chamelion videos
http://vimeo.com/3991167
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Eye movement in animation - essay for ACM204
Eye movement in animation
The movement of eyes in animation is an integral part of expressing a characters emotions, awareness of surroundings and indicating their trajectory. Without a word we can often tell if a character is happy or sad just by looking at their eyes. While some common traits of eyes in animation can be unrealistic for real people, the established rules are simply exaggerations of reality.
In 3D animation, many simple animations have characters with static eyes or simple linear movements. It can be quite creepy to watch a character that moves but their eyes do not! So it’s very important to consider animating the eyes in more erratic patterns that mimic more of a human movement. When we look at things, our eyes do not stay fixated in one place, we survey the small space around it or gaze around from object to object and this never forms a simple up and down or left to right to path.
While in reality only our pupils will dilate or constrict, in animation this effect is taken a step further and the iris will also be enlarged or contracted to express a particular emotion. For example a character in shock, may have small iris/pupils making the whites of the eyes appear much larger, even this area may be enlarged to exaggerate the effect. A character who is happy may have enlarged iris and pupils, showing a lot more detail in the color of their eyes and showing less of the white area. Similarly a character who is sad can often have very large iris/pupils but the way the eyes are detail and animated can show the difference in the emotion such as their eyes shaking and then adding the obvious effects of tears, the addition of moisture to the surface of the eyes can be shown in your animation by making them look more reflective to light. Other details such as eyelids and eyebrows can play a part in expressing the characters emotions with their eyes.
The dilation and constriction of the pupils should also be somewhat relevant to the lighting of the scene the character is placed in, such as constricted when in a brightly lit scenario and dilated when in a dark room. When in a dark space our pupils will become wider to let more light in, hence why it sometimes takes a few moments for your eyes to adjust to a dark space. In the opposite, when in a bright area the pupil will constrict to limit the amount of light coming into our eyes to avoid us being blinded by too much light. Mimicking these changes to the pupil in your character will make them seem more a part of the scene they are placed in.
When your character is interacting with the world around them, the appropriate eye movements will indicate what they may have noticed and where they might be about to move to. If a character is walking straight, why would they turn their whole head to look directly at an obscure object and then seem to notice it after looking straight at it. It would make more sense for their eyes to dart around first to spot the object, then turn their head for a better look. Characters who are walking, running or jumping through will look more natural if they look where they are going before shifting their entire body to go a certain direction, as in reality we don’t blindly move without looking first! Although a moving character may keep their eyes intently fixated on an object that is their goal or destination. The most natural course of eye movements and action for a character is to have their eyes move first, the head move second and the body move third.
When a character is talking to another character, their eyes should not stay perfectly still either, as they will look awkward without any movement. You will notice that when conversing with someone, your eyes will wander, usually around their face in a triangle between their eyes and mouth.
Overall, non verbal communication is important for an animator to understand. Not only the eyes but every part of the body can be used to show the characters feelings. Observing day to day human body language as well as how it is used in other animated films can be an excellent reference point for your own animations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JROX, Bring Life To Your Character Animation With Dynamic Eye Movement, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Free Maya Tutorials, Creating Sensible Eye Movement, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Animation Guides, Character Emotion in Animation, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Luke Jordan, Researching Eye / Body Movements, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Tech World, Animating Expression, retrieved 26th July 2011,
The movement of eyes in animation is an integral part of expressing a characters emotions, awareness of surroundings and indicating their trajectory. Without a word we can often tell if a character is happy or sad just by looking at their eyes. While some common traits of eyes in animation can be unrealistic for real people, the established rules are simply exaggerations of reality.
In 3D animation, many simple animations have characters with static eyes or simple linear movements. It can be quite creepy to watch a character that moves but their eyes do not! So it’s very important to consider animating the eyes in more erratic patterns that mimic more of a human movement. When we look at things, our eyes do not stay fixated in one place, we survey the small space around it or gaze around from object to object and this never forms a simple up and down or left to right to path.
