Animation Fundamentals/ Project 1: Pre-Production for 2D Animation Project

14/10/2024 - 11/11/2024 / Week 4 - Week 8

Lim En Yu / 0354452

Animation Fundamentals/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor’s University 

Project 1: Pre-Production for 2D Animation Project

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Instructions

2. Lectures

3. Project 1A: Character Design

4. Project 1B: Layout Design

5. Feedback

6. Reflection

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Instructions

 Fig 1.1 Module Information

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Lectures

Week 4 Lecture Slide:

This week we have learnt about appeal and solid drawing which are very important elements of character design in animation.

Fig 2.1 Week 4 Lecture Slide---Appeal, Week 4 (14/10/24)

Fig 2.2 Week 4 Lecture Slide---Solid Drawing, Week  (14/10/24)

Fig 2.3 Miro Slide, Week 4 (14/10/24)

Week 6 Lecture Slide:

Fig 2.4 Week 6 Lecture Slide---Clarity, Week 6 (28/10/24)

Fig 2.5 Miro Slide, Week 6 (28/10/24)

Week 7 Lecture Slide:

Fig 2.6 Week 7 Lecture Slide---Pose to pose and straight ahead, Week 7 (4/11/24)

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Project 1A: Character Design

Instructions

1. For this work progression 1, Set the character description (Age, Gender, Weight, Attitude, Personality) and design a character based on the information. You may take the character information from Film Studies and Cinematography class.

2. Your goal here is to create a character design that should reflect his or her personality in the story and be visually appealing to the targeted audience.

3, To begin, take any references from the existing character that resemble your character. It can be from any movie, anime, comic etc. Note that your character must have 2 legs at least to be able to practise the walk cycle in Project 2. 

4. Based on the study, use your creativity to come out with your own unique design by playing around with design elements. Remember it must look different from your references.

5. Deliverables:

• A turnaround sheet / Model sheet (front, side, back and ¾ view perspective)
• Pose sheet (Various poses in different emotion / action) - 5 poses *full body
• Character facial expressions  - 5 expressions * focus on chest up

Visual References

As I like fairy type of character very much, I have been always wanted to create one by myself, not just drawing for fun. So, for this character design assignment, I have chosen a plant fairy as my character and I have found some visual references on Pinterest, but as we need to do an animation at the end, the character design cannot be too complicated as it will take a very long time for me, I decided to simplify the design.

 Fig 3.1 Visual References, Week 4 (14/10/24)

The character herself is a plant named Snowflakes or Leucojum as her scientific name, therefore, I would create the character design based on the plant image which is white flower and the character will be a plant fairy.

 Fig 3.2 Name of the plant reference, Week 4 (14/10/24)

 Fig 3.3 Plant visual reference, Week 4 (14/10/24)

Character Description

Name: Snowflake (Leucojum)

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Height: 20cm

Weight: 350g

Attitude: Positive thinking

Personality: Naive, bumbling, curious

 Fig 3.4 Character Design Draft, Week 4 (14/10/24)

Character Turnaround Sheet

 Fig 3.5 Character Reference Sheet, Week 4 (20/10/24)

 Fig 3.6 Different angle of character, Week 5 (21/10/24)

 Fig 3.7 Character Turnaround Sheet, Week 5 (21/10/24)

Character Pose sheet (Various poses in different emotion / action)

As Snowflakes's personality is positive, innocent and a bit clumsy, my pose sheet will be based on her personalities that showing her pure nature as a fairy.

 Fig 3.8 Pose#1 Relaxed, Week 5 (22/10/24)

 Fig 3.9 Pose#2 Playing, Week 5 (22/10/24)

 Fig 3.10 Pose#3 Joyful, Week 5 (24/10/24)

 Fig 3.11 Pose#4 Sleeping, Week 5 (24/10/24)

 Fig 3.12 Pose#5 Clumsy, Week 5 (24/10/24)

Final Outcome of Character Pose sheet 

 Fig 3.13 Character Pose Sheet, Week 5 (24/10/24)

Character Expressions Sheet- 5 expressions

 Fig 3.14 Expression #1 Happy, Week 5 (25/10/24)

 Fig 3.15 Expression #2 Curious, Week 5 (25/10/24)

 Fig 3.16 Expression #3 Surprised, Week 5 (26/10/24)

 Fig 3.17 Expression #4 Sad, Week 5 (27/10/24)

 Fig 3.18 Expression #5 Worried, Week 5 (27/10/24)

Final Outcome of Character Expressions sheet 

 Fig 3.19 Character Expression Sheet, Week 5 (27/10/24)

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Project 1B: Layout Design

Instructions

1. Choose a scene from the animation and create a rough sketch of the layout design using perspective. The sketch should show the placement of the background elements and characters in the scene. You can use traditional methods such as pencil and paper or digital tools such as a tablet and software.

2. Refine the sketch into a more detailed line drawing. Add in the textures, shading, and other details that will bring the scene to life. Use the principles of perspective to create depth and dimension in the design.

3.Create a colour study of the layout design. Choose a colour scheme that complements the mood and the theme of the scene. Experiment with different lighting scenarios and colour variations to create a visually compelling design.

Sketch

As Snowflake is a plant fairy, shw lives in a forest that are full of flowers, tall trees and big mushrooms which is  a magical world. One of the pose in the pose sheet, Snowflake is playing with the butterfly, this is one of her habit. I decided to make this as the pose in the layout design while she is lying down relaxedly playing with the butterfly.

 Fig 4.1 Sketch for Background Design, Week 6 (31/10/24)

I have separated foreground, character and background as different layers to illustrate so it would be more convenient for me to animate. I coloured all the layers individually and I will combine them after finishing each of them and then only make some minor adjustments.

 Fig 4.2 Progresison of foreground, Week 6 (4/11/24)

 Fig 4.3 Progresison of character, Week 6 (4/11/24)


 Fig 4.4 Progresison of background, Week 6 (5/11/24)

I have combined them and make some colour adjusments on the saturation and brightness so that they looked coordinated and then I have also added the shadow on the character so that it looked more realistic.

 Fig 4.5 Combining all the layers, Week 6 (5/11/24)

Final Outcome of Layout Design

 Fig 4.6 Final outcome for Project 1B Layout Design, Week 6 (5/11/24)

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Feedback

Week 4: At the end of the class, I have shown Mr Kamal my first draft of what character I want to do and I have asked for his opinion whether I should add the wings or not. He suggested that I can do so and just add slight movement on it during the walking cycle.

Week 6: I have shown Mr Kamal my character pose sheet and expression sheet. He said it was all good just that may be some of the lines are a bit thin, and the margin of the sheet can be bigger. 

Week 9: For Project 1B, Mr Kamal said that the trees should be smaller when going to the middle indicating the change in distance. The mushroom can be scaled bigger at the bottom like looking from the bottom so it feels more bigger. The flower at the right side can be bigger while flower at the left side can be smaller. The butterfly can stop on the fingertip and can add few more butterflies to the direction of the mushrooms.

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Reflection

To be honest, I was really enjoying while carrying out this project as drawing is one of my hobby and now I have the chance to do it while creating my own character at the same time! I would rather drawing than doing research :D, I hate writing.

I think this is a simple and fun assignment for me, it does not stress at all and I have Mr Kamal's help on giving me advice and feedback as well therefore I really enjoy this project. By the way, I have a long time of stop drawing already since I have busy with all the assignments, but now because of this module I have the chance to draw again! So happy :D