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EXPERIMENT
I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Actually, one of the things I've been doing is experimenting with some of the tools available for converting video for the Sony PSPĀ?. As you may already know, my next show will be, at first at least, released exclusively for this mobile device. I have some great ideas brewing.
Speaking of ideas, there's been a lot of discussion on some forums and lists I read about indie content creators needing to come up with just that. Not great ideas for shows, but great ideas for getting them in front of the eyes of the audience that wants to see them. So far, many of us have been thinking along the lines of the old system. We've considered how great it would be to get that movie in the theatres. Is that what we should be considering?
I think indies need to consider paving their own path. The studios have their system. They own the content and the venues and it's like a closed club. Why try to break in when there are other ways? Before us lies a vast internet full of viewers on virtual journeys seeking something those studios aren't giving them. People want something different. This could just as well mean different in format rather than just content.
I think what I did with Understanding Chaos, originally an exclusive internet release, fit that bill to some degree. I had troubles with bandwidth and servers in those days, but today we have bit torrent and file planet and who knows how many ways of getting the content out there. The playing field is large and open.
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PERFECT COMBINATION
This is the last character necessary for the "proof of concept" trailer for my PSP show. With this I will be able to begin plotting the sequence and start animation. Building a character like this brings up a number of considerations, particularly in the realm of how much to rely on 3D and how much should be done in 2D.
In the earliest cel shaded works I have seen, like the Avalon Project from Human Code, texture maps were used exclusively for the building of the character faces. This resulted in the need to draw a new map for every eye or mouth pose, or every facial expression. As I may have mentioned on my DVD, I opted to completely model my character faces and use morph targets for the facial animation. Around the time of this character, seen below, however, something changed.
I found at this time that a combination of 3D geometry and texture maps yielded the most pleasing results. That was done late in 2002, though, and things have changed even further since then. When I got my WACOM tablet, I started to experience how much could be done totally in 2D after the fact and began to rely even less on 3D. This led me to how I create characters today.
I still use texture maps, like the above image, for a character such as the guy shown at the top of this post. But where is the line drawn between what should be done in 2D before 3D, meaning texture maps, and what should be done after, meaning straight drawing on the final frames? Well, that's different for each character. For this guy, his simple face map is actually a six frame animation so that there is slight variation in the facial detail that might result from drawing by hand. Still, there is quite a bit done after the fact as well.
His hair line is a solid line on the 3D model. So why touch it up after the fact? Well, for the final look. Things like a hairline would be one of the areas that would look entirely too 3D if a detailed like was done in the model. By doing it in post, drawing on the final frames, the result will look much more like a totally hand drawn image.
I guess in my latest work, 3D gives me the basis for what I want to see in a scene, but I will always draw over it to some degree to get what I am really after, which is traditional animation. 3D provides the speed beyond which I alone could ever draw. They say that skilled artists in Japan may spend a half an hour on a single cel. On a film like Ghost in the Shell, the artists claim that the level of detail required even more time. Since I want to get that level, I need a perfect combination that gives me a 2D look, but at a time frame closer to five or ten minutes per cel. That's why 3D is used.
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RESOLUTE
Well, I have heard the word from readers, and so as I push on with this "proof of concept" trailer for the PSP aimed show, I will endeavor to get more into the "how-to" aspects of what I am doing.
Basically I have one more character to build for this sequence and then I will be off and running. However, even now I am thinking about the resolution at which I will work. For the most part, the mind animation tests have been done at 1280x720 pixels with a square aspect. I never work at the odd pixel aspects of video. This image, however was done at half that. Why?
The reason is simple. Well, more than one reason actually. The first one is speed. Everything is faster at this resolution. The second is target. While it is nice to have considerations for theatrical release, I am more realistically going for a DVD and UMD release following the internet release formatted for PSP. Basically, in all cases, the extra resolution is simply not necessary and may even hold me back.
I will get more into that issue when actual animation begins. Then I will go into greater detail about many aspects of my latest way of working.
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Showing How It Was Done
I read this article which talked about how bluegrass musicians differed from the rock world. It was chiefly in their interaction with their audience. "They teach their fans", I think it said. This made me think back to the time of Understanding Chaos which was sold on the idea of showing how it was done.
Now I didn't have a website during the making of Chaos, but if I did, I am thinking that those who check it would want to see not just what is being made, but how it is being made correct? There are a lot of sites out there now for indie movies which chronicle the production. Many will show the latest scene completed and talk about the state of the project. I wonder, though, how many go into depth on exactly how that scene came to be?
