After doing a lesson on an easy method on doing character design, next, we moved onto environment design, to learn about some tips and methods on creating settings for our animations. Firstly, we went back to basics and recapped perspective. Perspective is incredibly important when creating any sort of setting, especially 3D ones. Even if an image is 2D however, perspective makes it possible to see it in a 3D space, because of the vanishing point, which is the point when all of the perspective lines within an image intersect. The name is fitting because, at that point, we cannot see any […]
Author: Tina
VFX Industry pt.3
In this lesson, we looked at the state of the industry and some of the things to be aware of. Since we hadn’t discussed disadvantages yet, this was a very useful lesson. Black Listing If a person commits a grave mistake on a project, it is possible that they are then removed from the industry entirely, and nobody hires them again, because they are considered untrustworthy. This applies to both individuals and companies, and if it happens to you, you have essentially lost your career within this industry. This has it’s pros and cons, as often, it helps […]
Character Design – Concept Art Silhouettes
To start some character design, we had a tutorial lesson on how to create silhouettes for character concept art. I had never really heard or seen of this method although I knew about silhouettes and how they are used in art. I was quite curious about how we could create any sort of character design using just shadows and light. We started off identifying different features and aspects of various fantasy characters and then trying this whilst just looking at their silhouettes. There were actually a lot of fo things we could tell about a character just from looking at […]
Vampire/Orc in Photoshop
Sometimes, editing pictures can be a faster and easier way to produce concepts for characters, and since this could help with the fantasy brief, we had a tutorial on how to create a vampire (and later on an orc/goblin) in photoshop. For this post, I won’t be including every part of the tutorial, I’ll just be explaining which parts I used or wanted to use and how I made myself into a vampire. Vampire The first thing I do, and the thing I always start with when I’m trying to create a piece of art (or create anything […]
Fantasy Genre and Characters pt.1
This is the lesson where we got introduced to the fantasy brief or our new project. We went through each slide and discussed the requirements as well as how they were going to be accomplished. The brief is a scenario wherein Netflix have commissioned us to create a pilot for a 2D fantasy series, with R&D, pre-production, skills and development all expected, as well as a 10-second animation to be featured in the film. The brief shows that there are three tasks, split into three categories, the character design, title sequence […]
Stop Trick Pixilation
Stop trick pixilation is a technique used for making objects appear and disappear as well as transform, in a seemingly impossible manner. It works with frame manipulation and continuity, generally by splicing two different shots together via editing. The reason this effect is hard to notice is because of a phenomenon called persistence of vision which traditionally refers to the optical illusion that occurs when visual perception of an object does not cease even after the rays of light from the object have stopped entering the eye. We were tasked to try and recreate this in groups. With […]
VFX Industry pt.2
(My notes) The media industry: – VFX and animation – Films and TV – Games – Music – Advertising – Photography – Journalism – Publishing Ways to get into the industry: 1. Apply for an entry position and work upwards. 2. Through social media (have an engaging online presence could get you scouted/noticed on certain platforms). 3. Through an apprenticeship, or any sort of training 4. University Companies that encourage media work in the industry include BBC, ITV, Disney, Channel 4, Screen Skills, Access VFX and NFTS (national film and television school). Job Contracts: Full time: […]
Industry Guest Speaker – Pat Imrie
Who is Pat Imrie? Pat is a freelance 3D artist with 12 years of experience in the animation and VFX industry. Over the course of his career, he has worked in many areas – TV programs, commercials, animation feature films, games and education. His hobbies include photography, 3D printing, Hill & Glen walks and history. It’s amazing to see how many extremely well-known films he has worked, with just a quick Google search! What did he cover in his talk? Pat went through the story of his career and it was really interesting and helpful to see the […]
Advanced Green Screen Skills
We had another go with the Sony cameras and green screen and this time we were shown some examples of interesting shot types. We also had the benefit of a light stick, which could create different colours and things like flashing lights and fades. We were asked to take all of the things we learned, along with the new light, to create some interesting shots with texture, colours and different angles. However, the footage from that day has still not been uploaded. When it is, I will add it to this post, but for now, I am going to use […]
VFX Industry pt.1
There are two types of VFX producers in the UK: Freelancers (Individuals) who usually work with a client or company to create something based on a brief or assignment. As they are self-employed, they decide their own pay rate and work schedule. There are huge perks in being one’s own boss, like the fact that you can work from the comfort in your own home and make decisions individually based on the job and your personal life, which is usually much more difficult under the scrutiny of a manager, who has deadlines of their own. Freelancing can mean less pressure, […]