Advanced Animation - Project 2

14 Oct 2022 - 3 Nov 2022 (Week 7 - Week 10)

Zetie Binti Bahaman / 0351297 / BDCM

Advanced Animation

Project 2: Action Animation

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LECTURES

Week 7 - Lecture 7

Week 8
No lectures due to Independent Learning Week.

Week 9 - Lecture 9

Animation Workflow

Select all keyframes
Interpolation
Constant (Staircase Icon)

Adjust timing accordingly, don't copy exactly. It's up to us as animator to determine the timing and spacing.

Whenever we change direction, it's another extreme.

Get the hips right -  the legs will follow

Blocking - Key the poses first
Polishing - Simplify and refine the poses

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INSTRUCTIONS

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PROJECT 2

In this project, we are to produce a 3D action animation through blocking and polishing.

Week 8
Progression
I searched up reference videos on Youtube and came across this channel that features motion actors.

Fig 1.0 Source for Video Reference 

This is the video that I will use as a reference for my rigging.

Fig 1.1 Video Reference

Here's a slo-mo of the action that I am referencing to in gif version

Fig 1.2 Selected Motion

Week 9
Progression

Since I converted the video into gif, I opened it up into Photoshop to arrange them into an image sequence. All I have to do now is identify the key extreme and breakdown poses.

Fig 1.3 Tracing in Photoshop

Fig 1.4 Identified Poses

I traced the key poses in Photoshop and arranged them into a gif.

Fig 1.5 GIF Test

This helps me to see if the poses I chose will show the same action as the video reference.


Week 10
Progression

This week, I attempted to do the key poses for Blocking, which is the first part of the assignment. This will also play a role in the polishing stage. 

Fig 1.6, 1.7 Key Poses in Progress

There are a lot of poses involved in my action and each pose was a struggle for me to get all the limbs right. The video reference isn't entirely clear as well so for some poses, I had to adjust it according to my own imagination.

Fig 1.8 Graph Editor

We are also to select all the keyframes and change the interpolation mode. 


Week 11
Progression

This is my attempt at blocking but I had the issue of the rig being twisted. (Solution: Change to Constant  - Interpolation Mode)

Fig 1.9 Blocking - Attempt 01

Not only that, Mr Kamal advised me to adjust my poses and check whether they truly match the reference. Some of my poses looked awkward and not seamless.

Fig 2.0 Adjustments to Poses

Once I had my blocking done, I worked on the polishing stage. I added the in-between poses and adjusted the graph editor (Interpolation Mode>Bezier). 

Fig 2.1 Polishing Stage

The final stage includes lighting and I modelled two planes for the floor and background.

Fig 2.2 Lighting & Camera Stage

Final Project 2
Action Animation - Blocking & Polishing

Fig 2.3 Compilation - Final Project 2

Links

Exercises
Project 1

Project 2

Final Project

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FEEDBACK

Week 10

General Feedback: 
Actions that involve kicking, flying, jumps - focus on the hip keyframes

Week 11

General Feedback:
Focus on hips>spine>arms when keyframing the poses.

Specific Feedback:
Try to be more detailed in following the reference pose. Ensure that I changed the interpolation mode so there is no weird twisting of the body.

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REFLECTIONS

It's been  quite a journey to animate the action poses. Again, it is important to take note of the hips and the IK/FK switches. Each of my poses took a long time to match the reference pose, and it was tricky to assume the location of other limbs when it is not in view of the camera. It is a very rewarding feeling to see once I managed to finish animating it even though it is not perfect. Perhaps I should have gone with a simpler reference. Though, I really wanted to recreate the jumping roundhouse kick! Hopefully, I did it justice.