Live-Action Stop Motion Project

The Assemble

For this quarter, we are assigned into groups to make Live-Action Stop-motion Animation. It was more of a open-ended project when we can create anything. So I was assigned in a group with Andrew Stover, Logan Keck, Alex Schmidt, and Laura Armstrong.

The Storyboard

Here was the original storyboard that we used.

The Creation of the Project

Once we got assembled into a team (No Avengers Reference here, moving on.) We were thinking about a Mage War as in 2 wizards fighting each other. In our storyboard, we planned to get 2 wizards on the stage and fight each other by creating objects at each other. It would get serious and intense and there was a homeless girl interrupted them and the both wizards decided to give them gold and disappear by leaving the magic hat and the wand behind and the girl will gain power. (Eventually we have to remove that ending for some reasons, I will explain more after this rough video that we came up with.)

The Rough Draft Video

Removing/Improving the Project

After getting reviewed by my other fellow classmates, we were able to remove the ending about the girl because we feel like there should be another better ending and we came up with the ending of the 2 wizards getting intense and teleported to the wild west and ended the fight by pointing their wands at each other and vanished while the audience members were in shock or has no comment while 2 people clapped about it.

Filming (Part 1)

After feeling good about our plan, we started filming it. I was the cameraman while Logan and Andrew are the wizards. We decided to use the Green Screen that was provided by the school. We gathered props from Logan and Laura which includes the wands, specific wardrobes and couple of crazy hats. After a long process of taking tons of picture. We were able to work on the project. But...

We found the problem while using the Keylight 1.2 on After Effects that Andrew's hat that parts of his hat were reflective and it caused some of his hat that links to the green screen and it wasn't good. Our reaction is basically like this:

So we have to re-take EVERYTHING.

Filming (Part 2)

So we re-took everything by using a different hat like the picture above. And while taking pictures, we decided to add few things to the video like adding Laura and Alex being appeared by Logan and Andrew and walked off the stage while they try to punch/kick until they fell on the stage.

Editing

We used Adobe After Effects to do this project by getting the pictured together and edit the frame lengths and make it look like stop-motion. We use 8 frames per second for the Composition setting.

We all have jobs to edit. My jobs were:

Finished Project

Here is the finished project! I also made the opening title. We all agreed that we could've made this animation much longer..

What did you learn?

That it's pretty neat to use Keylight 1.2 on After Effects because it was the first time I used the green screen for this project. I also learned I'm such a terrible cameraman because of my unstable hands! Next time I'll just stick with a tripod..

What would you do differently?

We all feel like we need more time on this project. I feel like we could so something different about Mage War. We don't know that yet, we could've created something different.

Final Thoughts/Ending

I like doing this project, but yet we're not professional on stop-motion projects. We're just improving. At the end, will I do this again? Yes I would. See you next time with a different animation blogs!

My Fellow Group Members Blogs

 Logan

Andrew

Alex

Laura

Projects Thoughts

The conception of this project:

My goal is to create a bathroom that relates to my living room project from last year. I want to try to use Mia Material that I learned from Lynda.com. Lynda.com website really helped me a lot to experience with Mia Material. The true reason why I created this project because I don't know what else to do. Hopefully the next project I can take 3-D Environment to the next level. If failed, I'll try the bedroom. :)

The Bathroom Layout

Planning:

The issues I had while planning was transferring from 2015 Maya file to 2014 Maya File because of the issues of not rendering mental ray image sequences. And the some of the objects were deformed and I was able to fix that (Whew!) My top 3 sentences for execution is: Get this project finished. Create the best texture as possible from using Mia Material for the first time. Keep using Mia Material after stunning results.

The Creation:

Basically you can see the progress from this links:
Sink
Tub and Shower
Sink Details
Toilet
The Details

Surprisingly the toilet took me a while because originally I was using the usual toilet and I couldn't do it so I just created the Modern toilet. (Square-shaped, Oh well) I'm very proud of how Mia Material came in play. It really improved the texture and I'm sure I will use that again later in the future. I was on time for the whole quarter. (Luckily!) All I used was Maya, Lynda, and some Youtube videos for this project.

