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Key Points on Animation!

October 23, 2011 0 comments

Useful points and key notes/quotes to keep in mind and follow during animation…

1. Rhythm, Timing, Beat & Spacing ~ Pattern, Texturing, Timing!
2. Learning drawing is vital!
3. Anticipation ~ Every movement in animation should have! Anticipate force being applied…
4. Arc ~ Every single thing in body should have!
5. No overshoot, No energy ~ exaggerate first and then pull it back until it’s fit with animation (Don’t be afraid of exaggerating too much)
6. Focus on PRINCIPLES ~ Staging, Posing, Anticipation!
7. KISS ~ KEEP IT SIMPLE Stupid!
8. Contact Frame ~ Right before and after the energy applies, foot touches the ground, legs stretch. Look out for contact key poses!
9. Video Reference ~ Cool motion, we could get the acting that people can’t think of consciously. Push things more, search what makes animation unique!
10. Graph Editor ~ Be careful about the gaps between keys. Smooth out until the keys are faded out. Ease-in and Ease-out!
11. At least 3 frames are required to let audience see what it going on the screen!
12. Heavy ball takes a lot more frames to stop. Root is the heaviest part of the body!
13. Every frame should be able to tell a story. Posing is very important!
14. Polish TILT, RHYTHM, TWIST!

P.S. Notes assembled from a Romit studying at PIXAR 🙂

Maya UI Layout Elements Codes

October 23, 2011 0 comments

Layouts determine how all the UI elements in a window should be placed. All menus and windows you see in Maya are created in MEL using specific UI commands such as layout, slider, field, button, etc!

There should be many cases when you must be wondering or getting frustrated to figure out the right UI element or layout? For this reason Matt created a really useful resource on documentation for UI elements so that we can pick the right one without much of a hassle. Click Here for the PDF documentation! Here is the original post from Tech-Artist.org.

Also check out this documentation on creating MEL UI Layouts. Useful resource for UI creation. 🙂

Auto Rig Tools Workshop

October 21, 2011 0 comments

A new Workshop ON Demand has been added to the Menu!!!

“Auto Rig Tool workshop will focus on creating a fully customizable bipedal character rig using automated tools. Using these tools one can setup a character rig in a matter of minutes with just a click of a button saving both time and resources to deliver quality rigs. The workshop includes setting up an interactive user interface to create and connect custom rig set for body parts such as head, torso, arm, leg and finger. Tools are created using MEL.”

Please check out The pupPetEEr’s Lounge webpage for more info!

Cheers 🙂

HEPHAESTUS // short film ~ Fund Raising

October 21, 2011 0 comments

Hephaestus is a short film directed by Alexander Curtis. The short follows the story of Hephaestus, an aging robotic soldier who finds new purpose in the care and protection of a young girl, Kaylee. But when the duo find themselves trapped in a war-zone, Heph must venture on to the battlefield once more.

Currently the short is running a campaign to raise some funding for the volunteer project for resources such as music, software and food!

Being a part of the rigging team I assisted on creating Kaylee, the lead character’s hair and goggles setup as a volunteer support! Please feel free to support the movie and the talented artist by making a small donation 🙂

Facial Animation Basics

October 19, 2011 0 comments

A step by step tips on creating fast and quality facial animation by DJ Nicke! These tips and techniques are really good resource for not just animators but also riggers to create quality, interactive animation friendly facial rigs that delivers what the animators are looking for! More tips on animation…

Tracker system by Igor Stefanovic

October 17, 2011 0 comments

Technical study of a realistic hand. The setup is based on tracker system by Igor Stefanovic currently working as a Character TD at DreamWorks Animation. Below you can check out the demo on implementation of the tracker tool on a full body setup.

This setup seems to be different from the traditional corrective shape, pose-space deformation or muscle based deformation. It seems like the setup is a bit like an intelligent set driven key (kind of) or some history dependent math connection applied on individual joints or controller binded to individual mesh component for smooth fleshy and realistic articulation. This is simply a really big milestone on rigging tools for realistic deformation. A good share by Igor, awesome job and deserves two thumbs up!

Beyond Black Mesa

October 17, 2011 0 comments

A short Independent fan film Inspired by the Half-Life Video Game series directed by Brian Curtin. Simply Superb but again Acting could have been a little better!

I have always been a big fan of the Half-Life games, played every chapter, prequel and sequel! Watching this movie makes me feel like being a part of the game, short of flashback of the atmosphere, the look, the sound and the stuffs like the little health pack and so and so 🙂

More info and Behind the Scenes!