Animal and Creature Animation

12/02/24 - 08/05/24

Introduction

This blog page contains all the work I've created for the Animal and Creature Animation module. It acts as a contents page that links to more detailed blog posts that show my journey throughout the assignment and unit tasks in detail. All blog posts are dated to show my development and journey over the course of the module. There is a three key sections to this page :

• The blog post and video showing my response to the assignment set
  
  
• Learning and Development reflective blog posts showing my progress and learning across the structured units and theory lessons. These capture both my theoretical and practical development. I've used this learning and applied it to my assignment project.
  
  
• My module showreel - this shows all the practical outcomes I've made in one video. This includes my assignment animation as well as the individual loops from the unit tasks.

Assignment : Performance Animation Sequence Reflective Blog Post

The blog post and video below are the primary outcomes of the learning of this module. I've created a bespoke animation to answer the assignment brief to create a performance animation sequence that shows storytelling. My goal was to use all the knowledge and learning I'd gained from exploring the individual unit tasks and show how I'd applied it to complete pipeline to create an complete animation sequence. The blog post breaks down the pipeline and reflects on the journey and complete pipeline from preproduction to production and post production, showing work in progress shots in addition to the final outcome.

Blog Post : Assignment: Animation & Creature Locomotion with Performance : Progression and Breakdown Blog Post

Learning and Development Reflective Blog Posts

The following blog posts show my exploration through the theory lecturers where I have been developing my learning and understanding across a broad array of different creature and locomotion states. Each post shows my journey throughout the mini-project including preproduction, production and post-production with links to all references used.

• Animate A Cartoon Fox [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit01]
  
  
• Quadruped Walk [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit02]
  
  
• Quadruped Trot [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit03]
  
  
• Quadruped Run [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit04]
  
  
• Animate a Spider in Motion [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit05]
  
  
• Animate a Crow in Flight [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit06]
  
  
• Animate a Horse Rearing [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 07]
  
  
• Animate a Dinosaur in Motion [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 08]
  
  
• Animate a Butterfly in Motion [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 09]
  
  
• Animate a Scorpion Locomotion Cycle [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 10]
  
  
• FX Animation: Grass Waving and Flags Flying [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 11]
  
  
• Animate a Jellyfish in Motion [Animal and Creature Animation - Unit 12]

Module Final Showreel

The below video shows the final video that I submitted for the practical portion of this module. It includes my 'Dog Ball Catch' animation that was created as a storytelling, performance scene that applied the learning from the module to my own outcome in addition to the majority of 'showreel-worthy' outcomes from the units I explored.

Module Showreel Feedback

The below video shows the feedback that I received from Alexander Williams who I connected with on LinkedIn as they weren't available through the University. It was great to receive some practical feedback on my outcomes that I could use to further develop the quality of my practical work, which is an element that had been missing from the course. I wish I had have contacted him sooner so I could have incorporated more feedback.

I was able to implement some of the feedback he provided including reducing the number of loops of each cycle in my showreel and including the crow animation flying through a scene. I wasn't able to tweak the scorpion tail animation due to time constraints between getting surgery and the deadline. He also highlighted that there could be more squash and stretch on the dogs legs on the landing in the ball catch animations, however, also highlighted that this is a limitation of the rig itself, which was true. There was no way to compress the ankle joint. This got me thinking about rigging and how important studying reference is for creating strong rigs. This is something I hope to explore during the course on a relevant module that allows for more flexibility in outcomes. During this module I have been focusing on studying movements and creating quality animation of animals and creatures rather than rigging.

Module Showreel Development

The below videos show my development of my practical work composited into a showreel over the course of the module. This shows the practical work that I have created for the assignment as well as the practical outcomes of the weekly tasks. You will see a range of changes from new additions to fixing frame rate issues to the quality of the presentation holistically. I've included this to show how I have developed the final presentation of the module in addition to the breakdown of each animation I have created on the relevant blog pages. All versions of the showreel are dated to show the change over time.

22/02/24

03/03/24

11/03/24

17/03/24

13/04/24

17/04/24

25/04/24

Conclusion

In conclusion this has been a very enjoyable module that I feel has improved my skills massively. It was a huge learning curve getting used to studying again and the style of delivery from the University, however, I undertook this course because I wanted a relatively independent experience. I feel I have learnt a lot about animal and creature movement by exploring research in-depth and understanding the core theory of how different creatures move. I've applied this knowledge to my 'Dog Ball Catch' animation that shows a complete and in-depth pipeline from start to finish. I've developed a strong final outcome that received highly positive feedback from an accomplished animator Alexander Williams that shows how well my skills have developed and how well I have been studying reference and theory to create engaging animations. I've developed my technical understanding throughout to explore lighting, rendering and scene development to present my animations in a way that contextualises them into a scene or scenario. Whilst I feel there are areas for development I feel I have been able to identify these areas and can continue to develop these in the future.

I'm proud of the professionalism shown across all aspects of my practical work to create a high quality visual outcome but also the quality of my blog. I've attempted to provide a clear and detailed insight into my development over time to show how I have progressed and used self reflection as a primary driving factor to raise the quality of my work. Since completing my practical work I have joined an array of animation support Discord servers and would like to seek feedback from others as a way to drive the quality of my outcomes as an integral part of my development practises more frequently.

I have achieved the learning outcomes of the module holistically because I have : 

1. Studied a vast array of research that has been practically applied to my outcomes. This research spans from technical research to understand Maya further to research and reference capture to understand the unique motions of different animals and creatures.
   
   
2. I have been problem solving throughout and shown a detailed breakdown of my journey through each project in this module. I show my reflection and the developments of each outcome over time to show how I continuously raise the quality of my outcomes over time. This is informed by feedback, reflection, research and observation.
   
   
3. I've created a range of outcomes across a range of different species and locomotion types. My exploration of each individual unit allowed me to gain in depth knowledge of a range of concepts that I was then able to apply to my final outcome - the 'Dog Ball Catch'.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and Understanding : 
  
  
• Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of specialist approaches, processes, and techniques of 3D animal and creature animation.
  
  
• Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of enquiry, methods, practices and theories in 3D animal and creature animation and its interrelationship with other relevant disciplines such as zoology and comparative anatomy.
  
  
• Intellectual, Practical and Transferable Skills
  
  
• Analyse and problem solve in unpredictable and complex contexts applying advanced creative and specialist techniques in animal and creature animation.
  
  
• Develop and critically evaluate their work with informed reference to theory and current practice in 3D animal and creature animation.
  
  
• Effectively employ animal and creature animation techniques to communicate narratives or information and evoke emotive responses in audiences.
  
  
• Show a critical awareness of current practices, structures, audiences and registers of communication in 3D animal and creature animation and adopt a reflective, informed approach to creative development.

I have learnt a lot on this module about studying a masters as well as the content itself. I've been generally extremely organised and have moved from strength to strength across this journey. I plan to continue this progression in skill across the rest of the modules to continue to build high quality outcomes. I'm excited for the next module and the challenges it will bring!