Animal Project: Animation
By: Gia Marino
We are now on the 3rd part which is animation.
I didn’t have much inspiration for my story so I just storyboarded what I thought would best capture my fox’s behavior.
I noticed in videos the Channel Island fox sniffs around a lot. So I wanted to for sure capture that. Also, the fox runs around a lot, not even just for survival but also for play. So I also wanted to capture that, because I noticed it has a distinct run because it leaps in its run which is different from other foxes. Also, the Channel Island fox’s ears can love like 180 so when it hears something, its ear twitches/turns which is really unique and I should prioritize capturing that also.
Since I wanted to capture the fox playing, I am not sure if I will add the endangerment in the story, however, I think I may have to, so I will ask tomorrow and see.
So, I checked to see if my storyboard was good. I got a few suggestions. It seems like I should probably add the endangerment, so I guess I will have to go with the eagle storyboard. Also, Q suggested making the eagle smaller and maybe showing on the shadow pass over or something like that, or he suggested doing an overhead view from the eagle’s perspective. I thought that was a really cool idea but I am not sure how to achieve that. He also suggested adding one more perspective of the fox, either a top or back view. So I will have to work on my storyboard while I start my assets.
I got kinda stuck while working on my assets because I just don’t know what else I should draw because I don’t have everything officially planned out in my storyboard, so I have edited my storyboard and worked out some important details, and solidified my scenes. I am also glad I reworked my storyboard because my previous storyboard would’ve required a lot of things to be frame by frame and I just don’t know how I would execute all that, especially in the time I have. So, I think the scenes I’ve thought out should be more approachable.
I showed Daphne my storyboard and she seemed to enjoy it and think it is doable because that was another worry I had. She suggested combining the tree scene with either the running or foxtail swish. Just so there is less work and less choppiness. She also suggested to maybe only do the head or tail of the fox in the tree just to make things more manageable and be able to focus on making a good animation. So I think I may only do the foxtail, but I will probably do that scene last so I can decide later.
It is very scary to start Aftereffects. So, I started the introduction screen because that seemed like pretty easy animation work for an aftereffects beginner. It turned out kinda jank but that's okay I can fix it later.
I tried to animation a fox head sniffing but I just have no idea how to. I feel like I will for sure have to draw this frame by frame but I just have no ideas how to approach that right now so I am gonna put it off for later.
Now it’s time to start the scariest scene. The fox running. I already have my fox done in illustrator and I have a basic background. So I can start it. Now I just have to figure out the puppet tool. I found a 3-minute video on youtube that explains how to use the puppet tool to animate an animal walking. So, I watch that and try and start this scene
I have learned how to use the puppet tool! It is very slow going though. I have to move not only the legs correctly based on these crappy screenshots, but I also have to move the head slightly and tail slightly so it doesn’t look stuff. To animate the first 1/3 or 1/2, it took a whole day. So this will be interesting. However, it looks really nice so far. I am glad I decided t use the puppet tool because illustrator can get frustrating.
It took a long time and lots of staring at a series of screenshots from a video, but I have completed one hop in my fox run. My plan is to loop the run I’ve created in the puppet tool and then just adjust where the fox is running with the position tool. So that while take time and readjusting but I am almost done with this scene! I have decided to change the background and colors because I am changing the color theme and I think the background needs to be spruced up.
Okay, so when I looped my fox I realized if the background is one piece then the fox can’t go behind the grass in the foreground. So I made the grass pieces in the front individual pieces and made them move with the position took so they moved with the fox kinda so that it looked like the grass pieces were moving past as the fox ran. I think it really added to the scene. Also, I decided to add the tree scene to the running fox scene so I made the background really long and added a tree at the end, and made the background move with the position tool with the fox so that by the time the fox finished running it would be at the tree and then transition to the last scene.
Next is the second toughest scene. The fox sniffing. I have decided that I will draw it frame by frame because that is the only way to capture the fox sniffing. So, I watched a video and took screenshots to figure out what the fox looked like at all angles. Now it’s time to go into illustrator and draw all the frames.
I have finallllyyy finished drawing all the fox sniff scenes. It was kinda painful and took very long. I also made the background because I realized I need to see where the sniffing lines up with the background. So, now I just have to add this to aftereffects which should actually be pretty easy.
Okay, So I have put all the fox frames in and I realized I forgot to do the eagle. So, I did that pretty quickly. I looked up a bunch of pictures and drew a couple of silhouettes and filled the rest of the frames in by using the puppet tool. I had to have more than one asset for this because the eagle was getting warped too much with continuous use of the puppet tool.
Then to put it into after effects I used the scale tool so it looks like the eagle is fly in from afar and kinda coming in fast and out of nowhere. Turned out looking better than I thought it would.
Also, I went back to my title screen and fixed the animation, and made the grass rustle a bit to add a bit more of an effect to the beginning so it looks better.
I wish I had more time because my frame-by-frame sniffing animation looks a bit choppy but I put so much time into it and I don’t have time to draw more frames so it is what it is.
Now we are finally on the last scene. The background is already finished since I drew the tree already and the ground. So I just have to make a zoomed-in version of that. That is pretty easy though and should take no time. Now I have to just make a foxtail and animate it. Since the puppet, the tool has so far worked much much better for me than drawing frame by frame, I am going to do that for my fox tail to make it sway.
So I have basically finished the animation. I made the tree rustle which I think adds a lot and looks pretty cool. Then after the rustle, I made the tail fall out and sway. With the puppet tool, it looks really smooth and that makes me happy. I am glad I did the puppet tool. It looks like the tail is actually affected by gravity.
Anyways, now I have to add sound, which I had a plan for. I already videotaped myself making weird annoying eagle squawks (sorry to my roommates LOL). Now I just have to go outside and tap on some grass for the running scene and rustle a bunch of plants till I get the right sound for my tree and grass rustle. Oh, I also have to sniff into a microphone but that should be pretty easy. Other than that I am done! I am so happy.
I think overall, I am quite happy with my video, especially the running and foxtail scene (even the sound). I wish I got to spend more time on the sniffing scene since it was choppy but oh well. Other than that I think the only thing I wish I could fix is the transitions? I am not sure there were so many possibilities with this project. Not only did this assignment make me learn aftereffects but now I know and understand illustrator quite well so I am pleased about that.
My final animation:
