In this semester Folio1, I made some different brain animation based on the weekly theme. But based on the rubric in Folio1, I made improvements in Folio2. I set goals for myself. Use AN to create MG animations each week to respond to the weekly theme. Before this semester, I used AN's technique and stayed in simply moving the object position, size, and rotation to add keyframes to create the animation. But this semester I hope I can use other features of the software and try more other ways to create these animations' movements. Because I always have trouble with timing in animation, using the most basic add keyframe animation makes my work look less coherent and smooth. So this semester I hope I can use the features of the software or some programming formulas to assist my animations. My favorite way was the first week and the last week. The first week I used particle effects in a way that imitated the feeling of drops with particles. This opened up a new way of thinking for me. In the last week I set myself a goal and actually struggled a lot with the way to make it. But in the end, I was able to use path tracing and reverse keyframing to complete the animation I had set for myself. In week 10 when I was working on the bubble rising animation, I was thinking about the steps to make it. I usually get distracted by the production steps. So I wrote down the adjustments line by line, which allowed me to think more clearly. In conclusion, I am thankful that this semester's IOL course has brought me many gains and made me examine many inadequacies to improve.

In response to this week's iteration of the theme, I went back to the ball movement I created last week (WEEK10). My goal was to create an animation of a small ball moving horizontally.

To make it more difficult I set the concept of lateral to mountains. I made a GIF of a ball climbing a mountain.

I finally made this animation by practicing path tracing again and again. And added the pattern of object movement, so that the speed of the ball climbing changes. The speed decreases when the ball is climbing up and increases when the ball is falling.

Reflection At first the ball was linked to one part of the wave and moved to the right along with the wave. After some adjustments, I made the ball stay in the center of the screen but ebb and flow with the wave. I achieved the animation I wanted. In order to make the animation look clearer, I adjusted the colors to black and white.

How to create animations that conform to the laws of animation movement with AE is what I want to study this semester. In response to this week's theme, I reviewed the problems I encountered with the animation motion patterns in week8 and week9.

In week8, I did not create the dynamics of the ball changing shape as it fell from a high place. In this week I made this animation. And adjusted the motion curve to reduce the effect of the ball about the gravitational force.

In week9, I didn't make small bubbles for the drink. The bubbles in the drink are not rising in a straight line. So in order to organize the production logic clearly, I made the bubbles in steps.

1. The bubble rises in a straight line

2. Add curves to the straight line

3. Adjust the bubble size based on this: small-large-small

Reflection

• During this week I created two extra animations for the mistakes I made before, in order to organize the logic of making these dynamics clearly. The motion rules ensure that the movement of the objects in the animation is smooth and fluid. This makes the viewing experience more comfortable. It also enhances the viewer's immersion in the animation time.
• This week I created these two animations using the traditional method, which broke my prejudice about the traditional way. At some point the traditional approach also has realistic and coherent motion representation.

In response to this week's theme of still moments. I re-challenged the animation of pouring drinks that I made this semester for WEEK2.

I was inspired by the fact that there are a lot of bubbles when pouring a coke/beer. Maybe after pouring a whole glass, there will be half a glass of bubbles. And if you don't pay attention to how fast the bubbles are rising there is a good chance they will flow outside the glass.

For WEEK2 I created this animation using the traditional hand-drawn method. I chose to draw a close-up of the bubbles as they filled the cup. However, due to the frame rate, I didn't make good use of the pauses, so the whole animation didn't look very clear. In WEEK9, I recreated this animation using AE. And added the still time when the drink is poured. It left the suspense. The bubbles only flowed out of the glass quickly in the end.

Reflection This week's theme got me thinking about the significance of stillness for the camera. With stillness, the viewer can linger on a key moment or scene, giving them time to see, think and feel. This can add tension and emotional resonance to the story. It allows the audience to better understand and connect to the plot in the story.

Opposite :shadow/light

I used the opposites of shadow and light to create a MG animation. I was inspired by the seesaw. I used the seesaw to simulate the sunrise and sunset of the sun and the moon. As the sun rises and sets, the color of the background changes from light to dark.

In this animation I practiced how to make color changes using AE.

During the production I found that the speed of the sun and the moon sitting on the warp to the sun and the moon bouncing up to the sky is not the same. I had a hard time controlling both speeds.

Reflection:

While making this animation, I realized that I still had many questions about the laws of object movement in animations made with AE.

For example:

1. There is no shape change when the sphere falls on the warp.
2. The speed of the sphere rising and falling is also different.
3. In the first version, the speed of the seesaw and the speed of the sphere did not match, resulting in the sphere bouncing up before the seesaw fell.

