Additional Animations (Freelance)

Additional Animations

Illustrated Animation:

To understand how animation is created, I decided to create my own animation based on Sonic the Hedgehog running on one spot by using the Adobe Photoshop software. First I create four frames, each one has sonic doing a different run position, then I create another four frames and reverse the body positions to make animated loop.

Tip: change the opacity in a layer so you can get accurate animation.

Pixel Animations:

Pixel animation is a simple frame by frame animation, I have create two pixel characters based on Goku and Vegeta from DragonBall Z. Just like my Sonic animation, I create multiple layers to manipulate the body positions and control the special effects. Both characters perform their signature attacks and transformations, each frame was edited individually. However, this can be very time consuming, but worth it.

Tip: Before animating, make sure that you have all the layer assets available, before preparing yourself to animate your pixels.

Animation Evaluation

Animation Evaluation

 

 

 

Brief:

In this module, I have learn the various skills and techniques of animation. With the knowledge of different animations, I will use and transfer these skills to create a 3D animation piece.

 

 

3D Animation Tutorials

 

Bouncing Ball Animation:

This was the first 3D model involving with animation for this module, this is perfect for me to get to know the 3DS Max software's capabilities. First I create a simple sphere polygon, then I change the shape of the sphere by squashing it to give it form of a squashed ball. This helps the ball to get a realistic image as if it was impacting on the ground.

 

Tail and Box Pivot:

The Tail and Box models were used to practice the pivot technique. The tail model was imported from the college's moodle, and then I animated the tail to swing and curl. This can be used make a tail, jungle vine, a snake and etc. The box was created from scratch by using a cube polygon and then used the extrude function to hollow out the box and add 3d depth. I also created two doors to be animated on a pivot, however, after animating the doors on the box, the texture that I applied to the box was also animated. This is might have been an error that I have forgotten to correct.

 

Bunny Space Hopper:

The model was a simple object to practice our own animations to give the character a unique personality and atmosphere. Just like the Bouncing Ball animations, I used the techniques of the squash and stretch to add life to the model.

 

Max Man:

This model was another practice of custom animations, I was able to animate this rigged man model with three different animated poses. 1 the gay hand flop, 2 the Kamehameha from Dragonball Z, 3 a tummy rub after felling hungry.

 

Beatrice:

I imported this model from the college's moodle, this was a practice to create a bipod rig, and then integrating it to the human model. This has also helped me to understand that bipod can be used to make unique and creative anatomy.

 

Animation Project:

Story/ My Story for my involves Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog having a race. In some scenes, they will fight each other tire out competitor before they reach goal ring.

 

 

Software and Tools/ For my 3D animation project, I used the Autodesk Maya software to create my animation piece. I also uploaded a folder of Sonic Generations models from Patrick Sweeting, plus that the models are already rigged. This has really helped me to save time to make my own animations at a early stage. Most of the animations that I have been practicing were created in the Autodesk 3DS Max software.  

 

Personal Strengths/

With my creative talents and well versed knowledge of 3D software, I believe that I will have no problem on creating a simple animation with my cartooning abilities.

 

 

Personal Weaknesses/

I need to know how to use 3DS Max more to fully understand and utilize, plus to understand the different types of rigging of how to animate them. I also had some difficulties of remembering some of the techniques that I've learn in Maya. But with a few trail and errors with the software, most of knowledge came flooding back in matter of minutes.

 

Problems and Errors:

I did try importing the models in 3DS Max, but they had a bone like rigging that I never used before. So decided to use the Autodesk Maya software to animate the two models. The models imported in Maya, had a different and simplistic rigging to control and animate.

 

Additional Animations:

During in this module, I have been practicing on various animations in 3D, Sprite and 2D illustration. I have created an eight frame animation of a classic style sonic running by the Adobe Photoshop software. Second and third is a sprite animation of Goku and Vegeta from DragonBall Z, performing the signature attacks and transformations. The sprites were very easy to create, but the animation took some time to edit to make the animations performed correctly.

 

Conclusion:

In this module, I have learned many different techniques and methods of animation, I also believe this has help me to develop myself to a new level. With these new founded skills, I can transfer these attributes to my artistic talents to bring my unique designs to life. However, I still think that I need to understand more of 3D animation. 3D Animation is a completely different world to 2D animation, I would like to learn more of how to animated 3D assets at a professional level, but I feel that 2D animation is my strongest subject in animation.



