Simon Edmondson Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Don't know if this may be of interest to anyone ? I was surprised to see that, his feet actually come off the ground during the lift ! Snatch_Lift.mov Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 4, 2014 Admin Posted February 4, 2014 Don't know if this may be of interest to anyone ? I was surprised to see that, his feet actually come off the ground during the lift ! This is an aspect of balance/anticipation/movement/force that occurs in real life that Milt Kahl, the legendary Disney animator, mastered in classic animation. I note how that as the man's head and upper body moves downward even his legs and feet are moving (jumping) upward. This is an element of 'Opposing Forces' but oh so very much more. This is surely an important technique for the weight lifter in that by squashing his body so much he generates a huge amount of power to continue the upward movement of the weighted bar. I also note that the movement of that bar (and weights) is steady all the way from bottom to top. And... some nice settling in at the end as the weight finds it's equilibrium as it locks into place against precisely placed muscle and bone. I think the final stance the weightlifter is in where he's locked everything in place above him could be termed 'beautiful'. The whole sequence... so realistic! hehe This is a great reference to study for animation. Thanks for sharing it with us. Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 4, 2014 Admin Posted February 4, 2014 Here's a training video that breaks the Snatch Lift down into 6 phases: wfLV0MnRVZM?t=58s Phase 1: The pull from the ground Phase 2: The explosive triple extension of the ankles, knees and hips (standing up to full height) Phase 3: The powerful shrug of the shoulders up toward the ears Phase 4: The pull of the arms upwards, keeping the elbows high and out to the side and the bar close to the body Phase 5: The rapid drop under the bar into an overhead squat position, locking the arms out and keeping the arms rotated forward Phase 6: Driving back up to a stable standing position I like how this recipe/formula mirrors our approach to animation by establishing key poses/milestones to hit for the performance by breaking down distinctly different phases/phrases of action into small but important elements in order to achieve a specific goal with a consistent flow, progression and (storytelling) finality. Note also that this weightlifter is something of the opposite of the former one shown by Simon in that she is hardly a monstrous hulk and yet the same technique applies to her actions. Hey! Reusable action! Quote
NancyGormezano Posted February 4, 2014 Posted February 4, 2014 I was surprised to see that, his feet actually come off the ground during the lift ! Yes! quite amazing. Good reference - Thanks!...(um...I might try this...well...er...not me...but Captain Crazy Pants might...) Here's a training video that breaks the Snatch Lift down into 6 phases: Yes another good reference! - Thanks Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 6, 2014 Author Posted February 6, 2014 A quick bash at a heavy llift. Simon AM_Lift.mov Forgot to add the project file. Lifting.prj Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 7, 2014 Admin Posted February 7, 2014 I did not see that one coming. Your animation is getting very smooth these days! This is yet another reason why sharing project files is a good idea. I see from your file that you created that camera cut... in camera. Nice. I half way expected to see the Timeline quite messy but you are very organized. Nice job! Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 7, 2014 Author Posted February 7, 2014 I did not see that one coming. Your animation is getting very smooth these days! This is yet another reason why sharing project files is a good idea. I see from your file that you created that camera cut... in camera. Nice. I half way expected to see the Timeline quite messy but you are very organized. Nice job! Rodney I had tried it as a zoom because the idea was not to reveal the sheep until the very last bit when they jump off, but couldn't get that to work so went for the jump cut instead. Kind of you to say I appear organised, wish it felt that way at this end though. Didn't have time to edit the curves at all which might have made it better. Regards simon PS Will try to have another go at a different game in the next few days. Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 7, 2014 Author Posted February 7, 2014 :lol: Well that was unexpected! Mark Thank you. It didn't quite go as intended initially. The weight of the sheep were going to bend the bar and that would twang, causing them to launch up and the figure to go down ( Wile E Coyote style ) as the bar reverberated. Couldn't get that to work in the time available. It was fun to do. Couldn't use your excellent light setup though, apologies for that. regards simon Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 8, 2014 Author Posted February 8, 2014 I'm thinking about having a bash at this but, if anyone else feels like it ? Please do. simon Pole_Vault_The_Swing_in_Slow.mov Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 8, 2014 Admin Posted February 8, 2014 Nice reference! I was thinking of animating a pole vault but I thought the weight lift would be easier. As I'm not even working on the weight lift right now I'll have to pass on the pole vault. There is superb comedic opportunity in all of these... Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 It isn't finished yet, no sound and various things need adjusting, but this was an idea towards the polevault. The Knight and the horse are off the DVD extras. There was a curious anomaly in the animating in that, the knight kept moving for several frames after the last keys were set ? Not had that happens before... Any critical feedback welcome. simonKnight.mov Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 14, 2014 Admin Posted February 14, 2014 Ha! That's a good one Simon. As far as critical feedback goes: The over all story is clearly told. As such any additional feedback from me can be disregarded, but here goes... My primary criticism might be that there is too much movement going on and so it's difficult to maintain focus. A fix to that in the first shot (that of the knight and horse moving forward) might be to stabilize the point of the lance so that it remains pointed forward (at it's target preferrably). This isn't to say it cannot move but keeping it stable also would suggest the knight is trying to stabilize it for a purpose (which we discover in the next shot). As some movement of the lance might be preferred it could go from being lower... to higher and then slowly begin it's decent to bridge the gap and progress it's movement into the next shot. You do have this now but it's only a few frames of the lance lowering at the last moment before the camera cuts away to the side view. There is an element of the horses run (especially in the second shot) that seems off to me but I don't know enough to know. Here I assume you used a running action that came with the horse rather than animated it using your own reference. It may be that the horse's movement forward doesn't quite match what the legs are producing to propel it forward. In other words, for the leg movement the horse's advance seems a bit too slow. One thing I really like is how you've got each of the elements isolated enough to read clearly: - The horse moving forward continues forward - The pole moves as one would expect... it even has some nice settling. - The knight is very nicely animated and his final (resting) pose I find to be superb. Finally, I know the purpose of Sports day is animation but a little custom lighting would go a long way in this sequence. Your animation deserves it! Nicely done Simon! Quote
markw Posted February 14, 2014 Posted February 14, 2014 Excellent Simon, wish I had your imagination! So some feed back then. First I would concur with Rodney's suggestions on lance tip and the horses forward momentum relative to its leg motion. The horse should be covering more ground. To this I would also add that after the knight is off the horse he starts accelerating? Most clearly seen at around frame 98 where he is now in front of the horse. The knights forward speed needs to start decreasing at the point he leaves the horse, as the lance bends absorbing this forward energy. Then be given back at around frame 100, as it starts propelling the knight up and over the bar. At the point the knight starts to go over the bar around frame 105, the horse should have cleared the screen leaving us to focus on the knight. Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 14, 2014 Author Posted February 14, 2014 Rodney and Mark Thank you both for your feedback and suggestions. Much appreciated. I forgot to post the project files so will do so with this post. The run was animated from a Muybridge clip using this file. Its a conversion from a gif animation. There are only 16 frames of movement. It was a bit awkward to read at times. Muybridge_race_horse_animated.mov I agree about the forward speed of the horse being a bit slow. I tried to use a step length but evidently miscalculated the correct size. The Knight was constrained to the horse and the lance to the knights right Forearm, so the up and down of the lance came from the Horses movement I tried to keep it level but didn't want to set too many keys ( an old failing ). Once the box was reached were the lance 'lands' the constraints were released and the lance animated separately. It was difficult to gauge the right speed as all the reference clips seem to be in slow motion. I had thought that it might be a bit fast (?) and was thinking of slowing it down a bit, which might make him less prone to overtake the horse. The knight was then animated to the movement of the lance, trying to keep the hands in contact . Its not a criticism but the rig didn't seem to behave as those on other characters, the foot controllers for example, seemed to affect the position of the body too ( ?) but that may be lack of familiarity on my part. The landing block was just done using muscle mode in the chor. Lighting is something I enjoy watching on TV and at the cinema but it is not an area I know much about in current work. The past 6-12 months have mainly focused on animation for me and lighting, materials and modelling were to be developed more extensively this year. Trying to keep each thing simple to make the most progress. regards Simon Sports_Day2.prj Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 14, 2014 Admin Posted February 14, 2014 Nice point Mark, you've got a good eye as I surely did not see that but (of course) now that you identify the lack of drag/delay in the knight just before he launches it seems so obvious. This nature of slow and fast, fast and slow... is something I hope to capture in my own animation but confess I haven't been able to achieve yet. I'll think a sequence is playing out nicely with good timing while scrubbing through keyframes only to have it play back too slowly or too fast in realtime playback. In Simon's animation there is wonderful opportunity for contrast by adding that 'weighted' delay. Looking at this animation reminds me that I've got a long way to go in mastering animation. Simon's skill is improving by leaps and bounds these days because he's actually animating! At the point the knight starts to go over the bar around frame 105, the horse should have cleared the screen leaving us to focus on the knight. This is a very good suggestion as well. The natural tendency to follow moving objects causes a little confusion between following the original movement (that of the horse and knight) to following only the knight. Getting rid of the horse in enough time to let us fully focus on the knights performance would indeed be ideal. The landing block was just done using muscle mode in the chor. Nice. I'm trying to get away from using muscle mode and use bones more extensively but confess that I still lean heavily toward muscle mode manipulation. The downside of muscle mode animation is that going back in and fixing things later can be a real pain. When something goes wrong it's often better to just delete everything (the muscle mode animation that is) and start from scratch again. At this point I see muscle mode animation mainly as a place to suggest settling in of an organic object to suggest follow through and the effects of weight. In your animation you don't appear to have any issues there! I see this one as a very successful animation. There are a few things you could experiment with to strengthen the storytelling; a little camera zoom for instance as the knight moves forward at the very beginning. But such things are more finesse and icing on the cake than anything. I'll download your project file and give it a look-see. Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 14, 2014 Admin Posted February 14, 2014 Looking at your project file Simon I see just how complicated this scene is in all it's various movements. You've done a great job with it. Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 14, 2014 Author Posted February 14, 2014 Looking at your project file Simon I see just how complicated this scene is in all it's various movements. You've done a great job with it. Rodney Thank you very much for the encouragement. I've been working on the storyboard for another project today, but hope to rework the timing on the knight over the weekend, taking account of Mark's and your suggestions. Its taken about 20 hours so far, including the gallop cycle and adapting the models. Glad I went for simple though ! regards simon Quote
markw Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 Looking at your project file Simon I see just how complicated this scene is in all it's various movements. You've done a great job with it. ...Its taken about 20 hours so far, including the gallop cycle and adapting the models. Glad I went for simple though ! Ah, the number of times I've thought at the start of something "how hard can it be?" Weeks later I know! Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 17, 2014 Author Posted February 17, 2014 Got a little distracted before adjusting the timing of the knight and thought it best to do a "straight" pole vault. No facial animation yet. Or sound. This is it. Will try to adjust the knight this week. Simon Pole_Vault.mov Pole_Vault.prj Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 18, 2014 Admin Posted February 18, 2014 Hehe. You don't have to be a veteran of the TaoA:M tutorials to get a kick out of that but it'll help. You have a talent for humorous reveals and gags. Keep it up! Quote
JackDrama Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 Wow. I like it, Simon. You are getting much more talented in character animation. The movements are very realistic. Gongratulations!!! Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Wow. I like it, Simon. You are getting much more talented in character animation. The movements are very realistic. Gongratulations!!! Jack Thank you. I'm enjoying it. Perhaps that is what shows? regards simon Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 In a completely different area, perhaps this might be of interest ? It really is David Attenbrough doing the commentary but the sport itself has huge possibilities in this arena ? regards Simon Sir_David_Attenboroughs_Alternative_CURLING_Commentary.mov Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 22, 2014 Author Posted February 22, 2014 Working on a steeplechase sequence for sports day I'm reminded of an earlier hiccup. The pupils on Rabbits eyes disappear after a few frames, making him look a bit like the shaolin priest in the old 'Kung Fu" TV series. It happened on the earlier Jump sequences too. Haven't animated the eyes at all. Can anyone suggest what might be going wrong ? regards simon Steeplechase_One_000_.mov Quote
