Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

This one came out the best

This one only looks good right around where my hand is

and this one failed me entirely. I blame the statues. They were divas (No, actually, looking at the pictures I can see I rotated the camera instead of moving directly to the side horizontally. NOW I KNOW)

Also I wanted to get a 3D image with my cat but she was having none of it. So a normal picture will have to do.

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Photograph:

In Maya:

EXTRA CREDIT!

Photograph:

In Maya:

Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

one point

two points

three points!

Building a Scene in Maya

Second Term Paper

No term paper is being submitted

Also for your viewing pleasure. My cat blocking my view of a movie:

Second outline

I – Introduction

a.       Hypothesis: Newton’s first three laws of motion are broken constantly in the movies, often during climatic scenes, to heighten the drama. The dramatic law of suspension of disbelief is used to the maximum during these scenes, so that we, as the audience do not notice, or care.

II – BODY

1 – THE DARK KNIGHT

a.       The scene in which Bruce(as batman) jumps out of a sky scraper to rescue Rachel Dawes, and then they plummet that entire distance, only to land on a nice cushiony car. They probably should have broken every bone in their body. There was hardly any attempt to simulate anything close to a “slow down” from their terminal velocity

2 – SPIDER-MAN 2

a.       During the climactic train battle, this law is broken several times. First, when Spiderman is thrown off the train and then lands on it again. He left the inertia of the train, he should fall forward dragged along for more than that very exact landing. Spider powers or not

3 – MULAN

a.       The Avalanche scene. There are several things wrong here. Lemme break them all down:

a.       After Mulan falls of a cliff on Khan with Shang in tow, she shoots an arrow which (magically) lands in Yao’s hands.

b.      If that arrow and that rope were somehow made of steel and could actually hold Mulan, Khan, AND Shang’s weight, it should rip Yao’s arms right out of his sockets as soon as their weight kicked in.

c.       For that matter, the rope should rip Khan straight in half given the fact that he was possibly travelling close to terminal velocity at that point.

III – CONCLUSION

a.       Movies take advantage of our suspension of disbelief at climatic moments, and proceed to break Newton’s laws in 20 different types of ways. But we do not care.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

This animation was a two person task! I was stuck on what to do for the longest time when I was discussing it with a friend, and decided on someone stealing batman's cookies. I quickly storyboarded out the shots I wanted to do and estimated the timing of each shot. The friend (who is not an SJSU student) helped me with some of the trickier shots, such as the thief lowering from the ceiling. That particular rig was a Frankenstein's combination of several different items, a cat toy, a string from my pajama pants and, of course, a person to operate the entire rig. The friend also served as a cat deterrent, which was needed several times during the shoot. After I got all the pictures I needed, I opened up Adobe Premiere and put it together in there.

The important lesson here is, don't steal Batman's cookies.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

CLIP A

CLIP B

CLIP C

CLIP D

And a big thanks to Tobias MacKenzie who helped me make a complete fool out of myself (while being a fool with me) to make these clips happen :D

First Term Paper

Why It's Okay That Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Makes Not One Damn Lick of Sense

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a great movie to study if one was interested in the exaggerated effects of animation and just how physics are bent in order to create an interesting an entertaining world for the viewer. The science in this movie is completely unrealistic and exaggerated; this is to create a dynamic and cartoony world. A world where the characters are free to move about in just as exaggerated fashions, without the audience thinking the characters are being seriously injured or hurt. The movie utilizes this through many different concepts, three of them are exaggerating body proportion and path of action, an inconsistent application of weight and gravity, and food is given supernatural abilities or properties. In this essay I hope to point out just how these are utilized in the movie, and how they benefit the story telling.

Body proportions are shifted beyond the natural allowance of squash and stretch; it goes beyond imitating motion blur or helping to exaggerate a natural movement, this exaggeration veers right into the territory of breaking bones completely, bending entire skulls, and just breaking the human body in general. There are countless examples of this in the movie but I will try to narrow it down to a few key scenes which exemplify this nicely. Flint’s facial animation, for the most part, breaks his skull, and bends his head into odd shapes. 

 This is to give a more appealing shape and to fit the composition of the scene more. It can even serve the comedy of a scene; for example, when Sam sits down at the dock and lets her feet fall off the side; her feet actually go INTO Flint’s eyes. 

This creates a ballooning effect, which would happen with a water balloon, but not your eyes. Please don't try that at home. Another scene of eyes being thrown off in a way that is not anatomically possible is when Flint has to “look his father in the eye”, and both of his eyes veer off in different directions, with radical facial expressions. This is played up for comedy and laughs, pushing what the feeling of being stared down by your parents in reality is like or even when you are trying to gain a truthful response from someone. There is also a sense of asymmetry to every frame of the movie, despite if it is shot from a distance or a close up of a character’s face. The character’s faces being “off” helps to hold the attention of the audience and create a more appealing picture to look at. Even a character like Sam Sparks, who is not nearly as pushed in most of her scenes, is given a slight asymmetry, much more delicately though.

In contrast to the subtle asymmetry of faces, A scene where the pushing bodies beyond physical limits becomes painfully obvious is when Flynn is holding on to the FLDSMSFR and flying across screen in slow motion. His knees are bent to the breaking point while his  legs are stretched far beyond physical limits, as well as his entire head being stretched and squashed into an “unnatural” position. His eye sockets are positioned and shaped specifically for this scene, so that both could be seen and readable to the audience.

However, it fits with the rest of the movie in such a way that the audience does not question it, you are not thrown off by the fact that his face is twisted out of proportion or his legs are broken, it is following the rules of the universe, which is pushed shapes, yet holding the same mass, so the characters are still identifiable. This twisting of anatomy beyond possibility with more characters from Cloudy is when burgers start raining from the sky and all of the townsfolk are shown turn towards the camera in a classic “Steven Spielberg” stare. Each stare becomes more ridiculous and exaggerated, pushed beyond the limits of an actual human body.

 This, in a small way, helps push the idea that burgers can actually rain from the sky, because if the people can be so pushed, who can say that food will not fall from the sky? In contrast, this breaking of body limits and proportion is not just limited to quick shots. An example of a more extreme and long term effect is the  huge growth that the Mayor goes through, who wanted to be “big”. He goes from being smaller than most of the other characters, to the biggest character by far. 

This happens in a short amount of time, and is a rare example of a character’s mass changing completely, however this complete change in mass helps the audience understand that not much more of this movie is going to follow basic rules of science. This just helps solidify the cartoony world being built, establishing that violence or extreme actions do not have to be taken too seriously; So when characters live through seemingly impossible situations we, as an audience, do not question it.

Another feature of the Cloudy animation is the inconsistent application of weight and density and how a character’s weight will relate to that. Granted this is something which is not “easy” to tell given that the characters in Cloudy are pushed to the extreme in design. Flint Lockwood looks to be about above average height, but weigh as much as a preteen girl given how skinny he is, even compared to the other people in town. But this does not change the fact that he is able to inexplicably carry, throw, hold, and maneuver large objects, the same with the rest of the townspeople. The first example would be the “snowball” scene, where it had just “snowed” ice cream on the town and Flint decides to throw snowballs. He enters into full-terminator mode able to chuck the snowballs at a velocity which seems, impossible given the size and mass of an average snowball, even if it was made of ice cream. 

They seem to have the impact of a paintball gun pellet, which is impossible given the fact that the balls are also being thrown by a human being and not a gun in any way shape or form. This, again, is for comedy;  if this was taken out of context and given the proper music, this could be a horror sequence, but given the other scenes given to us in this move, instead it is a light hearted moment. A quicker instance of this occurring happens when Flint is first hiding the FLDSMSFR from Earl in one of the earlier scenes, he holds it behind his back to keep it away from prodding eyes. And yet he is not putting his weight into holding it at all, the machine is treated, weight wise, as if it was made out of Styrofoam, or another equally light material. 

Granted this could be the case, but given the fact that we see that it has a computer in it with a monitor, as well as the fact that it conducts electricity well so it must be made out of a material at least similar to a type of metal, it cannot be that light. Really, this scene would have been greatly hindered if the laws of science had been obeyed exactly. There would just simply not be as much comedy if Flint did not have to keep track of both Earl in front of him, as well as try to keep this huge and obvious object hidden behind him. And the suspense of the scene would have been lost as well, each piece of this shot is like a domino piece, ready to be pushed over, and the audience is waiting to see which one goes first. Another scene, at the climax of the movie, in which the laws of science are thrown out a window and then laughed at as they plunge all the way to the ground, is the scene in which Earl has to save his family as the foodavalanche comes crashing down into the town. Earl not only manages to lift his entire family on a gigantic peanut butter and jelly sandwich with pizza slice sails—one must also take in note his wife was also helping him lift this boat not a moment before—but once he crashes through a gigantic Dortitos chip, his wife lifts him up, in mid-air, and helps him back flip on to the boat. To say it is difficult to know where to begin with this one small sequence is an understatement. First off, the boat feels as if it weighs as much as an awkwardly sized cardboard box with some books in it given how easily Earl is able to maneuver and fight through the foodavalanche with it.

