Don't have anything to add....

Hi there, to anyone out there (probably no one :) - don't have much to update..
I've been working on my backgrounds for the past 2 weeks.
LAST background to go and i'm ready to go over them with pencils and fill them with grey tones.

I'm working on the interior house and the outside when Minnie starts running.....i haven't decided if it's a neighborhood or a lonely house on a hill...like a country side or just a quiet area??

Scanning some of the rough planning sketches tomorrow!

Other then that - have a new sound guy (very nice and talented person, his name is Nico and he got the files from me. Will start running some experiments soon)

That's it i think.... upload some stuff to show tomorrow!!

Backgrounds!

I finished with most of the Animation. I will get back to it after I'll finalize my backgrounds.
I still have 20-30% animation to complete (mostly secondery actions and inbetweens here and there for the sake of fluid animation, but the shots are done as far as i concern.
The only thing is that once i'll finish with the rest of it, i'll do a revision and make sure the design sticks all the way through, check details and lines.

I started to work on my backgrounds in the middle of last week. Got 6 done + prop design that i already finished from concept art stage.

Over the weekend i've completed 2 rough layouts - the interior house design and the Zoom on the shelf from the dog's view.

It takes a little bit' of time cause' i trace the lines with a light box after each time i finish a background to have a clean look.

My goal is to try and finish a few backgrounds every week.
Will probably upload some soon.

That's it for now...

Running Edit and DVD Cover

O.k. Here is a running edit timed (Not Final).

Still lots of work, BUT not much as i already done.

Now i just noticed that i didn't scale the animation up (silly me), so sorry about it...will export it again, but hope you'll still be able to see and understand.

Another thing is the end which isn't clear right now, because i still need to finish off 2 shots i added and also finish off the animation and timing. Then it will make much more sense and we will understand the ticket is there and so is the guy realize how far his dog went.

I'm happy it's shorter now - under 3 minutes - what i really wanted in the beginning and i will try to keep it short when i time the final piece. In the animatic it's 4 + minutes....

Please please please feel free to criticize and comment (Jack - i will add the ticket under the ball and she will take the ball with the ticket all the way!!! - and think about a new title!!! :)

I thought about "all the way" , "Rolling", "Best friends" ......i don't know....I'm lost, help me! :)

Other then that, let me know what do u think overall !!!

I already wrote that i will add the 20% animation left in the next stage (milestones 2), but majority of the animation is done.

Now as for the Milestones:

1 - i have a running comp (+ timing)

2 - rough soundtrack is on the way (Probably be ready this weekend or next week from the sound guy)

3 - Animation: 2 last shots to finish inbetweens for and I'm done (but can't finish it by this weekend just because of the god@#@@$n essay....
I will probably looking at next weekend.

Then I'll decide if to finish off Animation completely, or finish backgrounds first and then continue with the 20% left.



In the meanwhile, this is my cover. Very very simple...few days ago i had a better idea to improve it, but i was working the entire weekend and now it's too late....but maybe after the film would be ready I'll put myself into it more..want to color it and add more details...
That's it for now.

New Synopsis and more progress

So this week i basically took a little break from animation (I'm going back to animate my last shots over the weekend).

I started to time my shots in AE.

I'm starting to see how's the animation coming together now shot by shot and it's g-r-e-a-t to see how far away I'm into production...

It was a great idea to start a running comp early because of that.

My personal goal is to try and push and finish Animation by the end of next week (even over the weekend).
That's because now when i time it all, i realise i have to sharpen the timing and add some secondary movement to Minnie's ears and fix a few frames, adding details etc...

So basically I'm starting to look at the other 20% of my animation which i reckon isn't hard anymore, because it's like "filling" the missing frames for more movement (wagging tail, ears moving around more, ease in & out, details and refinements).

Every shot that i finish inbetweens for is already checked, so being aware of these details like the ears and other small things - i just write on a piece of paper i call animation notes, and when the time comes to finish it off (which is the 20% animation remaining) i refer back to that page and fix what needed to be fixed.

Other then that i sent the Animatic to the sound guy (also after a meeting which i gave him the moodscape of the soundtrack for the film).
He should have a very rough version by next week.

That's it for now!

Visual development and design

O.k, so i just realized i didn't upload any images or stuff that inspired me, and decided it's better late then never :)
This is the finals from very very long visual development process of finding the designs that i wanted.
The pictures are from my house in Jerusalem, of Minnie from the last visit.
The props are stuff i have in my room. I thought it's cool and makes it even more personal.

I promise i will start posting some pencil tests real soon on my other blog. I hope in the next two weeks!.

I just finished organizing the composites in folders, so the structure is set.
The structure is: Scene...1 - Folders of the shots (Shot...1, 2, 3...) and inside of them the animation clips i've done so far and the layout is ready to be there once i'll have some...

Now i have to time it roughly so i can send it quickly to the sound guy for rough sound!
I also have to finish my last few shots (see the ticket, pick up the dog...) and i'm kind of ready for backgrounds !!!!

Goals For Week 5

1 - I expect to have 80% of my Animation Done. By that i aim to finish Keys and inbetweens, so when i start timing it in AE and the time comes and i see that i have to add a frame or two, it's not much drawings anymore, but several to polish the timing.

*For that i write down special notes on paper for the specific shots i've finished and i assume that needs extra drawing here and there.

2 - Have some kind of running Comp' - with Animatic as referance and some rough sound.

*Met the sound guy on Monday morning - wrote him a moodscape and my expectations.

Inbetweens!!!!

O.k, if not for the beginning of the semester, i probably wouldn't see sunlight for at least a few more weeks :(
Just joking...i need to pay rent, eat, and do other stuff to live...

O.k, o.k, i finished ALL the Keys and it's crazy, i didn't realize how many drawings...it's like the entire animation of last year or even more (just the keys!!!).

It's all set now for the technical part - the inbetweens.
It's basically takes a lot of time and patient cause' some of them can't be done "on Automatic"...because there are details that need careful attention - ears, tail, blinks...
On top of it pencil tests takes time as well - to see that it's working.
Sometimes i add extra frames (i prefer to have more frames then i need so when i get to time the animation in AE, i can always play with the timing of the action)

BUT i'm happy i got to that part - every week i'll try to finish a shot or two (almost finished 2 shots already, so that's great!).

and i really really hope that between mid' to the end of August i'll be able to finish all the animation and start my backgrounds.

I'm excited i can actually think about starting the backgrounds - a thought that was ssooooo far away 2-3 months ago....