Nicole's 3D Computer Animation blog

Month: February 2025

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Project 1

Week 5 continue adjust the previs shot in Maya

In this week, I add more camera shake and time for each shot, to ensure the chasing speed is not too slow or too fast, this is the previs shot I have edited this week:

Personally, I would like to make everything interesting, I wanted to create a feeling that the protagonist was being chased by a police car but was coping with it easily. But it’s hard for me to mold her movements to react to the fact that she’s a seasoned master in a short period of time. I think I need to refer to some movie and TV works and do some research on 2D pose draft. What kind of moves do confident criminals like to do and what habits do they have.

In this shot, I add a close up shot to introduce my character between the news broadcast shot and the city shot:

Actually, I personally had planned for it to be like in one of those anime where the villain starts out standing inside the shadows and the news is broadcasting her wanted posters. Her initial appearance was with her back to the audience to add some mystery. Because my idea at the beginning was to have the audience focus on the cyberpunk urban setting. I intended for the main character to appear only as a black silhouette. I think the final way of presenting it depends on the choice I make after I have built the scene and tested both narrative approaches.

But considering I’ll be carefully sculpting the character’s face, I think a close-up of the front face is again necessary or I’ll be sorry for the time I spent on modelling hahaha.

In this shot, I edit the movement curve of the character. The common problem with this shot and others is that when the character and the camera are moving together, the adjusted position will constantly become undesirable.

Just like relative motion in physics, if the shift speed is the same it creates the effect of no movement, if the shift speed is different, for example, if the character is moving at a constant speed but the camera is speeding up at that moment, or if it stays at a constant speed but is moving faster than the character, the screen will appear as if the character is decelerating its movement. There doesn’t seem to be any way around this problem other than patiently tweaking it.

Another issue that has been a constant throughout the semester is the distribution of speed. I have a really hard time adjusting my speed, often going too fast at times or too slow at others. And this week George gave me the very helpful advice that my speeds look pretty even. That is, the distance of each keyframe looks the same, which causes the whole shot to move too evenly and lack some variation.

I feel like I need to learn some animation theory because before, I would just think my shots were weird, but I didn’t know what was weird or how to modify them. I’m thankful to Wendy for helping me. Because I had a problem this week, that is, how to modify the speed of the camera, the character and the police car uniformly when they are all moving. Wendy told me that I can select them to create a set. this really solved my huge problem.

For this week, I added this shot of the protagonist flying out of the narrow alleyway because she has to fly towards the outside of the city. However there is a police car waiting for her long outside the alley. As soon as she comes out the police car immediately drives towards her and fires a bomb at her. The protagonist changes course to dodge it.

In next shot, I added a camera follow shot to reference Ekko’s shot. At this stage, I wanted to go for a restoration and add something to my storyboard. I adjusted the placement of the buildings to add a sense of space for the main character to fly through. To give her a reference point for her speed.

Weekly summary:

Since my protagonist has been using a flying machine, the design of the motion trail for the chase was important. In the first few weeks of trying, I went from not being able to plan a route and generating the motion trail directly and adjusting it, to getting the routine and using a blue pencil to go ahead and draw the trajectory she should follow beforehand and then adjusting her position.

At this stage, my main task was to present the storyboard. In the next stage, I think I can build on this to edit the pose of the character’s movement, the details of the action, and think about the connection between each shot.

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Project 1

Week 4 continue adjust the previs shot in Maya

This week, based on George’s feedback, I added camera shake when the police cars fly by and a delayed tracking effect when the protagonist is flying. I also adjusted the length of some shots.

Problems:

I realized that if every shot is just the police cars chasing and the protagonist running, it will feel repetitive and might bore the audience. So, I thought about how to make the scene more engaging and add more interaction between the protagonist and the police cars.

Solution:

I came up with an idea where the protagonist, after spotting the police cars, leaves a bomb on the crane she’s standing on. When the police cars get close, she detonates it, blocking some of them. This way, the number of police cars keeps decreasing. So, I added this shot:

But in later feedback, this scene of running, stopping, and pressing a button made the audience confused about what the character was doing, so I removed it.

