Class 11 11/13/2015

Hi Gang, Here is what I covered in class:

We took your drawings, edited them into a sequence in after effects and exported them as an image sequence.  This was so we can bring in them into maya as a timing reference for your final.  Now that you have a timing reference, you can begin blocking out poses in maya.

Animatics;
-Import images into After Effects.
-Create 1920 x 1080 composition, and make sure it is the length of your animation.
-Add images to composition.
-Sequence and edit timing of each of your drawings in your composition.
-Ctrl M to open export options.
-export as jpg sequence.
-change name from (yourfile)_[####] to (yourfile).[####].
-export these files into your source images folder of your maya project.

Setting up your Maya file
-Create new animation scene.  Set the length to the amount of frames you rendered from After Effects.
-Create new camera.  Name it RenderCam.
-In the RenderCam view panel create imagePlane.
-When asked, navigate to the folder where you saved your images.  Select the first one.
-In the imagePlane options, check the box next to "Use Image Sequence".
-Scroll down the attribute editor for the imagePlane until you get to "placement".
-Next to size change the first value of "1.417" to something small like ".35"  This is will scale down -the imagePlane in your camera view.
-The go to offset and change the values so that your image is in the top right corner.  Start with "0.53" and ".26".  You may need to adjust but .01 here and there.  It doesn't have to be exact.  Just out of the way.
-You now have a timed reference in your maya file for posing.
-Import soundfile, if you are using one.  Remember Maya takes sounds files as .wav.

For both of these steps, if you have any specific questions, please email me.  Or you can use youtube or google to find great tutorials.

Jubi, for your scene, please become familiar with motion paths.  Here is a tutorial video you should watch:

Just follow this so that you know how motion paths work.  We will be putting your character on this path when he or she is flying.

REQUIRED!! REQUIRED!! REQUIRED!! REQUIRED!! REQUIRED!! REQUIRED!!

As you are posing our your characters for homework, please also watch the first four videos from this playlist:

Keith Lango's Animation Videos

Keith gives you a great amount to think about as you are posing out your animations.  The rest of the playlist will be good for when you are actually animating.

To get a sense of what I am looking for in your animation blocking, here are some examples:

Fernando, don't worry about posing the mouth shape for dialogue yet.  You can pose them for emotion.  If anything you should be able to communicate your idea with the body.  Try to get your poses strong enough first.

HOMEWORK

Watch Keith Lango's videos (first 4) which I linked above.

Block out your cameras and poses in Maya.  Use your drawings as reference.  Try to add more poses than what you may have drawn.  Heejung in your case if you pose every one of your drawings you should be fine.

One you have these poses time them to your animatic.  Email me a playblast of your first blocking pass so we can watch them at the beginning of next class.

On a side note, we have to make up a class, since we missed the first one.  Instead of coming to school and doing a demonstration, I suggest we watch an animated film.  I was thinking we watch the new Pixar movie "The Good Dinosaur" and have some drinks or coffee afterwards to chat about it.  How does this sound?  I was thinking first weekend of December.  Please think about it, and we can chat during the next class.

Class 10 11/05/2015

Class Review!

As you know, you guys have one more week to work on and revise your head turns.  I hope what I showed you in class will help.  If you don't have your maya files, let me know.

Finals:

Draw out your character within the frame.  Similar to this:

The quality of your drawing can still be what you had before, but I want to see your character in relation to the frame.  This will be important for later.  Draw within 1920 x 1080 frame or a 16:9 ratio.  This way you will know what kind of camera space you have for your animation.  If you are not sure what this would look like, you can open photoshop and start a new file with this ratio, or you can set it in maya with the render globals.

I will add some support material for each of you to plan.  This will include some research.  I will go over this a little bit during class, but I would like you to get start by looking at other animations.  I am going to back to Frame X Frame to find some gifs that could serve as inspiration for your projects.  Creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum!  If you have an idea, chances are someone has done it before.  It helps to see how it was done, learn from it, and incorporate what was successful, into your own work.  These are not to say you have to copy them.  No.  This is about establishing the feel of your project.  For example, Jubi has a character flying and then landing.  I will show some instances where characters have good landings and see what we can learn from them.

