[ Character Creation ]

=======================

Character Creation

=======================

This is an update for the week one exercise of character creation.

Firstly, updated/original images

Images

blah blah

=======================

Character Story

=======================

The girl within the picture is called, Meena. She's a girl with a sad past and thus her usual face is often a non-smiling almost expression-less face. 

Background Story:

She came from a broken family, where due to a mistress, her father "betrayed" his mother. Resulting in his father abandoning them. She commended the power of the wind just as her mother did. However, her powers were much stronger. Due to her family problems, she become cold to her surroundings.

This resulted in her not-so-exciting school life. Always getting bullied by others. Until she reached high-school where she met her "first" friend, Lilith. 

=======================

Reflections & Comments

=======================

I believe i could deepen her BG story more however it wont' fit into the pictures. She's almost like a quiet girl. However around her friend, she's can be really friend and uber out-of-character (OOC).

Well, that's all so far :)

Cheers,

Elixian

[ Animation - Walk Cycle ]

Animation - Walk Cycle

So above is a 10 sec walk-cycle video.

Below are some references :)

References

These references were found on the internet, the links as provided below :)

First reference

Plate 125 - Looping Nude Male Descending Stairs

http://sillydragon.com/muybridge/Plate_0125.html

This reference was originally used to aid the 

Second reference

http://yicheng600.blogspot.com/2010/12/walk-cycle-reserch-and-test.html 

Third Reference

Animation Reference - Female Standar Walk - Grid Overlay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Veye-N0A4

Learning Points & Reflections

The first few steps i took were to place the key poses as shown in the above image (Second Reference). Then i repeat to make a complete cycle which is 2 steps.

Next layer was to set the timing of the animation. After that was set i did a few inbetween-frames and edited the graph editor so the information would be clean. This also stops jerky animation in between the key frames.

Over all i had quite a difficult time doing this animation.

Here are some of the problems i faced:

1. Copy/Paste Key Frames
At first i thought that i could simply copy and paste the entire key-frame to form the continuous 10 seconds of walking. However after trying this out for the second set of foot-steps. I realized the graph would be messed up and sometimes the translations would be completely off and also pasting the key frames can sometimes mess up the continuous flow of steps.

I ended up only copying certain values to make a more uniform animation, however the rest were done by setting all the key-frames manually.

2. Editing

Sometimes while editing the graph within the graph editor, i tend to end up adding addition key-frames. Which in the end messed up the pose to pose style of animating and ending up with the straight-ahead way of animation. Which makes editing even harder.

3. Imagining the Key Frames


This was a problem i encounter while doing the box exercise for the assignment. I didn't include the video however i did include the reference. In the reference although very accurate, was missing a few inbetween frames so the animation would run more smoothly and the character doesn't have his feet cutting through the object (the stairs).

I ended up looking through quite a number of videos observing the way people would jump from ground to ground and from a higher ground to a lower ground level. After which i simply inserted the key frames. For the animation this "box-stepping", I added a slight ease in.  

Cheers,

Elixian

[ Animation : BigDog ]

BigDog

This exercise is about weigh-shift and other elements of animation as well.

Unlike the spiderman rig before, we're now working on a simple structure of a "dog" with 4 legs.

Above is a video of the Big-Dog I animated.

Not the best, i'd say. However, plenty to learn from just doing this much :)

Learning Points

Some of the things I've learned during the making of this exercise was doing weight shift on a 4 legged creature.

Unlike a human with only 2 feet and weight shift meant focusing a lot on the hips to show the weight-shift. This creature had to depend on the entire body to show it trying to balance after being kicked.

To do this "weight-shift" balancing act, I first tilt the body until the weight seemed over one side of the body so it'll look as if he can't support it thus resulting in the trip. Then in order to counter it, while tripping the creature bends it's body to the right side to change the weight of the body to enable it to balance again.

The other thing i had trouble doing at first was the legs of the Big-Dog. 

Since it had 4 limbs I had to visualize which leg would move first. However while tipping over, both of the legs on one side had to be lifted, then it had to switch to the alternate legs moving so it could balance.

After it has stopped itself from tumbling anymore, it would stand up straight again. For this part, i tried to achievement a more "powerful" push-up from the stop position.

I also learned about weights using the graph editor.

Reflection

From this exercise, apart from everything i've learned. I feel as if doing an animation for a 4 legged creature seems harder than just a regular human figure with 2 feet. However, to do a 2 legged creature would mean having to twig more joints and position the hips right so the animation would look smooth and natural as well as life-like.

Well, i suppose this concludes this post :)

Cheers,
Elixian

[ Animation ]

Animation : Spidey-Rig

Above is a quick video about the spidey-Rig

We were doing a weight shift exercise.

A few learning points

1. The 3 Layers:
(a) Key - Poses
(b) Timing
(c) Graph Editor

Key-Poses
The starting point where we pick of the key poses and input them. This is where we set the extreme points.

Timing
Here is the second layer where we space out our key poses so that the animation look more realistic in time.

Graph Editor
Here we edit the graph using the graph editor to allow the animation to have weight.

After adding weight to the animation, there are a few more steps to take to make the animation look more natural and realistic.

Step 1: The "Frame 9 and 11"
This step is taken to give the animated character more character. The 2 frames we add here are also called The "in-between" Frame.

Step 2: Adding More Elements
In this step we add the different elements of animation such as anticipation and follow-through.

Some Tips Gained

2. Selecting the controls:

Here i learned how to easily select back all the controls we used previously to animate and set the key frames.

Create -> Set -> Quick Select Sets

Do this while the wanted controls are selected so that they will be keyed into as a group. This allows the animator to easily select their controls so they can do a pose-to-pose animation style vs the straight-ahead animation style.

3. Setting All Key-Frames:

It is important to set our key frames properly in the start to ensure a solid base for the animation before moving on to adding details and character to the given character. If there isn't a solid base, editing later on would be a problem.


4. Select All Controls before setting a key-frame!!

I learned this part the hard way. I thought i had selected all the controls i needed that i changed to animate a pose. However, i didn't select it properly therefore a few of the controllers didn't have their key frames key. After when i had played back my animation, i found that the timing for certain joints were completely off.

Well that's all i have for this Spidey-Rig Animation~

Cheers,
Elixian