The Little Robot - Swamp and Spore Attack

Our heroes of The Little Robot encounter a number of dangers on their adventure, including an attack by spore-like creatures to a journey through a treacherous swamp

These concepts will be the basis of the three final still images we wish to pursue.

The Little Robot - Environment Concepts

With the The Little Robot project, we've begun to research and explore early concepts between the three poster style images.

The first image is designed to 'set the scene' so to speak, introducing the predominant environment and main characters. The use of bold colours and saturated tones is just one of the styles we may intend to pursue.

The soldier and robot find themselves having to journey through a treacherous swamp in the story, which we feel is a great opportunity to show the darker side of The Little Robot. Here are some initial concepts of the swamp environment in the works.

More to come.

Atom Pancakes - New Look

It's official!
The all new Atom Pancakes has landed!

Yes, we have updated both our logo and our ident, which is what you will see from now on, and even the blog gets its own unique look!

The Official Atom Pancakes Logo

The Official Atom Pancakes Blog Logo

The Official Atom Pancakes Ident - no sound at present

...and I'm sure it wont be long before you get to see the new document templates in action!

Ethan Shilling

New Project - The Little Robot

With our last post, we announce the beginning of a new project, this new project is a screenplay adaptation of the Book The Little Robot by Amy Mccartney.

While we are starting to think of scriptwriting and how effectively adapt the story.  Firstly we are presenting 3 posters for our pitch presentation, these 3 posters will demonstrate the characters and the environments modeled, the art direction we will choose, as well as any colour schemes, athmosphere and scale comparison.

So stay tuned on that end!!

Therefore, in the beginning of each project, one of the first steps is to research the style you want to employ to your animation. On our meeting we decided to have a variety of ideas on art direction, where each member would come with their own ideas. In this case this is my opinion ( Ruben) on the art direction and style we could take on this project. Here my influence map.

 

 I would love to see how the rest takes on this. 

The Beginning of a New Studio

With Final Chapter arriving to a closure, a few expected and unexpected things happen to Atom Pancakes as a studio.

To give you all the latest gossip at first hand, I will present a list with the headlines and then explain in detail, all the brand new things happening to the studio as well as the future projects.


Headlines: 

1. Expansion of the studio from 3 members to 5. 
2. Atom Pancakes Purpose
3. Features in Magazines, etc. 
4. Going Professional- one step further!
5. New Features.
6. Next Project.

Expansion of the studio from 3 members to 5.

The first and most important headline is that Atom Pancakes is getting bigger, after talks with the original members Jordan Buckner, Ethan Shilling and I. we all decided that would be best for all if we could bring more people in with different set of skills. Therefore, we invited and welcomed fellow CG Artists Leo Tsang and Sam Hayes, to our studio.  This addition will only benefit not only the studio but each individual as with a better and skilled team the work produce will be of a higher standard.

Atom Pancakes Purpose 

Our objective slightly changed from when we formed the studio, while at the beginning Atom pancakes served as a fictional studio created as part of our course minor project, nowadays the studio will work as a small community of 5 fellow artists who seek to find jobs in the industry by perfecting their skills, with the help of one another. Therefore Atom Pancakes is officially classified as a studio. 

 Features in Magazines and Events

Lately, Atom Pancakes attempted to publish the studio, by entering to events and festivals. Final Chapter was featured in New Designers 2012, and showcased throughout all the event where hundreds of people, appreciated the work put in it. However, not all is good news, Final Chapter was also submitted to Canterbury Anifest, however it wasn't shortlisted and won't be screened on the festival.
Individually, members of the studio were approached by magazines, and tried to once again give some extra exposure to the studio.
For example, I ( Ruben Martins) was featured at Digital Arts magazine September Issue, where The Final Chapter was indeed a big sensation. Meanwhile other online magazine, Ceiga was interested to feature the Final Chapter on their blog.

 

Going Professional- one step further! 

After a few meetings, at Atom pancakes we decided it was time to go one step further, and instead of having a fictional studio, we should seek to give professional service to possible employers. For this purpose, a few things undergone, first we are slightly changing the logo to upgrade our level of professionalism, we are creating business cards, with the individual names in order to present ourselves as a studio.  We are researching into funding, and other possible ways to get the studio going. And last but not least, we are looking for people who seek our services. 

Thus exciting yet stressful times approach but all is part of the experience. Wish us luck!! 

New Features 

To add extra professionalism to our studio we revamped this blog, with a new and cleaner layout design, in this blog we pretend to share some of the work produce for our projects, as well as have creative discussions where everybody is welcome to offer their feedback. Alongside the blog, our website also suffered a major update, in there you can find all the information about the studio as well as the last project we worked on, any future projects and the latest news about the studio. 

So take a look at www.atompancakes.blogspot.com

Next Project

While at New Designers, we made contact with a few fellow illustrators and graphic designers. Therefore our next project is the product of a  few talks with illustrator Amy Mccartney, to whom we proposed to adapt her children's book Little Robot, to a short animation. With the permission and enthusiasm of the illustrator, we are all set to begin the new project. Firstly, in 10 weeks time we will present a pitch presentation with 3 scenes of the story, expressing our art direction and style. Then with the agreement of the illustrator/storyteller Amy we will proceed to the animation.

So fasten your seat belts, while Atom Pancakes will take you behind the scenes of creating an animated short.



Ruben Martins

The Final Chapter - The Final Post

Well it's finally here! The post that closes one project, to make way for something new.

Since The Final Chapters first release, it has undergone quite a few changes.
It has endured many cuts, but also welcomed some brand new scenes, and all to prepare itself for New Designers 2012, which has been and gone... it went rather well!

The Final Chapter isn't the only thing undergoing some tweaks. Very soon Atom Pancakes should be releasing an updated logo and brand new ident, also hopefully giving both the studio website banner and the blogs banner their own similar, but distinctive look... and we might actually get some business cards designed and printed! No idea how we overlooked that!
So after the success of New Designers 2012, this officially marks the end of The Final Chapter.

It's a goodbye from Arthur Winters and a warm welcome for...

... well, I think I'll let Ruben properly introduce the next project!


Ethan Shilling

The Final Chapter: Final Tweaks

So after one last pass of tweaking, this is the definitive version of The Final Chapter. Well, at least I hope it is anyway! :D

There were a couple of things that I had to resolve slightly differently though, but first, watch the film.

So apart from tweaking the sound effects and music, there are a couple of other notable tweaks.

The first being the POV shot. I tried cutting without the swipe, with and without the award, but it just wasn't going to be as good as getting the original shot to work as it should.
So I re-did the cam movement one last time. However this time, I did what I should have done in the first place, and that is to place the cam on his face. Render the entire corner of the room that he can see, then zooming and rotating with a 3D cam in AE, effectively fixing both the eyeline and the perspective of the shot. (and saving on render time)
Part of the problem before was that the camera was physically closer to the wall than where his face was, so the 3D looked more extreme and the cam also required moving as well as rotating.

The second thing was the removal of the night to day close up shot. The music could not be cut any shorter so I was left with a gap to fill. Naturally, the only thing that could replace it was an alternate night to day, but this time, showing the golden dagger award.

So I hope this meets with everyone's approval.

Supporting Documents- 'Making Of' and Character Bible

Atom pancakes would like to share the documents supporting our animation, they feature the behind-the-scenes which helped us produce our final short.

Making of - The Final Chapter

If you like the character Arthur Winters, this document will explain how our studio decided upon the design and show some of the early stage drawings of him .

The Final Chapter - Character Bible

Enjoy!

Atom Pancakes proudly presents the latest poster for The Final Chapter!

With the hand in very close Atom Pancakes finally finished the full animated short. Those eighteen weeks of hard work, sweat and tears had paid off as The Final Chapter releases tonight for the audience to see. Stay tuned for the final animation.

Tweak....Tweak....Tweak....Render...Render....Render

The Christmas period has been filled with animation, texturing, critiques and rendering. Along with texturing updates and lighting adjustments here and there. We have all been pushing hard to try and get everything finished with plenty of time for post production and with a few things left to do post production should be going ahead within the next few days. Rendering has been taking a while, but thanks to Ethan's render layers it is looking great. We don't want to show too much in the way of finished work as we'd much rather show that within the Art Book and the final animation in under two weeks. But I thought I'd post some of these old pre visualisations showing some of the animation that I've completed and rendered. Most of these scenes have changed a great deal and include a number of extra camera shots, but hopefully give an insight into the process.

