In this unit we are doing animation, as a team we are to work on one character by creating different animations and poses and rigging out that character.
The pipeline would be to rig a character then animate that character to work.
As reference I am thinking a simplistic or animal mascot should be used.
A simplistic mascot could be something like this:
An animal mascot could look something like this:
An alternative I have in mind is to have a family friendly character from a family friendly series such as the Simpsons.
Ideally the character will be used as part of the game tutorial for show and tell when they talk about the game. If you see in opening sequences or when they are explaining the game they will show a player (either real or not real). As a team we'll talk about whos going to do what poses and/or actions for the animation when utilising the character. I understand that this is a team based process and consistency matters most. In the end though, we've all went off and done our own animations as there is a lack of communication and teamwork amongst the group. For practices I have been going through workshops on animations as part of my research and development. To understand how animation works I went back to learn the 12 principles of animation. https://idearocketanimation.com/13721-12-principles-of-animation-gifs/?nab=0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fclassroom.google.com%2F
https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/understand-the-12-principles-of-animation
A couple years ago I had to learn the 12 principle of animation so it was a good idea to give myself a recap for animation.
In a workshop session I created an animation of a bouncing ball in after effects. I went further to create a 3D animation of a bouncing ball in Autodesk Maya. Instead of using the 3D ball, I was tasked to create a 2D animation of bouncing a ball up and down in Adobe After Effects.
The next part of the research and development workshops is to create facial expressions on a character.
You can find out more in the blog here:
After attending classes and doing research and development workshops, my next task is to create an R&D showreel of all the animations I produced throughout the workshop sessions.
From there, I gathered all my animation materials and put them into one composition altogether using Adobe Premiere Pro. With that said, I had made my R&D showreel.
Here's the R&D Showreel I produced:
Moving onto the final task for the assignment I had to create a wipeout course animation for a rigged character with animations. Originally I wanted the character to be doing multiple moves all in one sequence in one Maya file. However, when I was trying to bring the kinematic and rigs for running or jumping the kinematics would change. Originally if Homer was running he would be jumping instead. Therefore, I was suggested to do one sequence in one Maya file and then do any other sequences in other Maya files. With that out of the way, I managed to create two sequences. Sequence 1: Running A much more simplistic sequence with minimal effort. I went onto Mixamo, got the Homer character, and got him to do Running. Then in Maya, I imported the mesh and kinematic rigs in, once done I ran the animation at 25 fps. For the wipeout course, I had two planes and one ball. In the running sequence, homer runs at the end of the first plane and continues on from the jumping sequence.
Sequence 2: Jumping
The Jumping sequence required more effort and technicality to it. I had to use the principles of animation. I wanted Homer to jump and land on the ball which he fails to secure landing on his two feet. The reason I wanted this to happen is to create a comedic purpose. Since Homer is known for being a "comedic" man I wanted him to fall face flat on his tummy and face when he lands on the second plane.
The challenge was I needed to create momentum and build-up for the jumping sequence to look realistic.
Here is the first version animation I created:
The first animation's main purpose was to show what I had done so far and what others thought of the animation as a form of feedback.
I got a few people to give opinions on my animation and this was how I summarised their responses.
Summary of feedback: Whilst the running sequence was good overall, the jumping sequence needs to be improved upon. Have build-up and momentum. Use a jumping animation reference sheet to create poses and use squash and stretches. The fall-off effect is nice but could use some working on such as the momentum of Homer falling off the ball with his hands and feet.
After taking their feedback into consideration I told others that the "animations were pre-done" to begin with and I "couldn't promise" that all the feedback provided would be improved upon due to a deadline for this unit that was a week away. Having said this, I did what I could for my animation at the time.
Here is the second version animation I created:
Additionally, in the second version, I added a tracking camera to track and focus on the character in the middle. The reason I did this was to give focus and attention to the character and on the last 20 frames, I wanted to give some perspective of how Homer looked after he fell. The falling part was for pure comedic purposes.
The following changes in the second animation were made:
A ball that has collision to use as squash and stretch element.
The jumping sequence now has build-up and momentum.
An additional 20-30 frames were added when compared to the first animation.
A background which is the setting for the Banzai Castle course.
Overall, I am happy with how the final animation has turned out. Whilst I am not fan of creating animations, this was one of the 6 assignments for me to learn, study and work on. By any means, I enjoyed it to an extent and majority of the animations had their rigs pre-done. The main things that weren't "pre-done" was the jumping sequence (with build-up and momentum) for the final animation, the south park original character mouth sync animation.
I want to clarify that I don't see myself being an animator and I wouldn't look into getting any jobs involving animation. I admire the people who put the time and effort into producing animations and I love the animation medium. Creating animations isn't for me personally.
For the record, the final animations and any other 3D animations are produced in Autodesk Maya and are then exported to Adobe Premiere Pro.
All 2D animations are produced in Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro.