The Thomas Beale Cipher

Our First lesson back was like a basic recap of what we had learnt in the last year but we was also introduced to new techniques and expressions using Adobe After Effects. One technique we was introduced to is called the 'Wiggler'. 

To start of with the session we watched 'The Thomas Beale Cipher' to introduce the different techniques of animation that were used as we  was to create something similar e.g. adding textured effects to the illustrations. 

The Thomas Beale Cipher

The Thomas Beale Cipher from Andrew S Allen on Vimeo.

I love the way this animation keeps the illustration to a minimal design adding textures over to create a sophisticated yet historical atmosphere. This animation uses simple techniques which are introduced to us:
-Looping: a sequence of instructions to continuously repeat itself until a specific condition is reached. This is simple yet very effective.
-Living hold: a background or a scene that has a open end to it which can be put on a loop to re-accure.

Our first task was to create a Illustration of a character in Adobe Illustrator. 

Having all the different features on different layers to be able to   manipulate each layer in Adobe After Effects to move each layer individually we imported the whole illustration file with the layers into adobe after effects.

To start rigging the character and joining the layers together together we created a 'parent' layer to which the 'child' layers follow the movement.

(attach the layers together)

- click on the parent column and activate it

- drag the spiral layer to the layer you want to follow

We were then introduced to the wiggler tool which allows movement effective for fast pace and speed but it's restricted with the amount of control you have over the movement. Once you apply the codes of what speed you want it you can't alter it but have to start  it over, which is a disadvantage. I prefer to just do it all manually as you have more of a control over the movement pace and composition as a whole.

Once we had finished adding movement motions to the individual layers we then applied textures effects to either the character or the background. This then adding more of a dimension to the simple illustration making it more effective and interesting.

- Adding the textures to the object drag the text underneath the layer

- Toggle the switches mode

- Alpha Matte

Character Illustration movement with effects from Itba Kauser on Vimeo.

I added the textured effects to the different stripes in the shirt rather than covering the whole character or background. Im really pleased with the Outcome, but do think I can do much better in terms of the movement motion. 

Experimentation with Adobe Illustration

After using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator to draw a portrait of Marilyn Monroe  I wanted to develop my skills and become familiar with the software in my own time. As previously I have always used Adobe Photoshop was time consuming. 

This was the first one I did, simple shadow drops with fading in the opacity of the shapes. This illustration is limited in terms of detail yet the eyes did take some time with the different layers but overall I feel i did quite well and was beginning to understand the process and the software itself.

I then decided to take this further to develop my skills furthermore and try something slightly different and challenging.

This took me twice as longer as the first one I had many more layers and depths of layers in this illustration. Within the scarf there were many shadows and depths towards the shadows which took time adding effects creating the shadows from light to dark with more depth to show the creases. I feel I again did quite good on this illustration and was very pleased on the outcome.

So again I decided to take this to a next step and challenge myself even more.

From drawing and developing my skills in female illustrations I decided to experiment in a male illustration. During my experience I personally found male illustrations are slightly difficult compared to a females. I went into detail with the depth of shadows from the shirt to the face, blending in about 4 different hair layers together to get the perfect gradient. I also found the beard, moustache was quite difficult and I had drawn them several times before getting it right. I enjoyed these small activities and challenges I put myself up to as it developed my understanding with this technique and program.