While in reality only our pupils will dilate or constrict, in animation this effect is taken a step further and the iris will also be enlarged or contracted to express a particular emotion. For example a character in shock, may have small iris/pupils making the whites of the eyes appear much larger, even this area may be enlarged to exaggerate the effect. A character who is happy may have enlarged iris and pupils, showing a lot more detail in the color of their eyes and showing less of the white area. Similarly a character who is sad can often have very large iris/pupils but the way the eyes are detail and animated can show the difference in the emotion such as their eyes shaking and then adding the obvious effects of tears, the addition of moisture to the surface of the eyes can be shown in your animation by making them look more reflective to light. Other details such as eyelids and eyebrows can play a part in expressing the characters emotions with their eyes.
The dilation and constriction of the pupils should also be somewhat relevant to the lighting of the scene the character is placed in, such as constricted when in a brightly lit scenario and dilated when in a dark room. When in a dark space our pupils will become wider to let more light in, hence why it sometimes takes a few moments for your eyes to adjust to a dark space. In the opposite, when in a bright area the pupil will constrict to limit the amount of light coming into our eyes to avoid us being blinded by too much light. Mimicking these changes to the pupil in your character will make them seem more a part of the scene they are placed in.
When your character is interacting with the world around them, the appropriate eye movements will indicate what they may have noticed and where they might be about to move to. If a character is walking straight, why would they turn their whole head to look directly at an obscure object and then seem to notice it after looking straight at it. It would make more sense for their eyes to dart around first to spot the object, then turn their head for a better look. Characters who are walking, running or jumping through will look more natural if they look where they are going before shifting their entire body to go a certain direction, as in reality we don’t blindly move without looking first! Although a moving character may keep their eyes intently fixated on an object that is their goal or destination. The most natural course of eye movements and action for a character is to have their eyes move first, the head move second and the body move third.
When a character is talking to another character, their eyes should not stay perfectly still either, as they will look awkward without any movement. You will notice that when conversing with someone, your eyes will wander, usually around their face in a triangle between their eyes and mouth.
Overall, non verbal communication is important for an animator to understand. Not only the eyes but every part of the body can be used to show the characters feelings. Observing day to day human body language as well as how it is used in other animated films can be an excellent reference point for your own animations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JROX, Bring Life To Your Character Animation With Dynamic Eye Movement, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Free Maya Tutorials, Creating Sensible Eye Movement, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Animation Guides, Character Emotion in Animation, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Luke Jordan, Researching Eye / Body Movements, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Tech World, Animating Expression, retrieved 26th July 2011,
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
"Keep Calm and Spin Kick" T-Shirts & Hoodies by UniKoRn | RedBubble
"Keep Calm and Spin Kick" T-Shirts & Hoodies by UniKoRn | RedBubble: 
I made a Spinzaku parody and stuck it on a tshirt :D
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
maya tutorials
IK (inverse kinematics) tutorial for Maya 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghuD5Po6BS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghuD5Po6BS4
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
gender / identity photography links
ARTICLES ON GENDER / IDENTITY IN PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.photographsdonotbend.co.uk/gender-identity-the-other/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurie_Nagashima
Cindy Sherman
Nan Goldin
Yurie Nagashima
PSYCOLOGICAL PROJECTION OF IDENTITY
http://arthyvijayaraghavan.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/psychological-projection-of-self-identity/
http://www.photographsdonotbend.co.uk/gender-identity-the-other/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurie_Nagashima
Cindy Sherman
Nan Goldin
Yurie Nagashima
PSYCOLOGICAL PROJECTION OF IDENTITY
http://arthyvijayaraghavan.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/psychological-projection-of-self-identity/
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Articles on Eye Movement in 3D animation
http://www.jrox.com/content/article/46/bring-life-to-your-character-animation-with-dynamic-eye-movement
http://iclone.helpmax.net/crazytalk/04_talking_message/applying_eye_movements.htm
http://www.freemayavideotutorials.com/maya-modeling/creating-sensible-eye-movement.html
http://animationguides.com/character-emotion-in-animation/
http://luke3dcharacteranimation.blogspot.com/2011/03/researching-eye-animations.html
http://www.twcil.com/techworlddemos/3DSMaxAnimatingExperience.pdf
http://iclone.helpmax.net/crazytalk/04_talking_message/applying_eye_movements.htm
http://www.freemayavideotutorials.com/maya-modeling/creating-sensible-eye-movement.html
http://animationguides.com/character-emotion-in-animation/
http://luke3dcharacteranimation.blogspot.com/2011/03/researching-eye-animations.html
http://www.twcil.com/techworlddemos/3DSMaxAnimatingExperience.pdf
Friday, July 22, 2011
CODA - presented by National Institute of Circus Arts
http://www.nica.com.au/
2011
CODA, 22 June - 1 July
Ensemble performance by 2nd year students directed by Megan Jones.
