This week we start working on a new Houdini project.
The themes we explore this week.
The first thing we need to focus on is [View Mode].
Auto update]: When we change the value of a node in Houdini, it will automatically (and very quickly) update the effect on the screen.
[On mouse up]: When we change the value of a node in Houdini, it will only be updated when we click on the window with the mouse.
[Manual]: Manual update. This can be interpreted as updating the window effect independently when we change the value of the node. (This mode is very convenient, and I have been using this mode in my last assignment.)
The [Null] node: this node does not have any effect. But it is easier to create a [Null] node in the panel to observe the process. (Probably because the shape of this node is so unusual. Most of the other nodes are rectangular, whereas the [Null] node is an X-like shape)
When there are multiple nodes in the interface that need to be sorted, we can select [A] or [L] to quickly sort them.
[A]: After selecting all the nodes, press and hold [A], then drag and drop. The nodes will then be sorted automatically. (automatically arranged in a row)
[L]: After selecting all the nodes, press [L]. The nodes will also be sorted automatically. Unlike [A], [L] sorts the nodes into rows and columns of different values.
When we hold down [J] and [left mouse button], the dragged curves will form connections on the nodes. (In the Houdini interface, it is like stitching the nodes together with a needle and thread). When you need to delete a connection, hold down [Y] and [LEFT MOUSE BUTTON]. (In the Houdini interface, it looks like you are using scissors to cut the nodes). I have always used [Delete] after selecting a node.
Selecting multiple nodes is very similar to other software. [Shift] plus [Left mouse button] can add multiple selected nodes if you want to deselect a node, use [Ctrl] plus [Left mouse button].
We can select [Open display options] (shortcut is [D]) when our node appears [Warning]. In the [Network View Display Options], you can see the reasons for the different warnings.
In the animation module:
[Arrow key ↑] is to play
[Arrow key ↓] is to play in the opposite direction of the timeline
[Arrow key ←] is the previous keyframe of the animation
[Arrow key →] is the next keyframe of the animation
[Ctrl] + [Arrow key ←] is to reach the first keyframe of the animation
[Ctrl] + [Arrow key →] is the last keyframe of the animation
In the [i] property bar of the node, we can observe the values of [Points], [Primitives], [Vertices] and [Polygons].
To observe UVs.
Create [testgeometry_squab] and [UVquickshade]
Show [Points]
Click on [Display vertex markers]
In [UV View]:
In [Geometry Spreadsheet]:
【Geometry (SOP) networks】：
VOP Functions
VOP nodes let us define a program (such as a shader) by connecting nodes together. Houdini then compiles the node network into executable VEX code.
The first thing to do is to create the [geometry] node.
This time we are using [testgeometry_crag] as the base model node.
Use the shortcut key [N] to change the mode (can be used instead of the menu).
[timeshift] can be used to freeze the frame.
Create the [popnet] node.
Always remember to turn off [Display Sprites] in the settings. Double click into the [popnet] node to observe the [testgeometry_crag] model.
Create a [Sphere] in [Polygon] mode. Connect [Sphere] with [popnet] and you can observe many points.
In the [Geo] screen, we cannot observe the [testgeometry_crag] model. This is because Houdini autonomously selects the entire face of the [testgeometry_crag] model when we select the model’s points individually. And [Sphere] can be operated by [popnet] because each point in [Sphere] is independent.
At this point, we can create a [pack] node. [pack] helps polygons to be recognized as a whole by Houdini. The [unpack] can be used when transforming geometry into polygons.
Add [unpack] to the node tree of [testgeometry_crag]. Transform [testgeometry_crag] from a geometry to a polygon.
Custom nodes in the [popnet] node:
【popobject】is will be like a container full of particles and that container will go through a popsolver.
【popsolver】think about it like a toolbox. A toolbox where you’re going to have. Everything you need to calculate what’s happening in dynamics, so it has physics operations. It has all the physics logic we need.
【popsource】can solving whatever physics we have.
The nodes in [popnet].
[gravity] is something that is common to all solvers.
Place [gravity] under [popsolver]. At this point, we can see that the particles on the [testgeometry_crag] model have a tendency to fall downwards.
【Wind】：
In【popnet】we have different types of winds.
For this project, we can use either [popwind] or [windforce], but there’s one specific limit for [Particles].
There is a very user-friendly design in the [popnet] panel. We can look at the colour of the nodes to place different nodes.
For example, if the node for [popwind] is purple, then we can connect [popwind] behind [source_first_input]. This is because the line behind [source_first_input] is also purple.
Increase the value of [Wind Velocity] in [popwind] and you will find that the particles will change the direction of movement.
(Reduce the value of [Cache Memory] in the [Cache] panel of [popnet]. This will help our computer to reduce the consumption of fast computing.)
Add the [Scatter] node to the [geo] panel. The [Scatter] node adds points to the object’s surface and changes the number and density of particles.
Go back to the [popnet] panel. We start adjusting [source_first_input] ([popsource]).
Adjust the mode of [Emission Type] in [Source] of [popsource].
[Points] mode:
[All Points] mode:
Looking at the effect, we select [Points] mode.
In [Birth] [Const. Birth Rate] you can change the speed of particle generation.
For the rendering time rate, [FPS24] is recommended. Checking [Integer Frame Values] will help the rendering to be closer to the real rate.
The value of [Const. Birth Rate] in my current file is [10000], which means that [10000] particles are created in every 24 frames.
[Render Flipbook]
Help with rendering Houdini files.
Create a [popforce] node. Changing the value of [Amplitude] in [popforce] can be similar to [noise wind] and can affect the direction of movement of the particles.
Add the [popdrag] node, which acts as a change in the resistance of the air. (Do some more sharper shapes if you want.)
Back in the [geo] panel, I’ve added [pointvelocity] and [delete]. The [pointvelocity] changes the speed of the particles, and [delete] is used to delete particles that affect the screen. I also adjusted the value of the nodes in [popnet].
(tip: Be sure to change the [Geometry Source] and [SOP] in [Popsource]. Select the path of [SOP] as [OUT_POP_SOURCE]. (Otherwise, you will need to use a line to connect the two nodes.)
This semester we started a collaborative project. The collaborative project required us to design and produce the project with students from other majors. We need to combine our respective majors’ skills and explore the project. Through the school website and my friends’ recommendations that I choose to join the collaborative group.
Membership:
3D Computer Animation: Lucy and Yu
Game Design: Zhuo zhu and Zhijian Jiang
VR: Jianxin Wu
After formed the group, we started to discuss the design theme of the project. We decided to combine 3D Computer Animation major, Game Design major and VR major to create a VR version of the art gallery. We would also consider designing posters in 3D modeling that could be interactive. Finally, we discussed to chose some posters that pay homage to the artist Tom Eckersley.
[Tom Eckersley]’s Introduction:
Tom Eckersley (1914-1995) was one of the foremost graphic designers of the twentieth century working in the UK. His works employ minimal text, instead of transmitting their message by pared-down graphic elements and bold blocks of colour. Eckersley’s career spanned from the 1930s until the 1990s, during which time he worked for a huge range of employees from London Transport, Gillette and Guinness to Crisis, World Wide Fund for Nature and the Inner London Education Authority.
Eckersley was also a teacher and established the first graphic design course in the UK at what was then called the London College of Printing (now London College of Communication).
The charm in many of Eckersley’s works is their ability to convey a strong message through a simple design. The Collection shows how he developed his designs, as it includes artworks and preparatory designs as well as finished pieces. The Collection came from Eckersley’s own workshop and as such reflects what he kept, partly to be used as teaching aids. The Collection has been fully digitised and is being posted in batches on the Visual Arts Data Service website.
Next week we will discuss the choice of posters and the interactive design of the 3D animation and game combination. We will also discuss the specific division of labour for the group next week. This collaborative project is my first time working with Game and VR major. I am sure I will learn something new in this collaborative project.
The main questions we will explore in this session are.
Unlike MAYA, the Houdini interface allows us to move or rotate the interface directly with the mouse.
Many operations can be performed in the object panel on the right.
For example, when you click the right mouse button or [TAB] in the object screen, the panel where you can choose to create an object will appear.
Enter the name of the object you want to create in the [TAB] search panel and select the object you want to search for to create it directly. Remember to select the object you want to create and then right-click on it in the properties panel.
A base sphere is created for now. Then follow the tutorial video and create a box in the same way. If you want to switch between viewing the box, you can click on the blue marker on the right side of the [sphere] panel. Once you have hidden the sphere, you can observe the box.
There is also an [Parameter] in Houdini, which can be displayed by clicking on the [P] on the keyboard.
Of course, if you are in the initial panel, you will see [Parameter] directly by clicking on the created object node.
When you want to create a more customizable interface, combine the different property fields and select [Save Current Desktop As…] in [Build].
Named new Desktop
Now we successfully creates the new Desktop.
Select [Preference] in [Edit], then [General User Interface]. This screen can then be used to view and set the overall user interface.
Creating a new project is very similar to MAYA. In [File], select [New Project]. In the [New Project] window, you can then set the path to save the file.
Unlike MAYA, the project folder in Houdini does not have a [Scene]. Scene data in Houdini is generally minimal. In most cases, the main files are saved in the [Desk Folder].
[ch] is used for animations. [img] is used for pictures. Again, this is useful for AI and computer learning.
Usually, we work with objects in the [Object] screen. But you can also [double-click] on an object node and then go to the [Geometry] screen to manipulate the object.
The [TAB] in [Geometry] and [Object] will have different options.
In [Geometry]:
In [Object]:
The shortcut key for [Move] is [T].
The shortcut key for [Rotate] is [R].
The shortcut key for [Scale] is [E].
When you select [Enter] in the left property bar, you can [Show Handle] and [Right-click for options].
Although there are differences with the MAYA shortcuts, they are still well understood.
If an object is not in the center of the scene, use the shortcut keys [F], [G], and [H] to find the object you want to observe quickly. When there are multiple objects in the scene, select the object you want to observe in the [Geometry] or [Object] panel on the right. Then click on [F], [G], and [H] in the left-hand viewport to find the object quickly.
Here is a discussion of how to import files.
Create the [Alembic] node and double click on it to enter the [Alembic] node’s properties panel. In [File Name], select the file you want to import. (It is best to import the file in the Alembic format abc.)
To import the [obj] format, you need to create a [File] node. The import operation is the same as for the [Alembic] node.
If the model is not found in the scene at this point, or if the viewing angle is not appropriate. Click directly on [F], and the model can be quickly displayed in the [view] panel.
If you want to save a Houdini file, the best format to save it is [Bego] (sc.).
In Nuke, there are also two nodes [Transform] and [Merge]. Transform] is used to change the position of a file. Merge] is used to superimpose two frames. Houdini is a 3D software, and each object has its coordinates. If you want to see multiple objects created simultaneously in the Houdini interface, you need to use [Merge] to merge the objects spatially.
If you want to add a node to [trees], click [ALT] directly on the line to add it. To delete a node, click on [Delete].
In Houdini, you can use the [test_] file with the software for testing.
The teacher introduced to us that the more commonly used [test] file is [Tommy].
In Houdini, a 5 x 5 square area is considered to be 1m². We can use [test_Tommy] to assist in the design and creation of the model.
Click on [Node Info] in the node to see the information about the node. (The [i] in the middle on the left)
We are creating some simple productions:
Turn up the values of [rows] and [columns] so that the torus becomes smooth.
Create an [attribnoise] node.
Then, changing some of the [P] property bar values, we get a deformed object.
Now we export the file. Create [rop_geometry] or [filecache], both of these nodes can be used for rending export.
I use [rop_geometry] for the export.
[$HIP] is the path where the file is saved, [geo] is the name of the folder, [$OS] is the name of the path to the exported file, [$F] is the Frame number, and [bgeo. sc] is the format of the file output (which can also be changed to obj).
[D] is the [Display Options world], which can be used to adjust the settings of Houdini.
[U] and [I] are [jump up] and [jump down]
Attributes of [attribnoise]：
Save the file:
Getting started with the exercises
The process of making rocks.
First create [sphere], then select [Polygon] in [Primitive type].
I select [Flat shaded] to observe [sphere].
Increase the value of [Frequency] in [sphere]. This way, we will have more detail in [Noise].
Change the location attribute [Attribute Names] of the noise to [P].
Add the [null] node. The [null] has a definite shape, which helps us find the current item more easily.
Change the values of [Noise Type] and [Element Size] in [attribnoise]. More details can also be added in [Fractal] and [Warping].
Final derived rock:
The process of making a wooden house:
Create two [geo],create [box] and [testgeometry_tommy1] respectively.
Adjust the values on [box] properties so that the model will remain on the horizon when [Size] is increased on the y-axis.
Select the [Point] mode.
Select the points in the [sphere] and create the [Transform] node.
Below we need to add the details of the house.
To copy the nodes we need to [ALT] + [drag the mouse]. (It is best to drag the mouse upwards. When I dragged to the sides of the node, my node only moved and was not copied.)
Create a [boolean] node. The [boolean] node is used to handle interpolated models so that the interpolated models do not overlap with model errors.
Set [Treat As] in [Set A] of [boolean] to [Surface] mode.
I use [Delete] and [polyextrude] when creating the roof.
In the process of making the house, it was found that the normals would be reversed.
Adding a [REVERSE] will help the house’s face become oriented in the correct direction.
Plus the floor of the house.
Current node plan of the house:
Now add some detail to the wooden house.
Use the [box] and [copy and transform] nodes to create a similar feel to the wooden panels.
Other nodes in this project were similar to the previous house.
We need to design actions by ourselves to complete the animation for this time. Thus I decided to first find some information online, which could help me to trigger my inspirations for designing actions. During the process of finding information, my first idea was [interesting]. What I wanted to design is a period of an interesting action show. To begin with, I watched some performance material as exampled by Charlie Chaplin. In silent films, characters need to express the story plot by using their body language. Also, appropriate exaggeration of character actions can better lead the audience to understand the meaning expressed by the actions that are done by the characters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmnEjqJPwqE
I have found some 3D animation works which were made by the students. I have sensed that the vividness of the character’s actions is connected with the body curves showed during the acting when characters are moving. While watching the 3D animation works that are presented by students, I have also learned some rhythm sensations from the character’s acting.
In the end, my plan was to design a movement to pick up the money. Thinking of picking up money, my first thought was that my character would be excited when performing. In this way, in my animation, I can combine [personalized walking] and [pick up things] to make animation actions. I was very lucky to find the video “50 Ways to Pick Up a Dollar” on YouTube. I planned to combine the two states of [Dramatic] and [Excited] to design my character’s actions.
About the plot design for the animation:
1. The character walks on the road at a stride.
2. Suddenly, the character finds that there is a piece of money lying on the ground.
3. The character turns left and right, checking if there’s anyone around.
4. The character crouches down quickly to pick up the money.
5. Lifting up the money and looking at it, the character finds that the money was real!
6. The character goes ahead excitedly with money
Thanks go to my friends for their helping me to film this action reference video, which has both been filmed on the side-face and the front-side at the same time.
Storyboard:
In the next step, I started to search for proper figure models. For this action design, I felt that a lovely cartoon-style model may need to be found. I have chosen Family_Girl as the model for which looks very cute. But I found that her arms and legs are too short as limited by being the cartoon figure. Thus in the following production process, I needed to ensure that the leg models won’t overlap too much due to bending while the characters are walking and raising legs. Before getting down to work, I have debugged every controller, making sure that they are under normal service conditions.
The controller for the Family_Girl model was very refined. Therefore I sincerely hoped that there will be no problems happened to the controller in the following animation production. I was unsurprisingly to find that there are controllers installed in the two small braids of the model’s head. When the characters were moving, the hair also needed to have moving curves, which I thought would also help me to recall the bounce-making process of squirrel tails.
