Kane Mann - Fundamentals of Animation

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This is my second iteration page after deciding on the rough character I want to animate. This worksheet helped me a lot in the process of deciding what I want the head and body to look like, along with some of the extra features I might add. 

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

This video was very useful in the process of writing my essay. Nick Park explains some of the thought processes he went through in the creation of Gromit. It was interesting to hear the explanations for some of the attributes of Gromit’s character, and to hear the creators opinion on Wallace and Gromit as a whole. 

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

I added some 3/4 views to my rough character rotation sheet. I am happy with how this has turned out and I think it has helped me to bring my character to life. I will be doing a cleaner, coloured version of this sheet.

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

In this life drawing lesson we were focusing on hands. I sometimes struggle with hands so this was very beneficial for me, and I am happy with the drawings I produced. For the first 16 drawings we were only looking at the hands on the model. After this we did a full body drawing for 40 minutes. I didn’t get close to finishing this but I think it was going reasonably well.

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I added some colour to my rough rotation animation. I am happy with how this looks but I could add some more frames to make it smoother. I also plan on redrawing some of the frames and cleaning up the lines. 

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

I have made a rough rotation animation to help build on my main character. I plan to clean this up, redrawing all the frames in more sharp detail and adding colour. 

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

I have added a bobbing motion to the head and have re-drawn the arms. I wanted to add a little more swing to the arms to add believability and interest. I don’t think I have succeeded with this as well as I could have, and I hope to improve on this even more. I think the arms look better, but still quite stiff. I might also add a slight rotation to the face to couple the movement of the shoulders. 

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I have added the arms to my character walk cycle. I like how this has turned out but it needs cleaning up and possibly some slight adjustments. I think I need to slightly lengthen the arms in places, and I would potentially like to add a more interesting swinging movement to the hands. I also still plan on adding a bobbing motion to the head to give a more believable feel to the animation.

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

I have began to animate my first character’s walk cycle. I kept my drawings loose and did this quick animation as a base to develop on. I need to add the arms, which will hopefully have an interesting swing due to the characters big hands. I also want to add a bobbing motion to the head as it looks too stationary and stiff. 

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Character Rotation

I have drawn a rough rotation of my first character. I am happy with how this looks so far and plan on cleaning it up later on. I also want to add a 3/4 view just to give more information on the character. Drawing these helped me to visualise my character more vividly, and also gave me a better vision of the figure in motion. 

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Character Progress

I have started to think about the first walk cycle animation, and I am trying to decide how this character will move. I think I will be animating differently to how these drawings suggest. This is because I would like the character to be more hunched over and I want it to have a more interesting walk. Despite this, it was still useful to draw these and think about possibilities. 

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Character Design Process

I have continued to refine my first character idea by thinking about possible different head shapes and sketching the figure in slightly different ways. I roughly know how I want this character to look already and am trying to get it to a point I am happy with. I think this character will work well for my walk cycle animation as it has potential to be an interesting walk, and also won’t be way too complicated to draw. I am happy with progress so far. 

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I have also adjusted my characters face to add more interesting movement. I think I have clearly added the rotation that I wanted but the frames need some adjusting. This is because they are very jumpy and make it look like his face is moving up and down his head.

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I have added a backpack to my dynamic walk cycle character. I have drawn each frame very roughly and plan on cleaning it up later on. Despite being a simple addition I am happy with how it looks. I wanted to add some exaggerated motion to the backpack with each step, making it jump with the up frames. I think this looks effective enough and will be even better after a clean up. 

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

[kanemannanimationfundamentals]

We were tasked to create a simple walk cycle on TV Paint using the Wacom Cintiq tablets. We also have to add some kind of secondary action to the walk cycle which I’ve still got to finish. I enjoyed this task and think my general walk cycle looks good. However, I did need to adjust the arms a few times as they changed in size, and are still a bit wrong in places now. I created a simple character to work with to make the exercise easier for myself. I think my walk cycles are improving with every task we do. I also enjoy using TV paint and am starting to get used to all the functions and buttons that are on the program. 

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