Sin Yee Vanessa Wu - KNB122 Drawing for Animation @n8646694knb122 - Tumblr Blog

Overall Reflections on walk cycle and run cycle

At first, I thought animating walk cycle and run cycle could be difficult for me, though it was still challenging. However, once I split the animation into different parts and found out the key poses, it started building up. I just needed to draw one to two in-betweens between the key poses. In addition, I realized the movements of the arms are quite similar to the flexible joints I animated in the early semester. Also, I could apply different animation principles in these cycles. For example, I could apply follow through for the hands movements. Besides, I learnt that I could exaggerate the twist of the body for the front and back view because the shoulders are always opposing the hips. I also noticed the head level, the ups and downs, keeps changing during the walk and run. And I understood more of the flop of the feet during walking and running. What I found the most challenging must be keeping the same volume of different part, such as the feet, head, body. It’s just too difficult to draw the same volume every time.

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Walk Cycle - Back view

So there will be eight key poses in the walk cycle, four for each side. And the project I created is in 12fps while the walk will take 24 frames.

This is the rough draft of the front view of the walk cycle. I should work more on the legs and the feet.

The above is the final version. I like how the hip tilt through the walk. However, i think the tilt of the shoulder could be even exaggerated more.

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Walk Cycle - Front view

Drawing the front view of the walk cycle is not as hard as I thought. The most difficult part I will say is the feet. (Actually this happened in the back view as well). However, I think the important part of the front view (and the back view) is to show the tilting of the body, which I need to work on because of over exaggerating.

It looks better after refining from the rough version. Should be better if I could fix the shaking of the body and the head.

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Walk Cycle - Side view

This is the first rough draft of the walk cycle from the side view. Obviously, there is a flash frame that I need to fix it. Other than that, I think I need to work on the arms especially the shoulder and elbow. In addition, it is important to aware of the head level during the walk, because there are ups and downs through the walk.

Although I didn’t manage keeping the same size of the head, I like the drop of the man when he steps (contact pose), maybe a little bit too exaggerate. I also like how the hands flow through the motion, yet the left hand was drawn wrongly in a couple of frames.

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Run Cycle - Back view

I found that back view is the most difficult angle for me. I tried to do it by modifying from the front view. However, the knees and feet still need to work on.

So this is the final version of the run cycle from the back view.

Run Cycle - Front view

It was challenging to draw the front view of the running cycle. Here’s the first time I sketched it. There were a few areas I need to work on, such as the body swings too much and the legs are shaking. I also found that the left arm swings more than the right hand.

The above is the final version of the front view of run cycle. I like how the weight shifts through the run. I’ve fixed the arms so that it looks better now.

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Run Cycle - Side view

The above is the first attempt of the run cycle from the side view. I found that run cycle is easier to draw comparing to the walk cycle, maybe because of the larger movement of the body, so that it is more clear to identify. Actually, I’m quite satisfied with this rough version, although the body is “jumping” through the animation, should be able to fix it in the later structured version.

So here’s is the second attempt. I’ve tried to use different shapes to represent different parts of the body, like what I did in the walk cycle. I also learnt how to draw the head realistically instead of drawing circles or ovals and I found it is very helpful. However, the mass of the head keeps changing in every frame. I should be aware of this issue.

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6 Best Drawings

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Reference

Walking Cycle:

I’ve did some research about the pelvis for the walk cycle. So in the contact pose, the pelvis is slightly lower than its default standing position. This is the pose where the feet are at furthest distance from each other. The knees should be slightly bend when the pelvis is at contact pose. Then, in the down pose, the pelvis will go even lower. This is the pose when the pelvis is at the lowest point of the entire walk cycle. At this moment, the legs are meant to catch the pelvis weight. Thus, knees will be bend more to dampen the dropping weight of the pelvis. While in the passing pose, the pelvis recovers to its default height, that is when the character is standing straight. Finally, in the up pose, the pelvis is being pushed up and forward. The pelvis is lifted to the point where the legs is seen as tiptoeing.

Running Cycle:

I found that the most notable differences between walk cycle and run cycle is the position of the back foot in the contact position. In the walk, the back foot is still touching the ground, but in the run, the back foot has already left the ground when the front foot contacts. Also, the body leans forward more in the run cycle and the arms swing conversely with the legs as in the walk. However, the arms and legs are in their maximum stretched position when the character is in midair at the high point of the action. In the walk, this happens in the contact position.

