Slow out/Slow in and Secondary Movement

I also tried out a little hdr lighting

Slow out and Slow in & Secondary Movement from Ryan Mowery on Vimeo.

A short animation attempting to achieve three things.

1. Use slow in and slow out moving techniques.

Basically, adding more frames at the beginning and end of the motion, and having fewer frames in the middle. This gives the movement a more realistic look.

2. Have secondary movement.

This is basically having things move, in addition to the main action. For this animation, the balls keep rolling, even after they are no longer the focus of the shot.

3. Use HDR lighting.

This is all done using light probes. A very easy technique.

I have to say the HDR lighting is the only thing i feel very accomplished with here

the animation techniques are based off of some disney animators 12 principles of animation.
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_principles.html

More animation/video work here

http://www.vimeo.com/rmowery

Array Animation

This one was fun, I will do much better next time

Array Test from Ryan Mowery on Vimeo.

Object and Frame

Even though we are turning this in as Jpegs, here is a rendered version i did

Object and Frame from Ryan Mowery on Vimeo.

Finally Finished!

Dude Guy Dance Guy is complete. I will post the final version of this song and dance + the 5 minutes collaborative piece we have all been working diligently on.

A little late, i know

This is the animation i had critiqued a couple weeks ago, it still is using the MoCap as well as the old nonsensical texture. I want to post a new animation of what my character is doing now, just so you could do a comparison and see how mcuh better it has gotten.

But anyway this animation isn't horrifically bad, it just has a nightmare amount of problems.

DGDG Feb 2010 from Ryan Mowery on Vimeo.

March 2nd In class Work

a new begining...

Today i accepted a truth i have been avoiding for 2 weeks now. So Motion Capture is not the way for my creature, Dude Guy Dance Guy to go. I've been thinking this for a while now, and it took seeing my peers animations to fully understand that MoCap was not the way to keep moving.

It is sad, since i have spent almost 2 weeks solid weight painting the smallest details on the character, trying to polish the MoCap into a usable device. Then to finally realize it's not going to work is a defeating feeling. But i will push on :)

Not so bad though, i will now understand how rigging a character start to finish works, and I will figure out IK solvers as well. All of these things i just blew past early on in the course because the MoCap was so much more interesting to me, and it didn't require the knowledge of these steps.

I'm still going to render out a small full 6000 frame MoCap animation of DGDG dancing, but it will be on my own time. I am now embarking in a different direction.

I will still also keep learning about MoCap, and posting it to the blog as part of my side project. Perhaps try again when my animation techniques get a little more polished.

NEW IDEA

As the final project the creature people are going to make a Creature Talent show.

Each person gets at least 20 secs of animation for their character.

800x600 @ 24 fps are the specs

Then they will all be put into one giant file. i think after effects will be used to composite the pieces.

I will have a story board up by next thursday of what i want my characters movements to look like.

I still want to Dude Guy Dance Guy to dance.

AudioPhile AKA Dude Guy Dance Guy aka DGDG is almost done

Here is a more up to date version of my character Dude Guy Dance Guy, doing a weird dance move. His arms have some problems still. But he is rocking some fresh new Adidas so he doesn't care.


I want to start designing a backdrop for this dance to take place. I am not sure if i want it to be in a city, or on a stage or what. I just don't know at the moment.

I have also been thinking of sounds for this animation. The song i will use will have to have the right tempo to match the dance.

A couple words about MoCap.

Where i left off last time, was just uploading the MoCap to my blender file.

After uploading the c3d file, you give the MoCap a parent child relationship with the mesh. Select the MoCap bones, then the mesh and hit ctr+P. In my case i then made the eyes parent child relationship to the model as well.

Now once i did this my model went nuts.

To correct the problems that have just popped up, Weight painting must be done.

Weight painting is where all of the magic is going to happen. Here is an image of DGDG in a pose, and below is the weight painted version to show what bones are effecting what.



By weight painting the bones of the mesh, you are telling the bones how much to effect each part of the mesh. When i first attached the MoCap to the mesh, the head was stuck in the body and the body was twisted around. Weight painting helped solve those issues.

Spend the majority of your time weight painting the model, IK solvers were not helpful for me, so i didn't bother to use them.