So here's the turnaround:
...and an easier to make out monochrome variation:
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Armature turnaround
Falling a bit behind schedule and realising how much work I've set myself up to do. The puppet building needs to get a wriggle on, so I've taken some turnaround photos of the armature for the record before I start the build up process of flashing out the body with foam and foam rubber and have another crack at building the head with moving eyes and eyelids after the first effort in steel proved beyond me and my tools (not trying to allocate blame here, I just had to review how realistic it was to work sheet steel with a cheap dremel wannabee...).
So here's the turnaround:
...and an easier to make out monochrome variation:
So here's the turnaround:
...and an easier to make out monochrome variation:
Monday, 14 March 2011
Vermination is also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo and LinkedIn
...if you use any of these and are interested in following my progress with Ties and other projects, you can find me via the following links on these other platforms as Seth Woolf and/or Vermination Animation...
On Facebook; on YouTube ; on Vimeo; on Twitter; and on LinkedIn.
Links to these are also on the home page of the Vermination website (c;
On Facebook; on YouTube ; on Vimeo; on Twitter; and on LinkedIn.
Links to these are also on the home page of the Vermination website (c;
Studio and green screen
Since last post, I've been working on setting up the studio space and the green screen backdrop. This was after running into problems building the puppet's head - 2mm steel doesn't sound that thick, but it's been making a mess of my cheap tools, so I decided to put it down for a bit.
I am pleased with how the srusio space has come on - from being a room with clutter cleared to make space for uni work, it now feels like very functional space with a purpose. I'm still working on the green screen stuff, but I've got it in place with flourescent lighting solidly in place that doesn't spill onto the rest of the set.
Here are some pics...
In the process of setting up and testing the green screen stuff when this was taken:
Black out blind material has worked great on the windows - I can't see a thing in the day when the lights are off! Consistent lighting is essential for stop-motion animation if you want to avoid shifting light or a 'flickering' effect when the images are run together as a video sequence, and from what I've read, it's one of the more difficult issues to fix in post-production:
Technological bits - the laptop will be controlling the Canon 550D camera via USB with Dragon Stop Motion software, the second screen will be used to show the camera view and for setting up the shots with onion skinning n stuff while I'm animating.
The dials below the monitor are dimmers for the lights - I'm not sure yet whether this will feed stable enough power to the lights to avoid any noticeable flicker when animating - if it does, or the variation in colour temperature is problematic, I may have to fall back on using neutral density gels to dim the output of the lights where I need to instead.
And the little pad to the right is a wireless bluetooth keypad - I can use this to control all the main software/camera functions without having to to and fro to the laptop. Just have to be remember where I've put it down:
Everything needs to be as solid as possible - a tiny jog to the camera or set or just stuff 'settling' a millimeter or so could be a huge pain in the erse to get back exactly as it was. My tripod is a decent, heavy old thing, but not ideal, so hanging something heavy to help stabilise it is a good idea:
...and drilling into the floor and screwing some wood to it to keep the legs in place can't do any harm, either...
I built a criss-cross of wooden supports to suspend lights and other stuff, like the camera for some shots and the lights and board to flag off the top light for the green so it doesn't spill onto the rest of the set. It's not very pretty, but it's nice and solid.
The less that's in the way or on stands and at risk of being knocked, the better...
You can see the 2 fluorescent tubes that light the green here. Although they can be prone to subtle flickering than could be noticeable in stop-motion animation, they're good for this purpose, as the chroma green paper that they're lighting will be matted out of the shots afterwards.
I'm still not sure if I'm going to get away with the green on the table, but, as you can hopefully see, the wooden board/flag provides a pretty sharp line between the green and the rest of the table and there was no visible light spill/green reflection onto white objects placed next to it on the dark/wooden side when I tested this.
The table. Originally a fresh, pale pine jobby from Ikea, I'm satisfied that it looks sufficiently old and dirty to match the backdrop after staining and distressing.
I'm also relieved that the numerous holes I've drilled into it for 'tie down' points, where the puppet's feet are screwed down, don't look too out of place, especially from the POV of the camera on the tripod, which is where it'll be for most of the animation. I'll probably give it it a last bit of 'treatment' so it looks just so...
...and testing the tie-downs and the tension of the armature - the puppet had been in the same position on one foot for a couple of days without shifting, so I'm confident that the armature is solid enough to handle the weight of the extra arms and tail and the extra leverage that the width of the 'hips' and 'shoulders' places on the leg joints. this was something I hadn't really considered and only became apparent as a potential issue when I'd first built the armature and been playing with it.
I am pleased with how the srusio space has come on - from being a room with clutter cleared to make space for uni work, it now feels like very functional space with a purpose. I'm still working on the green screen stuff, but I've got it in place with flourescent lighting solidly in place that doesn't spill onto the rest of the set.
Here are some pics...
In the process of setting up and testing the green screen stuff when this was taken:
Black out blind material has worked great on the windows - I can't see a thing in the day when the lights are off! Consistent lighting is essential for stop-motion animation if you want to avoid shifting light or a 'flickering' effect when the images are run together as a video sequence, and from what I've read, it's one of the more difficult issues to fix in post-production:
Technological bits - the laptop will be controlling the Canon 550D camera via USB with Dragon Stop Motion software, the second screen will be used to show the camera view and for setting up the shots with onion skinning n stuff while I'm animating.
The dials below the monitor are dimmers for the lights - I'm not sure yet whether this will feed stable enough power to the lights to avoid any noticeable flicker when animating - if it does, or the variation in colour temperature is problematic, I may have to fall back on using neutral density gels to dim the output of the lights where I need to instead.
And the little pad to the right is a wireless bluetooth keypad - I can use this to control all the main software/camera functions without having to to and fro to the laptop. Just have to be remember where I've put it down:
Everything needs to be as solid as possible - a tiny jog to the camera or set or just stuff 'settling' a millimeter or so could be a huge pain in the erse to get back exactly as it was. My tripod is a decent, heavy old thing, but not ideal, so hanging something heavy to help stabilise it is a good idea:
...and drilling into the floor and screwing some wood to it to keep the legs in place can't do any harm, either...
I built a criss-cross of wooden supports to suspend lights and other stuff, like the camera for some shots and the lights and board to flag off the top light for the green so it doesn't spill onto the rest of the set. It's not very pretty, but it's nice and solid.
The less that's in the way or on stands and at risk of being knocked, the better...
You can see the 2 fluorescent tubes that light the green here. Although they can be prone to subtle flickering than could be noticeable in stop-motion animation, they're good for this purpose, as the chroma green paper that they're lighting will be matted out of the shots afterwards.
I'm still not sure if I'm going to get away with the green on the table, but, as you can hopefully see, the wooden board/flag provides a pretty sharp line between the green and the rest of the table and there was no visible light spill/green reflection onto white objects placed next to it on the dark/wooden side when I tested this.
The table. Originally a fresh, pale pine jobby from Ikea, I'm satisfied that it looks sufficiently old and dirty to match the backdrop after staining and distressing.
I'm also relieved that the numerous holes I've drilled into it for 'tie down' points, where the puppet's feet are screwed down, don't look too out of place, especially from the POV of the camera on the tripod, which is where it'll be for most of the animation. I'll probably give it it a last bit of 'treatment' so it looks just so...
...and testing the tie-downs and the tension of the armature - the puppet had been in the same position on one foot for a couple of days without shifting, so I'm confident that the armature is solid enough to handle the weight of the extra arms and tail and the extra leverage that the width of the 'hips' and 'shoulders' places on the leg joints. this was something I hadn't really considered and only became apparent as a potential issue when I'd first built the armature and been playing with it.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Backdrop...
...is done and dusted - what a headache! And what a relief...
After the backdrop breaking (twice!) and having incidentally learnt to disassemble, clean and calibrate an airbrush (gotta be a good thing), I'm glad it's done and looks quite rank - hopefully it'll still look nasty with fresh eyes tomorrow.
Here's the beginnings of creating the mildew effect:
...and the view of the set, ready to add props and lighting (and a bit of grubbiness to the table, naturally):
After the backdrop breaking (twice!) and having incidentally learnt to disassemble, clean and calibrate an airbrush (gotta be a good thing), I'm glad it's done and looks quite rank - hopefully it'll still look nasty with fresh eyes tomorrow.
Here's the beginnings of creating the mildew effect:
...with more detail:
...the finished backdrop in place:
...and the view of the set, ready to add props and lighting (and a bit of grubbiness to the table, naturally):
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Artist's Block...
...has hit me, and I don't feel like I have much to share for this update in the way of progress.
So what about this 'artist's block' thing? It's worth considering, as it is part of the process for me and probably always will be. Is it just pure laziness? Is it a small but significant crisis of the soul? Is it the same as procrastination in any other context?
Yes-no-maybe... I guess they all figure in it. Personally, it's something that frustrates me and makes me miserable, it's also something I feel compelled to wallow in when it gets a grip on me. That in itself implies that it's contradictory and irrational. And humming and ha-ing about it can easily become a full-time occupation in itself that doesn't actually seem to do anything to solve it - so it seems more useful to ask myself: is there a pattern or trigger for it that it's helpful to notice and respond to? And what helps to get past this invisible wall?