2011
CODA, 22 June - 1 July
Ensemble performance by 2nd year students directed by Megan Jones.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Cool art installation - Fake Pool
Original Article Here: Fake Pool - Art installation
It is true that weird installations has been represented earlier on Awesomenator, such as the very confusing freestanding house in Austria, but this surreal and unique piece is all Argentinian artistLeonardo Erlich’s work. This pool has been making quite a few trips, all the way from Japan to Argentina, but currently it is situated in Australia. You would’ve never guessed that the pool was empty inside if there weren’t any people in it, because it looks like a normal pool, and the aqua color, the lights and the ladder is just making it more convincing.
When you enter the pool through a door from inside it looks like the water is floating over your head, almost like you’re just waiting for it to fall down. Known for his illusion installations, Erlich enjoyed making this pool, and at some exhibitions he even installed a wood deck that gave it a spa or sauna-like appearance.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Week 8: Second generation computer games. The handheld device
Activities
Activity 1
Explore wikipedia's History of computer and video games here. What were your favourites? What were a complete waste of time and money, not to mention an insult to your finer sense of gaming?
~~~~~~
Favourites
Pacman
Dungeons & Dragons
Super Mario
Sonic the Hedgehog
Phantasy Star Online
World of Warcraft
Final Fantasy
Waste of time?
Myst - Holy hell this game was so ridiculously hard! There's no way you could play that shit without a walkthrough.
Activity 2
Let's talk about convergence and portability (or mobility) in the discussion forum, and try to discern whether all the additional functions on our mobile phone (as just one example) is what we really want, or whether we are being duped by the 'bells and whistles' marketers.
Post your comments to the forums and if possible, add links to some of the great material you have researched.
Chat with you online.
~~~~~
It feels like many devices and products are trying to be too many things at once. I feel that it's relevant for some and not so much for others.
For example, I don't use much of the features on my mobile phone. I feel they are irrelevant. I don't want to do anything on it that's going to flatten the battery quicker because I want it to be ready for it's primary importance, making/recieving phone calls and SMS. If I want to play a game, I'll play something designed for gaming. I usually carry around my DS or PSP when I know I'll need something to kill time while I'm out and about!
Low tech examples of convergence? Hmmm...I suppose that many print publications have website counterparts to further engage their readers. Many of the competitions from magazines require the reader to head to the website to enter for example. Many products require you to go onto the internet for further information about them, regardless of whether it is an electronic device or not.
I definitely feel that most, if not all electronic devices are heading towards internet connectivity & general PC connectivity for transferring of data.
Perhaps one day even furniture and other products that need assembly at home will require the purchaser to visit a website for an online guide.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
gaming generations, control systems, communication
History of Interactive Entertainment - Week 7 Discussion
I think the generations of games are defined by the hardware capabilities. So my belief is that there are more than 3 generations of video games. We are currently in the 7th generation according to Wikipedia.
As an 80's kid, I grew up with video games and have never known a life without a game console in the house. My earliest memories are of the Mattel Intellivision (a 2nd generation console) where games like Donkey Kong, Frogger, Tron, Dungeons & Dragons and other famous franchises have their roots. This era of graphics was very simple but I strongly believe that it's the quality and enjoyability of the actual game play that makes or breaks it. There are current generation games that are visually stunning but boring to play. The controllers on the Mattel Intellivision were rectangle in shape, it had a keypad at the top and a disc at the bottom. It really wasn't a great design. There were also different plastic inserts for the keypad that would outline the buttons for each game, these were easily lost or damaged. The controllers themselves weren't that durable either as the electronics inside became worn and needed replacing.
The next generation was the 8bit systems such as the Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), despite my incessant nagging I did not own any consoles from that era as a kid. Followed by the 16 bit generation of Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in other countries) and Super Nintendo (Super Famicon in other countries). I had a Sega Megadrive that was imported from Asia. Sega and Nintendo were really heavy competitors in the 80's and 90's and I find it rather amusing that with Sega's retraction from the console market in the present time means that their mascot Sonic the Hedgehog now appears in titles alongside Nintendo's mascot Mario. Such a game was only pipe dream back then. More ergonomic controller designs began to come out with the 16 bit generation. The rectangle shapes were done away with and rounded edges became the norm.
Cartridges were phased out in the next generation of 64 bit with the release of the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn that used CD ROMs. However Nintendo still stood by the game cartridge system and released the Nintendo 64. They switched to GD ROMs ( a type of mini CD ) with the introduction of the Gamecube.
The current generation of games is the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 which are geared towards HD TV. Even though Nintendo released the Wii in this era, it's hardware is not designed for display in HD and more geared like the previous generation of Gamecube, Dreamcast, Xbox and Playstation 2.
The Wii's use of motion controllers that made it so popular had already been around on the Sega Dreamcast with special controllers such as a Fishing Rod for Sega Bass Fishing and Maraccas for Samba Di Amigo. Games like Guitar Hero were not the first to have giant plastic instruments for controllers. Sega have always had great innovative ideas for games and ways to play them, but never seemed to gain the mainstream attention outside of Japan. (Can you tell I'm a Sega fangirl yet?). Sega was also the first to have a console with internet connectivity, you could play games online with friends and even browse the web without a computer as the Dreamcast had an inbuilt dial up modem. Phantasy Star Online (for Dreamcast) had innovative ways to communicate with people that spoke other languages with the use of Symbol Chat (emoticons), Word Select (it would translate a phrase into the viewers chose language) and it also had the support of a keyboard. The Gamecube version of Phantasy Star Online saw the release of a regular controller and keyboard combined in one, it was only sold in Japan but I do have one in my possession. It meant that you only needed the one controller to play and chat, which was quite convenient.
Alongside these generations, the hand held systems have usually had the tech of a previous generation of consoles and never quite as powerful as their console counterparts of the time. Nintendo still sticks with the use of cartridges for handhelds such as the Gameboy Advance and DS. While the Sony PSP has a UMD (a sort of mini CD) and the PSP Go relies entirely on downloading games to internal memory. Mobile phone games also rely on downloading and internal memory for the most part. The newest versions of the Nintendo DS; the DSi and DSi XL also have internal memory to support download games from Nintendos online store. The DS was also the first to introduce touch screen technology into the mainstream for video games, allowing you to use the bottom screen with the included stylus or your fingers to play. Touchscreen technology is becoming more standard on mobile phones after the popularity of the Apple iPhone.
Touchscreens, motion controllers and instrument controllers seem to be the gimmick that is converting people who previously didn't play games, into gamers. While this is good for the industry overall and creating a more positive attitude towards gaming....those of us that fall into the hardcore gamer category are being forgotten in the frenzy. The new ways to play games are fun but when it comes to a game you are going to sink 100 hours into, I want to curl up on the couch in a blanket and use a 'normal' controller, I don't want to jump all around the lounge room flailing madly to beat a monster.
I think the generations of games are defined by the hardware capabilities. So my belief is that there are more than 3 generations of video games. We are currently in the 7th generation according to Wikipedia.
