A room full of stuff

[Rodney]

This topic is a place holder for Rodney Sirratt.

He'd like to build of room full of stuff.

So would I.

 

What kind of room would you like to make Rodney?

What kind of stuff do you want to fill the Room with?

[rodney sirratt]

well I would like to know how to build a room first

[Rodney]

well I would like to know how to build a room first

 

That is a very reasonable place to start.

 

Lengendary Disney Animator (and creator of Betty Boop) Grim Natwick was known to say about the art of animation, "Its all in the Timing... and in the Spacing". Building a room demonstrates how we can master spacing even before we begin to animate.

 

Exercise 2 of The Art of Animation:Master appropriately places emphasis on Staging. (It even includes the stage!)

Its within the confines of the three dimensional space in front of a Camera or Audience that our Actions will take place.

Activities outside this area are of less interest to us than what we see on the stage.

Its here that our Actors will live and relate.

 

Let us assume then that in Act 1 of a play all the activities take place in one room.

 

Can you describe the room in any way?

[steve392]

Large dingy room with old furniture and fittings a large old brick fireplace

[Rodney]

Large dingy room with old furniture and fittings a large old brick fireplace

 

Are you sure you are looking at the same room Rodney is looking at?

His room seems to be a whole lot more empty than that at the moment.

I don't think the stagehands have moved anything in yet.

[steve392]

A little over keen Rodney ,sorry

[Rodney]

A little over keen Rodney ,sorry

 

Hey, no problem Steve. The more the merrier!

[Rodney]

Building a room is much like building anything... it helps to have a plan.

 

A plan can be defined as:

 

plan (plural: plans)

noun

 

A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing

1. A set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal.
   
2. A 2-dimensional drawing of usually of a building or room as seen from above with obstructions or irrelevant details such as ceiling or roof removed to reveal the internal layout.
   

All of these definitions fit our purposes as they help us plan your room.

The 2D view you most likely will want to work in in Animation:Master will be the Top View (another name for a Plan View).

 

In Animation:Master you can important a drawing as a rotoscope or you can draw right on top of the grid.

 

Here is a quickly created floor plan/ground plan of a series of adjoining rooms.

You can see in the second image that I've imported it into A:M and stretched it a little to make it wider.

Also note that I clicked on the little hand icon in the Project Workspace to make it unpickable.

This way we won't accidentally adjust our plan.

 

You can find a lot of room plans online.

Or create a few of your own: http://www.smallblueprinter.com/sbp.html

 

So, first we have an idea or a purpose.

Next we develop our plan.

[Rodney]

When constructing any room its important to consider the purpose.

What will it be used for?

Is it a living room?

A kitchen?

A bedroom?

Who lives in that room?

What would they use it for?

 

In 'Tin Woodman of Oz' the production crew was fortunate enough to have Alain Desrochers and others sketch plans for buildings and rooms the characters from the movie would live in.

 

Here is a plan view of Nimmie Amee's Cabin by Robert Taylor.

Nimmie's cabin has the benefit of being many rooms all combined together in one place.

This made a very convenient setting for the characters in the movie.

 

While the designs of Nimmie's cabin did change along the way toward a finished movie the initial plan was essential in defining and refining it.

[agep]

Hi Rodney

Why not just build your office, or the room you are at when using A:M. That way you got all the reference you need within an arms reach:)

Thats what I did when I tried to model interior.

[Rodney]

Wow Stian. I've seen that image before but thought it was a photograph.

That is completely off the hook.

 

Now that... that is a room full of stuff.

And that stuff is pure magic mixed with extreme patience and talent.