LAUAN404-Maya

Maya 

In my first lesson in Maya we learned the basics of the software. We got taught the basic cheats such as, how to turn the screen around and how to rotate, scale and move a shape. I enjoyed this lesson as it was very challenging however, this made me want to keep trying. My final outcome of my truck looked like this. I am very happy with the outcome however, I would move the wheels closer to the body to make it look more like a realistic toy truck.  I will continue to use Maya and keep working to get better at using this software as it could become very handy when designing buildings or environments. 

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Model

After designing the characters we were set the task of making our characters into models. I made many mistakes when building my model and I learned many new things throughout the process. My first mistake was padding the base of my model out too much. This was a struggle for me once  I started putting the cotton over the frame loosely, I struggled to get the clay over the model when i started adding detail to my character. As I started to move the model for my walk cycle I found the clay started to crack and you could see the padding and cotton underneath. Next time when making a model I will make sure I do not repeat the same mistakes with the padding of the frame and make sure the cotton is tightly placed on before adding the detail. As well as this, I would give myself enough time to finish it as I had to change my outfit idea so I could stick to my given time limit. I would also take more pictures next time of my development so I am able to see the process I went through to create this character. 

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Opening 

After creating my slogan I decided to use it as my opening of my animatic. My title and opening is: 'The Good, The Bad, The Terrible'. I got this idea from the movie: 'The Good, The Bad, The Ugly'. I think this was a clever way to play on words and would be enjoyed by adults that understand the slogan. I decided to make the opening fun and exciting. I started by using the first line as popping balloons as this is what I related to the word good. For the line, 'The Bad' I decided to go for the slimy letters that leaked onto the screen. Lastly, 'The Terrible' which is meant to be wooden letters that shine. I think this was a nice play on words and looks appealing for the opening of my short animation. 

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Walk cycles

To start of learning walk cycles we got set the task of using our models to see what we can already do with our walks. I struggled with this because my model was difficult to move into the positions I needed to complete this task. However, I gave it my best shot and managed to finish with an outcome.  After this task we learned how to do 2D walk cycles. I struggled at first in this task with my timing as the walk was too fast. To fix this problem I started to add more frames and this was the outcome I was most impressed with. The walk cycle does need some improvement however, I was happiest with this outcome and with my time limits I had to go with what I could do within the time I had. 

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Logo Two

Logo design two:

1. This is my second logo design. This one is very different to my first one which was my main aim as I wanted to stretch my designs to see what I could achieve. however, this design is carried on from the first logo as I took the ivy leaf idea ahead. 
2. I chose this leaf because it relates back to Ivy's name and could be seen as a symbol. 
3. I made the mistake of using the same font for my writing. Using the same font was a mistake because you still cannot read it as clearly. 
4. This design is very simple but still very effective however, I find the first logo design fits more into my story as it relates back not only to Ivy but to her image as a school girl as well. 

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Logo One 

First design: 

• My aim was to make the first design look like a school badge that could possibly be placed on Ivy's shirt. I chose to do this particular design as a school badge because my aim was for her image to purely show that she has grown up a teenager and is now attending  a higher educational school. 
• To make it look like a school badge I made the shape a circle. The leaf in the middle could be seen as the schools logo and is placed in the middle surrounded by Ivy's name. 
• This design looks smart because of how everything is cleanly placed onto the circle. 
• The negatives of this design is the writing with Ivy's name on it. I  would change this because the writing is barely readable and some individuals in my class struggled to read what the writing said. 
• I chose these leaves because they are ivy leaves and these relate back to the main characters name. 
• I decided to design a second logo to compare my first design to and to see if I could improve my design. This also allowed me to explore different aspects of my design skills. 

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Animatic

To start my animatic I used my storyboard as my keyframes and  in-betweens; it was the best way to start the animatic as it was a guide for me when I started placing my animation within the key frames. I decided that the empty spaces made the story seem lost so once we had learned the walk cycles for our characters I planned to put a few into my final animatic. Even though my storyline was basic I think my style of my animation would lead my into more excitement. If I was to redo the storyboard I would of spent less time on creating the story and planned more of a solid storyline. this would of made the storyline stronger as the animatic would feel less empty. 

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Storyboard 

The next step was creating a storyline for my characters and their environments. My storyline is based around Ivy not planning any pranks in school, she is left feeling agitated. So Ivy heads to her best friends house, her Grandmother. Her grandmother gives her the idea of playing a prank on Ivy's Mother when she comes home from work. Ivy heads home and messily sets up the prank in the kitchen. Towards the end, her Mother arrives home and falls into the prank, sends Ivy to bed in anger. However, Ivy is left feeling contempt that she finally pulled a prank. 

