The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning Concluded

    The CD's of my animatic are now mailed off.  Which means that the project is finally finished!!

    Needless to say the enthusiasm for this project died out long ago.  I would be very surprised if I hear anything back about it, given how old the joke is and that the animatic comes across as rushed and amateurish.

      On the positive side,  I don't know of any people that would put this much effort into this kind of idea. Also, how many people decided to teach themselves how to make a storyboard animatic like I did?  

 But I finished it and it is done!  On to other things!

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.24

           The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning is finally completed!!!   I barely finished it  before the 2 year mark but I have still finished it.  Now all that is left is to mail it out.  Watch it below.

The Crititque

         - A lot of the shots come across as well done and planned.  They work.

         - The overall idea for the project is successful.  It definitely comes across as a good mix of Legend of Korra and Gangam Style.

         -  Characters are readable and everything comes across like it should.

         - The drawings near the end are better than I thought they would.

         - The project took A LOT longer then it should have.

         - The boards are very messy and smudged.  This really hurts how professional the project appears.

            *Storing these boards in a box was a HORRIBLE idea.  I had access to a scanner and I should have scanned them right away!  What was I thinking!

        - There are a lot of drawing errors as well.

        - The final bit dance seen comes across as rushed because I didn't animate the background to go along with the figures moving.

         - The project definitely comes across as more amateurish than something done by a professional that knows what he is doing.

         - I GODDAMN FUCKING FINISHED THE BLOODY THING!!!!  Despite moving three times, struggling to afford to eat, spending a quarter to finish my degree,  living with an Aunt and Uncle that I eventually had to hide drawing from, and at one point having 32 hour work days,  I somehow managed to finish the damn thing and get it posted up on the internet!  That is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing out of all of it.  Especially, given the difficulties that I was mentioning above.

          -  Now I really don't have an excuse for some of the projects I have been thinking about. If I was able to finish this one, I can finish other projects.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.23

I  am finally on the last leg of getting the animatic finished.  However I am no longer at SCAD, and only have access to my computer.

   No more beautiful two computer workspaces.

         Somehow,  either through a deal SCAD that lasts longer than when I finished, or by sown miracle of GOD,  I am able to use After Effects for free.  Since I don't have a computer just for visual reference, I have devised a way to use the snippet tool to create my reference images.

            I used these images that I took from key moments that I want to animate and used them as the points of reference.

       This is basically how I was doing things with two computers only not as specific. That is just a price I am going to have to pay however, if I want to keep this project under the 2 year mark.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.22

            I am at the point where I am drawing this scene.

             To do this scene properly and like I planned I need to have a specific character referenced for each person in the scene.  Not necessarily easy, but I believe it will be that much better.  So I created a diagram in Photoshop to help me keep track and know what I am doing.

The names are also the titles of the images used for reference to make things easier

            Originally I thought there were 2 people in the first row but upon further inspection I realized that there were more like two rows of 2 people.  This means thatI will have to find more characters.
(Show image with shadows circled.).  I also need to make sure I draw this small.  While doing the After Effects work earlier, I realized that I was making things too big and I was starting to have trouble fitting them into the frames.  So it is a good thing I did that, or I would have a lot more errors to correct later on in the project.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.21

 While I was in the process of getting a lot of After Effects work done on the animatic, I realized that a lot of my timing was suddenly off.  Of course I got really stressed, and tried to figure out what happened.  Apparently my slider bar, for my reference video was like this.

It should have looked like this.

Now I had planned on writing about how I went fixing this and the frustration involved.  Along with realizations that could have saved me time, followed by how I was wrong.  Basically it was a whole mess. 

I mean look at all these images.

 Here's the lesson.

ALWAYS LOCK YOUR TIMING BAR!!!!

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.20

        In a month I am moving away from SCAD and up north to Maryland.  No there is an important part to this, and that being that the access to the materials I need is going to change.  For instance there will be no more free usage of After Effects, and I will have to pay Adobe a monthly rate to use it.   Also. I won't have the ability to use 2 computers like I did before.