I decided to firstly make the body actions of the character, while the facial expressions and the hairs of the character would be started to make after the body actions were confirmed.
To start with, I have made the mel that can select all body controllers.
For my character was required to interact with props, I have also made a faked paper money at 50 pound face value.
Here it started to make key frames for the character’s body actions.
000,032,048,058,076,097,114,140,178,209,231,258,278,298 were chosen as the initial keyframes. Of course, in the following production, I would continuously add keyframes. And these keyframes were enough for me to determine the character’s actions.
Notices during the process of making body keyframes:
1. When the character was walking, make sure his inclination angles in the crotches and shoulders were correct. For instance, when the right crotch of the character was lifted, the right shoulder of the character should be down, which would make the dynamics of the character more obvious. During the making, I also often simulated this action by myself for helping me to directly observe the motion tendency of the character.
2. During this film making, I hoped that my character looks more flexible, for which I would constantly remind myself to adjust the three controllers that are respectively in charge of the character’s chest, waist, and crotch. During the production process, I would first use the three controllers based on the front view to adjust the character to have his curves. And then I would adjust, based on the side view, the character for his back that is in the straight or curved state. By continuously coordinating the state presented in these two views, I could make the character’s actions more vivid and natural.
3. The turning around of the character. For the actions I have designed, the character needed to turn around to check if there are people around. I found that if the big waist controller was used for action adjusting, the adjustment for the waist controller and upper body controller was easy to cause problems when the character has a next-step walking. During this production, I would no longer use the big waist controller to spin the character’s upper body. Instead, I would try to use the annular controller that is on the crotch to spin the character. Therefore, when the character was moving, I can quickly adjust the dynamics of the character by merely selecting the crotch, waist and chest controllers and set them all to the initial state.
4. Currently, for the animation curve graphs of all controllers of the character, I chose to use the blocking state, which can help me directly observe whether the key actions of the character are correct.
Current character animation:
Okay. Currently, so far so good. The actions of my character look very interesting.
In the next step, I needed to add the keyframes for the middle parts. Currently, the character only had the actions as his feet stepping on the ground, but lacking the actions where he lifts up his feet. Thus, I needed to add the actions as lifting up the feet on my character. Firstly, I selected all the controllers, and then changed the blocking mode into the curve mode in the animation curve panel.
For the parts of 014,025,038,068,087,128,136,158,170,188,199,218,241,264,284, I have added keyframes for the actions. While I was making the keyframes, I found that there was sliding on the character’s footsteps. However, the two keyframes which were before and after the character’s feet have not made a difference at this moment. Then I started a long process for debugging. I have tried to fix the character’s feet by continuously increasing the inbetweens, which however has no effect. Then I started to doubt that whether the movement on feet was caused by body movement. Therefore, I have tried to adjust the controller on the character’s waist to ensure that character’s feet won’t move because of the weight of the model. In the end, I discovered that the movement of the feet was caused due to the arc of the curve in the animation curve panel was too big, which causes the displacement in the feet. After selecting the keyframes of the feet, I have adjusted the curve of this action to a straight line in the y-axis displacement in the action curve panel. In this way, the feet would not slide anymore.
At present, the animation curves of all controllers in the Animation Graph Editor:
During the production process, the movement of the props paper money has also met some problems. Initially, I wanted to use parent or point to restrain the paper money and the character’s hand. However, since at the beginning the paper money is lying on the ground, the direct restraining would make deform in hand when moving the paper money. In this way, I could only first make sure that the position of the paper money was correct on the keyframes of the character’s action. Then I could observe the position of the paper money in every frame by dragging the time axis. When finding the position of the paper money is offset, I would reset it manually. When finishing the keyframes of the paper money, I suddenly had an idea that it would be easier if I divide the animation into two parts — before picking up the paper money and after picking up the paper money. By doing this, the paper money was without any binding relationships before being picked up in the first period of animation. In the second animation where the paper money has been picked up, the character’s hand was directly restrained with the paper money. Okay, I would experiment this for the next time.
Present animation curve of controller of paper money in the Animation Graph Editor:
Present character animation:
I decided to attempt my production idea in the last time, which was to have a parent restrain on the paper money and hand.
After observing, I found that my character was very natural during the process from picking up the paper money to holding it later. Therefore, I have divided the file into two parts. For the first part of 0-178 keyframes, I chose to keep the original paper money as animation. For the second part of the 178-298 keyframes, I have deleted the animation of the paper money, adding parent restraints on the paper money and the hand. Of course, I need to re-adjust the character’s arm actions to ensure that the model is in the state of holding the paper money. Fortunately, after the adjustment, the movement of paper money looks more natural, which no longer has the feeling of drifting. At the same time, I have also modified the character’s actions when he was walking after picking up the money because I feel that the moving range of the previous model in the last few steps is too big, which makes the model very abrupt. Therefore, I have reduced the spinning range of the controllers on the model’s crotch, chest, and waist.
Present actions of keyframes of the character:
【0-178 keyframe】
【178-298 keyframe】
Present character animation:
Now, it starts to make the animation of the model’s face and hair.
In order to ensure that the final display angle is the same, firstly I need to create a “camera” in the 0-178 keyframe file, and then separately export the “camera” into the 178-298 keyframe file, which will ensure that the angles I rendered are inconsistency.
Make facial mel:
For making a vivid blinking action, I have created the eye-opening action for two keyframes that are before and after eyes blinking, which will ensure that the blinking action is relatively natural.
Model’s facial animation:
When the character is turning around, I have also made effects for the hair as turning around together with the character.
Make hair mel:
Present character animation:
Final rendered video:
Term 1—— 3D Computer Animation Fundamentals showreel:
My presentation is about the lighting in 3D children’s animation. My presentation is divided into four sections. First, I will talk about the importance of lighting in 3D children’s animation; second, I will explore the difference between the lighting in adult animation and the lighting in children animation; third, I will analyze the light effect in Coco, a 3D children’s animation; finally, I will make a conclusion.
First, I would like to share with you my views on the importance of lighting in 3D children’s animation. According to Positive Cartoon Animation to Change Children Behaviors in Primary Schools, we know that animation has an impact on children’s social personality and mental state. Research shows that the projection of illumination on retina will have a long term influence on children’s cognition, so in order to help children maintain a healthy mental state while watching animation, animators must pay attention to the light design in children’s animation.Lighting is an important component of animation, and is an important art form by which animators convey the story content and create the picture atmosphere. Scholars believe that in comparison with letters, information in pictures are more rapidly received by children. Therefore, appropriate design of light can convey the implied meaning of the story, showcase the art style of the story, and reveal the profound connotation of the story.
Now let me talk about the difference between light effect of adult animation and light effect of children animation. I will compare the fighting scenes from Love, Death & Robots, and Big Hero 6. In Love, Death & Robots, a lot of cold color lights are used. On the ground, you can see the purple reflected light. Also, there is white light from above, shining over the figures. The background is dark, the white light from above is like a rope, roping together the figures who are about to fight. In the animation, the man and the woman use mental strength to control the monsters, but the implied meaning is: women’s fight against sexual violence. Such violent plot and depressed lighting are absolutely not suitable for children.In Big Hero 6, there is also a fighting scene of two figures controlling the robots, but in comparison with Love, Death & Robots, the visual impact is not that depressed. Red and blue are the major source of light in Big Hero 6. Although there is black in the background, audience still can see the figures clearly, with the aforementioned colors being the source of light. In this way, children will not be scared while seeing the black background. In comparison with Love, Death & Robots, the light of Big Hero 6 is brighter and the color of its light is more harmonious. So while watching Big Hero 6, children will not feel scary.
Third, let’s talk about the light effect in Coco, which is also a 3D children animation. In Coco, multi-color lighting technology is used to render a magical and splendid world of the dead. In this animation, the world of the dead is no longer black and scary, but happy and cozy. In Coco, a lot of purple and blue are used to depict the world of the dead. By using these two colors as the major color of the animation, the mystery of the world of the dead is revealed. In addition to blue and purple, a large quantity of orange, yellow and pink lights are used. The unique light effect, which is completely different from the real world, lead to color alienation, which further allows death to appear in a warm and interesting way. Reasonable light design will not make children have depressed feelings, but will help them generate positive emotions and immerse in the story. In the 3D space of Coco, lighting technology highlights the style and distance of the space. The lighting technology uses the cultural elements of Mexicans to form the psychological space that conforms to the background of the story. By analyzing the design of lighting in Coco, we know that using different forms of color language and expanding the forms of color expression will not make it difficult for children to understand the picture and content. In contrast, the complex lighting model of different locations and colors will attract children’s attention easier. As a key element in children animation, light design not only builds and enriches the background of the animation, but also introduces the different cultural concepts in the animation. When a foreign culture, which is greatly different from the local culture, appears in the animation, lights of the colors of the foreign culture can function as the theme element that distinguishes the background of the foreign culture from that of the local culture.In some countries, parents don’t want their children to take part in activities that involve death, because they think death is ominous. Therefore, in children’s mind, death is colorless, and full of scary. In Coco, the story is set in Mexico, and happens during the Day of the Dead. Local Mexicans put a lot of Marigolds, candles and food on the table, and decorate the table with beautiful flowers. In Mexican culture, these will open the door to the world of the dead, help the soul of the dead to come out of their space, and reunite with their family members of the real world. In this culture, death means more than departure, they believe that their family members will always be with them, death just changed their company way. In Coco, a film created by Pixar, staff used colors typical of the Mexicans to create a 3D space, and established a space full of contrasting colors. The animation uses the colors of lights as the key, helps children get rid of the old way of understanding color, and makes them understand Mexican culture and indulge in an environment full of Mexican elements.
Finally, I will talk about my analysis and conclusion. Children and adults receive the information in 3D children animation in different ways. Adults have the ability to make judgement. They choose to accept or reject the information in the animation according to their own judgement. However, for children, 3D children animation is one of their ways of observing and receiving external information. Children’s psychology and emotions are more influenced by lighting than adults’. Children’s emotions and psychology are more fragile than adults, so while designing lights, we must take children’s psychological bearing capacity and understanding capacity into consideration.
Children’s emotional response to lighting in 3D children’s animation also is diversified. For example, red light helps to create a feeling of enthusiasm, but meanwhile, it can also remind people of violence; green light symbolizes life, peace and security, but it also can be used to create a feeling of coldness and weirdness; white light will make the picture clean and tidy, but excessive white lights will make the picture depressed. While designing the light effect for children animation, we should design reasonable light effect and avoid creating a negative lighting atmosphere. And while we explore the lighting effect of children animation, we need to think about children’s mental well-being, children’s aesthetics and how to effectively attract children’s attention.
Last, I draw the conclusion that by arranging and partially redesigning the colors of the story, we can use light to help children understand and immerse in the story. During the process of 3D children animation production, if we arrange different lights differently, we will increase the 3D effect of the animation, thus appealing to children more. In comparison with adult animation, the lighting effect of children animation should help to generate a positive atmosphere, to avoid children’s becoming anxious and uneasy. Also, the colors of the light should be diversified. Reasonable complex light design will highlight the beauty of the picture and the pattern of the story. To sum up, light helps 3D children’s animation depict different cultural backgrounds, and generate scene feedback information to reduce children’s difficulty in understanding strange concepts.
By arranging these data in order, I gathered the information on lighting of 3D children’s animation. There is still a lot of knowledge about the light design, I will be glad to explore and learn them in future study.
The Research of Lighting in 3D Children’s Animation
Foreword to my report:
First, I would like to explain why I choose the light effect of children’s animation as the topic of my report. When I was a child, 3D children’s animation has not yet appeared on large scale, so I mainly watch cartoons. The story of Snow White and Cinderella impressed me deeply. I am not sure what you will think of when hearing the words Snow White and Cinderella. Perhaps you will be reminded of the content of the story, the kind, and beautiful people will have a happy ending after all; perhaps you will think of the splendid scene of the seven dwarves digging in the earth for gems, or the scene of Cinderella becoming a pretty princess with the help of the fairy.
However, in addition to these beautiful memories, I also have two terrible memories. The first is, the eyes which appeared in the darkness when Snow White ran into the depth of the forest because she was chased by the hunter; the second is the door which was shut closely when Cinderella was locked in the loft by her stepmother. Maybe, I was still a child then and was easily influenced by these scenes. After watching the cartoons, I had had nightmares for a long while. And in my nightmares, I was in such scenes.
But when I watched stop motion animation, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, I was not frightened.
I made a lot of comparisons and discovered that, in addition to the content, the image also will influence the emotions of the audience. Two-dimensional animation creates the atmosphere through the color of the image and the design of elements, but three-dimensional animation will create the atmosphere through light effect. Children are more sensitive to images. When they see images, they will think of other things. So, my purpose is to research images that are suitable for children, that easily attract their attention, by using the appropriate lighting technology. I sincerely wish that each 3D children’s animation will provide beautiful childhood memories for children.
When I watch the animation I watched during my childhood again, I find that these scenes that impressed me when I was young are not that perfect, but they made me a really happy childhood.
Now let me tell you the confusion I had when I was thinking about what to research and the advice from my teacher.
My confusion:
Many film companies have studied the effect of lights in traditional three-dimensional animation, like Hotel Transylvania. The methods to arrange the different colored lights are diversified. But obviously, if we merely explore the light effect, we can not produce animation with distinct features.
I recorded my favorite scenes in Hotel Transylvania. But I do not find them innovative. They are similar to illustrations and oil paintings. And such images are liked by both children and adults. Children like many things, not only warm color lights (warm colors make people feel warm).
Cool colors are also very pretty, and are suitable for children.
Kids nowadays have too many light effects to choose from. Some kids are cool and like gloomy images (I liked watching Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride when I was a child, although I am not cool).
In the beginning, I wanted to create a warm color animation, a child story of warm lights. But now, I wonder if a wide variety of color styles will be more impressive. So I have been thinking about what light effect will make animation more innovative.
Teacher’s advice:
With regards to a particular style of lighting, you do not have to stay in 1 style throughout. Lighting is dependant on the scene and the context within that scene. For example in frozen the lighting changes throughout as the story progresses. When Elsa leaves the castle to be on her own the lighting for everywhere Anna goes is dark and cold blue until she meets Sven where he literally has a torch for her in the darkness as they are fleeing the wolves. When they finally escape the wolves the lighting becomes brighter and they meet Olaf where now the lighting becomes even brighter and warm. This is a very common theme with lighting in children’s films where the lighting is reflecting the characters’ feel as they progress through the story and the people that influence them on their path.
Conclusion:
I have been trapped in the wrong direction: I tried to design the plot and images for the light effect. But as a matter of fact, the light effect should serve the story. After figuring this out, I no longer think too much about which color system (warm color and cold color) is better, but focused on the story itself.
During the process of report research, I first think about the outline, the major problems. Because of the limit of words, I will conclude the concept of animation light on the topic. Although some contents are not included in the report, I want to record them in my blog, so that I can arrange the project contents in order and produce follow-up contents.
The importance of lights in children animation;
How adults and children feel light effect differently;
The lighting technology used in 3D animation;
Study of the light effect of existing 3D children animations.
I will talk about these four problems in my blog.
1.The importance of lights in children animation
We know the main audience of children’s animation is children. I searched the keywords children animation lighting on Google Scholar, but there was no literature directly related to the keywords. Luckily, I found Positive Cartoon Animation to Change Children Behaviors in Primary Schools(Iamurai，2009). According to the paper, the animation will have an influence on children’s social personality and psychological status.
Light is an important component of animation and is the major artistic vehicle used to convey the content and create the atmosphere. According to some scholars, children receive information from images faster than adults, so the application of light in children’s animation helps to convey the implied meaning to children, contributes to the formation of artistic style, and reveals the connotation of the animation. So when children watch the cartoon, they learn what courage, strong will, kindness are.
