Looking At Character Animation

In Ed Hood's book 'Acting for animators' he highlights the fact there are only three different conflicts in animation these are:

1. Person vs person
2. Person vs self
3. Person vs environment 

These are some Character Animation I looked at for inspiration. The three videos demo straight the three different conflicts faced in character animation.

Character Animator - Andrew Gordon

Who is Andrew Gordon?

Andrew Gordon is a character animator who has been working at Pixar studio for 15 years.

He recently did an article with creative blog which highlight his time so far at Pixar. I found this to be a very interesting and insightful read. One of the things he says I found especially interesting was his answer to the question "What do you prefer about 3-D animation vs 2-D "

"I like the subtlety of acting and the very small minutia that you are able to get in 3D animation" 
 

Click the link below to read the full article, and find out which one in the photo is him. If you don't know, here's a clue he's wearing glasses.

http://www.creativebloq.com/animation/andrew-gordon-interview-1012880

Character Animation Micro-Project Facial Expressions

One of the key areas I looked at was facial expressions.  Facial expressions is a key area in character animation and one I wanted to enhance my knowledge and skill in.

This is a very useful chart or infographic I found highlighting the various facial expressions we make. I am sure I will be referring to in the future.

I used the site Reference Reference, which is great for, you guessed it references for animation. The video I choose was of a man terrified.

Expressions test animation 1

In the second facial test animation I wanted to show the character nervously eye darting before looking towards the camera, as to say he knows his being watched.


Expressions test animation 2

I decided to composite the two facial tests together to make this one animation. I think it works well overall and makes for a good short animation.


Compilation

3D Computer Animation Principles

The twelve principles are of huge importance when creating animation and can be apply to all kinds of animation in Isaac Kerlow's book 'The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects' (third edition 2003). Kerlow says: "The twelve principles are mostly about five things: acting the performance, directing the performance, representing reality (through drawing, modeling, and rendering), interpreting real world physics, and editing a sequence of actions. The original principles are still relevant today because they help us to create more believable characters and situations. They can be applied to almost any type of animation, even though they work best for comedy. But, some of these principles require updates, and a few new additional principles are also needed to address the new techniques and styles of three-dimensional computer animation."

Kerlow list few more principles designed for 3D computer animation include: visual styling, blending cartoon physics with real world physics, using cinematography, mastering facial animation, and optimizing user-controlled animation.

•  Visual styling 
•  Blend motion
•  Cinematography  
•  Facial animation
•  User-controlled animation

 

Resouces

http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/applying_the_12_principles_to_3d_computer_animation_by_disneys_isaac_kerlow

Character Animation Micro-project Push Heavy Object

So after completing my tests with walk cycles. My next test in the fundamentals was to try and show believable weight. I felt this would be a good test as it would further test my timing as well as my work process. The animation was simply to showing a character attempt to push an object with all his might before giving up at having not beening able to move it.

For this test my work process was firstly to act the scene out. From this I would use my visual reference of acting it out to create a storyboard which highlighted the key-poses my character would make. After all planning was complete, this included the making of a storyboard and thumbnails, I started animating.

 Blocking Stage

The first video is of my blocking stage this went generally well as I could see my frames coming into animation. This stage was where I made my rough timing of how long I thought each pose should last.

Flat Stage

Coming out of my blocking stage cause some serious problems for me. I took my character out of liner and stepped tangles and into flat tangles. From here I worked to smooth out the animation and add more details. I seem to have lost a few poses from doing this as I added holds to the animation, which was disappointing.

The main problem I had was with the animation was with the timing. Animation works, because of good timing as much as it does because of good performances. Showing this to my tutor and fellow peers it was clear that the timing had to be improved.

Final Push Animation
This is my final version of my push animation. Having made the changes suggested by my fellow peers. I have improved the timing and feedback has been that it looks and works much better. As a test I am positive about the overall outcome and that with more practice I will improve.

Character Animation Micro-Project Walk cycles

Walk Cycles are one of the most difficult tasks for an animator. This is because both mechanics of motion and character and personality must be infused into that walk through your timing, spacing and poses. A solid understand of technical shifts in weight and acting choices are key to making a successful walk cycle. 

                                                                                   -Thinking Animation.com

Starting off with a walk cycle I feel is a good starting point for me. As there is much I can do with this alone. although it may seem basic, the knowledge of creating convincing walk cycles are Fundamental. It is something all good character animator would have done and something I want to gain a good bases of.
  
  

After showing this to my tutor and peers the feedback was to further exaggeration the walk give him more personality. 

Overall I please with this walk after adding the improvement suggested by my peers and tutor  i am happy with the outcome. From this I now wanted to go on and create some character personality walks

Carrying out some more research into walk cycle Thinking Animation Brought some good theory of what facts the animator should think about when making a walk cycle.


CHARACTER, STATE OF MIND, AND PERSONALITY: Character and personality are what make the walk real and make the audience identify with it on an emotional level. Disney always said "the mind is the pilot" and that is where every motion you create must start. Before even drawing a pose, you need to establish in your mind where your character's head is at. The lead is one quick way to establish this through the posing of your walk cycle. Remember this is a very simplified approach is not the "end-all be-all"...only a stepping stone to understanding how to infuse character into your animation. There is one little trick that can help you find your way inside the character. This is just one little trick, there are many other facets to a walk that also contribute to a personality, this is just one suggestion.

THE LEAD tells the audience where you character's head is at and how they view themselves and their place in the world. Actor/Actress/Musician/Personality examples below illustrate how the lead in motion can define a character and state of mind. After you familiarize you with the lead of a walk, try walking around the room aware of what part of the body is leading. Observe how this changes your attitude and sense of self. 


 Source Thinking Animation.com


Bearing this in mind I created an angry walk cycle and running cycle the following to animation.   
  
Angry walk cycle

I feel there are problems with this walk which makes me it the the weakest of the three.

Run cycle

Compilation

 Usefully tutorial

  

Character Animation- Learning From The Professional

One of the most important things during this module was for me to examine and look at how profession character animators animated. I wanted to look at their workflow and in turn hopefully implement there work methodology into my workflow.

http://www.itsartmag.com/features/the-making-of-hotel-transylvania/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ankIY3yJZh4&feature=related