George suggested that I look for movement inspiration in Arcane Season 2, such as having two police cars crash toward the protagonist while she dodges.

So I went to watch the shot in Arcane Season 2, I learned some key poses for characters steering a flying vehicle and how the camera follows the protagonist during flight.

I mainly reference some of Ekko’s dynamics and shots. I noticed there were some great shots.

This shot transitions between the puppet, Ekko, and Viktor, but the cuts are logically connected.

The first scene is a close-up of Ekko flying past a puppet, lasting about 1.5 seconds.

And then, the shot shows the overall scene (front view), with the puppets neatly lined up while Ekko flies in from the distance.

The shot focuses on Ekko’s blade, smoothly transitioning into the next battle scene.

The shot continue to show the overall scene, but in side view.

I think this shot is very good, it shows a dynamic curve and unexpectedly pulls from far to near, the previous shots seem to follow this logic. And Ekko’s transition from far to near is very fast, after about 3 frames. and the whole shot lasts about 1.5 seconds.

Since Ekko’s action is to the right and Ekko is already very close to the camera, it’s natural for the next shot to switch to Ekko’s point of view：

The camera is given to Ekko flying past a golem, and then the golem looks back at him after Ekko has completely flown away.

Top version show the dynamic curve.

Front version:

Side version:

I wanted to go for a scene where the protagonist brushes up against two police cars and it moves in a circle.

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Project 1

Week 3 continue adjust the story board and make previs shot in Maya

1. Add camera shake:

For the beginning of the shot, I would like to start with a news broadcast in a building, It shows a scene where the protagonist steals the gene ball from the biotech company. Then, several police cars drive past the front of the building. George suggested that I could add some camera shake since in many sci-fi movies, the airflow generated by large flying vehicles causes the camera to shake.

2.Adjust the time and speed of the shot:

Since I didn’t plan very well at the beginning, some shots were longer while others were over in a second, and I needed to go and balance the timing of the shots.

like in this shot below. It was hard because there were some fast action shots like the police driving by and if I increased the duration it would cause the police cars to move too slow, so I needed to go and increase the animation lines of each police car so that their routes weren’t straight and have some of the police cars leave first and have some of the police cars leave later.

Also, I need to pay attention to the sense of interaction between the police car and the camera, for example in this shot my police car is moving forward, George suggested I make the police car face the camera to appear to be chasing the protagonist.

3. Attention to move curves

George suggested that I should focus on the curve of the motion of the fly equipment, not making it too straight, and work with some camera movement.

This is the shot I modified, I adjust the movement curve and camera move, delay camera movement about 2-3 key frames after the character move.

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Collaborative Unit

Week 3 and Week 4 Asset Creation: Gargoyle

Last week, we clarified our task planning, and Ben and Lucy helped us establish a detailed plan in Mirror. As a result, everyone had a clear objective for this week. My task was to complete the full production process of the gargoyle.

This is the task allocation table we created in the first week, but in reality, our team members and tasks have undergone some changes. For example, we didn’t strictly stick to the listed responsibilities. Therefore, the specific contributions of each person will be summarized after the final project is completed.

Asset Creation: Gargoyle

Here is the process of creating the gargoyle asset, which I have uploaded to YouTube.

It contains the entire creation process, including low-poly modeling, high-poly modeling, UV mapping, texturing, rigging, and weight painting.

I started by using the default human model in ZBrush for the initial sculpting. After researching reference images, I found that most gargoyles are associated with bats or demons—they typically have thick, muscular limbs, horns, and large, bat-like noses. I wanted to emphasize these features in my sculpt.

Looking at gargoyle designs in games like Elden Ring, I noticed that their head-to-body ratio is still relatively human-like, moving away from the traditional small demon aesthetic. In architectural designs, gargoyles often have more compact proportions, making them appear tighter and more cohesive as purely static decorations. However, in our dungeon, the gargoyle is not just decorative—it will take flight in the third layer. So, I aimed to create a balanced design that incorporates both aspects.

