Conclusion

In conclusion I am pleased with the design of my model Ninja. I believe I created it to look like my hand drawn drawing very well and was overall delighted with the final outcome of the model. I worked very hard on this model, considering I had other modules and work to do at the same time, I felt I spaced my time out wisely while creating my character. I did not encounter many problems while building up my model and was also pleased with the looks of the materials I also created in Photoshop.

However, once it came to the actual animation itself, I couldn’t help but feel slightly aggrieved considering how well actually creating the model had gone. I had worked hard getting my model looking exactly the way I wanted to, but was met by problem after problem while creating the movement using Key frames when shooting the scene. I felt frustrated when I watched my model literally fall apart in front of my eyes when I ask a simple rotation be put in place. This meant I was forced to constantly close the programme, open it up again, load my scene and import my character back into the action sequence. This cost me time and, in my opinion, a lot of quality in the final finished product. Seeing as I could not use the rotation tool, I was forcing to make my character use blocky movements and sometimes a complete lack of movement during the animation. Despite this, I feel I done the best I could have done in this situation.

Overall I believe my animation, and possibly even my model character, could have been better if given more time to complete this module. I found it hard balancing my other module along with this one in particular, and maybe that effective the overall quality of the production. If I could change anything, I may consider creating my charters skeleton using the CAT tool, as this may have allowed better movement for my character. Still, I am satisfied that I tried my hardest and if given more time I could of made my animation better then what is on offer.

Problems

Unfortunately this animation was not completed without many problems. Some of them I was able to rectify, other I wasn’t.

1.     My first problem was when I first added the “Bones” into my model’s feet. As I moved the foot, some of its skin was left behind. This was solved by simply closing the programme and reopening it again.

2.     The other major problem I had was not so easy to solve or fix. Simply put, it just wouldn’t let me do what I wanted! Once I first imported my model in the scene, I could rotate it as much as I like without any problem.

However, this changed as soon as I started adding in “Key Frames” to the movement. Particularly when rotating the head to look to the side, the head and everything on it (including the eye band, eyes and nose) would all rotate at different “Pivot” points, not like before at all. It wasn’t as simple as moving these “Pivot” points back into the same area,  as they would just jump back to the same position when I tried to do this again. I ended up having to pass on the movement, which affected the quality of my animation greatly.

3.     Another problem I encountered was during the apple throwing scene. For some reason, the right hand would suddenly disappear and reappear without warning while putting in “Key Frames”. I had to copy the hand and have a spare in the place where the one would disappear to solve this problem.

4. I found that Movement was impossible during my animation, if it ever included “Rotation”. Like my problem before with the head, it seemed the entire model would just fall apart if I attempted to add “Rotation” to my animation. Even undoing the events would not put my model back to normal, meaning I had to continually close the programme and reimport the model back into the scene, making sure I don’t push it too hard. This upset me greatly as I feel the animation could have been so much better had these movements been allowed. 

Shooting my Animation

Building the Scene

Now I am ready to start filming my animation! I started off by creating my backgrounds on “Photoshop”, before applying them as “Materials” to my “Material List”. I then created a “Plane” and applied the “Material” onto it. I had my background to my scene.

I “Cloned” this “Plane to make another background, putting it at an angle to the first. I also created another “Plane” to use as a floor for my character to walk on. I found a cobblestone “Material” on the internet for this use.

 Next I “Imported” my character into the scene. I also added a “Camera” to allow me to shoot the scene exactly the way I wanted to without losing my ability to move around the screen and make corrections and movement. I froze the background and floor so it would be easier to select my character and “Camera” to edit and move about the scene at will.

  My opening shot involves my character walking towards the screen. The “Camera” follows this movement, keeping the feet in shot. I edit the feet to move along by selecting the “Bones” and rotating them to move up and down like normal feet do. By adding “Key Frames” allows the movement to be saved and actually happen.

  The scene is ready to be finally shot, imported and edited into “Premiere Pro”. To do this, I simply go to “Render Setup”. In this window, I choose which frames I want to “Render” and to what format. I then save the shot to my chosen folder, and select “Render.”

 My scene begins to “Render”. Now all I have to do is wait, as this can take a little while.

  I have now imported the shot into “Premiere Pro”, ready to edit it. Now onto the rest of my animation back in 3DS Max.

  Once all my shots are “Rendered”, I can now edit them into a short animation in “Premiere Pro”.

Cutting the film into small pieces like this allows my animation to have a smooth flow for the viewer watching it.

Step By Step

How did I make this animation?

I first scanned in my final design I drew in my sketch book to the computer. Once this was done I entered Photoshop and saved the Front and Side of my character as Bitmaps.

Next, I opened up 3DS Max and created two “Planes” to the same size/dimensions as my Bitmap images I created in Photoshop. Once this was done, I went into the Material editor and created two materials, one for the Front view and the other for the Side view. I assigned each one of these to the “Planes” then positioned them to begin creating my character (See Below).

Now I was ready to begin building my Ninja. First of all I created the head. So I began with creating a “Sphere” shape. After right clicking on it and converting the Sphere to an “Editable Poly”, I began to stretch out the Sphere, cover the area of my Ninja plane. I made the shape “See-through” to make this part easier.

