Self-Critique

For the final animation that I submitted, there is actually an error that I cannot resolve.

When the arm reaches the third box, the position of the third box actually goes above the arm. I tried adjusting the blend parent to 1 but the problem persist. Even without the blend parent, the position of the box is also not placed at the position that I wanted. I tried keying in the attributes for the position but the problem still persist too.

I assume that the cause of this error made is because of the constrain problem. Through the process of completing this project, I'd realized that the starting process of constraining part is very important as it will affect the whole animation if there's a minor error made while doing the constrains for the boxes. The error existing in the animation might be due to the neglection during the constraining part which, therefore, lead to the error made today.

1. Character (Coddy)

During the process of carrying the boxes and stacking them up, Coddy will be having the thoughts of when is it going to stop as he is starting to feel bored of the work that is repeating.
Thoughts that are running through Coddy's mind will be, "Why is it so boring...", "When is it going to stop?".

2. Storyboard

Coddy is busy with lifting of the boxes and putting it in place when it comes to a box that the he lifted and can't be released.

Coddy tried to release it for a few times by shaking the box off lightly and then slowly become tired and irritated with it and starts to shake the box off vigorously.

Coddy gave up in trying.

In the end, the box dropped on it's own when Coddy stop trying. Coddy got no idea and cannot react to what is happening.




1) Coddy start picking up box

2) He picked up and want to bring it to the other side

3) He stacked the boxes up

4) Coddy pick up another box

5) He cannot release the box

6) He try shaking it the box off




7) Coddy is tired of trying.

8) The box drop by it's own and Coddy was shocked.

9) He got no idea what is happening and do not know how to react to it.

Lab 13

1) Apart from their different sizes, it is obvious from Luxo Jr. that the big lamp is “older” and that the small lamp is “younger”.

How is this communicated by the animation? Give at least THREE examples.


The actions from both lamps actually shows that the bigger lamp is older as compared to the smaller lamp. In the animation, the smaller lamp appears to be more active and playful as compared to the bigger lamp. The smaller lamp keeps playing with the ball rather than the bigger lamp.

When the bigger lamp first saw the ball, it has no interest in the ball and keep pushing the ball away. Unlike the smaller lamp, it shows much more interest in the ball and keep playing with it. The animation portrayed the scene by implementing reasonable fact like how children and adults will react when they saw toys or when they are playing with toys.

Lastly, another example that shows that the bigger lamp is older than the smaller lamp is that the smaller lamp moves around with the ball throughout the whole animation. Unlike the bigger lamp which stays still all the way because it has no interest in the ball as compared to the smaller lamp.

2) Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.

An example is when the small lamp jumps on the ball and keep bouncing on it. Luxo Jr chose to let the ball be inflated during the process when the smaller lamp is on it so that it will be funnier as compared to when the ball inflated while the smaller lamp is kicking around with it.

The timing for the ball to inflat actually contribute to humour element in the animation. If the timing for the ball to inflat was during the process when it was being kicked around, it may not seems as funny or cute as compared to when it inflated during the process when the lamp was bouncing on it. This shows that timing is actually important in creating an animation.

3) When you create a joint chain, these form a hierarchy, with the first joint at the top and the last joint at the bottom. Explain why this is necessary for the joints to work properly.

This is to prevent errors from occuring in the process of animating the object or character. If there are no hierarchy being formed, we might face problem in animating different actions of the character as we do not know which is the correct part to edit. This will affect the quality of the animation.

1) Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 2D animation? Explain your view.

Personally, I don't think that to create a good 2D animation requires a good drawing skills.
Most importantly is to be able to sketch or plan what exactly we want in the animation and go about doing it. Moreover, 2D does not require as much details as compared to 3D, therefore, simple sketches can also help us get our way through in creating

2) Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 3D animation? Explain your view.

Mastering a good drawing skills do make it much more easier in creating a 3D animation but as technologies starts improving, more and more features were being built into 3D programs which bring more conveniences in creating a good 3D animation even if you do not have superb drawing skills.

For example, 3D programs like Maya have many built in features that help us to create good animation. Simple sphere, cubes, cylinder can be easily created within a few clicks in the program.

Therefore, I think that having superb drawing skill is not essential but a bonus in creating good 3D animation. What matter most is the product that we are going to present.

3) What do you think would separate a piece of poor animation from a piece of good animation? In other words, how would you go about deciding if a piece of animation is good or bad?

Personally, I find the most important key to a good animation is not about the content but the quality of graphics. The quality of the graphics will determine if a particular animation is good enough especially when we are focusing more on 3D object.

4) In 2D animation, you need to be very aware of timing at a frame by frame level, using timing charts and other techniques - but for 3D animation, this is handled using the graph editor, which is more concerned with manipulating rates of change over time.

Does this affect how you approach your animation work? Explain.

It will affect how we approach our work to a certain extent that we might neglect the important detail that we need to look into about too. Timing charts are also important in ensuring that the animation runs well and smoothly. If we do not focus on the timing charts, animation will not be as nice due to reasons like graphics do not flow smoothly frame to frame.

5) Give a brief critique of Maya as an animation tool. Don't just say Maya makes animation difficult, or easy, or that you need to learn a lot of stuff to use Maya - explain what Maya does well and not so well in terms of creating animation.

Maya does well in creating animation in a way that the program allows us to do many things without having to switch to other programs in the process of creating a good animation. We can create models, decorate the scenes, link all the scenes together, add special effects and etc. It's like a one stop area for creating an animation as the program is equipped with many useful features. But this one stop area also make it tougher to find the features that you want to use because it is a one stop area, therefore, many things were being cramp together in a program making it tedious for us to do simple task.

Week 11, E-learning, Squash and Stretch.

Why is squash and stretch so useful in animation?

The squash and stretch technique is useful in animation because it can make the animation look more realistic, as if you are watching it from real life, because the technique adopted the real characteristic of, for example, how a ball bounce across a room in real life.

Think of a situation in which extreme squash and stretch could be applied to a character - try to be original.

I think that the process of cracking an egg can be a situation whereby extreme squash and stretch can be applied to.

The squash can be when the egg was being cracked, the process of the yolk and egg white before landing into bowls or plate and the squash part will be when the yolk and egg white landed onto the bowl or plate. Because before landing, it's shape will be like a giant water drop and when it landed, it became flat.
I'm not sure whether the stretch part is valid but the effect of squash part can actually be fully illustrated just when the egg land onto the surface.

Think of an animation example where squash and stretch would NOT be appropriate.

I think squash and stretch will not be applicable if the animation illustrate a person hopping his way across somewhere. Because human cannot be stretched and squashed when hopping, logically. It may seems that there are a bit of stretching and squashing but using human might not be able to successfully illustrate the squash and stretch movements.

If squash and stretch doesn't really happen so obviously in real life, why do you think is it so effective in animation?

Personally, I think the reason why squash and stretch is effective in animation is because it helps to draw people's attention and also make the animation more realistic as though it's real. In order to make an animation to be as realistic as in real life, exaggerated movement like squash and stretch will be needed to show the movement of certain objects that involves similar movement when in real life.

Week 10

What is ease-in-ease-out in reference to animation?

Ease-in-ease-out refers to a process during a particular movement for something.
The process of ease-in-ease-out occurs when it involves a different speed in actions. For example, a running scene. Before the character starts to run, their speed will be slow initially then increases when the character starts running and slow down again when they are about to stop.

What does frames per second mean?

It refers to the number of scenes being played within a second.

12 Principles of Animation

The principles of animation was firstly being introduced by the Disney animators, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. There are a total of 12 basic principles of animation and the purpose of the principles is to produce an illusion of characters adhering to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal. The 12 basic principles of animation are: 1. Squash and stretch 2. Anticipation 3. Staging 4. Straight ahead action and pose to pose 5. Follow through and overlapping action 6. Slow in and slow out 7. Arcs 8. Secondary action 9. Timing 10. Exaggeration 11. Solid drawing 12. Appeal In order for us to understand more about how to use the principles, a few short clips were being taken to practice the principles.







This video imply on the principle anticipation. Anticipation is being used to prepare the audiences that something is going to happen. In the videos, the attempts of throwing the object shows that object will be thrown after the attempts were being made and the other one shows that the person is going to jump up because she started with bending her knee down before really jumping up.




I think that this video shows the principle of overlapping because the object was being thrown up and landed down. The process of being thrown up and landing shows overlapping.



This video shows the principle of pose to pose. Pose to pose refers to actions being perform by two people in a single scene. In the video, the two people were dancing.



This video implies the exaggerating principle as the person started running and suddenly stops in front of the camera. This created a sudden effect to the people hence making it look exaggerating.

Object of Our Own (PART 2)

Research



The video above shows the technique of Bevelling and Extrusion. These two techniques were being used in the process of modelling my object which is the trolley. Bevelling was used to smoothen the edge of the trolley while Extrusion was being used to extrude the edges on wheels, handle and the board.