Well, some of the things I consider useful from looking at myself:
1) Don't get absorbed and hung up with single details that aren't resolving themselves. It does work for me to focus obssessively when I'm actually getting stuff done, but it depresses me and my sense of momentum grinds to a halt when it's not achieving something, and that seems to be part of a common starting point for 'getting stuck' in this way.
2) Instead of 'standing still', look at what I can do that doesn't require a flash of inspiration or an idealised flow of creativity - there are always plenty of mundane jobs that are part and parcel of the creative process. In fact, stick up a list of jobs somewhere visible (i.e. not buried amongst random notes and scribbles or as a document on my computer somewhere).
3) When a task seems to big or challenging to get done, break it down into smaller steps that are do-able and then come back to it. Record my progress/tick stuff off as I go. And if the smaller steps still seem too big, break them down again into even smaller steps.
4) Record my progress when it feels like it's not moving, even if I'm trying to do some of the above. Even if it feels like the ramblings and doodlings of a complete fucktard at the time, it's a valid part part of the process and, in my experience, it's actually helpful and doesn't look half as useless as it feels at the time when I get back more of a sense of positivity, momentum and perspective, and look back on what I've written and sketched.
5) Remember to enjoy it. When it does flow, the creative process is is an amazing high, and stepping back afterwards and seeing that I've achieved something that is somehow a bit better than anything I've done before is one of the very best feelings I get in life. If part of the process is stuck, look at what else I can do that's a bit crrative in a more playful and fun way.
6) If all else fails, just leave it alone - say 'Bollocks' to it for a bit - half an hour, a couple of hours, half a day, a day - but actively go and do something else that I want to and focus on that. Not something 'worthy' that I feel I should do, not something that's a distraction when I'm still thinking about feeling 'blocked'. Something fun.
7) Related to 6) - look after myself, if it's flowing or not. have a bit of common sense with the basics, like eating, sleeping and spending time with friends. I notice I have a stupid sense that there's something noble and romantic in locking mtself away from the world, staying up all night, running on coffee and cigarettes, working-working-working til I drop. Actually, it's inevitably punishing my body and brain so they don't work so well and setting myself up to hit the sort of wall I'm trying to avoid.
8) Lastly, print these points out and stick them up in a prominent place, as I think they're actually pretty good advice to myself (c:
Soooo... I do have a little bit of progress to share. What I was feeling mostly stuck with were the lighting and keying tests, which I've fallen behind with, according to my projected schedule for the project. I've mooched and have gotten hung up on this and it's held the other stuff up too, like progress with the puppet-building.
What I have done is to get more materials from my list, which is pretty much all there now - the setup for filming, including replacing my camera with a cheaper model, getting an AC adapter for the camera so I work for as long as I need to with it tethered to the laptop, having Dragon Stop-motion installed on the laptop to control the camera, having the laptop set up with a wireless bluetooth keypad that I can run everything in Dragon from while I'm filming and animating without having to skip back and forth to the computer, getting most of the remaining materials for the puppet building and - a mini epic in it's own right - getting a HUGE piece of plasterboard back from Homebase for the backdrop, including successfully begging/sweet-talking the folks at the overground station to let me take it on the train.
Today's task is to decorate it with wallpaper and under-paper-lining-type stuff to look appropriately old and torn and stained, etc and get it secured from a wooden framework I created to attach lights, camera, etc to. Sod's law, after struggling with it over what felt like an huge distance, it caufht in the wind and snapped in half about 100m from my home. But it was repairable and is now fixed up and maybe a bit more solid than it was before. It makes sense to have this in place before the lighting tests and I also need to see if I can blag some free big green paper from the uni for green-screening the background when animating The Puppet/Poppet, which will be replaced/composited with the footage of The Puppeteer. This is my other important task for today/tomorrow, as I need this in place for the keying tests.
Here's the culprit (- and don't be misled by the size of my cat, Nemo, for the purposes of scale - he's a BIG cat):
One other thing to share, indirectly related. In the spirit of doing something fun when I felt stuck, I designed some business cards which are in the process of being printed up. They were fun and kind of easy to do, but I was pleased with the look I achieved for them, very much in line with the website and some of the look and feel of 'Ties'. In fact, they get the look I was going for with the site a bit better than the site itself, so a useful resource in refining that and/or for a 'Ties' offshoot/microsite from the main website.
Front:
...and back:
So what about this 'artist's block' thing? It's worth considering, as it is part of the process for me and probably always will be. Is it just pure laziness? Is it a small but significant crisis of the soul? Is it the same as procrastination in any other context?
