GIF animation are the total rage (right now). The short GIF animation will load on any device.
These animation loops were created for a digital online document.
Animation for Client Reports
Banner Animation
Banner Animation – the website trend for 2019.
The GIF format has had a long online history. The GIF animation has far outlasted some the biggest online technologies (Shockwave, Flash). As we move into 2019 the GIF animation takes on the role of engage your end user with easy to load short animations – that work on ALL PLATFORMS. No need for any fancy plugin or browser. GIF delivers on all platforms.
Homepage Banner Ad – promoting the importance of design. I created the animation loop frame-by-frame in Photoshop. Setting a 5-second pause on either end of the animation. Keeping a simple design with a solid white background helps to keep the file size small. So that the GIF animation can quickly load on any device.
VIDEO Product Profile
NEW YouTube Channel
Irishguy Design Studio worked with Minuteman Signs to create the first in their collection of product videos. Each video is a short product demo. The YouTube video is embedded in the product description page on their website. In the first five months, the videos are averaging 30 monthly views.
Irishguy Design Studio shot and edited the video samples. And created a new YouTube channel for Minuteman Signs.
Heavy Gauge Flexible Signage
https://minutemansignsinc.com/product-category/posted-signs/vinyl-signs/heavy-gauge-flexible-vinyl/
Aluminum Signage
https://minutemansignsinc.com/product-category/posted-signs/aluminum-signs/
Semi-Rigid Poly Signage
https://minutemansignsinc.com/product-category/posted-signs/plastic-signs/
MUSIC VIDEO Hello hello
My ink illustration turn to pop for motion. Great song by Marc Sound.
AWARD Animation
Award Animation created for the WIRED Best Business Website Design award for Dagnabit Animation.
SET DESIGN: Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
There was something about this scene that was so, important to get right. The entire scene runs for near seven minutes during which time the green screen cat interacts with the live dancers. I loved how the cat running across the screen looked – that was super fun to make.
The green screen life action of the appearing and disappearing cat was timed to the ballet performance.
The cat was first shot on green screen. From our storyboard, all the scenes were shot. The laughter mouth footage – was shot with the dancer moving their head forward and back. During a life performance, the actions would have been perfect. However, for the final scene of having a large mouth – laughing and floating around the stage – meant the dancer’s head should have been still – so I could add a mask and reveal what I wanted. With the mouth movement – and the dancer out of town until the day before opening night. I turned to Adobe After Effects.
Using the tracing features in After Effects, I was able to track the inside of the dancers mouth – I think I track a tooth! After placing a keyframe in every frame, I then centered all the frames – which resulted in freezing the dancers head motion.
Before applying the mouth-shaped mask, it was almost impossible to watch the mouth footage. Once the mask was in place – and all the edges were cleaned up, and the magic dust was applied -the footage worked great.
Building The Scene
The background had to hold video footage and have the ability to act as a 3D scene. Nothing in the scene was shot together. I created the forest scene from more than 350 of my photographs. The bark on the trees was completely resurfaced with bark from another tree. Plants were cropped, resized, and arranged to create the entire scene. It was a beautiful experience of starting from a blank screen and collection of my photos – and start building a scene.
VIDEO EDITING: Asheville DJ
Asheville Motion Graphics
My design work began in the nightclubs of Atlanta. Back then I created frame-by-frame animations. Now, I pull in the strong arms of Adobe After Effects to create my motion graphics. Using After Effects to create tempo-synchronized graphics. The background patterns were created in Adobe Illustrator for the website and incorporated into the piece installation.
Motion Graphics created for Asheville DJ iGuy. The video piece was integrated into a one-page website design. The visual were also used with projectors for special Asheville party event.
Asheville Motion Graphics for DJ iGuy
Motion Graphic Sample
The motion graphic effect created for the video.
ANIMATION: Set Design
ALICE: Hall of Tears scene from the ballet created by Asheville Dance Company Terpsicorps.
GARY: It is hard to know where I began when creating Hall of Tears scene. There are layers and layers of video footage, frame-by-frame animation, green screen, and special effects. All of which came together to create this awesome stage design.
PLOT: This is the scene where Alice has gotten really large, and is crying. The water is from her tears. For this scene of the ballet. Alice was shot against a green screen – in this case we also had the dancer hold a green screen in front of her (as I just needed her hands and head).
