Week 11-12

Animation

i decided to create the animations separately and then fade them together using After Effects.

Part 1: Flip

to create the flip the hands were left in a pose above the head, and the body rotated around them as a pivot. the fingers are closed to show the character holding onto something, a pole for example. to create the landing the character mesh was moved along with the controllers to create a change in position. after he lands the character sways slightly to show him trying to balance, and then stands up tall and proud after completing a good flip. finally he shakes off and relaxes.

Part 2: Tightrope

to create the feeling of balancing in this movement, i made the character move slowly, placing each foot in front of the other and arms out to help balance. he also sways left and right while moving to show the change in weight.

Part 3: Walking

this animation is a simple walk cycle. to add some extra dynamics the character looks around the scene. the main points which i focused on were to move only one foot at a time to avoid sliding, and also to rotate the feet slightly when moving to show the 'heel/toe' motion.

Part 4: Bowing

before the bow the character moves back his arm in anticipation of the swinging movement. he also steps forward and shifts his weight slightly. he then flexes while turning his head to show vanity.

Part 5: Waving

this is the end scene, showing him waving to his fans and then leaving. while waving his arm he turns side to side and looks around, acknowledging everyone in the crowd. he then turns around to leave.

Reflection

Overall a believable character was created by using personality and body language, and also appropriate actions.

the character mesh turned out very well, especially the head, which has a lot of character, with its strong jaw and flamboyant hair. the body also had a good shape to reflect the type of character.

the rig gave good control for animations, and had all the necessary controls for a human character, including hands and elbow and knee directions. the latter had the most effect as it gave the character a much bigger movement range, allowing the most defining poses to be made. one change which could have been made is to make the knees slightly higher to allow better bending poses.

finally the animations were successful in showing a strong character with a believable persona. the characters actions and body movements helped to strengthen this. the animation itself was generally smooth and some animations, especially the tight rope walking, looked very realistic, while still having a cartoony feel. one animation that could use improvement would be the bowing scene, where the arm moves too fast across the body, as well as moving slightly unnaturally. also the face rig could be enhanced with facial animations, for example mouth movements. this could be achieved using the morph modifier if there was more time.

I am very pleased with how most of the animation turned out, and have definitely learned a lot of essential skills in modelling and animation.