Modeling：

When sculpting the head, I wanted to introduce some variations to differentiate it from traditional gargoyles.

Texture:

Test in Unreal Engine:

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Collaborative Unit

Week 2 Preliminary Setup, Sketches, and Task Allocation

We all experimented with different early-stage designs (Since the team member responsible for the early-stage concepts disappeared—she was a classmate from the 2D animation online course—we had to create the designs ourselves.). Although some ideas were not adopted after discussion, the process of exploration was still valuable and meaningful.

First-Layer Environment Design:

I sketched some pillars, possibly entwined with gargoyles, along with a statue representing “See No Evil.” During our discussions, we initially planned to use three sets of statues to connect the dungeon’s layers, symbolizing “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.”

Although this design was ultimately not adopted, I believe Ben’s concept for these statues was excellent. “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” can serve as a moral code, representing the avoidance of evil, or as a form of satire, criticizing willful ignorance of reality.

However, we needed to reduce our workload, and Lucy felt that overly open spaces might make the overall scene feel empty. We would either have to spend a lot of time decorating it with assets or risk making the scene look sparse.

Since we discussed the idea of an unattainable treasure, I sketched a small creature design.

Environmental Creatures Concept (connect to Gothic cemeteries and treasures): First floor

Shell man：They were explorers who strayed into the dungeons, perhaps motivated by the desire for wealth or simply by curiosity. However, deep darkness and endless loss have turned them into what they are today. To avoid confronting their own desires, they retreated into their cold shells. However, the darkness within brought no salvation. Their legs have long since withered, leaving only hands to drag their bodies. Now, driven by instinct, they wander in search of golden shards to fill the void within.

Shell gold Shard：The shards of gold that had fallen from the Shell were covered with deep cracks and radiated a faint, warm glow. “The weight of gold will eventually bring down everything, including the soul.”

I wanted to design a tragic fate for outsiders like the knight—lost wanderers who unintentionally stumbled into this place but, driven by greed, never managed to leave. Over time, they retreated into their shells, their bodies deteriorating into skeletal remains.

In the end, this creature wasn’t created because we needed more representative monsters. Additionally, since the first layer is quite dark, adding shell man might go unnoticed by the audience while increasing our workload.

Story Setting

So we all discussed how to connect the story, which helped us a lot in building the scene. In the end, we decided to make the protagonist a knight who encounters an adorable furry creature in the darkness. At first, the knight doesn’t realize that the creature is actually part of this environment and tries to rescue it. However, as the story progresses, when the knight sees the surrounding plants attempting to capture the creature—and when the creature reveals its sharp fangs—he finally realizes that it belongs here.

In the final moment, the protagonist faces a crucial choice, one that determines whether he can successfully escape.

Weekly Conclusion:

In the second week, we clarified our goals, including the story logic, the protagonist’s objectives, and the assets we needed to create. Despite changes in team members leading to role adjustments, everyone adapted smoothly and adjusted their responsibilities accordingly.

For example, Anis took charge of storyboarding, acting like a director to oversee the overall pacing and coordinate the team. Lucy, although primarily responsible for character animation and rigging, also contributed to storyboarding and designed the knight’s concept. Since the team member responsible for early concept design disappeared, Qi Ji and I, who were in charge of asset creation, had to design some environmental creatures ourselves. Meanwhile, Ben collaborated with Anis on post-production and developed a method for team collaboration in UE5 without requiring the same WiFi connection.

As a result, everyone had a clear focus for the week, ensuring steady project progress.

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Collaborative Unit

Week 1 Topic Selection and form the group

This week, we received a variety of topics, including NHS patient care, causality in animation, and physical objects. I chose the theme of dark fantasy and gothic and joined Anis’s group. After discussion, we decided to create a three-layer dungeon. We will use Unreal Engine for the final composition and rendering.

Initially, we explored ideas related to religion and the underworld. We wanted each dungeon layer to have a distinct theme while maintaining an overarching connection. The first layer features a gothic aesthetic, the second is filled with mycelium and plant life, and the third is shaped by molten lava. This progression symbolizes a descent into the depths of the self and the subconscious—where the deeper one goes, the more chaotic and uncontrollable it becomes, ultimately reaching the core of human primal chaos.