       This is very important because, for this video, I am doing exact reference of the camera pans, scene changes, and so on.  However, After Effects can only allow you to work on one video at a time so I can't simply open up the Gangam Style video for reference.  When I move to Maryland, I will have to open up the video in After Effects, write the information I need, close it down, the open up the animatic video.  I won't go into how much slower things will be.  So while talking about how I should get as much out of the SCAD equipment that I can, I decide to try something risky and see if it works or not.

        I am basically going to try and put together as much of the video as possible with the images I have done already.  The concept behind this is that I can get as much of the After Effects work done now so that there be as little as possible to do when I move and the process slows down.  None of the images have been cleaned up or corrected yet.  Hopefully, in theory, I can just re scan the images, rename them, and the program will simply replace the originals and I won't have to start over.

       Hopefully.
p

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.19

So I have found myself using blue line a lot more these days.  Like, alot, alot more.

         It started while I was working on this image.  The image was getting overly messy, and parts of the paper were ripping.

      I tried it with the light box and I was very unhappy with it.  It was coming out messier, the facial recognition was off, etc.  So I printed the original image in blue line instead.  Obviously blue line worked better.

     Since then I have been using it a lot.  Like, fuck dealing with a light board, I am just going to print blue line instead.

      Some of the reasons could be that i make more money now, so a $20 dollar ink cartridge is not as stressfull.  However I am still very poor so it  has been somethign I dread having to buy.  Another reason could be that I am jsut getting fed up with this project taking so long.  Blue Line is quicker and better than lightboarding in my opinion, so I am at the point where I will suck it up financially and just print it out.   Also there is the fact I am beginning to see that this project could actually be finished, and I am eager to reach that point,  so it is even more frustrating to have things slowed down making it take even longer to reach the finish line.

The Storyboard Animatic of Learning pt. 18

         I was going to make a post about how I have started using blue line, but OH MY GOD, I JUST FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET A SHIT TON OF REFERENCES!!!!  (Actually I finished making this post weeks after, but I am sure you get the point.)

      See I am back in the SCAD labs at the moment and working with Premiere Pro CS6.  The really frustrating thing is that I have never been able to figure out how to get print off an image of the frame that I am looking at.  CS2 has this lovely capture feature which works great for my needs.   Instead I had been using the VLC snapshot function instead which is sadly not as accurate as I would like.

        So I was playing around with CS6 and was looking at the Export Function.  There I saw that I could export as a Tiff.

  I figured what the hell and tried it out.  5 minutes later something happened but I had no idea where the file went.  So I tried again, this time with JPEGS instead of TIFFS, and made sure to find them after it was finished.

  HOLY SHIT! There were  thousands of them!  All of them individual frames from the video!

So I deleted the Tiffs (which are bigger files) and I am going to figure out how to get the 6,080 JPEGS (totaling 1.87GB) onto my jump drive.

This of course took a couple of times, and some cleaning to get them on there, but man is it worth it.   So now I have all the frames I need.  They are easy to print out and perfect for collecting reference when I don't have access to Premiere Pro.

The Storyboard Animatic of Learning pt. 17

        Holy fucking shit!!!  So I am sitting in the SCAD library at the moment, and just a little while ago I found out something I wish I had known a long time ago.  Like back when I was working ont he thumbnail video in After Effects.

        See there is this cute girl next to me who I was chatting with she is a motion media major.  Eventually I found out that she is using After Effects, and asked her how her cutouts became so clean.  She then told me that I can import PSD files.

        The importance of this is that for both the first and second thumbnail video I was using the pen tool to create my cut outs.  Some times this could take  a while, like 30 minutes.  The whole time I was wishing that I could use the quick select tool in Photoshop!  Revery single second of using that fucking pen tool!!

         Dear God, please let me remember this whenever I finally get to work on the final video.

Edit:   

Ahem!

