Final Animation [Finished]

It has been a tough module, but my animation is finally complete after all the hard grafting and work put into it. Overall, I am proud of the final outcome and believe it shows off my 3D Studio Max skills very well. I thoroughly enjoyed this module as I had been waiting my entire university course to do it. It is something that I will take with me into my career and has been a massive learning curve. The lecturer has been hugely helpful throughout and have enjoyed the lectures that he provided.

I believe the module has improved my 3D modelling skills and will now help me to undertake a career in 3D modelling after graduating. It is something I now feel highly confident working with and believe I can now produce work of an even higher quality than I ever could before. If I manage to get a career in the field, I will always look back at this module knowing that it helped me on my way and really helped improve my modelling and animating skills.

Final Animation [Soundtrack]

When adding the sound effects to the video, I had already downloaded a good amount of clips from the website stated in the previous post. I simply imported the clips into the Premier Pro file and then dragged them onto the work plane into place. Some of the clips needed trimming as I did not want them to overlap onto the following clips.

I also downloaded a video mp3 for the Hero's voice throughout the animation. I wanted to include a couple of short voice clips just to make the character real and bring him to life. Here is the website link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLtZfJ2fnMY

I listened to the entire video mp3 and then cut out little sections to include across the animation. All that was needed now was a backing track to complete the artifact. And I managed to find an original soundtrack from the cartoon that was used for a fight scene much like mine. It links well with the animation theme because it is an original soundtrack and the tempo of the music is perfect.

http://www.dblegends.com/downloads/music/

Final Animation [Lighting]

After collaborating all of the videos together in Premier Pro, I noticed a slight problem with the clips.I noticed that some of the videos lighting changes as the video progresses and is slightly noticeable. When I was rendering out the clips I did include the same daylight system and sky-dome. However, it seems that the settings may have changed when the scene has been merged with the character.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to render out all of the clips again so that the lighting is the same, therefore it will be noticeable in the final video. But it is something that I will learn from in the future.

Final Animation [Re-Rendering]

It was a massive pain for the need to render every clip again after thinking I had done everything and only needed to assemble the animation and sound together. However I wanted to do it because the quality of the first renders was terrible after playback all together and the actual size of the clip was completely wrong.

After rendering a couple of clips out, it has become clear that now the settings are perfect and the final production will look a million times better. I have also made slight changes to the videos to improve them.

Here are a couple examples of the new renders. The rest will hopefully be complete by then end of tomorrow and then I will begin to assemble them and add the sound effects to complete the production.

Final Animation [Fixing the Problem]

As stated in the previous post, the final render in Premier Pro did not come out in the highest quality that I expected. The problem routed back to the format that I rendered each individual clip out as. I chose AVI files which I had found in previous year modules was not the right format, but for some reason this time around I completely forgot. I should have rendered them as Targa files and also in HDTV 1280 x 720 like our group did for Virtual Environments in the first semester of the third year.

Because I have left myself enough time to correct mistakes and have all the files saved as seperate scenes, I can go back and re-render all the scenes in the right format. Hopefully they shouldn't take any longer than the original clips.

Final Animation [First Render]

I took all the clips that I had rendered for my animation and placed them in Adobe Premier Pro. I organized them into the order I had story boarded so that I could see how well they play together, trim and move any clips that needed it.

Once I had done this I then exported the clips in the H.264 format before adding any sound just for a first test video. This would allow me to make any changes to the video before going to far and not being able to make changes.

Once the video had rendered I found that there was a problem. I think I rendered out in the wrong format because the entire video has become blurry and the edges of everything have become jagged. I will go back to the Premier Pro file and try to correct the issues before adding the sound.

Villain - Gohan Buu [After Effects]

Here I also used Adobe After Effects to add an effect to one of the other rendered clips for the villain of my cartoon. I wanted to emphasize the shock of the villain character by adding an exclamation mark onto the screen. I got this technique from the Stop Motion YouTube video that I have referenced in my sketchbook.

I basically  created the exclamation mark in Photoshop as a PNG file so that I could import the file into AE and then add it to the clip.

Again, I am happy with the outcome of the video. I will put all the clips together in Premier Pro and export them to see if it looks how I want, then I can add the sound effects and complete the animation.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku [After Effects]

Here I attempted to add the Super Saiyan Aura effect to a couple of the rendered clips. I used Adobe After Effects to do this and followed the tutorial that I found previously.

I started by importing the clip into the program and then adding a 'CC Particles System II' to it. The tutorial adds a different effect to the clip, however the version of AE that I used did not have this technique installed so I found something as similar to the effect as I could. I then had to alter the settings so that the particles flowed upwards in a fanning motion rather than the default setting which looks more like a water fountain. I then added a Glow effect to the particle system once I had completed all the settings. This gave the particles that little extra effect and to look more like the original cartoon.

