Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

Note: I actually wasn't sure if the objects still had to be on the floor for this one, though the shadows seem to be.  I liked these compositions better than the busy floor'd letters, so I'm taking a chance posting these instead.  The letters are on the floor in the previous lightless entry though!

Building a Scene in Maya

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were 99 and 100; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Visual Effect = Snow / small flurry / ice

Intro: Speak of distinctions of reality, entertainment based on belief, visual effects and techniques, narrow down to show + game and particular effect.

Show
* Live Action
* Name: Once Upon a Time
* Effects by Zoic Studios [link for reference]
* Snow and Ice effects
- only semi-believable
- computer generated (ZEUS program, compositing, etc)
- doesn't look entirely convincing, but follows general conventions for effects within the show.
- doesn't behave entirely true to how one might expect the effects to behave; though some instances are better than others
- often more the 'idea' or 'feel' of snow and ice than completely realistic and believable snow and ice


Video / Computer Game
* 'Animated'
* Name: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
* Square Enix
* Snow and Ice effects
- somewhat more believable
- computer generated / animated
- I'd say overall more convincing than the live-action show because the time you see the effects isoften brief, but they are up to the same par as the rest of the visuals; thus it looks like it belongs in the world, instead of having a sort of physics of its own. (which often causes the disconnect with CG graphics; they don't fit seamlessly with live action footage)
- Realistic lighting in most cases
- Not 'taken out of the world' when the effects arise
- Contrasts to the slight disbelief that occurs when viewing these effects in Once Upon a Time

Conclusion: Re-summarize, close with statement about belief, subjective reality, and imagination.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

For this short stop-motion clip, I went about it the same way I did the previous one; using stuffed animals on the backdrop of my desk, and placing various small objects underneath them to help them stay in position.  Then I took a number of pictures of the still poses.  Remembering how much editing I had to do last time, I minimized the amount of times my hand would be in any shot as much as possible.  And finally, I combined all of them in Quicktime, adjusting for the timing I wanted.

I had figured out the scene before hand, and actually had a lot more I had wanted to do; I'd made some props I intended to use in addition to what's seen here and was planning to continue the 'story' from the previous stop motion, using the same characters and later introduce a third.  However, partway through the shooting, a medical issue I have resurfaced, and I had to stop and rest so I wouldn't lose consciousness.  After that, it was difficult to continue the duration I'd need to do all I'd planned out, so instead, I shot just a few more to finish the first scene, and used what I had gotten before I needed to stop. At the very least, left like this, it makes for an amusing loop.