Fairytale Infographic

Today's Process and production lesson was on After Effects with Sara. The session specifically focused on producing work in a short turn-around, and as such we weren't asked to prepare in files in advance.

In the session we were asked to create two separate scenes from a fairy-tale, and asked to include some kind of information or statistic from the story in the work. I chose Goldilocks and the three bears, because the number 3 is a recurring number and would be easy to include some kind of information on the screen.

I chose to create a wider, map style scene to act as a background for a title screen, and the scene where Goldilocks is trying the three different bowls of porridge.

The scenes were made in two different Illustrator files, just using flat vector shapes, with each element  such as the trees, the bowls, the house, Goldilocks etc on a different layer. We also created a third file for the transition/wipe which needed to fill the full 1920 x 1080 frame at least once to cover the cut between the two different scenes. I did a massive bear paw print that comes in from the bottom, scales up to fill the screen and then moves off the top of the screen at the original scale.

We then imported each file into After Effects. If the artwork wasn't finalised it was best to import the file as a composition, but in order to work faster it was better to use the composition retail file size option. For each of the compositions we altered the duration to just 5 seconds (the two scenes together would add up to the usual 10 seconds). The wipe composition was set to a 1 second duration, because it only had to be brief enough to act as a transition rather than a whole scene on its own.

When using text, its often better to use the text tool within After Effects as you cannot add text effects to imported text files/layers. So once we had added the text in AE we added effects to the text for it to animate in, this is done by selecting the text layer in the timeline, going to the top bar and going to animation > apple animation preset and then finding the presets in the Adobe After Effects folder, seen as we wanted the text to animate in we selected the "animate in" sub-folder. After trying a few different ones I decided to use the slow fade in preset as this gave the best effect for my work, as it wasn't too ostentatious.

The next thing we tried was a tilt shift. This was done by importing a subtle paper texture into AE and into a new composition, dragging the desired scene into said composition and turning on the 3D switch. Using the 3D properties we twisted the paper texture using the x and y axises, and moving them back to a flat plane at the end of the clip, this would add some subtle depth and dynamism to the background. To get a depth of field type effect, which softens up the background and foreground you can add a new adjustment layer on top, adding a Gaussian blur, and using a marquee tool to mask out the subject and keep the desired area in sharp focus.

I tried this and felt that it didn't really add anything to my piece.

Given more time I would have liked to add some more scenes and neatened up the starting and ending as at the moment I think they are a little abrupt and something smoother would look better.

Goldilocks from Matt McGough on Vimeo.

3D Communique 2

This was the second of this terms process and production session with Nick, which focused on developing the ideas we had in the first week, and turning them into physical specimens. I decided that I wanted to use cotton wool. I liked this idea because the nature of the wool would allow me to fluff out the edges and kind of blur out the shape of the letters, posing a question of where the shape definitively began.

I started out just by making the shape of the letters by tearing apart the cotton wool and fluffing it up a little bit, and using different bits to make up the shape of the letter. This gave two effects, it added a bit of depth as bits piled on top of each other, as well as the desired the fluffy effect.

The next step of the process was to begin to think about the next development. My idea was to take it a more 3D solution which used a twist on perspective, and anamorphism. Using string or fishing line to hang individual pieces of cotton that would only make sense from one particular view point, and would just look like pieces of cotton on string from all over.

This would involve having different levels of string set up behind each other to give depth. The cotton wool would have to be on pieces of different length in order to form the shape of the letters. If done correctly the piece should look as if the cotton wool were all at the same level, merging together to form the desired word.

Cinema 4D #1

Today's process and production session was the first session in Cinema 4D, in which we spent the session just getting the hang of working in the software.

Firstly we had to have some artwork, which we made in Illustrator. I used a vector form of my personal branding. It features an M with two concentric circles, with the outer circle being broken into 3 arcs. For this to be compatible with Cinema 4D we had to convert any text to paths by creating outlines. It was recommended that any longer bits of text should be avoided as text can be added in C4D. Mine was fine because it was just an initial.

This was placed on a document that had been altered to work using C4D's 3D space. The default setting for Illustrator is to have the origins set to the top left hand corner, because Illustrator is used to create flat vectors it only needs to have two axis' (X and Y), but given that C4D uses 3, where the origins all meet in the middle. We needed to move the origin points from the corner to the middle of the page, we did this by turning on the rulers, and then moving from the top left corner of the document window and dragging this to the center point of the document, and this reset the origins to 0,0 in the middle of the page.

We then set the artwork to sit centered around this center point. When saving the work, we had to save it as a legacy version as the last compatible version of Illustrator was Illustrator 8.

