stickman and Anime Studio live action animation

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:01 pm

I have been working on a camera rig and lighting to try and come up with a convincing transformation from ink and paper to Anime Studio.

Before I start animating the stickman and adding props, I would like to know how convincing the transformation from ink to AS looked to you.

Did the background look the same before and after I switched?

Does the line weight/color look the same?

When I do this animation It will have to be done in one take and I will have to time every thing perfect as my arm will be in the video making hand gestures to the stickman in responses to his expressions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvwi_68JDpA

Thanks

Stephen

neeters_guy · Post by **neeters_guy** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:36 pm

Looks good to me. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:18 pm

Thanks neeters_guy

It is a night mare trying to match up the ink from my pin to a line in AS. I have to preview it each time I make a change; opacity, brush jitter, brush spacing, layer blur. But I think I got It down now and can get it close in just a few minutes.

I have recorded a scene where a stick man reacts to my hand motions and picks up a ball and dunks it in a basket.

Its not easy trying to act and react to an imaginary character.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:22 pm

Here is the 1st 38 seconds of the 90 second short. I still have 50 or so seconds of me drawing the rest(the basket and the ground).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7pyQsFAqF8

Stephen

lwaxana · Post by **lwaxana** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:55 am

Wow, that is cool! The character interaction is really convincing and helps the audience suspend disbelief. The only odd spot is that the first few animated frames are a little bit jerky as the character comes to life.

When you posted the test footage of drawing the stick figure, I was thinking of this video I saw recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc I had been thinking about how the drawing motion almost looks like an animated layer trail with the hand holding the marker being photos in a switch layer. And that might be a cool way to "draw" the character. But now that I see that your set up has this great interaction, the layer trail thing is a moot point. :) Just thought I'd bring it up anyway as a semi-related technique. lol Very nice work!

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:35 am

Thanks lwaxana

I think my elbow hit the tripod as I pulled the paper off. The next one I do I will rig up the camera like a floor lamp where it arches over me. This set up was a tripod set up on my desk with the camera facing down and I had to draw trying not to hit the legs.

2ner · Post by **2ner** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:36 am

Your technique looks good, except for that hiccup where he comes to life. I assume that's a ball you draw for him, but the way he picks it up makes it look like a ring.

Nice animation. I like the finger snap. You should have a squeaky marker sound when you're drawing.

This reminds me of a Disney show I saw on TV with Walt interacting with Mickey. I've seen something similar done a couple of other times as well. It's always fun to watch the interaction between artist and creation and there are so many possibilities.

Looking forward to the finished product.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:35 pm

Thanks 2ner, lwaxana

I was not happy with the ball either. Also your suggestions about the marker sounds is a great idea and I will add some and also add some kind of noise for the stickmnan; maybe a Mr. Bean style.

I have been looking close at the hiccup that's pointed out and I am not sure what is being seen so I scrubbed through the time line and recorded it. Please point out what exactly you are seeing.

Thanks

Stephen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqS6IJPqBLE

lwaxana · Post by **lwaxana** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:39 pm

I think it was the difference in pose. It looks like moving those key frames to a later position has fixed it. :D

neeters_guy · Post by **neeters_guy** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:57 pm

It's subtle, but does the shadow on the left shift suddenly when the stickman starts to move? Also, maybe the stickman could pause and anticipate before he kicks out his foot?

Still it's a pretty cool experiment.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 6:19 pm

Thanks lwaxana, neeters_guy

I think I can salvage the animation but as far as the shadow on the left goes I can't do anything about it unless I redo the entire shot.

The more I think about it the more I want to start over. It would only take a few hrs to recreate everything. And this time I can get one of my kids to pull the paper off the stack of paper while my hands are still in camera view. Also the tripod setup I am using now on the desk gives me no room to work and if I bump the camera the shot is ruined.

Again, thanks for the tips and I hope in a few days I will have an improved version.

Stephen

lwaxana · Post by **lwaxana** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 6:33 pm

I actually think the tripod bump helps to integrate the stick figure's world and animator's world even more because the stick figure moves with the paper.

sbtamu · Post by **sbtamu** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:19 pm

Here is something I did today taking into account the tips I got from this thread. Please point out any tech. stuff to help me make a more real stick man live action animation.

I added a pause when he comes alive.
I added some pen noises.
I tried to eliminate shadows.

I hope you get a laugh from this.

I really love making this type of animation.

Stephen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOb0AdyAL3E

neeters_guy · Post by **neeters_guy** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:54 pm

Aww, poor stickdude.

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:47 am

Hehe, it's very nice! thanks for sharing.
You could try with a less intense red for the mouth (maybe not red at all to maintain the stickman style), it really loses the paper look when that read appear.
Maybe instead of read you should try with an anticipation for the mouth in profile, like a pacman mouth, then a fast close and all the same shaking animation (which is one of my favourite parts).
When it's dead you could try with a more organic shape, maybe some chaotic lines or the character all broken. The current grey shape looks too vectorial.