PLEASE WAIT UNTIL AT LEAST NEXT WEEK TO BEGIN CLEAN UP!

Hey guys, I'm in a hurry so I will make this quick. I hadn't really though about all of this in depth before reading Jason's post below, but now that I have had time to ponder it I thought I would just make sure to state the situation clearly:

PLEASE WAIT TO BEGIN CLEAN UP UNTIL AT LEAST NEXT WEEKS MEETING.

I don't want to discourage people who want to get their work done from doing so, but the fact is that we have not decided on a clean up style, and that without having your rough animation checked you could be spending extra time cleaning animation that doesn't work. I JUST DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO HAVE ANYONE DO WORK THAT WILL HAVE TO BE RE-DONE. So if people are enthusiastic and want to get their work done, that is awesome, but I would suggest getting all of your layouts and animation done in rough at this point and wait to move on to clean up. The rough stage should be enough work to keep everyone busy until at least next Wednesday anyway.


Thanks and sorry to slow anyone up if they were hoping to clean up now. I'm just trying to be realistic.


Rory.

Cleaning Up and Painting

Hi everyone,

Hope you're having a good reading week so far!

What I want to talk about is that we need to at least start thinking about cleaning up and painting. Like How thin/thick outlines should be, what should be used for cleaning up (for consistency), what tool should be used for painting our animation, etc.

I was hoping we could have a discussion about this in our next group meeting.

Thanks!

workbook and rough layouts dates!

Hi all, hope every1 is having a great reading week.
a reminder, Haine and I have still not recieved all the workbook in the server. I know most of you have done it, but for others please have it on the server by coming monday(march03).
We will do tracking as of monday.
workbook not on the server are: Frank, Rory, Igor, Matt. (maybe im missing a few,
but if its you, then do it!)

you need to scan them and put them on server, if your not going to be at school before monday and thus cannot get to a school server,then please upload it on the blog and we'll check you off accordingly. Haine and I will start reviewing the workbook as of monday.

Also, Rough layouts for all your scenes are due, please include rough animation pose(s) as well. The due date for rough layout will be track on march 05 during our meeting. if you don't show up, well, you don't get tracked then.

ORGANIZATIONAL STUFF

Hey everyone, I apologize in advance for the cold, no-nonsense tone of the following post. But this organizational stuff has to get done, and I want to state the situation as clearly as possible.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE WHOLE POST

Ok, so there has been some confusion surrounding the Leica and sound files. Steps have been taken to correct this, and it should no longer be an issue. First of all, Kayla has fixed the Leica, so thanks to her for that, it will come in very handy later on when we set about doing a final edit!

Second, I have set it up so that no one should need the Leica to animate their scenes, and have put together a workreel that uses only 3 source files for everyone to use should they need it.

HERE IS HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS:

THE ANIMATION SCENES FOLDER

As you all know, in the ANIMATION SCENES folder there are individual folders for every scene in the film.

There are now 3 files in each scene folder:
1. The Storyboard for the scene.
2. The Dialogue Track for the scene
(containing relevant SFX)
3. A low-res MPEG video of the
scene for you to watch.

When you go to start a scene first go to the folder for that scene and watch the video so you know what you are dealing with in terms of action, time, and dialogue etc.

For your audio, please use the audio tracks from these folders, as they are up to date and have been rendered out with only the dialogue and relevant SFX so that they are easier to dope.

The storyboard is primarily there just so that you can check to make sure everything you have is from the same scene. I think everything should be present and accounted for, but with so many numbers it is all too easy to misplace a file or two, so if something doesn't match between the board, the video, and the audio track it is your job to ask questions and get the issue fixed.

THE WORKREEL

I have also created a WORKREEL folder. In side this folder is a Premiere file for the Workreel and the 3 source files it uses (an MPEG render of the Leica, and a WAV of just the Dialogue and a WAV of just the Music/FX). Because of its simplicity this is primarily the file everyone will be using, not the Leica. Tracy will be splicing it into scenes some time soon. There are two main uses for this Workreel:

1. If there are problems with the files in one of your scene folders, you could go and render out new audio or video from this file (using the method Kayla showed in her post). Because there are 3 audio tracks you can select whether you want dialogue, SFX/Music, or both by turning the little speaker button on or off for each track before rendering. (Unless there are real problems please use the audio from the scene folder.)

