A story not told is a sad story indeed

[fae_alba]

 

I had been working on this story since before Halloween. In the beginning I felt it should be an easy one to pull off. The original concept contained no human actors, so the animation should be easy, simple sets so that should be easy, short story so no time would be required. Well, that's not really how it worked out. The first script felt too light to properly convey the story I envisioned. Characters were needed, humans. A deeper plot was needed to create a back story. No worries, I had some models built a while ago, not rigged very well, but it should do. So I soldiered on. I thought that I could jump right into the choreography, skip story boards, skip the animatic. Wrong again. Even though I knew the story, even though I was the only one working on the project, I found that it became a very real struggle in building a scene and keeping the pacing consistent from one cut to another, and in hind sight storyboards and animatics would alleviate that problem.

 

So lesson learned. Do it right, no shortcuts, and give myself the time to do a quality project. I still want to tell this story, but I may take a break from it, clear my head on something else, then revisit the story in a month or so.

[robcat2075]

I know the feeling. Something have a funny way of looking easier from the beginning.

 

Don't feel like it's a tragedy, it's a bump and you'll recover from it.

[markw]

Yes, what Robert said!

And not finishing it in time would only have been a tragedy if you had learnt nothing from the experience but actually you'v learnt a ton of stuff, some of which your probably not even consciously aware of yet. And all that will feed back into the next project.

And the other good news is that I hear they're planning on having another Christmas around this time next year too, so I shall look forward to seeing this project again then!

[fae_alba]

Yes, what Robert said!

And not finishing it in time would only have been a tragedy if you had learnt nothing from the experience but actually you'v learnt a ton of stuff, some of which your probably not even consciously aware of yet. And all that will feed back into the next project.

And the other good news is that I hear they're planning on having another Christmas around this time next year too, so I shall look forward to seeing this project again then!

 

Yes! You mean this Christmas thing is a regular occurrence?!?! Oh Happy Days!

 

Lessons Learned from this project can be summarized like so:

 

1) always run a project like, well, a project. Set up requirements, expectations, timelines and the steps needed to get to completion.

2) a completed script is needed

3) story boards are needed

4) animatics are needed

5) well rigged models are needed (may seem like a silly requirement but I tried using a model I had only partially rigged, and it was a nightmare

6) honestly, even though we like to think we can do it all by ourselves, that simply is not so. Help is needed.

 

I always hope/plan/expect that anything I do is "broadcast" ready. That is an awful high standard, but I am a perfectionist, and that often gets a lot of projects sent to the scrapheap around here because they don't measure up for me.

 

Another lesson, perhaps the harshest one learnt so far: I am not an artist. While I can do basic animation, I cannot breath the life into a character the way I'd like to. I can come up with the stories, write the scripts, produce/pay for the production; but the work that makes the folks watching go "wow", is beyond me I fear. So for Pappa Bear Studios to do what I want it to do, I need talent, can't do it by myself.

 

I need a plan!

[Shelton]

Paul

 

It is good to step back and get the plan realized. I get this more than you realize. Keep going, you might be surprised of what you "will" be able to do!

 

Steve

[robcat2075]

5) well rigged models are needed

 

The daunting thing about CG is the number of things you have to have "done" before you can "start"

[fae_alba]

5) well rigged models are needed

 

The daunting thing about CG is the number of things you have to have "done" before you can "start"

 

"Getting your ducks in a row" is the mantra of the day. Every time I attempt a short makes me appreciate what the Pixars and Dreamworks fellas pull off. Really, the mundane tasks of modeling, rigging, texturing is what makes the end result successful. Without that foundation, nothing is going to come off with the quality I aspire (or expire!) to.

[Tore]

I write scripts to serve as skeletons awaiting the flesh and sinew of images.

- Ingmar Bergman

[zandoriastudios]

Definitely agree about storyboards! I think sometimes that can even double as the script if you are working solo (you do need a dialog script for your voice actors...). From the storyboards you can clearly see what has to be built--it is a blueprint for the whole shot.

I don't agree on animatics as necessary...it seems like a way to communicate a much bigger VFX shot to a team that might be working on different pieces. But I do think some kind of "story reel" is important--where you can time your storyboards, swap them with real-time renders, and basically build the finished scene as you complete different parts.

 

You are right that you don't have to do it all yourself. If you are the Producer, you've got to line up a team that can fulfill the different roles, and lead them to where you want to go.

