Continue on WordPlay

Tonight I downloaded the demo version of Cinema 4D to play around. I feel like the software is not too hard to use but I still need some more time to get used to it and learn all the cool things that we can do in this program.

I was working on animating the word "FAST" today but there were some technical issue that I had during the process. One of the problem I had was that I couldn't make the object travel along the path. I searched for some tutorial video online but I didn't find any tutorial made specific for this topic, so I put that aside and started working on the word "SLOW" instead.

For "SLOW", I picked the wood texture for it and I made it slightly thinner than "FAST" because my intention to present "SLOW" is to make it looks more calm and organic. I want "SLOW" to imitate the movement of a worm.

While working on "SLOW", I have an idea of making the word coming out from the ground slowly at about half way through the path. When "FAST" starts coming down the path to the half way point, "SLOW" will start popping out from the ground. At this point, I'd like to pause "FAST" for a while as if it was curious to see what it was that has just come out of the ground, then I would make it race to the end of the path.

My idea for the story changed a bit from the beginning. I was going to just animate it simply by making "FAST" zoom in from the background and making "SLOW" travel slowly across the screen. Now my storyboard changed to something similar to the story of the hare and the tortoise.

FAST/SLOW

I started working on "FAST/SLOW" in class today. I created the word "FAST" with the new material applied on. Originally, I'd like the word to look similar to the font used on "Fast&Furious" logo but I couldn't find the exact font, so I chose Incised901 Ndlt BT font which looks closest to what I'm looking for.

I played around with the texture and the materials for a while before I got the right appearance. The final look of fast is meant to be metallic like a car texture. After adding color and texture to the word, I played around with the environment. The sky and the ground is added into the scene. Although I was having a hard time creating a path which I wanted it to represent a road or a path that "FAST" can travel through.

I asked some people for help on how to model the path but I didn't quite get it the way that I imagine it, so I think I would try again later when I have more time to work on it.

WordPlay Project

As I decided that I'd like to do the "WordPlay" project, I came up with a couple ideas of playing with "SOLID/LIQUID", "LIGHT/DARK" and "FAST/SLOW". As for the first pair, I want to present the process of "SOLID" being transformed into "LIQUID" by using a blending machine to break down "SOLID". "SOLID" will, then, be blended until it become smooth as in its liquid form.

For "LIGHT/DARK", I pictured the word "LIGHT" being toasted until it turned to "DARK".

Finally, for "FAST/SLOW", I'm planning to have the word "FAST" zooming in from the background while "SLOW" is crawling in slowly from the distance.

I started with "SOLID/LIQUID" but I was stuck during the process of modeling the blending machine and I couldn't animate "SOLID" the way that I pictured it in my head. I wanted the blender to cut "SOLID" into little pieces and in the mean time while "SOLID" is broken apart, I meant for the tiny pieces to start melting, so that by the time the blender stops, "SOLID" would be in liquid state.

The storyboard seemed like it would work but I guess I did not think my way through to when the word "LIQUID" will be shown in the scene. As I was working on this animation, I realized that when "SOLID" was already broken down and being transform into liquid substance, I missed the scene where "LIQUID" should be shown.

It made more sense to turn those small pieces of "SOLID" into liquid right after the word was broken down. But, when will "LIQUID" show up in the scene? It wouldn't make sense to reform the broken tiny bits of "SOLID" back into the word "LIQUID", then melt it later on.

So, I thought I would just move on to my last backup plan which is using the words "FAST/SLOW".

Method

Originally, I'd like to try creating my animation in 3D but after watching more and more videos, it sort of makes sense to me that creating a stop-motion video, using some cut out papers and clay, might be more interesting since I could also let the kids have fun during the production process.

However, at this point, I'm getting more worried about the project as it's taking longer for me to collect the drawings. My storyboard is supposed to be finished by now but I'd like to see the pictures that Jesse, the boy who drew an elephant from number "1", made for each number first.

Meanwhile, I'm taking this chance to catch up on Cinema 3D program to get more familiar with the interface. I'm very excited about the "word play" project that people start doing this week because I may want to use it for my typography animation later at some point.

Update on Thai numerals animation project

According to the results of the experiments that I did on different groups of kids, there was one result that I think I could use for my typographic animation. Unfortunately, I won't be able to collect all the drawings until the following week since the subject is not able to finish each drawing for all 9 numbers.

While waiting to collect the materials, I've been searching for more animation videos relating to typography and studying all types of stop-motion to help me decide which method I should be using to present this project.

Below are some of the videos that I really like, in terms of the story and the techniques used.

Continued from last week

This is what Thai numbers look like.

Yesterday, I did the similar test on a new group of children to collect some more ideas from different point of view. I followed the same research process but this time I asked the kids to come up with an idea that helps to make it easier for them to remember those Thai numerals that I showed them at the beginning. I also asked them to think about how they would relate those numbers to Asian culture. One of the boys pointed out that Thai numerals look a lot like written language from India which makes sense since Thai numerals follow the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. He related the culture to the appearance of each number by creating a simple drawing he thought representing such culture. For example; he made a simple drawing of an elephant starting with the loop in the number one character.

** This is the website that shows how to write Thai numerals. Note that all of the characters except "0" has loop which could be referred to as the character's head.



The results from the experiments that I did on the different groups of children vary depending on their perception and how much they relate themselves to the culture. Obviously, those who are more interested in Thai culture, link Thai numerals to Asian symbols such as elephant.

I'm interested in learning how each kid see each number and transform them into something that they're familiar with in order to help them memorize the characters easier.

1st step: gathering ideas from young audiences

I have a group of children who are very artistic and imaginative to be my experimental audiences.

The children were introduced to typography animation by viewing some typographic animation found on youtube and vimeo. Before showing them the videos, I had to explain to them about the idea of typography animation since it was not clear to them why we have to animate those letters or alphabets.

After watching the videos, I wrote down Thai numerals from 1 to 10 on a blank sheet of paper and asked them what they think about those numbers; what each one looks like and how they want those numbers to interact with each other. The children, then, started to doodle on around each number and sort of told me the stories in their own way. The result was quite random and unrelated although some of the idea was quite interesting.

Research on Typography Animation

I've did some research on typography animation and found a lot of interesting video related to this topic on vimeo. These are just some of the video that I like in terms the techniques they used to make the video.

Consciousness : HD Typography motion graphics: A motion graphics portraying the unconscious mind drifting into a dream state and finally coming to awareness within it.



Refraction - The Alphabet: Type is refracted through backlit signage lettering and images on iPhone.



An experimental typographic animation video:


During the research on my first week, I was concentrating on searching for as many sources as possible that provide information on typography. I took out a couple typography books from the library to see how designer play with type.

I came across this video about Chinese calligraphy vs. computer fonts which is an animation made to remind people not to rely on the computer tools excessively, as well as to cherish and protect the cultural calligraphy. This video reminds me of how Thai numbers are sort of forgotten nowadays. So, I have this idea of making an animation that is related to my language.