It took a few nights of consecutive all nighters, but I managed to get something handed in in time for the competition deadline.
Click here to watch
It was a madcap dash to the finish. I didn't even have a final storyline until right near the end. A large amount of support in this regard came from my dad, Steve Smallman, a children's author and illustrator famous for books such as The Lamb who Came for Dinner (which appeared on the show Bookaboo), Smelly Peter the Pea Eater, and the illustrations for the Raggy Doll TV series.
I plan to make some presentational improvements to this before handing it in to uni or releasing it on Youtube or stuff like that.
Attention now returns to the HMV dooflip. We are getting assistance from the Level 5 students in this matter, which should come in handy. I wasn't particular sure what I was supposed to do during that session, but I got approached by a couple of dudes who might do some backgrounds, and another dude offering to make CG models of the cyber penguins, which should make constructing an army of them much easier.
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
Maracas Monkey
Okay, crunchtime is coming. I've got until Midnight PST tommorow (or today, considering the only people reading this will most likely have normal sleeping hours) to complete this idea and it was only yesterday that I actually figured out a script to tie all this M business together.
The story goes that the monkey finds a magical wand that comes out of nowhere, and finds shaking it magics M things. As you do, he goes mad with power and ends up magicing more than he bargained for.
I am getting there with the animation, about 33% of actual animation, and I'll be allnighting this one to get it in time for the Aniboom deadline.
Btw I started added some stuff to my Aniboom page, which you can find here.
Here's a sample animation of the monkey dancing with maracas. I looked around at a couple of animations, such as one with Sonic characters, but in the end I ended up basing the routine on a fad from a Japanese website called Nico Nico Douga. I ended up setting a seperate minivid set to said fad cos I dunno.
The story goes that the monkey finds a magical wand that comes out of nowhere, and finds shaking it magics M things. As you do, he goes mad with power and ends up magicing more than he bargained for.
I am getting there with the animation, about 33% of actual animation, and I'll be allnighting this one to get it in time for the Aniboom deadline.
Btw I started added some stuff to my Aniboom page, which you can find here.
Here's a sample animation of the monkey dancing with maracas. I looked around at a couple of animations, such as one with Sonic characters, but in the end I ended up basing the routine on a fad from a Japanese website called Nico Nico Douga. I ended up setting a seperate minivid set to said fad cos I dunno.
Monday 19 April 2010
M is for...
MONSTER!
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/98d6e02285e62762ab412eeacb4f0c42
Based on an old flash test I did a while back.
http://wonchop.deviantart.com/art/Monstah-Does-A-Wave-72295561
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/98d6e02285e62762ab412eeacb4f0c42
Based on an old flash test I did a while back.
http://wonchop.deviantart.com/art/Monstah-Does-A-Wave-72295561
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Developing the Monkey
So as I thought of my 'M for Monkey' thing, (I have to try and think of an alternate title so it doesn't clash with Dexter's Lab's segment, 'Dial M for Monkey'), I did what noone in uni thought I'd do...actually develop several designs. =O
I went and tried various styles, some involving cubish looking characters, some with rather cutesy figures, and others slightly influences by the fact I was watching South Park at the time. However, the one that stood out the most in the end was this one.
The insanely happy motorbiking monkey! His style was something that was striking and original, yet still had a hint of 'me' in there (it's gotta have at least some of that. Asking me otherwise is like getting David Firth to draw anime.) So as I opted to go with this character, I continued to sketch him, thinking of various ways to adjust him, such as trying him out with different M activities (magic, maracas, etc.), showing different expressions to trying not to give him a face that would scare small children.
After about a billion of these sketches, I drafted up a CG look, this one being done in Photoshop.
I had contemplated using Illustrator to make some assests, drawn with a pencily/brushed outline like you see on shows such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. However, I can't figure out the best methods of drawing (it is not freehand friendly) and I neither have the time nor the patience to learn. So it's good ol flash for me.
Here is the model I eventually came up with, currently avaiable in cowlick and biker helmet flavours. There's quite a few layers going on here, and various symbols, such as the eyes, mouth and chin, have multiple keyframes that I can change on the fly.
There are particularly specific specifications for the competition, wanting it to be in NTSC 1080i (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution at 29.97fps (since the ultimate goal is to get this broadcast on TV), meaning everything will have to be drawn quite big, and at least have an outline that'll stand out once shrunk to a smaller Youtube friendly definition. Face details were drawn at 200% zoom with a size 3 brush, before going over the outlines at size 4 to give them some girth. The other aspects were drawn at size 3 at 100%, so I can easily add stuff on the fly.
Not quite sure of the best way to animate, but here's an early test. The starry eyed expression was also kinda influenced from Samba de Amigo (or more specifically, it's characters victory pose from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing).
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/34a40475101b1424dd7ead39a7e3a25a
Now to work work work.
I went and tried various styles, some involving cubish looking characters, some with rather cutesy figures, and others slightly influences by the fact I was watching South Park at the time. However, the one that stood out the most in the end was this one.