I eventually made them look more natural through constant adjustments.

Technical matters

When I use AE and go to change the keyframe path to animate a shape change, I usually take a long time to adjust the changes and the corresponding timing. Even then I can't get the animation to do very much in line with the animation motion.

Question In AE, how to make the melting dynamics look smoother and more in line with the laws of motion?

Assumptions

1.Adjust the jogging curve of object movement.

2.Calculate time and frame rate

Solutions

I reversed assumption 1: adjust the jogging curve. I discarded the traditional way to adjust the shape path of the object. I ended up using the particle effects in AE to create the feeling of particles falling to simulate melting. This way looks smoother and is more efficient and accurate than manually adjusting the frame rate. And I used this method to create the opening animation of the video for folio2.

I used this approach to create the Folio2 credits. First I used the Particle plugin to add some particle glow effects to the text background. Then I created a mask for the text. In this mask I drew some colored lines and then used a turbulence displacement effect to make them look like they were flowing. The colors stayed from the top and finally dripped down. This method is more natural and random than the previous way I drew the drops one by one and hit the keyframe with the position to create the drops falling.

https://youtu.be/eiq7pDKrr2I

Aim:

This week, I hope to create some interesting loop animations by combining sound and non-human elements, while also experimenting with how these elements can convey a sense of loneliness.

Key words:

light and shadow, sound, loop animations.

Process:

First, I selected three sets of sound materials. The first set was the sound of a cat purring. The second set was the sound of a television. The third set was the sound of switches clicking.

I then created a loop animation with the sound of a cat purring.

Next, I drew a bedroom and thought about how to convey loneliness. While watching TV at night, I noticed the shadows cast by objects on the table. I decided to focus on the dynamic interplay of light and shadow, using the changing channels on the TV to depict a lonely and bored person.

Finally, I tried to combine the two animations and added a reaction from the cat to the sound of the TV turning off.

Reflection:

This time, I tried to use non-human objects like cats, light and shadow, and furniture to convey a sense of loneliness. This was a useful experiment for me, as I am not good at drawing non-human objects. I hope to have more opportunities in the future to explore the dynamics of light and shadow, which is very interesting.

Final：

https://youtu.be/6bds-FRuNnI

Aim:

How to adjust timing to make character movements smoother and explore how to use dynamics to create a lonely atmosphere in loop animations.

Key words:

Loop animation, timing, atmosphere, loneliness, movement.

Process:

For this project, I took inspiration from a child swinging alone in a park during dusk, which looked very lonely. This fit well with my theme of lonely characters.

• In Test 1, I started by drawing the swing and tried to adjust its timing to make it look more realistic. I studied how the part of the swing held by the hand should be represented.
• In Test 2, I adjusted the timing of the swing's motion, extending the number of frames in which it stops at the two highest points and the lowest point of its swing. This made the swing's rhythm more natural than in Test 1.
• In Test 3, I focused on studying the direction of the character's leg and hair movements.

Reflection:

In this experiment, I tried to focus more on expressing character movements. I found that creating a natural and simple movement is actually very difficult. I tried to use slow in and slow out to make the animation more in line with expectations. This has motivated me to continue exploring the effects of the 12 principles of animation in future experiments.

https://youtu.be/_6giQfMxSaA

Aim:

How to effectively use loop animation to express the feeling and atmosphere of loneliness through color, texture, and motion.

Process:

In the three tests, I aimed to express the moods of leisure, loneliness, and sadness, respectively, through loop animations that change color from daytime to evening to nighttime.

• In test 1, I wanted to convey the relaxed mood of a girl daydreaming during the daytime because I often daydream when I am alone. I used elongated shapes and some dot-like creatures to represent thoughts that drift away from the brain.
• In test 2, I created a girl sitting in the dusk. As I felt that the lonely state of the girl in test 1 was not clearly expressed, I had the girl sit alone in front of a window, remaining motionless. I attempted to use the swaying of the trees to represent the wind and the feeling of loneliness. I also added textures to the background that were not present in test 1.
• In test 3, I continued to use the same textures and techniques as in test 2. I wanted to express a lonely night in this loop animation, so I combined the ideas from test 1 and used the moon or pearl to represent tears. I adjusted the timing in test 1 to slow down the opening and closing of the eyes because the slow closing of the eyes could create a calm atmosphere. Therefore, in test 3, I continued to focus on the animation rhythm of the eyes and the speed of the pearl dropping.

Reflection:

In my attempts to express loneliness and solitude through color, texture, and motion, I found that slow motion was more effective in conveying loneliness.