Fundamentals of Fighting Games – Final Major Project

Important things to understand in the fighting game genre for this project are :

KEYFRAMES

Fighting games are in essence nothing but interactive animations so that being said one of the most important aspects of them are the keyframes. However the main thing to focus on when animating in 2D fighters is creating strong key-poses that show the specific move distinctly so that players can act and react accordingly.

It is also important to consider the 12 basic principles of animation when creating fighting games in order to give each motion a dynamic look and feel. Thing such as –

Exaggeration

Anticipation

And Followthrough

These are all important factors that show the power behind each move and gives each character a more unique personality.

ARCHETYPES

In fighting games there are generally character archetypes that appear in every game that allow for a wide variety of playstyles in each individual game. These include but are not limited to :

Zoners

Typically projectile based characters, zoners focus on keeping distance between themselves and the opponent by utalising projectile or long range attacks that allow them to deal damage from across the screen.

Rushdown

Rushdown character focus on using their speed to get up close to their oponent. They are normally good at creating combos and keeping up the pressure on their oponent.

Grappler

Grapplers are almost entirely focused on using their strength to overwhelm the oponent by using grappling and throws which will often stun and deal large amounts of damage with a downside of being slower than most other archetypes

Counter

Counter characters are heavily built around the use of parrys and counters to create a defensive playstyle that allows them to deal damage without risking themselves as mush as well as being able to start combos in a defensive manner.

Taunt

Taunt characters are often considered comic relief however in many games the taunts utilised can be used as a distracton from what moves they are going to use next to make them more unpredictable fighters

CHARACTER DESIGN

In fighting games perhaps the most important aspect is the character design as when most people begin playing the first character they will pick will be based on what appeals to them. When designing a character you must focus on many different aspects such as –

Their personality

Johnny cage from mortal kombat is characterised as an egotistical hollywood action hero and you can see this from the way he has his own name tattooed on him, the blacked out shades he wears, His van Damme inspired hair and his arm wraps typically used by stereotypically bad ass martial artists

The way they fight

Baek Doo San from Tekken is a traditional practitioner of taekwondo and that is clearly shown by the fact he wears his dobok (Taekwondo fighting outfit) In game

Their background

Laura from street fighter 5 is an outgoing and energetiv character who originates from brazil which is represented in her modified jujisu gi that is in the in her countries colours.

LEVEL BACKGROUNDS

Levels in 2d fighting games are important for building on the story and giving a unique feel to each fight despite the fact that from a gameplay perspective they are often exactly the same. Each level can show character and personality while also not distracting from the fight itself.

Interactive map: Task 1 Research

Interactive Digital Sketchbook Part 1 Research

 

 

3D Animation – The 3D Pipeline

The 3d animation pipeline is a template about how an animation begins all the way to how it ends.

Story- Job Roles: Directors, script writers, Story-boarders

Where all animation begins is the story phase where directors and writers work together to create an idea of what the movie would be like in order to easily allow everyone to understand the vision. The story-boarders then turn the script into images(Like a comic) to give a feel of how the movie will work visually.

Editorial- Roles: Editing(throughout the process)

Editorial is used throughout the animation pipeline however it begins mainly when they take the storyboard and convert it into a video to give a crude understanding of how the animation will look in motion.After this they will do roles throughout the movie process focusing on checking continuity and keeping the animation looking clean and consistent.

Art- Roles: Artists

Every single thin g you see in an animation from characters to environments to props are drawn out by artist in one form or another to allow for every role after this to have a consistant reference of the style.

Modeling- Roles: 3D artists/Modelers

It is here that the 2d drawings are turned into 3d model by artist who create wireframe models of everything and then insuring that every model looks correct and clean from every angle.

Rigging- Roles: Riggers

Riggers are the ones who essentully create all the pivots and morphing areas on models in order to allow the animators to manipulate them to create movement and expressions

Surfacing – Roles: Surfacer

Surfacer are the artists who add all the textures to the basic models. They are essential for communicating different materials to the audience and making sure the lighting can interact correctly with the textured objects.

Rough layout- Roles: Pre-visualisation

Here is where the animation really begins to come together as they take all the resources created in the past steps and begin working with cameras and digital tools to get an understanding of the cinematography of the film

Final layout- Roles: Final Layout artists

Final layout is when all the chracter models and textures are finalised and given a higher resolution so that the animators can begin using them to craft scenes in the movie.They will also be doing final set dressing.

Animation- Roles: Animators

The animators are the essential workers in any project as they use the controls set out by the riggers to start posing and creating movement for characters. They require references constantly to understand how to accurately represent a character in motion.