2. After a shot is checked, approved and tracked at each stage of production (Ruff-Clean-Final) it will be your responsibility to then edit it into the WORKREEL. Place the video on the proper track above the previous version of the scene to replace it. Do not cut or delete anything, just stack them. At full opacity only the video on the top level will be seen.

THE ANIMATION HANDINS FOLDER

I have created an ANIMATION HANDINS folder. THIS IS HOW I WILL BE TRACKING ANIMATION. In this folder there are 13 folders, one for each PLAN B member. When you have a scene done first in Ruff and then in Clean you place it in the folder with your name on it. I cannot sort through the nearly 100 scene folders to see if you have submitted any new scenes for animation checking and tracking, so these will be the only folders I look at to see your work.

There is a README file in the ANIMATION HANDINS folder that explains how the system works and how to name your files. Please give it a read.

Generally speaking it would be a good idea to submit your ruff animation and wait for animation check and approval/tracking before you begin to clean it up, just in case something needs to be changed, at which point having already started clean up would be a big waste of time. The same goes for moving on from Clean Up to Ink&Paint, and from one stage of Layout to another as well.


THE LEICA REEL

The most current version of the Leica reel has been rendered out as an HD MPEG file and is located in the main EvilStevil folder. Please watch it as soon as possible so that you know where your scenes fit in, and if there was anything about them that has changed or that you hadn't noticed before. Also, when you go to start a scene please refer to this file and watch that scene in the context of the film with the scenes around it so that you know everything that is happening with it. Up to this point any confusion regarding your scenes and what is happening in them has not really been anyones fault, and for my part I apologize for not having posted all of this to the server a week ago. However, from now on it is your responsibility to watch the Leica and check out your scenes, and to make sure that you understand them.

NOTE: There have been some changes made to the dialogue etc. so make sure you watch your scenes again (in the leica and/or in the scene folder video clip), and make sure they are either the same as before or that you take note of the changes.


I think that should just about wrap it up. Obviously no system is fool proof and if there are issues don't hesitate to ask myself or anyone else in the group. Group emails or blog posts are a good way to do this if the person you need to ask is not at school. If there are any initial questions post them in the comments section of this post and I will try to respond ASAP. Thanks for your patience everyone, and I hope that this new organization will help us all get through the next 7 weeks.

- Rory


(P.S. To the person assigned to SEQUENCE 1 SCENE 36 the one where ES sees the pea land and runs up stairs:
In the newest version of the Leica I divided this scene into 2 parts, as we had discussed at a group meeting. This is just one way to solve the problem we had with this scene, and it can be discussed more later on. I would hold off devoting too much time to this scene until all of your other scenes are done, because it may still be subject to change. Thanks.)

THE LEICA REEL

I have gone through and FIXED the premiere problem, it will no longer ask you for EVERY single file (only one) READ the following to make your life easier!

TO USE THE AUDIO IN MAGPIE

1. open Premiere again
2. import your newly exported audio clips
3. one by one re-export them through file>export>audio
4. open magpie
5. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE SETTINGS TO 24 Frames/Sec or your frame rate will be wrong!
6. rememeber magpie includes the zero frame, so if it finishes on 24 it really means you have 23 frames.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!

LAYOUT REFERENCE!!

Here you go guys :D

have fun drawing layouts!! :D!!

have a nnnnnnnnice reading week !

Answer

You're right Jack, no one has put together a character line up. Sorry about that, I had forgotten all about it until I read you're question. Ultimately it will be as simple as going into photoshop, lifting the 3/4 front drawings from the existing model sheets, putting them on one sheet, and scaling them accordingly. Perhaps we can get around to that tomorrow sometime.

For now the important thing to know is that ES comes up to just below Death's chest level. Frank and I did the model sheets for Death and ES apart, so we never set a standard head size. In fact, I think ES head would have to be smaller (or at least shorter because his chin sticks out horizontally). Death first of all is huge (he is bigger than any mortal) and second he has a very long head (vertically) meaning that his heads are worth more height on a model sheet chart than ES's are.

I hope that clears things up a bit. We will create a size comparison sheet as soon as possible which should further clarify the situation.

Also, remember: we can cheat the sizes a bit from time to time if it helps us tell the story, especially since everyone in the audience knows that Death is magical.

Rory

question

hi, i checked the model sheet for both death and ES and they're both very good.
but in terms of height relationships, we know death is taller. But by how much?
Rory's model sheet has ES of 4.5 heads tall. Frank's death is 5 heads tall.
but it seems that death should be much taller.
can one of you clarify this?
also, ES's head height is roughly the same as death's death height?
please make this clear for us, thanks again guys!

ALSO, i've put exterior props design on the server, that includes: rock formation, clouds, cactus,
track designs for the jump.
if i get a chnace, ill also post them here on the blog.

Wednesday's OFFICIAL GROUP MEETING

LAYOUT AND CHARACTER ANIMATION POW-WOW!

Hey everyone, with a lot of the organizational stuff out of the way we can get back to the creative side of things. This week's official group meeting (after Tony's production meeting) will be very important for everyone to attend so that we are all on the same page going into reading week! I have talked to Haine and Frank and the three of us will be giving little talks to help everyone with drawing the Layouts and the Characters.

The tentative agenda (subject to change and input from the group) would be:

1. Taking care of business - discuss any potential issues that people may have:
if people need some suggestions or help with their scenes, if there
are any remaining organizational issues to resolve, if there are any
designs that still require group approval (ex. the wheelchair for
Jason's scene), or anything else that people have on their minds...

2. Big Layout Talk and Q&A (by Haine and Jack)

3. Big Character Talk and Q&A (by Frank and Rory)

Does that sound good to everyone?

Rory

Organization

Hey everybody,

Sorry again for missing Friday, but as I mentioned on Wed. I had to go home on Thursday.

I just wanted to say: to everyone who helped get us organized over the past few weeks (I have a feeling that Kayla played a big role in that, but there were likely others as well), you did a great job and many thanks. I'm sure it was no small task to hand out our massive pile of scenes, create the shot list to keep track of it all, and making those awesome folders... so my hat is off to all those who did such a great job of all of this. It is not the most fun job in the world but it is very important for all of us. So thanks again!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy family day!

Rory

Wheelchair Model

I forgot to mention this in the meeting today. lol

Since my DQ scene has wheelchair in it, I need the finalized wheelchair design. I'm gonna start animating by this weekend probably so I was wondering what to do.

Or is the one Igor made a while ago the one to use?

DQ- about being on Model

you all are ruff animating a scene of the evil or death, next week is the final week of RUFF animating the scene
if you all used a ruff working model of evil or death it should be close
in fact it has been my experience that even if you all had a final model , your Models would still look different
but you will all have an idea of what works and what does not based on what you have been doing in your animation class
It is best to put together a final model based on what you all have contributed from the animation you are doing
we can meet as a group and discuss what you feel looks good and works then you can get someone to finalize the model for all of you to finalize your animation
then when you do the clean up of the scene you can put the character design on model

NO characters are ever on model at the beginning of a production, especially when the character is new and you have to discover them...

Do not worry if you have started other scenes, you are only in the ruffing stage and once you have gone thru the pose test and ruff animation , you should have a model to work from

I also want to go over the model with who ever designs it or even the other characters and
who ever creates the final models should also give a chalk talk to the group on how to keep it on model

thanks

DQ

Snapegator

I havent posted in a while....thought you might be interested to see my approach on the snapegator (thats the name I came up with lol) but yeah...let me know what you think.

- Nabs

Design Pack Stuff...

Here is my part! :D

WORKBOOK

Here are some of my wrokbook ideas. Tell me what you think!

DQ- by the way

Hiya

by the way could someone post the latest story reel so I can entertain myself during the snow storm?

DQ- Happy snow day

HI Plan Bees

seems we are going to miss our meeting today.....
if you have anything to show me or ask let me know on the blog
I will try to check it thu the day and weekend

DQ

Design Pack - Death