Flip from Little Nemo
Posted On: March 8, 2012
Nearing Completion
Posted On: September 23, 2011
I'm just about done with Episode 2 of The Adventures of Mr. Rat. I finished the last shot, and now I just have to wrap up the titles, and send it off to Jeremy to compose the music.
Flip Animated
Posted On: September 16, 2011
Here's a little demo GIF of the animated Flip. He'll be part of a bigger shot, but this was the first test of my new process.
Edit: I should also mention that the noise on the coloring is from the GIF compression. I just did it this way so that it would be easy to embed online. It won't be like that in the finished piece.
Flip from Little Nemo
Posted On: August 25, 2011
I'm starting to try out some animation on paper. It's not nearly as quick as working on the computer, but the precision and line quality is phenomenally better. I'm hoping this process will work out for me. If it does I'll do a post showing off my mobile animation rig.
Flip is a character from the Winsor McCay comic strip "Little Nemo". He's going to be featured in my next animation after I finish episode 2 of Mr. Rat. He's poking his head out from a hole in a wall in this shot. I haven't made the background for the shot yet.
Interactive Bait Ball
Posted On: August 4, 2011
Here is another example of my schooling fish and motion detection. It's going to be used in an interactive kiosk to talk about predators and prey, about the strategies used for protecting themselves, and the ones used to exploit those strategies.
You must have a webcam for this example to work, and it must be enabled, otherwise it might not look right. You can also view a larger version here. If it runs too slow then change the quality settings by right clicking.
Mr. Rat - Ep. 2 Shot Breakdown
Posted On: August 2, 2011
I'm getting close to finishing up episode 2 of The Adventures of Mr. Rat. Here's a quick breakdown of how I put my shots together. You'll notice that I changed some motion between the storyboards and the actual animation due to some on-the-fly decisions while I was animating (for better or worse).
Animation Backdrop of Mushroom Forest
Posted On: August 1, 2011
Here is an actual shot of what I want to do with the 3d CG mushrooms I posted before. After I finish this next episode of Mr. Rat I'm planning on doing another 30 second to 1 minute long hand drawn animation. The 3d mushrooms will be used as a bunch of the backdrops. I'm trying to go for more of a painterly feel with the style.
3d CG Mushroom Model
Posted On: July 29, 2011
Predator Prey Opening Title
Posted On: July 28, 2011
Here is a video of an opening title I'm working on for an interactive kiosk. The fish move based on an algorithm I wrote, it's not a pre-set animation. It's modified off of my webcam motion sensitive algorithm I've posted about previously which I've posted (and subsequently improved). This will play in Flash on the kiosk, but it might be fun to experiment programming animations for more traditional things.
Arapaima, Sea Nettle, and Crab Mural
Posted On: July 25, 2011
The mural is printed vinyl and PVC on vinyl for the gallery titles. I produced the actual artwork on paper with gouache, colored pencils, and ink. I then photographed it, and prepared it for digital printing. There was a bit of a change after I had finished all of the artwork when it was decided that there couldn't be an octopus in the piece. I swapped it out for the pictured sea nettle. You can see the original octopus graphic below as well as a shot of the in-progress graphic with my original graphite sketch overlaid in tracing paper.
Schooling Fish and Motion Detection in Flash
Posted On: March 31, 2011
Here's a little demo of an interactive exhibit kiosk I am working on using motion detection. This is the implementation of the swarming red dots example I posted previously.
Water Ripples in Flash
Posted On: February 15, 2011
Here's another little fun thing I've been programming. Move your mouse through the water's surface and click to interact with it. The artwork is really just filler graphics at this point.
Swarm Motion Control in Adobe Flash
Posted On: February 11, 2011
There are lots of examples on the web of people doing motion detection in Flash. Here's my own script to add to the mix. It's for an interactive kiosk, but I figured I'd share the base code as it's pretty fun to play around with. You can download the code here. I'm releasing it under the Creative Commons Share Alike license. If you use it please include a credit line and a link back to my site.
The method for actually detecting the motion has been pretty well documented, but the part that stumped me was how to decide where the dots would go to once a motion collision was detected. The biggest issue with the motion detection is that it detects the edge of the motion, not the entire moving object. Thus it's hard to figure out where exactly the dots will flee. My solution was to create an animated point that would rapidly swim around the stage. Once a motion collision was detected the dots would begin to "flee" towards that swimming dot. This gives the illusion that the dot is trying to escape from you.
My end product is going to be a bunch of schooling fish so you can see how I'm trying to get their behavior to mimic that.
Motion Detection in Flash
Posted On: February 9, 2011
Most of the time I can't share what I'm working on while programming as there is nothing really visual to show. This little test that I'm working on is pretty cool though.
Robot Model Continued
Posted On: February 6, 2011