I think as I develop my next two projects, this site should ideally delve into the making of them and not just the chronicle, wouldn't you agree?
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Some Days Some Nights
I continue to push the boundaries of mind animation as I see how my next project will be done. I will do what I have written of, spoken of and dreamed of for years, but have forgotten along the way. This character presented some interesting problems, particularly in the cloth dynamics department.
As I mentioned before I no longer use simulated physics for cloth in my show. I do, however, use ClothFX to shrink clothes onto my characters which I can then "save transformed" and use. Even for something seemingly so simple, how the cloth is built is extremely important.
I couldn't get the cloth to fall on the character for the life of me. As it turns out, while not visible in the model, looking at the wireframe showed messy geometry. After cleaning it up, everything went smoothly and calculated at great speeds. So word to the wise, build your cloth clean and as much of grids as possible.
I was unaware that Shinichiro Watanabe, of Cowboy Bebop fame had another series. It's amazing to see that he always like to stay a step ahead of the game and do something totally different and unexpected. I am also guessing that by his name alone he can command a budget that allows for near feature quality animation in his series. Samurai Champloo is out there on many levels, but at the same time, it is definitely the "in" thing.
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RANDOM
It's actually quite an amazing thing to have a blog that goes back for years. Not speaking of just this blog, but some readers may even remember the "All You See Is All That Remains of My Crew" blog that I , Q and PJ participated in. Looking back over that material can reveal some interesting things, even things that go completely against earlier declarations of what will be. The above image, however, shows that declarations can also reach fulfillment. In 2003 I wrote:
I can tell you of a certainty that next year will see the creation of my first one-man feature Occult Salvation. It may not get finished next year. It will be a true feature at the best possible quality, thus taking time to do right, but it will get past a simple trailer!
Unfortunately, the next year saw no such thing take place. So even with a blog to remind us, do we learn from our mistakes? Well in the end of 2004 I wrote:
I am going back to work. I believe it is a necessary part of the way of Chaos and essential to doing a long term project. I believe that doing it as Chaos was done, even if it takes two years, is the only way to see the kind of high impact project I really want to create come to life. Of course, Chaos tells me it won't take two years, but the method is more important than the schedule.
The other day I was thinking about "the way of Chaos" and I realized, Wow! I am finally here! I live extremely close to work just like I did when I made Chaos. I have a job with reasonable hours, just like I did when I made Chaos. I have better equipment, and like to think I have great skills. This is it! Everything is in place to do that thing for which I came out here three years ago! It's strange hoe things turn out isn't it?
Yes, these are random thoughts. Still, I find it interesting to step back and look at a situation and realize truly what it is. To say, Wait a minute! I've been waiting for this point. I've been working to get here. Well, now that I am here, what happens next? Well I guess I wrote that in the previous post. Basically, the way of Chaos returns! Mind animation will be put to the test on a long term project. Even I can't wait to see what happens!
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MIND RESET
Isn't this site supposed to be about animation? Well maybe I better get back to some. This is not to say that all my robot madness was without direction. As I mentioned before I was writing a story about robots. While this isn't it, there is still some level of that in this project.
What project? Well I've been talking for some time about original content for the PSP. I've been working on a story as well. Now with it polished, I've started to employ mind animation techniques to its realization, and none too soon either as I felt like I was going soft not having worked like this in a while.
Anyway, here is one of the first characters for what will be an original program released exclusively on the net for the PSP. The idea to release 3-4 minute chapters on a regular basis eventually culminating in a DVD and hopefully UMD release for the entire program. I will begin, however, with a "proof of concept" trailer. After all, I am shooting for my highest quality yet and working in 1280x720 24P HD, so there are some things to work out. This is only the beginning, so stay tuned as the proof of concept comes to life!
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More Robot Madness!
Someone sent me even greater information on the state of the robotics world in Japan. Science fiction is truly becoming reality over at Kawada Industries, where on their website they show the humanoid robot HRP-2 "Promet". This site is complete with video of the system in action and it is quite amazing.
The external appearance of HRP-2 was designed by Mr. Yutaka Izubuchi, a mechanical animation designer famous for his robots that appear in Japanese anime, including the well-known "Pat labor." Mr. Izubuchi also named HRP-2 "Promet."
Life imitating art? If a mecha designer from Patlabor is getting real world robotics play, imagine what other science fiction and anime ideas might be surfacing in the real world! It will be amazing to see what transpires just over the next few years.
