Deeper Study

 At first, I was not sure how to set up my puppets. I had trouble figuring out how to differentiate between the two tigers, as the difference between male and female tigers is so subtle. Really, male and female tigers look similar, but the females look smaller. This size difference would be noticeable in the scenes where the tigers are together, but would be hardly noticeable in the majority of the scenes in which they are separate. So, I decided that changing the stripe colour would be less imposing and would fit with the bright colourful stylized nature of the video. I also made subtle differences in the faces of my characters. The female has a pattern around her eyes that suggest eyelashes and a thinner jaw and eyebrows than the male. You can see the difference in this shot

After looking through my Story Board and factoring in the subtle difference between the bodies of the different genders, I decided that creating separate male and female bodies would make for double the work. Instead, I decided a better and faster option would be to make one body for each position and change the colours of the stripes using colour correcting effects in After Effects. This way I could cut my puppet making in half.

To make the puppets I first found pictures of tigers online in positions that I enjoyed, cut them up and adjusted the  anchor points like I would a puppet, but in photoshop.

P.S.  The giant Cintiq was my best friend in creating this video.

After testing out this puppet, I traced the outline of the pieces and painted/adjusted them to make them look like my stylized tigers.

I would then scan these hand painted puppet pieces into the computer and erase, arrange and set up the files for animation.

To Animate my puppets I used the DuIK rigging system. This plug in was designed for human character animation, So in a way, I was conducting my own little experiment by using the rig for Tigers. However, I was very impressed with the results using this rig, and had a lot of success with it.

First, I used the rig on my Human Ring Master puppet character.

Here you can see how the rig is set up:
A series of controllers are set up and parented to the  limbs.

The result is a very natural moving character and a much more organized and less hectic amount of keyframes. There is no way I could have got the smooth and controlled result that I got if I animated each piece of the puppet separately rather than on the set up controllers.

Here is a fun video showing the results of my Ring Master Walk Cycle:


Ring Master Walk Test from


For the Tiger, I first would animate the body using the DuIK system and then the Head to create the expressions, and then combine them later. 

Here is a run cycle test I did using the DuIK system(don't be scared of the headless-ness)

 For the backgrounds I created a library of leaves and trees as well as grass and dirt and would rearrange them for all the jungle scenes. I found this technique was the fastest way to get things done. I would have preferred to spend more time on the backgrounds.

I used 3D layers for most of the scenes. Including the inside the cage scene and the majority of the jungle scenes.

Here is my first failed attempt at creating a grassy open field.. it just wasnt bright and pretty enough.

Here is another failed attempt at a passed out tiger position. Looks too human and terrible.

Overall I am pleased with the result. I would describe this video as "half-animated" there are very subtle, robotic movements mixed with a lot of still frames. I would have loved to go in and spend more time animating each scene.

In the future I would like to use toggle hold keyframe interpolation to achieve less robotic looking animation.

Expirimental Animation Final

After months of work, HERE IT IS!

My Tiger Love Story music video is a fun twist on the classic love story. The tale of the two Tiger lovers highlights both the strain of a long distance relationship and the compromises that one inevitably must make to keep a relationship alive.

Towards Expression

For my Final Directed Project I intend to make a music video to the song "Stairway" by Yukon Blonde, a Vancouver-based bad that I love. I always make an effort to keep my work local because I often feel that as Canadian students, we often overlook our own country in our work.

I will be experimenting with puppet animation. I intended to use classical 'under-the-camera' puppet techniques, but this did not work out very well as my control and time was limited. I instead   computer based puppets in After Effects. This way I could have more control with the puppets and a higher resolution video.

In After Effects I can have more dynamic camera moves and create a multiplane effect that I could alter and move more freely than if I was working under the camera on a real multiplane. I love the look of classical under the camera animation, but I don't think I have the time to create a successful story using  this technique.

I spent a large portion of the semester planning out what puppets and facial expressions I would need to create this video. I also spent many hours hand painting, scanning and preparing the puppets in photoshop.

However, my main concern for this assignment was to tell a story, so the aesthetics were secondary.As long as my story structure was readable, I would be happy.

Here is the animatic for my piece:






Animatic/Storyboard for Yukon Blonde's "Stairway" music video from Rebecca Rochon on Vimeo.


I used neon paints to create my tigers and backgrounds, as I wanted the video to be bright and colourful. However, this turned into quite a hassle. Neon colours are outside of a computer's RGB spectrum so my scanned images were never true to colour. 

I have had this idea in my head for quite some time so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to create a project that I could be proud of, something of personal significance, other than the usual walk cycles and technically driven assignments that I am usually producing!