CAGD 445 Animated Short Week 1-6

CAGD 445 Animated Short 

Bad Anchor

Week 1-2

The beginning weeks of the project largely consisted of getting the team together, formatting the story, and finding/creating assets as well as the scene base.  Our team consists of four members and we call ourselves Bad Anchor Productions.  We decided that the best time to meet outside of the three hours of class was on Monday afternoons.  If there is ever extra work to be done or things to be sorted out among the group, that would be the time.  We also decided that since most of the group was not as experienced with modeling and rigging, using the David O'Reily character rigs from the "The External World" pack would work just fine for our project.  The main rigs include the cute bear, the father, and the Ralph.

Week 3

After the first two weeks, we had a story draft written out, and storyboards were on the way.  By the third we, we moved onto creating a script and animatic.  In the meantime, we started setting up the scene in Maya, along with the many assets necessary.  Our set of extra meetings largely helped for settling on story beats.  They also helped with team-building, considering our group is newly formed and learning to work together.

Link to animatic v1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By4nqJGS1gZzWlNqTTg2VkEzVWM

Week 4

In week four, our group moved further along in refining the story and setting up the animation.  Assets were further developed, and we got a better idea of how the project overall would come together.  For my part of the job so far, I tweaked the animatic to better express the storyboard shots, and rearranged scenes according to feedback.  As a group, we discussed how voice-overs and sound effects could be factored in.  In addition, we decided up shots for each member to animate, which should hopefully work out ok.

Link to animatic v2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By4nqJGS1gZzdnQyX3BHaXdPT2M

Week 5

For week five, the group was focused on getting shots distributed and ready for animation.  Cameras need to be set up, and character rigs need to be ready for work.  Plans were also set for recording audio for the scene's dialogue.

Week 6

At this point, all shots were handed out for animators, and most of the focus was set on working in Maya.  There was a lot of back and forth about what the best course of action would be for setting cameras and getting the right shots for each scene.  Once established, it was a matter of testing and re-testing.  Given the amount of time overall, this part should hopefully go over smoothly.  Most of the models necessary for the scene were placed properly so the animation has a good start.