I struggled with my storyline as I didn't want to make it too complicated. After I decided the storyline I was going to use,  I realised how simple it was and I could of made the story more exciting or added more events within the storyline. However,  I spent too much time on the storyboard and fell behind in my work resulting in me having to stick to my original story. 

The storyboard after it was complicated really helped me start my animatic as it made my story clear and I knew exactly what direction I was going in when starting to paint and draw the full story. 

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Houses 

The environment: 

1. I wasn't sure what directed I wanted to go with when it came to the backgrounds and the environments in Ivy's world. 
2. Simple line drawings and basic shapes is how I solved this problem. By drawing simple outlines of houses and rooms I was able to narrow down what I wanted each place to look like. 
3. From looking at my designs of my characters, their appeal seemed to look like paper. I decided to play on this idea and made each design look like it was sculpted using the paper method. However, I used photoshop to build these designs. 
4. For the school I made the colour scheme dull and dark. This was so the audience would be able to see that this was a place that Ivy did not enjoy being at. 
5. As for the other houses, they were a lot brighter and colourful as these were places Ivy wants to be spending her time. 

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Mother 

Ivy's Mother:

1. This is Ivy's mother. She has a few similarities to the Grandmother and Ivy. However, my aim was to create more differences within this character to show her mature side instead of the childish-like behaviour from the Grandmother. I chose to do this because I wanted to show that Ivy gets along better with her grandmother rather than her mum. 
2. I chose the same hair colour but different hair style as this style shows the mature side of her appeal. This was important as Ivy's mum is the one that looks after the Grandmother and Ivy as their child-like behaviour gets those two characters into trouble. 
3. The dress is also very smart looking and a different colour to the other outfits as this was to show that Ivy's mother has a different personality. 

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Grandmother 

Ivy the Terrible's Grandmother:

1. The grandmother's features are very similar to Ivy's; This was to show the relationship between Ivy and her grandmother visually as well as emotionally. 
2. Her grandmother is seen as a bad influence on Ivy however, she is also her closest friend. The the Grandmother wears a adults blue dungarees because this relates back to Ivy's original designs. Taking the adults who grew up with Ivy's original character back to these times. This also suggests that the grandmother still acts and thinks like a teenager and enjoys pranks just as much as Ivy does. Maybe even suggesting that Ivy learned this from her Grandmother.  
3. As well as the style of the clothes I also chose these colours because I wanted these colours to match Ivy's colour scheme. This creates a bond between the two character as you can see they have similarities. 

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Final design  

This is my final design of Ivy: 

1. I chose the plaits as I wanted to keep Ivy's pigtails that are well-known from her original design. I think the plaits make her character look grown up and gives her the appeal of a  teenager. Changing her hair colour from black to brown is a known thing for a teenager as they  get older. They start to experiment with their looks and start to change certain things about their appearance. 
2. I chose a school outfit to showcase the fact that Ivy is now in high school and is no longer a toddler. These colours were carefully chosen because these are one of the most known school colours. The design on the clothing gives the appeal of that basic school attire. However, you can see Ivy's rebellion of the school uniform from the loose tie and the red shirt underneath. 

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My designs

Different looks: 

• I started by drawing out different hair types, eyes, mouths, and noses. By doing these designs and adding colour to each of the characters guided me to narrow it down to my favourite headpiece. 
• In my book it shows my progression from the characters heads onto the different style of clothes and shoes I could use. However, I did not have enough time to develop these designs further so I had to move onto creating my final design for Ivy the terrible. 
• I chose my 3rd design of Ivy's head as I wanted Ivy to look like a 15 year old. I felt like her features were still young looking but not too adult-like or held any features of a toddler. As well as this, I was able to keep her pig-tails like the original drawings however, to show that she is now grown up they have changed into plaits. 

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Ivy the Terrible 

• Appeared in the issue *2233 dated on the 4th May 19845. Drawn by Robert Nixon.
• Ivy the Terrible's attempt was to be the strongest character in the Beano strips. 
• Strong childlike personality.
• Average toddler.
• Pulling temper tantrums. 
• Two pig tails.
• Single tooth in her mouth 
• Yellow fleece jumper with red dungarees and blue play shoes.