As an 80's kid, I grew up with video games and have never known a life without a game console in the house. My earliest memories are of the Mattel Intellivision (a 2nd generation console) where games like Donkey Kong, Frogger, Tron, Dungeons & Dragons and other famous franchises have their roots. This era of graphics was very simple but I strongly believe that it's the quality and enjoyability of the actual game play that makes or breaks it. There are current generation games that are visually stunning but boring to play. The controllers on the Mattel Intellivision were rectangle in shape, it had a keypad at the top and a disc at the bottom. It really wasn't a great design. There were also different plastic inserts for the keypad that would outline the buttons for each game, these were easily lost or damaged. The controllers themselves weren't that durable either as the electronics inside became worn and needed replacing.
The next generation was the 8bit systems such as the Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), despite my incessant nagging I did not own any consoles from that era as a kid. Followed by the 16 bit generation of Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in other countries) and Super Nintendo (Super Famicon in other countries). I had a Sega Megadrive that was imported from Asia. Sega and Nintendo were really heavy competitors in the 80's and 90's and I find it rather amusing that with Sega's retraction from the console market in the present time means that their mascot Sonic the Hedgehog now appears in titles alongside Nintendo's mascot Mario. Such a game was only pipe dream back then. More ergonomic controller designs began to come out with the 16 bit generation. The rectangle shapes were done away with and rounded edges became the norm.
Cartridges were phased out in the next generation of 64 bit with the release of the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn that used CD ROMs. However Nintendo still stood by the game cartridge system and released the Nintendo 64. They switched to GD ROMs ( a type of mini CD ) with the introduction of the Gamecube.
The current generation of games is the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 which are geared towards HD TV. Even though Nintendo released the Wii in this era, it's hardware is not designed for display in HD and more geared like the previous generation of Gamecube, Dreamcast, Xbox and Playstation 2.
The Wii's use of motion controllers that made it so popular had already been around on the Sega Dreamcast with special controllers such as a Fishing Rod for Sega Bass Fishing and Maraccas for Samba Di Amigo. Games like Guitar Hero were not the first to have giant plastic instruments for controllers. Sega have always had great innovative ideas for games and ways to play them, but never seemed to gain the mainstream attention outside of Japan. (Can you tell I'm a Sega fangirl yet?). Sega was also the first to have a console with internet connectivity, you could play games online with friends and even browse the web without a computer as the Dreamcast had an inbuilt dial up modem. Phantasy Star Online (for Dreamcast) had innovative ways to communicate with people that spoke other languages with the use of Symbol Chat (emoticons), Word Select (it would translate a phrase into the viewers chose language) and it also had the support of a keyboard. The Gamecube version of Phantasy Star Online saw the release of a regular controller and keyboard combined in one, it was only sold in Japan but I do have one in my possession. It meant that you only needed the one controller to play and chat, which was quite convenient.
Alongside these generations, the hand held systems have usually had the tech of a previous generation of consoles and never quite as powerful as their console counterparts of the time. Nintendo still sticks with the use of cartridges for handhelds such as the Gameboy Advance and DS. While the Sony PSP has a UMD (a sort of mini CD) and the PSP Go relies entirely on downloading games to internal memory. Mobile phone games also rely on downloading and internal memory for the most part. The newest versions of the Nintendo DS; the DSi and DSi XL also have internal memory to support download games from Nintendos online store. The DS was also the first to introduce touch screen technology into the mainstream for video games, allowing you to use the bottom screen with the included stylus or your fingers to play. Touchscreen technology is becoming more standard on mobile phones after the popularity of the Apple iPhone.
Touchscreens, motion controllers and instrument controllers seem to be the gimmick that is converting people who previously didn't play games, into gamers. While this is good for the industry overall and creating a more positive attitude towards gaming....those of us that fall into the hardcore gamer category are being forgotten in the frenzy. The new ways to play games are fun but when it comes to a game you are going to sink 100 hours into, I want to curl up on the couch in a blanket and use a 'normal' controller, I don't want to jump all around the lounge room flailing madly to beat a monster.
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