On stage during the live performance – two dancer (tear drops) appear from a slit in the center of the screen. The video projection repeats on a loop.
Animation Tears
Homemade Special Effects
When creating the water effects for the scene – I wanted the water to appear natural. I wanted a flow, spread, unevenness. All the characteristic of water. What I didn’t want to do – was simply turn to a 3D model to created water. Sure in certain scenes, and for certain effects it was great to turn to CGI to create the effect. However, for a modern ballet in Asheville – the digital media needed to be less polished and refined – the visual installation had its part to play as the backdrop.
Water Reflection
Water Highlight – shot with a small hand-held digital camera
Creating Water Effect from rain
ANIMATION: Without Art
Longer Version
“How Extraordinary! I thought they would care for nothing but your art”
The opening animated text sequence is a line wonderful line from The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde has always inspired me. I was in my early teens when I read The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (for the first time). Alongside the three books written by Lord Alfred Douglas. It seemed fitting to incorporate Oscar Wilde into my first public collaboration.
Frame-by-Frame Animation
Most of the content for the installation was frame-by-frame animation. Using 29 frame per second – I created a still images in Photoshop. One image for each frame.
THE MATH:
29 frames = 1 Second
1740 frames = 1 Minute
Installation 45 minutes = 78300 frames.
This animation project taught me two very precise things about myself.
- I am very fast with Photoshop.
- I am very patient.
The frame-by-frame animation took hundreds of hours to create. For most scenes I had at least seven active layers in Photoshop. Each layer controlling the frame-by frame animation for one element. Providing me control over seven elements to animate for each frame.
Dancing Figures
The nude dancing figures was my artistic expression to how I was feeling. This was my first BIG installation – I did feel somewhat exposed. The opening still lady-figure was my state of artistic focus to command inspiration from feeling exposed.
The dancing figures began as pencil sketches. I then photographed the sketches. And refined the sketches with Adobe Illustrator. I completely lost count how many female figures I sketched, certainly enough for the chorus line animation that they became part of.
Special Text Effect
The frame-by-frame animation white and orange text effect are extracts from my of Essay of Aubrey Beardsley. Beardsley defined the art of graphic design and print making. While Beardsley provocative nature of penmanship was even disliked by Oscar Wilde. Beardsley unique ink and pen images are the visual definition and origin of graphic design.
“Patterned his Style”.
Beginning my public statement to accept the fear of being exposed. And to trust my artists expression to create. The frame-by-frame animation text sequence begins the dialog.
CREDITS:
Photography – Bart Peeters.
Motion Graphics, Animation, and Typesetting – Gary Crossey.
BRANDING: Ballet
Branding Asheville Ballet Season
Poster Design and Branding: solely by Brian Jones.
Video Project for Asheville Ballet
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Video Editing projects are such fun when you have creative footage to work with. For Terpsicorps – Asheville Ballet promotional video there was so much beautiful footage that I could have used.
The art of video editing is knowing which shots will tell the story best. I had great fun getting to film dancers. Capturing the dancer’s motion and creativity. And then bringing all of those series of images to the video editing part – filtering and combining the storyline.
Due to the marketing masterminding of Brian Jones (Branding Creator for ALICE) the promotional video for The Mad Hatters Ball was a huge success.
The video was both showcased on local TV news and public access TV. Published by Mountain Xpress newspaper. And featured as bonus footage during the online interview with Asheville Citizen-Times – and that was just for the preview.
Video Promotion Script
Heather (the creator/visual direction of Alice and director of Terpsicorps) – “I had definite ideas in my head of what I wanted to see come to life, and I sat down and wrote out a bunch of storyboards and pictures and things that I wanted. Having absolutely no idea whether any that was possible. I guess all that comes down to see what happens and meeting these people who can make it happen”.
Craig (Advanced tech, camera work, creative continuity )– “Bringing all these assets together is a gargantuan task requiring a lot of organization and production. Alice is a very complex project. We’re are going to be utilizing no less than four video projectors and six screens”.
Gary (Digital Media Artist, Animator, and Special Effects) – “Some of the approaches that we’ve adopted is to use live footage shot in the Asheville area. And then apply different special effects and animation techniques. Using Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere to create the content that we need for the show. Alice is a prime example of where all of our skills come together to create a beautiful project”.