In the first week, we experimented with different styles. I gathered a large number of reference images and uploaded them to Mirror. I’m particularly drawn to dark fantasy works like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, especially the way they depict the struggles of survivors in a ruined world. This theme resonates with me deeply, making me feel truly passionate about this project.

We only have two months, so designing the layout and ecosystem of all three dungeon layers is an incredibly challenging task. Since the dungeons need to be logically connected, this involves some level design knowledge.

The creatures within the dungeon may function as producers, consumers, and decomposers, forming a self-sustaining food cycle in the absence of external interference. Their characteristics must align with the design style of each layer, and some may even undergo periodic growth and developmental changes. For example, mimetic plants might have distinct transformations from seed to maturity, which we need to carefully consider.

With all these elements to integrate, we have a massive task ahead of us.

Later, I suggested incorporating gargoyles into each layer, as they are a quintessential element of the gothic style. Since our project is set in a dungeon, we couldn’t express gothic aesthetics through architecture. Instead, we explored the possibility of using gargoyles as a unifying visual motif.

After discussion, we decided that the gargoyles in each layer would have distinct eye colors to reflect their environment. The gothic-themed first layer features gargoyles with blue eyes, the second layer, dominated by plants and mycelium, has gargoyles with green eyes, and the lava-infused third layer features gargoyles with red eyes. This color progression reinforces the thematic evolution of the dungeon.

ref of gargoyles:

The gargoyle design was relatively convenient for us because gargoyles don’t require a growth cycle and can seamlessly adapt to the dungeon environment. This meant we didn’t have to spend too much time developing complex lore or justifying their existence within the setting.

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Collaborative Unit

Week 5 Visit Tate Modern and Use reality capture to create models

This week, we visited the Tate Modern and captured a lot of reference materials. It was my first time using Reality Capture to process model data, which was very interesting. Meanwhile, I was also keeping up with the progress of my group project (rigging).

‘Untitled‘, Ibrahim El-Salahi, 1967 – Tate: Oil paint and enamel paint on hardboard

“El-Salahi combines African and Arab cultural motifs with elements of Arabic calligraphy. Here, strange animal and plant-like forms, faces, and skeletons emerge from the broken calligraphic lines and morph into mask-like, totemic figures.
In the wake of Sudan’s independence from colonialism, El-Salahi looked to his local environment for inspiration. He developed a distinctive visual language later identified as the ‘Khartoum School. He stated, ‘I wrote letters and words that did not mean a thing. Then … I had to break down the bone of the letter.”(from Tate Modern)

Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002 – Born and worked France)
Tirage 1961
Shooting Picture
Plaster, paint, string, polythene and wire on wood


“To make her Shooting Pictures, Saint Phalle filled polythene bags with paint and enclosed them within layers of plaster and chicken wire that created a textured white surface.
She invited spectators to shoot at these constructions, releasing the paint. Saint Phalle considered these shootings to be performances, or ‘happenings, which she saw as integral parts of the work just as much as the finished product. This one was shot by North American artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Saint Phalle stopped making these works in 1970, explaining ‘ had become addicted to shooting, like one becomes addicted to a drug.'”(from Tate Modern)

Salem Arif Quadri 1949 – Born India, works India and UK
Landscape of Longing 1997-9
7 works on wood, muslin, acrylic paint and oil paint

“Landscape of Longing refers to Arif Quadri’s interest in spiritual quests and journeys. It evokes a map seen from above. Arif Quadri describes the work as ‘a celebration of life with all its inexplicable mysteries’. He relates the painted forms to the sinvous strokes of Islamic calligraphy. The shapes between and around each form are important to the artist.
They suggest figurative elements such as female and male figures, or pods and birds.
Arif Quadri is influenced by texts ranging from Sufi writings to work by Dante, the 13th century Italian poet.”(from Tate Modern)

Scan model: