Rough Graphics Mock-up

This is a rough TV Graphic I made up in illustrator to give an idea of the look on the ident. I think I will rethink these ideas and especially the positioning of the etc but I think its a good starting point especially with the use of the space invader graphic and font from the logo. Also I would like to animate these graphics like tetris pieces falling into place as I think this would work really well and obviously with the Pixel idea.

Revised Production Schedule (Weeks 5-9)

Now we are at the half way stage I have decided to set out a clear set of tasks that I will need to keep to for each week. This will mean I come in with the finished product on the deadline.

Week 4 - Character Rig

Week 5 - Character Rig and Texturing Complete, Set Modelling and Props

Week 6 - Ident Animations

Week 7 - Rendering and Pixel imagery, Animate in After Effects

Week 8 - Draw up After Effects Pixel imagery and Animate Up, Draw up graphics and record dialogue.

Week 9 - Sound, Editing, Final Renders and Graphics

If I stick to this schedule I should have no trouble coming in on time. I think I may be able to save some time in Weeks 7 and 8 as this could be a quicker process if my 2D After Effects imagery is made more basic and pixelated. This then may allow for more time to spend on graphics and finishing a nice set of idents.

I will re-assess this production schedule weekly from now on.

Channel Branding Research

As additional background research I have decided to look at different channel brands that in one way or another use a character to brand themselves. The main three I am looking at are BBC 2's robotic 2, Sci Fi's Geekboy and BBC Three's Animated Blobs.

I like the subtlety on these idents. The robotic characters does comical things which sometimes you dont really expect and the shock of the humour is a good feature for the idents which dont last very long. It entertains the audience for that short period of time effectively.










The BBC 3 Blobs I think are a better identity than the BBC 2 robot. I generally think this is all people think of when they associate BBC 3. The brand of the blobs is well known and again the quirky animations work well for the short timespan of the idents. I also like the more relaxed and cartoony feel to these.



The Geekboy idea is probably the most suited to the theme of my brand and I like the way this is done. The styling is not quite what I would go for as I think its a bit wild. I prefer the subtleness of the BBC animations but these are quirky in another form. The animations are very imaginative and extremely cartoony but I think the BBC ones show more character. Definitely this theme is a good starting point for my brand idea but the way in which it is portrayed would not suit me or my audience as I feel it is too 'Trekkie Geek' rather than 'Chic Geek'

All the brands have their strong points and weak points. But the main thing is their strong consistency and brand values that relate to their target audience. I need this kind of strong link to make my brand work for the people seeing the work.

Character Animation - Blend Shapes

This image shows how I have worked belnd shapes into my character for facial animation. As I am not lip syncing this character I havent got to worry about every single visome or phoneme for the sounds but I have done some basic eyebrow movements and happy and sad and excited looks so I can work some good expressions into the animations and show some good emotion.

To do this I have basically made duplicates of the head model and then altered the duplicates to different shapes. Maya then creates blend shapes between the base and the duplicate to give me a slider which can be altered at different levels to change the degree of animation. Also I can mix individual movements together to create new ones.

Character Modelling / Texturing

Here are some image screenshots from Maya of my character modelling. I have developed this design from my Illustrator drawing from earlier on. I have used polys to create my model. Basically I blocked out the shapes and then mirrored the geometry. I then smoothed the model to get a better finish and remove the obvious 'blockyness'.


I have also started to experiment with some basic textures to see what I like. I have played with the idea of toon shading and maybe giving my character a toy like look with very plasticy textures. This could keep in with the idea of retro and geekyness and geeky toys!

Ident Storyboards

Here I have started to storyboard up some ideas for my idents. The three main ideas I am going to work on are a Medieval game, a Ninja game and a Zombie game. These are some rough storyboards for each along with a basic description of the narrative.


In this ident the Geek is playing a Medieval Game. In the game he is faced with a dragon and the dragon kills the player. Flames then shoot out of the screen and scorch the Geek to charcoal! The Geek then moves slightly in charcoal form as the graphics are overlaid.


In this ident the Geek is playing a Ninja game. The Geek is defeated by the Ninja enemies in the game and then Ninja throwing stars come out of the screen and pin him to the couch so he cannot move. As the graphics are overlaid he tries to squirm free.


