Dialogue Shot

For this second and final assignment of Class 4, we had seven weeks to finish a scene that included acting elements as well as spoken dialogue.  We had the liberty to choose from any form of media, tv, movie, radio, etc. as long as it wasn't already from something animated or too iconic.  It was also important to keep in mind the acting beats of the character (contrasting tones of voice and emotions) as well as simplifying the poses so the shot didn't get too busy.  This semester was a lot of fun and I look forward to Class 5 beginning January 2, 2013!!

For the first assignment of Class 4: Introduction to Acting, we continued working with "Stewie", but this time, introduced some acting elements into the shot.  For this Pantomime assignment (pantomime- meaning acting without dialogue, like a mime!) we had to include two different acting "beats" or emotion.  With pantomime, a lot of it has to do with body language and movement.  For this shot, I chose to begin Stewie with and excitement beat and end on sad/disappointed.

Class 3: Final Animations!

This class was a continuation of the previous class, focusing on the mechanics of the body, while at the same time, constantly exploring the concepts of timing, spacing, overlap, posing, and composition in animation.

My first shot was a bit ambitious as I tried to incorporate too much story in my animation.  I focused too much on what the character was doing rather than what the body was doing. Therefore, the animation lacked some of important concepts like posing.  It was a good assignment to realized my strengths and weaknesses.

The second assignment followed the same theme as the first assignment-- up on the high-beams.  Again, I still focused a bit too much on a story, but began to understand some of the concepts better, like posing, timing and spacing.  This assignment was more successful as I continued to explore the mechanics of the body.

This final shot was by far my most successful shot of the semester.  Both my mentor and I were very please with my progress as I finally began to fully understand many of the important concepts.  With my mentor's help, I was able to make a believable shot with good posing, timing, and overlap.  The key was to "keep it simple!"  By keeping the animation simple, I was able to really focus on the important parts of the shot.  I was happy to end the semester on such a high-note and hope to continue my success through my next class-- Intro to acting!  Wish me luck!!

FINALLY!!  After 5 weeks of planning, blocking, splining, polishing, and correcting, I have completed my last assignment for this semester!  The theme was external and internal forces, so I animated Stew exert force upon a door that just won't budge!  ENJOY! 

SPLINES

It's been a while since my last post and will probably be another 2 weeks before my next animation.  So I wanted to share with you a screenshot of the SPLINES (or motion paths) of each component of my animation.  With each spline, I can control how I want the head, for example, to move and make sure it follows a smooth path of action.  This may seem very confusing (as it did to me at first), but each spline can be separated and viewed one at a time to make animating that much more convenient!  

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Rock Hop

In this animation, we had to use Stew with no arms to participate in some sort of action while focusing on balance.  I chose to have the character hop across some stepping stones.  To do this, I created a similar setting in my living room with marking tape and filmed myself moving in such a manner.

Heel Click

This is the first assignment for this semester.  We had four weeks to plan, block, refine and polish this animation.  We had to stay in between 100 and 150 frames and choose from a list of movements.  I chose the oh-so-cool heel click!  Enjoy!

Personality Walk

For our final assignment of Class 1 (WOOHOO!), we had to animate 'Ballie' walking with personality.  This personality should give the viewer some sense of story or emotion.  I chose a skip because it was a fun way to show my excitement over the success of my first animation class!  Thanks to everyone who encouraged and supported me while I reached for the stars!

Balance

This week, we had to pose STU showing a sense of balance.  I made a video reference of myself balancing in order to get a sense of weight, and after many times of almost falling came up with these sketches and eventual STU.  The plates are an added accessory to help better sell the action.

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Click to Enlarge

Exhausted

For this assignment, we had to pose STU with the feeling of exhaustion.  We first sketched, then posed it out.

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Click to Enlarge.