JUBI IS FLYING

Explore other poses you would like your character to be in while he flies.
You can always google flying characters like Peter Pan to get inspiration.  Look around.  You might find something you like, that you haven't thought of before.

FRAMEXFRAME REFERENCES FOR JUBI

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/128186142038/glen-keanes-duet

I like this because it shows how expressive the character can be while she is in the air.  She also has a

 very nice landing.

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/108546840031/pixars-inside-out-teaser

This spinning motion can be fun in the air and very easy to animate.

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/70898599692/disneys-the-rescuers-down-under

Bird has a nice path before landing.  A small dip before rising and then finally landing.

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/64386541285/disneys-aladdin

Aladdin has a nice landing here.

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/53194817689/koji-morimoto-studio-4-c-passion-music-video

Nice flying animation.

FERNANDO IS DRINKING

Create the key poses for your scene.  Breakdown your animation based on the dialogue.  I mentioned in class I think it would be around 5 main parts.  I found the dialogue online and I can suggest how I would approach this.

1) "Another year on this planet"
(Drunken gestures)

2) "I have I haven't"
(more emotional, confused, flailing hands)

3) "accomplished squat."
(perhaps slaps hand or fist onto bar)

4) FALLS
(falls from stool)

5) "Can't even drink myself to death."
(climbs back up, or maybe a hand comes up and gestues)

You don't have to pose exactly as I just wrote.  But I do want you to think about how to break this up into 5 main ideas.  Explore the poses.  What poses would best express each of these stages of the dialogue?  If you can figure this out, please draw a pose for each stage that I have laid out for you.  You had been drawing them in a storyboard frame.  Please continue to do that.

FRAMEXFRAME REFERENCES FOR FERNANDO

These are not specific examples of what you should do.  These are just examples of frustrated characters and how they move.  Keep poking through this site or others and see if you can find something you like.

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/104844451082/pixars-the-incredibles

http://framexframe.tumblr.com/post/9626344471/kent-mansley-from-warner-bros-animations-the-iron

HEE JUNG IS DANCING

Heejung, you have great drawings and video reference for your idea.  Next thing I would like for you to do is to draw your character within the frame.

Also I don't have any specific gif inspiration for you, since you have a very good video reference.  We can play it by ear.  if you feel stuck or need new ideas, we can look around.

Let's wrap up this posting!

I would like to have all your key poses and moment drawn into the frame of the camera. I will take these and place them in after effects, so we can talk about timing your shots out.  So please email these to me before class begins.

An important thing to note, even though I am asking you to plan everything, that doesn't mean it is set in stone.  You might change a pose or two throughout the process.  That's ok.  I just want you to at least have something to start with instead of nothing.  So even if you don't feel strongly about some poses, I still want you to put something down on paper.  We can always make it better later on as you advance your project.

And remember!  I will give extra credit if you film yourself acting out these poses.  This can be a good time to try it out.  You may accidentally find something you like and would want to use.

Lastly, finalize you head turns! Use the feedback and tips I provided in class and get that sucker done!

One last thing....

I found a playlist of videos by Animator Keith Lango.  I found these very useful when I was a student.  I will go over them in class and we may watch a few.  However I would like to send them to you now because they are also relevant to your headturn animations, and your current assignment of posing for the final.  Enjoy!

Keith Lango Animation Tutorial Playlist

Class 9 10/30/2015

This material is about preparing for the final.  The Description of the homework for next week is below.

Final Project

You guys will be turning in a very short animation.  You will have the rest of the semester to work on it, and I will help you throughout the process.

