Well I have finished my 11 Second Club entry, here it is -


Final 11 Second Club piece from Insa Burch on Vimeo.


I think it is safe to say that I am not and will never be a character animator. I tried my hardest, but I just don't get it! On the other hand I did really enjoy making my experimental piece, editing it together was really fun and I really enjoyed animating to music. Here is the final of that piece -


Experimental Project Final from Insa Burch on Vimeo.


Now I am going to sleep and chill for a day or two.

Here is the rough edit for my experimental project -


Experimental Animation Rough Edit from Insa Burch on Vimeo.


Still have some tweaks and more editing to do, but thats the general gist!

Here is an example of lessons to be learnt (read the post below if this doesn't make sense!)


first pixelation test from Insa Burch on Vimeo.


Timing is a little out, and this is basically just a test to get to grips with final cut!

I did my shoot yesterday for my experimental project and I came across several very large problems with the pictures I had taken. These are the lessons I have learnt - 

1. TV ISN'T SQUARE! I (stupidly) took all my pictures in portrait, not landscape, so even If I was to crop them they would end up looking stupid and square. The next time I go out to shoot, I have to make sure all of the pictures are in landscape. 

2. USE A TRIPOD. I did not use my tripod and the pictures visually don't fit. 

3. USE THE DOPESHEET. I thought I could just blag it and kind of make it up as I went along. I can't. The music does not fit with the images. 

I will post examples of my terrible first attempt at my experimental project, as soon as I get my head around final cut (I'm never using Premiere again!)

Anyway to detract yourself from my utterly ridiculous attempt at my experimental shambles, here is a lovely little vid I found on vimeo. This is what I want to animate - 

Virgile from Flying V on Vimeo.

Today we were invited to go and watch the third year FMP pitches. It was really interesting - there were a lot of really good ideas and some amazing concepts floating around and it gave me an insight into what to expect to be working towards in the final year. It made me realise that I really have to up my game if I have any chance of getting my foot in the door later on! There were a few really sweet projects that I would love to work on, so hopefully I can be part of something cool. It was really inspiring and it was really nice to see what everyone was working on. In other news, I have finally managed to battle with after effects and have achieved something somewhat (mildly) reminiscent of old super 8 style footage. I did a test shoot at the beach the other day to experiment with camera techniques and post production techniques for my Experimental piece. Here it is...


Beach Test edit from Insa Burch on Vimeo.



...I still need to add some scratches and play around with the contrast and exposure but I hoping the finished product will look something like that.

I am facing a little conundrum with my 11 second club piece. I am unsure whether I should do it in 2D or 3D. In both instances I will be using (or rather learning how to use) software I'm not particularly confident in using, which will be... frustrating! But I will be able to use said program a lot more proficiently after. My strength is in drawing rather than 3D animating, but I really want to improve my Maya skills so I'm thinking I might do it in 3D. If I was to animate it in 3D I think I might use this rig. I think its cute!

Alsooo here are a select few pieces from the last few life drawing sessions. Most of the drawings have been rubbish recently (need to get over that!) but here are a few -

Some of these are blind contour and some of them I have drawn with my left hand. They are pretty awful, there leaves a lot to be desired. More drawing practice for me I think...