I am relatively happy with the final outcome but once I exported the video, it has blurred and does not look as good as I would have hoped. I will try to export it again in a different format and see if the quality changes, otherwise I will just use the original clip as I don't want the quality to change from clip to clip.

Energy Blast [Rendering 2]

I decided that I would render the energy blast again, that I previously created a few weeks back. I wanted to render another angle of the blast and to add in a few other effects to the scene that I forgot to include in the first render.

The effects I included into the scene this time around were the super spray for the energy blast in the center of the screen and the ground to discintergrate around the blast as it increased in size. The super spray was pretty simple as after the last render it was already in the scene so I just changed the emit points on the timeline so that it fit better with the new animation of the energy blast.

The effect for the ground was a little more complicated, as I had to duplicate the floor and 'ProBoolean' one of them with a similar sized 'energy blast' sphere. I then program the first floor with no indentation in to be on screen until the blast appears, then it dissappears and the new ground with the dent is now in the shot, and gradually increases in size simultaneously with the blast. I believe these effects give the scene that much more effect to the blast and once I add the remaining effects in After Effects then it will look exactly how I want it to.

Introduction - Creating the Title Screen

For the title screen, I wanted to just use the name of the cartoon in bold letters to stick to the point of the theme. The cartoon over the years had a couple of different title screens, and some differed for the countries it was aired in.

I chose to simply create the letters of the name and have them rotating from flat out of shot to standing in full view. Then I created a sphere and placed a star within that sphere like the 'Dragon Balls' in the cartoon and in the logo.

I then added 2 different glows to the scene; 1 to the letters and 1 to the dragon ball. I wanted the dragon ball to fly around  the background and then into position on screen. This was pretty simple as I just used Auto Key to create the route that it would take.

I will also create a simple text screen that includes my SID number to follow the title screen and then I will create a credits as well to state any external work I included.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 8]

Although I already had rendered clips of the villain firing the energy blast at the hero, I also wanted to capture the expression on his face when he fires the blast. So for this rendered clip I keyframed the face of the villain to change from a serious expression, to smurking and then to screaming.

To do this I simply moved the vertices on his face at certain points of the time frame using 'AutoKey'. I am very happy with the outcome as the face does not distort badly and the expressions look really good. I may duplicate this rendered clip but with the hero too.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 7]

When DragonBall Z character's fight they tend to take to the skies a lot. I wanted to capture the villain taking off from a standing position, and to do this technique was relatively easy. I first set the camera position up so that the villain was standing at an angle and you could see his entire body. I then set the motion layer to an absolute layer.

This then allowed me to autokey the position of the mesh on the timescale. I first set the waist motions so that the movement was there and then all that was left to do was alter the torso, head and arms.

The final motion looks good and I am hoping will look even better once placed in with all the other rendered clips in the final production.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 7]

As I stated in the previous post, I wanted to create a scene with both characters charging towards each other by running and flying. For the villain, I made the character run. However for the hero, I wanted to create a flying motion so that they both varied.

To do this, I simply went into the motion panel of the hero's rig and added an absolute layer. I then turned on 'AutoKey' and began to move the limbs at certain points on the timescale. This took some time as I wanted to get the motion as close to the original cartoon as possible, so I used existing videos that I had on DVD as references for the model's movement.

Overall, I am pleased with the outcome but may reproduce it again from a different angle so that I can capture more of the movement than I have in this render.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 6]

For this scene, I wanted to capture the villain running. One of the scenes in the animation involves both characters charging towards one another and I wanted to include two different motions for the characters; running for the villain and flying for the hero.

For the villain's scene, what I did was create an animation layer for the rig and then go into the settings. I then added a CATMotion Preset of a Character Run. This then produced a running motion for the rig and because I had used the 'Skin' modifier on the mesh, it was moving simultaneously with the rig. I then edited the motions so that the arms did not swing as much and the whole body posture was leaned over and closer to the floor so that it looked like a faster run.

I am pleased with the final render. I only wanted to capture the legs and waist so that the movement of the character was the focal point for the clip.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 6]

I also needed to create the effect of the character moving backwards because of the blast for the hero.
Both the villain and the hero clip were relatively simple to create, but I wanted to include them as it adds a lot of emphasis to the energy battle.

Hopefully with all the other short clips I am creating for the energy battle scene, it will look as good as the original cartoon. And I will also be adding in the sound effects that should really bring the entire production to life.