 He does not even break a sweat after it is all said and done. And there is also fact that his wife is able to lift him up in midair, this action is ignoring several simple concepts, such as weight shift, the path of action and the law of inertia. If Earl is the character who is motivating the boat forward, and his wife is a “part” of the boat, how is she able to lift him up so easily, and why does Earl not continue to move forward, through the boat? His path of action makes it seem as if he is moving from a position where he is simply standing on the ground, not flying through the air. In short, this scene makes no sense, but it is so completely ridiculous that the audience does not care. 

Earl has repeatedly ignored the rules of science, his insane flips, run cycles, and general way of movement were grounded in even less reality than everyone else. In order to save his entire family, we expect him to break those laws even further.

Finally, there is the food in Cloudy, arguably the antagonist in the last third of the movie. Not just in a metaphorical sense, but a very real physical sense. At first, it is quite benign, as cheeseburgers fall from the sky, they are able to be snatched without much effort. Granted a falling cheeseburger does not have much mass or weight, so if one did fall and hit an actual human being on the street, it would probably hurt and be quite alarming, but it would not be fatal. Yet in Cloudy, they seem to fall as if they had the air resistance of paper.

 This strange supernatural, near floating ability also applies to most other food in the beginning. Even the ice cream falls and accumulates into huge scoops on the roofs of, what look to be, standard built houses, without any cave ins or any other ill effects. These same foods fall, in the beginning, without causing the secondary types of damage to human tissue, such as burns with hot food or even frostbite with colder foods. This does change after Swallow Falls re-opening as Chew and Swallow. A huge spaghetti tornado forms, to start with, and while that is completely impossible given the amount of winds and suction needed to create such a perfectly formed tornado of spaghetti is something which would be entirely destructive on its own, the food after this point becomes impossibly more destructive on its own as well. Granted, Flint is able to navigate in and around the tornado in some of the most ridiculous parkour I ever seen, however this is lamp shaded by even the animators themselves as Flint just shrugs in disbelief at what he was just able to do. 

On top of all of this, much of the food gains sentience. The pizza “drones” guarding the mother ship, the gummi bears which try to fight Steve, and the chickens who Brent eventually joins with. Unless that food was given robotics, nanobots, or somehow given a soul by the FLDSMSFR, I highly doubt that any of this is possible in real life. My science is not exact, but I believe it to be sound.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs makes no sense at all, whatsoever, in any sense of the word. It breaks the rules of science more than follows them, it then proceeds to tap dance on its corpse by breaking them even further, and honestly, I would not have this movie any other way. It is a fun movie, where even with high stakes and family drama, the audience can breathe free because it does not take itself serious. Breaking all of these laws does not detract from the movie at all, they aid in the story telling and mood, creating an environment so very similar to older cartoons like Looney Toons. While this may drive any scientist who takes themselves way too seriously insane, this movie proves to be an amazing experience to the casual viewer over all.

Term Paper outline - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

that extremely awkward moment when you go to look up outline examples and the first one is for the movie you chose. I DONT WANT TO STEAL YOUR PAPER FIONA. DANGIT.

I – Introduction
a. Hypothesis: The science in this movie is completely unrealistic and exaggerated, this is to create a dynamic and cartoony world. One where the characters are free to move about in just as exaggerated fashions, with out the audience thinking the characters are being seriously injured or hurt.

