Donatella's 3D Computer Animation Blog
My 3D Computer Animation Progress

Category: 3D Animation Fundamentals

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1.4 Week 4 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 5: Weight Shift

Introduction

This week, we went over some weight shift animations and we were given a rig to practice that movement.

Weight Shift – Planning

First, I planned the initial position of my rig and thought of lowering the knees in order to achieve a relaxed position.

Then, I planned the foot heel and toe rotation when the foot leaves the ground while weight shifting.

Furthermore, I also sketched the contact positions of my rig and also the up and down positions.

Weight Shift – Animation Progress

First Outcome

In my first animation, it looks as if the body and the legs are moving simultaneously.

However, I should have moved first the leg and then the ball.

Second Outcome

In my second animation, I adjusted the camera to get a better overview of the weight shift.

However, the timing seems to be a little quicker than it should.

Third Outcome

In my third animation, even though the movement looks much smoother, I noticed that there is a knee pop that needs to be fixed.

Weight Shift – Final Animation

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1.4 Week 4 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 4: Posing

Introduction

This week, apart from getting feedback on our ball with tail animation, George suggested us to start sketching some poses. We are going to need them in order to start posing our rig in Maya.

Posing – Sketches

Posing – Render

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1.4 Week 4 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 4: Flour Sack Animation

Introduction

This week, we learned that it is possible to edit existing rigs by adding new handles and joints. We got a flour sack rig and we are expected to create a short animation.

Flour Sack – Rigging

The most important lesson I learned was that we can edit the rigs at our convenience.

So what we did was to edit some joint connections and delete the ones that were limiting our movements.

We also learned that we can go into x-ray mode in order to see the joints and manipulate their connections more smoothly.

Furthermore, we also learned how to use the IK handles to stick the feet into the ground.

Flour Sack – Animation Progress

My idea behind the work was to create a short running animation of a flour sack. My aim was to give the flour sack his own personality and so I decided to create cartoon character movements.

First Outcome

My first animation of the flour sack appears to be very stiff because the body is only rotating horizontally.

For this reason, I would like to keep on working on the hip movements of my character.

Second Outcome

In my second animation, not only did I adjust the hip rotation, but also the bouncing of my character. I also experimented with the texture of my rig.

What I am planning to do next is to animate the ears in order to create an overlapping action with the body.

Flour Sack – Final Animation

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1.3 Week 3 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 3: Hand Throwing a Ball

Introduction

The aim of this week was to model a hand throwing a ball by means of locators and parent constraints.

Modelling

Firstly, we deconstructed the shape of the upper arm, forearm, hand and fingers into basic volumes. We learned about hierarchies and how to connect each of the square prisms according to their hierarchy level (Upperarm> Forearm> Hand> Fingers).

Locators

Secondly, we learned about locators and how to set them up in order to switch between them. In my case, I placed three locators: the first one to position the ball on the floor, the second one to position the ball in the hand, and the third one to throw the ball into the basket.

Hand Throwing Ball – Animation Progress

First Outcome

Finally, after setting up the parent constrains, I animated the secquence from different perspectives.

However, I need to keep on working on the timing and also on the ball as it should bounce at the end.

Hand Throwing Ball – Final Animation

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1.3 Week 3 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 3: Ball with Tail

Introduction

This week, we took the knowledge of our bouncing ball further by trying to combine it with a tail movement. In addition, we also learned about the concept of blocking and how it is different from spline animations.

Ball with Tail – Planning

Untitled Artwork

First, I planned the arc movement of my bouncing ball throughout time.

Then, I sketched some key poses of my tail. Here I will need to animate some overlapping actions of the tail.

Ball with Tail – Progress

First Outcome (Blocking)

After getting my feedback on my first outcome, I learned that I had to add more key poses.

Second Outcome (Blocking)

The amount of key poses is much better than my first animation.

However, I need to work on the movement of the tail since it appears to be stiff and sliding.

Third Outcome (Blocking)

For my third animation, I decided to add some platforms.

Moreover, I particularly worked on the anticipation of the tail.

Fourth Outcome (Spline)

For my fourth animation, I had to work hard with the graph editor in order to change from blocking into spline.

Unfortunately, in some parts it looks as if the character and tail is sliding.

Fifth Outcome (Spline)

While I was working on my fifth animation, I learned that I could change the character of my rig.

