted upwards to show the design, so that the Illustration would move upwards to look like it was about to jump out of the water. 

To add a little extra to my design, I decided to add little fish to the animation design, so that the design wasn't basic and something added to the design to make it work better and more creative. Overall I am happy with how the animation went, however I do feel that the design could be a lot better if I had a lot more time to improve my 10 second animation. Below was my final 10 second animation that I created on my own:

Killer Whale Animation from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

Here is the final collaboration that was brought together when all the students in the group had created there work using sea creatures or objects:

                                 Year One Finale - Group C from Motion-go on Vimeo.

Kinetic Typography

Kinetic Typography from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

What I Did In The Lesson

Within this process and production lesson, I was given the task to find a quote, lyric or poem that I could use for the kinetic typography animation. The quote that I decided to use for this animation was "Those who bring sunshine to lives of other cannot keep it from themselves". I chose this quote because I thought about creating a sunshine that would be relevant to the quote, I also think that the quote is also very inspirational. 

The process 

To create the Kinetic Typography animation, I had to use the programme Adobe After Effects, using the several tools to make my design better and moving. I found that this was quite difficult because I wasn't used to the software, however when creating some parts of the design I found this quite easy because I picked up how to use them straight away, which was very important as we had to create the design quite quickly. Before using the programme Adobe After Effects, I had to use Adobe Illustrator to create the words of the quote and the vector illustration of the sunshine. To create the sunshine I had to use the shape tool, the pen tool and the paint bucket tool to add the colour to the design. I also had to use the text tool to create the quote. 

What I Like

The part that is my favourite in this design is the sunshine vector illustration because I like how the sunshine begins to become bigger throughout the animation. I think that this is the part that I am most proud about because it is something that I haven't created before. Another part that I like about the design is the layout of the design because I think that it is very professional, easy to read and quite easy to understand what the quote is saying. 

What I Didn't Like

The part that I dislike from this animation is the typography font style that I have used for the design because it is quite fancy. I feel that the typography could be better because it is quite hard to read. I think that the font style could be slightly more simple, which could allow the target audience to understand and read the quote better than it is now. 

Avenir Next

Avenir Next from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

What I Did In The Lesson

Within this process and production lesson, I was given the task to create an animation that is about a font style of our choice. Once we had picked a font style we then had to look into the design even further by finding out different facts or figures that I can place into the animation. The font style that I chose to use for this design was Avenir Next, that contained four different types of the font style. 

The Process

To create my design, I used the programme Adobe After Effects because this was the best programme to produce a animation that was perfect and very professional. The tools that I used to create the design was the text tool, for this design I had to learn new techniques that i could use for my design because I am still getting used to the programme. This is because I am still new to the software and I am not used to every technique within the programme. 

What I Like

My favourite part about the design is the way that the font style enters the animation because I think that the design is quite consistent throughout. I am also happy with how the colour scheme that I had chosen for the design worked well with the font style that I had use for my design. I think that the colour scheme that I have used is very simple, but is still very effective. I think that choosing the colour scheme needs to be considered very carefully, as choosing the colour scheme is very important. This means that the design can look professional and attractive towards the target market.

What I Didn't Like

My least favourite part about the design is the way that the font style enters and exits the design because I feel that this could be improved, as it needs to more creative rather than the design fading in and out or flying onto the page. Another part that I don't like about the design is the layout because I think that this could be considered further, as it could be more professional and presented better.  

Process and Production - Animation After Effects Tutorial.

In the previous workshop, we were given the task of creating an character that we could use to create an Animation using the programme Adobe After Effects. To create our character we had to make sure that the elements of the character were on separate layers in the Illustrator document that I had create to create my designs.

The Illustration design that I chose to use for After Effects project was a Snowman because I thought that this design would work very well, as an Animation because it would be very different to other objects that I looked and considered to create for After Effect project. To create my Snowman I used quite a few tools like the circle tool to create the main body of the Snowman, the eyes and mouth and the stones that I had placed in the centre of the body. I also used the triangular tool for the nose of the snowman, the pen tool to create the hat and scarf that I placed on the snowman. Finally I used the pen tool to create the arms of the snowman that would be connected the middle part of the snowman.

In the first part of the process and production lesson we were given a few examples that a company had created using an animated style. The company that we looked at was called Animade, I found the example Sketchchycles that we were shown were very creative, as this animation was based on person that was made from shape that was walking on the page.

                  

Sketchycles: Muso from Animade on Vimeo.

The other video that we watched was called Shoelaces, I thought that this example was very different from the first video that we watch, as this example showed us a story from the shoelaces perspective. I thought that the animation that had been created was very detail and professional. The sound effects where very relevant to the personality of the shoe laces and the perspective of them.

                       

Animade Propz - Shoelaces from Animade on Vimeo.