II – Body
I one – body proportions shifted beyond the natural allowance of squash and stretch, breaking bones and skeletons, exaggerating paths of action a. flints face animation. Period. His face is bent into a more appealing shape, defying how an actual skull can be bent. His eye sockets change in size considerably. Eyes face away from each other. He gets two feet STUCK in them at one point (Looking his father in the eye scene, at the docks, etc) b. Asymmetry pushed in every facial animation in general. One eye will be a circle, the other pushed into a more oval shape, mouths will be off center c. flying across with the FLDSMDFR – body is pushed into noodles d. the Steven Spielberg gasp scene. Where everyone sees the hamburger cloud for the first time. e. the mayors body growth, as well as just the amount he is able to shove into his mouth in general f. electrocution scene. The pushed proportions of that scene alone
Ii two – inconsistent application of weight and density and character's strength (rather, exaggerated strength)
a. SNOWBALL!! scene. The ice cream snowballs have the impact of a paintball gun pellets, not just scoops of ice cream b. Flint hiding his machine from Earl. Moves it around as if it’s made of styrafoam, not metal as it's shown to be by it's conductivity of electricity c. Earl carrying his entire family on a bread boat, and then being LIFTED on to that boat by his wife. Who is also on the boat (WHAT) d. An entire TV camera shoved into Sam’s face with no ill effects other than a silly face—twice e. "Out of Sight" launchers throw food in solid chunks together. Ignoring air resistance completely
Iii three – Food is given supernatural abilities or properties
a. While it’s destructive later on, it’s not until it mutates. Before all sorts of food falls with out causing any damage. i. Huge ice cream falls and accumulates with out causing structural damage ii. Hamburgers and other hot foods fall with out causing burns or general damage. Land in hands feather light b. Spaghetti tornado. Really? To top it off, it’s easily navigated by flint in the most ridiculous display of parkour I have seen c. Much of the food gains sentience? (Pizza, gummi bears, chickens) d. Water and radiation do not work like that. e. While the foodalanche crushes other buildings and even destroys concrete, it doesn’t crush flint’s father to death.
III – conclusion

This clear breaking of scientific laws don't detract from the movie at all, in fact they aid it in creating a fun film, very reminiscent of older cartoons such as Chuck Jones' work, Looney Toons, etc.

Quick question to the professor! Are we allowed to use blog posts from the creators/animators of the movie to help back up our thesis? I happened to find this amazing break down of a few of the scenes of animation in this, which really help support how much science was completely broken just to get the right feel for this film!

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

THE ANIMATION!

As for how I did it. I will provide images as well as writing a paragraph (because someone else needs to witness this silly contraption)

I had several markers, literally markers in every way. As in they marked where the objects needed to be at in any point in the animation. On the X axis and Y axis. I tried to make sure that they lined up relatively neatly with the "middle" of which ever object was falling.

And this was the "extended" tripod for my camera (My normal tripod is attached to the camera at this point. so you aren't able to see it.). The Wreck-It Ralph art book was used to weight down the camera and tripod so that it wouldn't move (more than it already did!!).

And finally the trouble maker. I had to throw her out of the room for interference purposes.

There were a few variables that I couldn't exactly control or I wasn't able to figure out how to fix in my timeframe. For example, the yellow light and how my camera couldn't figure out what white balance it wanted in the pictures. Frustrating and something I didn't realize was going on until I was already in Photoshop. I'll have to look at the settings of my camera more to understand how to fix this problem in the future.

As for the slight jitteryness. Unfortunately, the tripod had to be positioned in such a way that it was jarred slightly at times. These are all notes I'll take in consideration.

On that note, stop animation is insane, just this short little animation drove me half crazy.

Video analysis of path of action

cat was, once again, an annoyance. But i was not dissuaded. Also, teal scarf around my waist is to better track the center of my weight, not a fashion statement.

Tracker video analysis of falling

sorry for the cat interruptions. Unfortunately all bouncing balls are her territory.

Also, I do not recommend ping-pong balls for this assignment. They're so small they "stretch" a ridiculous amount, making them very hard to track.

Video Reference

also. for the curious, that is a mini T-Rex squishable, the only ball shaped thing I have in my apartment. (I could have used my cat but she would have complained too much)

Get one, they are awesome for reference taking.

Mini-Portfolio

Hi! I'm Naima Sawyer-Dymski. I'm FINALLY in the BFA and ready to graduate this semester. I'm concentrating in vizdev.... and I just hope to get a job at this point. I've been in this program for a while now, I think about 6 years... It feels longer and shorter all at once. So which classes have I taken? All of them. Except this class and the final BFA class. I did, however, deviate from the usual path and also took the 3D animation course to an advanced level instead of taking advanced modelling twice. I enjoyed it more than the modelling class. Outside the major my hobbies include sewing and dolls. I  used to have time for those things, but the major has sort of sucked all that up. 

Also, it's my birthday on Wednesday, January 30th. Which is why I am finishing this now. NO WAY AM I WORKING ON MY BIRTHDAY. Nothin' personal boss.

I look forward to your class!

The First Post

This is the first post i'm making for my course :D