I will do demonstrations based on what your needs will be for your finals. For example, if someone is doing a walk to a run to a jump, I might show you how I would get that done. If there are any challenges with your idea, please let me know and I can prepare something to show in class.

The main steps of your final will be:
-Brainstorming and Thumbnail sketches
-Block out poses and camera in maya.  Try to get the timing of the whole peice.
-Animation blocking
-Splining animation
-Render

This Youtube playlist shows many examples of the process I would like you to take for your final.

Below are some examples of what kind of things you can animate:

As you can see, there is a wide range of projects you can do.  You can do a lip synch dialogue, an action, dance whatever.  If you want to take from 11 second club feel free.

Here is another rig I showed in class:

http://www.bloomsbury.com/cw/cartoon-character-animation-with-maya/student-resources/mr-buttons/

HOMEWORK

Part 1 Spline and finish your head turns!  Use the feedback from class to finish off this assignment.

Part 2 FINAL (finally!)

FINAL ASSIGNMENT:

Final Phase 1

-Pick something to animate.  Can be action, dance, dialogue (sound) (within reason).  

Choose audio if that is what you are animating to. 

Use your sketchbook and jot down your ideas and thumbnails about shots, actions, composition.  

Scan sketchbook and email to me so we can look at it together. Bring any kind of reference to show us what you would like to accomplish.

Must talk about your ideas next class.

Have at least 2 ideas.  I will decide if they will be manageable.  Remember to have fun! Pick an idea that interests you.

Class 8 10/22/2015

Head Turn Animation

Hello everyone!  

Here are some helpful references on the topic of head turning.  Hopefully these will reiterate what I went over in class, and you can use these as helpful reference for when you are doing your homework assignment.

Jack Jack's head turn

Pocahontas

Please take note, there are many different ways to do a head turn.  A neutral head turn is completely valid, but whatever the emotion of the character might be would also affect how the turn is happening.  For instance, my animation that i worked on in class the other day was of a scared man.  He turned his head quickly, looking around to make sure nothing will hurt him.  If someone is relaxed, they might turn their head more slowly.  

Topics Cover in Class

My animation that I made during class:

aTools

I used the tween function of aTools quite a bit.  I hope you guys will continue to use it and become familiar with powerful a tool it can be.  As a reminder, here is the youtube video demonstrating aTools and how you can use it:

Review of Morpheus Face Rig

Please watch this video if you need any reviewing for the face rig on Morpheus.  Start at 14:30 to begin right at the face.

Morpheus Rig 101 - "The Rig As Is" from Josh Burton on Vimeo.

If there is anything I showed in class, and it is not review on this blog please email me with any questions or additional information you might need!

GRADES

On a separate note, I would like to sit down with each of you and talk about your grades.  I realized I haven't given you any yet, but I do have them for your previous projects.  I will discuss them with you so you know how you are doing in the class, and you can also mentally prepare for the final which will be about half of your final grade.  I will be emailing each of you to begin a conversation about meeting up.

HOMEWORK

Part 1

Please revise you run cycles based on the feedback given in class.  Practice makes perfect!  I guarantee the more run cycles you do the better you will get with each other.  I will be looking at how the speed feels, if it is readable, how are the arcs on the feet and hands, and overall if it is believable enough.  Please refer back to the previous blog post for reference.  

Part 2

Based on what was shown in class, and the reference I provided in this blog post, please create your own head turn.  This is your chance to get creative.  Don't just rotate the head and blink the eyes.  Make me feel the turn in the body and the shoulders.  Create an expressive face that might communicate what your character might be feeling on the inside.  Please feel free to explore and experiment.  Remember you are creating art.  Let's see some emotion!

Don't forget to create a new perspective camera to view our animation with.  I usually rename it "RenderCam" which is what many studios do.  Find a good place for this camera, and lock it in place by locking attributes, or just keyframe it.  Make sure this camera view is the best angle for viewing your work.  Remember what I said about the eyes.  Our animations will work much better when we see both eyes in the shot.  Use your RenderCam to figure that out.

*I will give you bonus credit if you film yourself doing these actions for reference.  ACTING!!  If you do, please them along with your final animation. so we can see how you did it.  If you want to do this for your walk cycle revision, feel free to do so*

Before the next class begins I would like to have quicktimes of all of your run cycles and headturns.

If you have not turned in your revised walk cycles, please do so as soon as possible!!  So far, I only have Fernando's.

Class 7 10/15/2015

Run Cycles

Hi guys.  Here are some inspirations and references for your run cycles.

This video shows something that is interesting to note.  This girl is shown landing on the balls of her feet instead of her heel, which is what I showed you in class.  That's ok!  That's very realistic, since jogging this way is better for your knees.

In fact the last two videos come from a very useful youtube channel.  It is full of great video reference for animators.

I have tried to find running tutorials, but the ones I see are not very good.  I think by now you should be comfortable keyframing in maya., and you know what kind of poses you want to hit.

HOMEWORK

Based on critiques in class, please revise your walk cycles.  Polish them up!  Perhaps you can use it on an animation reel!

Next do a run cycle!  Bring it to me splined and as far as you can take it.  We will critique them in class.

Class 6 10/12/2015

Review

Last class I showed everyone how to spline your walk cycle and how to focus on certain areas to refine the walk cycle.  In this post I will add some supplemental material to expand on what was covered.

For those who are still figuring out the graph editor, here is a good video to study:

Here are other resources for animating walk cycles.  Keep in mind these are done with different rigs.  Many controls may be different but they should essentially be doing the same thing.  Watch these videos and try to pick up on what these animators are focused on:

Another method for thinking about walk cycles:

http://ilearntoanimate.com/bean-sprout-f3r3-method/

There are many ways to begin animating a walk cycle.  Mainly I want you to watch these so you can think about all the moving parts of a walk cycle.  Remember when I had you all draw?  Use that same eye to see what works in a walk cycle.  Does the up and down feel good?  Does the body twisting feel natural?  Do the arms swing in a natural way?  Please search youtube for more walk cycle videos.  There are a lot of them.  Hopefully you will begin to see a pattern arise, and understand what goes into a good walk cycle.

HOMEWORK
Please spline your walk cycles and refine them as much as you can.  Act as if you are going to finish them.  They can still be walking in place.  If you are not sure when you are ready to spline them, feel free to select all your keys and choose to do auto tangent, or spline.  If you see any glaring issues or problems, just begin to fix them one by one.

Make sure it feels natural.  Watch as many people walk as possible, and try to observe what the body is doing.

We will look at them in class and critique them.  Please have them playblasted and emailed to me before the start of the class.  No matter what, email to me wherever you are on this assignment.

Contact me if you have any questions!

Class 5 10/01/2015

Hello everyone.  In this blog post, I have a refresher on how some of aTools works.  Also I have provided some references for walk cycles.

Atools for maya at home (click to save)

Tutorial Video on aTools:

Walk cycle images:

Other Walk Cycles;

Homework!

Please put together stepped walk cycles exactly how we did in class.  Start over, or work on the one you started in class.  I think you can benefit from starting over, so you can learn from repetition.  Don't forget to use aTools to save time.  Mirror poses, or use the tween function.  Use the images provided if you need references for which poses you would like to have in your walk cycle.  Please work on your poses and timing until you feel like they look like good blocked walk cycles.

For next class I would like to see a quicktime of your walk cycles.  Please playblast them and email them to me before class begins.  We will then take those and I will show you how to take them a step further and refine them.

If you need help or advice, please send me an email!

Class 4 09/24/2015

Hello everyone,

Since most of the class was absent, I didn't cover any new topics.

However, I just wanted to write and ask that you keep playing with the Morpheus Rig.  Keep creating poses, discover new controls, or pose the fingers and face.  If you would like feel free to try some animation on it.

I would like you to feel comfortable with the rig because next class I want to begin walk cycles.

