Maya - Introduction to 3D Animation, the bouncing ball.
Animation controls:
In the First session for the animation, we were told about basic controls in Maya with regarding to animation. These controls come in handy when working on prolonged animation projects as it saves time and effort. To start of, we have the Time Slider which is located at the bottom of Maya. This will show Frames which are numbered and it is easy to navigate to the desired frame as we can recognize the number and link it to the position or the stance of the object being animated.
Playback controls:
Next up we have the Playback controls. This helps us playing the animation. the playback range is displayed in the Time Slider.
Starting from the right side we have Go To Start Button which allows us to go to the start of the Playback Range.
Next We have the Step Back Frame Button. this allows to step back a frame. the Shortcut key for this is : Alt + , (comma) key for Windows and Linux; Cmd + key for Mac. This can come in very handy when animating as we don't have to move the mouse around all the time and using the hotkeys can be much more precise.
Next is the Step Back Key Button. This helps us step back on key which means if the object is keyed this button will help us find the keyed instances on the Time Slider. the Hotkey for that is the < key on Windows.
Next we've got the Play Backwards Button. this allows us to play the animation sequence back wards. pressing Esc stops the playback.
Next we've got the Play Forwards Button. this allows us to play the animation sequence forward. Shortcut key is Alt + v for Windows and Cmd + v for Mac . Pressing Esc stops the playback.
Next is the Step Forward Key Button. This helps us step Forward on key which means if the object is keyed this button will help us find the keyed instances on the Time Slider. the Hotkey for that is the > key on Windows.
Next We have the Step Forward Frame Button. this allows to step forward a frame. the Shortcut key for this is : Alt + , key for Windows and Linux; Cmd + key for Mac. This can come in very handy when animating as we don't have to move the mouse around all the time and using the hotkeys can be much more precise.
At the very end we have Go To Start Button which allows us to go to the end of the Playback Range.
Lastly we have the Stop Button which stop the playback. this is only displayed when the animation is playing.
Playback Options:
The play back option help us influence the animation in certain ways. First of all the Frame rate menu helps set the frame rate per second we want to use for the animation. i always displays the current frame rate.
Next is the Loop. this has three options Continuous Loop which repeats the play range on playback. Play once which plays the play range once and Oscillating Loop which loops the play range forward and backwards.
Then we have Cached Playback. Using this option we can preview and work on our animation in real time. This is done by re-computing only what has been changed in the background of the scene
Autokey. Using Autokey we can automatically set the keys on attributes as we change the current time and attribute value.
Next the Time Slider Preferences which gives us the following menu to work with. all these options can be used to alter the animation in different ways.
Set Keys:
To set the keys, we can move the object to the desired pose and press S on the key board to set the key at the Time Slider.
Graph Editor Navigation:
We can also modify the attribute of the animation by the Graph Editor navigation. to open he graph editor we go to the Windows - Animation editors and the Graph Editor.
Changing values in the Graph Editor will change the value in Channel box as well e.g.
Lattice deformer, ‘Sack of flour’ and Arm Rig
For this session we were told to download the Flour Sack Rig. in order to control the top of the flour sack we went to the toolbox by double clicking on the rotation icon and move icon and changing the Axis orientation to Object.
Next up we created a model for a hand in Maya, which we will be using to connect together using the the Parent and child technique which will allow us to animate the arm. We created the arm using simple cube shape and then selecting the whole arm and Freeze Transformation. This can be done by going to Viewport - Modify - Freeze Transformation. Using this technique will Zero all the cubes which will make them move correctly when animated. The arm would look something like follows when complete:
Next we select all the cubes (fingers) and press insert on the Keyboard. This will give us the Pivot menu. we will then move the pivots to the point where we want the fingers to rotate from which will be the base of the fingers close to the hand. this whole process will look something like following images.
Parenting:
Parenting is done in Maya by selecting the lower level elements and linking them to the higher level elements. this is known as linking the hierarchy together. The key used for linking the two elements together is P. In the picture shown below we can see the hierarchy in the the Parent/child link by going to Windows-General Editor-Hypergraph:Hierarchy.