More Information
- THE MAP – Article on the creative process of Alice.
- Mountain Express – Go, Upload Alice
- Terpsicops – www.terpsicorps.org
- BlueRidgeNow – Article on Ballet and Animation
ANIMATION: Frame-by-Frame
Sometimes, I get to do more than Graphic Design services in Asheville. The Frame-by-Frame animation was created and showcased in the Royal Palace in Lakenhal, Belgium. Using Adobe Photoshop to create frame-by-frame animations may not be the fastest way to create content. However, the look and feel that I was able to achieve does add the personality that I was after.
Creating the Clay Lady Animation
The Clay Lady was the first of a series of short animations created for a multimedia installation. Bart Peeters had created a series of beautiful photographs of people either painted in covered in clay.
The images of the clay lady really interested me. The shape of the body, the lack of expression on the face. Making the animations felt like a road of self discovery.
Frame-by-Frame Animation Contact Sheet
The single frames of the animation also have a certain amount of interest. When viewing the single frame in the file browser – I like the color changes and the movement that the image create. Continue reading “ANIMATION: Frame-by-Frame”
MOTION: GIF Animation
Internet tech is often blamed for moving forward to fast. The changes happen too quickly for people to keep up. Sure, sometimes this may be true. However, there are some techs that flood around for years before taking a hold (Bluetooth). Or, there are other techs that are reinvented, or at least relaunched and begin another cycle of usage. The latter example is the certainly the story of the GIF animation.
GIF animation early days may have been jumping hamsters and spinning blinking buttons (my personal fav). Which is a far cry to presenting high-end fashion for some of the most pristine fashion houses. 2015 is the year that GIF animation returned to the tech world as a stylist fashionable option for delivering media rich content.
VIDEO: Back history on the GIF Animation format
PHOTOGRAPHY: Chickens
Asheville Photography Sample of Hens and Roosters
VIDEO: Asheville Video Shorts
Asheville Video Shorts
Asheville Manufacturing Video Shorts created by Gary Crossey for the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. After meeting with the Asheville Chamber of Commerce we created storyboards of the video spots. Interview times were established for the film crew to visit each location.
I later edited the video to be presented during the annual Asheville Manufacturing Awards.
Video Profile – Volvo Asheville
Video Profile – Eaton Asheville
Video Profile – Cane Creek Asheville
Video Profile – Immaculate Bakery
POSTER DESIGN: Learn
Asheville Poster Design Sample
As a graphic designer, creating a poster design is always a fun project. For me each poster is a new graphic design journey. Especially, for the The Journey of Creativity series. Some of my most memorable moments as a graphic designer involve the thrill of unwrapping large format print jobs. One incorrect fold and that high-gloss photography finish will ruin the impact.
Thankfully, most of my early design years were spent in the darkroom, processing photography. Granted, I learnt all my lessons the hard way. Which is why this graphic design theme of “Learn from Failure” holds true to me.
I am always discovering new aspects of graphic design, videography, and interactive design. Most recently I discovered the value of the creative journey. I reflect on the planning process and production. I review the graphic design and typography. And I appreciate and recognize the different skills that come together to create.
The Journey of Creativity – Learn From Failure Poster and Short Video Animation were designed for the Asheville Adobe Digital Creativity class. The graphic design from the poster was used as part of a short video promotion and a mobile ready website prototype.
Asheville Video Editing Project
WEBSITE BANNER: National Ad
WEBSITE BANNER: PBS – Newsweek National Ad
PHOTOGRAPHY: Patterns
PHOTOGRAPHY: Food Styling
FOOD STYLING: Photography
PHOTOGRAPHY: Red Pepper
VIDEO: No Brakes
Billie Ray Martin – No Brakes on my Rollerskates
If you have ever heard DJ iGuy spinning, then you mostly likely heard “No Brakes on my Rollerskates” during the set. The Futon Bann Remix has filled many a dancefloor and has become one of DJ iGuy’s most requested song.
No Brakes on my Rollerskates is available directly from Billie Ray Martin’s Bandcamp webpage.
PHOTOGRAPHY – Corn Smut
VIDEO EDITING: Dolly 9 to 5
ANIMATION Playing Card Effect
Animation Samples
The playing card animation was commissioned by Tersicorps Theatre of Dance – Asheville.