Animation Tutorials

3DS Max Animation Tutorials

Squash and Stretch:

Ball Animation
Step 1: Create a sphere polygon from the object type option. (Fig: 1)

Step 2: Activate the Auto Key (Key Icon) next to the Time Frame bar, then move your ball model down and then up. When moving the model in its second position, this will automatically create another key frame while moving the ball model. (Fig: 2)

Step 3: Next is to add the stretch and squash, stretch the model when the ball is falling, and then squash it as it hits the contact point.

Step 4: The next phase is to raise the ball off the ground, as you revert the squash into stretch to original shape. Then play the animation to see how your ball turned out, to play the animation, your must press the Play button next to the Time Frame bar. (Fig: 3)

Spinning Football
Step 1: To show graph editor on the screen, I right click on the + symbol (Fig: 1) and then select the Configure Viewpoints options (Fig: 2), this will open up a screen with options to select a view for the model and the timeline/graph editor (Fig: 3).

Step 2: After selecting the option for the graph editor, I place the model into three different positions, The Fall, The Squash and The Spring (Fig: 4). When I finished the three positions of the football, I need to squash the ball just before it lands on the ground.

Step 3: In this step, I select my football object and then go to the Modify option to select Stretch from the Modify List. With the Stretch option active, I change the shape of my football model to be more squashed as it collides with the ground (Fig: 5).

Step 4: After completing the squash animation, I proceeded to give the ball a rotation animation as the ball rolls to give it motion. I simply rotate the ball model between the frames by using the rotate function, I made it spin 90 degrees from start to middle, and 90 degrees again from middle to end (Fig: 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10).

Basic Characteristics:

Bunny Space Hopper
Step: 1 I first import the model from the college moodle, then I test the rigging to understand the model's structure.

Step 2: Next, I animate the ears and the head of the model, I gave the model a sense of personality and life, as it waves its ears and giggles at the viewer.

Step 3: Then, I simply animate frames to see the results of my simple animation.

Pivot Animations:

Tail Pivot
Step 1:I first import the model from the college moodle, then I activate the auto key and rotate the thick end of the tail.

Step 2: Then I use the graph editor to create more of a flexible motion for the tail to curl. This can used to create animations like jungle vines, snakes, animal tails and .

Box Pivot
Step 1: First, I create a cube and then I extrude the faces, this will give the model a sense of depth and detail (Fig: 1).

Step 2: Next, I create two rectangular cubes as the steel box's doors, then I adjust the pivot points, to make the doors rotate in a swing like motion (Fig: 2).

Step 3: Then, I played the the frames to see how the pivot animation performed. However I did had a problem with texture that I applied to the model, as it was animated as well the model (Fig: 3).



 

Advanced Characteristics:

Max Man
Animation 1: The feminine hand flop: I positioned the body and the head slightly tilted with one hand on the waist, then Ctrl A to select all of the body parts and then move the body to the next position. Ctrl A is very important when finishing a position before you perform the next one. If you don't do Ctrl A, you will only have moved one part of the body (Fig: 1).

Animation 2: The Kamehameha: I positioned the hands and arms forwards, as well the body leans forwards too. Then twist the body back as the arms bend and the hand cup close to each other, the legs also have to bend to feel the weight of power building from behind. Then the arms thrust forward with the hands open, the torso must be pushed back and the legs bent as the man tries withstand the immense force of the blast (Fig: 2).

Animation 3: Hungry Tummy: This is a very simple animation, The torso and the head must be slightly tilted, then one arm reaches for the stomach. The head should lean forward little, as if the person is looking at the hungry stomach, and then starts to rub it settle its hunger (Fig: 3).

 

Bipod Rigging:
Step 1: I uploaded a human based model from college's moodle, then imported to 3DS Max software and prepare it to be rigged.

Step 2: I create a bipod model, and then mold it and shape it till its fits the psychical structure of the imported model (Fig: 1).

Step 3: The model had a cloth like feature around the waist, first, I Freeze Select the model, and then go to Modify and use the Skin option (Fig: 2).

