Animation Projects

Animator

[victoriaaniprojects]

Textures

I am now looking for simple (maybe temporary) textures for the other background pieces and my characters.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Trial 1 and 2 of adding a bush texture to the Maya file. The second version is better as it blends well together and does not look too bright and resembles a bush.

[victoriaaniprojects]

After finding this image from google I am considering keeping the bush rectangular but with rounded edges. I will be making a test and uploading the results from this experiment.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Looking for potential textures for the bush with image search from google.

[victoriaaniprojects]

To make a smooth round edge I have been using the 'soft select' tool in the polygon settings which, as shown here, highlight the other vertexes that will be effected by the move tool.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Screenshot of modelling a bush in Maya.

I am looking to go for a typical drawing of a 2d bush that will (hopefully) fit with the background once its composited together.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Character Movement

This is how I want my characters to look during the film. I am really pleased at how the movement has turned out in the last video.

My next task is to complete the animation by blocking out the timing before adding the squash and stretch.

This is all done before I consider keying the blend shapes in for the expressions. This is because if I change the timing of the movement I will have to go back and change the placement of the facial keys. Therefore by doing them after the animation is complete so I won't have to worry about adjusting anything.  

[victoriaaniprojects]

Version 3 of the scene.

In this test I rotated the character to look as though they are propelling themselves forward. This way the character looks as though they are anticipating the direction of the jump in relation to their weight.

Video:- Animation_test_04.mov

[victoriaaniprojects]

Here is a second version of the same scene with a simple expression test.

This was a test for the timing of the expressions in relation to the movement. It is also an experiment to make sure the blend shapes work with the stretch rig without deforming the expression.  

Video:- Ainimation_test_03.mov

[victoriaaniprojects]

Initial bounce cycle for my pumpkin character.

Here I have a simple squash and stretch rig to emphasis the bounce and show the weight of the character.

Video:- Animation_test_02.1.mov

[victoriaaniprojects]

Bounce Movements

Looking at ball bounce cycles

This is a link to my Pinterest board where I have pinned various videos and gif sequences for reference when animating my characters.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Squash and stretch Maya ball bounce animation tutorial with Nathan Webb  

This is a video tutorial of making a squash and stretch ball bounce. This will be really helpful for me as it explains weight distribution and speed of the bounce. I can replicate/practice these in my tests and find out how I want my characters to move during the film.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Raindrops by Patrick Dias

Link:- https://vimeo.com/39026221

[victoriaaniprojects]

Hit and Roll by Cento Lodigiani

Link:- https://vimeo.com/59250818

[victoriaaniprojects]

Job, Joris & Marieke March to “The Daily Drumbeat”

Inventive and minimalist character work keeps Utrecht studio Job, Joris & Marieke on our must-watch list. Like this music video for instance: a monochrome romp with dark undercurrents for fellow Dutchman Job Roggeveen and his collaborative musical project called Happy Camper.

[victoriaaniprojects]

Feet of Song by Erica Russell (1988)

Feet of Song explores the African rhythms of the talking drum and the guitar. The animated stylised figures move beautifully in time with the music. Erica Russell researched extensively for her fil...

Feet of Song by Erica Russell

Link:- http://www.animatormag.com/video/entertaining/feet-of-song-erica-russell/

[victoriaaniprojects]

Heart by Erick Oh

Link:- http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2012/10/30/heart/