I only did one quarter of the head, as I wanted the rest of the head to be exactly the same. To do this I deleted the rest of the Sphere and then used “Symmetry” on both the X and Y axis to be able to get the other 3 quarters, all exactly the same of the first. (See Below).

All four sides are done now; time to start adding detail to the head.

 I began the eye band by drawing another “Plane”, around the same size as on my background drawing.

I then added more sections to the “Plane” so I could edit it more. Once the shape was designed, I started to curve it around the head. Once again I only did one side so I could “Mirror” it back later.

By adding more section it enabled me to be more effective in move there “Plane” into the position I wanted it to be in.

 I wrapped it around the head to make sure it was a perfect fit and no part of it went inside the head.

Now I’ve done the “Symmetry” again, and the shape is complete.

 Now I move onto the body. First I create a “Sphere” and flatten it down and stretch it out over the body of my drawing.

I also shaped the body against my side picture; this allowed me to get the size and depth absolutely right.

I then converted this “Sphere” into an “Editable Poly” to make sure the body matched my drawing perfectly. By moving the two ends inwards allowed me to do this.

The final outcome of the body, ready to join the head.

Next I decided to create the Ninja’s feet. I did this by firstly creating a “Cylinder” shape around the same size of the side pictures foot.

 Converting this “Cylinder” to an “Editable Poly” allowed me to edit the shape to my design. 

 Once the foot was completed, I “Cloned” it, making the second foot to go alongside it. This meant that both feet were exactly the same and saved me time in creating both feet individually. 

I then decided to put my so far completed shapes together to see how my model character was coming along. Not too much left to do.

The hands were the next step. These were fairly simple, as I merely created yet another “Cylinder” and stretched it out slightly to form one hand (See below). It was very simple to do.

Just like the feet, I cloned the hand to make sure both hands were exactly the same. (see below.

Next was the nose. This was slightly trickier, as this time I cut a “Sphere” in half, then stretched the bottom of it out to form the bridge of the nose. I then placed this on the head on my Ninja. (See Below)

  I had to make sure the nose was visible through the eye brand before continuing. 

 Now that all my models body parts were complete, I began to start creating the “Materials” for them. I did this using “Photoshop” to create all my colours and skins I wished to use.

Starting with the nose, I made sure that the colour was a little darker than that of the eye band (not really an eye band as such, more the characters actual skin!) just so it would stand out more and that the viewers could see it.  

  Next, to the rest of the Ninja. I made the head and body the same black colour, the hands the same colour as the eye band, and the feet were a lighter grey than the body and head. Again, this was so the viewers could see the modals feet properly. (See Below)

To finish off the details of my Ninja, I created the loose threads that would go behind the Ninja’s head, or balaclava. I wanted two, so once I created one I simply “Cloned” it like I did with the hands and feet. I created the thread by using a thin “Box” shape.

 Adding more segments to the “Box” shape allowed me to edit it further, making the ends thin. I then added the same colour “Material” as the head, seeing as this would actually be coming from the head.

   One of the most important parts of any model is its facial features. Seeing as my model doesn’t have many of these (seeing as most of it would be behind a balaclava) the eyes were the most important part of it. I began by creating a “Sphere” shape, then flattening it and stretching it out to create a reasonable looking eye.

I then “Cloned” the eye to have another matching eye to go alongside it. I created many different eyes so that my modal would have many different features for use in my animation. These included eyes for:

·       Bored/Tired

  Shock/Amazed

·       Suspicion

·       Angry

  I then created another “Material” to colour these eyes. I selected a bright blue, as I found from my research that this colour normally symbolised Hero characters. 

My model is now completed. Here it is compared to my original drawings. I am quite pleased with the outcome of the model, as it does look pretty much the same as how I drew it on paper. 

To add a finishing touch to my character model, I decided I needed to create my Ninja’s weapon. His sword. I did this by firstly creating a “Cylinder” for the handle.

Next I created the blade, I did this the same way I created the thread on the head of my character.

  I added materials to these two shapes, but I wanted them to look a little more realistic. I did this by finding materials on the internet, before applying them to my shapes. A metal like for the blade, and a wooden one for the handle. 

  To allow movement to my character, I needed to join all my shapes together. I did this by using “Bones”. This would allow realistic movement and keep my model together.

 I began by doing the basic skeleton for my Ninja. As my character does not have arms or legs, I needed to somehow connect the hands and feet to my model. This was simple: Build arms and legs using Bones! They do not show up on the footage when my animation is “Rendered”, so this was a perfectly fine thing to do.

  Creating joints on the hips, ankles and wrists would allow extra “Bones” to be added, as well as provide more realistic movement.

My skeleton complete. Now I need to attach it to my character.

I firstly moved the skeleton in front of the model to match up all the “Bones” with the correct shapes in the correct position.

  Next, I move the “Bones” inside of the model. Looking through the wireframe windows, I could still see the “Bones” and make adjustments if needed. I next select the shape (in this case the Body) and go onto “Modify”.

Under the “Modify List” is a section called “Skin”. I select this, and by this stage I can add “Bones” onto the shape. In the case of the Body, I added the backbone, hips, upper arms and legs to the list on the right.

A quick test, the model and “Bones” move perfectly