After Effects - Saiyan Aura [Video Tutorial]

One of the techniques I will need to use for the animation is adding the 'Saiyan Aura' in Adobe After Effects.I first looked into attempting the technique using 3D Studio Max with the 'Super Spray' Particle System. I like the outcome of the render but I think if I add the Aura technique using After Effects aswell, then it will look that much better.

To learn this technique, I researched video tutorials and came across the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j01e3GmogFU

The tutorial looks easy to follow and once I have all the rendered clips edited together then I begin the process of adding the effects to the clips necessary.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 5]

In the original cartoon when characters have an 'energy battle', usually the camera pans to each characters feet as they are pushed backwards by the sheer power of the blast. I wanted to replicate this in my animation through the rendering process and then by adding effects in Adobe After Effect.

It was pretty simple to produce as I just used Auto Key to move the character backwards gradually. One effect I wanted to add was the ground crumbling behind the feet of the character, to look as though it was from the force of the blast. To do this I used super spray rotated on its side.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 5]

This is the alternate shot from the energy blast scene, but from the hero's perspective. This also includes the super spray technique for the energy blast in the center of the battle.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 4]

For this scene, I wanted to show the expression on the villain's face change from a serious one to a shocked look. This will follow the establishing scene of the hero character at the beginning of the animation.

I will be adding an effect to this scene in After Effects to add emphasis to the shocked expression on the villain's face. The effect I will be adding is a large exclamation mark, much like the cartoon originally used.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 3]

I had created the energy blast scene for the ending of the animation, and now I wanted to create short clips from each characters perspective of the energy blast battle to establish the conflict and show how large the energy ball actually is.

The first one I have created is from the Villain's side of the battle. Because this rendered clip is a lot closer to the blast than the clip from the side of the battle, I added in a super spray to the energy ball to appear as though the blast was 'sparking out of control'.

I also added a very tiny line for the camera to follow, to look as though the ground was shaking and the blast was pulsating.

Sound Effects [Sourcing the Audio]

For the animation I wanted to use genuine sound effects from the original cartoon so that it sounded authentic with my created renders. So I began searching the internet for websites or sound boards that I would be able to use for my work.

I came across the following website that includes a wide range of sound effects from the cartoon.

http://www.kyutwo.com/site/index.php?page=downloads&type=misc&id=sound-effects%2Fanime-sound-effects%2Fdbz_2

I can download the ones that I feel fit the specific scenes and then add them to the final edited version of the animation in Adobe Premier Pro.

Some of the sound effects I will need for the animation are as follows:

• Super Saiyan Aura
• Energy Blast
• Punches and/or kicks
• Shouting/Screaming
• Energy charge

Energy Blast [Rendering 1]

The final scene of the animation involves both characters firing energy blasts at each other, that meet in the middle and then implodes. For this scene, I needed to import both characters into the rock scene that I had created.

The first time I attempted to do this, 1 of the meshes did not carry all of the materials with it so I had to go back and try again. After figuring out that they were not being carried across, I had to figure out another way to do it. I resulted in using the Hero save file and importing the villain and the rock scene. This way worked and all of the materials came with the meshes.

For the energy blasts, I created 1 sphere and cylinder that I animated using keyframes, then cloned and used 'mirror' so that I had 2 symmetrical energy blasts. I had to create 2 different 'Lens Effect Glows' for character's energy as the Hero's needed to be blue and the Villain's needed to be Red.

For the energy ball in the middle I just used a sphere that would then get bigger and move from left to right, shifting with the power change in characters. The end of the scene finds the energy ball in the middle imploding on itself and filling the screen. For this I just made the sphere overly sized so that the screen was filled.

I am so thrilled with the final result. It came out exactly how I first visioned and proved to myself that I was capable of creating such an animation in the first place.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 4]

The last clip of the opening sequence involves the hero character, but just his face. I wanted the end of the character establishing shots to show the expression on his face change from a serious one to him smurking.

To do this I simply moved the vertex on the mesh whilst using 'AutoKey'. When planning out the process of creating facial expressions, I expected it to take a lot longer that it actually did.

Overall, I am happy with all of the opening shots for the character establishing shot. One criticism I have for my mesh is that the lines on the face are not as perfect as I would have liked them to be. However, I rendered with what I finished in the time slot I gave myself. Spending any longer on the meshes would have resulted in me rushing the rendering.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 3]

This clip goes with the other establishing shot of the hero character for the start of my animation. This clip will follow the first of the feet to waist to shot.

It is at a different angle to the first, and follows up from the waist of the character to the shoulders. It reveals the character to the audience but not in one single clip. I think it adds depth to the sequence.