To get a better idea of how the Parent/Child links are setup we enter the following commands: In Hypergraph Hierarchy: Options-Orientation-Schematic
Cyborg and
Animation Movie:
Below is an animation I have been able to create using the techniques taught in the class. It a cyborg arm in a calling pose.
Kinematics:
Forward Kinematics:
For this exercise we worked on a pre-existing Rig provided by Lee. its a joint rig hierarchy, something similar we worked last week. This is a Forward Kinematics setup. We can play with the values layer editor where are all the values show. We can see this section in the screenshot on the right.
Following are some of the images I got from changing the values from the layer editor.
As we can see on the left and below, I have created short animations of the hand rig provided.
Arm Rig – Animation Baking:
Game engines and other applications that don't support same IK setup and constraints and controls as Maya, we need to Bake animation. this can be done by changing the setup to Animation in Maya, going to the Key tab at the top and selecting Bake Animation. This procedure can be seen in the screenshots to the right and bottom.
Leg Rig – Base Geometry
Next up we created a basic leg Rig. First of we created the thighs, calves and feet objects in Maya. Then Freeze Transformation to remove any unwanted scaling. then we go to viewport click on Shading and select X-Ray
After that we select Rigging from the Top and select joint tool. then we create a chain using the joint tool .e.g. thigh knee and foot. we then copy the chain and paste it on the second leg.
In the screenshot on the left, I have created the joint chain using the joint tool. Then i duplicated the same chain to the other leg. The X ray tool helps us see through the object (legs) which is very handy.
Leg Rig – IK Handles
In the next step we go to the Rigging shelf and Select Create IK Handle tool. Having the tool selected, we click the root joint at the top, the root joint being the thigh and clicking the bottom joint at the heel of the feet. then we press Q on keyboard to complete the action then we exit the tool. we do the same now for foot, which will be clicking the heel ball and then clicking the ball and the toe while having the create IK handle tool selected.
Leg Rig – NURBS Control
In the following step we create the NURB circle. this can be done by going to the top Create-NURBS Primitives-Circle. We then scale and place the circle where the feet are. we then press D on keyboard to enter the Pivot mode. We need to move the pivot to the heel joint we the Snap tool on. We then select the Effector for the heel and toe and then shift select the NURBS circle and hit P to parent. We reapeat the same step for the other foot.
Leg Rig – Hips Control
Next step involves creating a cube that will behave like a hip. we create the cube and place i where the hip would be above the legs. We then select the top of the left leg joint chain then shift+select the top of the right leg joint chain then Shift+Select the hips cube and hit P to parent
Leg Rig – Geometry Linking
Next, We need to link the original polygon cubes we created for the legs to the corresponding joints on the leg chains, this will mean that the robot legs follow the animation. Simply select each piece of geometry then shift+select the corresponding joint and hit P to parent.
On the right and bottom I have some animation videos i created using the leg rig we created in class. one of them is a jump and the one at the bottom is a walk into a kick.
Posing and ‘Head Turn’
For this week we worked with Eleven Rig. This is a pre created Rig that helps further with animations and posing the character provided in the eleven Rig. This rigs has got all the joints and vertices and Inverse kinematics already setup. It looks like the image below. In this Image we can see how the joints are setup to be controlled.
In the session in the class, we were shown some examples of different poses. This is given the term Dynamic Posing. Following were some examples given to us in the class.
Gathering the information from these images, I applied the knowledge to the Eleven Rig model and came up with some of my own poses. In the images below I have tried and created a running zombie pose for my Eleven Rig Character. I have notices that showing an S shape in the back/arc is very important as adds life to the animations. This technique makes the model more life lie.
Zombie Poses:
Running Zombie Pose
Camera: Above/Back
Running Zombie Pose
Camera: Sides
Zombie Reaching out Pose
Camera: Side/Front
For the head turn exercise, Lees showed us some examples of he had done with the head turn animation. So for this exercise, I had an idea of my character's head and eyes following a ball, which is not visible in the scene but the reaction of the character tells that he is following something falling from a height to the ground and he is not very impressed with it. I have moved my character's eyes and mouth with the rest of the body.