Yes-no-maybe... I guess they all figure in it. Personally, it's something that frustrates me and makes me miserable, it's also something I feel compelled to wallow in when it gets a grip on me. That in itself implies that it's contradictory and irrational. And humming and ha-ing about it can easily become a full-time occupation in itself that doesn't actually seem to do anything to solve it - so it seems more useful to ask myself: is there a pattern or trigger for it that it's helpful to notice and respond to? And what helps to get past this invisible wall?
Well, some of the things I consider useful from looking at myself:
1) Don't get absorbed and hung up with single details that aren't resolving themselves. It does work for me to focus obssessively when I'm actually getting stuff done, but it depresses me and my sense of momentum grinds to a halt when it's not achieving something, and that seems to be part of a common starting point for 'getting stuck' in this way.
2) Instead of 'standing still', look at what I can do that doesn't require a flash of inspiration or an idealised flow of creativity - there are always plenty of mundane jobs that are part and parcel of the creative process. In fact, stick up a list of jobs somewhere visible (i.e. not buried amongst random notes and scribbles or as a document on my computer somewhere).
3) When a task seems to big or challenging to get done, break it down into smaller steps that are do-able and then come back to it. Record my progress/tick stuff off as I go. And if the smaller steps still seem too big, break them down again into even smaller steps.
4) Record my progress when it feels like it's not moving, even if I'm trying to do some of the above. Even if it feels like the ramblings and doodlings of a complete fucktard at the time, it's a valid part part of the process and, in my experience, it's actually helpful and doesn't look half as useless as it feels at the time when I get back more of a sense of positivity, momentum and perspective, and look back on what I've written and sketched.
5) Remember to enjoy it. When it does flow, the creative process is is an amazing high, and stepping back afterwards and seeing that I've achieved something that is somehow a bit better than anything I've done before is one of the very best feelings I get in life. If part of the process is stuck, look at what else I can do that's a bit crrative in a more playful and fun way.
6) If all else fails, just leave it alone - say 'Bollocks' to it for a bit - half an hour, a couple of hours, half a day, a day - but actively go and do something else that I want to and focus on that. Not something 'worthy' that I feel I should do, not something that's a distraction when I'm still thinking about feeling 'blocked'. Something fun.
7) Related to 6) - look after myself, if it's flowing or not. have a bit of common sense with the basics, like eating, sleeping and spending time with friends. I notice I have a stupid sense that there's something noble and romantic in locking mtself away from the world, staying up all night, running on coffee and cigarettes, working-working-working til I drop. Actually, it's inevitably punishing my body and brain so they don't work so well and setting myself up to hit the sort of wall I'm trying to avoid.
8) Lastly, print these points out and stick them up in a prominent place, as I think they're actually pretty good advice to myself (c:
Soooo... I do have a little bit of progress to share. What I was feeling mostly stuck with were the lighting and keying tests, which I've fallen behind with, according to my projected schedule for the project. I've mooched and have gotten hung up on this and it's held the other stuff up too, like progress with the puppet-building.
What I have done is to get more materials from my list, which is pretty much all there now - the setup for filming, including replacing my camera with a cheaper model, getting an AC adapter for the camera so I work for as long as I need to with it tethered to the laptop, having Dragon Stop-motion installed on the laptop to control the camera, having the laptop set up with a wireless bluetooth keypad that I can run everything in Dragon from while I'm filming and animating without having to skip back and forth to the computer, getting most of the remaining materials for the puppet building and - a mini epic in it's own right - getting a HUGE piece of plasterboard back from Homebase for the backdrop, including successfully begging/sweet-talking the folks at the overground station to let me take it on the train.
Today's task is to decorate it with wallpaper and under-paper-lining-type stuff to look appropriately old and torn and stained, etc and get it secured from a wooden framework I created to attach lights, camera, etc to. Sod's law, after struggling with it over what felt like an huge distance, it caufht in the wind and snapped in half about 100m from my home. But it was repairable and is now fixed up and maybe a bit more solid than it was before. It makes sense to have this in place before the lighting tests and I also need to see if I can blag some free big green paper from the uni for green-screening the background when animating The Puppet/Poppet, which will be replaced/composited with the footage of The Puppeteer. This is my other important task for today/tomorrow, as I need this in place for the keying tests.
Here's the culprit (- and don't be misled by the size of my cat, Nemo, for the purposes of scale - he's a BIG cat):
One other thing to share, indirectly related. In the spirit of doing something fun when I felt stuck, I designed some business cards which are in the process of being printed up. They were fun and kind of easy to do, but I was pleased with the look I achieved for them, very much in line with the website and some of the look and feel of 'Ties'. In fact, they get the look I was going for with the site a bit better than the site itself, so a useful resource in refining that and/or for a 'Ties' offshoot/microsite from the main website.
Front:
...and back:
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