We then opened up our Illustrated character in the programme Adobe Illustrator. We then had to make sure that the elements were on separate layers to each other, I also had to make sure that they were labeled with the name of each element on the separate layers. After this I then had to make sure that document colour mode was on the RGB setting rather than the CMYK setting, to do this I followed the process of File > Document Colour Mode. Finally I then had to change the document set up, aboard to the correct size, to do this I had to select the pixels option.

                                                      

                                                        Step 1                                  Step 2

  Step 3

After this I then, opened up the programme known as Adobe After Effects. After I had opened up this programmes I then need to import the file that I wanted to take into After Effects. To do this I had to follow the process file > import > file, after I had done this a menu popped open onto my screen, once this had popped open I was then able to find the file that I was looking for to use in After Effects. Before I selected the OK button I had to make sure that the import as option had been changed from the option called footage to composition - retain layer sizes. I did this because the animation would work better in this selection. Once I had made these changes to the option, I was then able to open the file in After Effects.

I noticed that when my file had imported into the After Effects document that some of my layers were completely black, this was because some of my layers were black and couldn't be seen on the background. To transfer the layers onto the timeline, I had to double click on the composition which would take my layers to the timeline. I was then able to select a tool displayed above the timeline known as Topple Transparency, this allowed me to change the background colour from black to white that would then allow me to see the all the elements of my snowman on the page. 

The next step that I had to do was to access the composition settings by following the composition > composition settings. I had to then keep the settings the same as they were in order for the composition to be correct. 

After I had done this I then had to set an anchor point onto all of the objects that I wanted to change for my animation. To do this I had to select the button called anchor point, which was the sixth button across on the menu at the top of the screen. Once I had selected this I was then able to drag the anchor point anywhere on the object that I wanted to change. I then was able to select the rotate tool, which was the fourth button on the menu at the top of the page. I was then able to rotate the different elements to see how they would move. 

I then moved onto pair my layers with each other, this was known as the parenting layer, which is located on the timeline. I used this to help me connect the layers to each other, for example I connected my face and hat with the layer called Body one. This meant that I was able to all the selected elements together. I then selected a layer that I want to move to create animated piece, the layer that I decided to select was Body 2, I then used the arrows which then brought down a drop down menu with extra option that I hadn't seen before. On these options I was able to create keyframes that would allow me to rotate and move the elements of my Snowman. The first part I had to was to create select the stopwatch at the side of the rotation button, I then moved the red line every second, where I was then able to change the rotation of the element. I repeated this process until I got to 10 seconds. 

 

We then watched another example called Catch me if you can, Main Title. I thought that this example was very creative, as the layout of the design was very professional. I also found that the graphics that had been created where very detailed and effective, I also thought that the story of the animation was very relevant to the title of the film, which I thought was very important. 

                   
                                 Catch me if you can from Motion Graphic. on Vimeo.

After we had watched the example, we then set up a new composition for our final outcome. To do this I had to go to Composition > New, I was then able to name this file as Main Comp, which would then become my final document. Once I had created a new composition, I was then able to drag my character onto the timeline of my Main Comp. I then decided to change the scale of the face using the scale tool, where I used the same process as the rotation in my animation. To scale the size of my face of my Snowman, I selected Scale where I was able to change both the width and length when the keychain of the Scale was locked. 

The next step that I had to do was created a background for my animation, using a solid colour. I had to do this by going to the option layer > new > solid. A menu then popped up on my screen where I was then able to choose the colour that I wanted to use a solid coloured background. The colour that I chose to use for my background was a light turquoise. Once I had selected the colour I was then able to send my layer behind the snowman, which gave the snowman a background. 

We then watched another example called Lernz Bird by Animade, again I found this example creative because it was very inspirational and engaging. I thought that this example was very inspirational because the background of the video was visual and very different to the other video that I have looked at, I am defiantly going to take inspiration from this example for my own animation.

                       
                                         Animade Lernz - BIRD from Animade on Vimeo.

To create an effective background, I decided to find to different copyright free texture using the search engine 'Google'. Once I had chosen the textures that I wanted to use for my background textures, I was then able to import the on the document that my final animation was on, to import my textures on to the document I had to go to File > Import > File, I was then able to select the two texture to import on the document. After I had imported the textures on to the document, I then had to drag both textures onto the timeline, once I had done this I then had to make sure that the textures where behind the object of that I had animated, which was my Snowman. To change the mode option, I had to select the toggle switches to change the mode of the texture for both of the layers. For both of the textures I used the mode called Screen. I like this mode because it created an effective background for my animation, the colour of the background that I chose was very bright and vibrant, which is very engaging and eye-catching for the target audience that I am aiming towards.

