FINAL PROJECT - PART 1 - PRE-PRODUCTION

For my final project we are using the Ball and Tail rig and the Digital Tutors rig to create a small scene where the two characters are involved with eachother in some way.

In order to come up with a story I first pitched some ideas to my peers. I then Storyboarded the best idea onto these sheets.

My idea involves my character walking along merrily, minding his own business, when suddenly a bouncing ball and tail comes into frame and pushes our character out the way. I had the idea that this character is very sensitive and emotionally frail so something as trivial as this would have a great effect on him and as a result he instantly changes his walk cycle to reflect this... he becomes grumpy and nonchalant. He then sulks off screen kicking dust as he goes.

Its a simple but effective idea that incorporates everything we need to demonstrate within this final project. Its crucial for me to apply the principles Ive learnt this term into the final film. For example, I want the audience to get the impression that the ball and tail is angry or in a rush just through the movement of the ball. Like, Im thinking of implementing what Ive learnt in the timing and spacing lessons; to have the ball bouncing quickly, key frame the ball with less frames so as to make the ball appear to move faster.

Who-What-Where-When and Why

When coming up with this idea it was important for the characters to have some-what of a backstory so as to add to the 'appeal' of the characters. We were asked to invent scenarios for our characters asking who they are, what they were doing in the scene, where it was taking place, when it was taking place and, most importantly, why it was happening. 

This idea is something I cannot wait to work on, I really want to implement what Ive learnt this term and apply it.

WEEK 3/4 - Walk Cycles

Our third exercise was the Walk Cycle. We were initially taught how this was done by hand in 2D Animation by Richard Williams. We were shown a video tutorial from his book. In this video he explains that there are 5 key poses that you need to get right at the beginning of a walk cycle, then you can go ahead and add the inbetweens. The first and last contact points are the same but reversed, the down and the up are when your character is putting their weight up or down and finally the middle position is called the 'passing position' which is where the characters leg is behind the other leg.

With these key positions you can create a simple walk cycle in 2D...

Here's an example of a simple walk cycle that I made in 2D:

Its simple, yet effective and it takes into account the 5 key posses of a walk cycle. However, this is something I have always felt comfortable with but what happens when I start applying these techniques in 3D?

Walk Cycles in Maya

We were given a rig by our tutor that resembled a ball with legs and we were to make a convincing walk cycle using the knowledge we'd been given by the video. Firstly we set about creating the five contact points, the contact points (as you can see from the image above) are all placed on a specific frame on the timeline. For example, the first contact point is placed on frame 1 and the last on frame 25 (working on 25fps). 

Once all the contact positions were put in place you get a simple walk cycle like this:

To better understand how I'd distribute weight and other animation principles such as squash and stretch to my walk cycle I needed to get a better understanding of how people walk. I filmed this live action reference of me and my friends practising different walks and it really helped me when I got around to adding more to my walk cycle... especially the 3rd one I made...

Live action Reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SaleS2XfoA&feature=youtu.be

Once I had my reference material I was able to go back and add some squash and stretch and some weight to my walk cycle...

Digital Tutors- Walk Cycle

The third walk cycle I made was one where I followed a series of video tutorials and I found them extremely helpful in that they helped me get to grips with Maya. I found that I could learn what I was being taught in the video tutorial at my own pace, for instance, if I didn't understand something I could just go back and re-watch the video... it was a pace I was comfortable with. 

I am most proud of this walk cycle because despite some minor clipping issues I have managed to distribute weight, arcs and spacing evenly displaying that I have applied and understood the key principles of animation...