Alice in Wonderland – Chapter Eight – The Queen Croquet Ground.
What an exciting part of the Alice and Wonderland story. Alice has arrived to the Rose Garden and is now face-to-face with the mighty Queen. The stage is bathe with my playing card animation. A procession of dancers are flooding the stage – with impressions of my animation on their skin and white outfits. Everything and everyone got covered by the animated playing card wash. The visual effect was outstanding.
From the opening beating of the simple single rotating hearts – half white, half red. Before launching into the animated playing card parade. The mirrored tunnel effect added to the chaos of the scene to great effect. The heart design began as the photograph of my red jacket reflecting on the metal door. The door had a diamond design that created a strong silver in one panel, while my bright red coat beamed in the adjoining panel. For me the heart was the central design element for Alice in Wonderland – the scene is rich and heavy. With hundreds of little hearts covering the scene – little hearts that were created with my reflection. While the reflection on the heart is only one half of myself – the mirrored placement of the heart creates the whole reflection.
Video Projection – Animation Wash
Parading Playing Cards
Full stage front-projection washing over entire stage and two rear projectors for added 3D effect.
Off with her head
Undoubtedly the quintessential line from Alice – “Off with her head!”.
As the chaos of the scene grows the dark playing card animation slowly fade over the stage. The music gets darker – the mood changes. On the stage their are 5 men in a web of white rope. Pulling and turning, twisting their bodies into the same knots as the rope. The more entangled the twisted bodies became the heavier the dark animation painted their skin.
Unlike, the earlier lighter animation of white and red – which created an iridescent illumination. The dark animation achieved the opposite effect. The black of the stage literally absorbed the darkness of the animation. The crimson, dark grays, and blood tones created a sinister tension between the dancer and the entangled ropes.
Rear Projector
Alice in Wonderland – Off with her head!
Animation cycle that covered the back wall of the stage. Unlike the front-projection that flooded the stage. The rear projection was onto the high-density screen. The clarity was incredible. The blood red of the animation reflected and painted the dancers skin.
Design Process – Animation Sequence
With every design the design process begins with the objective. For the The Queen’s Croquet Ground scene from Alice the animation was to serve to functions.
- Visual Effect.
- Lighting.
The scene relied heavily on flooding the stage with animated content. However, the general problem with washing an entire stage with visuals is that everything is covered the visual. Stage lights also serve to wash out projected content. For the scene – lights were lowered – projection increased. To create an awesome balance of visuals, dance, and audio synchronization. Finding this balance did take quite a few revisions – especially during the installation in the Diana Wortham Theater (which can only be expected).
The Playing Card Animation design process begin with simple sketches of playing card design. Before refining the designs in Adobe Illustrator. During the early design stages of the playing cards – I imported the roughs to After Effects – as I worked on refining the card design in Illustrator, the file would update to my After Effects animation. Most of the final animation effect was created prior to the card design being finished or approved.
Having a strong workflow plan completely helped to make this part of the project a huge success. The placeholder content that I had imported to After Effects was easier to animate and experiment with while the individual components were still so light. No delays from graphic card overload – fast and simple.
Once the final artwork was completed. I simply had to do to After Effects and render the animation. Revisions to the color content in relationship to the saturation of stage wash were done in Illustrator, and footage would be again rendered.
![Playing_Cards-[Converted]](https://i0.wp.com/irishguy.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Playing_Cards-Converted.jpg?resize=525%2C283)
PLAY CARD GRAPHIC – Each card was created for the animation.
WEBSITE BANNER: PBS Banner
National Ads Created in Asheville
Made In Honduras published in the New York Times and The Washington Post.
If you don believe in online marketing, you might want to track how many clicks these banners got – it was huge!
Using Adobe Flash, I created the Motion Graphics from still photography. Due to the size requirements for Banner ads, I had to reduce these ads to a 27K file size. Creating a banner ad is certainly one skill, having that banner come in under 27 K is quite another skill altogether. Data file reduction is a skill that I excel in.
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WEBSITE BANNER: National Web Site
WEBSITE BANNER: National Banner Ad – Call Center
National Web Site Banner Ad Created in Asheville
National Web Site Banner Published on New York Times and The Washington Post Web Sites.
