Tag: 3D Computer Animation Fundamentals

Related Notes：

https://artslondon-my.sharepoint.com/:o:/g/personal/y_feng0320204_arts_ac_uk/Eh3LaCw9hjRLs1CgvfSgCTgBuoNF4JDam30Os7jVdYhKfA?e=KSV8gZ

This is the kitten from the pet shop where I took the cat to the bath. My own cat is in the pet dryer in the upper right corner.

First, select the curve, then select the object.

Challenge 7: Record/find reference footage

Research path: Reference footage for animation and body mechanics

Bony Weightlifting Reference Footage & Rig: Download

This challenge is about preparation. Not just preparation for animation but also preparation for the weeks ahead. Over the next few weeks, we will be animating more complex body mechanics and performance-based animation using biped (human) characters. The more we can prepare for that now, hopefully, the more successful those animations will become. This is going to start be gathering (and analysing) good video reference footage. There are two basic (obvious) types of reference footage…

1) Found: In simple terms. this is footage gathered from the internet for example. Something that you haven’t personally participated in. There are positives and negatives to this approach:

• Cons: The footage may not be useful due to low resolution, bad shooting angle, or it may be sped up/slowed down. It may not be exactly what you need or feature more content (time) than is useful. A common problem is take footage from the internet and mismatching frame rates between the footage and Maya (3D)
• Pros: It may feature something you or someone else can’t do – A skill like sword fighting or acrobatics or maybe a specific kind of performance by an actor you can’t work with. The footage is more readily available and involves no shooting setup. 

2) Personal: This is footage you record yourself of either yourself or another person/thing. There are positives and negatives to this approach:

• Cons: Skill level. If you are recording yourself acting, then you need to have the acting (pantomime) skills to match the requirements of the task. Not using the right tools can also be a problem, such as not holding an object with the right weight or pretending to do something without actually doing it – E.g. pretending to hit vs actually hitting. Finding a place to record, equipment, and help can also be an issue on occasion. 
• Pros: You have full directorial control over what you are recording. The content will also be bespoke/unique to your process/goals. You can produce multiple takes of a recording and either use the best or ‘stitch together’ the recording to suit your needs. 

FOOTAGE FOR THE WEEKS AHEAD:

Body Mechanics: Find or record your own footage – This challenge is to create a body mechanics animation. This could be something like a person picking up a heavy box, a golf swing, kicking a ball, standing up/sitting down or a stylised walk cycle. In simple terms, an everyday activity that is ‘short’ and involves how the body mechanically works with weight, balance, gravity, and the 12 principles. The goal is not to create a long (joined) sequence – running and jumping or doing a series of activities for example.

Advanced Body Mechanics: Find or record your own footage – This challenge is an ‘upscale’ of the first body mechanics challenge and the goal here is join motions. For example, running and jumping or walking and then sitting. You should focus on movement, not performance (acting and pantomime)

Performance (and Pantomime): This is not something you should record now but is a subject/process that I would like you to research and consider. ‘Acting and performance’ is woven into the DNA of this animation challenge and the best way to approach that if you’re not an Actor is to consider your options. For this challenge we are going to use a short (one line) audio clip (from a movie) as a starting point for an ‘out of context’ performance animation. Out of context means that we leave the actor (who it is) and the movie it is taken from (what context it was in) behind and build the performance around a new character/staging idea. For a wealth of examples, visit the “11secondclub.com” (example below). 

The Challenge

For body mechanics: Source or record reference footage for the ‘body mechanics’ and ‘advanced body mechanics’ challenges (see video examples). This footage will form the basis of your body mechanics animation challenges over the next couple of weeks. 

For performance: What you can do now to prepare for this challenge is to find an audio clip – either online or be cutting from a film yourself. Make sure it is short enough to allow you to make an animation in the time we have – No 10-minute monologues! Again, watching the examples on 11secondclub.com illustrate an ‘achievable length’ of audio. 

Note: For all of these challenges, please speak to me if you are unsure if your footage/audio is appropriate or not. 

First create 4 locators, named world, can, red, blue.

Bind several of them to the object, first select the locator, and then select the object-controlled controller.

When adjusting the binding, 1 is the parent, and 0 is the release of the parent.

Challenge 6 (Part 1): Walk Cycle Blocking

Research path: Walk cycles 

Using the ball and legs rig, roughly block out a walk cycle ready for splining and clean up in the next class. You can create a five pose walk cycle (as seen in the video) that explores the basic mechanics of a walk or chose to explore a more personality based walk using video reference. 

Ultimate Ball & Legs Rig: Download

OPTIONAL: Levelling up for students who have prior experience of animation/Maya:

For those students who have animation experience or have used Maya before, upscale your walks using rigs from the course ‘store’, a rig of your own (either yours or a downloaded rig). Push your animation beyond the basics also by exploring ‘walking’ and what ’emotional walking’ entails. For example, a very sad walk. You can also add a ‘narrative’ to the walk by creating a mini-story around it and by characterising your rig. For example, a confident hero’s walk before going into battle. If you choose this route, feedback/advice will be given during Friday’s class.

Course Store: Link (Don’t forget to download the scene files and texture files – in the assets and images folders)

Free Maya Rigs Website: Link

Resources: The Animators Survival Kit (Walking Section)

3D animation exercises are done before.

Challenge 5: Ball & Tail Animation

Research path: Overlap, follow through, and secondary action. Ball and tail animations

Using the ‘ultimate ball and tail rig’ create an animation that features the character hopping from stepping stone to stepping stone. You can either have the character hop in a line, zig-zag side to side, or up stairs. Feel free to create as many stepping stones as you like and place them in any position to increase the complexity of the animation. Playblast your animations out and upload them to your blog.Ultimate Ball & Tail Rig: Download

____________________________________________________________________________________
Additional Topics (This week & next): 

Part 1: Intro to Grouping, Constraining, Parenting, Node Connecting, Set Driven Key, Direct Connection (Connection Editor) & Expressions (Coding Connections)
Part 2: Pivots, Freezing Transforms, Snapping
Part 3: Locator ‘Hopping’ – Object exchange
Part 4: Squash & Stretch (Volume Preservation) set up
Part 5: Ghosting & Character Sets
Part 6: The Graph Editor – Tangents, Scaling & Snapping Keys, Weighted Tangents, Infinity & Cycle.
Part 7: Animation & Key frame techniques (Stepped, Freezing (double keys), & Spline)
Part 8: Rivets & scripts

First, put your body on the three boards like the ball bounce in the first class, pay attention to squeezing and stretching.

Then adjust the tail. The tail needs to be adjusted to a soft curve following the movement of the body. Select the three controllers to adjust together.

Finally, adjust the animation in the curve panel, and pull back the curve of the controller behind.