The video shows the technique of Booleans using the Difference command. This technique is for cutting of holes of different shapes based on the polygons. This technique was being used for the part that can be found at the the center of the wheels. I used Booleans to cut out a circular hole so that the connector can go through.


Self-Critique:







Success of the model:

I think that the modelling of the trolley was a successful one as it resembles a trolley a lot. In the process of modelling the trolley, I've add in different colors as seen on the original picture, this is because the original trolley's colors were quite dull, therefore, I've decided to add colours to it since I've learnt the techniques in class before.

Errors:

The first error that I made was when handling with the lever part. Because the lever were not made out from exact shape, therefore, I used cubes for it and adjust it's vertices. During the first few times of adjusting, I couldn't get it right because whenever I select the vertices and adjust it, it just won't make any difference. I still managed to get the shape I want in the end, without knowing how. I think the result would be even better if I know what exactly happens when no differences was being made even if I had already drag the arrows to adjust it.

Another error that I made while modelling is the handle of the trolley. Because I extruded the handle from the cylinder, it seems to be like a rectangle which is illogical for trolleys handles. It should be a round-edge one than being a squarish handle. I tried bevelling the handle but it turns out to be a weird shape, therefore, I decided not to bevel the handle. I also tried smoothening the handle but it also turns out weird.

I believe the trolley will look better with a round-edge handle than the current one so that it will resembles the trolley even more and giving it a more realistic feel for it.

Object of Our Own (PART 1)

Own Object: Trolley



This is an object that I decided to model out.

Story:

To prevent the trolley from rolling and interupting the rat race, the trolley was actually being tied up with a thin rope but because the rat accidentally bump into it during the race, the thin rope loosen and the trolley rolls and distruct the track for racing, hence, they could not finish the race as the track was being destructed.

Shape:

During the process of modelling the trolley, I've faced a few difficulties when it comes to the modelling of some parts.



1) Handle

I extruded the handle from the cylinder beside it and join it to the another cylinder at the other side. The extrusion is simple but making the extruded part as round as the cylinder is not easy. I tried bevelling but it became a weird shape while it stretches. I also tried smoothing the extruded part but it turn outs weird also. I got no idea how to make it as round as the handle, therefore, I left it as it is, a rectangular handle.

2) Levers

Because the shape of the lever is not an exact shape, therefore, I used a cube and adjusted it's vertices. It is actually an easy task but I tried it a few times before getting it right. I tried adjusting it by pulling the green arrow for y-axis down but it could not be moved. I don't know why, it might be due to the selection of vertices or might be the numbers of divisions. Luckily, I managed to get it right in the end.

Technical Aspects:

The techniques I've used while modelling the trolley are Bevelling, Extruding and Boolean (Difference).

A) Wheels

For the wheels, I used the Extrusion technique to create a gear-like edges which will make the torus look more like a wheel. Even though it may look a bit weird, I find that it's better than leaving the torus as it is.

As for the Booleans technique, I used it for the part that can be found at the center of the wheels. I used it to cut a circular hole so that the connector can go through.

B) The sides of the trolley

In order to let the sides of the trolley to look so sharp or squarish, I've used the Bevel technique to make it look more smoother and realistic.

C) Levers

I've adjusted the vertices of the cube that were being used for the lever part so that it look more like a real trolley. During the process of adjusting, I've faced difficulty in adjusting because most of the time when I try to drag the arrows, the vertices did not move.

D) Handle and Board(?)

For the handle and the board, I used the Extrusion technique too. I extruded both handle and board from the cylinder on the left to join it to the other cylinder on the right. I find that extrusion is easy as long as you checked that you selected the correct faces, therefore, I did not face much problem while extruding.

Design:

Washboard, Tracks, Bucket and Vase.

Washing Board:

Tracks:


For the tracks, I don't know why there are so many extra lines which create some problems for me when extruding the extra panel out. I still get to extrude it as nice in the end, hopefully it look nice. :x

Bucket:

I tried adjusting the handle so that it won't look that thick and fat which lead to overwhelming "$".



Vase:

Creating the vase is interesting and fun as the process is easy. Before deciding on this design for the vase, I'd actually tried on many other designs for it. Decided on this because it look nice and somehow, elegant(?) and its not like common vase.

Week 4, Lab 1, E-learning.

Does multi-tasking give you a real or false sense of having accomplished something?

Personally, I think that while multi-tasking does give a false sense of accomplishment.