Crowds- Roles: Crowders

Crowds are where animators take some simple models and some basic movements that can be replicated and fill a scene with them to create the illusion of a large group of people all in different motions. This is useful in large groups so that the animators can focus on getting the main character looking perfect while the background characters will still look alive and in fluid motion

Character FX- Roles: Character FX artist

Everything thats moving on a character from hair to clothes to props they are interacting with must be done by the character FX team so that it can all look dynamic and like it has real physics connecting it all.

FX- Roles: FX artists

Fx is where everything from large explosions and collisions to footprints are created as the FX department focuses on creating effects that would be simple to do in live action and making sure they look correct

Matte Painting- Roles: Matte painter

Essentially this department focuses on creating realistic and visually appealing backgrounds and skys. It uses arts colour keys to create background paintings

Lighting- Roles: CG/lighting

Here is where they add digitally animated lights to every scene. This combined with the matte painting helps to get the overall look of the final shots

Image Finaling- Roles: Editors

Here is where every scene is cleaned and perfected to get rid of things like clipping, unnecessary morphing or incorrect rendering.

Sound- Roles: Musicans, Sound Effects, composers

Here is where all the sound is created for the movie from backing tracks to mild sound effects it is all created to give the movie amazing diegetic realism and a fitting non-diagetic soundtrack.

3D Animation: Topology

A 3d model is a collection of vertices edges and faces that defines a shape. the layout of the vertices, edges and faces are called a wire frame. More specifically the layout o a wire frame is the topology of a model. Good topology requires a small amount of polygons that represent depth while also being uniform to allow for smooth texturing.

Polygonal based modeling is commonly used in 3d modeling as it represents the surface using one of 3 different polygons-

3 sided- TRI  4 sided – QUAD 5 sided – N GON

However Quad is the most commonly used because Tri/Ngons can cause pinching and can negatively subdivide. Less detailed and refined topology can be used on stationary objects that are non animated

Important aspect in 3D polygonal modeling are –

• Vertex – A point in space where edges meet, the corner of a shape.
• Edge – A connection between two vertices.
• Polygon – A face of a 3d shape, connecting several vertices via edges.
• Mesh – A collection of polygons, a shape in 3D space. Also referred to as a model or a body

 

What makes the topology good: Lower amount of polygons, more evenly spaced, More depth created

What makes the topology bad: Random polygon sizing, Very flat and without well done curvature, large areas without effective wire-framing.

NURBS’S MODELING: NURB’S Modeling is a more mathematical modeling style focusing on accurately creating smooth surfaces and curve via mathematical formulas. It is created with isoparms.

 

Bodyguard Editing study

Bodyguard is a British television drama series, created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the BBC.

For the beginning of my single camera techniques Unit I will watch the first episode and give me thoughts on the editing used.

1. How is it edited

The editing is very clean and fast between shots which is helped to be a more smooth transition by accompanying audio tending to blend over from one shot to the next or vice versa. This editing is very well done as it allows the audience to jump between different scenes very fast without a feeling of disconnection as the focus is always on David Budd the protagonist. There is a lot of jumping between shots with only non-diagetic sound, i.e. the musical score, Being the only audio, for example when David is first getting ready to meet the Secretary

2.Comment on the pace of the drama and how the editing helps to create the pace

The pace is very slow throughout a lot of the episode, this is to build tension and keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The use of very drawn out shots help to keep the slow build up in these scenes and help to accompany the idea of a bodyguard always on the lookout and focused.This is contrasted with the heavy reliance on mid close ups/ close ups to get a stronger focus on budds emotions throughout the scene which helps to convey the PTSD from his time in the war. The close-ups are also used when focusing on seemingly innocuous sections of the environment, this allows the viewer to understand how budd sees as many details as possible and is focused on everything that is going on around him.

3.What is its editing style

The style of editing is somewhat classical with its use of slow panning shots and a mild inclusion of the 180 degree rule when budd is in conversation with the secretary. Scenes like this are where we also see the reverse shot being used very often. It could also be argued that in the opening scene there is an example of cross cutting between budds and the snipers perspective.

4.What types of transitions are used.

Between scenes almost all the transitions are fast and there are some examples of jump cuts rather than more cheesy effects such as wipes. However in the scenes themselves there are a lot of uses of shifting focus from the foreground into the background in order to allow the scene to begin slower and to keep the flow of the episode

Animation Pioneers and Timeline

The magic-lantern — the first projector and one of the leading antecedents of the movies — was invented in the 1650s, Likey by a prominent Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens. By the end of the century, wandering lanternists were putting on small-scale shows in inns and castles, using a lantern lit with a feeble candle. Often these shows featured goblins and devils — hence the name the “magic lantern.

