Natural Selection

[is]Illusive description incoming.[/is]

A breakthrough in science has created a divide between the population. Plenty of figures have found themselves shutting their windows and locking their doors for safety. A witch hunt has developed. There are definitely bad guys, but every dark cloud has its silver lining.

Animation Theme:
Discovery Gone Wrong


Timeline:

02/01/2017 - Signed up for the comptetion, started thread.

03/01/2017 - Started shot concepts, style research, and storyboarding.

05/01/2017 - AEP started. Animatic underway.

08/01/2017 - Development for first scene is underway. Created a couple of assets and have started to develop a visual style too. Have also created an ability for one of the antagonists.

14/01/2017 - Have been doing a lot of here and there work on this, found some decent music for the intro, adjusted the initial shot and spent about an hour adjusting textures. Only need to animate and composite the first scene now, quite happy with how it looks. New Dev GIFs!

15/01/2017 - Animation, compositing, and more animation. Created a character, he is now the face and image of this project lol.

19/01/2017 - Created a running loop! Done some trial and error with some effects, been getting frustrated with poor results. Luckily I think I'm onto something with what I have now, but annoyed at wasted time. Putting a hold on storyboarding until I've finished animating what I've done so far. I think so that I'm still going in the same direction once animated, I always find that movements and character changes the overall feel of an animation.

25/01/2017 - Building up to the first fight. Went through a few editions of my running loop but I'm hoping now it can be reused throughout the animation. Added motion blur and some fancy effects to the latest scene. It looks great but unfortunately (for you guys) I won't be screen shotting it because of spoilers xD. Story is now fully developed, only changes to it now will be subtle on the fly depending on scene changes. Hoping to dive into the action next week, been a bit of build up and it's definitely ready for a change of pace now. Music choices are all sorted, just have to slot them into the right places. Stay tuned for screenshots and development next week.

29/01/2017 - Story has been adjusted slightly with how the discovery happens. Animation is roughly a minute in, I reckon in total the animation will span 3 and a half minutes.

03/02/2017 - Looking good going into the weekend. Currently animated 1570 frames. Hoping to achieve the basic movements and hopefully the first pass for the first fight of this animation by the end of the weekend. Gotta re-render the base files for the first 800 frames due to a slight technical hitch, should be fine that can go while i'm asleep.

05/02/2017 - Well, that was an eventful weekend. I didn't get nearly as much as I wanted to done in terms of actual content, but I did manage to go through a combat test. I've just got to composit it and see how it looks at 25fps, but other than that it's pretty much the same. Got some new content to come this week including potential weapons and locations. New Screenshot - We're in a lab boys....

13/02/2017 - Had a bit of a setback last week with personal issue + work ramping up. Hopefully looking to get more done this week. Almost out of the wet.

16/02/2017 - Happy birthday! (to me). Animated 100 frames, it's a cool shot though. I really need to get up to the discovery dammit.

01/03/2017 - Have been doing a lot of background work on this. Now in the new scene, which has been set up visually and just needs the first composit. Quite happy with progress but looking at a tight squeeze to hit the deadline. *fingers crossed*

04/03/2017 - Had a look a the first pass today. I.. am not all that happy with it, but definitely going to finish just so I can accomplish something and use it as a learning exercise for next time round. Hit 3750 frames today, might even add a new screenie towards the end of the weekend.

08/03/2017 - The end is in sight! On the last scene before the finale, and most animation for it is complete. It needs compositing and then just gotta do some pretty stuff for the final scene. Thread update with potential screenshot tonight. Don't really want to drop a spoiler though.

12/03/2017 - Looks like we're finished! Rendering out the whole sequence tomorrow, and going to do some finalising, fixing any issues and adding anything in I see fit. Sure there are parts i'm unhappy with, and if I had my time again I would definitely approach things differently. Exactly 5750 frames, 3 minutes 50 secs long. Hyped to see what it's up against now :)

12/03/2017 - Second entry for today, almost 24 hours apart mind. This entry is now complete.


Progress:

Idea	100%
Storyboard	100%
Animation	100%
Visuals	100%
Music	100%
Finalising	100%

Animation Complete

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Eyy we landed with 8th place (middle of the board), not too shabby since it was my first attempt at rigging and animating 3d characters :).

This hoe right here ;)

Thread update:

Added a development gallery on imgur, of which I will handpick my favorite images and screenshots to add into the thread.

Imgur development: http://imgur.com/a/8gj7c

Made plenty of progress on the style, started the first scene, storyboarded up to the end of the first scene.

Still no music.

Theme is pretty dark.

Some effects have been created and developed.

The fire looks great. Maybe you could add some shadows once you've finished. You did say you finished the a bit of the storyboard, could you give us some insight?(without totally spoiling the anim of course)

Quote from Sarcastic Guy

The fire looks great. Maybe you could add some shadows once you've finished. You did say you finished the a bit of the storyboard, could you give us some insight?(without totally spoiling the anim of course)

Since you asked so kindly!


New screenshot:


There is still a bit for me to do to this scene in post, but I've not finished the initial stages for it ye.

A breakthrough in science has created a divide between the population. Plenty of figures have found themselves shutting their windows and locking their doors for safety. A witch hunt has developed. There are definitely bad guys, but every dark cloud has its silver lining.


I hope that's enough to keep you interested. It's going great so far.

It looks great. I love what you're doing here. Can't wait to see what the final will look like :)

Made some pretty decent progress in my spare time this evening. My approach to this project has been pretty slow thus far, I can see myself getting more into it as it progresses though.

Found some decent music for the intro, adjusted the initial shot and spent about an hour adjusting textures. Only need to animate and composite the first scene now, quite happy with how it looks. Development gifs in imgur album.

This is why I miss competitions having an intermediate tier. I've got to compete with this XD
That's some exquisite detail. Quite intriguing even at this early stage.

Quote from Kursura

This is why I miss competitions having an intermediate tier. I've got to compete with this XD
That's some exquisite detail. Quite intriguing even at this early stage.

Well, I think the last time I was ranked as an animator I was deemed an intermediate. So you've got nothing to worry about :).

Thread update:

Been adjusting the story this week, and how the discovery actually happens. Been chopping music together and finishing off the first half of act 1. Roughly a minute into the animation now, things are going well.


Screenie for funzies, might get some more diverse screenshots soon, I realise there have been a lot of rain, grey, and red... lol...

Now I hate to double post, but progress is coming thick and fast at the moment. Trying to get as much done as I can so I can focus on finesse and polish towards the end of the deadline. We're in a new location boys! - Screenshot added



Sure it could do with a few additions, and don't expect that particular figure to be making and appearance, but this should be interesting.

annndd I thought it was 2D until I saw the imgur link :/ damn I like how you make the 3D looks like 2D 0:>

Very noice. Looking forward to the rain scene, but eager to see what you make out of this new location as well.

Quote from exceld

annndd I thought it was 2D until I saw the imgur link :/ damn I like how you make the 3D looks like 2D 0:>

Very Kind, thank you.

Quote from N T

Very noice. Looking forward to the rain scene, but eager to see what you make out of this new location as well.

Who knows, maybe i'll even get some volumetric light in there somewhere

Quote from power fuse0

Who knows, maybe i'll even get some volumetric light in there somewhere

That's awesome! Don't you have to have fog or dust particles for that?

Just under 1min30secs. Nearly at a new point in the animation, just gotta work this last shot from the current scene.

Happy screenshot day