The lighting in children’s animation is produced by using 3D software to simulate real light in real scenarios. The research of Hartstein. et. al(2018) shows that lighting, when reflected on the retina, will have a long-standing effect on children’s cognition. Therefore, to make children mentally pleasant during watching animation, animators must pay attention to the light effect design in children’s animation.
Traditional 2D animation and real people’s TV plays cannot produce the visual impact of light and color similar to 3D animation(Lighting in Animation: a Dive into the Hand-drawn, 2020). Light design helps to highlight elements in children’s animation scenario, such as color, layout, light and shade, shape, strength, and scope of shadow, etc(Cho, 2005). Since light can be designed freely via the 3D software, lighting design will help animators of 3D children animation create more diversified art effects.
2.How adults and children feel light effect differently
The colors of lights in children’s animation have an obvious appeal to children. But for adults, they are less attractive. Children’s cognition, analysis, and selection of things are greatly influenced by the visually influential and high saturation colors. One of the features of psychological development during childhood and adolescent years is that they lack the ability to concentrate. In comparison with words and music, colors are more easily perceived by children. Therefore, while making children’s animation, animators tend to use vivid, colorful lighting to attract children’s attention. Children’s perception of colors will form a simple, specific pattern; when they see a specific color, they will think of a specific thing(The Effects of Colors on Children, 2017). Such a mechanism implies that we can use the specific effect of color to help children perceive the emotional response of the animation(Zhang, 2018). Children respond to colors in specific ways, for example, red stands for enthusiasm and liveliness, and purple stands for mystery and elegance. While watching animation, children’s emotions are influenced by the colors of the lighting(The Art of Lighting: A History Through Time, 2020). In 3D children animation, lighting directly creates the atmosphere of the animation. For example, bright and warm colors will generate a safe and cozy atmosphere; while dark and cold lighting will help to demonstrate the uneasy emotions of the figures. Li and Yu(2017) support the idea that the color design in the animation will help children understand the contents and emotions of the story.
Love, Death & Robots：
Big Hero 6：
By comparing the complete pictures of Love, Death & Robots(Adult’s Animation) and Big Hero 6(Children’s animation) in the arena, this paper briefly describes the differences between the lights in Adult’s Animation and Children’s animation. In a similar environment and plots, we do not need to consider the character image and the design style of scenes, only need to observe the lighting design objectively.
The lighting design in Love, Death & Robot adopts a large number of cool lights to decorate the scene. On the ground, you can also see the ground reflected light produced by purple light projection. There is also a white top light illuminating the characters in the picture. Against the dark background, the white light tightly locks the two characters who are about to fight like a rope. This large area of darkness and cool color formed a strong sense of oppression. The plot of this picture is that men and women control the two monsters to fight with each other by thinking, but the deep meaning actually hides women’s resistance in the face of sexual violence. This kind of violent plot and repressive lighting atmosphere is obviously not suitable for children to watch.
Big Hero 6 is also a scene where two characters control robots to fight, but compared withLove, Death & Robot, the visual impression of the whole picture is not so depressing. Big Hero 6has two main light sources that are red and blue. There is a red light on the head of the robot on the right, which can be regarded as the red light representing the robot on the right and the blue light represents the robot on the left. Based on the picture, we can see that compared with the large area of blue light, the area of red light on the right side is much smaller. This also means that the robot on the right is not as powerful as the robot on the left. Although part of the black background is used in the picture, the audience can still see the light and shadow of the characters in the background under the illumination of the light source. This greatly reduces the children’s fear of the dark background when watching. Compared with Love, Death & Robots, Big Hero 6 has brighter lights and warmer colors. When children watch the picture of BigHero 6, they will not have negative emotions such as oppression and fear.
With the development of 3D animation lighting technology and the art of image creation, children’s emotional response to lighting also becomes diversified. Children’s emotional response to the visual design of lighting in children’s animation can be positive or negative. For example, red light helps to create a feeling of enthusiasm, but meanwhile, it can also remind people of violence; blue light creates a sense of tranquility, but meanwhile, it generates an effect of sadness and neurasthenia; green light symbolizes life, peace, and security, but it also can be used to create a feeling of coldness and weirdness; white light will make the picture clean and tidy, but excessive white lights will make the picture depressed and full of constraints(Mikellides, 2012). Children’s emotions and psychology are more fragile than adults’, so while designing, we should take children’s psychological bearing capacity into consideration. While designing the light effect for children’s stories, we should avoid using a negative lighting atmosphere. And while we explore the lighting effect of children’s animation, we need to think about children’s mental wellbeing, children’s aesthetics, and how to effectively attract children’s attention.
Children and adults receive information in children’s animation in different ways. Adults have the ability to make judgments. They can accept or reject the information in the animation according to their own value. However, for children, children animation is their way of observing and receiving external information. Children’s psychology and emotions are more influenced by lighting than adults’. Children’s emotions and psychology are more fragile than adults’, so while designing lights, we must take children’s psychological bearing capacity into consideration. Blood, violence, etc should not appear in children’s animation. While designing the light effect for children’s stories, we should avoid using a negative lighting atmosphere. While designing the lighting effect for children animation, children’s mental health is the design element that must be considered. I want to create a lighting effect that conforms to children’s aesthetics and attracts children’s attention.
3.The lighting technology used in 3D animation
The lighting effect of 3D animation is created by computer software. In the 3D space constructed by computer, the virtual light source is created by 3D animation software, and lighting effect that conforms to aesthetics and physical laws is generated. So far, it’s impossible for 3D animation software to simulate the diffuse reflection of the light source, so it’s very important to choose the appropriate kind of light and location of the light in the animation. By testing the level of light and shadow, the direction of light, and diffusion of light on the basis of the correct light setting, animators will achieve the physical logic of light and create the desired atmosphere of the story(Dimitrijević, Letić, and Obradovic, 2013). By increasing the illumination intensity of the picture pixel, the basic render engine can create ambient lighting similar to that of the advanced render engine. For example, using Global Illustration and Skydome is a frequently adopted algorithm for creating environmental lighting in 3D space. Skydome is mainly used to create the light of the sky. When Skydome and HDR images are used together, the lighting based on the color of the picture will be created. Global Illumination can be used to calculate all the lights of the scene. The advantage of Global Illumination is that it can process direct illumination and indirect illumination. When we combine these two algorithms with Directional Light, Point Light, Area Light, Spotlight, etc, we can create a real illumination effect (The Ultimate Guide to Lighting Fundamentals for 3D, 2019).
4.Study of the light effect of existing 3D children animations
After the light is created, we have to think about light rendering. Light rendering is time-consuming. Luckily, I can use the rending farm of the school to test the light, so a lot of time will be saved. By studying the data on light rendering of Disney, I learned about the technology Disney used to produce and render light.
While rendering the light of Disney’s children’s animation, Hyperion Renderer is used. The path tracking technology in Hyperion Renderer simulates the interaction of real lights. The essence of path tracing technology is the simulated light and the models in the 3D space interact, by which digital images are generated. The path of light is calculated by tracing the path of light bouncing between objects in the scene. Under normal conditions, it’s impossible for the computer to render billions of lights at the same time. The calculation of Hyperion Renderer applies to the lights captured by the camera only, the rest of the light paths in the 3D space will not be calculated. By integrating the lights spreading in the same direction into one path, the efficiency of rendering is enhanced. However, multi-bounce lights will create subtle and not-so-subtle lighting effects. Also, the technology can help us capture effects such as refraction and glossy reflections, and produce images with indirect illumination(Disney’s Hyperion Renderer, 2019).