For both clips I will attempt to add the Saiyan Aura that I trialed on photoshop in Adobe After Effects for the actual production. I have had a brief look at tutorials for this so I think I will be able to grasp it quickly.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 2]

The ending of the animation is going to involve an energy battle between the two characters, that implodes on itself to cover the screen. So this scene is one that leads up to that part of the production.

I wanted to use a sweeping pan around the back of the character, so that the audience could grasp the scene; to understand what the character is doing. For the energy blast, I also added the glow effect that I have previously used in this module. I really like how the technique looks once rendered.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 2]

For the opening of my animation, I wanted to use establishing shots of the Hero character. The way I wanted to do this was to have multiple shots from various angles, pin-pointing specific aspects of the character.

This rendered video shows the characters feet and elevates up towards the waist. Because the character has what is called a 'Saiyan Aura' (energy field), I had to create something that showed this technique. I looked back at existing work created from my year 2 3d modelling module at university to go over the 'Super Spray' technique.

I believe the super spray has worked really well, and can also use this for the villian character by changing the shapes that spray from yellow to red.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Rendering 1]

I wanted to import the Gohan Buu mesh into the Rock Scene to start rendering, however there were problems when I tried to merge them. So the result was that I had to merge the rock scene into the Buu file and then add the materials to the rock, rather than adding all of the materials to the Buu mesh again. It saved a lot of time and effort this way.

For this scene, I was creating an extreme close up of Buu's face and then adding different facial expressions. I wanted the mesh to start seriously so that I can add an exclamation mark effect in After Effects. I then wanted it to start smurking.

I achieved this by setting keyframes and then manouvering the vertex on the mesh. It was relatively simple to do, I just needed to make sure that the face did not distort too much when he changed expression.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Rendering 1]

Now was the time to render out all of the different scenes for my animation. I had my storyboard in the sketchbook for references, and could begin the process of creating all the steps.

I first imported the rock scene that I had previously created, into the scene with the Goku mesh. I also added an image to the environment background to create sky for the scene. It also helped that I created a daylight system in the scene, as I feel this gave much better lighting to everything.

This image is a printscreen of the scene created. The animation is going to be made up of relatively short clips, so it will take less time to wait for the renders to finish, but may take time to render all of the individual clips.

I added the glow effect that I learnt from the previous post to the energy blast. I will also add it to the villain's energy, however I will need to change the colour to red.

I wanted the camera to look as though it was shaking because of the energy blast and will emphasise that effect with sound but for the render, I created a jagged line for the camera to follow on the path constraint.

Props - Scenery and Sky

Obviously before rendering, I needed to create scenery for the animation to take place in. And because I wanted to sync with the original cartoon behind my production, I first looked at clips for inspiration and ideas.

My findings were that for the majority of fight scenes within Dragon Ball are based in an open space, mainly with plain surroundings. This made the process for creating my scenery much easier because it would not take me ages to create and still link well with the original productions. That was my main aim to produce something that was easily understandable and identifiable to the cartoon of my idea.

So for the scene I simply produced a plane that I could then add a map to and also add some sort of distortion to create the 'rock-like' texture. I achieved this by adding the distort modifier to the plane and adding the chosen JPEG file. I could then change the strength of the distort.

In previous modules of my University course involving 3D animation, I have had trouble when creating a sky effect. I have used an environment map and a sky dome, but I personally thought both were not that great even though I followed tutorials to produce them. However, because the cartoon I am basing my work on has a basic sky for the majority of fight scenes, using an enivornment map taken from the cartoon for this animation was the perfect choice. It gives the animation that cartoon feel and gives the 3D production a 2D feel to it also.

I had now completed the scene and the sky, now the last step was to create the lighting. I chose to use a daylight system as I really like the shadows that it creates on the characters and the lighting looks a lot more realistic than using an omni or target light.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Energy Blast]

I had a go at creating part of the 'Energy Blast' scene, where both characters will fire energy blasts at each other and it will meet in the middle in a ball of energy.

I attempted to create this using a simple sphere and extruding faces on it to create the beam coming out of the sphere. I then added a material that I created with low opacity and a blue/white colour so that it looked similar to the original cartoon.

The final outcome is okay, but I want to look at adding the glow effect I learnt at the very start of the module, so next time I post this test I will include that technique and see the differences between the two.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Adding Effects to Renders]

I wanted to attempt adding in the effects I will include in the animation to a rendered still, to see what the final outcome could and will look like.

I basically rendered a still of a small clip that will need effects added to it using After Effects, but because this was just an image I added the effects in Photoshop.

I created a new layer in PS and created Mezzotint Pixels then motion blurred them to add the 'Saiyan Aura effect'. Colourizing this yellow completed the effect and then I just erased parts of it with a 0% hardness brush.