Did you know that I originally went to university to study this stuff? I decided somewhere along the line that I would rather make movies about cool robots than actually make them. On the other hand, it seemed at the time that even this level wasn't going to happen fast enough for me. This has me thinking even more about the robots and deception story I mentioned earlier.
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ROBOT MILLENNIUM
Piggy backing on my Robots of Doom post, this article from National Geographic showcases the robot which truly takes it all to the next level. The indie content creator who sent this to me didn't give away anything in his mail, so when I clicked the link I was astounded.
Internal sensors allow the android to react "naturally." It can block an attempted slap, for example. But it's the little, "unconscious" movements that give the robot its eerie verisimilitude: the slight flutter of the eyelids, the subtle rising and falling of the chest, the constant, nearly imperceptible shifting so familiar to humans.
Where is this going to go next? Imagine when these different puzzle pieces seen in many parts of the robotics industry start to come together. What won't they be able to do? Throw in some Counterstrike enemy A.I. code and we're in for some serious trouble! ;)
Note here is a link to a development test movie!
I recently wrote a robot story, one involving robots and deception. It was one of the candidates for my coming PSP project. It didn't get picked in the end, but the concept still blows me away. When I went to Shanghai, I always thought how much it reminded me of the movie Blade Runner. It's truly amazing how many aspects of things which were science fiction just twenty years ago can be seen in our real world today!
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UMD AWAY!
The digital bits has an article on the rising medium of UMD video, the small disc Sony created for the PSP game system. It also contains a list of current and future releases to show just how much this market is growing.
But you can't deny that UMD is growing in popularity - clearly a lot of people out there have come to appreciate it. And the list of titles already slated for release on the format is, frankly, astonishing (as you'll see below), particularly given that the PSP has only been available for three months. If only some of these studios had supported DVD this aggressively so early...
I personally have always had mixed reaction to UMD movies. I didn't even buy the Spider-Man movie that came with some PSP units when sold. If I did, it would have only been for the novelty, since I own the DVD. The question I am have always asked myself is, When would I watch something like this?
Well I also like to travel. It would have been an amazing thing to have had my Sony PSP with me when I went to China and Japan a few years ago. Not only would I have had an easy medium by which to show off my own demo material, but long plane rides and slow waiting periods in hotels would be the perfect time for me to relax with a good UMD movie. So I'm all for it.
Needless to say, as I have already expressed interest in doing original content for the PSP, an eventual UMD video release of said content would be a great step towards where I want to go!
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Instant Messaging to the Movies!
An article in Wired News shows a whole new aspect of the popular concept of instant messaging. Various freelancers who work in the Hollywood movie industry are using chat clients as a means to find work.
Movie producers, directors, actors and crew workers bouncing from one job to the next have traditionally relied on agents and Rolodexes for finding their next gigs. But these days, many are discovering it's easier to post their job availability on IM.
Instead of displaying simple "away from my computer" messages, Hollywood buddy lists now overflow with come-ons, from "need work" to "wrapping up shoot." Producers hiring for a new production can tell at a glance who's available now, who's not and who might be free in the near future.
The net is a truly wonderful place. Ideas like this always get me thinking, Am I making the most of the networking tools I have? Indie content creators need to take advantage of every opportunity to get their work known and seen. We should always be aware of and looking into how new technologies can help expand our dreams!
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More Dynamic!
There is a great forum thread that has been going on for some time on Newtek discussion boards for Lightwave 3D which covers many more aspects of dynamics and cloth. It not only contains numerous tips and tricks on using Lightwave's dynamics engine to do many other things, but also has links to other plugins and tools which help to expand the process. Definitely worth checking out!
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The Dynamics of Cloth!
One of the things that took computer animation to the next level was the addition of simulated physics. In this case, I am talking about cloth. Cloth simulation is one of those much sought after abilities in the 3D world that still seems to be hard to grasp for many users, let alone master. Using Lightwave, I still wonder, to this day, how Ino, the creator of the legendary Motion Designer, which lead to the current cloth dynamics tools in Lightwave 8.x, gets such amazing results doing cloth.
I can say this. Getting good cloth takes a bit of R&D. You have experiment to find out what suits your taste. Presets are always useful. Try them out and find out why they are what they are. Before getting into anything complex, though, any R&D with cloth, needs to start with this:
If you can't get your cloth to fall on a ball and act the way you want, there is little need to go any further. Make this work first. Not just work, but make the cloth look and feel like you want it on this test. This doesn't guarantee your final settings, but you will be very very close.
