Category: 4.1 project 1

Video of the robot arm animation rendered out:

I really value the opportunity to learn about mechanical surfaces and how these skills can be used in many scenarios. We have learnt more than just modelling techniques this term, the professor has also given a systematic talk on 3D animation as a whole, including bone binding and controllers. All of this has improved my skills in producing animations.

There were some difficulties in the production process, but they were eventually solved after continuous attempts, for example, the robotic arm looked a bit out of place at first when placed in the reference video. The reference video was in warm colours and I tried a warm parallel light source, but it didn’t have the desired effect. So I tried ambient light and assigned a warm hdr map to the light source as a material, and finally changed the autoluminescence and exposure of the light source to achieve a relatively harmonious effect.

This week I animated the robot arm, made it match the video and rendered it out.

• I started by creating a new camera and keyframing it in the timeline so that the camera would not shake during the move and so that the arm would always be aligned with the reference video.

• I then animated each key action,This is how the robot arm animation was created. To cover up the arm part, I made minor improvements to the shape of the robot arm before setting up the animation.

This week I edited the video:

• First process the video through AE, roto brush to select the object to be removed. The purple part is boxed successfully. The excess is removed by holding down the ctrl key.

• Then click on the inverse selection so that you select the rest except the arm, then freeze the video and it will show the video with the arm already removed in a transparent layer.

• When the arm is selected the roto brush will automatically track the other frames, When the arm is selected the roto brush will automatically track the other frames.

• After choosing to use the roto good arm here I froze the video.

• This is the effect after removing the hands, the black areas are transparent.

• Using the png image sequence export keeps the arm part transparent so I can see the video reference in Maya.

We have completed the modelling mapping of the robotic arm. This week we recorded the video of the robotic arm, followed by Nick demonstrating how the green arm was removed. And how to import the finished video into Maya.
The first step is to put the green gloves on the arm and then find a small scene to start the show and record the video.

Cut out the arm in the video editing software by chroma keying. This way the robot arm can be better integrated into the scene in the 3D software.

I tried wearing black gloves for the video and did a series of grabs with my arms. I will remove the arms in post by editing.

Video editing software

The professor used the software “DaVinci” to remove the parts of the video that needed to be cut out. Or used After Effects to remove the objects I wanted to remove by using chroma key or roto brushes.

I briefly tried to light the robot arm, but the flat type of light did not quite work for the robot arm. To integrate the arm better into the scene and make it look more natural, I will next try other light sources such as spherical ambient light.

This week we concentrated on adding more detail to the arms and doing the finger rigging. We learnt how to make the finger change direction by means of the actuators and changing the controller values 0-10 to adjust the movement of the finger.

This can be used in many ways, for example to make a deformable robot arm, or to enrich the details of mechanical devices such as the hatch of a spaceship or a control lever.

I improved the wiring of the arms and chamfered the bends, then named the large arms, small arms and palms in groups. Finally the whole thing was imported into Substance Painter to create the mapping. I wanted to create a new flexible arm that looked light, I focused on creating a metallic texture and I tried some highly reflective, low roughness materials in sp.

I’m making a texture at sp, choosing different materials to put in the layer. One is a single layer material, I will use a copper texture and change its colour in the layer to make it look like silvery metal.

• Refining last week’s preview video, here’s the final version.

This semester’s course has given me an understanding of the principles of split-screen and a lot of techniques for making short animated films, including character design, shot design, set design and construction, character movement design, how to use the camera in a 3D scene and much more.

George guided us through step-by-step improvements to the preview subplot, explaining how to make the story look more logical and engaging, and how to make the characters act in a more natural way.

Summary

George’s one-on-one corrections were very attentive and patient and made a huge improvement to the animation I was working on. I learnt a lot of techniques from one mistake to another and this knowledge has allowed me to make better animations in the future.

This week has continued to change the footage for the final project, changing some details, movements etc. The professor has made very helpful comments such as changing the position of the characters, and the little girl being afraid acting details etc. Some shots have also been removed, all of which have made the short film better.

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Shot of the monster appearances

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The girl finds the lamp and focuses on it not realising the monster is next to her, the camera pulls away to allow the monster to come out.
The original shot here only showed the monster’s huge hands, and the torso. At the suggestion of the professor I changed the shot to show the head and shoulders of the monster so that the audience could immediately see what the other main character looked like and know what kind of danger the girl was facing.

Shot of the girl scared

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A few more details have been added here than in the original where the girl spots the monster and just ducks away.

Shot of monster repairing lamp

In the previous version of the shot, the monster fixing something with its back to the girl was a close up to the waist and was in a still frame. With the professor’s guidance, I brought the shot closer and animated the monster’s arms so that he moved from side to side to look like he was fixing something. This made the plot that the shot was trying to convey much clearer and more vivid.

Motion design reference

I had some difficulties with the movement design and it was difficult for me to create vivid movements for the characters just by imagining them.

For this reason, I had to find some reference videos. George suggested a film that I could use as a reference, “Monster Inc”. I was inspired by the interaction between the little girl and the giant monster in the film, for example, the scene where the monster scares the little girl and she falls to the ground, turning her head and tilting her body away from the monster, which I used as a reference for my short film when the lantern is taken by the monster. The body language and expressions of the characters in the film helped me a lot

This is the movement after the adjustment, where the protagonist covers his hands with his hands, turns his face away from the monster, shifts his weight down and leans in the same direction.

Continue to refine the lens this week. The video can be seen changing some details based on George’s suggestions and making some adjustments to some of the shots.

• 1.Last week I added a shot of a girl walking into a cave, and this week I’m going to flesh out the details of that shot. Firstly to bring the shot in closer and highlight the character more. Then there are changes to the movement, with the girl first holding one hand on the wall and her body leaning forward like a still to look ahead. Then she walks forward again, stopping when she reaches the centre of the shot and looking to the left and right.

• 2.The close-up of the girl looking left and right was deleted because the girl was already doing so in the added shot of the walking cave.

• 3.Make the shot of the protagonist seeing the building inside the cave last an extra second. And add an action. The protagonist is struck by the scene and then discovers that the lantern she is looking for is on the ground not far away. To segue into the next shot of the protagonist picking up the lantern, add an action at the end of this shot of the protagonist running out of shot to the right to pick up the lantern.

This week we learnt some skills about binding, including parent-child set relationships and binding bones through groups. There are a lot of details to look at in the binding process, such as freezing objects first, aligning centre points and most importantly, clearly distinguishing hierarchical relationships. This has helped me very much in the process of making my robot arm. This week I have done some refinement of my robot arm model and tried to create a surface material for the arm.