Animation and all its glory!

alright so for my 3-d logo I am "attempting" to make create a ghost. However all I am doing is giving myself a headache.  I'm trying to get the end or "tail" of the ghost to flare out or if I can't do that I just want the tail to thin out in the very end.  Right now I have an oval that's wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. I can't think of how I am going to do the eyes or the arms. Also need to figure out what I am going to do for the mouth and make it move for the logo.  The eye sockets are done. I used the extrude tool and pushed a few selected polygons inside (indented) so they look like sockets. Now the question is how to make them look like eyes and not just depressions  in the guys head... *Sigh* I guess now it is all trial and error. I received inspiration for the logo from my family.  At my house I am called "Boo"; hence my logo.  Anyway if anyone has any idea or helpful tip that they can give me I would really appreciate it! I am going to die If I do not get the ghost the way I want it to without it looking like a large oval shaped blob with indents for the eyes, nose and, mouth.
P.S. Here is Casper the friendly ghost. Trying to get his basic shape in cheetah.

Animation and all its glory!

FINALLY! We get to do 3-D animation! *happy dance* So happy! Have waited forever to learn how to do this. I hope to learn to make a character in Cheetah that looks 3-D like what you would see in the Final Fantasy games or in Kingdom Hearts. Although I am trying to do the few tutorials that the program offers. Right now I am trying to make/create the axe. Just getting the blade the right shape and size as compared to the picture that is there and it's killing me! I can only have patience and keep going! I got my grade on my 2-D short though! Got an 82! Some points off because the audio was "jarring". I didn't have any ambiance/background music to make the sound effects flow easier into the short. Hope that makes sense to everyone. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the long notes. I mean the demo we had today was what Ms. Licata calls "medium". And we all know how long that took. Oh god if that was medium, I don't want to even to think about it. Worst part of this week; coming back from break and the notes. Best part; 3-D work and - I'm sure there is another good thing. Can't think of anything right now but...

Animation and all its glory!

okay i know this really doesn't pertain to animation but i have to post this! I GOT A FREAKING LAPTOP!!!

ANIMATION AND ALL ITS GLORY!

Almost done with my rotoscope! *Does a little happy dance* Now I have to start thinking/planning of how to shoot the footage for my stop-motion. (Depression....) Not going to be the easiest thing I imagine. I'm not sure if I am going to capture it with a video recording. I.e. filming for a second, pausing and moving the character, then recording for another second and so on and so forth.  The other option is to do the same thing except instead of recording it on video, I would take a picture of each shot. Both processes are long and tedious but I hope it will be worth it in the end.  And then we get to move on to 3-d animation! *does a little happy dance again* I'm sure it'll be hard but so what?  No one said any of this would be cake walk.

ANIMATION AND ALL ITS GLORY!

Okay one more post for this week. Let's see...what to write about. I guess I could write about how long the sculpting is taking for my stop-motion project. OH MY GOD!! It takes forever. Luckily I took a break from it today to work on my rotoscope.  I think up to slide 95. But I'm doing a little bit at a time. Like the glasses, then go back and do the outline for the neck, head, etc. So it is a long processes. Guess both of these projects are long huh?
Alright back on topic. Extra post. Grrr... why is this so hard!? Fine uh....in the season of Christmas lets talk about the movie, "The Polar Express". It is a computer animated movie using live action techniques. That's when you see the actors/actress wearing black jumpers with all those pretty little balls glued to them where the persons joints and such are on a real person. I love this movie! I love Christmas time because (sorry teachers) I LOVE BREAK!! Come on, who wouldn't? And don't say teachers because I know they do too!
Now because I believe I am rambling I will just get to the point and show some really cool cells or behind the scene thing of the movie. Enjoy.

ANIMATION AND ALL ITS GLORY!

For additional post.
I would like to incorporate some music for a scene of my stop-motion. However finding music on public domains that would suit my project is hard. I am trying to find a waltz type of music, slow yet beautiful. And there are so many online yet I can guarantee that most of them are copyrighted and I won't be able to use them. Darn you copyright!! I'm 16! How much trouble could I do to a song? Really? A snippet of a song for a minuet is all I ask but no!! They can't! It's like what to those people who posted a parody of the Pokemon (if you don't know what Pokemon is you must live under a rock...) opening song on YouTube and it got taken down because of "copyright infringement."  Anyway long story short I need a way to find music for the project. This is the music I would like to use. Again copyright. But I digress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjz8ZZU5Ibo&feature=related

ANIMATION AND ALL ITS GLORY!

Working on stop motion. But haven even started shooting yet! Still making the characters as well as additional parts and pieces. I am trying to get my characters to look somewhat good and believable and not just blobs moving around the screen for 1 min or so. That is easier said than done. Although I seem to be getting the hang of it. And not a moment too soon. Starting this Friday I will have two weeks to complete both the stop-motion project and the rotoscope. I have to admit that I have been neglecting the rotoscope in place for my stop motion. I do this because stop motion seems to me what will take the longest. I pray that I can meet the deadline. So  now all I have to do is keep my nose to the grindstone and go for it. Oh I am so screwed. (can i say that hear? I don't know. If i get in trouble for this....please don't be mad...)