We will try and show some more updates over the next week, with developments in sound and post production coming soon.

Final Chapter- and the Murderer was....

More updates will land on here very soon! 

Keep Tuned!

P.S: Character pose by Ethan Shilling

Animation and rendering is going well at Atom pancakes, we almost done with all the scenes to animate however, is still a few bits to tweak.

Here are the scenes I (ruben) have been working on:

Tension Playblast Edit

After Credits Scene- Blocking

                                                              After Credits Scene- Final

Dream Detective- Blocking

Prepare Scene- Blocking

Also there is the idea butler scene which is not featured on here, but it is all animated. 

A bit more Animation

I'd like to update you with a quick look at another scene I've been animating. This is the scene in which our writer dreams up the idea that the chef could be the murderer. He is out of ideas, and rolling his pencil across the desk he has the thought that the chef was the murderer with the rolling pin. Again, this is still a work in progress but the idea is there. I like to work on a number of different scenes over time so I can go back to each scene with fresh eyes. The video below shows where the animation currently stands.

The character needs some extra life but hopefully the movement and thought process is there. Below you can see how I first set out the animation.

From this stage a lot of detail needs to be added. The setting of poses is fairly simple within animation, especially with good reference, however, the real life and character come from the attention to detail. How the character would move into a pose and hold himself is crucial to really bringing them to life.

Cigarette Smoke Dynamics Simulation Test v.1

Lately, I have been also testing some effects for our animation, after following a tutorial, i was able to play around and create cigarette smoke. Here is the test:

Environment Update

In between animation I've been continuing work on the office environment which is getting closer to completion. There are still tweaks to be made and render times to be worked out but it is finally starting to feel like Arthur Winter's office. Below you can see some test renders showing the different lighting stages, from daytime to night time. This produces an effective result but we are still looking into lowering our render time.

You can also see the office environment layout, filled with books, papers and furniture. Again, there are still a few props to add and textures to be connected but this will be done very soon.

We will be displaying the full range of textures in our "The Art of The Final Chapter" book, but as you can see below the texture list is ever growing. Ruben and I have worked on a ton of different textures all to create a realistic world.

Animation is going nicely, and we are determined to produce the best animation possible. More updates on this will come later this week after we meet to critique and discuss our work so far.

Butler Reveal Scene II

So animation continues at Atom Pancakes,Ruben Here!!! I decided to carry on tweaking the Butler Scene, and I have to say it is almost ready for rendering, It still needs some secondary animation.

Butler Reveal Scene Animation Progress 8 (Close-up)

Butler Reveal Scene Animation Progress 8

I have also began blocking the Investigation Scene, and I will post a playblast soon.

On a side note, I am also in charge of getting the dream sequence environment ready for rendering, so today I took some time to to set it up with lighting and also playing around with the background.

We opted to go for a simpler set up where we will have the character fully lit, and the body, laying on the floor under the spotlight.  

For the space not look so empty, we will add a few effects, in this case some particle travelling between the character and the black space. they will be the pattern of the room.

Just like shown on this render.

More Animation in Progress

A Flock of Pixels has been animating. So far I've been blocking out three of the scenes which have been assigned to me.
I started with the maid dream sequence, focusing on the walk cycle mostly.



I have also decided upon this camera angle. It shows the walk cycle from the best angle and also (after he has turned a corner) shows the swinging of the dagger in the clearest way. (note - the legs do break in this clip, but that issue has be addressed since this playblast was taken)

The next scene I've been working on is the part where the pencil is stuck in the pencil sharpener. It may look like he is floating, but he will be on a chair. That'll be animated once everything else in the scene is finalised. (note - final camera angles not decided)



The latest scene I've been working on is the one where the typewriter jams. I did have to quickly rig the typewriter for this scene, and since I was rigging the sliding mechanism, it seemed a good idea to do the keys too even though they are not needed in this scene. If I'm not mistaken, Ruben is in charge of the scene where we see him typing. (note - final camera angles not decided)



So I will continue to get everything blocked out before refining anything so that we can see how everything is going to act out early on. One day I will get round to fixing the last few issues with the skinning on the rig!

