ALTER EGO II - LIP SYNC ANIMATION TO RECONSTRUCTED DIALOGUE

 

ALTER EGO II - ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

Choosing a character from J. Ward's series Rocky, Bullwinkle & Friends, or Total Television's Underdog series universe, students will construct an alternate biography by tweaking the formative years of their character-of-choice to determine a radically different outcome. Students will then redesign their character, choose a live-action movie clip (contemporary or classic), and build an animated performance – all based on the new character outcome.  The final animated performance will be based on an original reenacted sound clip by emerging voice talent.

 

ALT EGO PERFORMANCE BREAKDOWN

1. Alt Ego Performance Pitch

2. Scene-Planning - Blocking

3. Animation - Keys & Breakdowns

4. Design & Build Phonemes

5. Model Check - Tieing Down Keys & Breakdowns

6. Inbetweens & Syncing Mouth Animation

7. Final Ink & Paint

8. Highlight & Tone

9. Final Edit - Post to Discord, Submit Files to Basecamp

 

Go here for a complete step-by-step series of demos for this project

 

1. PERFORMANCE PITCH

In 5 to 6 panels, propose a blocking/camera scenario for the performance you have in mind. Be sure to add text indicating how each panel correlates to the dialogue in your performance.

EXAMPLE:

Sample audio: Dudley_Joker.mp3

WORKFLOW:

    1. Open your character dialogue clip and spend time getting to know the lines.
    2. Act out the lines making note of how your body moves to underscore certain points in the dialogue.
    3. Once you have an idea of how your performance will play out, download 6 Panel Character Blocking.psd and type the transcript of your dialogue under their respective panels. From here you can print out the panel sheet or draw your acting beats directly in Photoshop.
    4. Draw a pose in each panel to express both the performance and the placement of the camera in proximity to the character. Work small and focus on gestures. Come back around and refine drawings when you feel all the panels are working together.
    5. Export jpg and post to Discord #320-alter-ego for comments.
    6. Finally, open the new jpg in Photoshop and follow this video to export each panel as a separate file.
    7. Zip these panels and upload them to Basecamp.

SUBMISSION & NAMING: 

Submit pitch. jpg and zipped panels to Basecamp 320 DropBox/Alter Ego - Lip Sync Animation/personalFolder/

    • simpsonb_dudley_pitch.jpg
    • simpsonb_dudley_pitch.zip
 

2. SCENE-PLANNING - BLOCKING ("thumbnails")

The Blocking (or thumbnail) stage is made up of a handful of simple sketches to plot out the basic beats of your performance in time. Think of a theater actor walking from one mark to the next reading their lines and striking workable poses, getting a distinct feel for the performance to come. At this stage, simple sketches and basic anatomy keep the performance malleable, still open to exploration and discovery within the established beats.

For the Blocking stage you will import your pitch panels, distribute them on the timeline much like a storyreel. From there you will draw over them on a new "blocking" layer hitting your established beats within the performance space and adding whatever drawings you need to flesh out your performance.

Note: You will be working in the same Harmony project characterName_lipsync that you created for your Thumbnail poses. You should already have the audio loaded along with a number of thumbnail poses to inform your performance.

EXAMPLES:

 

WATCH BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

Alt Ego Demo: 1. Scene Planning

TB Tutorials Review: How to Draw Rough Key Poses from Thumbnails (review)

 

IMPORT PITCH PANELS:

  1. Open your Harmony character_lipSync.stage file and go to File/Save as New Version to save a version of your Harmony Stage file. It will offer you a window with the original project name. Add an underscore and a six digit date, The result should look like this: dudley_blocking_102020
  2. Follow this video to Import and distribute the separate panels of your performance pitch in your timeline.
  3. From here you should be able to play back your performance and make any adjustments necessary

BLOCKING WORKFLOW:

  1. Create a new blocking (or "thumbnail") layer in the timeline and draw over your pitch panels. Draw loosely with a red (or light) brush, and focus on simple shapes, gesture and poses to to flesh out your performance. Details will come later.
  2. Once you are happy with the playback at 24 fps, export a Quicktime movie and Post to Discord #320-alter-ego for comments.
  3. Zip the full Harmony project and upload to Basecamp with "Replace with a new version". This will replace and archive your original characterName_lipSync.zip post with characterName_blocking.zip

SUBMISSION & NAMING:

Zip Harmony Project and post to Basecamp using "Replace with new version" feature. This way we can keep a running dialogue of your notes and progress in the comments thread. Be sure to add six-digit date to .zip file name.

320 DropBox/Alter Ego - Lip Sync Animation/personalFolder/simpsonb_dudley_blocking_102020

 

 

3. ROUGH ANIMATION - KEY POSES & BREAKDOWNS - (red-line)

If the Blocking (or thumbnail) stage was about finding your marks and rehearsing your lines (if we stay with the stage-acting analogy), then the Key Posing stage is the live performance. Your main focus will be strong poses (Keys), secondary animation and small embellishments, all of which help strengthen your performance. It is also about reigning in your drawings to ensure that each pose in on model, your silhouettes are strong and that the features of your character are easy to read.

Breakdowns are all about your refining arcs and adding fluid motion between the Keys. Typically Breakdowns come after the Key poses are established but sometimes Keys and Breakdowns blur into a kind straight-ahead animation.