Ahtohallan in Frozen 2 is the first environment composed completely of ice created by Disney Animation, and the first glacier that was rendered by the path tracing technology of Hyperion Renderer. In Frozen 2, a magical scene was presented: the lights move from the rough entry wall to the smooth architectural interior. The reflex of light on the glacier is the major source of illumination in the glacier. Multiple scattering nature revealed artifacts produced by non-physically based shading choices. In the past, Disney Animation would reduce the loss of energy by increasing the numerical value of surface albedo. But in Frozen 2, Disney Animation developed new methods of calculation. A brute force random walk method [Heitz et al. 2016] was not suitable for the production of film animation. Based on the brute force method, Disney Animation pre-calculated the amount of energy lost in rough dielectric reflection and transmission, and the energy lost was re-injected during the rendering of the final stage. Therefore, light energy remains constant during the movement, and the weakening of light is reduced. Disney Animation integrated this technique into Ubershader(Burley, 2015), eventually, physically plausible diffuse frosted ice, shiny clear ice, and naturalistic blends between them were created. In the glacier scenes, the bouncing lights are key to presenting the external image of objects and are a major source of background illumination. In Frozen 2, the frozen effect is produced for the locked zones, this will help to regulate the reflection of indirect lights in the cave. Therefore, the lights in the animation created an artistic and dramatic atmosphere(The Look and Lighting of “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2, 2020).
Although I found that Disney used its own software, I learned from the literature how they produce and render lights. This also increased my knowledge of light generation and rendering. I believe only by accumulating knowledge can we make innovation.
In the children’s animation Coco, multi-color lighting technology is used to produce the magical and gorgeous world of the dead. In this animation, death is no longer dark and scary, a happy and cozy world of the dead is created. In Coco, while depicting the world of the dead, a large quantity of purple and blue are applied. By using these two colors, the mystery of the world of the dead is exhibited. But in addition to blue and purple lights, large quantities of orange, yellow, and pink lights are also used. The pictures of the light effect that is different from the real world lead to color alienation. Such color alienation makes death warm and interesting. Reasonable design of light colors will not make children feel depressed but will help them generate positive emotions and get involved in the story(Yang, 2018). In the 3D space of Coco, lighting technology highlights the style and distance of the space and uses the cultural elements of Mexicans to form the psychological space that conforms to the background of the story(One Billion Assets: How Pixar’s Lightspeed Team Tackled Coco’s Complexity, 2018). By analyzing the design of lighting in Coco, we know that using different forms of color language and expanding the forms of color expression will not make it difficult for children to understand the picture and content; in contrast, the complex lighting model of different locations and colors will attract children’s attention easier.
The lighting design in children’s animation is the key visual effect of children’s animation. It helps to build and enrich the background of the animation and illustrates different cultural concepts in the story. When a foreign culture, which is greatly different from the local culture, appears in the animation, lights of the colors of the foreign culture can function as the theme element that distinguishes the background of the foreign culture from that of the local culture. In some countries, parents don’t want their children to take part in activities that involve death, because they think death is colorless and not lucky. Therefore, in children’s eyes, death is black and white, and scary. In Coco, the story is set in Mexico and happens during the Day of the Dead. Local Mexicans put a lot of Marigold, candles, and food on the table, and decorate the table with beautiful flowers. In Mexican culture, these will open the door to the world of the dead, help the soul of the dead to come out of their space, and reunite with their family members of the real world(Arredondo and Casillas, 2019). In Mexican culture, death means more than departure, they believe that their family members will always be with them, death just changed the way they company them. In Coco, a film created by Pixar, staff used colors typical of the Mexicans to create a 3D space and established a space full of contrasting colors. The animation uses the colors of lights as the key, helps children get rid of the old way to understand color, and makes them understand and indulge in a different culture in the context of Mexican colors.
By arranging these data in order, I gathered the data on children’s animation lighting. There is still a lot of knowledge about the light design in 3D children animation, I will be glad to explore and learn them in the subsequent study.
Reference:
Cho, J. S. (2005) ‘A Study on 3D Animation Emotional Lighting Style’, In Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference, 3(2), pp. 153-160.
Dimitrijević, Miroslav., Letić, Jelena. and Obradovic, Ratko. (2013). ‘LIGHT AND SHADOW IN 3D MODELING’, Machine Design, 50709(3), pp.1821-1259.
Hartstein, L. E., LeBourgeois, M. K. and Berthier N. E. (ed.) (2018). ‘Light correlated color temperature and task switching performance in preschool-age children: Preliminary insights’, PLOSONE, 13(8).
Iamurai, S. (2009) ‘Positive Cartoon Animation to Change Children Behaviors in Primary Schools’, International Conference on Primary Education, pp.1-6.
This week’s session explores importing sound into Maya and then animating the model’s mouth. It is important to note that the sound format needs to be converted to WAV or AIFF at first. After imported audio successfully, you will see the green audio track in Maya’s interface.
Suppose there is no audio track that appears in Maya after importing the correct audio format. You can [Right click] and select [Sound] to see the properties’ status. Select [reference-sound], and you will be able to play the audio.
A reference video about how to import sound in Maya:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrzpCvmOipQ
Because my native language is not English, so I need to find more theoretical knowledge and observation of correct articulation phonemes for this assignment. This research will help my model to make the correct phonemes animation. I collected some diagrams of mouth shape. From the pictures, I observed what mouth movements and shapes look like under different phonemes. In this way, I could observe the reference pictures while pronouncing them and then adjust my model’s mouth shape during the phonemes’ animation.
This video also helps me learn how to promote the 44 phones in the English alphabet：
I chose to use an English-speaking video as my reference. This video allowed me to observe the presenter’s mouth to create an animation and then matched the audio.
First, pick a model. I think choose a model with a useful facial skeleton controller was my goal for this step. Finally, I choose to use Family Man! The rigging on this model is good. It’s helpful for me to control the model’s face. (This controller can change the character’s clothing. In the end, I chose the look in the suit.)
Start to create a scene environment. Because the characters’ hands and arms in the reference video were in contact with the table. So I was just simply making the table and chair. To see if they would fit my character’s movements. Next, let me import the reference video and audio into MAYA.
I decided to adjust the facial expressions and mouth shape first.
I had to make sure that I selected the full-body controllers before I made the animation. After selecting all the full-body controllers, I found that there were still many controllers that were not selected. So I create a [mel] that would help me to select all the controllers.
Because I had to create the characters’ facial expressions and mouths’ animation first, so I create the mels for the neck and face controllers. Now I have two mels for the full-body controllers and face controllers.
When making the character mouth patterns, I started by thinking about the transformation between each one. Initially, I planned to create mouth variations. But I found that the character’s face bound chin also affected the weighting of the lower lip. In the end, I chose to animate the character’s mouth, eyes, and eyebrows at the same time as I animated the character’s phoneme.
But as I was working on it, I found a new problem. The eyes of the character model did not close completely. So I try to keep the eyes open at keyframe 54. At keyframe 56, I quickly moved the upper eyelid downwards. At the 58th keyframe, the eyes are open again. Luckily this worked to some extent.
When I watched the reference video, I noticed that the presenter spent part of the time with only his mouth moving. However, if only the shape of the model’s mouth changed in the animation, it would look very unnatural. Based on the reference video, I added small adjustments to the model’s eyebrows and eyes. This step makes the animation of the character look more vivid.
At present, all animation controllers curves of facial expressions of characters:
Now, my character only has mouth animation. I think it looks unnatural. I decided to create body movements for the characters. Re-create a mel that selects the character’s head and body controllers. (I found it not very convenient to use the mel for the full-body controller to animate the body and face separately.) When creating the character’s body movements, I increased the swing of the character’s head. These body movements helped the character look alive. Also, I created the waist, arms, and hands’ animation.
Here are the animation curves for all the facial expression controllers:
This is a graph of the movement of the upper body controller:
Current character animation (helping me to familiarize myself with the use of the render farm once again) :
I discovered that the characters were having problems with overlapping models and stiff bodies during movement. I decided to tweak my character animations.