Next we set up a more professional and organised workflow on the desktop, by creating a folder on the desktop for the project and then creating 3 new folders within this new folder. One each for the artwork, output, and Cinema 4D. This is because in industry where a project may be compartmentalized this is the most efficient way of working.

The next step was entering C4D. W started by editing the render settings. Firstly, changing the output to a print output with A4 Landscape settings, and changing the frame range to current range. We also editing the name that the file would be saved as, changed the file type to JPEG, with the quality at 95%, but we were advised anything above 80% would be fine.

We then saved these settings as a template, before saving an empty file with a proper name to begin the project. There is an option in C4D that allows the file to be saved incrementally to chart progress.

Next we changed some of the view settings, so that there was an darker tint to the edge of the work space window, as well as adding an action safe border at 95% of the full size of the window.

The following step was importing the artwork that we had made in illustrator. C4D does not label this as import or place like Adobe Creative suite instead it is 'merge'. When merging there is an options window and with a scale setting, In this case we just left it at 1.

C4D can read that the imported file is made up of paths, in the window we selected the paths that was under the shape layer and used a right click menu to connect objects and delete. The next step was to drag out all the paths from the shape and delete the null shape.

We then went about extruding the paths that made up our design. We again selected the paths and used the subdivision surface tool and selected extrude. Then we dragged the path into the extrude layer, before altering with the settings of the extrusion. We changed the caps to fillet caps, on both the start and end, as well as changing the bevelled edges to 3 stepped edges with 0.5cm radius'.

Once we were happy with this, we started to add the environment. We added a floor and a background. Because the floor is inserted at 0, 0, 0 we had to adjust the Y-position of our logo. The best way to move it is by using the arrows that appear when a layer/object is selected. The green arrow moves it in the Y, the red moves it in the X, and the blue moves it in the Z-axis. I shifted mine up enough that it looked as if the logo was hovering above the floor.

The next stage was to start sprucing up the work. This was started by adding a new material. This is achieved by creating a new material in the bottom tray by double clicking. You can duplicate this new material by selecting the original and dragging it to the right whilst holding the cmd button. I added three colors; orange and white, (these are the primary and secondary colors in my branding) and a dark grey, as I think this would offset the other colors nicely. The materials/colors can then be applied by dragging them onto the face of the shape, or onto the layer for it to be applied to all of the shape.

This was followed by us selecting the floor and the going to the tags menu. we selected the Cinema 4D tags sub-menu and compositing. We then turned on the compositing background, and compositing background for HDR Maps options.

We then added some text, by selecting MoText from the MoGraph menu. In the text options we changed the justification so that it was aligned center. I added the supporting copy, to sit next to my logo.

Once this was done, we added a camera by selecting add camera from the top tool bar. This is initially added to where the current viewpoint is, this can be seen by scrolling/zooming out immediately after adding the camera. Clicking on the crosshairs in the camera layer in the window in the top left allows you to see it the render from that particular angle.

Next, we added some lighting. We were advised again that when adding lighting you should follow the same principles as photography, using key, and fill lighting. The key lighting was placed over the left shoulder of the camera. We then enabled shadows, by simply going into the general menu in the light, going to shadow, and turning on soft shadow maps. Using a low shadow resolution (around 250 x 250) keeps the shading soft, whereas using a higher res can create a more defined edge. A second light can be added to fill in some of the shadows.

The position of the lights can be changed without leaving the camera view, by altering lights coord settings.

Another one of the settings can be altered to add colored tints. We added a slight yellow tint to the key, using a yellow with a 5% hue, and a blue tint to the fill.

The final step was to add a lighting effect that would add a bit more depth to the work. It was made by changing one of the visible light settings on the key light, turning the visible light on and making the radius bigger so that it extended beyond the artwork.

Overall I am quite pleased with how my first attempt at working in C4D went. I found the process to be quite simple, even if there was a few times where I got a little lost whilst working with some of the camera/viewpoint controls. This is certainly something I would like to do again, and perhaps refine the use of the lighting, to give a more desirable outcome, as I feel that I may have implemented the last step incorrectly as it doesn't really add anything to the composition. I am really happy with the rest of the styling however as it fits well into existing branding I have produced, however I would like to perhaps tweak the colours a little bit to be an exact match what already exists.

I look forward to using and progressing my skills in Cinema 4D.

Working 3D Space

Todays workshop focused mainly around using After Effects 3-Dimensional capabilities, which primary consisted of giving depth to a composition made up of flat vector shapes (as objects in AE are only represented with a depth of 1 pixel), with a 3D stage using a camera moving in Z space.

We started by prepping the assets in Illustrator. Using 6-8 layers, to create a scene. Using each layer for a different element, I created a setting that featured some of Huddersfield's claims to fame - namely Castle Hill, and a set of rugby posts to indicate that the town is the birthplace of rugby league. Each of these were placed on top of a different hill to represent some of the physical geography that surrounds the town.

Original Artwork

Due to the processes that we would be using, any of the elements that were to feature in the background, or earlier on in the clip would need to be bigger than the standard HDTV art-boards of 1920 x 1080 pixels, this is due to the movement of the camera on the z-axis, objects would shrink into the background, and perhaps reveal the edges - which if undesired can look unprofessional.

We then began to move into AE, creating a new composition at 1920 x 1080 pixels, with a frame rate of 25 FPS and a duration of 10 seconds.
We then moved back into illustrator to finish prepping the assets, the last stage was to extended the art boards so that it included all artwork, even if this was beyond 1920 x 1080.
When importing the Illustrator file into AE it was important to select the option where the illustrator file retained all the layer sizes, as this would make it easier to maintain shapes proportions.

To begin to work in 3D space, first select all the layers in the timeline window, toggle switches and modes and turn on the boxes that are underneath the cube symbol as this enables the 3D options for these layers. When working in 3D space, a objects/layers position figures are given in 3 values, x - representing the horizontal movement, y - the vertical, and z - the depth enable objects to move backwards and forwards. As a default the z axis is set to 0, increasing the value moves the object further away, decreasing it into negative values move it closer to the foreground.

Sara then introduced us to a feature in AE that allows the composition window to be split into 1,2 or more views and the view of the stage can be changed independently in each of these windows, having one set as the top view and one as the active view gives a good idea as to the position of the elements, and how this well effect the final piece.

We then went about setting up the individual elements/layers, moving the background layer to the back of the shot, and then spacing out the layers to give the best visual effect with the movement of the camera in z-space. My work features a rugby ball, whilst the ball was moving towards the background I wanted it to spin, I did this by altering the Y coordinate in the transform, position options.

The next step was to add this camera, by adding a new camera from the layer menu. We added a two node camera using the 35mm preset. Something to consider may be the use of the depth of field option in this window, if you want to have a variable focus in the video.

We got the speed of the zoom/movement of the camera, by moving the playback head to the start, and moving the camera into the desired start position, and inserting a keyframe in the transform properties, and then moving the playback head to the end of the timeline, and moving the camera position into the desired the end shot. A slower effect can be achieved by increasing the gaps between the layers in z-space, having them closer together means that the camera will pass by them quicker as there is shorter distance to travel.

The next technique we were introduced to was how to alter the path that the camera takes. If you want the camera to move up and down changing the top view to a side view gives the best perspective, however I decided that I wanted my camera path to meander around the hills rather than climb them, so I stayed with a top-down view. The next step was to open out the properties section of the camera in the timeline and insert keyframes, if you want to move it up and down you need to alter the Y coordinate, I wanted mine to move side to side so I altered the X coordinate, using the handles found on the points can alter the curvature of the path. For as smooth effect as possible you want to use as few keyframes as possible.

Once we were happy with the positioning, the movements, and the speed of the piece were began to import the textures. Selecting the desired layer and the the wanted texture, and precomposing by going to the layer menu and selecting Pre-compose. A pop up window will open and select "leave attributes...". Then drag the texture under the shape layer, toggle the switches and modes and select the alpha trackmatte. You can add a colored tint by turning the visibility of the vector shape layer on, and altering the opacity and/or options. This should maintain the desired textured effect whilst adding the coloured tint. I changed the colour of the text by adding a coloured tint on top of the texture.

The final stage was adding the peel effect to the layers. This effect is added by adding the page turn effect which is found in the effects menu under effects > distort > Page Turn. We changed the controls to classic UI and played around with the settings in order to get the desired effect.

Apeeling Huddersfield from Matt McGough on Vimeo.

3D Communique

Our first process and production session back after the Christmas holidays was with Nick.
We were introduced to the objectives/goals of the new set of workshops that I think are more of a progression of where we left off last term with Nick, in as such that we were producing 3-Dimensional analogue communiques, using the same methodology and phrase as we did last term - if possible.

Last term I used the phrase "I am undefined" and used a technique of shading in to form the body of the letters without leaving a defined edge to each of the characters.

So we spent the first session thinking of ways to progress this and scale it up to the third dimension. Continuing with this idea of leaving no definitive edge and being as vague/ambiguous as possible I came up with ideas that used materials such as smoke, fog/mist or clouds, cotton wool, shadows, pencils in timelapse to create a motion blur effect (similar to the output from last term). I then came up with the idea of using as many different media, shapes, styles, sizes as possible so that it wasn't made from just one thing. Talking to Nick about continuing the undefined message, he suggested that I perhaps use something that wouldn't be immediately obvious, and the message would only be legible from a certain perspective

I came up with different messages that used different media, just incase it became impractical to carry on the Undefined, such as 'Calorific'/'Sweet'/'Creamy' written in whipped/squirty cream, 'scrunched up' using scrunched up bits of paper, 'stacked' made up of boxes, 'more than face value' using a mosiac of small valued coins (1p, 2p, 5p etc), 'Digital' using keyboard keys, '75% water' made up of water droplets made visible with food colouring or ink, and 'rubbish' made up of litter.

Cereal Packaging

In the final session with Jay we produced the final outcome of this series of workshops - a printed small-scale, mock up, for our cereal boxes. This meant finalizing the designs with any less minute tweaks, getting them printed, cutting them out with scissors or craft knives, scoring and folding the panels, then gluing the tabs together to get the desired box shape.

We then went on to have a little photoshoot with our little boxes, to give them a bit more of a final product feel, making them a more professional presentation, as well as giving us a more professional looking product to include in portfolios.

Zombones, all the nutrition the undead need!

Boiling

In our latest After Effects session with Sara we focused on a technique called Boiling.

This technique uses both analogue and digital elements. It starts with drawing and tracing an image, so that in the end you have 3 copies of the same image, this produces 3 very similar looking images, that when viewed in quick succession resembles how water looks when it is boiling.

We started by scanning in the drawn images and importing them into the Photoshop. This was to ensure that each of the elements within the image were in the same place. To ensure that the images were cropped to the same dimensions and positioning, you can select the crop tool, select the area to crop too, then crop, then with the marquee tool you can drag the selected area over to another window, and  hold shift whilst holding the cursor over the second will drop the select the exact same area on this other canvas.

Once all the photoshop files were set up properly, we had to save them at 72ppi, in a naming format similar to name_001.jpg, name_002.jpg, name_003.jpg etc (on a side note, this technique works better with an odd number of files, just with how the brain analyses images, an even number like 2 would just make it look like there was a glitch in the video).

The next step was to then start working in After Effects.
We started with making a new composition, 1920 x 1080, with a frame rate of 25fps, and a duration of 10 seconds.

Then we had to import the saved jpgs, but when importing the files, we selected all 3 of them and turned on the option that says "import as JPG Sequence", and this allows the imported file to be a composition of stills but looks like a moving image in just one layer - making it easier to handle.

Once the imported file was placed in the composition timeline, we clicked back in the project window and went to file - interpret footage main, and changed the frame rate to match that of the composition from 30 to 25. Whilst still in this window, we changed the loop settings to 50 times. This loops the file out to the 6 second mark.

The next step was to select the layer, and go to the pop out menu in the timeline window, and select the turn stretch on, and changed it to 200 %, changing the frame rate to half - 12fps.

The next thing we did was create a new solid fill layer to sit at the back of the composition, with an off white colour. Then we started to experiment with visual effects. We started with colour correction, and hue/saturation with changing the the master saturation to -100%. We also used the levels option to make the whites whiter and the blacks blacker. We also  used the tint options with the map black/white to and then I selected a magenta kind of colour to converty my pencil to a magenta/pink colour.

Then we toggled the switches and modes, so that the blending options were next to the layers in the timeline window, and the image layer was changed to multiply, so that the white of the paper became transparent.

Following this, with the pen tool we drew the shape of the desired object over the top, as smooth as possible, and with as little points as possible. But we had to keep the path open, but the last point had to be as close to the first point, as possible in order to give the best effect.

With this path still selected, we went back to the effects menus, then generate then stroke, selecting all masks and the stroke sequentially in the options. Then we changed the stroke size, in order to cover the original shape. Then in the layer properties in the timeline menu to bring in the fade. Clicking the stopwatch in the opacity, when the playback head was at the right time on the timeline, and setting the opacity to 0%. Then when we wanted the drawing effect to stop, change the opacity to 100%. The final step of adding this effect was to change the paint style to, reveal original image.

Our next stage was to create new vector artwork for the background in Illustrator. I wanted to keep mine simple so I just drew some circles with a basic colour palette or green, red, blue and pink - match the colour of the buttons on the Playstation controller. Once we saved this we just copy and pasted it into After Effects.

Once this was done, we had to open out the layer and press the button that resembles a play button on a circular background. Once we pressed this we  selected wiggle paths. Then we changed the wiggles per second to match the project frame rate of 12 fps, then we had a play about with some of the other settings to suit our personal preferences. I also then went on to change the blending options of the cirlces to overlay (I think) to give a more muted appearance.

Then we followed the usual procedure in order to save and export the video.

Triangle Circle X Square from Matt McGough on Vimeo.