I shot my monkey flat puppet walking some and it seemed to go better. I'm getting used to moving him, and it went a lot smoother... however what didn't go right was for no apparent reason iStopMotion wasn't showing me a live camera feed. I kept having to take a frame to see what it was seeing... once I figured out placement for his walk by doing that, I deleted all the frames and just started shooting blind. I worked on a dope sheet for it also, working out timing for his arms, legs, and head/tail on it... drew it out on a sheet of paper, and transferred that to the board. Halfway through my shooting, guessing if it was going properly or not, iStopMotion started behaving properly again and showing me a live feed... so the last half went much more smoothly. I think his walk is a bit stiff after reviewing it, but I think it went better than the two previous exercises. I'll get the other two posted to youtube in the next couple of days, along with everything else I've done in the class.
Note: writing out a dope sheet is like writing music. You have an idea what it's supposed to look (sound) like when it's played, but you don't know for sure if it will work until you see (hear) it. heheh.
Also, I scrapped my idea for a 3d puppet... I was going to do an ostrich, but then realized I'd be losing a lot of movement in the body by doing so (since this is supposed to be a learning experience, let's start with the hard human shape)... so I went with this ferret character I had laying around... something that walks on hind legs and has a tail, etc. Unfortunately I overestimated my ability to create the outside bits of him. After creating a few cat toys in frustration, I went to goodwill to see what I could find. I came across a tiger that fit my armature pretty well... snapped him up, sliced him open, and assembled the armature inside in like an hour. His feet are sewn just right, so I can bend the toe pieces and have it translate, but I'm going to cut holes for the tie-downs, and sew some extra reinforcement into the feet... something that can be taken out easily if (when) I need to replace armature bits.
Now to go take pictures of him in different poses for class tomorrow.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
New Blogness...
In my quest to have art pay the bills, as it were, I've set up my very own blog.
Granted, this is partially in response to attending a social networking workshop this evening... I've signed up with LinkedIn and removed all potentially dangerous photos from my facebook account. Heh. Just kiddn'. There wasn't a lot up there to begin with, not like the chick who bashed her boss and her job in her status update only to be fired by a reply to said status update from her boss.
Moral of the story: don't call your boss a moron in a place where he can read it.
I spent an hour shooting some more stop-motion work with my flat puppet... iStopMotion was giving me headaches. It wouldn't show the live camera image, so the first half of it is done blind. The second half went a bit better though, because for no apparent reason it started acting properly again. I think that learning to write out a proper dope sheet is akin to writing out music. You know what it's supposed to look/sound like when it's played properly, but getting it on paper is imagining it first. I likely should have spent more than an hour working on it, but I also should have used one of the 2d animation rooms to shoot it, also. Live and learn I suppose. I have some more plans for that little monkey though, and I'll get to them before the term is over.
The next stop motion project I have to work on is to finish my 3d armature. I'm going out this weekend to see if I can find a stuffed animal or three to cannibalize for his outside, now that the armature is almost finished. I'm rubbish at sewing, so I may have to enlist the help of one or two of my wonderful family members... they really are the best. We'll see, though.
In other news, my wonderful boyfriend and I are putting together an inspirational blog here, on our attempt to get to the San Diego Comic Con next year, have a booth, and have lots of stuff to sell. My contributions so far are a couple of childrens books I epiphanized a couple of weeks ago (due to the fact I've become an auntie in the last month), a graphic novel based on a character I had when I was a kid, and another graphic novel about a character who is far too much like me to be safe. No, no... I know what you're thinking! It's not one of those 'Mary Sue' characters, or narcissistic visions of the author... it's a character I created a long time ago for a GURPS campaign and seem to be becoming. It's bizarre, really. I mean, it's funny when you create a character that's been in art school for, like, a decade... it's not so funny when it turns into reality.
(Okay, I haven't been in art school for a decade, but I did start college somewhere around 1997 and I don't have a degree to show for it yet. I admit this only because I got sidetracked by marriage in the middle there; it's not because I lack conviction.)
Lastly... I got asked to join the honor society at school. This is a big deal for me... I've never been in any kind of honor society before: my grades were terrible in grade school and high school. Now that I'm studying something I've literally wanted to do since I was 3, I'm tenacious.
Granted, this is partially in response to attending a social networking workshop this evening... I've signed up with LinkedIn and removed all potentially dangerous photos from my facebook account. Heh. Just kiddn'. There wasn't a lot up there to begin with, not like the chick who bashed her boss and her job in her status update only to be fired by a reply to said status update from her boss.
Moral of the story: don't call your boss a moron in a place where he can read it.
I spent an hour shooting some more stop-motion work with my flat puppet... iStopMotion was giving me headaches. It wouldn't show the live camera image, so the first half of it is done blind. The second half went a bit better though, because for no apparent reason it started acting properly again. I think that learning to write out a proper dope sheet is akin to writing out music. You know what it's supposed to look/sound like when it's played properly, but getting it on paper is imagining it first. I likely should have spent more than an hour working on it, but I also should have used one of the 2d animation rooms to shoot it, also. Live and learn I suppose. I have some more plans for that little monkey though, and I'll get to them before the term is over.
The next stop motion project I have to work on is to finish my 3d armature. I'm going out this weekend to see if I can find a stuffed animal or three to cannibalize for his outside, now that the armature is almost finished. I'm rubbish at sewing, so I may have to enlist the help of one or two of my wonderful family members... they really are the best. We'll see, though.
In other news, my wonderful boyfriend and I are putting together an inspirational blog here, on our attempt to get to the San Diego Comic Con next year, have a booth, and have lots of stuff to sell. My contributions so far are a couple of childrens books I epiphanized a couple of weeks ago (due to the fact I've become an auntie in the last month), a graphic novel based on a character I had when I was a kid, and another graphic novel about a character who is far too much like me to be safe. No, no... I know what you're thinking! It's not one of those 'Mary Sue' characters, or narcissistic visions of the author... it's a character I created a long time ago for a GURPS campaign and seem to be becoming. It's bizarre, really. I mean, it's funny when you create a character that's been in art school for, like, a decade... it's not so funny when it turns into reality.
(Okay, I haven't been in art school for a decade, but I did start college somewhere around 1997 and I don't have a degree to show for it yet. I admit this only because I got sidetracked by marriage in the middle there; it's not because I lack conviction.)
Lastly... I got asked to join the honor society at school. This is a big deal for me... I've never been in any kind of honor society before: my grades were terrible in grade school and high school. Now that I'm studying something I've literally wanted to do since I was 3, I'm tenacious.
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