markw Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Hi Simon, glad to see your imagination continues unabated! My first guess from just looking at the first frames, is that the eyes are turning. Note frame 1 where the right eyes has definitely turned to it's left. Have you forgotten to move Rabbit's Eye Target perhaps? Looking at your earlier Rabbit Jump .prj, that seems to be what is happening in that. Quote
NancyGormezano Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Haven't animated the eyes at all. Can anyone suggest what might be going wrong ? The rabbit has an eye target null - you need to animate it to keep the pupils looking in the "correct" direction. My guess is that the eye target null is behind the head, as it doesn't automatically move if you are using the body bones (eg hips) to move the rabbit thru space Edited February 22, 2014 by NancyGormezano Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 22, 2014 Author Posted February 22, 2014 Mark and Nancy Thank you for your replies and help. I didn't know that he had an eye target. Now I do ! I shall go back and add the keys. regards simon Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 23, 2014 Author Posted February 23, 2014 Cheated slightly ( ?) with the eye target by constraining it to the head bone. Tried animating it but without success. Here is the steeplechase, or three laps thereof. No sound as yet Critical feedback welcome. I just spotted the hurdle submerges a bit at the end so will address that tomorrow. Simon The_Steeplechase.mov Quote
NancyGormezano Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Cheated slightly ( ?) with the eye target by constraining it to the head bone. Tried animating it but without success. Critical feedback welcome. I just spotted the hurdle submerges a bit at the end so will address that tomorrow. Good antic with the knight, however he looks like he's sliding a bit. As for eye target, not sure why you had trouble animating it? I'm assuming it was because it was constrained to the head? A quick trick would be to have the eyetarget constrained to the camera, or to some other null positioned in the chor instead, for minimal animating. Then he would always look at that object or the camera - no matter what. Another option: if you move/change the eyetarget null to be a child of the head in the bones hierarchy, then you wouldn't need to constrain it to the head, and it would be easier to animate & it would still move relative to the head. Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted February 24, 2014 Author Posted February 24, 2014 Cheated slightly ( ?) with the eye target by constraining it to the head bone. Tried animating it but without success. Critical feedback welcome. I just spotted the hurdle submerges a bit at the end so will address that tomorrow. Good antic with the knight, however he looks like he's sliding a bit. As for eye target, not sure why you had trouble animating it? I'm assuming it was because it was constrained to the head? A quick trick would be to have the eyetarget constrained to the camera, or to some other null positioned in the chor instead, for minimal animating. Then he would always look at that object or the camera - no matter what. Another option: if you move/change the eyetarget null to be a child of the head in the bones hierarchy, then you wouldn't need to constrain it to the head, and it would be easier to animate & it would still move relative to the head. Nancy Thank you for your reply and help. I will try to follow up the advice regarding the eye target. I'd not encountered eye targets before, which is why the problem arose in the first place. The knight does pick his feet up ( honest ! ) but not by as much perhaps as he should, will try to adjust them today. regards simon Quote
JackDrama Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 That knight is "GOOFY"!!! "yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!". Great job there, Simon. You made me laugh at the ending. Quote
Simon Edmondson Posted March 11, 2014 Author Posted March 11, 2014 That knight is "GOOFY"!!! "yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!". Great job there, Simon. You made me laugh at the ending. Thank you Jack I haven't done any more yet because there was a danger it would be all me and the idea is for everyone to have a bash it it. I was thinking of having the knights jousting on Unicycles but that will have to wait... regards simon Quote
Admin Rodney Posted March 11, 2014 Admin Posted March 11, 2014 As we are already well into March we are already into a new month of sports day challenges. I suppose the question then becomes... How can we best review the events from February? Perhaps put the highlights up there ^^^ in the scrolling filmstrip/banner? Compile them into a single .MOV? Both? Something else? I do like the idea that folks could practice their editing and storytelling skills with what they have available. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.