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