Jump Animation

For the jump cycle I used my own movements as I could not find any static jumps which felt relevant to the type of jump I wanted to create.

 My finished jump animation.

I tried to include anticipation as well as squash and stretch in this cycle.

Walking animation

 I used this video as a reference for the walking mechanics, along with testing out the movements myself.

Here is my finished walk cycle.

Topology!

Topology defines the layout of a mesh surface. It is important to get all of the topology correct in order to animate any object properly without deforming and producing breaks within the mesh.

Topology around areas which are most frequently animated need to be accurate and extra detail must be focused on. The most important areas on the face to animate are the, eyes, mouth, nose, and laugh lines. The way this is achieved is by using edge loops, which help determine where muscle structure or natural contours occur.

A good example of where to use edge loops. (Credit to crazyfool on polycount.com)

 Quads are best to keep to within a mesh in order for the animator to easily work with the model. While tris are not too damaging to the mesh they should be avoided when possible as they can cause problems within certain programs; although they can sometimes be useful to link areas together. That being said tris should not be used in areas which are going to be animated or highly visible. 5poles should also not be used within animated areas as they can cause trouble; however they are useful when changing the direction of the mesh, where two edge loops meet for example.

A simple mesh which includes quads, edge loops, 5poles and tris. (Credit to crazyfool on polycount.com)

Life drawing: Lesson 4

 

 This sketches could be much larger to include more detail!

I am very happy with this 1 hour drawing. The angle was unfamiliar to me and quite challenging to begin with, though when I got going it became my best work yet. (According to me that is!)

Life drawing: lesson 3

Due to timetabling issues I arrived late to this lesson, in time only for the hour long drawing.

I found this drawing taking a lot longer than I wanted, possibly due to not having done the previous sketches. Overall what I managed to mark down seemed to be accurate so I am happy with that, it will just have to be a portrait drawing!

Life drawing: Lesson 2

I felt more comfortable with proportions this week, with limited time these cannot be expected to be too much detail.

This drawing focuses on just lighting on the model. I am very happy with how the form is shown using just this method.

For this 1 hour drawing we had to combine light with shadows, ignoring drawing lines to denote the model. I found this to be a very interesting exercise and am happy with the result.

Life Drawings so far! First Lesson

After attending the scheduled life drawing classes for a while I finally decided to add them to my blog in case they ever get lost or damaged, so here they are!

I was generally happy with these 3 minute to 90 second sketches for my first life drawing class, though some proportions are off quite a bit!

A 15 minute drawing, the hands are defiantly the weakest part in my opinion.

For the end of the first session we had one hour to do this drawing. It was mostly complete however I took a little too long on proportions, although they do seem quite a bit better than the previous attempts!

12 principles of animation

Squash and stretch

A good example of squash and stretch is Tennis Elbow 2009. The ball is stretched as it moves away from the ground, and is slightly squashed when being hit against the floor before serving.

Anticipation

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex many scenes as well as actions can easily be predicted by the player. This can lead to satisfying results when such predicted situations come true, for example Crash falling off the water ski due to a large wave.

Staging

A good example of staging is in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The camera angle is very low to the ground to emphasise the dangerous position the player is in. Clearly the most important part of the scene is holding onto the rope as the player is pulled along.

Pose to Pose

An amazing example of pose to pose is within Skyrim. When drawing a sword or blocking with a shield, the player uses a very natural animation, which takes into account where the arm joints would be, as well as the movement of the shoulders and upper back.

Follow through and overlapping action

A good example of follow through is Dark Chronicle. The attack animations ran fairly smoothly, with most animations flowing well together: such as Monica's sword swings mixed with her spells.

A bad example of follow through is the old animations of Runescape. This was because none of the attack animations were flowing and required the model to go back to the default pose for quite an extended time before the next animation would play.

Slow in and slow out

A good but simple example of slow in and slow out is the Sonic series. These make the main character speed up as he moves forward, and gradually grind to a halt (Unless it hits into something) which is fairly believable within the game situation.

A bad example of slow in and slow out would be Morrowind. While the character seems to be running, it was not paired with the right acceleration and deceleration which led to the character looking quite unrealistic.

Arc

A competent example of arc is shown when throwing grenades in Call of Duty Black Ops. The arc angle is well defined and can change depending on where the player is aiming. A smoke effect helps exaggerate where the grenade travelled in the air.

Secondary action

A good example of secondary action is Crysis 2. The physics within the series are well known for being extremely accurate to real life. Landscape is constantly moving, being effected by the actions of characters and the player. These all contribute to the game feeling highly realistic.

A bad example of secondary animation is Museum Madness. The game rarely used any animation apart from the player and the robot that follows them. This led to the game being very dull compared to other games from the same time, with no flickering of lights, or movement of trees the game felt lifeless.

Timing

A good example of timing is Oblivion. Most of the items within the game have their own physics, heavier objects are less likely to move then smaller objects and move with a different style making the game feel quite realistic when kicking a bowl or fork around the floor.

Exaggeration

A good example of exaggeration is found within Spyro the Dragon. All of the characters actions are exaggerated to make sure the player knows exactly what is happening within the game. As this is aimed for younger people this is more important than it is within other games.

Solid drawing

The characters in Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow did not seem to match up between the front pose and the side on views. This gave a distorted effect, making some NPCs seem inhuman with odd shapes for their clothes.

Appeal

The playable characters within Ninety Nine Nights had a good sense of appeal. The player learnt more about their stories as they progressed through the game. Even managing to convince players to empathise with the other factions within the realm.

A bad example of appeal is Two Worlds. The main character is rarely given personality or a background story. There is not much to make him stand out from any other character within the game.