 Of course there is a good lesson that can be learned from this as well.

          I would never have learned this had I not communicated with another artist or asked someone about it.  Really this is one of the nice things of being able to still sneak into SCAD labs.  Communication is key in learning and growing as an artist as well.   This is how you learn about new techniques,, things going on in the art world, or new angles on ideas that you would have never thought of before.  Art school can only do but so much in that regard.  Though it does make it it easier since everybody is crammed into classrooms, or labs, or working spaces.  

         I am not saying that I am very good at this myself.  In fact, I am doing this less and less actually.   the longer this project takes the more I am forsaking social interaction to make more progress on it.  Also I don't interact on Deviantart, Tumblr, or any of the other art related social networking websites.  However that does not change the importance of the need to communicate with other artists.

The Storyboard Animatic of Learning pt. 16

          So here is something that I did, that I feel is very smart.  I have these two scenes to draw, and one of them is really nothing more than a camera pan backwards.  So instead of of just redoing the whole environment, and starting from scratch on the next shot I made this in Illustrator.

If you'll notice, it is the same drawing with the problematic stairs.  Another 

reason to not it from scratch.  The outline is the size of the pieces of card stock that I use. 

         This way I could just tape the card stock over it and use a light board to make my life a whole lot easier.

A little after the light box stage but I am sure that you get the idea.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt. 15

           So, I learned a new lesson that I will more than likely forget over and over again.  Here's what happened.  I was working on this environment and had to draw these stairs in perspective.

Now this my not seem to complicated, you just keep moving the triangle around a lot. However here are the stairs in scale.

quite tiny actually.

So after the first part was done, I had to do more along the side, getting tinier and tinier, like so.

some could say that I am overdoing it,and they are probably right.

             This was over the course of 8 fucking hours.  I am not kidding.  They were constantly getting of perspective, I had an impossible time figuring out each point, etc. etc.   Pretty much spending more time re correcting everything and frustratingly wondering why nothing worked.

(insert chibi picture)

Then I looked at my pencil tip.

That is a rather dull tip for really tiny drawings.

              Also my sharpener is not that good so sharpening it doesn't help.  So I realized that a  really tiny point, like say a .3 mm mechanical pencil, would be incredibly helpful.  So I went out and bought one a few days ago,  along with a bunch of lead for it as well.  It has stopped working since then.  Also once I had the really fine point, I also used a better sharpener that I had at home, I still had to go back and redo all the work I had previously done.

That line really helped keep the stairs even looking.

             But the good new is that I was able to get the stairs on both sides done a lot quicker and in easily half the time.

times this by infinity and take it to the depth of forever and

 you will have but a glimpse of what I am talking about.

           So there are two lessons here.One is to always use the tools needed for the job at hand.  This saves you a bunch of time and frustration and stress.  The second is to use a sharp point for fucks sake!  Nothing would have worked better than if I had used a sharp point from the beginning.  That would have been the most useful thing possible.  The image isn't even fully done yet.  There are an insane amount of smudges on the drawing from using the triangle so much. So I still have to light board the whole thing.

 p.s.       On the subject of useful tools. While I was working in my room for a little while instead of a SCAD building one tool was really useful.

broken, but still just as useful.

          It's called a rolling ruler and it is awesome with find straight lines really quickly.  You just need to have some for the edge of the ruler and the paper to be flush against.  For me, that is a piece of cardboard glued to my drafting table.  Sadly I can't do that in the SCAD buildings so it is not something that I can always use.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt. 14

         Alright, so I was stuck on trying to figure a pose to do for this scene.

            This is the sort of thing that works in motion, but for a still image it just doesn't work.   I actually got stuck on the problem as was about to just do it anyway and suck it up.  Then I actually did something smart for once concerning this project.

            I drew out my ideas, as i figured them out.  This of course made it a lot easier.  I should do it more often.

         On another note, I discovered another benefit to printing out frames from the music video.  However this time I used the snapshot function of VLC video player.  