This time the optimizations were:
1.The presenter in the original video reference kept a smiling expression, so some mouth shapes were not as obvious. I modified and adjusted the mouth shape of the first and last words’ pronunciation by following my speaking mouth shape. (Animated curves of the current mouth shape)
2. In the previous version, the character’s eyes blinked too infrequently, and the eyebrows were a bit stiff. I added eyes and eyebrows animation details to the original keyframe.
3.Increased the range of arms’ motion. (Current animation curve of the arm)
4. The movement of the fingers’ hand joints has been added so that the hand movement will be more smooth. (Current animated curves of the fingers)
5.Handle situations where models and tables overlap.
Final rendered video:
I will continue to modify my phonemes animation in the future study.
In addition to the 12 principles of animation, we also need to focus on the principles of Body Mechanics. Scientific knowledge of the basic principles of anatomy, body mechanics and physics is essential to creating a convincing performance.
When performing a particular sport, body mechanics can help the character to be able to change pose more quickly. The action of forces is mutual. When character interacts with an object (such as lifting weights), the weight of the object puts pressure on the character. The process of resisting or balancing pressure is a good embodiment of body mechanics.
Just like cooking will be more delicious by using seasoning. Excellent body mechanics will make the animation look more fluent so that the audience can get more fun of the animation when they are watching.
This assignment I choose [Jump] + [Weight Lifting].
Here are my two reference videos.
Jump Reference:
Weight Lifting Reference:
Storyboard of Jump:
Storyboard of Weight Lifting:
Before I started, I decided to use a new character model in my work. (In the learning process, it is necessary to explore the animation production of various models! Haha) The name of this model is Janine. (Hello, Janine. I hope we can spend a nice time.)
I checked the rigging of the model before using it. Fortunately, there are no significant problems with this rigging. Let’s going to start animating.
Production Process:
First, I decided to do the animation of the character’s body.
Fortunately, I can make keyframes by selecting all controllers and selecting [S]. It’s convenient.
In the process of running and jumping, I focus on the centre of gravity in movement. At the same time, I also paid attention to the movement of the character’s arm. The arms should not be too straight during the training. This problem is what I’ve had before.
But I found that in the process of jumping, the character’s legs directly coincide with the upper body. The upper picture shows the keyframes of 41, 42, 43, 44.
So I changed the movements of the characters. In this way, there will be no model overlap.
This picture is the controller curves of the character’s jump animation.
Start the weightlifting movement of the character model.
Because the start of the weightlifting is same as the end of the jump. Therefore I made the first keyframe at the position of [- 10] keyframe. In this way, when I made the first action in the frame [0], the character model can transition from [- 10] to [0].
Here is the process of making an animation for the weight lifting.
When the character wants to pick up this heavy object, she needs the character itself to provide an upward force. However, the box is too heavy that character unable to lift it quickly. So character uses the strength of her legs and shoulders to counteract the heavy object. The character assumes the bent pose.
When the person lifts a heavy object, her upper body will lean back. But at this time the character’s centre of gravity should still be balanced. Otherwise, the character will fall. When the character moves backwards with a heavy object, make sure that the crotch moves with the character’s legs.
Because the object is weighty, it will cause the character to stand unsteadily in the process of weightlifting. At this point, the character takes a step back so that the distance between the two feet will increase. In this way, the weightlifting process of the characters will be more convenient, because the characters can stand more stable. It should be noted that under the influence of the weight of the object, the upper body of the character will lean backward. At this time, the character’s crotch should also be tilted backwards. But the character’s centre of gravity should still be in a balanced position (For example, between her feet).
The action curves of figure weightlifting animation:
This story is about the city of Columbus in 2045. The planet has been overrun by disease, war, and resource depletion. Everyone who has survived has given up on thinking about how to improve the world. At the beginning of the film, many people in the buildings that the protagonist passes are using VR equipment. Here, a virtual social world called ‘ THE OASIS’ enriches the pleasures of life. This virtual world does not restrict wealth, power, gender, or ethnicity. The virtual world helps people to do whatever they want in the ‘OASIS’ and to satisfy all human wishes to the maximum. Our protagonist, Wade, lives in a dirty old block of flats and has a character weakness in real life. He lost his parents when he was a child. In the real-life that he was inferiority, weak, unsociable.
The game’s developer left a will: Whoever manages to find the three eggs hidden by the developer in the OASIS will be awarded shares in the company and control of the “OASIS.” It’s an exciting story set-up, with quests being issued in the middle of the story for the protagonist to complete.
The egg’s great lure attracts many players, including the ambitious IOI, whose villain used to work for the game’s founder’s game company. But the villain was too greedy and was only interested in getting money out of the game. So the villain left the game founder and set up his own game, IOI, Inc. The villain tried to turn “OASIS” into his money empire by looking for eggs.
Since then, people have been searching for clues with great enthusiasm. But it wasn’t until five years later that the first clue appeared. The first egg in the virtual world appeared as a level game, with a car racing through a complicated route to the finish line. But no one ever gets through, and a giant gorilla stops all the trespassers before they reach the finish line. Our protagonist is also involved in the search for the egg. Over and over again, the protagonist looks at the different records in the library. After viewing a file that he has seen more than a thousand times, he is about to leave the library when the film file’s words suddenly inspire him. The scenario also leads the viewer to recognize the protagonist’s character, intelligence, and bravery strengths. It is possible to go ‘bankrupt’ if people lose their equipment in the game due to death. In the past, the protagonist’s life has not been about taking risks and doing dangerous things. For the first time, the protagonist breaks out of his inferior and cowardly personality, and bravely tries a new way of doing things. At the starting point, he drives the car backward. Luckily he succeeded. He also went from being a nobody to the top of the leaderboard. Everyone in the virtual world knew his name. Of course, the villains were now taking notice of the protagonist. After Wade manages to get the key to the first egg, he also helps his friends get through the game. The audience also recognizes the protagonist’s serious and brave character traits through his references and brave attempts at adventure in the story. We also learn that Wade genuinely loves OASIS’s virtual world and that he has great respect for the game’s developers.
Wade started to explore the second clue and found the corresponding information in the resource library. Wade and Samantha looked at the information and kept thinking that the second egg game should be related to the game developer’s regrets. So Wade and Samantha decided to explore the OASIS section of the game together. In this section, Wade encountered his first setback when he failed to consider the dangers of the virtual world and revealed his real name and Samantha’s confession directly in the game. Such behavior leads IOI to investigate all the information that Wade has in the real world by name. As viewers, we are also aware that the protagonist is still very immature at this point. However, he is tempted by the IOI’s money and does not sell the keys to the egg game for money. The IOI company begins to create danger for Wade both in real life and in the virtual world. In the virtual world, IOI sends many assassins after Wade. But in his real life, an explosion caused by IOI costs Wade’s aunt’s life and forces Wade to leave his peaceful life. He was overworking and dying in the real world from the oppression of IOI. In this situation, Wade begins to think about how he can help the real world beyond winning and losing in the game world and changes his mindset from living only in the virtual world to combining real life and virtual life. Create a better life for people in the real world. Working together with his partners, Wade was given the key to the second egg game.
Wade discovered that it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about having fun. Wade is given the third key to unlock the egg, but the real-world IOI mob is after Wade and his pals. Through the live stream of the game, Wade enlisted real-world players’ help and succeeded in getting the egg key. In the virtual world, the protagonist and his righteous companions also fight against the villains. The protagonist becomes more confident and brave, and he gains the recognition of his partners. When the villain loses the war, he is captured by the police and taken away. At the end of the story, Wade becomes the owner of OASIS. He closes the virtual world on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help people feel emotions, reality, and the present in real life.
Maleficent
The story is an adaptation of the traditional fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.” In the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty, the evil fairy curses the Princess and, on her 16th birthday, she falls asleep with a spindle pricking her finger. Only the kiss of true love can awaken the Princess. The prince finds her in the depths of the castle against all odds. After the prince has kissed the Princess, she wakes up. A happy ending in the traditional sense. This film reverses the traditional story. The wicked fairy’s kiss awakens the Princess.
