Final Trailer and Evaluation

This is the final result of the animation I have produced for the assignment with all of the scenes edited together and sound included.

The trailer is 30 seconds long and features the Zorin Industries airship from the movie A View To A Kill, flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in reference to a particular scene from the film. However, despite this reference, my animation does not show actual scenes from the film and instead is a more abstract trailer advertising the movie, much more similar to the opening credits from James Bond films (for an example, see the opening credits from Quantum of Solace).

In my trailer, there are three bullets flying along the river towards the Golden Gate Bridge as the airship is flying over it. The bullets then slow down and two of them drop into the water below. The third bullet slowly weaves its way around the struts of the bridge before firing up towards the Zorin Industries airship, with the scene cutting just before it hits leaving the trailer on a cliffhanger.

Overall I am quite happy with the way my animation has turned out. In particular, some of the camera angles I have managed to create I am very pleased with. However, there are some elements I would improve next time. One thing I noticed about my trailer is that it seems very short, despite being the specified 30 seconds. I think this is because it lures the viewer in and then suddenly ends and I think a big cause of this is the soundtrack. I have used the title song from the film, although just when the song is beginning with the lyrics coming in, my animation then cuts. This could be a contributory factor that leaves the viewer expecting more.

Another thing that could be improved is the landscaping. Currently it seems a bit bare and, although not a key point of the animation, it would be nice to add a bit more to the landscape to make it a bit more pleasing to the eye.

However, those points aside, I am happy with my trailer. I have definitely enjoyed learning and using the Autodesk 3D Studio Max program this semester. I have learned a lot of very useful techniques about 3D modelling and animation and have thoroughly enjoyed myself. Next time I would probably make use of more of the techniques that I learned this semester, uing some of those that I didn't use for this trailer, in order to create more variety. But for my first experience of 3D modelling and animation, I am pleased with the result.

Assignment - Scene 7

This is the 7th and final scene of my assignment animation. This is where my animation becomes slightly abstract with the last remaining bullet weaving its way around the struts of the Golden Gate Bridge before firing up towards the Zorin Industries airship.

In order to create this I used a carefully constructed path constraint. I created a spline that weaved its way around the struts of the bridge before suddenly going straight and upwards. It was a challenge to get the path to follow around the struts, especially at the end when it goes straight across the bridge and has to go between the struts on the other side too, on the way to the airship. However, I managed to achieve the path I wanted after a long and careful construction process.

Once this was achieved, I attached the bullet to the path using a path constraint and then set the bullet to start about 10% of the way along the path. The reason for this was to get the right camera angle. In order to get the camera to follow, I cloned the spline that the bullet was following and moved it slightly above. This was a technique I had learnt in creating the little race track animation for one of the tutorials. I could then attach the camera to this slightly higher path. Then I attached the camera target to the bullet using an attachment constraint.

The path constraints were set to not have a constant velocity, since the bullet needed to speed up on the straight part of the path at the end. However, in the final render, this effect was perhaps a little bit too much and will therefore need slowing down slightly in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Assignment - Scene 6

This is scene 6 of my final animation. In this scene, the bullets slow down before two of them suddenly drop into the river. The third bullet continues slowly towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

There are a lot of features used in this particular scene. To make the bullets drop into the water I used the reactor physics engine provided in 3DS Max. I had previously used this in one of the tutorials to animate the bowling alley and decided straight away that I'd like to use it in my final animation. This scene allowed me that opportunity. The reactor physics engine ensured that the falling motion is completely realistic.

The camera angle of this scene is also very interesting. To create this I once again used path constraints. Firstly I created an ark shaped spline. I then rotated it so that the ark curved upwards - parallel to the bridge curving up towards the sky. I then used the path constraint tool to attach the camera to the spline. Once this was done, I used an attachment constraint to attach the camera target to the middle bullet.

In order to achieve the desired camera effect, I had to ensure that the camera was above the bullets at the point where they dropped. I think I achieved this nicely and I am very happy with the way this scene turned out.

Assignment - Scene 5

This is scene 5 of my final animation. This is a very short scene, only a second in length, in which the three bullets are shown flying above the water past a stationary camera.

The purpose of this scene is just to show the bullets with a bit more speed than a moving camera would. There was no special techniques involved in this scene, only auto-key. This time there are no type of constraints attaching the camera target to anything, nor path constraints for the objects or camera itself. This is a very simple animated scene.

I am quite happy with this scene actually. Despite being very short and very simple, the daylight has once again provided a great effect on the surface of the water.

Assignment - Scene 4

This is scene 4 of my final animation. It features the Zorin Industries airship flying over the Golden Gate Bridge from the perspective of a camera placed on the bridge.

This scene was created in a very similar way to scene 2 in that there was no special techniques used other than auto-key and an attachment constraint that linked the camera target to the airship. The camera was in a fixed position on the bridge.

I am quite happy with this scene, it gives a good view of the bridge and the airship flying overhead. However, as with the first airship scene, I think the airship is moving perhaps a little bit too quickly so this will need slowing down slightly in Premiere Pro.

Assignment - Scene 3

This is scene 3 of my final animation. Here the bullets, around which the animation is focussed, come into play. In this scene the three bullets are flying down the river with the camera swirling around them.

To create this scene I used path constraints. The three bullets followed a straight path. I then created a helix spline, rotating it so that it was circling the path that the bullets would follow. Once the spline was in place and the path was perfect, I attached the camera to the path using a path constraint and the camera target to the middle bullet using an attachment constraint. This created the camera angle I was looking for, to build up tension around the flying bullets. In the final animation I will probably use some tension building sound here too.

I was very happy with how this render turned out. The effect of the daylight on the surface of the water is brilliant and the camera angle is very interesting, especially as it zooms on the bullet at the end of the scene before swiftly cutting. This will work great in the final animation.

Assignment - Scene 2

This is scene 2 of my final animation. It features the Zorin Industries airship flying in over the bumpy landscape. Once again, this is simply an opening scene in order to set the mood of the animation.

This scene did not use any special techniques other than auto-key. The camera is in a fixed position with the target being connected to the airship via an attachment constraint. The airship then simply moves from A to B with the camera recording its movement.

One thing I did notice from the render was that the Zorin Industries logo on the side of the airship isn't particularly visible. This is due to the angle being filmed from as the daylight is falling on top of the airship, meaning the underneath is in the shade. However, I don't think this will affect the quality of the final animation too much.

Also, the airship is moving just a little bit too fast, meaning that when it comes to putting the final animation together in Premiere Pro, I may have to slow this scene down slightly.