Monday, November 2, 2009
Shot Gun Animation Tests
In getting back into animation this week my director had us do some shot gun tests, which basically consists of animating a given scene as quickly as we can. I did the punch in five minutes, it took longer because it had a few layers to work with.
The Dinosaur run was another shot gun test which took about 4 minutes, it had been a while since I'd done a walk cycle, and it's super rough, but the shot gun's are helping me to quickly flesh out what works, what doesn't and why on a basic level without investing too much valuable production time just to find out something doesn't work on a very basic level. for example the tail of the dinosaur dips around too much so that's something I can fix on the next sg test.
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There are a few things that would probably help you begin to figure things out. First, when you animate in Maya, always animate for a specific camera, never animate from a perspective view- it will throw off your arcs and lines of action and your animation will not be very powerful or lifelike. Go to the render menu, create a new camera, and lock it at the correct angle, then you can go back and fourth from your principle camera and perspective view.
ReplyDeleteSecond, get out Williams and begin to memorize charts for jumps, basic walk, anticipatory actions, heavy steps and waves (for tails and such). Knowing what numbers your keys belong and where to slow movements down will speed you up. And use your principles every time you draw- push limits. Learn how to exaggerate effectively and which frames to exaggerate on (anything less than 4 frames will not be "seen" only felt).
Lots to know. Good luck.