Wednesday 30 September 2009

Interactive website research- Garfield about page


This is the official website for the Garfield comic. The 'about Garfield' page is probably among the most interactive of the pages. Each part animates on it's own, as well as the buttons animate when the mouse is over it. Everything here is very useful to 'quick link' to many character profiles, tutorials, filmography and other nick-nacks found here.

Interactive website research- Pokemon GTS


This is an official website for the Nintendo DS games, Pokemon Daimond, Pokemon Pearl, and Pokemon Platinum.
The 3D glode in the centre rotates so the front locks onto a current trade, so you're not forced to just watch small windows all the time.
Not only that, but you are also able to search among the thousands of pokemon that are being uploaded and traded within seconds. This saves the time you would've wasted looking for them on your Nintendo DS game, which this website is a commercial product of.
There's also a daily journal, included with the most recommended pokemon and their moves, so you can discover the highlights of the DS. There's a poll on it, in which you place your vote and it is sent online, and it then shows a total percentage on that poll.
all, if not most, of the buttons are interactive. You can click a country flag, and it'll show you the pokemon available from that country, and you can even bookmark your areas and pokemon, so you don't have to write it all down.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Lightwave 3D research- Da vinchi aircraft

These designs for air-bound veicles were designed and illustrated by Leonardo Da Vinchi, who is better known for the Mona Lisa portrait.
The overall shapes of these crafts could influence some of my ideas for some futuristic hover crafts.

Lightwave 3D research: Treehouses

Lightwave 3D 'in the future' idea

This is my idea for the 3D lightwave project.
The entire world has been flooded with the result of the polar ice-caps melting, and everyone has forced to live as high up to the y as possible. As a result, buildings can be sen reaching the ozone layer, with their roofs reaching over the skies.

The Jetsons (lightwave research)

The Jetsons is an animated show from Hannah Barbera based on the future. The buildings are all typical cubism style with poles at the bottom, indicating they all come from the bottom.
Part of my lightwave idea includes buildings in the ozone layer, with some indication they come from the bottom.

futuristic City. (Light Wave Research.)


This painting was done by Nikolay Kharchunk.
It expresses the artists perspective and prediction of the future. I love the tall buildings with the red lights at the top.

3D tutorials

These were done during today's session, in which we tested on different techniques for designing 3D objects. I made each texture in layers, which would explain why the textures are all the same. The one I'm most proud of is image 3, in which I practiced using the boolean tool

Wednesday 23 September 2009



These are very nasty birds, native to rare parts of Scotland.
Their calls are a mix of clanging bones and rubbing sandpaper together.
It can sound as if some bones are tissue are magicaly restored.


"Seriously? That's what an ostrich sounds like?
That doesn't sound ANYTHING like an ostritch!
It sounds like a-(realises a Griffin is part bird part lion)-...lion."

Bald eagle sounds


These are some examples of bald eagle cries that may come in useful for the animation project

Dinosaur animation

Today, while I was looking for some useful sounds for my Animation project, I came across this animation of an average dinosaur documentry.


What's unique is that it is all traditionally animated, yet most of the time it looks so 3D

Sunday 20 September 2009

Animation - Character ideas- Alvah



Alvah Reference sheet by ~GregTheLion on deviantART

Alvah is a character I created two years ago for a final major porject in college. Since then, I have been more connected to this character and the story it's in.
If my tutor will allow me to use this character, It will be used for an aniamtion idea.

Saturday 19 September 2009

2D Animation- mindmap


This is the mind map made in our animation project. It helped point out the different methods in animation, as well as looking up those who work in each feild. Example, Traditional-Disney, Stop-motion-Aardman-Creature comforts.

Video editing- Storyboard activity


this was part of a story board activity wedid in video editing, in which we picked a scene from a movie and others had to guess what the movie was.
This is the storyboard for the Ducktales movie: treasure of the lost lamp. One of the comments given by a peer was to make the storyboard less scribbly.