Self-Critique:

I really learned a lot of Mia Material for Mental Ray. It really improved the looks for objects. The issue was NOT RENDERING ON MAYA 2015 MENTAL RAY! One thing I would redo is the toilet but I didn't have enough time and stick with my original time plans. I think I did well for my project but it's a warmup for using Mia Material. If I have more time, I would use that time for the toilet.

Animation:

Final Render

Post-Critique:

My teacher said the animation is good but he found a flaw that he sees some kind of spots around the tub (Possibly could be from the lighting but he's not sure) For this issue I don't know what I'm going to fix this problem, this is the first time I saw this. There's really nothing I can disagree with the critiques from other people. I already like my project.

Same Final Render

I will see you NEXT QUARTER PEOPLE! PEACE

Final Render!

It's finally here! The official final render! I might modify it little bit later in the future. I will post a separate blog that covers the pros, cons, thoughts about this project so far. See you soon!

The Details

Last finishing touches before rendering!

The Toilet

It didn't really took me much time on the toilet but I actually used my other time and I AM nearly finished!

Sink Details

I didn't really do much on this because I'm trying to think how I'm going to create the towels so I just created the soap. That's pretty much it.

The Tub and Shower

At last! The final render of the Tub and Shower are here! It doesn't took a while to make the tub and the shower, it was quite easy. Hopefully I can complete the Vanity Details soon. Then after that is the toilet. See you later!

Sink Render

This is it. The official first render of the sink model! It took me a while to create the sink faucet but hey, it's close enough. At least I finished it. The color and the shading will be added later to the sink. The color on the sink cabinet is undetermined. The next model I'm going to create is the bathtub and the shower. I've decided to separate the tub and the shower than shower/tub combo because I want to change this bathroom into a MASTER bathroom. The tub is already complete but I'm making a few tweaks. See you soon!

The Bathroom Layout

For this project I need to find the blueprint of the bathroom so I can look into and determine the location of the plumbing but nope! I'm creating my OWN bathroom layout. Right now I just finished modeling the sink. The render pictures will show up here in the next post soon. I think I will improve a lot on 3D Enviornment in Maya this year. This should be interesting. See you soon!

Senior Year Q1 Project Outline

Senior Year Q1 Project Outline

Bathroom:

·      Find bathroom layout and figure out where to put the plumbing.

·      Blogger: Start the intro of the project plus the image of the layout

Due: Aug 25^th

Modeling the Walls plus the Sink and the mirror:

·      Create the floors and walls

·      Begin the model of the sink

·      Begin creating the mirror above the sink

·      Blogger: Put images of progress

Due: Aug 27th

Model the bathtub/shower:

·      Begin modeling bathtub/shower

·      Add Details and add curtain railing (Whatever that is)

·      Add Shower head

·      Blogger: Put images of progress

Due: Sept 2^nd 

Model details for the sink (Soap, Toothbrush, Towels)

·      Model accessories for the vanity (Soap, Toothbrush, Towel etc.)

·      Blogger: Put images of progress

Due; Sept 8^th

Model Toilet

·      Model the toilet

·      Blogger: Put images of progress

Due: Sept 16^th

Details

·      Add Details, shade objects, and add lighting

·      Blogger: Put images of progress

Due: Sept 19^th

Render

·      Add Camera in the bathroom/ 360 degrees view

·      Render, Render, Render

·      Blogger: Put images of progress, last blogger of the quarter

       Due: Sept 30^th

Final Blogger: 4th Quarter

There were a lot of projects that were needed to complete throughout the Junior Year. We accomplished creating a group project that consists basic animations from 4 different people in the group. A stop-motion animation that is also created in groups and the "Paper Boy" was our successful project that my group were able to complete. And most of the projects were done by individuals which I did. Including a individual project, I was able to complete a project that made into the Top 5 of 3D Environment Category in Emagine Festival and I didn't win anything but I was proud of myself that I was able to make it to the Top 5. This year was a lot of fun but I really want to see more fun things for senior year. There were up and downs throughout the year but I was very happy to able to complete the projects on time.

