Animation

As said in my Development post I was going to originally draw the animals in maya and then animate using some sort of software (I hadn't thought about it that much). All I knew is that it would be difficult and I would either need help or some how learn how to animate 3D models very quickly. 

Then, after a good nights sleep, I decided that I'm not very good at 3D animating so I'd simplfy down a little bit for myself. If I struggle to get people to help me this makes animating a little bit less scary and more people would be able to help me. 

I have decided to draw the animals by hand, as said in the my Animal Design post, and possibly use photoshop for animating or another software if there is a simplier one, such as Adobe Flash. And instead of making the animation smooth and sleek like most 2D animation, I want it to have a zoopraxiscope look, stuttering as if it's skipping frames, like a flip book or old movie as it's meant to represent someone imagining these animals so the picture or animation isn't so clear. 

Transforming Animals Trailer - Zoopraxiscope

After talking to a couple of friends who have done animation say that this idea is the best time wise, the 2D aspect of animating and the flip book style will make it easier then 3D modeling and animating. Using photoshop to create the animals I'll then use Adobe Flash.

 

Doing a 6 minute animated video would mean having around 7,000 frames altogether however, I hope that making the animation look jittery by reducing the number of frames per second will be less of a task. Of course around 20-30 second of the 6 minutes will be stand still for audiences to leave the installation. 

I have thought of a way to help with the animation process, as I am not very strong in the sense of drawing animals quickly and also having to draw them in multiple angles to make the animation, I want to use the help of someone who knows animation a little be better then I do. 
Using there skills on drawing the motion of the animals in sketch form (so not perfect, very rough) I will then take that animation and define the drawings, smoothing out the lines and colouring them in. I also think this will help with me keeping the animals looks similar as I've have drawn the concept art as well as the defined animation. 

Also if I am able to get hold of a composer I can reduce the animation down to 4 minutes, again reducing the amount of frames and the work load.