Storyboard National Web Site Ads for Call Center
WEBSITE BANNER: National Web Site Banner Ad
WEBSITE BANNERS: National Ad – Honduras
MOTION GRAPHICS – Dog Walk
Some people say it is difficult to work with animals. I know that anytime a client requests that I work with my animals – I jump on it!
Meet Miss Sandy Mush – our Carolina Dog. She is super smart, a real leader and fun to work with.
The animation was created as a vector graphic in Adobe Flash (oh we do miss the creativity that we had with Flash, but they are long gone). As are the days of Director.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Marketing
Panoramic image created with Adobe Photoshop for Beach Mountain Farm – used as a website banner ad.
WEBSITE DESIGN National Brand
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Rexona Crystal Brand Website Design
Getting to refine to the Unilever International Management Training Website was an excellent project of coding tricky.
The Rexona Crystal Training Website is a stellar example of ActionScript showmanship at it’s finest. Inspired by Superman, and his Crystal home. The website was not built for the public – but rather was a special training tool – most used accessed the data via a DVD and private online network. Given the controlled environment for deployment – we were able to deliver media rich content to the viewers in a way that a conventional could not be trusted to do.
While it is not possible to share the website content – it is fair to say that much of the content was solid information of compounding data. Creating a visual environment that could transfer the data-heavy content into an engaging training opportunity.
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VIDEO: Lust in Space
Lust in Space
Lust in Space an animation project for Club NV, Atlanta.
I created the female character in 3D with a cartoon rendering. Visual effects were created using ActionScript and rendered via code rather than being a timeline based animation. The same character appears in a Quality Forward public announcement.
VIDEO: Chamber of Commerce
Asheville Video Production.
Asheville Chamber of Commerce Video Project
Video Production and Filming by Gary Crossey (IrishGuy Graphic Design) and Brian Jones.
ARTICLE: Launch DVD Production of Made in the Mountain promotional video.
Opening Animation created using Adobe After Effects.
Animation: Stone Pawn
Working with 3D models
Working on these 3D moving Chess characters was a real treat. The figures were created using Poser. I used Adobe Photoshop to contribute to creating the complex texture maps that make up the stone and metal of the characters and the chrome base.
I found that creating a displacement map on the figure increased the stone texture. High Contrast 3D lighting provided the warm tones.
Stills of 3D Characters
Video Shorts
Test footage of Chess Pew Movement.
Test Footage on how the character would move across the board.
ANIMATION Motion Graphics
Asheville Graphic Designer Gary Crossey created the frame-by-frame animation.
Frame-by-frame animation for Art Installation. The closing scene of the WithOut Art installation. I loved the little red guy flying across the screen.
Animation frame-by-frame
The Hen Lady
ANIMATION Face to Face
Moving from one scene to the next.
ANIMATION Walk Cycle
Animation for Walk Cycle for the One Clock Project.
MOTION GRAPHICS: Prides Crossing
ANIMATION: Trapped in Time
The Tapped in Time section of Alice – The Ballet is when the White Rabbit proclaims I am Late. During the Ballet the stage was washed with digital numbers.
The Trapped In Time – midnight strikes.
Digital Numbers
Trapped in Time – Larger scale.
VIDEO FOOTAGE Alice – The Ballet
The trapping in time scene from Alice – The Ballet. The animation I created were broadcast across the stage. The digital numbers cover the White Rabbit. I liked the idea of using digital numbers to connect how the footage was created. Everything captured, edited, and burnt to digital format.
VIDEO: Trapped in Time
ANIMATION Clock Hands
When I began design work for Alice – The Ballet. The first visual concept that I needed to face was TIME. Alice is Wonderland certainly has many dips and turns in the storyline. While the theme of manipulating time remains constant.
Animation Clock Hands
Prior to the opening of the ballet – my clock hands were projected on the theater curtains. First as a still image on thick red velvet curtains.
A short animated GIF – of the beginning sequence.
As a digital artist I tend to have a strong visual idea in my head – and I then set about creating that image. For the Alice Ballet the hands of time I needed the clock hands to regal and strong.
The audience were greeted with the clock arms. First, as a still image of the clock. Ten minutes before the start of the show the clock hands began to move. The clock animation is used during the opening and closing of Act 1 and 2.
Time Keeps Moving – bending time is always possible when creating visuals for Alice.
