Animating Help!!!

[thetanman]

Are there any good tutorials that will help me learn to animate??? (Besides the ones in TAO:AM) What confuses me the most is the keyframes!! I do not understand them at all. For instance, how would you make something move really slow, then, make that object suddenly move fast. Everytime I ask this question, a person always mentions that it depends on the timing. Is this true? How do you even set the timing?

[Dhar]

Slow?.....Fast?........ yeah, they sound like words that relate to time

 

TAoA:M is only an introductory course to learn how to use the software, after that you'll need to find tutorials that deal with animation in general. The best tutorial on animation would be one that uses Animation:Master, but you'll have to fork out some money for those.

 

I have these DVDs and they're both great:

 

Anzovin

 

Barry Zundel's

[robcat2075]

keyframing basics

 

and... if you move your keyframes farther apart, then it takes longer for something to go from one position to another

[Raffi]

fast .... and slow ... that's like in real life!

 

If you get from A to B in little time, then you are fast.

If you get from A to B in long time, then you are slow.

 

Translated to A:M:

If a bone/object moves from position A to position B in little time (e.g. little time = few frames pass on the timeline between the two corresponding keyframes)

If a bone/object moves from position A to position B in long time (e.g. long time = many frames pass on the timeline between the two corresponding keyframes)

 

 

Which object moves faster? A or B?

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->time

object A----------------------------------------object A

at-----------------------------------------------at

position----------------------------------------position

X-----------------------------------------------Y

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->time

object B----------------object B

at-----------------------at

position----------------position

X-----------------------Y

 

Of course B is faster .... it starts at the same time at the same place and reaches the target earlier ==> it is faster!

[phatso]

You set the timing by choosing the number of frames between poses as you coreograph.

 

I assume you have the timeline window visible. Let's say you're doing a 1-second animation. If your finished animation will be played back at 30 frames per second, you start at the first frame and place your model. A dot will appear in the timeline at frame 1. This dot is a control point which represents the model's position at frame 1.

 

Then go to frame 30 by clicking on 30 at the top of the timeline or typing 30 into the window at the bottom. Move your model to where you want it to be at the end of the animation. When you move the model, A:M automatically defines frame 30 as a keyframe. A control point will appear at frame 30 and a slanted line will connect the two control points.

 

Now go to frame 15 and move the model to where you want it to be halfway through the animation. If you want the model to move slowly, then quickly, this will not be halfway along - it will be nearer the initial position than the final position, because speed of movement is defined as how far an object moves per given number of keyframes. A:M will define frame 15 as a keyframe and fit a smooth spline that connects initial, middle and final control points.

 

If you want a smooth increase in speed, you don't need to make any changes. If you want an abrupt increase, click on the middle control point and change it to "peaked" (see manual).

 

Want the object to start faster? Reduce the number of keyframes in the first half. (This can be done by making a new keyframe or moving the middle control point.) Want the whole thing to go faster? Do it in 20 frames instead of 30. This is what those people meant by "timing" - choosing the number of frames, and thus the time, required for the model to move from one place to the next. (Or, as you get more accomplished, from one pose to the next.)

 

I should mention - as you work with the timeline, you're going to wind up creating unwanted keyframes and your model will jump all over the place. Before you even start, locate the key buttons in the toolbar, which allow you to manually create and delete keyframes. When you delete a keyframe, A:M automatically corrects the spline between keyframes on either side, restoring smooth movement.