If it's feeling very weightless, there's a good chance that you're letting the computer do too many of your "in-betweens," and you probably need some breakdown poses in there to properly describe the body mechanics. My advice would be to act out and/or film the action you are trying to animate, and really study all the small actions that happen in between the larger actions (small things, like when you shift your weight a little bit, what happens to your shoulders, feet, etc?) – that's the stuff that will make things feel correct. Another culprit might be timing – if your timing is too fast, there is a chance the characters will feel very light, however if it's too slow, then the characters will feel floaty! The trick, then, is to study the actions you want to create, and then exaggerate the poses and timing to fit the style you are looking for, while placing the fast bits and the slow bits in all the right spots to create the feeling you are looking for! It all starts with studying reality whenever you can, and then applying your artistic eye to that reality in order to create something special.And the most important "weight" tip for any creature is always to simply make sure that no foot is ever off the ground (except during a run sometimes) unless the hips are over the opposite foot.
- Shawn :)
7 comments:
Cool list of tricks Shawn ! Always good to remember ... :-)
I definitely agree with the danger of the computer doing too many inbetweens for you. This is a huge one !!
HONK -
Lluís
Hey you've started a blog! Awesome. Thanks for all the wonderful advice!
Great tip Shawn! I must agree that letting the computer do too many of your inbetweens can result to a pitfall in your work.
I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit more about how you analyze your video reference. It sounds like you actually do a few "observation layers of studying the actions" before you sit down to work.
What do you do when your video reference has a certain timing that doesn't sync well with your thumbnails?
I hope my question made a little bit of sense.
Thanks heaps for you input,
Av
Hello Shawn!
Wow! I can never get tired of reading all your articles! Very informative and constructive. Thanks for all that great information! :)
I have a question in regards the topic. I'm currently animating a 6 second scene where I have two vampires and one of the vampires is flying and moves very quickly backwards and comes back forward in a 8 shape arc just like you explained how hands moves in one of the lectures. Also the legs and wings overlap with the driving force of his body.
What would be a great way of me getting a strong planning and reference for this particular animation? Any recommendations for reference?
Thanks so much Shawn and have a great day!
-Javier
great info Shawn :D thanks a bunch.
When we first started classed in 3D animation we learnt the method of blocking out key poses and timing in the 3D software. Unfortunately for most of us, the temptation to tweek and adjust the character led to weightless and squishy animation very quickly. The initial planning was lost as every movement and character bit gained a key-frame and our brains were weighed down by the complexity of the software.
Now we've been taught the method of designing key poses and getting the timing correct in a traditional2D format. Then projecting the completely solved line test animation on screen in the 3D software and matching the model's movement to the 2D animation key poses and inbetween roughs.
The key frames are clearly marked.
This way the animator stays in control and doesn't start trying to tweek (finesse the detail) in the 3D animation too early, which has led us beginners / students into floaty animation on previous attempts.
From that point, where all the key poses and inbetween roughs are copied from the 2D plan, it's clear what needs to be polished in the inbetweens (referencing the inbetween roughs and using the graph editor).
Now our 3D animations are starting to look and read better.
I guess it's just another way to stick to the planning for the sequence and thus maintaining meaningful movement and weight.
that ws` very helpful
specially the creature part
can u tell me any trick on how to animate lammp
Post a Comment