Time Animation
I am such a big fans of After Effects. I am a power house junkie with After Effects. I can think of a better reason than to use After Effects for my clock animation
From the basic animation of the clock hands I was then able to expand the look, feel, texture, and tone of the animation.
Backdrop Clock Animation
The backdrop clock animation was a fun layering effect. Again playing with the visual idea of time, and the rabbit hole, and falling.
Design Elements
The metal texture of the clock is my reflection on the staircase of Lloyd Bank in London. It was a cold Sunday morning. The bright polished metal and outdoor piping all looks super cool.
My bright red winter coat and testify to how cold it was. While also creating the constant of color against the metal panels of the bank. I refined the texture and tones in Photoshop.
ANIMATION: Short Animation Samples
Welcome to the age of YouTube. After years of hiding on a hard drive – here is a sample of my early animation projects.
In time – I will come back to this page to add explanations to why these animations were created. In the meantime – here they are.
Highway Animation
Pattern Animation
PHOTOGRAPHY: Painting with Light
SET DESIGN Caterpiller
The Caterpiller scene for Alice The Ballet – was fantastic. Smoke and Mirrors and perfect timing for every effect. The timing for a dancer is second nature.
MOTION GRAPHICS – Alice
Alice
ALICE - Video installation for Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance.
Director and Creator: Heather Maloy.
Motion Graphics: Gary Crossey.
Graphic Design: Brian Jones.
Artwork: The Clock
The silver clock featured in the rabbit hole and the White Rabbit being trapped in time was my grandmothers 70's wooden clock. After photographing the clock, I covered the wood with the silver Lloyd's bank (London) metal doors. The red on the animated clock hands is the reflection of my red jacket against the huge diamond metal doors.
ANIMATION Rabbit Hole
Creating the Rabbit Hole scene for the Asheville Ballet of Alice was one of the most famous scenes of the entire production. The rabbit hole was not only the first color scene, but it was also one of the few scenes that were completely made of video – with on live action. All the dancing and effects were recorded, and I got to do my bit!
Opening Scene
Research for the Rabbit Hole Scene
How to create the rabbit hole? While others may turn to After Effects for all of their special effects I prefer to look at the real world. In Asheville, there are a few tunnels – and that is where my creativity took me first.
I began by walking the tunnel with my camera.
Recording interesting design aspects.
Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
ANIMATION Paint Art
Animations
MOTION GRAPHICS Frame-by-Frame
Frame-by-Frame Animation
Spinning Head GIF Animation
Longer GIF Animation of Spinning Head
Animation created frame-by-frame using Photoshop.
Frame-by-Frame Special Effect
Creating special effects frame-by-frame is not the norm. Most graphic designers and video editors would turn to Adobe After Effects. And, yes, I too love working with Adobe After Effects. However, as an experienced After Effects user, I understand the limits. I know what I want a particular look I need to do it myself.
ANIMATION: 3D Female Figure
ANIMATION Motion Cycle
ANIMATION Frame-by-Frame
ANIMATION One
ONE animation.
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Video Sample
Graphic
One Man Graphic
Video Sample
3D Walk Cycle with the project keywords creating the figure. The sample video was created on Bluescreen to key out the background.
ILLUSTRATION Website Installation
Graphic Banner
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3D Animation Created by Gary Crossey
Retail Store Commission.
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VIDEO Art Installation
![\"Media](\"https://irishguy.us/wp-content/uploads/gorgeous.jpg\")
Creating visuals for an art installation can mean many different things. ![\"Media](\"https://irishguy.us/wp-content/uploads/red-white-blue.jpg\")
For the Gorgeous art installation, I used mostly frame-by-frame animation. Each frame created in Photoshop (27 frames a second). Combining the photography of Bart Peeters - I deconstructed the images in multilayers. Each layer reveals the newer self. The more understood. The more exposed.
BLOG: Design that Inspires
Heading toward Belfast via the Lurgan train station. The day was more than extra ordinary – expect for that vase. Hidden in shelve of a second hand store.
The vase that became the model for my design world. Simple shapes connected. Each shape having something that is common, while being quite different from one another.
ANIMATION Frame-by-Frame
Frame-by-frame Animation. Using Photoshop to adjust layers and apply layer filters. Each effect is created frame-by-frame.