From left to Right:

• Phenakistiscope – Invented by  Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau(Important as the first illusion of moving imagery)
• Zoetrope – Invented by William George Horner(Important due to it being easy to build and ability to be turned at different rates to create slow-motion effects)
• Praxinoscope – Invented by Harles-Émile Reynaud(Important as an evolution to the zoetrope because of the brighter and less distorted picture than the zoetrope offered)
• Zoopraxiscope – Invented by Eadweard Muybridge( Important as it is often considered the basis for the modern animation to grow from)

Emile Cohl was born in 1857 in Paris as Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet. Before he was an animator he was working as a political caricaturist then as an apprentice for a jeweller, a maritime insurance broker before eventually working for a philatelist.He soon graduated to directing comedy, chase and féerie (magical films in the style of Georges Méliès) films, His first animated film, the delightful stick figure Fantasmagorie (1908), is held to be the first fully animated film, employing 700 drawings on sheets of paper, each photographed separately.

Georges Méliès was born December 8, 1861 in Paris, France.He became known as the father of film fantasy.

What process did Melies use to create the 1902 L’oeuf du Sorcier? Describe the techniques and process.

Winsor McCay was an American animator born in 1869. He was best known for creating little nemo. First published on October 15, 1905, the strip followed the adventures of a young boy named Nemo. The comic strip displayed McCay’s mastery of depth of field, perspective, composition, use of color, and storytelling ability. When he ventured into animation McCay used separate foreground and background animation that was later tied together to create the completed film.This successful technique soon became the standard for the burgeoning animation industry.

George Eastman invented the kodak camera in 1889 and Thomas Edison and Laurie Dickson patented the Kinetoscope in 1891. This device was an influence on the film industry as it allowed for a lifelike representation of persons and objects in motion

The kinetograph was the invention of a camera in the Edison laboratories capable of recording successive images in a single camera was a more practical, cost-effective breakthrough that influenced all subsequent motion picture devices. The Kinetoscope allows you to easily reproduce images in motion

Emile Reynaud was born in 1844 and was famous for inventing the Praxinoscope.Like the zoetrope, it used a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder. The praxinoscope improved on the zoetrope by replacing its narrow viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors this made it different from the kinetoscope In it, a strip of film was passed rapidly between a lens and an electric light bulb while the viewer peered through a peephole. This made the kinetoscope larger more difficult to build

The English translation for the 1895 film La Sortie des Usines was Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory. It was directed by Louis Lumeire. It was played when cranked through the cinématograph, It was publicly projected March 22nd at the Société d’encouragement pour l’industrie nationale in Paris.

J. Stuart Blackton was born in 1875 and is considered a father of modern animation as in 1900 he created The Enchanted drawing, best known for containing the first animated sequences recorded on standard picture film

 

Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced Master tom in 1919 who was the prototype for the character we now know today as Felix the cat. He was designed to be like a rubber ball on legs to allow for maximum flexibility and motion.

The Walt Disney Company started in 1923 in the rear of a small office occupied by Holly-Vermont Realty in Los Angeles. In 1928 Walt Disney showed Steamboat Willie featuring Micky Mouse.

Snow White And the Seven Dwarves was released in 1937, it was the first to employ the use of Technicolor, and features the first large-scale use of the multiplane camera for its cel animation which became a signature at Disney for decades

Working at first on paper, a traditional cel animation team will plan out and sketch the animated frames (roughs) or the key positions in a sequence before sketching in every frame of the sequence (inbetweening). Each drawing is then inked and coloured onto transparent sheets or cels – from which the technique gets its name. The transparencies are then photographed, in sequence, on top of a painted background.

How have the methods of cell animation been adapted for use within modern systems?

Current digital technologies have changed the animation industry forever as gone are the days of classic cel animation as Computer generated imagery has allowed for far more detailed and more 3 Dimensional animation.

Pick a 2D animation of your choosing and review the following:

The film was adapted and written by Joe Kelly, who wrote the comic it was based on, and is directed by Michael Chang, Produced by Warner Bros Animation.

This Animation is popular for being a very strong adaptation of a famous superman storyline. It takes well loved characters and uses a different art style to recreate the well thought out scenes in the comic in motion. It was nominated for best sound editing in a Direct to video Movie. It is computer generated animation.

The visual art style is perposly very reminiscent of the original comic it is based on “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way” Aswell as taking some influence from Superman The animated Series made in 1996.This is clear as the designs are darker and paler in the movie to represent the comics while they are more angular similar to the animated series.

                         Left-Comic Top right-Animated Series Bottom Right- Movie

There are very few traditional animation techniques however it does show 12 principles such as Arcs in the motion, squash and stretch at high speeds and and some exageration.