In this ident the Geek is playing a Zombie game. After killing a few enemies the Geek is attacked and killed by an angry pack of Zombies. The shot then returns to the Geek on the sofa. He is passed out and 'zombified' and he gets up and walks like a zombie with his slightly severed head as the graphics are overlaid.

I think these are 3 good idents that stick to a similar format and layout and style so that they all look generic and part of the same brand. It will show continuity and people will be able to identify the brand on each individual ident.

Ident Ideas

I have had several ideas about my Pixel idents. The main one I started
with was thinking about my Geek character doing generally 'geeky'
things such as reading comics, playing computer games or making models.
I then thought about this idea more thoroughly and considered having
the Geek character in a plainer environment to emphasise the animation.
Then I started to think about the title of Pixel and how I could
stylise a pixelated animation. However I have already started
developing a 3D model which i think will work well.

My idea now is to have my Geek character in 3D playing computer games. The idents will
then show the computer game to look like a Megadrive style game and the
Geek character in a different game situation. The ident will then cut
back to show a reaction to the game that has been inflicted upon the
character. For example: The Geek will be playing a medieval game where
he fights a dragon, the dragon will scorch him with flames and the 3D
character will then be sitting playing the console but will b still and
'chargrilled' due to the dragon's flames. This will tie the pixel
themes together and then solid 3D animation.

Here are some videos I have found for inspiration for the pixel look: -







Going for a style like this I think will reflect the ethos of my brand whilst still focusing on 2 good styles of animation. Whilst the 3D will be powerful I think this will demonstrate the different styles of animation that can be considered.

Character Design

I have started work on a character design for Pixel. The initial idea was to have a Geek character to represent the channel. Below is a rough sketch I came up with which I quite liked.



















I then used the sketch to work on a cleaner design which I did in Illustrator.


After doing the Illustrator version I actually quite like the attributes of the character and I think the cartoony look has quite a good appeal. Once I have made my character in 3D I may consider using cel rendering to get an alternative effect as I think this could stylize the pieces of animation quite nicely.

Pixel Art Research and Inspirations

My initial thoughts about the pixel idea drew me straight to retro games and I thought immediately of using the iconic Space Invader character! I thought this could be a really good icon for the logo that represents the title and the geeky side of animators. The plus side is that retro gaming is more of a culture now and often travels with the more 'Chic Geek' culture of the 21st Century!

Also I considered pixel designs for my character but I think this would be more successful and easier to animate in 3D. I could however incorporate some pixel art designs into my 3D environments to continue some themes.
I also thought that Pacman is another classic retro game I could consider to use as reference and possibly include in the Pixel brand. The pacman and ghosts shapes are very iconic and could work well.

Initial Ideas

My first ideas were all about how I could make a channel name reflect the idea of animation and the animator's that have put their work in. Straight away I thought about the idea of Geeks!. It always seems as though animator's have their geeky sides and attributes which I could exploit in a character to be quite comical. Also it would link in with animation quite well.

I also thought it would satisfy my brief well to have one Geek character in his bedroom or something similar. The idents could then include our Geek doing everyday things that a Geek would do and all of them would result in comical mishap.

After deciding on the Geek character I then needed a name for the channel that portrayed animation but also something that seemed snappy and to the point. Many names crept up such as Motion, Crunch, Toast, Blank, Etc. and Point but all seemed to have little relevance to the topic of animation. I eventually decided on the title of PIXEL. Its a short title that relates to digital media, and digital products are at the heart of an animators career. Pixels make up the very movies we create and ONLY GEEKS would talk about something like PIXELS!

I then started to work on some rough logo ideas. I thought about pixel art and how this trend of illustration could be used in accordance with my own ideas. Retro games also cropped up as a relevant area to the title of PIXEL. Here are some initial ideas for my logo I had.


To start off with I looked at some fonts for inspiration about the style of the logo and these were some of the ones I took a liking to.

I then developed a text style which I was immediately pleased with. The boldness of the lettering seemed to work very well and I liked the impact and shape it had.

Here I started to develop the style more. I preferred the contrast of the black and white here and using different colours in the illustration gives it diversity in the design. I also think the iconic Space Invader represents the pixel idea very well and it could be used on my characters t-shirt design or something similar to continue the brand identity.

Here are the opposites of the black and white and this works really well as the black makes the text more powerful on the design. Also the outline wraps it all quite nicely but might not necessarily be needed later on.

