Posts from January 2010.
Ninja run cycle (for music animation)
As I mentioned in this previous post, I’m currently creating an animation to a music track as a university assignment.
I’ve been going through the motions of figuring out what medium(s) I’ll be using and how to go about the work.
One of my tests have been with Photoshop’s animation functions and a wacom tablet.
The idea behind this 6 seconds of animation is that the music is reminiscent of a sort James Bond spy track with the quick drumming. What you see here is a somewhat realistic movement of each of four limbs in a run cycle, with 20 unique frames. The ninja is moving in a bowed down posture and going fast enough to kind of bounce off the ground as he’s running.
Of course there is a lot to improve in terms of keeping the volume of each part of the body the same. It’s very difficult to keep how the character looks constant 
I will make another post soon with a quick tutorial on how to use Photoshop for animation.
Music video woes
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This is one of six different music tracks I could choose to make a music video of.
I’m finding it insanely hard.
Let’s go through my usual hoops of making a project.
- Receive brief. Yay! this sounds fun.
- Make first notes on what to do.
- Procrastinate for a while.
- Suddenly get a load of different ideas.
- Become spoilt for choice on ideas.
- Suddenly decide I just need to do it.
I’ve just reached phase 6, and I need to show something substantial on Monday. Grim times.
Basically I could just hand draw the animation, but it would take an incomprehensible amount of time (see this post) to make over 2 minutes of animation. So what I’ve decided to do is use mostly Flash. Back in the day when I was 14 when my brain was like a sponge, I could learn new programs quite easily. Now it’s a different story!
Wish me luck.
This is not a Durex advert :)
My first animation 
See and read about it here:
And so it begins…
Tonight, for better or for worse, I am starting my blog, until death do me part.
I’m going to call it a journal though. I always thought “blog” sounded very strange – It doesn’t really relate to anything in real life.
This journal will follow my progression through university. I’ll talk about the successes and hardships of doing an animation degree. I’ll try to keep this side of the writing quite intellectual; maybe discuss why my method is simply better than everything else. I jest, I jest.
On the other side, I’ll talk about some things more related to my personal life and also throw in a few reviews about new gadgets, movies or anything else.
How does that sound?