This animation connects with the audience by allowing them to experience a classic story brought to motion in a style reminiscent of the comic while still using the almost popular superman series as inspiration for some designs. The story keeps the audience engaged though the animation shows the famous characters and action scenes perfectly while not being too over detailed or to bright as to not fit the tone.

Animation Styles

 

• Stopmotion
  

  Stop motion is a very basic animation technique wherein you take a real life static object and begin slightly altering its position in minor increments which you take a picture of each before placing them in a video feed and moving between each one at a fast rate to give the illusion of motion.

• Frame by Frame

  Frame by frame is a style where you take a drawing of some sort and that begins as the first frame. Every frame after that is a similer drawing changed slightly to begin the slow process of showing a sort of change or motion by each frame essentially being another picture which will be played rapidly one after the other to give motion to your art.

• CGI

  Computer generated imagery is an advancement of older animation techniques where the key difference is that everything is generated using either 3d or 2d modeling software.

• Vector
  

  Vector animation is used to refer to animation in which the art is controlled by vectors rather than pixels. Vector animation often allows cleaner, smoother animation because images are displayed ausing mathematical values instead of pixel values

• Traditional (Cel and Hand Drawn)
  

  Traditional animation is similer to frame by frame where each frame is created first then run in a sequence however the main difference is that each frame is hand drawn, often with different sections of each frame drawn on different transparent cels in order to allow for a continuous background without having to redraw every frame.

• Motion Graphics
  

  Motion graphics are small pieces of digital footage witch create the illusion of motion and are most commonly used in advertising. They can make use of illustrations and images to give a more unique look to resent a specific product.

• Clay animation
  

  Clay animation is a form of stop motion animation where almost every aspect is made from clay. Backgrounds and environments may either be made from this or be separate objects and locations but the primary focus of the animation will be the clay models

• Flipbook Animation
  

  Flipbook animation is a very basic style of animation where someone draws every frame of an animation on a separate page of some form of notebook then flips though the entire book giving the illusion of motion.

• 3D animation
  

3d animation is where every model is created using 3d modeling software and often creating key frames for animations they they will implement. It is similer to some forms of 2d animation however it is far more complex

• Cut out animation

Cut out animation is another form of stop motion animation where all the components are flat pieces made out of things such a fabric or card. These are placed against a flat background and the same techniques used in stop motion are used to give the illusion of movement.

 

Sound and Music terminology

In audio design there is a large focus on a variety of terminology that can be applied when analysing sound in animation and live action.

Music: Music has a variety of roles within a score such as:

Title music- This is the overall theme of the movie which will be played at essential points in the film. It will almost always be used at the start and end of the film as well as often used in action scenes.

Underscore-Music played below dialogue in order to create an atmosphere or mood.

Character theme- A specific track that is played or a variation is played when a character appears on screen or said character does something important to the plot.

Temp-Tracks- These are example tracks suggested by the director to the composer in order to to give the composer an idea of the music that would suit the directors visuals

*Used as 300 temp track

*Final Track

Sound FX- (Spot) These are effects that are filmed in realtime along with the visuals such as a telephone ringing.

(Foley) These are effects added in post production in order to allow for a greater level of detail in the environment audio wise

Atmosphere-This can be affected by sound as sound can be changed in order to help fit a specific location or action scene.

Voice tracks-These are the actors dialogue tracks that are played louder than most other sounds so the audience can hear them.

Music theory

This is a basic overview of some of the essential music theory that we need to understand in order to make sounds for our 2d animation

This is a key chart showing the different notes in scale on a piano octave. This diagram shows how flat notes and sharp note correlate to other notes. Flat notes are a semi tone left of there root notes and sharp are a semi tone right of the root notes.

Major and Minor Chords

Major chords consist of three notes, a root, a major third and a perfect fifth (1 – 3 – 5).

The root is the note upon which the chord is based. For example, the root of G major is G, no matter what the inversion.

The major third is the third note in a major scale. Using the same note G, as an example, the major third is B. B is four half steps above the root note.

The perfect fifth is the fifth note in the major (or minor) scale. It is seven half steps above the root note. Using the note G again, the perfect fifth is D. D is three half steps above the major third.

Minor chords are slightly different.This type of chord consists of a root, a minor third and a perfect fifth. For example, the chord A minor consists of the root note, A, a minor third, C, and a perfect fifth, E. The minor third is 3 half steps above the root note, while the perfect fifth is 7 half steps above the root note, or 4 half steps above the minor third.

Tempo

4/4  3/4  6/8

These numbers are time signatures. In brief, they tell you how many beats are in a measure.

Examples:

3/4 – Metallica– “Nothing Else Matters”

4/4- (Is featured in) The Beatles – “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”

6/8- The Animals – “House of the rising sun”