AfterEffects Rambling_Part1

I hate when my blogging inner self can't share new things, for various reasons, but mostly because Alice eats up all my free time (and I can't draw). And other spare minutes are spent on either everyday tasks or college assigment.Speaking of which, I've been lately turning AfterEffects more often than Photoshop. That led to some AE orientated posts that I'll be posting on my college blog. However I felt like it could be a good idea to share it here too, maybe at least one soul will find my noob rambling useful :). Pardon simple copy-paste approach, I wrote below text purely to match module criteria.

So.. first post is about making a choice between Puppet Tool and Anchor Points.


I came to the point where I should start thinking about what tools can be used to animate. Initially I thought about using puppet tool in After Effects, however, while drawing puppets and props, I came to the conclusion that it'll be more efficient and easy to just use anchor points. So, whats the advantages of anchor points over the puppet tool?

 

First of all, puppet tool is great when used on a drawing as whole, as it creates rig/mesh - great for pieces that are not made from multiple parts. However my puppets and assets are made from many separate elements. Puppet tool can't be used across multiple layers, which is another advantage of anchor points. I can parent joints and create hierarchy (e.g. finger > wrist > forearm > arm). Anchor points can be moved at the end of each joint, which will be marked by a pin. By using rotate I'll be able to animate them. After a brief conversation with one of the tutors I also found out that anchor points moved in Photoshop will be transferred into AE so I don't have to do same job twice. Below is a screenshot showing how I parented shoe and knee to the leg and that change of rotate values makes whole leg move.

 

 Another thing i had to consider was whenever I should add sticks to the character arms or not. Problem with that is that I'll have to imitate the motion caused by it, which could be problematic and difficult to do in After Effects (oh and time consuming). Moreover I like the current aesthetic and with digital media I don't have to worry about 'is it even possible' thing ;).

25.03.2015

Quick doodle before I get back to background painting. Long night ahead!

24.03.2015

Props for short 2D animation I'm still working on. Moved onto backgrounds now. Btw I'm so inconsistent with arranging/framing things ;)

Interesting Stuff||010

Since Alice joined our little family and made me almost completly unable to paint I've started binging on all types of podcasts, streams, vlogs, hangouts, timelapses and whats not. BelowI tried combine a list of art related talks/tutorials. Some channels are still active, other been dead for years but still worth listening to (and few went into gumroad mode with more trailers than content). Probably forgot about tons of other cool stuff, but hey, thats me ;)

creative trek
levelUp
robotpencil
chrisoatley
sycra
cubebrush
ctr+paint
feng zhu
noah bradley
proko
collective podcast
bobby chiu
shaddy safadi
schoolism interviews
clint cearley
will terry
scott robertson
draw with jazza
dave rapoza
stephen silver

15.03.2015

Okay, time for a little update regarding Fern Flower animation - I've got two (of three) puppets done with all bits and bobs on separeted layers and can start animating soon. Just need to finish last one.. and paint backgrounds and props. Still so much work to do, but, believe it or not, I'm having so much fun making it :)

Interesting Stuff||009

Few things, some old, some new. Enjoy!

•  Female Potrayals in video games - quite a good article I came across recently thru elsevilla DA journal entry. Worth reading whenever you agree with it or not ;)
• New version of Krita which I need to download and test soon! (for symmetry tool and wrap- around mode)
• Chris Oatley interview with Loish - artcast #85 - a bit different to other episodes as it was an interview done in person, with all the funky background noise.
• THU2015 is upon us with quite expensive tickets some people can't afford. Luckily there is a competition going with a really cool prizes!
• The Freelance Handbook - free 116-page ebook.

#21Days Challenge

Few days ago Noah Bradley launched a #21days challenge. The goal is to get you into a habit of drawing everyday and, ofcourse, improve. And I should be doing master studies but you know I like to add a little twist to the things. Plus I just want to get back into a daily drawing habit (which is hard since Alice arrived). So, for now, my personal goal is to just produce something. Sketch, finished drawing, traditional, digital - doesn't matter. Below are first 3 days and, unfortunately, on the second day I was only able to work on my college assesment. Oh well, it still counts :)

Two hectic months..

It's been over two months since little Alice joined our family and turned my daily routine into thing of the past. I've decided to share few photos with the world, mostly because there aren't enough drawings to post. And I like to keep my blog updated fairly often!

So, what I've been up to lately you may ask. Other than caring for the little one ofcourse ;). We managed to get few little trips done, visited Kirkstall Abbey and Roundhay Park (in the most horibble weather I shall add), walked quite a few miles and almost get used to sleepless nights.

 

Kirkstall Abbey trip was lovely. Really nice weather (warm enough to have a ice cream from the van), lots of flowers starting to bloom, nearly clear sky. Few facts - Kirkstall Abbey is a ruin of Cistercian monastery founded in c.1152, build on the north bank of the River Aire. There is quite a lot of visible remains, entry is free and you can explore different rooms, read their history.

Stroll around Roundhay Park wasn't that nice due to horibble weather. After so many years living in UK I got used to rain and wind but on that day weather was just insane. And believe me, there is nothing worst than pushing pram thru muddy paths!

What else should I say? I'm enjoying my new life A LOT! It's hard, tiring and there are sacrifices to make but what you get back is priceless.

3.03.2015

Costume ideas for my puppets.