Jake's Character in MineCraft Animation

 Right now there is one of a project that is currently under progress. The story is based on Minecraft. Yes, Minecraft said we can use their work as long it's ok if we're not selling for it. Logan was in charge of the story and Sam was in charge of (...). Jake is also in charge of animation. This character here represents me. The original layout looks like this and transform that into 3d object in Autodesk Maya. Logan was in charge of the worlds and import it to Autodesk Maya. The basic world that Logan created looks like this. This animation will officially start next year and this project is estimated to be around 4-10 minutes. This project won't be short and sweet. There will be blood and sweat on this project. Don't forget the river of tears. (Forget those last 2 sentences.) Hopefully this project can be completed good enough to enter it for Emagine.

>>>SPOILERS<<< The story is about 3 guys who are playing in a minecraft server and basically do basic things that are required in Minecraft. They went on adventures and building a castle to live in. Until one day they went on an adventure and encountered a dragon and decided to slay it. They discovered a dragon's egg and they were not expecting that and agreed to take the egg back to the castle. They took care of the egg until it hatches. The egg finally hatched and the trio raised them. Jake was the cook. Logan was the teacher. Sam teaches the dragon how to fight. The name of the dragon remains unknown. The dragon has a problem not to hold his fire breath and keeps burning stuff. Logan trained him to contain his fire and try not to keep burning stuff. One night, the dragon was kidnapped by enderman and brought it to wither and crown it the king and the trio woke up and knew they have to get it back. Meanwhile the dragon fought to death and eventually died and the trio arrived and it was too late and Logan knew there is a way to revive him is the star. The trio went on another adventure to get it back and got the star and got back to the dead dragon and tied to revive him while the camera transitions to white and the screen would say "to be continued." That is the story that Logan and I were able to create. This story will impact the length of the animation. This is why we won't able to finish it for the final while we will bring that for our senior year. This is a very long, hard project that we have to do. >>>SPOILERS<<<

This video right here is the TEST RENDER of the animation for the "montage bits" that will be included in this animation. The test render shows that the trio starts their journey of collecting resources while I held the pickax to mine, Logan holding the sword to kill off the enemies, and Sam tripping (Haha). It actually took a long time to only render 30 frames for this. It took me about 3 days to render it all from having 2 hour classes everyday. The reason for this to render so long because of mentalray in Autodesk Maya. mentalray is a different kind of render that able to produce high quality animation that slows down the render time. I know this project will be easy to make but it would take forever to render. Don't worry I hope there is other ways that we can try to render it fast as possible without waiting so long until we become skeletons. (Not actually skeletons.) (Also not skeletons from Minecraft) We currently don't know if we are going to make a whole animation for the whole story or not because our goal is to make either 3 or 5 minutes of animation. We might have to cut the story shorter if we want. We also don't know if we might try to start making more during the summer.

For the conclusion of this last blog of the Junior year is that this project will be carried to senior year. Junior year has been fun and it will always be but now it's in the past and it's time to prove that we belong in the senior year with better story, drawing, and animation because it's time to prove Mr. Netterville that we belong in Animation class strand in e-communication program in Olathe Northwest High in Olathe, Kansas. Okay I might be exaggerating a little bit but it's time to get serious since this will be our last year next year. We will finish strong and we will always finish strong.

Once again here's to the celebration of being finished the Junior Year. Mr. Netterville is the best teacher ever! And I'm signing off. From, Jake Williamson.

Final Blog

After this quarter project, there were some bumpy rides and long rendering days, I was able to finish this on time. There are things that I will go over.

Things That I should've improved on:

• Improve on the lamps
• More Realistic Lighting
• Little more textures

Things That I'm pretty good at:

• The Couch
• The Door
• The Carpet
• The Textures

Things that I didn't like:

• That the Carpet takes rendering time REALLY SLOW!

In the conclusion, I would say this was a fun project that I had so far but it affects the rendering time. I'm glad it's over now! I wonder if my project can make it into Top 5 of the eMagine Awards. :)

Blog #8: The Final Render

After a very slow hours of rendering.... I am completely done with my Project! :) Here is my Video!

And I will be posting the Final Blog which summarizes my experience in this project.

Blog #7: The Textures

Finally came back from the weekend! This Friday will be the due date.... Don't WORRY!!! I'm done with it and currently rendering it right now. I will show you the picture with the textures. The video will be much better than series of pictures. Don't worry!

Blog #6: Lamps

Here is some pictures that I've done with the lamps, nothing new.

You would also see this lamp from the other pictures from my past blogs. You can see the light behind the lamp that shows the realistic of light and the way the lamp is blocking the light that gives the shape of the light.

Blog #5: The Sky and the Grass.

Oh my goodness! ANOTHER SNOW DAY! IN MARCH! This is crazy indeed. That doesn't slow down my work progress because I am done with my sky and the grass. For the grass, I couldn't do in Fur because it will SLOW everything down and it will take forever to render both the furs from the grass and the carpet. Here is my progress.

I really don't care about the outdoors for now because my main focus is on the living room. For the next 2 blogs, expect to see the progress of the lamps and the lights on mental ray render. There will be 2 separate blogs on that with the lights and improved textures.

Blog #4: The Final Couch Model

It's Finally here, the final product of the couch! I know it took me weeks because I need that time to make sure the couch looks fine. Here is a couple pictures that I will show you.

    Looks Great!

The next step is to create the sky and the grass which is due tomorrow.

Blog #3: The Couch Sketch

I was planning to sketch the idea of the couch so I decided to create this.

The couch has a lounger on the right and has 6 seats. On the left it should be 2 not 3 and there will be couch pillows as well. The color could be green (Not the Bright one or LIME!) I'm trying to use the color from my REAL couch. I will stay updated with you. Next step is to create the couch.

Blog #2: The Coffee Table

Sadly I had 3 days off due to Snow and the weather. Luckily I don't have much work to catch up. Here is my Living room WITH the coffee table.

Next step is to create the couch.

Blog #1: The Living Room

Blog #1

The first step in my project Outline is to watch Lynda videos on how to make furnitures and how to texture them. So far it looks interesting but it doesn't match my furnitures I was planning to make but it also teaches me how to texture them right by using UV mapping technique and using the UV window. But here is my examples of what the 3d living room will look like.

Impressive huh? I know It's white outside the walls because I didn't add the sky yet.

Project Outline

3rd Quarter Outline

In E-comm class, we are assigned with a long project that we need to create before the e-magine festival. This is a project that can be created with 3d or 2d animation. This is our time to show them what we can do. My project is to re-create my version of my Living room. Right now I jumped ahead but now I was assigned with the outline. So far I'm good with my living room but let's have a look on my outline first. 

This will be interesting Project

My Personality Type 

So, Who am I exactly? That's when I took the personality test. I am ENFJ. It's more like being a leader and able to socialize and associate with other people. It's a kind of a person who is not afraid of being a leader. A person who can find a way to able to lead with other people. A person who is willing to listen to other people's problem and a solution into solving this. The famous person that I was compared with was Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. I am not a Civil Right activist because right now the world is now even but they are also leaders. 

How well does this describes me? It clearly describes the person that I am. Sometimes I can be a leader or not. There would be times that I would not be social. I am an emotional person and cares about other people's feelings. I can also solve things that can make it right for everyone else. I am that kind person.

Does this make me to get more understanding of myself after this personality test? Not really because I know who I am and the way I was acting with other people. I know I'm a leader and I will always be. I'm also a hard worker, sometimes I can be lazy because there are some days I call "lazy days". I also NEVER criticize people because I don't want to hurt their feelings.

How does it clarify my role? I'm currently in a group with other Juniors and Seniors that is called "Link Crew". This group is a way that we can help the freshmen through High School. This opportunity was given me by the staff of my high school. I also just become friends to anyone. I'm a friendly person and always be kind. Not being kind is just wrong. Everyone should be nice. I want other people to know that kindness doesn't kill.

Does other people misunderstood me in the past before? No because those people see me everyday and they know that I am not an evil person. I am always kind at home, public, church, and even restaurants. I am not afraid of anything except bugs.

What have I learned about this? Pretty much nothing because I knew immediately when I found out what ENFJ is. It shows that I need to continue down my path of being a leader. Hopefully when I get a job I can use my leader skills with my coworkers. Being a leader is a great thing. Join the crowd or be the leader.


Here is some pictures.