 

If I can help you in any way to bring your dream to life, just let me know what you need.

[Vertexspline]

Do not be disappointed too much. This stuff takes a major effort for a one man team and there are so many things that can get in your way from finishing. Instead --just think of how much you learned from the project even in a loss as it were. These will help you on your next battle. And most importantly ----be glad and proud as you attempted this project. You were moved to creating. You were inspired. You actually were working on something.

There is always another day to take what you learned from this one and be even more successful.

[fae_alba]

I don't agree on animatics as necessary...it seems like a way to communicate a much bigger VFX shot to a team that might be working on different pieces. But I do think some kind of "story reel" is important--where you can time your storyboards, swap them with real-time renders, and basically build the finished scene as you complete different parts.

 

If I can help you in any way to bring your dream to life, just let me know what you need.

 

Will in my book the "story reel" and the animatic suit the same purpose. It is the timing that I had a lot of trouble with. The animatic would have gone a long way to at least get a since of the timing before actually jumping into the animation.

 

Might just take you up on your offer there mate, and vice versa.

 

Do not be disappointed too much. This stuff takes a major effort for a one man team and there are so many things that can get in your way from finishing. Instead --just think of how much you learned from the project even in a loss as it were. These will help you on your next battle. And most importantly ----be glad and proud as you attempted this project. You were moved to creating. You were inspired. You actually were working on something.

There is always another day to take what you learned from this one and be even more successful.

 

Rich, not really disappointed, much. One of the things that really derailed the timeline was a job change, which puts me on the road quite a bit. Lugging multiple laptops through airports is not my idea of fun so while I was basking in the sun in Springfield Il, I wasn't able to work on the short. So time lost there. I did learn a lot, as I said, and the project is not dead, though I may revisit the script and flesh out the story line a bit more. Or not.

 

I've got a lot of projects floating around in my noggin. One of the must do's right now is finishing the community project, then I have a short that I really will want to pull a team together, since it will be an intense animation project to do. But for the next few days, I'm going to experiment, play with A:M (I've been playing with hair on my Pappa Bear character), then get the community project locked down.

[Rodney]

while I was basking in the sun in Springfield Il

 

If I would have known you were in the area I might have driven to Springfield and bought you lunch.

Heck, I might have even been there on one of my visits as that is where my Mom lives.

[robcat2075]

Speaking of projects not done... I should have had those intro tutorials for A:M done a year ago. I gotta get that done.

 

It has a "scope" problem much as making a film does. How to file a topic down to a size that is doable and yet still communicates useful information.

[largento]

This is a harsh reality I'm facing with The Wobbling Dead, too. I have this sort of misguided instinct that makes me think I can wing it on the fly and I'm finding that more times than not, my wings ain't working. :-)

 

Stalled Trek had the benefit of having been drawn as a comic (a couple of times), so I had those initial storyboards to go to and as I approached each scene, I would draw rough thumbnail storyboards to work out the shots I'd need.

 

I foolishly believed I could jump into The Wobbling Dead skipping that part, but then I'd find myself woefully unprepared when I moved onto the next shot. I hadn't taken into account all the stuff I'd actually need for those shots and I'd find myself coming to a screeching halt.

 

The problem for me is that storyboarding doesn't seem to be working for me, so I've decided to go a different route. I'm doing the whole story as a "photo" comic. I'm building all the shots so that I can tell it as a comic book and then I can go from there to actually doing the movie because I'll have all the shots planned and all of the stuff built.

 

I so wish I'd thought to do this from the beginning.

[Rodney]

I'm doing the whole story as a "photo" comic. I'm building all the shots so that I can tell it as a comic book and then I can go from there to actually doing the movie because I'll have all the shots planned and all of the stuff built.

 

I like that approach. Let us know how it works out for you!

And the added benefit... you've got a comic book to go along with your movie.

[robcat2075]

Another lesson, perhaps the harshest one learnt so far: I am not an artist. While I can do basic animation, I cannot breath the life into a character the way I'd like to.

 

It's not necessarily something you are or aren't. It is something that can be learned.

 

 

Every time I attempt a short makes me appreciate what the Pixars and Dreamworks fellas pull off.

 

I was going to say something like "there's a reason they have a thousand employees and take two plus years to get one done" but even Pixar and Dreamworks don't always get things done on time...

 

‘Good Dinosaur’ Delay Leaves Pixar Without 2014 Release

 

The movie may be better for waiting but on a business level it's a catastrophic gaffe that someone is probably having a tough time explaining how they got to this point.