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Life Drawing

Through the life drawing session in this semester, I believe I've improved my life drawing skills. I can feel the pose and understand the forces acted on the models in gesture drawing. By holding the pencil loosely, I can flow on the paper smoothly and feel the pose with my hand. Although the content of the classes are quite the same with last semester (Drawing for Animation 1), I understood more theory, such as shading skills, anatomy, etc. I also have better performance by keep practicing.

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Final version for all the animations

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Sugar Bag

This is the very rough thumbnails of the sugar bag animation. I decided to include a fall, squash, twist and jump in this animation.

The following image represents all of my key drawings of the sugar bag animation. It looks messy in the middle, because there are lots of action there. I may try to modify it a little bit.

Since this animation will last for at least six seconds, I need to have a clear idea how I would time each action. I aim for 12 frames for the falling at the beginning, and then another 16 frames for look right, left and right. After that, I will use 20 frames to represent the walk and 12 frames for hitting the wall. Finally, the fall to the ground will use 10 frames.

I also divided it into a few parts according to the actions. Here is the first bit. I think I need to work more on the timing and spacing in the fall and the turn. Also, I think it should take more frames for it to stand back after it falls.

The above animation include the second part, which the character looking to its left and right. I have also edited the timing of the falling part.

I think I’m almost there. But the spacing after it hits the wall is a little bit strange. I will fix it before the final version. I will also apply the overlapping principle of animation through the ears of the character. Besides, I will create shadow for the entire animation to make it look more realistic.

Below is the final version of this sugar bag animation.

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Reaction

The above is the key post of the animation. The left one is the ready position. The middle one is the anticipation or the reaction, the right one.

The following is the first attempt of the reaction animation. There were a few mistakes I spotted in this animation. First, the mass of the head, body and feet keep changing on each frame. Also, the anticipation part is too long comparing to the whole action. Third, the hat position should be modify.

The above image indicates the change of the second key post. And here’s is the second attempt of the animation. The hat is no longer jumping into the air but follow the man’s movement. However, the fall of the hat can be more realistic by adjusting the timing and spacing.

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Pull

This is the thumbnails of the pull animation. I did this action a few times to have a feel of how the force is shifting during the action. Also how the force acting on each leg as well as when which leg is bending and stretching. I first drew three key posts which are A (the ready position), B (anticipation) and C (the finishing post).

This is the first attempt of the animation. I found that it is always hard to keep the body bass the same in every frame. Also, I realized that during the pulling, when the heel of the feet is the first contact to the ground, while the other leg will be straight.

However, I found that the feet are sliding on the floor, especially the back leg. Therefore, I spent some time working on the feet to keep it on the same position but lifting up the heel. Below is the edited version.

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Week 5 - Developing Animation Actions and Acting

The key terms of this week lecture are: Acting, Authenticity, Believability, Performance signs and semiotics, body language

The animator is responsible for creating an animated character performance through the use of animated motions, gestures, expressions and actions that communicate in a convincing and believable manner.

believability functions on two levels (Bishko, 2007): 1. through the suspension of disbelief 2. through characterisation

Bishko (2007) authenticity encompasses criteria contained within three contexts: 1. craft 2. characterisation 3. style and content

In conclusion, characters appear authentic and therefore are believable when all the elements of the animated illusion are unified. Body language (defined by gestures and movements of body and arms) is a form of non verbal communication.

communication: 55% - body language 38% - tone of voice 7% - actual words spoken

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Flexible Joints

This is the rough draft I drew for the flexible joints animation.

The following is the first draft of the animation. It is difficult to draw the straight lines on every frame. And I found that the timing and spacing between each frame are too equal. I decided to create the ease in and ease out in the beginning and the end of it.

After applying ease in and ease out, it looks better. Although the drawings are not very good.

I added the third joint, which is the hand into the animation. At first, I drew the wrong way, the opposite of the following animation. Then I spent some time to understand the forces act on each joint and how they interact with each other. Finally, I make the following version of this animation.

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Week 4 - Developing Animated Actions

Today's lecture introduced a few terms:

A. 2D Animation Workflow 1. Planning 2. Layout 3. Key Drawings 4. Breakdowns 5. In-betweens 6. Clean up 7. Ink and paint and Color

B. Breakdown of an action 1. key drawings 2. extreme positions 3. mid-positions 4. in-betweens

C. Thumbnailing 1. simple forms 2. strong poses 3. force acting on form

Also, I was taught that line of action is an imaginary line extending through the main action of a graphic form which provides a useful structural support when drawing figures from observation. I have understood that the fastest way to plan your animation is with simple, informative thumbnail sketches. So I will remind myself to plan my drawing with lots of thumbnail sketches.

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Sin Yee Vanessa Wu - KNB122 Drawing for Animation