Vanilla Walk

For this assignment we had to study a basic "vanilla" walk.  The first half of the assignment was to 'block' out each key pose on every 3rd frame.  This it to get us a generic starting point for a polished animation.  Then, we had to smooth out the gaps between the poses and create a believable walk.  (All the meanwhile thinking about hip rotation, up and down and forward movement, and even the toes landing at the proper time.)

 

 Vanilla Walk at its 'Blocking' Stage.

Vanilla Walk at its 'Final Polishing' Stage.

Concern

This assignment asked us to convey the emotion concern.  Again, we had to sketch first and then pose it out.  I found this a bit more difficult to do with just body language and no props.  Here is the end product.

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Click to Enlarge

Tailor

For this assignment, I had to animate this character and give it the essence of a squirrel.  The main objective of the animation is to achieve overlapping action, which can be seen in the tail of the character.  As one segment of the tail moves, the other follows through.  This character's name is Tailor.

Strength

For this assignment, I needed to sketch poses of physical strength.  This was particularly challenging without the use of  muscles or facial expressions.  However, props were allowed, but it was working around the prop to make sure the character had a good 'silhouette'.  While keeping in mind a strong line of action and weight of the scene, I came up with the following images.

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Click to Enlarge

Pendulum

For this assignment, we focused on "Overlapping Action":  the wave of movement from one joint to the next.  Here the character zips across the screen, stops, and the pendulum attached shows the Overlapping Action.

Obstacle Course

For this assignment, I had to animate a bouncing ball traveling through an obstacle course.  The ball was to be moved by physics and not have a life of its own (except for the 'anticipation' at the very beginning).  There were many courses to chose from, but this one looked the most fun!

Devastated

This assignment required us to pose the Stu character in a way to show devastation.   We first had to sketch out ideas and then pose him in Maya.

Poses of devastation.

Devastated Stu.

Double Bouncing Balls

For this assignment, we needed to incorporate two different balls of size and weight.  In this animation, I chose to show a bowling ball and a beach ball dropping from the same height.

Basket Ball Bounce

For this assignment, we were given the task to animate a ball bouncing with the look and feel of a basketball.  With manipulation to the timing and spacing, I was able to achieve such an effect.

Excited Stu

The next assignment of the new semester was to pose Stu in a way that displayed excitement.  We first had to sketch different exciting poses and choose our favorite for Stu.

Sketches of Excitement.

Excited Stu.

NEW SEMESTER: Stu

Stu is a character Animation Mentor gave to us students to pose (and eventually animate).  To help us understand Stu, we were first given a chance to pose him.  We were required to go out in the world and sketch people in different poses.  I went to the mall and a bookstore for my poses and decided to pose my Stu standing, reading an open book, scratching his head.

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One Step, Two Step

Our final assignment of the semester was to animate a model, or rig, by making it step, or in this case, hop.  We had little guidance for this assignment and just had to act on intuition.  For more videos and assignments, please click the BIG D! here or above!

THE CLAW

After some tutorials and exercises on making objects move and manipulating their paths of motion, we were assigned to make a model of a claw turn, pick up a can, and set it back down.  If possible, we were challenged to include a little bit of personality into the claw as well.  For more videos and assignments, please click the BIG D! here or above!

Still Life

Our next task was to use shapes in a still life and render them with different colors and textures to get various effects.  We also had to use a number of light sources to get some good shadows cast.

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Haunted House

One of our next assignments was to create a scene that conveyed an emotion AND told a story.  To do this, we had to construct our own environment and capture shot from two different angles.  Since it was right around Halloween, I chose to build a haunted house!

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My First Assignment

Our first assignment required us to use a static image given by the school and recreate the image as best we could using the Maya software.

School's Picture.

Left: My Final Shelf / Right: Final Shelf in wire frame.

Maya 2011 Software

This is an inside look at Maya2011, the program I use to animate.  It was definitely overwhelming at first, but once I started to become familiar with the tool I needed, I caught on real quick!

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My First Animation

This is a video of my first animation-- this is the extent of my capabilities before my knowledge of animation today.