In this film, the evil fairy is not an evil presence at the beginning of the story: Maleficent is a young fairy who has good intentions for the world. But after she is tricked by a human (the king) and has her wings stolen, she becomes desperate and hates humans. In revenge for the king’s betrayal, Maleficent cursed the king’s daughter. On the Princess’s 16th birthday, a spindle pierces her finger, and she falls asleep. In the past, only true love’s kiss could awaken the Princess. It seems that Maleficent left a way for the Princess to lift the curse. At that time, Maleficent, having experienced humanity’s betrayal, did not believe that true love existed. So Maleficent though it was impossible to save the Princess.
The king ordered all the spinning wheels in the country to be burnt, and the three good fairies to take the Princess, who was still a baby, to live in a deserted place and bring her back to the kingdom when she was 16 years old. But the three fairies had no idea how to take care of a baby, and when Maleficent found out where they lived, he discovered that the Princess’s life wasn’t so good. Maleficent, who had been prepared to bully the Princess, began to take care of her in secret: Maleficent often complained about the Princess, but it was Maleficent who took care of her the most. Although Maleficent tries to avoid contact with the Princess, the Princess can feel that the fairy is taking care of her. In one encounter, the Princess calls Maleficent her fairy godmother. At this point, Maleficent feels the Princess’s kindness and begins to think of ways to lift the curse she has put on her. The audience learns that Maleficent wasn’t born evil. She has been hurt and has become seemingly vicious, but she is still a good fairy deep down. Unfortunately, there is no way to break the curse. Initially, Maleficent’s weakness was since her goodness led her to believe in humans, and she was hurt. But Maleficent started to trust humans again. This behavior is no longer a weakness but a switch for her. She can let go of her hatred and turn on the new life.
The princess soon grew to 16 and met a prince in the forest. Maleficent doesn’t like Prince very much because she still doesn’t believe that there are real feelings in the world. But she hoped that the Prince could untie the curse of the princess. At this time, the princess discovers the identity of maleficent as an evil fairy. The princess of the curse falls back into the fall of the temptation of the castle. Maleficent quickly found the Prince and took it to the princess. Everyone expected the Prince to untie the princess’s curse, but the princess did not wake up. Maleficent felt guilty for cursing the princess. She realized that she had been trapped in resentment and revenge. In the life of the princess and maleficent, the maleficent’s kindness is awakened. When maleficent kisses the princess on the forehead and is ready to leave, the princess wakes up.
Maleficent has a mother like love for the princess. This love is also true love. This is what the story wants to show us. There are many kinds of true love in the world. At the end of the story, Maleficent takes back the stolen wings from the castle. This scene is one of the most exciting scenes in the movie. In war, the evil fairy is not a symbol of evil. This also subverts the traditional sense that heroes must be perfectly good people. Maleficent has a bad temper and has made mistakes in the past. But her kindness helped her realize that she had to let go of her hatred and start a new life.
In this new interpretation of the story, audiences shift the princess’s main perspective to the evil fairy. Starting with Maleficent’s childhood, the story takes a look at Maleficent’s upbringing and the reasons for her twisted personality. It also reveals that Maleficent’s humanity is still intact, that goodness still exists and that the character is multi-layered. From good to evil, and from evil to kindness again, there is a complete transformation process. Before her successful redemption, the character’s selfishness harmed many people and the world. The redemption makes a change in Maleficent’s heart. The heart of true love, which can change the world, forms the entire film’s theme.
Hotel Transylvania
Traditionally, vampires do not have good feelings. Usually, the role of the vampire is to represent the forces of darkness. Hotel Transylvania tells the story of Dracula, a vampire who is the main character in this film. Dracula hates the humans who took his beloved wife away from him and vowed to protect his daughter from them.
Dracula set up the Motel for Monsters in a mysterious place. Dracula did not give up taking care of his daughter to the outside world to persecute the humans. He chose a safe place to care for his daughter. Dracula’s daughter falls in love with the human. Dracula was hostile to the boy because he is human. But Dracula didn’t harm him. After Dracula tells the boy why he hates humans, he wishes the human can leave his daughter. At this point, Dracula was still repulsed by humans, but his heart had been changed. During his time with the human boy, he recognized the boy’s love for his daughter. When Dracula saw that his daughter was sad because she knew the human boy had left. Dracula left the safety of the Monster Inn and set off for the human world to find the human boy and bring him back to the hotel. In his new surroundings, Dracula realizes that the human world has changed and no longer rejects monsters as they did in the past time. Dracula has always feared that humans would harm his daughter. When Dracula sees the human world’s beauty and goodness, he is not as confused and scared as he once was. I think this may be the reason why Dracula truly embraces the human world. By the end of the film, Dracula’s daughter and the human boy are living happily ever after, and Dracula’s heart has become happy too.
Dracula’s mistrust and dislike of humans are due to the damage done to his family by them. All of Dracula’s actions are aimed at protecting his daughter from harm. He is stubborn because he has always taken care of his daughter in his way, without really thinking about what’s she wants. But Dracula is also kind. When he realizes his daughter is grieving because of his stubbornness. Dracula starts to reconsider what is best for her.
The structure of story
Ready Player One
1. Dull life
2. A thrilling adventure
3. Unexpected success
4. The appearance of danger and temptation
5. Loss of valuable people and things in life
6. Fight against evil forces with the help of friends
7. Defeat the forces of evil
8. Happy endings
Maleficent
1. The joys of childhood
2. Deceived and betrayed by the king, and loses her precious wings.
3. Cursed by the king’s daughter after beginning to hate the human world.
4. In the course of her stay with the princess, the goodness within is reawakened.
5.The princess falls asleep under the influence of the curse. She begins to regret and reflect on herself.
6. The king’s daughter is saved by the protagonist when hope is dying.
7. Reclaim her precious wings and defeat the true forces of evil.
8. A happy and joyous ending.
Hotel Transylvania
1. Dracula is raising his daughter on his own.
2. To protect his daughter from the humans, Dracula sets up the safe Monsters’ Motel.
3. Humans intrude into the Motel. The monsters and the human boy begin a period of fun and happy time.
4.The human boy and Dracula’s daughter fall in love. Dracula is not impressed by their relationship.
5.Dracula discovers the identity of the Human Boy. The human boy learns about Dracula’s past when he lost his wife to a human.
6.Dracula’s daughter and Dracula have a falling out.
7.Dracula realizes that his stubbornness has caused his daughter to be separated from his beloved. Dracula bravely leaves the hotel and seeks the boy’s forgiveness after finding him in the human world.
8.Dracula’s daughter and the human boy start a happy life.
Similar Structure
The story of CARC’s theories is followed in all of the story plots. A new change arises in the mundane everyday life. Under the influence of the changes, a contradiction arises in the present phase of life. The characters in the story need to resolve the entire conflict. In resolving the conflict, the characters overcome the difficulties and gain friendship, affection, love, etc. In the end, good people gain happiness. Also, the good people are rewarded with a happy ending.
The three films have a similar narrative structure and are all suitable for children’s looking. The structure of the story itself is not particularly complex. Children can quickly understand the content of the stories and the behavior of the characters while watching them. The characters themselves grow differently in each of the three films. The central design of Ready Player One is a sense of responsibility. The central design of Maleficent and Hotel Transylvania is the love of family. As well as having a pleasant viewing experience, the audience can also perceive positive emotions in the films.
Comparison and Contrast
In each of the three films shared in this BLOG, different tasks or personal encounters lead to changes in the protagonist’s personality or perceptions. Fortunately, these changes help the protagonists to become braver, kinder, and more responsible.
In terms of characterization, the protagonists of Maleficent and Hotel Transylvania are not decent characters. However, these protagonists still have a good heart. Therefore, at the end of the story, the protagonists realize their mistakes in the past and try to change their problems.
The protagonist of Ready Player One is immature as a teenager at the beginning of the story. But he doesn’t shy away from the dangerous adventure. And it is his repeated efforts that lead him to victory in the end. As the character changes from immaturity to responsibility, the character grows up as well.
