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!  

Click to Enlarge.

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.

Click to Enlarge.

Click to Enlarge