Liam De Bolla
3D Character Animator
Time Management
Week 1
From this week, I was introduced to the brief and started researching my project as well as planning who I can work with on the project. My time management allowed me to complete the tasks I set myself for the following week. I also used a Gantt chart to see how long I can give myself to work on one area before I have to move on to another section of my project. I found a Gantt chart template and from this, I edited my details on to this template and was ready to start planning how long I could spend on each task.
https://templates.office.com/en-gb/Simple-Gantt-Chart-TM16400962
Week 2
Tutorial -
From this tutorial, I spoke about my FMP idea and we found that the idea was quite long and would be difficult to work on for the whole FMP. I spoke about another idea I had for my FMP and we decided it would be best I work on two 20 second pieces, one being the interviewee scene, and the other being my other idea of a special agent taking down a character. Reading over the script, my tutor liked the exposition of the animation which is the part of the story I will take further. I will work on a character that is nervous in an interview. I will re-structure my schedule to fit for both animations I have planned for in the FMP. We also discussed what experiments I can do. As an animator, I can work on some 24-hour challenges that explore new areas I would like to look at in animation such as camera movement for example.
I redesigned my schedule and from this, I was able to keep track and complete all my tasks ready for the following week.
Week 3
Tutorial –
From the week 3 tutorial, I was able to explain my work so far and show some workflows I have researched. From this, I was informed in some areas of animation such as using balls for more than just the main body, but for all aspects of the body such as shoulders and arms. I will now continue with my schedule but also once the reference is recorded, I can apply this new technique of balls following the motion of the performance seen in the reference.
From my scheduling, this week I have completed the story section of my 'Take Note' FMP project on time and can now start working on the Pre-Production stage.
Week 4
Tutorial –
From this tutorial, I showed my creature animation, my reference and my schedule. From this, the creature animation was good, but it cut off quite quickly. The animation could have the Leopard siting down on the branch or look around. The reference had a lot of twinning and we felt an extra shot on the boss would be best during the twinning moments. From this, I need to add another part to the reference as the boss reads over the CV.
From my scheduling this week, I finished my second stage of the FMP project which was the pre-production stage. I can now go on to start animating the scene.
Week 5
Tutorial –
From this tutorial, I showed my subtext animation test, the FMP project environment, as well as discussed, my reference and possibly adjusting the story and re-recording the reference. I will work on my reference to make sure the story is good before working on the animation.
From the scheduling I did for this week, I adjusted the story and the reference as well as started the animation stage of the FMP project in quicker time than I first planned. I will now continue to work on the key poses and work on the animation of the project.
Week 6
As this was reading week, there was not tutorial I could attend so I spent this week starting the animation of my ‘Take Note’ project. I was able to get a lot of what I planned completed in the time I set myself. I can now start to work on the first pass of this animation by finishing all the keys I plan to have in the animation.
Week 7
Tutorial -
From this tutorial, I explained what I did during reading week and there were areas I still needed to address. The camera angle for the first camera needed work as it needed to be angled more to show the eyes of the character staring at the other character. I was recommended a book and a film to watch to help me research the camera angles. The breakdowns need to show the best gesture and at times they didn’t so I need to keep in mind that when I do breakdowns and key poses, they have to show the best poses that capture the emotion in that moment of time.
From this week, I was able to complete my targets of getting the inbetweens finished as well as starting on the other detailed keys that are required before I start to bring the animation into splined.
Week 8
From this week, I did not have a tutorial. I spent this week working on my animation and my polishing. Regarding my schedule, I have changed one of the parts in my pipeline to finishing touches as I am putting a lot of detail into this animation. To apply areas such as arcs and overlap, I needed to add more detail in my animation leading to more time in the animating process.
Week 9
I did not have a tutorial this week and I spent my time polishing my animation and preparing a presentation for the formative pitches in week 10. From my scheduling, I was able to complete my tasks in order to show the animation I have made so far in my presentation.
Week 10
Regarding the 'Take Note' project, I just need the sound designer to work on the sound so we could add it to the animation. The project will be finished after that stage. From this week, I spent my time applying for the Framestore summer internship as well as working on my report and a new rig I bought. From this, I was ready to start my second 15-30 second FMP piece next week. I was also able to complete the script of the 'Training Room' animation and record the audio with my voice actor. This allowed me to start working on the research for this next animation the following week.
Week 11
During this week, I completed the pre-production stage as well as started the animation section on the ‘training Room Project’. My time management has now allowed me to be ahead of my predicted schedule.
Week 12
From this week, I was able to complete the key poses and the breakdowns of the ‘Training Room’ animation. My scheduling has allowed me to be in front of my work which can allow me to spend more time in other areas in this project such as polishing.
Week 13
I was able to complete my second FMP project and sent it off to my mentors for feedback on the piece. As I was able to complete it much quicker than I planned, this time I have saved can be applied to smaller projects and other areas in the brief such as the report.
Week 14
From this week, I was able to receive the sound for the ‘Take Note’ animation from George Davies, thus finishing the ‘Take Note’ animation schedule. I was also able to produce my two creature animations and look at my mentor’s feedback on my work. I m currently up to date on my schedule.
Week 15
From this week, I was able to complete the animation I was doing as a collaboration for Jada’s FMP as well as the second passes for my two major FMP pieces. I am now ready to start working on the video breakdown.
Week 16
From this week, I was able to complete the video breakdown and my showreel. I also discussed with my tutor Dan, on a 1 to 1, my video breakdown and what should be included. On Tuesday 28th April, I will have a 1 to 1 meeting with my tutor Dan to discuss what I can include in my showreel to improve it. Now I can start working on my report.
Week 17
From this week, I had a tutorial with my tutor where we discussed the report and what it should include. I was also able to complete the tasks I set myself as well as complete the main body of the report in order to be ready for the conclusion tutorial.
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Week 18
During this week, I had a group tutorial with my tutor so I could understand what I needed to put for the conclusion of my report. Throughout the week, I was able to finish my report which meant I now could focus on the last thing which is to have my blog ready for submission and prepare everything I need for submission. I am still waiting for the sound to my showreel to be finished by Jack Stone-Morgan, who is on the sound course at Ravensbourne, and feedback on my second draft of my CV by Heather Barsam. After this, I can start to get ready for submission.
Week 19
From this week, I completed smaller tasks that were remaining before I started preparing for submission, which was updating my CV, uploading my showreel to Vimeo, and updating my report. From this, I was ready to start preparing for submission.
Week 20
From this week, I was able to have everything ready for my submissions and I was also able to submit my work. From this time management, I was able to complete my tasks and submit my work within the time I set myself.