Step 4: Next, I select the vertex function in the Skin option, this will make the cloth unaffected by the thigh section of the bipod rig (Fig: 3).

12 Principles of animation

The 12 Principles of animations

Squash and Strecth:
Squash and strecth help the 3D Models animations to give a sense of weight and flexibility, as well giving the effect of exaggerated and comical style as it brings life and realism to the model.

Anticipation:
This animation is about the key frames of a particular animation of a certain action, if someone was wielding blade and was about to swing it, they will start from thier idle postistion while in the thier natural pose, then to a preparation postition involving bending the arms, legs and other body parts, then to an action postition as the blade is has been swung by the character as the wieght of the sword bring a sense of  realism, and last but not least, the animation finishes to a relax postition as the character relaxes from performing thier action.

Staging:
Character are always involved in a stage while performing thier unique poses and actions. While on the stage, the character will have lighting, shadowing and sceneries to give the animation a sense personality, emotion and atmosphere.

Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose:
Straight ahead action focuses on the dynamic, fluid and illusion of an animation that shows realistic actions to build dramatic and emotional scenes.

Follow through and overlapping action:

Follow through and overlapping action is a general heading for two closely related techniques which help to render movement more realistically, and help to give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. "Follow through" means that separate parts of a body will continue moving after the character has stopped. "Overlapping action" is the tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates. A third related technique is "drag", where a character starts to move and parts of him take a few frames to catch up. These parts can be inanimate objects like clothing or the antenna on a car, or parts of the body, such as arms or hair. On the human body, the torso is the core, with arms, legs, head and hair appendices that normally follow the torso's movement. Body parts with much tissue, such as large stomachs and breasts, or the loose skin on a dog, are more prone to independent movement than bonier body parts. Again, exaggerated use of the technique can produce a comical effect, while more realistic animation must time the actions exactly, to produce a convincing result.

Slow In and Slow Out:
The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. 
This will make the animation look more realistic if it has more drawings near the beginning and end of an action, extreme poses, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration.

Arcs:

Most natural action tends to follow an arched trajectory, and animation should adhere to this principle by following implied "arcs" for greater realism. This can apply to a limb moving by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving along a alternate trajectory. The exception is mechanical movement, which typically moves in straight lines.

As an object's speed increases, arcs tend to flatten out in moving ahead and broaden in turns. In baseball, a fastball would move in a straighter line than other pitches, while a figure skater moving at top speed would be unable to turn as sharply as a slower skater, and would need to cover more ground to complete the turn.  
An object in motion that moves out of its natural arc for no apparent reason will appear erratic rather than fluid. Therefore when animating (for example) a pointing finger, the animator should be certain that in all drawings in between the two extreme poses, the fingertip follows a logical arc from one extreme to the next. Traditional animators tend to draw the arc in lightly on the paper for reference, to be erased later.

Secondary Action:
Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through facial expressions. The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action. If the latter is the case, those actions are better left out. In the case of facial expressions, during a dramatic movement these will often go unnoticed. In these cases it is better to include them at the beginning and the end of the movement, rather than during.

Timing:
Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film. On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push. Timing is critical for establishing a character's mood, emotion, and reaction. It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character's personality.

Exaggeration:
Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons. The level of exaggeration depends on whether one seeks realism or a particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist.

Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal, alterations in the physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline itself. It is important to employ a certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains several elements, there should be a balance in how those elements are exaggerated in relation to each other, to avoid confusing or overawing the viewer.

Solid Drawing:
The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, giving them volume and weight. The animator needs to be a skilled draughtsman and has to understand the basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc. For the classical animator, this involved taking art classes and doing sketches from life. One thing in particular that Johnston and Thomas warned against was creating "twins": characters whose left and right sides mirrored each other, and looked lifeless. Modern-day computer animators draw less because of the facilities computers give them, yet their work benefits greatly from a basic understanding of animation principles, and their additions to basic computer animation.

Appeal:
Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic – villains or monsters can also be appealing – the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting. There are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective. A complicated or hard to read face will lack appeal, it may more accurately be described as 'captivation' in the composition of the pose, or the character design.

Referenced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_principles_of_animation