 

It happens to the best of them and you have the advantage of not losing your job over it.

[largento]

I'm doing the whole story as a "photo" comic. I'm building all the shots so that I can tell it as a comic book and then I can go from there to actually doing the movie because I'll have all the shots planned and all of the stuff built.

 

I like that approach. Let us know how it works out for you!

And the added benefit... you've got a comic book to go along with your movie.

 

That had occurred to me. :-)

[fae_alba]

while I was basking in the sun in Springfield Il

 

If I would have known you were in the area I might have driven to Springfield and bought you lunch.

Heck, I might have even been there on one of my visits as that is where my Mom lives.

 

Rodney,

 

never you worry mate, I will be in Springfield several times a month for at least the next 6 months. I am on an active contract with a client in Springfield. I will be back tentatively the night of Jan 6th through perhaps the ninth. Can't do much at lunch though, I live in conference rooms non-stop, but it would be nice to finally meet a fellow hasher!

[Roger]

 

I had been working on this story since before Halloween. In the beginning I felt it should be an easy one to pull off. The original concept contained no human actors, so the animation should be easy, simple sets so that should be easy, short story so no time would be required. Well, that's not really how it worked out. The first script felt too light to properly convey the story I envisioned. Characters were needed, humans. A deeper plot was needed to create a back story. No worries, I had some models built a while ago, not rigged very well, but it should do. So I soldiered on. I thought that I could jump right into the choreography, skip story boards, skip the animatic. Wrong again. Even though I knew the story, even though I was the only one working on the project, I found that it became a very real struggle in building a scene and keeping the pacing consistent from one cut to another, and in hind sight storyboards and animatics would alleviate that problem.

 

So lesson learned. Do it right, no shortcuts, and give myself the time to do a quality project. I still want to tell this story, but I may take a break from it, clear my head on something else, then revisit the story in a month or so.

 

I struggle with some of the same things. I've thought about farming out rigging and have spoken with forum members (Robcat being one of them) but I feel like it should be something I should be able to do, it is just a big stumbling block right now. From one standpoint, I look at it like "well probably is not rigging his own models" so it certainly can't be too out there to delegate work to others (provided you are paying or sharing the credit or both) but from another angle it seems a bit like cheating somehow. Maybe I'm just being silly about it.

 

Another thing that trips me up (and I suspect others) is we look at Pixar shorts (or anyone really talented) and become daunted by trying to match that look or that quality level. I think that is a lot more common with CG than other types of animation.

[Rodney]

Rodney,

 

never you worry mate, I will be in Springfield several times a month for at least the next 6 months. I am on an active contract with a client in Springfield. I will be back tentatively the night of Jan 6th through perhaps the ninth. Can't do much at lunch though, I live in conference rooms non-stop, but it would be nice to finally meet a fellow hasher!

 

Paul,

Let me know when you'll have a free moment and I'll be there.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the toughest times for me... Monday night, Tuesday (all day)... Thursday (all day) are optimal.

Getting to Springfield will give me a good reason to visit my Mom as well.

 

6th of January... you don't say... that's a Monday!

Monday the 6th through the 9th eh? Launch me an email (rodney.baker@gmail.com) with specific time/place and I'll be there!

Pie in the sky stuff... perhaps during a later visit we can try to get a few more folks in the area to get together. I know there is a least one spliner that lives in Springfield (haven't met him either).

 

Since I work the night shift my internal clock is always messed up so I can meet any hour of the day.

 

We can swap sad stories of sad stories not told indeed.

[fae_alba]

I struggle with some of the same things. I've thought about farming out rigging and have spoken with forum members (Robcat being one of them) but I feel like it should be something I should be able to do, it is just a big stumbling block right now. From one standpoint, I look at it like "well probably is not rigging his own models" so it certainly can't be too out there to delegate work to others (provided you are paying or sharing the credit or both) but from another angle it seems a bit like cheating somehow. Maybe I'm just being silly about it.

 

Another thing that trips me up (and I suspect others) is we look at Pixar shorts (or anyone really talented) and become daunted by trying to match that look or that quality level. I think that is a lot more common with CG than other types of animation.

 

Roger, I've thought the same. I'm a firm believer of at the very least, knowing the process, pitfalls, etc of a task before delegating it to someone else. I don't think it is selling out when ultimately farming some of that work out to other, more capable individuals. To me, it simply would free me up to do other task.