Advanced Animation Techniques: Backgrounds

Brief

 For this project we are given a template of a background and two versions of it coloured in; a day scene and a night scene. We are to replicate this to the best of our ability, we can put our own very subtle flare on it- as long as it looks industry standard.

Research

As for the research of this project, I have set out and drawn some backgrounds before the project was given to us, my target was 10 but I got 3:

 The images are more experiments- being as if or the past few weeks I have been working in a digital format, as a traditional artist I thought I would use layers in my backgrounds in my sketchbook. I like the effect, but they don't look very professional. I think I need to go back when I have a little free time to make some more professional looking ones but using the same and other techniques.




















My research will be on going through this project; I plan to look at actual animation backgrounds to gain an understanding of what makes a good line.

We also did some drawing form the projector in university here are my sketches!

I feel this is the strongest in terms of prospective.

This one was prety hard to draw, due to a fish-eye lense.

Log

23/11/15 - Throughout the day I just noted my thoughts and where my head was at at he time. I was in university from 10:00 - 19:00.

I have been doing the clean up on the background templates today, I have tried it multiple times now just to try and get it right. I have been struggling to understand what make a good line, I will be looking at other animation backgrounds later to learn more.

I am getting better at PhotoShop now, I have memorised all the shortcuts !! So that is something.

Note to self: it would be a whole lot easier to do clean up if the uni computer screens didn't have greasy finger prints on.

The pen tool is great for selecting an area like the trees in the background, due to the ability to curve the line.

I've tried really hard to get the lines correct because it is something I feel I need to improve on I often have a very feathered line due to preference, practise and ease.

I have now figured out how to use the bevel line on the pen tool- keep the "ears" from the node on the line you are drawing around then when the line is drawn it doesn't over compensate the curve.

I have been working my way form the back to the foreground but a useful thing I have discovered is to do the actual background- in my case the sky- last, because the rest of the then coloured in picture will highlight the white spots to colour in.

I have already learnt so much from this project, I can't wait to apply it to my own work.

Note to self: missed a stripe in one of the trees, that needs to be fixed.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT LAYER ! AARRGHH!

Actually, the channel feature that have just learnt is pretty useful when you botch something up- phew. But I do have to go back and fix some lines now. Not really sure how.

Double tapping with the paint bucket tool fills small gaps, the more you know!

Now that I have coloured the day colours, I still feel my lines aren't clean enough. On the upside I am getting the hang of PhotoShop.