Name:_Boling, Jamiel
Class #:_Fundamentals of Animation – Full Sail University

ENTRY 1 – Pre Production
1.) The scene will start with a door that is slightly open. As the camera tracks closer the door will be blown open, as you hear a magical knocking noise. (Noise will be done in theory to focus on the animation). The box will be tucked away in the midst of other elements in the closet on the second shelf. As the camera gets closer the box will start hoping pushing to the ledge. The box will swing over the side and land rolling and bouncing into the hallway in which it nears its stopping point and the ball falls out. For a second the ball will sit there as it comes to and soon after will be made aware that it is out. In fear of realizing that the ball does not want to go back into the box, it gets behind the box and scoots it into the closet and closes the closet door. (end)

2.) Thumbnails

Boling_Jamiel_Merlin_pre-pro_thumbs.jpg

3.) Outline of Action
I plan to build a small scene, hallway, closet, shelf, and a few closet items. These will be non-textured static items to help tell the story. Once those items are in place then I will start by doing the basic movements, translation, to completion. Then I will go back and add rotation to help follow the story line. Once I have this in order, I will go back and add stretch to the ball and fluid motion to the box, using the graph editor to retrack some of the frames due to frame all feature. Once I have completed the motion work, I will work on timing doing many playbacks to make sure I’m giving myself enough time so my timing on my thumbnails may get adjusted as I realistically attack this section. Once timing is complete then I’ll track the camera to help follow the storyline. The camera will only have follow movements but not realistic jittering that may come across as distracting.

ENTRY 2 – Pass One – Merlin Box AnimationPass 1 – Timing
1.) Plan of Action
For the first pass, my main focus was directed toward getting an idea on my timing by keying in the translation. Even if tweaked, this would give me a wider range of options to clean up the timing via the graph editor.

2.) Merlin Box AnimationPass 1 – Timing -

3.) Critique Notes
a. No critigues were given

4.) 3 Goals – Projected Date of Completion
a. Translate the basic movements of the box and ball without rotation or life
b. Track timing and holds
c. Build the Scene to aid in the timeline

ENTRY 3 – Pass Two – Merlin Box AnimationPass 2 – Rotation
1.) Plan of Action
For Pass 2 I wanted to focus on rotation. This was not only for the box for but for the ball and also the trash can and broom. I spent alot of time in the graph Editor tweaking my motion keys and making sure I was getting my hits. In this stage I only focused on these areas without getting too detailed or moving ahead.

2.) Merlin Box AnimationPass 2 – Rotation



3.) Critique Notes
a. No critigues were given

4.) 3 Goals – Projected Date of Completion
a. Rotation of Ball and Box
b. Add life to trash can and broom
c. Refine Rotation and Translation in Graph Editor

ENTRY 4 – Pass Three- Merlin Box AnimationPass 3 – Refinement
1.) Plan of Action – This was my chance to focus on my hits more making sure I was making contact. Go back and focus on the ball rolling. Also animating the paper flap and adding more movement to the shots. For some areas I was able to expand the shots to give them a better feel because they seem too fast.

2.) Merlin Box AnimationPass 3 – Refinement -



3.) Critique Notes
a. No critigues were given

4.) 3 Goals – Projected Date of Completion
a. Clean up the Rotation, Translation and add and take away frames
b. Expand the shot so it flows smoother
c. Adding additional animation to the smaller pieces

ENTRY 5 – Pass Four – Merlin Box AnimationPass 4 – Cam insert
1.) Plan of Action – This section was a longer task because I had little knowledge of the camera sequencer but knowing what it could do, I was determined to use it and apply it to my workflow. At this point I added more elements in the scene. Given the movements of the camera I knew there would be exposed areas, so I took care of this first. I got caught up for a bit and was very confused because once i got the tracks added in the sequencer it didn’t work. How I solved this issue, I exported the tracks out as an XML opened the editor within the window instead of floating, I realized that by making the camera shots in the floating window its actually creating cameras in the scene, so once i got the window locked in I was apply to apply the initial cameras I thought I was switching out. After I got this settled I notice my camera keys were yellow instead of red and I was clueless to adjust my camera movements because some were too sharp. After about 2 hours of going through the program like a hawk, I noticed 2 little figured in my outliner and I soon realized they were linked to my camera. through trial and error in deleting and undoing, I notice they played a major part because if I deleted the figure, I would lose all my camera keyframes. So I looked into the settings for the figures and soon realized that keys started to show up in the graph editor and I was soo happy. Now I was able to adjust the cameras a bit.

2.) Merlin Box AnimationPass 4 – Cam insert -

3.) Critique Notes
a. No critigues were given

4.) 3 Goals – Projected Date of Completion
a. Add the Cameras in the scene in relation to my thumbnails.
b. add additional Elements to the scene
c. Figure out the controls and adjustment settings and make the needed changes.

ENTRY 6 – Pass Five – Merlin Box Animation – Final
1.) Reflection on your Accomplishments –
I feel I am a much better artist. Starting off I had basic knowledge but due to the lack of information that was provided, I had to figure allot of things out on my own which in turn taught me allot. So I definitely had allot of fun pushing myself and I look forward to learning more and moving forward. I still don’t know how to create a solid video given that we used play-blast. And I’m really frustrated by this because i want to work on some portfolio pieces, i’m trying to be patient so i hope we can get some solid projects done so I can finally understand how to manage a project from start to finish.

2.) Merlin Box Animation – Final -

Thank you!