Thursday, June 26, 2008

Reader's Question: How Do You Do Video Planning?

Dear Readers,
We received several questions on the What Kind of Workflow Do You Use? posting and will address some of those questions in the next few postings.

YT asked How Do You Do Video Planning?

This is a great question. The answer, however, depends on who you ask. Each animator finds his/her groove when it comes to tools such as video planning. Some shoot their own video reference, and some gather video reference from all sorts of different sources. Video planning is as unique as the animator using it. However, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to video planning and reference material.

The first thing to keep in mind is that you will want to use this material for what it is; reference. It doesn’t make sense to copy your reference material blindly.. that’s more like rotoscoping, and you will find that your animation runs into the same limitations as live action, you can only animate what you can act out. But if you really LOOK at the reference material, you can see all sorts of subtle movements and weight shifts that you can capture, and really accentuate and emphasize. Plus, it’s just great practice to get in there and study the way your body works. You will be surprised when you slow down reference material of dynamic things like bouncing or even running... the human body is incredibly flexible, and very very interesting.

So we would encourage you to shoot video material for reference. If you are doing a dialog shot, try lipsyncing for a few takes, but when you’ve got the dialog down, go ahead and really vocalize what the actors are saying, you may be surprised how much the acting actually changes. Don’t be afraid, shoot LOTS of reference; it’s your chance to try out a bunch of different acting ideas, and you may find that you like a gesture in one take, and another gesture in a different take. Through the magic of animation, you can combine your favorite acting choices into a stellar performance.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that there is no ‘right’ way to do video planning, but finding a method that is FUN is certainly one good way to do it. If you are having fun while you are acting out your video reference, you will be more likely to do it, and you will end up with material you are more interested in studying.

Best of Luck!

Animation Mentor Staff

9 comments:

Carlos Fins said...

Hey Shawn! This is an awesome blog you've put up; I really appreciate you taking time to post up your tips and suggestions..
Something that I've been trying to wrap my head around is the notion of animating actions, not emotions.. On principle, I think I understand the idea.. don't just animate someone "sad" or "fustrated" But I seem to fall flat in practice. Could you provide any suggestions on this? Thanks!!
-Carlos

Brad said...

Great advice Shawn!

I'd like to add some tips:

1. Use natural lighting if you can.
2. Avoid baggy shirts, a belt really helps define the rotations and
movements of the hips.
3. Keep the camera still and record from the view of the camera in your animation.
4. Make your reference as clear as possible, careful of feet getting cut off, they are most helpful for showing weight.

Anirudh said...

nice post and i agree with brad completely...

* its very important to shoot the same angle or at least more or less same as you would have in your actual animation. i had one bad experience, in my actual scene, the entire body was seen, but while shooting reference i shot just from hips upwards and i regretted this mistake for a long long time to come.

*even the suggestion by showing the belt is absolutely spot on, it helps to see how the hips are moving and how the weight shifts happen.

awesome blog, where so many diff ppl have their own share of info.

cheers,

frank said...

Hey Brad, Thanks for the additional tips.

Maybe this following experience will give some other student animators ideas for building their digital movement reference library.

Our animation teacher went down to the campus gym and shot some digital video reference of a couple of students for basic walks and runs with animation students on the exercise treadmills.

Yes, I did say 'exercise'.

This was a great way to get a movement analysis footage (video reference)of different shaped and sized people moving from different angles.

Best thing was that the camera stayed still because the person was on a treadmill. No need for camera 'trucking' (I think it's called?).

Unknown said...

I just read this, while i was searching about taking video reference. May i ask.

How do not copy the reference into your animation? Like, dialogue, some acting etc. How that to use it as reference and not for copy paste into maya?

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