          All those redlines are me figuring out the line of action and the pose in space.  Really, really useful to do.  

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt. 13

       So....WTF INTERNET!!!  I was looking for reference on the character heights and I found this little gem here.

       WHERE THE FUCK WAS THIS WHEN I STARTED THIS PROJECT BACK IN OCTOBER??!!  It's not like I didn't look for it,  I did.  Instead of having something like this, I have been using these two images for refernce.

        As I typed this I just realized how off my pictures are now because of the arm band.  So now I have to go back and erase all those arm bands.  It won't take very long, but fucking hell internet.

Also upon further reflection, as it took me a few days to finish this, I discovered this.

There are two lessons that can be taken away form this. One, pay better attention to your reference.  The second one isto actually get the reference that you need and won't cause you to make a mistake.

    

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt. 12

        So, I have found myself stuck production wise because of a lack fo 2 essential tools at the moment.  My light box and a 12 inch ruler.   Yes.  You heard me correctly, a light box and a 12- inch ruler.

Yep, the chibi has it right.

       There are light boards in Montgomery Hall, a roommate is letting me use his SCAD login, however there is construction going on and my only way of sneaking in is now cut off.  Also I am waiting to meet up with a friend later (I am in a SCAD building, far away from where I live) and I don;t want to drive around and waste gas money.

          With out the light board I can't add as many figures on one of the half sheets of cards stocks while keeping in perspective.  Without the ruler I can't figure out perspectives adn add them to the card stock sheets.  So...yeah.

       

          Here are some of the options available to me:

• Work on boards out of order ( I really don't like the idea of getting disorganized, however this is really smart.)
• Work on The Attempt on Joss Whedon's Mail idea from awhile ago (First idea, not really as productive as far as the storyboard animatic though)
• Actually read up on blogs that I need to read like the Seven Camels blog. ( Not that bad an idea since I haven't caught up with them like I am suppose to.)

           In the process of writing this I have decided to go with the first option and actually work towards finishing something.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt.11

      So, here are two images that I just finished drawing recently.

       Now, here is the big mistake I made when drawing these and didn't realize until it was too late.

      This is actually quite important.  See, for this scene I put in a number of the ships in the fandom.  We have Makorra, Borra, Tahnorra, Korrlok, with Dokorra in the center.  Eventually we come to this scene.  

      I need Korra to be yelling at Mako's butt and not Borra's because that is the canon pairing.   I don't want people to think I am trying to say what my personal preference is :Cough:Korra/Asami 4 life :Cough::Cough:.   Thus I need to go back and fix this or it will throw everything off.  Fucking Hell.

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning pt. 10

             So, I am still working on the same project obviously.  It is incredibly frustrating, especially since real life likes to intervene.  Things like having to work double shifts, or studying to fail at trying to get a bump up in the workplace, if just to follow through with previous plans.  Here is a perfect example.

         This drawing took over 5 days for me to finish.  WTF!!  Sadly this is one of the biggest frustrations with working on things in your free time.  Also, there are food stains on it.  Thank god for photoshop.

Fuck yeah networking attempts!

So, you want to follow this link:
   http://bill-rinaldi.tumblr.com/post/41306937622/big-thanks-to-james-k-for-this-great-print-ill

         FOLLOW IT RIGHT NOW!


This is proof that things reach people.  I have no idea if the other two made it or if he checks the blog or  tumblr account I have, but HE STILL GOT THE PRINT AND THE LETTER INCLUDED! And he blogged it.


         FUCK YEAH ONE IN A MILLION  CHANCES!

The Storyboard Animatic Project of Learning Pt.9

         So I had finally finished the board I had been talking about,expect I screwed up twice.  Let us take a look.  You know for learning purposes.

First I fixed that problematic part on the left using the techniques mentioned in the previous post.

A little sloppy but it gets the job done. Now to fix the blood.  

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  All it required was to eliminate some red, through the black and white adjusters, followed by the eraser tool.