MA 3d computer animation work.

All this work was producted using XSI Softimage as part of my MA course work and practical practise of animation theory and techniques.

Billy in the Gallery: This was my first animation piece after learning XSI Softimage. The idea was to create a small comedy piece, which would show off a couple of animation principles. The bouncing ball, the walk cycle, as well as modelling and texturing. I feel the piece is an ok attempt for a first go! but I am not happy with the walk. I am happy with the jump back and fall section. The artworks on the walls are art pieces I created for a previous project and you can see them on the 2d portfolio section of my blog page.

Two bullets for Billy: This is an animated short where I was practising lighting techniques for mood and story telling. The story is carried with light and shadow rather than dialogue and sound effects.
I feel that the story of this piece works well, mostly due to the lighting effects and the basic facial animation. However if I was to redo the piece I would have rendered slightly differently without the ambient settings on and I would have tried to get a stronger contrast within the light and shade. especially on the characters shadows.

Running Billy: A run cycle as part of my animation technique and software practise. The run cycle is ok, I like the leg animation but I would now apply a smoother up and down torso and hip motion.

Run cycle test. This another run cycle. this time I had the leg key poses and inbetweens animated slightly differently than the previous run cycle. However the torso is pretty stiff and has no up or down motion.

Another walk cycle piece, again I was using lighting to create mood. It is a basic piece that i was practising environment building and lighting.

XSI Softimage, camera test. In this piece I am trying to recreate a dolly zoom effect. A cinematography technique famously used in Hitchcock's Virtigo and in other films like Jaws, Lord of the Rings. It is used to create an uneasy feel and perception disorientation to add drama to a shot.

 

A first attempt at lip syncing. Again animated using XSI

Animation practise. Balance.