3D animation- Mindmaps


These mindmaps were made for the project in 3D animation.
The mindmap on the right helped give the college group sojme ideas on what to base their projects on. The mindmap on the left, are notes prior to my idea for the project.

Friday 18 September 2009

practising story board, and animatics

Today, we have looked at storyboards and animatics, and how they link to the final animation.
I will add photos and research based on todays session sometime soon.

Bio-bak website


This website is a portfolio named bio-bak.
This website is so interactive, it's almost a made a video-game out of itself.
You start at the main menu, from there you can choose to explore the whole website, or select areas to zoom to. If you choose to explore, you will be able to interact with the artist's artwork and style of animation. However you will not be able to zoom in or out until you "find all of the trunk's tools". However if you wish to view key areas such as the biography, you can on the sam e menu with the explore option

L'ile du boucanier website


This website is an interactive portfolio for L'ile du boucanier.
It's very colourful and fun to see. It's almost as if the ship is 3D.
The buttons are interactive even when they're only hovered over.
When a button is pressed usually, the props (the guy in the water and the ship) will disappear and the island will turn to an indigo silhouette.
This allows for the white/brightly coloured text that appears to stand out more, and also to give the text more space, as well as making it the centre of attention when appeared.
I really like the interactivity and the bright colours used in this website.
Keeping all the related links of this website to one image has influenced a few of my design ideas for my flash project.

Toshiyuki Kuwabara website

This website is an interactive portfolio for Toshiyuki Kuwabara.  
The website contains Toshi's collection of artwork and animation.
The website is pretty interactive, it's not soemthing you'd still be on for a while. However the layout really shows the artists unique interests.

Thursday 17 September 2009

3D animation and Modeling

Today at college, we started our project on 3D animation. We are to design a landscape basewd on our predictions of the future. The prediction also has to include some backstory.
Currently, my idea is a group of buildings so tall that they reach the o-zone. The backstory would be that most of the polar icecaps have melted and most of this city has become flooded.
So through out the week, we will be researching on objects and texture suited to our individual predictions; In this case, I'll be looking for shiny, glossy textures mostly, tall skyscrapers, and many types of aircraft.
I'll update this post with scans prior to this project soon

Wednesday 16 September 2009

College Research:- Don Bluth

Don Bluth is one of the Greatest Animation directors in history, without a doubt. I never begin animating withought thinking about anything that was done by him.

His most noted work would have to be Secret of Nihm and Land before Time.

I quote from The Nostalgia Critic's Rock-a-doodle review:

"Director Don Bluth was by far one of the greatest animation GODS to have ever lived...in the 80's.

In the 90's, I think he left his brain in the food bar convention because he turned out some very strange, very medeoker material"

While I agree that his work during the 90's were very surreal, you cannot disagree that his animation does not go unnoticed.

His style of aniomation is cartoonic, but at the same time, he adds elements to make his animations more interesting and beautiful.

College research:- Bob Clampett

Bob Clampett was one of the main animation directors for Looney Tunes during the 1940's-50s (Back then, it was called Merrie Melodies mostly).

I love how the animation is so sharp, yet it animates to humor and slapstick brilliantly.

Other old directors for Lonney Tunes included Robert Mckimson, the late great Chuck Jones, and Tex Avery, who later left to animate for MGM (Droopy and Barney Bear) and then later for Walter Lantz studios (Chilly Willy)

Other College work

Here's some more work i've done over college:

The Bear that was Afraid of Everything

Zodiac



Wanna see more of my work? here's the links to the two Deviant art accounts I owe:

Tuesday 15 September 2009

Summer Project pics

So I managed to upload some of my artwork from my Autobiographical object onto Deviant art:

Cover
Intro
1st spread
"Cooked Goose"
Rotom
Final piece

If you like this and what to see more, you can check my Deviant art page that I'm mostly active on as of now

Alvah-and-freinds