Soph Final

As my 2nd Semester Sophomore Final I decided to take my animatic and see how far into it I could possibly get in the time I'd been given, then take a wild guess as to how long it might take me to composite the whole thing digitally, and stop animating in time to have time to do that (still following?)... so it was very much just an extensive case of 'winging it'.

I would've loved to get the whole thing done, but there just wasn't time.  I still think I got a decent start on it though.... I tend to rush through my animations at first, sketching out rough lines to make sure the movement is right... then I go back in to clean them up a little and give some sort of, you know, form to those mess of lines... and all of that works just fine for me.  But I get it in the computer and play it back and realize that ALL MY SCENES ARE RIDICULOUSLY SHORT.  So I had to kind of fake some animation and cut lots of corners.... and even then, the animation I DIDN'T fake, it's still, like... I don't know.  Just messy.  I didn't bother to clean up the lines much (which was sort of intentional.  I like the sketchy look), but some parts it's just like... GLARING MISTAKES.  Why does his hair change shape like that?  Why is he missing a...?  OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?!  Or not done?!!  xD hahaha.

 I also learned a little more about After Effects.  I'm slowly but surely going to fall head over heels for it, but it's still a rough, painful road to get to that point.  I somehow managed to get this... text... thing... going on... with moe-bot's monitor.  I don't even remember how.  It was MINUTES UPON MINUTES of dicking around with things until I made it happen.  So that was cool.
I'd wanted to use some kind of particle effects or something to give some sort of secondary movement in the backgrounds.... but that's another task for another day.
I know it should be like the easiest thing ever but whatever.  I'll pick up on it sooner or later.

So... yeah!  Pretty much I think my only outstanding regret is that I just need to man-up and put more into the actual animation.  I end up skimping out in places where this type of animation clearly shouldn't... skimp.  Hahaha.

Learning experiences all around.  Huzzah.

AE Puppet Animation

After Effects puppet from Erica Wester on Vimeo.

 I don't even want to talk about it.  IT'S TOO PAINFUL, TOO SOON.

FREEFORM

FREEFORM from Erica Wester on Vimeo.

Digi ink and paint

digi ink and paint ENERGYYYYY from Erica Wester on Vimeo.

Animaaaaaatic

Animatic from Erica Wester on Vimeo.

The ending relies heavily on crappy doodles and cue cards denoting what I'd originally intended to do, due to poorly allotted time on my part.  Aaaaaand, there you have it!

Alter Ego Character Model Sheet

 

  Character stuff.  It's a  bit more sketchy and unrefined than I'd like, but I think the general idea is still there.  

Energy Cycle

Final from Erica Wester on Vimeo.