POSTER Visual
Website Interactive Interface
The website design for Visual Propaganda changes with the user interaction. Animations load and respond to the user mouse movement. The site was developed with Flash (that is no longer supported by Apple) – here is a video sample of the animated interface.
ANIMATION Cube
ANIMATION: Figures
Animation Shorts
When working on animation projects. You end up with many animation shorts. From pencil tests. To timing tests. Finishing with render tests. There are many stages when footage is created.
Kissing
Kissing: I created the kissing animation using 3D Studio Max. While the many 3D software package go into and out of vogue. I have very fond memories of working with 3D Studio Max – when it was the main dog in town. Capturing the male and female persona was a key element of the animation.
Hand Sketching Rendering
The much underrated Poser software is always fun to work with. With the two figure sketches I was looking for different shapes to use for an Atlanta logo and marketing campaign.
Stop Motion Animation
Everyone loves a good jig. Short stop motion animation created with still images and timing!
Man in Motion Animation
Short example of a series of motion animation created for a nightclub installation. The animation was projected to movie screen size and played on a loop.
{One of these days, the other 45 minutes of missing footage from the installation may show up}.
3D MODELING: Character design
3D Modeling Example
3D Modeling sample of animated character.
Early 3D Rendering Test
ANIMATION: Dancers
Animation – to bring motion to.
I created the dancing figures for an Atlanta nightclub installation. The dancing figures got projected on the tall walls of the 350 Club in midtown Atlanta.
During the evening I kept moving the projectors to new and interesting places, including on the back of moving drag queen.
ANIMATION: Light Man
Animation Sample
Animation sample of a character I created for a multimedia shows in Atlanta. The animation was part of a visual series. From the series, the Light Man animation was fun, exciting, and creative projects. It also does well to mention that my client did give me creative control.
The Light Man animation begin with the simple chalk outline. I later created the light shape – with a light cycle of color. I used Adobe After Effects to created the chalk to color transition.
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Chalk Outline Animation
Part of the same series. Chalk outline Animation sample.
ANIMATION Sky GIF
Sky../ Journey
Photographs of leaving Ireland.
The photos were later pieced together in Photoshop to create a short string of motion. The idea of jumping on a plane, and heading off. All quite easy to do.
But sometimes those plane flights are different. Sometimes, they only go one way. The homeward bound flight when a home is away from home. That is this flight. The flight when I left Ireland. The animated GIF’s capture and repeat forever that moment – the moment I left. Like most days in Ireland, the sky is low and heavy with clouds. The dense darkness engulfs a few of the frames.
Clouds so thick they block the light, leaving you in darkness.
3D MODEL – Visual Installation
CLIENT: Club NV Atlanta
PROJECT: Multimedia Protection
Creating the 3D figures was awesome fun. Most of the texture and alpha masking work was done in Photoshop.I then added the texture maps via my 3D software.
Graphic Design Style
Creating the graphic design style for the figures – was quite a development. Firstly, I wanted the character to make movements that can’t be made. In my design world there is no gravity – this girl floats in mid air (quite comfortably).
The transparent body texture that I created allowed the viewer to see though the body – to see that visual motion that you normally could not see. The visual content from the transparent figure creates a visual overload (where body parts are difficult to distinguish). While the motion of the motion of the characters is so slow that go unnoticed. Both over and under whelming the viewer.
The panels are samples from the media presentation. The animated (often) mirrored characters slowly move into each position. Then pause. The media installation had a stillness to it. Content paused. The viewer had time to say “what the hell is that?” Or, “I like the red dot”.
The point was the view could connect. The content moved slowly, if at all. For some viewers it took a while before they realized that the content had altered. In a time – when video is full of motion and content. The video projection software had another layer of effects that created more visual complexly to the installation.
The Early Animations
The style of the project begin with this simple rendering – think Grace Jones as a Playboy Bunny. Using two colors to create the female silhouette – wearing a dicky bow was also on the table.
ANIMATION Cricles
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ANIMATION Dancing Pair
Dancing Pair is a short 3D animation.
ANIMATED GIF: A Small Collection
Creating Animated GIF’s from moments in time have always had a certain interest to me.
Motion from Stillness 
Bring Motion to Stillness. The spinning chair will forever Spinning. Still image series of 70’s office chair.
People in Motion
