Project Evaluation - Channel Ident

Overall i think this project has been my most successful. I managed to think of a decent idea at the beginning of the project and started development and production on time. This is very unusual for me however i feel that the competition brief before this one has hugely impacted on the fact this project has be fairly successful.

I really enjoyed this project but again i think that's due to the fact i like what i have created. I especially enjoyed working in Maya although i had loads and loads of tutor help however if i had chosen to work in a different programme i wouldn't have built up some extra skills on modelling and animating in 3D. I have continued to look at modelling in Maya in my spare time to make sure i don't forget how to use it and try and improve my skills so eventually i won't need much help! Overall i think the ident looks good however i think it could have done with a few more tweaks, like with the legs as they seem to twist and bend in the air. I spent ages trying to correct them i even asked Matt Geeling and Steve to help me and we still couldn't do it properly but for a first attempt at Maya i am very proud. It also got a great response at my portfolio visit so that's always a bonus!

After i finished the frog i had to look at the splash and i tried everything and i couldn't make it blend in or look professional so i decided not to use that idea. I think it would of been nicer if i could of got my head around this but i think the fade in looked a lot cleaner than what i was trying to do.

Sound is very important in the final piece so i wanted to get it right. I used the ambient sound of other frogs croaking in the background to give it a rainforest type feel which i think works extremely well. I then needed a sound for when the frog hits the water aka the splash and it took me hours and hours to try and find quite a delicate splash sound like something tiny and streamline hitting the water. I attempted to record this myself but i was unsuccessful at that as well as i couldn't find the right object to drop into the bath to make the right sound. So in the end i went for a stock sound that i think fits ok but is not as good as i think it could be.

So in conclusion i think this has been by far my most favorite project although i was helped a lot by Rick i feel that i have learnt so much about Maya and animating in 3D. It is a very satisfying feeling to show people and tell people that you have made a 3D animation because it is very rare outside of our moving image course (for students to use). If i had more time on the project i would of liked to have made more idents like the hippo and giraffe animatics because i think a series of idents with the white background idea would of been lovely.

Hippo/Giraffe

I wanted to make some more quick animatics to show more of my ideas. Both animatics will have white backgrounds like my final ident however the 'giraffe' sequence will also have white leaves with a slight shadow so you can tell what they are.

Splash test

I have been going crazy trying to make this splash work ... this is one of the first tests i did. It is a stop motion test i did in photoshop simply just erasing sections to look like it is being revealed in behind a splash. However it looks very amateur and i don't like it at all ... i need to look at a splash again in more detail to get a more realistic feel.

This was my second test where i used the same technique however it still looks terrible i might have to just fade in the type after the frog jumps in to make it appear more professional and just add sound effects to the piece to portray the splash.

Frog from Water

This still isn't finished but it is getting better! I think i still need to study movements of a frog to make it a bit more accurate and also one of his feet is under the white which needs changing!

Light Creative LTD

Light Creative is a creative agency based in London ... they have done advertisements/idents for channel 4 and the Disney channel. They are specialists in branding, design and direction for broadcast so i thought they would be useful to look at for my Ident Project. One of the pieces in their show reel that i recognised was the idents for BBC 4 where the screen is split into 4 like this:-

Not only that they have done a few title sequence which i think is something i want to try out in my spare time ... try and create one for a film that already exists and put another spin on it! From the website this company seems to feel rather large as they do a huge variety of things it also seems very fresh, simple and current. They seem to have a lot of experience with all sorts of animation, live footage, graphics ect...

Frog Maya Test

Needs a bit of tweaking and it shall be round but i think progress so far is ok!

Bloody Splash

I can't for the life of me figure out how to animate thissplash! I have tried in photoshop and flash and i can't do it!

I want to try using black card and scan it into the computer and keep cutting it down until its disappears then reverse it to portray a splash?

Failed attempt

Composition

Before i start animating i need to finalise the compostition of where i want my frog to enter and exit the screen...i don't want him dead central because it is slightly boring and predictable i want to use the whole screen to invite the audience. However i can place him right in the corners of the screen because depending on what TV settings you may have it may be cut off! I need to play around with the composition maybe placing him slightly higher or lower on the screen and slight left or right of the centre.

I had a quick look at some advise on compostition i thought this might be helpful ...

'Except possibly for people looking directly at the camera, it's often best to place the center of interest near one of the points indicated by the rule of thirds.

In the rule of thirds the total image area is divided vertically and horizontally into three equal sections.

Although it's often desirable to place the center of interest somewhere along the two horizontal and two vertical lines, generally composition is even stronger if the center of interest falls near one of the four cross-points illustrated in the photo on the right below.

A few still cameras even have the rule of thirds guidelines visible in their viewfinders.

But, remember, we are speaking of a rule of thirds, not law of thirds. The rule of thirds is only a guideline — something that should be considered while composing a scene. Although composition is often stronger using the rule of thirds, many scenes (see below) "work" that do not follow this guideline.' (Television Production:Elements of compostition - www.cybercollege.com)

Another Water Splash in Super Slow Motion

I found this one the most helpful because of the red food colouring i can see exactly which bits of the water go where and where the centre is that the object has been dropped into.

Water Splashes

Trying to figure out how to animate a splash I looked at real splashes and also 2D and 3D animated ones as well.

Tree Frog

Animatics

These are a few of my rough ideas so far ...

Help me animate!

This video has been really helpful to me as it shows extremely slowly the movement of a frog at the start and in the middle of the jump .... I am a bit gutted there isn't an end to the jump so i will need to study the landing separately.

Looking at the movement of water.

I looked at these to see how the water would move when my frog jumps into it and this is what i could find that might help me!
Movement of water when something jumps/is dropped in .

Looking at the movement of a frog.

I wanted to look a bit more closely at the movement of the frog before trying to animate ....

Frog jumping a long distance, a jump in slow motion, frog walking in snow and a frog eating a bug .

Frog Test

I made a quick animatic in flash to show what my first idea is roughly going to look like...

Nat Geo Wild Current Idents

Click here to watch the ident

Sound in the ident creates a kind of rainforest ambience. Really creates the feel that you are surrounded by nature in your living room. calming and

Nat Geo Wild

I have chosen to change my channel still stickingwith animals but i am going to use ...

This logo is a lot nicer than the Animal Planet Logo and i wanted to concentrate more on wildlife rather than pets so i think its more appropriate.

Human Connection with Animals

'Its new strategy is to build series around the connection people feel with animals with storylines in which the people become as important or more important than the animals.' Media Life Magazine

Useful?

Animal’s target is viewers 18-49 and 25-54, but it’s looking to build up its audience among women in those demos, who are most likely to be drawn to shows with emotional storylines. Media Life Magazine