The cloth over the ball is fast. You can change settings and run it again to see how things differ. If you don't understand every single setting in your cloth simulator, change them one at a time and see how it falls. I remember I spent a week trying to get cloth to fall on a ball in Maya. I had this phonebook size printout from Square's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within team to explain it all. The best I could get was the cloth contacting the ball and then shooting off into infinity.
Cloth doesn't have to be hard. Start simple, and even low poly at first. If that works, try a higher poly cloth and work your settings until you get it right. This is a must before you can expect to get a coat to fall on a guy.
Full cloth simulation is not applicable everywhere. I do anime. Realistic cloth does not move like anime. In my current work, I may use a cloth simulation to let the cloth shrink and fall on the character and get a good shape, but after that I may animate it with morph targets. Why? Because I want the motion commonly associated with anime, and not a "perfect" cloth simulation. It depends on the project. You have to decide what will work for your project. If you need the full simulation, start with cloth over a ball. If that works, it's smaller steps to get to your goal!
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Apple WWDC 2005
This is pretty much old news already, but on the Apple website there is a quicktime video of the keynote address Steve Jobs gave at the World Wide Developers Conference. Of course, the big announcement was Apple moving to Intel processors and architecture for their future machines.
I don't want to get too much into detail on what was covered. You should watch the video. But I have to say I was impressed. Not only have they been consistently developing OSX to run on Intel processors for the past five years, they already provide developers with everything they need to get them up and running to make this transition as smooth as possible. It was very cool to watch.
If you've ever been interested in Apple, many know that tools such as Final Cut Pro or DVD Studio Pro can only be had on the Mac. Many have asked me why I don't use them as they seem more geared for the type of work I do. Well, for the longest time, the lack of Mirage was my reason. That reason ended some time ago. Since then I have been thinking about it.
I believe they are better for what I do, and recently considered getting a small Mac, possibly an Imac, to make the transition, at least on the post end. Still, the idea was always the need to stick with both. This new move by Apple would send that idea right out the window. I would be able to get one Apple machine and run everything I ever needed to run, some under emulation.
So does this mean those planning to get a Mac now should stop and wait? I don't think so. This is still two years from reality for the big machines, and most people if they bought a machine today would be upgrading by then anyway. I may still buy an Imac G5. It's just dropped down my priority list a bit.
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Targeting
I saw this interesting show on Animal Planet called Animal Face off: Lion vs. Croc. What made it interesting was that you had the two experts facing off on which animal would win in a fight. They each got with a team of engineers and built robots of the animals they studied.
The lion robot was mostly the head and neck and used a catapult type mechanicsm to simulate the fast motion. The croc robot actually moved on tank style treads and could even go into the water to show off it's "death roll" which it uses to rip animals apart. The most exciting thing about this show was that using all the data from the experts and collected from tests on the robots, they built virtual models of the lion and the croc where the final duel would take place; in 3D computer animation.
It was an amazing show, but it really got me thinking about audience. Before the split off of History Channel, Animal Planet and TLC, all of this would have been on Discovery Channel. But the market was there to support four channels with much more specialization as to the programming given to the audience. So what does this mean for the indie?
Well, you may have noticed that some of these specialized channels are getting more into "entertainment" style productions which fit their target audience. We are seeing more "what if" type shows and more drama getting into the documentary. The key is that when you're that targeted, you already know your audience.
So can the same be said of animation? Many look at animation as a genre and think of an audience for animation, but this is not the case. The audience for The Flinstones may have no interest whatsoever in Texhnolyze. Animation can itself be targeted. This is not to discount the mainstream by any means, I am just not talking about that right now. Most prime time animation in America are sit coms, but could their be an animation on The History Channel that was some type of historical drama?
I think of it like manga in Japan. Manga appears in magazines. Not just the big manga anthologies like Shonen Jump, but magazines like Scholar have more intellectual manga with science based stories. Fashion magazines have manga in that vein, business magazines have manga for that audience. So with the many means of targeting now available today, be it wide array of TV channels, the PSP, DVD, the internet, or even mobile devices, can the same be achieved in animation? Not even just in America, but in the world?
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UPDATE!
The unfinished project pages have been completed. This version of the Studio ArtFX web page is now fairly complete and can focus on expansion. More to come soon...
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