The insanely happy motorbiking monkey! His style was something that was striking and original, yet still had a hint of 'me' in there (it's gotta have at least some of that. Asking me otherwise is like getting David Firth to draw anime.) So as I opted to go with this character, I continued to sketch him, thinking of various ways to adjust him, such as trying him out with different M activities (magic, maracas, etc.), showing different expressions to trying not to give him a face that would scare small children.
After about a billion of these sketches, I drafted up a CG look, this one being done in Photoshop.
I had contemplated using Illustrator to make some assests, drawn with a pencily/brushed outline like you see on shows such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. However, I can't figure out the best methods of drawing (it is not freehand friendly) and I neither have the time nor the patience to learn. So it's good ol flash for me.
Here is the model I eventually came up with, currently avaiable in cowlick and biker helmet flavours. There's quite a few layers going on here, and various symbols, such as the eyes, mouth and chin, have multiple keyframes that I can change on the fly.
There are particularly specific specifications for the competition, wanting it to be in NTSC 1080i (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution at 29.97fps (since the ultimate goal is to get this broadcast on TV), meaning everything will have to be drawn quite big, and at least have an outline that'll stand out once shrunk to a smaller Youtube friendly definition. Face details were drawn at 200% zoom with a size 3 brush, before going over the outlines at size 4 to give them some girth. The other aspects were drawn at size 3 at 100%, so I can easily add stuff on the fly.
Not quite sure of the best way to animate, but here's an early test. The starry eyed expression was also kinda influenced from Samba de Amigo (or more specifically, it's characters victory pose from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing).
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/34a40475101b1424dd7ead39a7e3a25a
Now to work work work.
Monkeeeeeys
So for this Sesame Street competition for which I'm basing one half of my project on, I've decided to go with a compromise for not doing anything with the Wonchop idea; monkeys.
Let's face it. Who doesn't love monkeys? Y'know, besides people who are over protective of their banana collection. Stupid people, that's what. Monkeys are awesome creatures and more or less essential viewing on any visit to the zoo. The way they move about is just awesome, with each motion seemlessly moving on to the next. They've been a big part of my childhood and are mainly what brought me to my simian online alias.
And that's not to mention how they've appeared in animation. Several cartoons spring to mind, such as Coconuts from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Monkey from Dexter's Lab, Abu from Aladdin and Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff Girls, as well as recent examples like the Jamie Hewlett's Olympic monkey.
And of course, monkeys have made their mark in the videogame industry. One of the main monkey-oritented games I played during my Playstation Fanboy days was Ape Escape, a game that involved catching variously humourous monkeys in a bid to stop them messing with time. Other noteable monkeys in gaming history include Diddy Kong from Donkey Kong Country (Donkey Kong technically doesn't count since he's a gorilla), Amigo from Samba de Amigo, AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, and the various monkeys that featured in Timesplitters 2.
So what do monkeys have to do with Sesame Street you ask? Well, the criteria has various categories including numbers, letters, etc. I decided to go with letters, specifically the most delicious letter there is. M. And what's the first thing you think of when you think of M? Monkeys! Pure science at work! Here's an example of one of Sesame Street's letter-based animations.
Let's face it. Who doesn't love monkeys? Y'know, besides people who are over protective of their banana collection. Stupid people, that's what. Monkeys are awesome creatures and more or less essential viewing on any visit to the zoo. The way they move about is just awesome, with each motion seemlessly moving on to the next. They've been a big part of my childhood and are mainly what brought me to my simian online alias.
And that's not to mention how they've appeared in animation. Several cartoons spring to mind, such as Coconuts from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Monkey from Dexter's Lab, Abu from Aladdin and Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff Girls, as well as recent examples like the Jamie Hewlett's Olympic monkey.
And of course, monkeys have made their mark in the videogame industry. One of the main monkey-oritented games I played during my Playstation Fanboy days was Ape Escape, a game that involved catching variously humourous monkeys in a bid to stop them messing with time. Other noteable monkeys in gaming history include Diddy Kong from Donkey Kong Country (Donkey Kong technically doesn't count since he's a gorilla), Amigo from Samba de Amigo, AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, and the various monkeys that featured in Timesplitters 2.
So what do monkeys have to do with Sesame Street you ask? Well, the criteria has various categories including numbers, letters, etc. I decided to go with letters, specifically the most delicious letter there is. M. And what's the first thing you think of when you think of M? Monkeys! Pure science at work! Here's an example of one of Sesame Street's letter-based animations.
About that delay
Much apologies for the long delay in updating this stuff. Long story short, the fan on my laptop broke, meaning it could only be on for a hour or two at a time before it overheats. I decided to take this opportunity to purchase a new PC. However, when it arrived I had trouble getting on the internet, which was neccessary for some of the programs I intended to use. It took about a week or so to figure out the problem.
So yeah, I'll try and update this now.
So yeah, I'll try and update this now.
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