Creating Cyclic Animations for Video Games.

So I wasn't able to complete my 11 second club submission. Very depressing.

My terrible time management skills are mainly to blame for this. I really need to establish some sort of timetable for working on each module, because I'm finding that by meandering between modules on a whim I'm often left spending too much time on certain areas.

But anyway, back to animation.

As I think I mentioned before this coursework is focused on creating cyclic animations for video games, and as such the animations should pertain to ones you would expect to see in games, and should be realised through an appropriate video game character rig.

Now, the other week I had my first mo-cap session. Mo-cap is something that has interested me since the VFX trip to London I went on back in 2012. Then recently, I attended a talk by Jonathan Cooper, the lead animator on Assassin's Creed 3.

The talk was titled "Animating the 3rd Assassin" and in it he detailed his mo-cap & animation process for the Assassin. The quality of animation that can be achieved blew my mind. Johnathon explained the process, which involves skilled actors and state of the art suites, and how he directs the mo-cap process, applies it to a mesh, and then tweaks and refines the data it to create one awesomely animated character.

Towards the end of the motion capture session I was allowed to direct a dying animation - which I really enjoyed. And the almost-immediate feedback you receive with mo-cap really lets you iterate like crazy.

I'd like to book out the motion capture suite sometime soon, but before I do that, and this was heavily pointed out, I need to meticulously plan everything. Just as a producer for a game of film considers time and budget, it's great to get into this mode of thinking and practicing professionally.

In class we were shown Johnathon's showreel, which included a walk, a sneak, a run, and a breathtakingly impressive quasi-free-running sequence.

This array of animation really makes sense for the Assassin.

That's what I feel made the showreel really pop. The animations are so strongly rooted in the context and personality of the character.

So, to begin an interesting workflow, and also allow me to use my time as cleverly as possible, I'm going to be tying in this animation module with my Low Poly Modelling class.

I've never actually done this before, although it's often suggested. So I guess I'm quite excited about, because it means I'll be more focused on mutual assets, which I reckon can only be a good thing. Quality over quantity and all that.

So yeah, the reasoning for tying these modules.

Well, for Ken's module I'm interested in the translation of both the transition of stylised concept art to 3D, and also the way in which a characters' adult character model compares to the child counterpart. I think this leaves a nice scope to take the 3D model of the child and the adult and use cyclic animation to convey their individual personalities. It would also provide a good chance to provide context to the characters animations. I think using the characters' back-stories, which would be devised in LPM through the concept art, will provide interesting situations which can in turn be animated for this module. Hopefully I'll get around to re-wording this as I feel I might be rambling or perhaps unclear.

I guess for rigging I'll need to look into using Mixamo or something similar to get the rig. If not, i'll just use the essence of the characters, and a downloaded rig. Naturally I'd prefer to use the actual models.

That's all for now, folks.

The First Meeting with Dayna and Co.

Meeting

At the end of last week myself, Mus, Kayleigh and Sam all met up with Dayna to have a chat about the Interactive Classics project. 

The meeting was really interesting and I think it would be nice if we met like this regularly. This was suggested during the meeting, so it looks like that will probably be the case. 

Dayna was switched on to the project idea after reading a book by French renaissance writer, Francoise Rabelais. The book was Gargantua, and is a fine example of 16th century satire. One of the sections in the book describes the protagonists' plight to find the perfect item to wipe his butt with - and this was the section Dayna favoured most:

I have', answered Gargantua, 'by a long and curious experience found out a means to wipe my bum. The most lordly, the most excellent, the most convenient that was ever seen. I have wiped my tail with a hen, with a cock, with a pullet, with a calf's skin, with a hare, with a pigeon, with a cormorant, with an attorney's bag, with a Montero, with a falconer's lure. But to conclude, I say and maintain that of all the torcheculs, arsewisps, bumfodders, tail-napkins, bunghole cleansers, and wipe-breeches, there is none in the world comparable to the neck of a goose, that is well downed, if you hold her head betwixt your legs. And believe me therein upon mine honour, for you will thereby feel in your nockhole a most wonderful pleasure, both in regard of the softness of the said down and of the temporate heat of the goose, which is easily communicated to the bum-gut and the rest of the inwards, in so far as to come even to the regions of the heart and brains.

The Story Mechanics

I've signed up to the next Story Mechanics lab session. I'm really looking forward to this because I haven't really got any idea what it'll be like. The session is titled "The Protagonist", and is going to be held near the end of this month, but the date is yet to be confirmed.

Personal Thoughts

I previously expressed an interest to focus on the interactive side of the adaptation process; but I didn't really have any real thoughts on what I wanted to achieve.

During the meeting I began to think about the way "O' Brother, Where Art Thou" was created. I love the indirect idea of adaptation, and the way in which the story is taken and applied in a completely different context. So sort of using the original stories' events as a vague guide to tell your own story.

That lead me on to thinking about folk tales and the way in which they were spread because of the important strong life lessons they preached. And then I started to think about how interactive story telling could harness these lessons. So say if I was to take something like the original tale of Cinderella from the Grimm collection (which differs greatly from the Disney adaptation, and can be read here), or at least the purpose/lesson from it, and weaved it into a new context, in which you make the decisions. Basically a half breed between an adaptation and a Choose your Own Adventure! book. I think this idea is still pretty crummy, but I normally need to go through a bunch of these ideas before the good ones start arriving. So I'm not too worried as I have an avenue to start looking into at least.

That's all folks.

Various Life Drawing.

Here's some life drawing from the past few weeks that I thought turned out OK.

First Pass level design in place.

After 6 weeks of waiting interesting level designs we (Skully and I) finally decided to just sit down and decipher one which we could make in the remaining time as best we could. 

I had previously created a critical framework for our designer which in theory would facilitate more relevant and dynamic level design for Role. 

Framework (apply these questions to every mechanism design once it's been made.)

-Does it consider time as a skill? Y/N

-Is this design simple enough for the player to conceive? Y/N

-Consider how the design will simulated through 2D physics. 

-Does the mechanism fit the context? Y/N

-Consider the amount of work required to create it. Clever, simple designs are the core charm of this short project. 

Also, the games we highlighted as our main inspirations back in week one were written down for her as she hadn't checked them out despite our teams' regular referencing to them. Pretty unsettling. 

We refer to Limbo every day. Play Dead, 2010.

As I think I mentioned before that the level designs we were receiving totally jarred with the ethos of the game and obviously hadn't been considered for any length of time as she would change them and scribble different designs on a whim while pitching them. 

I really hope noting these points doesn't seem unprofessional but it's generally just a play-by-play of events. 

So we still needed a final design and the ones she was bringing us all neglected to consider the fact that the mechanisms are on their own layers and so, for example, some mechanisms could not impact others. She was looking at the game like a 2D picture instead of considering the level like a 3D space. 

So I quickly threw together a simple mock-up of part of our level to demonstrate how to picture it when designing (See Below).

This seems to have helped her a lot.

We now have an ending to the first pass level design and I will be creating the assets as fast as I can until the submission.

One interesting thing about the beginning of our level is the "fan" which begins to blow the player once the screen is tapped.

The context for this is a boat's propeller. Basically the start of the level will be at the water's edge and the boat will be dangling from a crane with the propeller's exposed.

Animated sprite sheets are in our beta version plan. However, I'll still make the sprite sheets so that they're ready for implementation when we're in beta development.

In anticipation of the sprite sheet I decided to create some 3D reference footage for the propeller because I don't fancy the idea of animating the side-view of a boat propeller from imagination.

So I'll begin rotoscoping that footage after I've made all the Alpha art for this level.

I've also spent some time designing the boat that will be attached to the propeller.

I took some inspiration from Ian's McCue's work and from the Junk boats of Ancient China for the shape and for the colours I referred back to my older boat design. Although I don't think they gel as well as in the older design, and in general I feel the designs are very weak; so I'll need to refine that.

I also threw the Player (moon) in to demonstrate the scale of the designs.

Also, any opinions on the current stance of the logo would be appreciated.

There were quite a few designs I drafted which I liked. But some didn't fit the context - like this one:

"Role" Concept Art & Visual Style Guide

Seeing as I couldn't start work on our level, I've spread out my time developing the visual style of the game, researching other styles, and creating a brief visual style guide. 

I've also just sent over some first pass art to our programmer as we want to have something that looks good for our Thursday meetings, and we can't wait any longer.

 I asked our producer to email Ken to ensure him that we're not lazy or unenthusiastic. Skully, Anthony, and myself are all extremely excited about this game, and are determined to not let this affect our final product. He tells me he sent the e-mail so they now know why we might not have been delivering excellent progress each week. 

Original Mock Up

Second Mock Up

Visual Style Guide

Computer Game Development Project  

Working Logo

Introduction

In this document the visual style and artistic requirements necessary for the accurate creation of the game project “Role” will be defined.

Role is a 2D Rube Goldberg inspired side-scroller. It is very interested in creating a simple, engaging experience which drifts between soothing and urgent gameplay.

Role is the story of day into night. The game begins when the moon falls from the sky directly into the level. The character moves independently, and the player must tap the screen to alter the game environment in order to vehicle the moon to the end of the level, at which point the moon rises as the sun and the level is complete.

The visual style will serve the simplicity of the game and support the games’ context to fully play to the story of the gameplay. The artwork should also complement the idea of stillness in the game.

Characters

The only “character” in the game is the moon. The Moon will have a wisp-like texture and should have a sense of “life” to it. Much like the character in “Thomas was Alone”, the animation and sound design will compensate for the simplicity of the characters’ design.

Storyboards 

User Interface

Because Role is designed to be a simple, calming game, the UI must therefore mimic this, and must not exist to bother or distract the player in any way.

Environments

The environment art for Role is the majority, and as such is incredibly important in affirming the atmosphere and ethos of the game as a whole. Primary colours have no place in this game; Rather, a de-saturated colour scheme based around highlights has been created to give the game the feeling of “sitting round the camp fire”. The player should hopefully feel unsure about the environment, but also intrigued. Overall, the environment assets should combine to instil a strong sense of nature and history.

Man’s presence in this world should feel minimal and also rustic. Modern technology would jar with the organic shapes and remove the environments’ sense of innocence.

To best emphasise the bitter cold and stillness of the night, blue hues have been used generously across the environments. By creating this strong atmosphere at all times, the rising of the moon to the sun at the end of each level should be a great contrast of visuals upon which to end on.

Shape

Shape theory is a strong influence on the narrative and impression of the character and environment art.

The main character, the moon, is a circle, and as such the design can better emphasise the situation or position of the character through a harmony or dissonance of shapes.

SAFE!

In the image above the repetition of circles enforces the idea that the player is currently early on in the level, the shapes are all relatively rounded and there are little or no sharp, threatening lines. The moon almost looks like it belongs in this environment because it harmonises with the shapes in the environment. When placed among sharp objects however, the player will definitely not feel safe.

Camera

Role will have a parallax system which will complement the art enormously. Games such as Rayman Jungle Run and Limbo served as inspiration for the considering of the scale and ambience which great parallax art can convey.

The background art of the environment should not distract from the detail of the midground. It should complement the ambiguous setting of the game and, like Limbo, help give a sense of remoteness to the world.

A zooming action also exists throughout the level, which will help draw attention to different parts of the environment and its mechanisms.

References

Placement Art

The images compiled in the mood board convey the sort of atmosphere that Role hopes to accomplish. The still from La Luna (Pixar, 2012) in the top left of the board demonstrates the still, calming nature of the moonlight. Stills from Rime, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Project 2 (3 middle images) illustrate the impression which can be captured through highlights and contrast. 

"Role" Moodboard

Thanks, 

ROLE!

There's been a lot of progress since my last post for Games Dev. Although not as much as we would have liked.

We are planning to be in our alpha stage by the end of this week. However, there has been a massive delay in our level design. We're currently in week six and we don't have any final designs.

There's only one level...

So far, all of them have been extremely convoluted and seemingly indifferent to the game's narrative, setting and ethos.

Unfortunately this shows little sign of improving any time soon. I suggested "Level Up" and a designer from another team suggested "The Hows and Whys of Level Design" among other things, and was kind enough to demonstrate some simple examples in a matter of minutes, which were simple, great, and captured the nature of the premise wonderfully.

I've been doing my best to create assets, but we don't have the final asset list for even the first 15 seconds of the first (and only) level. Yes, there has been a list of mechanisms provided. But anyone could have done this. It's just a generic list of Rube Golberg/LBP items with no context or hint of clever cohesion in terms of the development of the players' enjoyment.

Our programmer is working tirelessly, doing fine work, and also doing his best to test his progress with the level designs that we've been given. I really can't speak highly enough of him.

I have created a visual style guide and defined many asset designs (as best I can, which I feel fit the context) and environments. However, I am very wary to begin working on assets, when I have no idea which will make it in, and not even as polish, but as BASIC level assets.

The basic level should have been completed within the first 2 weeks with time to spare, and I should have been able to hit the ground running with the asset creation. However, we find ourselves in week 6, and even if I found out exactly what I needed to create today, I'll likely become very stressed (unnecessarily) to get it done in time.

I feel this game is a level designers' dream and I've fallen in love with the whole idea. I really want to deliver with this game and make a great impression upon my peers. However, I feel (and I am not alone here), that we may just be rather unfortunate.

I can't write this post without addressing the language barrier, because it is naturally playing a key role in this lack of progress. Most of the time when one of us is trying to explain something to the designer, she says she understands, when clearly this is not the case, as she will go quiet and then move onto another problem. The original problem is then left unsolved. The cycle continues.

So perhaps the language barrier is more to blame for the lack of understanding. But at the same time, the concept art, mock-ups and mood boards convey the context, and Skully's (programmer) physics tests and mechanic mock ups crystalise the properties and physics of the game.

From there it's just applying basic level design theory to it, and then iterating.

Naturally, this has me really worried, as our game is faltering. But hopefully we can find a solution soon and save our end product.

Thanks,

Low Poly Modelling - Explained!

Good news everyone, 

we've been assigned mentors for our projects and I've refined my idea some. 

I've updated my PDP slightly since last time as I hadn't drawn enough attention to the concept art side of the project. 

Core Discipline: Character Concept art and Modelling for Games. 

Area of Enquiry:  Remains the same.

Agreed Action points:

General:
Remains the same.

Design and a contextual relation.

Experimenting with pose and proportion. (Traditional/digital sketchbook)

Design methodologies to enhance model topology and quality. 

Designing through 3D – Emphasis on topology budget. More interest in designing in low poly opposed to high poly sculpts > low poly. 

Agreed Deliverables:

Appropriate Visual Development (in the form of traditional/digital sketchbooks) for the creation of 3D character assets for both low poly and any high poly models.

Digital sketchbook should include the understanding and exploring of necessary topology. 

All Maya files for 3D models created and their corresponding texturing, mapping and rendering images. 

Blog in the form of a .PDF

Transcript with personal mentors in the form of .PDF.

Mentors.

So this is very cool. For this module we are assigned mentors from industry, who we should remain in regular contact with. It's quite awesome. 

The mentors are relevant to the area you chose, and the mentors I've been assigned are fantastic. 

To cover the concept art and modelling side of things I have been assigned Alex Ronald - a brilliant artist who has worked in many areas across the entertainment industry. From Comics to Crackdown, his career so far is fascinating at a glance, and so I'm very much looking forward to meeting him. 

Mike Cummings is my other Mentor. He won Dare the year I started my undergraduate back in 2009 with "Shrunk". Since then Mike has worked at Travellers' Tales as a technical animator. As a kid, and even now, I was a huge TT fan. Puggsy was one of the first games I ever player - and played it I did. A LOT. Sonic R and Sonic 3D also provided many a fond memory. Nostalgia aside, it'll be incredible having a professional , from a company whom are such a huge inspiration to me personally, to help me out with my work. 

Pose and Proportion. 

Today I decided to create a character sheet for what could potentially be my first 3D models of the project. I've created a lot of 2D designs so far and they've been a great help for developing my skill, but this is the first one which I believe can serve my 3D practice well. 

I was thinking this morning about the 3D modelling of a character as a child, and then also as an adult. Typically, peoples personalities and physical appearances tend to change with age. So I thought it would be a great idea to establish one strong character profile, but at different stages in his life, and then move onto the topological and animation considerations.

As you can see in the development sheet below, I've also included some simple vehicle designs. I find that including things like vehicle designs and environment sketches helps me find context in my process. Hopefully I'll have time to do some quick models for these vehicles as props for my final models. 

Considering how a character changes with age. (Click for High-Res)