Welcome to Level 7! As was the case in the previous level, the first lesson of each level will be a scene assignment.

If you've been practicing what you've learned up until now, you'll have a pretty good grounding in a wide range of FX and animation concepts. This understanding of the underlying physics and principles of various effects will help you tackle almost any task thrown your way. All the same, you're in Level 7 now so this lesson's assignment will not be easy, even for experienced animators.

At the end of this article you'll find a download pack of images for you to import into the software of your choice, in preparation for animating the effects.

1. Layouts - several images that show the scene's perspective plane, character movements and key FX poses.
2. Rough animation - Image sequence - fully animated character in rough form. You can import this into your software of choice, or print the frames for use on a traditional animation lightbox.
3. Video Handouts - Videos that demonstrate how the scene should be done, just as if I was your supervisor in a studio handing you your next scene. After walking you through the scene to explain what's going on, I'll show you what's required from you and demonstrate the animation to help you get started.

Assignment

With this lesson you have some serious effects work ahead. It won't be easy but you can choose one of the options below:

• Animate only the sun/moon in the scene
• Animate only the ripples in the scene
• Animate all effects in the scene for at least 36 frames
• Animate all of it to qualify for a refund (details below under "Summary")

The scene is 960 x 540 px, the frame rate is 24fps (feature film). Feel free to work at 25 or 30fps if that suits you.

Video handouts

video 25_layout

video 25_bgFX

video 25_ripples

video 25_reflections

video 25_sunRefl

Files

The scene images are in the files directory of this Lesson's pack. Simply import each into your timeline with the correct layer order.

Summary

This is a more difficult scene than the one you animated in Lesson 21 (0601). Fire is a chaotic effect and quite forgiving of messy linework and inconsistent volumes. This scene however is an exercise in consistency and line control. Inconsistent volumes and jittery linework here will be much more obvious.

As you go through your FX career, like every other profession, you'll find there are tasks you love and tasks you hate. Whether you love or hate subtle and graceful stuff like water surface effects, there's no doubt that it's the domain of a skilled and dedicated artist. Why not make it your own?