The final part that I had to do for this was to save my final design. After this I then had to follow the process to render my design, file > export > render queue. I then had to select the render option at the bottom left of the page, which finalised my animation. Overall I am pleased with how my animation has been worked, I feel that my skills in After Effects has improved since the last lesson in after effects because I feel that my animation has improved since last time. I am going to keep improving on my skills as the lesson go along.

                   
                                   Snowman Animation from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

Harry Potter Book Advert

In this session I created a Book Advert for the book series Harry Potter, which included the Illustrations that had created previously using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I am quite pleased with how this book advert has been created and how it looks after it has been completed. I think that the layout of the animation is very well structured, as I have kept the books in order of the series, which create a complimentary flow that the target audience will understand. I have tried kept the font styles simple but effective because I didn't want to use a font style that would be hard for the target audience that I am aiming for to read and understand. the colour scheme of this animation is very simple but could be brighter and more vibrant, however I wanted to keep within the theme of the books because the story starts from a dark point, which then becomes more cheerful and happy. Although it then becomes darker towards the end of the series, however my animation wants people watching to join the characters and houses at Hogwarts through this magical and magnificent journey that the series takes us on.          

                       
                                      Harry Potter Book Advert from Rebecca Thorp on Vimeo.

My least favourite part about this animation was creating the design, as it was quite difficult because the programme, which I had to use to create this design was in Adobe After Effects. I found this programme quite challenging because I hadn't used this before, which meant it was hard to learn the basics. However once I had started to use the programme more I found the programme a little easier to use. The music that I used within the animation fits very well within the design because I think that the Illustrations, which I created flow well alongside the music. In the future, I am going to take this into consideration, as improvement that I need to do to create professional and eye catching to the target audience that I am going to be aiming towards. I will also consider the time that need to put in to create a perfect Animation or advert that I am going to produce to advertise my object, that I have chosen. 

Process and Production - Harry Potter Book Series Illustrations

This was our first process and production lesson with Sara, I found that this lesson was very different because it allowed to look at programmes and websites that I hadn't used before where I was able to improve on my skills and new skills that I had started to learn about. Within this lesson we had to create our blog, where we will have to upload our work to show what we have been working on throughout the year. We then had to create a vimeo account, which would allow me to upload my animations show that other people would able to see and look at. In this Process and Production session, we looked a design studio called From Form from the Netherlands that are based around creating short animated films, title designs and commercials. The first task that we were given in this process and production lesson was to create a 10 second promotional trailer for a book or a life event of your choice. After looking at this design company I found that this was very useful. The video that we were shown by the design company From Form was made using two different styles, which are digital and handmade. The film that we were shown was very inspirational, as it got me thinking about how I could create my own advert for my book or book series. 

These are some of the Illustrations that I have been creating, as part of an advertisement for a book. I decided to create my advertisement on the Harry Potter series. I chose to do this series of books because it has lots of imagination and creativity within the books. I feel that my Illustrations are good, as I have tried to include lots of detail within my designs, so that I can get the best possible outcomes for my book advert.

I wanted to be consistent within my work because I wanted my designs to connect well with each other. The Illustrations that I have created for my book advert all have detail to get the best possible outcome, so it is easier to understand what the objects are. 

I felt that this task went quite well, as I feel that the Vector Illustrations that I created were very detailed and turned out a lot better than I had hoped. As I had spent a lot of time on these Illustrations, as I wanted them to look professional and well presented in my book advert. The programmes that I used to create my design was Adobe Illustrator. The part I thought went well in the process of creating these Illustrations were using the Pen tool to create them, I found using the Pen tool easy to use, which allowed me to create the best possible outcomes for my Book Advert based on the Harry Potter Series. 

 There was one point that could have been better from my Illustrations, which could have been the font style that I had chosen to use for the text because I think that after creating my Illustrations the font style that I have chosen to use is not the best. However I do think that the font style is very bold and easy to read by the target audience that I am aiming my Book Advert towards.

If I was to improve these Illustrations even further, I would look into using different styles of artwork to compare how they compare against my Vector Illustrations, that I have created for my Book Advert. I could then also analyse, which styles work the best and would create the best outcomes for my Book Advert. I could also look into merging some of the style together to create an effective piece of artwork.  

This is one of my Illustrations that I have created for my book advert, which is the Harry Potter Series. The piece which I have created above is a Chess Piece. I chose to create the chess piece because it is relevant to the first book called ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone’. The part I like about this Vector Illustration is that the Illustration I have created is very detailed and makes the design stand out and is very easy to understand what the object is. 

                                 

To create my Vector Illustration of the chess piece, I used the programmes like Adobe Illustrator to create the main design and the detail, which I included on the design. I also used Adobe Photoshop to create the layout of how my design will look in the book advert.  

Overall I am pleased with how my Vector Illustrations have turned out in the end, as I didn't know what to expect after creating them on Adobe Illustrator.