For the lightning, I just used the lasso tool to select the shapes, fill them with white and then add blue outer glow. This is just a glimpse of what the video will look like in one of the scenes, but I am happy with the result and am excited to start animating and editing the footage properly in After Effects.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Stress Test VIDEO]

The stress test I made for this mesh is obviously similar to the one created for the Buu mesh.

And as a result, similar problems have occured with this model. The biceps on the arms seem to distort quite a bit, whether this is down to the rig not perfectly aligning with the mesh or that adjustments need to be made to the mesh but I will look at the issues.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Stress Test VIDEO]

It worked!
I managed to sort out my laptops Studio Max so that the keyframes would set. So here is the stress test video for the Buu mesh.

As you could see from the images previously and now is evident in the video, there are a few minor problems that I need to solve. One in particular that is really irritating me are the hands and fingers, so I will look at them closely to figure the problem out.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Stress Test]

Below are screen shots of my Stress Test for the Gohan Buu Mesh.

I followed the tutorials available through the Shared Area and again, were very useful and informative. It helped me through the process and I was able to proceed without any hiccups.

I took screen shots of the Stress test rather than exporting a video because for some reason my laptop would not Auto Key or Set Keys for the animation, whether it was a setting I had turned off or something else but I couldn't figure it out. So here are the images below of the resulting tests.

As you can see from the first 4 extreme poses I added to the mesh, there seems to be only little problems with the character's buttocks and his waist. I will look at these to try and solve the issue.

When rotating the torso, there seems to be no problems at all when bending forward or backwards.

With this image above, it is clear there will be problems with the arm if I was to animate straight away. Because the character needs to move its arms a lot in my animation, this will need to be sorted out.

Also as you can clearly see, there is a problem with the fingers and thumb on this mesh. I need the character to create fists so therefore this will need to be sorted aswell.

Lastly, this pose is one that I will use in the animation and I need the arms to look the right shape aswell as the hands and wrist. To conclude, a few minor problems have risen whilst taken the stress test on this mesh, but nothing that can't be fixed.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Skinning]

This is the video I rendered to show the 'Skin' modifier I applied to the model once the rig was created. The same as the Buu model, I am happy with the outcome although there seems to be a slight problem with the back of his leg. I will look at this on the model and try to solve this problem, then I will upload the stress test aswell.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Creating the Rig]

I had now completed the model for Goku aswell, and could create the rig. This rig would be slightly different to the 'Buu' one as he does not have a tail on his head but an actual Monkey tail.

 

I had a slight problem when building this rig, as when I went to resize the individual bones using the scale tool it would expand that bone massively over the screen. So the screen shots you see for this model are the first attempt I had, and then for the tail they are the newest rig I built for the mesh that worked. 

 

The tail was relatively simple to create. I just clicked the add tail button on the modifier panel and then added more bones so that I could rotate it to fit the mesh tail. 

[PICTURES]

The next post will show a quick basic animation and then I will produce the stress test to find any issues with the mesh. 

Villain - Gohan Buu [Skinning]

The process of skinning was another technique I had not used before, but because Character Animation was the module I had been looking forward to the most I couldn't wait to get started!

Here's a quick video of a basic CAT Motion Layer added to Buu and I am so pleased with the outcome. Happy that no complications have arisen so far and the next post will include the Stress Test.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Creating the Rig]

The model was completed and now I could create the rig for the animation. I followed the tutorials given to us on the Shared Area and found that they really helped me ease into the process as it was something I was new at but willing to learn.

I had fun creating the rig and wanted to make sure every part worked well because it is the most important process of the whole module; if the model doesn't animate well then changes need to be made and therefore more time is taken up making those alterations.

 Something that I found difficult to do was manouvering the hand and fingers into place so that they lined up with my own. As I didn't follow a tutorial to create the hands in the first place, they were very simple and not the perfect shape, however I still think they look effective and hopefully will animate. Time will tell..

The main body was now produced and I wanted to create bones for the tail on Buu's head. This was pretty simple to do and I am happy with the outcome.

Next I will create the Stress test to find any problems..

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Importing Head]

To import the head onto the body I had to merge the model from the seperate save file into the file with the body. This was a simple process and then I just added the materials I had previously made for the body to the head to finish it off.

Now that I can look at the finish product, there are still bits I would like to add and change. I can do these minor altercations as they should not take too much time and personally, I think they will improve the model.

I did want to use Mudbox for the model to add the mapping and define certain parts of the model but this model took longer than expected and therefore I wanted to allow myself enough time to finish it and then animate it.