As mentioned in the articles, most students multi-task by surfing Facebook, using their mobile phones or watching movies online while doing their work. These things were claimed to be important for these students as they think that through all these sources, they will be more updated with what's happening around, among their friends and not the school work.

As a student myself, I understand how does multi-tasking give me a false sense of accomplishment in work. It is because that when multi-tasking with all the social mediums while doing work, your will of accomplishing the task might not be as strong as when you first start doing your work. Attention will slowly drift towards things that you were multi-tasking on the other hand, like Facebook, text-messaginfg, chatting online with friends and etc, as a result, getting lazier to put in more effort in the work and to rush through it because you want to finish it soon and focus on what you're doing on the other hand.

This will inevitably let the students themselves to think that they had already completed their task when they actually have not done so.


Is learning 3D and Design different from learning programming, or is all learning the same? Why?

Learning 3D and Designing is somehow similar to learning programming. For me, I think that both are teaching us how to design something. That is where I find that both learning processes are actually the same.

Learning 3D and Designing requires us to put in efforts in thinking how to design something good and how to make the design the best. Same goes to programming, we are going to program something for users which also requires us to put in effort in thinking how can we make a good program and what will make it a good program for the users. In both ways, we are going to make something out, be it creating a useful program, nice designs or a 3D object that looks as if it's real.


The article states that "Learning is actually a very complex operation for an individual". Do you agree with this? Do you feel that you approach your learning in the best way - if yes, how, and if no, how can you change your work style?

I agree that learning is actually a complex operation. No matter how easy the subject or module is going to be, it definitely requires learning before we can actually said that they are easy.

As we learn, we absorbed what the teacher is teaching, we sort all the things we absorbed while listening in our brain, then we understand after sorting out ourselves. All these are individual's work and may seems like an easy process, however, if there were to be distractions during the process, we might not be able to work all these out by ourselves in the brain.

To ensure that our learning will be the best way, we should not let things distract us during the process of learning and to do that, we have to set our strong will to just study and learn during the right time, it will make learning an easy process and not complex for ourselves.


What are your thoughts about the last paragraph in the extract?

In the last paragraph of the extract, it mentioned that we, people, have to fit in to the team when it comes to businesses or the process of accomplishing tasks. This is because when we fit into the team, we will then have the opportunity to communicate with one another and being able to communicate with each other can be the key success in the process of accomplishing something.

With communications, we can understand more about what different people in the same team are thinking. Communication also allows us to persuade and convince people with our thoughts so as to let the whole team work together to achieve for the same goal which is to success.


Should your lecturers also focus on your work attitude, or just leave you to sink or swim on your own? Why?

It's good that teachers are always concerned and willing to help students out during their process of learning. This can ensure that every students will be on par with one another in work and no one will be left behind. But often, students will take the help from the teachers for granted which led to students not putting in much efforts when learning because they know that even if they faced any problems, teachers will always help them. Therefore, I think that letting students to be independent in learning, occasionally, are good for the students.

Only when they start to be independent then they will understand that no one will be there to help them and will start to rely on themselves, hence, understanding how important is the process of learning to them.

Week2, Lab2, Gear.

Week 1, Lab 2, Primitive Robot.

Original Primmy:

(front)


(side)

Customized Primmy (Spik3y):

(front)

(side)

The reason why Spik3y was being created is because of the mission protect the Jimmy brothers.

Rest assured that the spikes on Spik3y will hurt the brothers because while taking care of them, the spikes will be hidden. Only when enemies were being detacted, the spikes will then slowly transformed from it's original body parts.

Not only are there spikes in front but behind also so that Spik3y can also attack enemies from the back as well.

With the spikes all over at Spik3y's body, enemies from around Spik3y will be poked and injured or worst, DIE!

Sidekick (Smalk3y):

Week1, Lab1 Ex3

Prisons:

From the 2 pictures of the prisons, we can actually notice that the structure of both prisons are filled with sharp corners which eventually give people a feel of more menacing. This shows that the place are filled with danger and also, structure of both buildings are in consistency, which then give people a sense of seriousness.

If we were break down both buildings in primitive shapes, we will realized that most of the shapes will have sharp and straight edges than round and curves edges. These factors add on to the sense of seriousness and danger.

Toontowns:

From the pictures, we can see that both structures of the toontowns are inconsistent which give people a comfortable and funky feeling which look more casual. We can also see that, if both places were to break down into primitive shapes also, there are more shapes with curves and round edges. All these factors will eventually change the perspective of how people look and feel about these places.

Week 1, Lab 1 Ex 2

The Lego-inspired Pinocchio that was created using the Maya! :):)