Here I have tried applying outlines to the illustrations to see if this draws it out any more but I think this is a little too much and the bold block shapes alone function better.

This is an example of how the logos might look in black and white for printing on Off-Air material. This is important for the branding that the logo functions as a plain black and white image.


Finally I have experimented with the logo design as a BUG as it would appear in the corner of the screen on TV.

Project Brief

After deciding to undertake my own work and ideas for this brief I have rewritten a brief to show the parameters and specifications of the work I will be completing.

Project Aim
The aim of this project is to create a TV channel brand that could potentially be used to showcase the work of 2nd year animation students at Rave On Air 2008. In recent years the animation work has lacked a brand identity and has merely been a room full of work rather than a proper exhibition. By branding a channel and using this to showcase the work we can give the animation students an identity for their work that people can relate to when they come to Rave On Air.

My hope is that a channel will not only link together a good showreel and make it seem like a channel being broadcast on the day of the ROA exhibitions but it will create positive publicity for the course and its ability to showcase work will no doubt be more successful in drawing attention in promoting ourselves individually. There is also the opportunity that the whole animation exhibition could be branded under the channel brand and therefore be advertised very well in amongst other ROA events.

Project Parameters
In regards to this brief I am going to be limiting my work by how much animation I actually complete. I feel that as I am going to have to cover a large amount of areas to get a good final piece to brand the channel then I am better off producing a small amount of idents that are well made rather than lots of elaborate ones.

By the end of the project I must have 3 x 15-20 second animated Idents with mock-up graphics and 3 x 3-5 second blips. This will be a minimum requirement for the brief and it will give me around 1 minute of total animation.

The idents must include a character and this character will be the main identity for the channel brand. The character will also only have one environment to interact with so it must be well worked. The idea of using one character and one environment will then allow me to devote more time in other areas such as graphics, sound and brand design.

Project Specialisms
The 2 main areas that need to be focussed on are going to be Character Animation and Modelling. Generally I enjoy Character Animation but I have spent a lot of time working on Modelling so far so I feel this will combine my strong areas with my passions. I also need to work on texturing and this will have to be covered as well although I will be more concentrated on the other two.

Other areas covered will include branding, graphic design, character and environment conceptualisation and editing. These areas will be of smaller focus, but will be necessary in the final pieces. Some of the additional areas will also compliment unit 203 in Post Production techniques.

Also I have had a good background in graphic design and I am a confident user of After Effects so I feel any graphics done on top of the work will be achievable and successful.

Project Scheduling
Week 1 – Initial Ideas, Channel Name and Brand Identity
Week 2 – Character and Environment Design, Storyboarding for idents, Logo Design and Style Guide
Week 3 – Character Modelling and Rigging, Environment Design
Week 4 – Character Weighting and Texturing, Environment Design
Week 5 – Finalising Environment Models and Props
Week 6 – Ident and Blip Animation
Week 7 – Rendering and Animation
Week 8 – Rendering and Final Graphics on Idents, Sound and Voiceovers
Week 9 – Final Renders, Sound and Editing

CVA 204: Industrial Exercises

This project allows us to work out our own brief and work towards a final outcome of our choice that has constraints and parameters which we have dictated ourselves.

I have chosen to work alone on this brief and have taken into account that I want to work on Rave on Air this year on behalf of the CVA animation course. My main idea is to create and brand a channel for the animation students work to be contained within. My rough idea is to have a finished outcome of a channel brand, along with a series of animated idents and blips. I am thinking that I would like to have one animated character to represent the brand that is in one environment. By doing this I will cover the character animation area and then also the modelling area. I will also have to consider rendering, texturing, editing and graphics for my final product so I will more than cover 2 disciplines for the brief but the end product will cater for Rave on Air as i potentially intend for the end of year exhibition.

This week I will start to work on initial concepts, channel brand ideas and character designs. I will also begin storyboarding and getting together ideas for the individual idents so I am ready to begin modelling and rigging a character by the end of week 2. I will also draw up a production schedule this week for the entire 9 weeks.

THINGS TO DO

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
IDENT STORYBOARDS
CHANNEL NAME
CHANNEL BRAND AND ETHOS
CHANNEL LOGO
CHARACTER DESIGN
IDEAS FOR GRAPHICS AND TEXT
IDEAS FOR BLIPS AND ADDITIONAL MATERIAL THAT COULD BE BRANDED