A Flock of Pixels

Butler Reveal Scene

So Animation begins!! and how exciting it is! here at Atom Pancakes we divided the scenes per member and we are trying to understand them first and then animate them.

Reveal Butler Animation (Progress 1)

Reveal Butler Animation (Progress 2)

Reveal Butler Animation (Progress 3)

It is still a lot of things to animate and later tweak.

EDIT**

Reveal Butler Animation (Progress 4)

Reveal Butler Animation (Progress 5)

Animation Update

This week we have all been working hard on animation. This is the first time we've had the chance to spend a good amount of time on this process and use a really advanced rig. So far all is going well. We have been critiquing each others work over the week and it is really helping improvement. I had not had a great deal of real animation before this project and so this stage is an opportunity to really get into the process. The scene I'd like to show so far is a dream sequence when the writer thinks out the idea of the chef as the murderer. It is still unfinished, but hopefully the quick render below shows what I want to achieve. Some of the walk is really messed up and needs work but the idea is that our chef sees his target and sneakily runs up for the kill.

The big problems come from the animation I have added at the beginning. The transition between the alert pose and the run needs a lot of refinement. But so far it is starting to work. This 8 seconds of animation seems to be a very small task, but there is a great deal of work to get so far. Firstly, the action needs to be referenced. We met last week to do this and below you can see images of me looking like an utter tool as I run around Ruben's flat with a steak mallet.

Despite how embarrassing this stage is it becomes vital to creating interesting and realistic animation. We also had a ton of references from film and television. From Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, to Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther. From Basil Fawlty to Mr Bean. These references allow us to understand how our character would act and move his body. The first stage of animation is setting up each pose in turn. Personal preference can be chosen whether one wishes to use straight ahead animation or pose to pose. But I find a mix of the two helps keep it fresh and inventive. The video below shows the first idea I had for the character.

But after some time I realised this wasn't how our character would move. He is a chef who is murdering, but played by a lanky, fay British author. So, I went back to the references and started from the beginning. This gave the following pose results.

This was far more in character, but seemed a bit too simple and boring. The poses needed to be emphasised and a narrative introduced. It isn't just a character hitting his target, this dream sequence is about how a character within Arthur Winter's head would murder. So I decided to add an intro in which our character sees his victim. This led to this version and later, the updated version shown at the top of the post.

This sequence should be finished soon. The real problems are those when the character goes from his attention pose, to his sneak. But that should be a simple fix. Keep an eye out as we post more animation this week.

Character Animation Influence

Animation began here at the Atom Pancakes HQ. Having the character finished and his personality understood, it was needed to research comedy shows or animations, in which our character could relate.
Arthur Winters being a British character we mainly focused on British comedy, aiming to use the 'Britishness' so visible in this type of comedy.


Faulty Towers

The first British TV Show we researched was Faulty Towers, more specifically the character of Basil Faulty. Basil Faulty, played by John Cleese, is a great example to associate with our character. Firstly, as he is very "British", having most of the mannerisms we want to apply to our character. But also because he is very short tempered just like our character, losing the plot and acting funny when in that state.



Jeeves and Woosters  

Another British TV Series we have looked at was Jeeves and Woosters. In this case, the character of Wooster played by Hugh Laurie. Once again, this character is full of "British" charm. Jeeves is a very posh character who behaves in a proper English manner, however as he loses his temper he becomes rather silly.


Mr. Bean 

   
The famous Mr. Bean, played by Rowan Atkinson is another character we researched. While the two previous characters the main focus of the research was to find the Britishness needed to apply to our character. Mr. Bean was included in the research for a very different reason, he is a character who doesn't speak much, therefore all his comedy come from his acting. This way of creating comedy through only acting will help animate character, Arthur Winters.


Fast Show 

Fast Show was a British comedy TV Show which consisted in a variety of TV Sketches portraying funny situations in a wide range of places.We chose to look at these because it emphasizes the idea of one actor acting as numerous characters. This research is crucial to understand how Arthur Winters will behave when acting as  any of the other characters.