If you haven't yet turned in your ball bounces, sketches, or Morpheus poses, please make sure to do so before next class.  It can be through email, or dropbox.  However you prefer.

I hope everyone has a great week!

-Dony

Class 3 09/17/2015

Posing the character rig

Some Morpheus Notes:

 In the video above, you can see FK on the left, and IK on the right.  This is the difference between FK and IK.  FK you need to rotate Shoulder, Elbow, and Wrist to position the arm.  IK you only need to translate the wrist control, and position the pole vector. 

To switch between FK and IK, find this control near the hand.  0 is FK and 1 means IK.

There are similar controls for the foot for switching FK/IK, but honestly, 95 percent of the time you will not animate the foot/leg with FK.  Best to keep it IK.

And just so you know, the spine has FK/IK controls as well.  Another way of telling the difference, is that in Morpheus, FK controls are only rotated, while most IK controls can be rotated AND translated.  Some more advanced and flexible rigs allows you to translate, rotate and scale FK or IK, but Morpheus will not.  Here is a video demonstrating the difference.

The control name usually indicate whether it is an FK or IK control.  If you don't know how to find the name of the control, I have shown you 3 places in maya that tell you, once you have it selected.

To reiterate, here is a Morpheus demo video to help you get more familiar with the rig.

Morpheus Rig 101 - "The Rig As Is" from Josh Burton on Vimeo.



HOMEWORK
Watch this video.  

Please sketch out these timed poses.  They do not have to be masterpieces.  I want you to get into the habit of good observation.  The more you practice drawings, the more knowledgeable you will be about strong posing, and in the end you will be able to make your characters more readable, more believable, and most importantly, alive!  

If you need help with gestural drawing you can watch some educational clips on youtube.  Search them out, or watch one that I just pulled up:

You may draw with a wacom, cintique, or with a sketchbook.  Please present these drawings in the next class.  I hope you guys will get a lot of pleasure out of this.  It can be a very relaxing exercise!

In addition to the drawings, I would like you guys to pick 5 of the poses from the video, and pose your character out.  You can do 5 frames of animation, with each frame as a pose.  I will be emailing an example file for you to follow.  I only did 3 poses, but you will get the idea.  Please also think about where your camera is in relation to the character.  Just like our ball bounce.  Does the camera help us read the pose clearly?

Please output your poses into a quicktime, and email them to me before next class.

Please ask me if you have any questions!

Class 2 09/10/2015

Maya Animation

Maya 2015 Hot Keys:

Animation Operations s Animate > Set Key i Insert Keys Tool (for Graph Editor) (press and release) Shift S With left mouse button for Keyframe marking menu Shift S With middle mouse button for Tangent marking menu Shift E Set key for Rotate Shift R Set key for Scale Shift W Set key for Translate Alt j Toggle Multicolor Feedback Playback Control Alt . Move forward one frame in time Alt , Move backward one frame in time . Go to Next key , Go to Previous key Alt v Turn Playback on or off Alt+Shift V Go to Min Frame k With middle mouse button for virtual Time Slider mode (press and hold and scrub timeline)

MAYA WINDOWS

     1) Graph Editor

        Used to track your animation curves.

        Windows > Animation Editors > Graph Editor

        Maya Help for Graph Editor

     2) Outliner

        Used to keep track of and select objects in your maya scene.

         Windows > Outliner

Ball Bouncing

ANL #1 from Nathan Love on Vimeo.

Supplemental tutorials:

Setting Key Frames

Graph Editor

Ball Bounce

Ball Bounce

Assignment:
-Review these youtube tutorials about maya animation and ball bouncing

-Finish Ball Bounce animation

-If you have time feel free to experiment with the animation or add motion to the tail.
-Play with the Morpheus Rig!  I will email it.  I will begin to demonstrate the rig for next class.

Morpheus Website:

http://www.joshburton.com/projects/morpheus.asp