SET-UP:

    1. Open your Harmony character_blocking.stage file and go to File/Save as New Version to save a new version of your stage file. Change blocking to keys and update the six digit date, The result should look like this: dudley_keys_110720
    2. You'll be using a TB script to replicate and paste the shell of your blocking layer so you'll need to use the Toolbar Manger to add new scripts to your X-Sheet view. Watch this video on Rough Animation Layer Scripts to see how it's done.
    3. Open your Character Turn-around to keep your drawings on model.

KEY POSES:

    1. You are now ready to begin drawing your Key Poses. Watch this video for review before you begin.  How to Draw Rough Key Poses from Thumbnails.
    2. Using a blue (or slightly darker) brush, draw over you blocking (or thumbnail) beats, strengthening each pose, refining the drawing closer to model, and embellishing the performance.
    3. At this point you may find that changes in timing may help the performance. Make your adjustments accordingly.

BREAKDOWNS:

    1. You are now ready to add Breakdown drawings between the Key Poses if you haven't started already. Watch this video for review before you begin. Onion Skin, Light Box Adjustments & Easy-Flipping
    2. You will be working in the same layer using the same brush line. Begin by inserting a new drawing between your Key poses with the Create Empty Drawing button in the Timeline tool bar.
    3. Then use Onion Skin to draw a Breakdown between the two keys that accentuate the motion arc.
    4. Use the "F" & "G" keys or the "Easy Flipping tool" to test the the motion in the Drawing View.
    5. Repeat this process, making adjustments as you go, for the entire performance.
    6. When you are pleased with what you see, export a Quicktime movie and Post to Discord #320-alter-ego for comments.
    7. Zip the full Harmony project, update the six-digit date and upload to Basecamp with "Replace with a new version". This will replace and archive your previous post with characterName_keys_110620.zip.

SUBMISSION & NAMING:

Zip Harmony Project and update the six-digit date and post to Basecamp using "Replace with new version". Post the movie into the comments thread.

320 DropBox/Alter Ego - Lip Sync Animation/personalFolder/simpsonB_characterName_keys_110620.zip.

 

 

4. MOUTH ANIMATION - DESIGN, BUILD & ANIMATE PHONEMES

You'll need to design a set of mouth shapes (or phonemes) to make your character talk.

A. DESIGN PHONEMES:

TB Tutorials: Lip-Sync Animation pt 1 - 1 hr

WORKFLOW:

  1. Read over this brief document on the fundamentals of animating lip sync.
  2. Download the Mouth Chart Template and create your characters phonemes in Photoshop on a separate layer.
  3. Save your original PSD file to your project and then export (save as) a jpg for substitution.
  4. Post jpg. to Discord #320-alter-ego for comments.

EXAMPLE:

SUBMISSION & NAMING: 

Submit jpg. to Basecamp 320 DropBox/Alter Ego - Lip Sync Animation/personalFolder/simpsonb_dudley_mouthChart.jpg

 

B. BUILD & ANIMATE PHONEMES:

Alt Ego Demo: Mouth Animation - Build & Animate Phonemes

TB Tutorials: Lip-Sync Animation pt 2 - 25 min

 

 

5. MODEL CHECK - "TIEING DOWN" KEYS & BREAKDOWNS (Blue-line)

Model Check is where we redraw all of our Keys and Breakdowns and make sure at every pose our character is cleaned up and "On Model". So before you get started you'll want to make sure you have your Model Sheet/Character Turn-around open and available to keep you on track.

The other thing you'll want to do at this stage is take a moment to plan out your layer strategy. Consider how you can break your animation into to separate layers to avoid having to redraw parts of your character that don't move while others animate. The obvious layer is the mouth layer. After that you might want to separate the head from the body and possibly break out a layer for any props your character might be holding.

In the example below, I had a separate layer for the mouths, head, hands, body and hat. I even keyframed the pupils for the close-up. Harmony even lets you keyframe your layers in z-depth so you can change the order of how they stack in the timeline.

WATCH BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

Alt Ego Demo: Model Check - Set-up, Head & Body Animation

TB Tutorials: Onion Skin, Light Box Adjustments & Easy-Flipping (review)

 

6. INBETWEENS & SYNCING MOUTHS

Before you get started watch the remaining "Head" and "Body" videos under 4. Model Check, Lip Sync & Inbetweens on the Alter Ego Class Demo Page.

 

7. INK & PAINT

Before you get started watch the "Tools & Tips" and the "Ink & Paint Head" videos under 5. Ink & Paint on the Alter Ego Class Demo Page.

TB Tutorials: Clean Up - Finished Line-Art - 25 min

TB Tutorials: Ink & Paint - 18 min

 

8. HIGHLIGHT & TONE

Before you get started watch the "Highlight & Tone" videos under 6. Highlight & Tone on the Alter Ego Class Demo Page.

TB Tutorials: Highlight & Tone

 

9. FINAL EDIT - POST TO DISCORD, SUBMIT TO BASECAMP

1. Post to final Movie Discord: Once you are happy with the final audio mix, export a movie, post a copy to discord.

 

2. Character Treatment PDF: You will also need to compile your Character Exploration & Design into a single Character Treatment PDF. The PDF must include the following:

3. Clean up Project Structure: Once you are finished clean up your entire project structure, and compress it to a zip file.

 

4. Submit to Basecamp: Submit zipped project folder to Basecamp 320 Dropbox along with a separate movie file and Character Treatment.

 

Naming:

simpsonb_altEgo_dudley_050222.zip

simpsonb_altEgo_dudley_final.mp4

simpsonb_altEgo_dudley_treatment.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephan Leeper/Central Michigan University 2022