Low Poly Wolf Evaluation

Low Poly Wolf Evaluation

Throughout this module I have had a variety of successes and failures all contributing to my learning process as a whole. To begin with I envisioned my idea as a psychedelic mixed media animation, encompassing both 2D and 3D elements. I was heavily inspired from music videos and animations I had found online and found the metamorphosis techniques used admirable. Pre conceptualisation I had considered creating a 2D animation that showcased a variety of metamorphoses based around a natural psychedelic theme.

With my work process it is not uncommon to have a very large quantity of storyboards and scripts. For most people they are unreadable as for me they serve a purpose similar to thinking out loud or brainstorming. As I was trying a more practical method rather than my usual experimental practices I decided that I would only use 1 basic storyboard and use Cinema 4D as the experimental notepad for potential animation ideas. Doing this (although slightly inhibiting my creative flow) allowed me to quickly familiarise myself with the software and let me know which tools I had not used before. Not only did this help me discover the unknown but it also helped me document the process in a more organised way.

In order to organise my work in a more effective way, I took a screenshot of every key stage in the production and pasted all of the screenshots in Adobe Photoshop. The screenshots automatically form their own layer so I can see the production process I used and also have screenshots to use as production data for the development file.

I realised that rather that use 2D animation, I could have a much greater level of success using Cinema 4D as my confidence in my 2D abilities is currently limited at best.  By choosing to use 3D instead of 2D animation I had to approach character movement in a very different way. This would allow me to learn and experiment with a variety of deformers and effects in Cinema 4D I wouldn’t conventionally use in character creation.

Aware of my 3D skills and the lack of experience with realism, I decided to adapt my concept into a highly stylised method that ended up being the low polygon art style. After choosing low polygon work I wanted to ensure that there was a level of consistent style through assets, basic but not so basic that it would hinder many animation and transformation concepts.

Despite my lack of active experimentation with art styles in the module I decided that although a more minimal aesthetic would appear more striking, the animation process in Cinema 4D would be uninformative and extremely limited.

With a severe lack of polygons, all complicated metamorphosis movements would be impossible to animate smoothly and instead would look as if little work had gone into the production.

In order for my this module to have been a personal success I would have had to advance my skills as a 3D artist, have refined my concept to production technique, have created a better understanding of utilising motion and also have a better understanding of constructing and composing environments.

By using investigational methods to create my animations, often I had to try new workflows and processes in order to work around complications to get the animation desired. Throughout my module guide there are several instances of this such as subdividing objects to work around the idea of a dynamic IK or modelling a lantern from reference using splines.

Having come up with a simple treatment for most of the models in my animation, I feel my 3D modelling skills have improved significantly. At this point I feel like I have an intermediate knowledge of character rigging and modelling and by possessing knowledge of both skills, I have bettered my skills in each skill respectively.

Though my idea evolved and become more streamlined, In the time plan I allocated I have managed to produce most vital assets and feel like I know more about various software’s, their functionality and my skill level with that software.

I also feel that I have found a way to use my naturally experimental and explorative nature in the production of assets and to create tangible evidence of my efforts.

Focusing mainly on the aspects of animation production I was good at, I neglected more practical elements such as the interconnectivity between objects and how they interacted together in their respective scenes. For example I created a variety of reactive water techniques but failed to consider how I would introduce them to the scene and if they would blend in with the rest of the environment.

Despite having an overwhelming positive view on my learning experience, there are still some aspects I feel I have neglected throughout the production namely, the written work.

Although sticking to my timetable relatively faithfully I frequently missed developmental documentation that towards the end of the module cost me animation time and subsequently made me lose compositional practice I greatly wanted from this module. Although extremely happy with the transformation and metamorphosis animations used, I feel that in the time allocated I should have spend less time on asset production and focused more on the animation side of the project.

In hindsight I noticed that when faced with a prolonged problem, such as the issues when rigging the wolf, I tended to turn my attention to something else rather than maintain a level of consistent productivity. The longer I delayed the production of that asset, I more I forgot about the intricacies such as certain aspects of the rig which required extra attention. Eventually this procrastination built up to form a psychological barricade making me reluctant to solve the problem at hand, even when the issue is something as important as the wolf character was in my animation

Often when faced with reoccurring problems or when curious about how others have approached a similar technique, I conducted research online. Rather than following a tutorial directly or trying to figure out something on my own, I viewed several videos on a similar tutorial or on the tools used in the production process.

In doing so, I developed an understanding of the technique rather than mindlessly copying somebody elses work. Often the best information I found on how to use certain tools or about their functionality was from video tutorials as often the forums were saturated with professional users and it was difficult to make sense through all the industry language.

With a confusing method such as creating reactive water ripples from an emitter or with Xpresso tags, often it helped to be able to directly see everything which allowed it to work, including the settings on each individual aspect on the animation. With the websites solely dedicated to Cinema 4D, often users would post files with their attempts to solve a problem with the files open to download and studying these files contributed significantly to my 3D skills acquisition.

With my modelling experience being an overall success, In the future I think I will attempt more complex models perhaps using some sort of sculpting tool to add new levels of detail. Now with access to RealFlow, I am eager to encorporate more fluid simulation into my work potentially on a larger scale such as the creation of a stormy sea.

Even though to some extent my metamorphosis animation idea has been completed, I am still curious to see how my production process would differ creating a 2D animation. With the past modules I have been mainly focussed on 3D animation as it is the style which I feel I am the most skilled in but in the future I would like to create animation in a variety of media such as stop motion or 2D. The idea of stop motion is particularly fascinating as the animation process is significantly more visceral and dynamic than computer based work.

Overall I have found this module to be one of the more informative so far and I feel I have definitely met my personal goal of progressing as a 3D artist with more practical experimentation techniques. Unexpectedly along the way I noticed my organisation skills improving although I feel this was probably more likely to document skills I was passionate about rather than to create portfolio or work reference.

If I were to redo this module I would perform more research into the smaller things such as environment and the interactions between two characters. Ideally I would like to create an animated scene that has a level of life and dynamic interaction in which several things can happen in one scene without anything dramatically changing or any dialogue being exchanged. I have learnt that when I am experimenting with new techniques I should document the failures as well as the successes to compliment my development work and to show that my efforts were not wasted.