Renders:
Head Turn Animation Movie:
Head Turn
Camera: Head and Shoulders
Head Turn
Camera: Whole body
Walk
For this session, we learned about all the factors that come into play when animating a walk. In the class Lee showed us different reference that were very helpful for animating a walk. In the first reference we learned that there 4 positions when it comes it comes to animate a walk cycle. these are Contact, where the right foot is in focus and the heel is in contact with the floor. the next position is down where the body is closest to the floor compared to the other 4 poses. next up is Pass position, where both arms are parallel to the body.Next up we have the 4th position which is Up, here the body is farthest from the floor and in a forward motion. The cycle then starts repeating again from the Contact pose. The two images below were used in class so I thought I would put it in here as I liked them a lot and
I have also noticed that when it comes to animating a walk cycle, its best to also use other body parts not only the legs. so these parts will be hips, back, shoulders and upper torso. Putting all these techniques to practice, I was able to create a short walk cycle. I have put the video for this below.
Walk
Animation Movie:
In the videos below, I have included different angles for the walk cycle I animated. These videos show the hand jerk, the shoulder movement, the hip movement, the S shape we get when animating walk and the arm movement as well.
Walk: I have included the wire frame renders below as in my opinion it shows the body movement in a much better way.
Camera: Front and Back
Weight Lift
For today's session, we learnt about how the weight mechanics work in Maya. Lee showed us videos on how the weight affects the whole body from head to toe. the area most affected by the weight life are the legs and the back. by no mean I am saying the other body parts do react. The following image is the one i liked a lot from today's session and decided to put it up here. In the image below we can see how the weight affect has been demonstrated and how it affect the whole body.
We were also provided with a Rig to practice the weight lift technique. This not only requires the animations skills but also knowledge about the parent/child technique taught to us previously. I used the provided rig to practice how to make weight lift animation. we used the Rig provided to us in the Images below. we can see how the characted is lifting the the weight and how it is affecting the whole body.
In the image on the left, taken from the animations rig Lee provided, we can see how the character first gets into the position of lifting the object.
Next the character moves closer to the object folding its arms and getting the back in position.
In this image the character is lifting the weight, his head and eyes moved upwards as hes applying force. we can see the back showing stress and legs showing stress as well. in this image the arms have moved away from the weight.
This image shows the highest point of stress as the back has moved further back and the head has come down to a stable position. there is a big stretch present in the upper torso.
In the final image, the weight has been lifted as the whole body is in resting position. the head is back to facing forward. the arms are stretched with the back pulled back.
Using the techniques learned, I was able to come up with the following animations myself, using eleven rig from scratch
Assignment 1: Ball Bounce and Weight Mechanics
For the assignment, I have animated a ball bouncing at a high speed between two walls. Towards the end it slows down and comes to a halt. I have imagines and animated the ball to have a tennis ball properties. while the ball bounces between the walls we can see the squash and stretch animation going on. We can also see how the weight has been animated in this clip. I have used batch render, Maya software to get the rendered frames and used Adobe Premier to create the following clip
Assignment 2: Character Animation
For the assignment 2, I have animated the character as a Cyborg Ninja with Telekinesis powers. I have shown this by first getting the character to sit up from the floor as a cyborg would (The Terminator Film Reference). Then the character moves towards to camera and looks around for any danger while clenching his right fist with his left hand. then he gets into a kung fu style pose and at the very end he uses his telekinesis ability by moving his right hand fingers and 5 green metal poles fly from behind him towards the camera.I have used batch render, Maya software to get the rendered frames and used Adobe Premier to create the clips below.
Rendered Images:
Dynamic Poses
Rendered Videos:
Camera: Front
Camera: Side
Camera: Back
Camera: Front/Side
Camera: Side 2
Assignment 3: Animating to an 11 second sound clip
For Assignment 3, Inspired by The Matrix, I have used a sound clip from the film and created a Hero with Matrix like powers. The Character (HERO) first charges up his powers and then on the queue of the music flies into the air like Neo and lands back to the ground. Then he looks at his fist realizing the Power he has and then stares at his opponent ready for a fight. I have used batch render, Maya software to get the rendered frames and used Adobe Premier to create the clip below.