Progress Update- Just Like I Promised

     I spent more time today working on my jump cycle, as well as going over my walk and run cycle with the intention of finishing off my animation work for this project.

     Here you can see my stages of progress from last night's work, to my updated version today where I have integrated the rest of the arm movement. I used the following video throughout this cycle as a reference to help me get it right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HywvTf5uVbs&feature=relmfu

     Out of all the cycles I found the jump in particular to be the hardest when it came to creating something that was both realistic, and representative of my original idea. Saying this, I have still very much enjoyed the animation part of this project and will therefore be dedicating my own time, after our hand in date, to work on my progress in Maya, starting with jump animations. (I would particularly like to try the somersault again.) Something else that has been highlighted through my work in animation is the importance of a good understanding of antomy and how things move. This makes it unquestionably easier when it comes to recognising visual descrepancies in your work, and suggests that regular life drawing sessions will definately improve future work.

Tweaking and Jumping

     I had another attempt with the animating in Maya. My first task was to tweak the walk cycle, adding additional hip, head movement etc. for a more realistic effect. I also edited the foot controls making sure they were flush with the ground whilst the chacter's foot is in contact. The picture below shows me going through this process- not that you can really tell. Still...It's the thought that counts.

      I then proceded to work on the jump cycle. In terms of progress this has been something of a mixed bag and there have been multiple failed attempts.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc0m4GxSK2A   I tried to do something different to begin with and went for a backwards somersault. This was actually going pretty well whilst I was focusing on just the legs, once I started moving the arms however they started adjusting inbetween keyframes in a corkscrew style manner, which was somehow not fitting. My next attempt was a much simpler forward jump however, perhaps partly due to my inability to source a half decent reference, my attempt looked very jarring and unconvincing, to the point that I considered it would be more time efficient to start from scratch. I am now in the process of working on the new version. It is, thus far, much more successful then the previous attempts but not yet finished. Progress update to come tomorrow.

More Maya

     I began my Maya work by working on the run cycle. Before attempting this I decided it would be useful to research animation movement some more. And also to find some decent examples to use as a reference.
     http://www.creativecrash.com/tutorials/animating-a-run-cycle#tabs I found this website to be exceptionally helpful, particularly as it was my first attempt to animate properly in Maya.

     This image from the site gives a good idea of the style of run I was attempting to go for in my own character, and the still from my own animation gives some idea of how close I am to it at this point.

MUDBOX!!!!

     Since my last post we have begun using Mudbox. As with Maya we have recieved a basic introductory session, walking us through the major features of the program. We have been set some time to play around with the program, before we begin our own project where we will be required to sculpt the likeness of a real person. As my current computer at home cannot run Mudbox, I will be making much more use of uni facilites this term, and accordingly will be saving my animation work for the evenings at home.

Using Maya

     In the last week and a half we have begun using Maya to create basic animations. Our first lesson gave us a feel for the program where we learnt simple controls, how to create shapes, and how to navigate around it. The next two sessions were spent creating a very basic animation of a ball bouncing. We were required to apply the squash/ stretch factor that we learnt about in our animation research. We also spent a session with our tutor Mark beforehand, going over the process so as to tackle it most efficiently when we approached it ourselves. It also introduced us to new techiques such as the graph editor and tangent breaking. Most recently we have spent a session practising animation a ready made and rigged character which we have taken away to work on further. We will be required to create a walk, run and jump cycle for this character.

Principles of Animation- In Game Examples

As part of our research on animation techniques we were asked to take the principles we learnt about in our previous session, and find in game examples of each of them, both positive and negative.

Squash and Stretch

Anticipation

Good

Manhunt

"Manhunt" was all about making violence as graphic and visual an experience as possible, which fuelled the controversy that it created as a game. Resultantly many of the murders in the game have a gritty, high tension build up, clearly defining to the audience the nature of the scene, and allowing them to predict what exactly will happen.

Staging

Straight Ahead/ Pose to Pose

I don't know what to do for this.

Follow Though/ Overlapping

Good

GTA IV

This scene shows the secondary action of the charater rolling along the ground, out of the player's control, after the controlled action of diving out of a vehicle. The physics engine within the game ensures that this movement is dependent on the speed and direction your character is travelling at, making each time unique and interesting for the player to watch.

Bad

Tomb Raider

In this video of one of the older versions of "Tomb Raider" you can see clearly, particularly when Lara is jumping backwards and rolling around, as she likes to do, that no momentum is carried through once she is back on her feet. This results in the character's movements looking jarred and unnatural.

TimingSlow In/ Slow Out

Good

Need for Speed- The Run  

The most obvious "good example" of this principle to me, was one that quite literally requires the use of acceleration and decceleration. Cars do both of these. And this game is about cars.

Arcs

Good/Bad

Fight Night Round 4

This clip gives valid examples of both good and bad arcing. The "Fight Night" series prides itself on trying to make character movement as realistic as possible and I think this shows in general, particularly with the haymaker punches. However at the points where they get it wrong, it is both obvious and distracting to the gameplay- and very much noticable when it occurs within this video, making the movement look very unnatural.

Secondary Action

 Good

Skyrim

This clip from "Skyrim" shows the secondary movement of the characters arms and weaponry, which are further exaggerated when the character is sprinting. You can clearly see how this improves the visuals of the game and makes for more realistic character movement, particularly when compared with it's predecessor "Oblivion"

Timing

Good

Max Payne

Max Payne is amazing fun, one of the best parts being the ability to slo-mo dive through the air- WHENEVER THE HELL I WANT- and destroy people with bullets. Clearly timing is an essential aspect of this, and let it not be forgotten!

Exaggeration

Good

Hercules

Here we have a clear example of how extreme exaggeration has been used for a child friendly and comical visual style. From the over zealous swing of Hercule's cape, to the hyper-extension of his knees the entire game screams of exaggerated movement. 

Solid Drawing

Appeal
Bad
Lord of the Rings- Conquest

This is a clear example of a game that made me put time and effort into completing its main storyline, with the promises of rewarding me with a never before seen alternate storyline where Sauron prevails. This was diminished somwhat by the fact that playing as the Nazgul, which should be awesome, was dull and distinctly not fun.

Principles of Animation

     We have now returned to NUCA for our new term. Within this unit (BA2) we will begin by learning the basics of digital sculpting/modelling, and how to go about combining this with animation. In our first lecture we learnt about Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas,  and their development of the "12 Basic Principles of Animation". These principles are as follows:

     -Squash and stretch: This gives a sense of weight, flexibility and depth to the object/character. It is essential that the volume of the object does not vary within the animation, therefore changes within height/depth etc. must interact accordingly.
     -Anticipation: Antipations prepares the audience for a particlar action, and in turn makes that action more realistic eg. a character bending his legs before a jump. Ommiting anticipation before an action is also sometimes used for comedic effect.
     -Staging: Staging directs the audience's attention, and clarifys what is happening and what is about to happen within the scene.
     -Straight ahead action/ Pose to pose: Straight ahead action requires drawing a scene frame by frame till the end of a sequence which, whilst considered more effective for action scenes, can result in failure to maintain proportions. Pose to pose means drawing the first and last frame and filling in the intervals. It is common for a mixture of both techniques to be utilised.
     -Follow through/ Overlapping action: This goes towards making animations of characters and objects that much more realistic. For example after landing on the ground, coming to a sudden stop, parts of a character's body will continue to move, just like with real life physics. Overlapping is when different parts of a character's body will move at a different pace, again like with a real life person. Emphasising these effects is sometimes used for comedic purposes.
     -Slow in and slow out: This reflects the real life nessecity for any moving object to accelerate into movement, or deccelerate to a stop, as opposed to reaching speed immediately.
     -Arcs: Arcs are generally used within the animation or organic characters or material. One might deviate from this if the object being animated was mechanical.
     -Secondary action: Secondary action accompanies the main action to make it more lifelike. A character running down a hallway would also pump his arms as he moved. Something to be noted is that the secondary should not distract from the main action but simply accompany it.
     -Timing: "Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film.^[14] On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push.^[29] Timing is critical for establishing a character's mood, emotion, and reaction.^[14] It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character's personality".
     -Exaggeration: Levels of exaggeration within animation would be determined by the visual style of whatever is being created, but as a general rule it seems to be considered nessacary to at least a small degree, purely to prevent the animation looking lifeless.
     -Solid drawing: This means understanding and comprehending the 3D nature of your character/obeject, and utilising this when taking into account aspects such as volume and weight.
     -Appeal: This means creating a charismatic or identifiable character that will appeal to an audience. Kind of a given really.