Even though the movement of the ball seems a lot more smoother than the previous versions, the tail still looks as if it is sliding.

Ball with Tail – Final Animation

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1.2 Week 2 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 2: Shark Animation

Introduction

This week, we learned about Maya’s Content Browser, which ennables us to work on preexisting rigs and scenes. Our task was to create a shark animation and for this purpose we used a preexisting shark rig.

3D Modelling

First and foremost, we modelled in more detail the shark rig and added eyes, teeth and changed the shape of the mouth.

3D Animation Path

Secondly, we learned how to attach objects to a motion path and how to animate different body parts by using deformers, for instance, the sine deformer.

Motion Path
Sine Deformer

Shark Animation – Progress

Thirdly, we also learned how to set up cameras so that they follow our animated characters.

However, what I need to fix is the film secquence editing, as the shark should not move into opposite directions.

Final Shark Animation

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1.2 Week 2 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 2: Swinging Pendulum

Introduction

This week we got feedback on our bouncing ball animation and learned about pendulum movements. We were given the task to first plan a pendulum animation and then start working on the animation itself.

Pendulum Animation – Planning

For my planning, I took into account that the parts of the pendulum are moving at different rates.

Furthermore, I defined the amplitude of the pendulum oscillation and how it decreases over time.

Finally, I illustrated the offset animation of the different parts in order to create overlapping actions.

Pendulum Animation – Progress

First Outcome

In my first draft, the offset animation of the different parts seems to be smooth.

However, I need to keep on working on the end since the pendullum movement stops abruptly.

Second Outcome

My second animation does not look satisfying at all.

Even though I tried to add some oscillations at the end, it the movement still stops abruptly.

Third Outcome

The pendullum animation of my third draft seems to be much smoother than the previous ones.

However, I noticed that I need to lower the maximum height of the pendullum oscillation.

The movement should not exceed the height of the upper part of the pendullum

Swinging Pendulum – Final Animation

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1.1 Week 1 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 1: Intro to Maya

Introduction

On the first week, we got familiarized with Maya’s user interface, toolbars and key controls. We also learned how to create polygon primitives and how to edit the amount of subdivisions in order to modify our shapes smoothly using faces, edges and vertices.

References

I decided I wanted to model a Susuwatari, which is a small and furry spirit that lives in the darkness and appears in Hayao Miyazaki’s movies.

In this way, I practiced how to create polygons, snap elements together and edit colors and textures of materials.

I also had to take into account what type of textures, cameras and lights I used so that the Arnold renderer would recognize them.

3D Modelling

Render of a Susuwatari
Susuwatari placed on a HDR Background (https://polyhaven.com/a/fireplace)

3D Breakdown

Extrusion of faces

My Susuwatari is holding a star shaped object and in order to model it, I edited the number of subdivisions of a sphere and extruded different vertices to create irregular patterns of spikes.

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1.1 Week 1 3D Animation Fundamentals

Week 1: Bouncing Ball

Introduction

This week we had an introduction to the 12 principles of animation and we were given the task to plan and animate a bouncing ball going from left to right.

Bouncing Ball – Planning

Since this was my first time planning an animation, I learned that I had to take many things into account:

  • The position of the ball in the X and Y axis.
  • The number of frames it takes the ball to actually move.
  • The speed of the ball is given by the number of frames. In this way, when the animation is slower, we need more frames, whereas when it is quicker, we need less frames.
  • The stretch and squash of the ball when it is bouncing.

Bouncing Ball Progress

First Outcome:

My first outcome was not so successful because at some parts the ball did not actually hit the ground.

Even though I added some stretch and squash to the ball, I had some issues with the timing.

Finally, the ball looks as if it is sinking into the ground at the end.

Second Outcome:

For my second draft, I needed to change the view from perspective to left.

The animation turned out better than my first attempt, however, I need to keep on working on the arc movement at the end.

In addition, I may add some tiny bounces at the end because the ball falls to the ground abruptly.

Third Outcome:

For my third draft, I worked on adjusting the squash effect taking into account that the first bounce is the one with the most significant squash effect.

Furthermore, I added a last bounce at the end and made the animation longer so that the ball kept rolling some frames more.

Fourth Outcome:

The animation of the bouncing ball seems to be smoother, however, there are still some stretch frames I need to fix.

Bouncing Ball – Final Animation