Here is my final for 3D Animation.



                                                         

Here is the jump & twist animation that happens in the back, it is kind of hard to see in the render.

Arcs Link 01 

Arcs Link 02 

Arcs are a very important principle in animation. They are used to give an object life using spline tangents instead of linear. If you have straight in-between frames, then your animation still may seem dead. Therefore, you must implement the use of splined arcs in your animation to breathe some life into them. Gravity and joints have a lot to do with arcs as well, because gravity is always acting. Therefore, everything will have some sort of arcing motion. Also, since we are human and we have joints, our bodies will move with arcing motion, because gravity acts to shift our weight.

Walk Cycle - Update!

Here is an updated playblast of my walk cycle. I decided to have him walking on a treadmill. I have added lights, basic textures, and a camera that swings around him during the 8 second clip.

Lighting and Rendering Tutorial

Texturing & Rendering a Simple Car Wheel by: Nelson Cruz

I found this tutorial online that shows you how to texture and render a simple car wheel using Maya. You can apply this method to many of your other models. However, if you want to model the wheel that they are texturing and rendering just follow this link.

 Modeling a Simple Car Wheel by: Nelson Cruz

ENJOY!

Observation - Walking

Knight was obtained from this Website

  I have been observing various people walking around my neighborhood, to the train, from the train, and downtown. I have even tried to watch or understand how I walk, but every time I think about myself walking, it is like my joints lock up or something. It is just like when you think about yourself breathing, and it becomes harder to keep your breathing steady.

  I noticed that larger people obviously walk slower than those who have a more slender figure. Also, men seem to walk with their arms outward, and women seem to keep a close knit walk.

  As with most women, when they walk, their legs cross and move more fluidly. I also noticed a couple of people walking with limps or hiccups in their walk cycles.

  If I were to transfer any of these walks to a character, I would definitely choose to use one with a slight defect or limp, because it gives it more emotion.

Walk Cycle - Progress

Here is a set of playblasts showing my in progress animation using the rig provided to us. I want to make some further adjustments to his walk, and I also want to add the animation of both his eyes and antennae.

Anticipation Research

12 Principle of Animation

   From what I understand Anticipation is pretty self explanatory within animation. Anticipation is when something or someone that is being animated prepares the viewer to see an action. An example would be someone who is going to jump anticipates by bending their knees and getting lower to the ground before jumping up. If you did not have anticipation in an animation it would just feel wrong. You need to have anticipation to make something feel natural and alive.

Walk Cycle Reference

Here are a couple of videos from user endlessreference on youtube. All of the reference videos are awesome, and will help greatly with the walk cycle final. Check out the videos if you are interested in reference material.

Robot Arm Poses

  Here are the preliminary drawings I did for my robot arm animation. I knew early on that I wanted it to place a missile into something. Then it hit me that it would be interesting to create a robot that is designed to launch mortars. This is so the soldiers do not have to endanger themselves from malfunctioning shells, and enemy fire.

Robot Arm Progress

  Here is a playblast of my robot arm animation so far. I think that the animation is moving smoothly.

Mechanical Arm Reference

  I thought this was a very interesting video, so I posted it here. The mechanical arm actually is being used as a ride. That could turn very bad if the arm happened to malfunction, because the man's head gets very close to the ground. However, I think that this shows how mechanical arms are designed to withstand various amounts of weight. They are also being used for more than just the manufacturing of vehicles, appliances, etc.




  This is a practical use for a mechanical arm, and directly relates to the robotic arm project that I am working on. This arm is designed to pick up small wooden blocks and place them into a glass jar. In my project I want my robotic arm to pick up a mortar and place it into a launcher. This will launch the missle at whatever it is trying to destroy. I will be able to use this reference footage to help design the animation.

Research - Pose to Pose & Straight Ahead

Pose To Pose & Straight Ahead

  There are two very different ways to animate. One of the methods is called pose to pose, and what it is directly relates to its name. Pose to pose animation is where the animator would plan out his/her scene prior to starting any animating. They would then set key poses throughout the animation to give them a solid direction. Once these key poses are set, the animator can then go back in and space out and add "in betweens" as needed. These in between frames will be used to glue the key poses together, and ultimately lead to a more fluid animation.
  The other type of animation is Straight Ahead. As with the first method, this one also directly relates to its name. Straight ahead is when an animator creates an initial pose, and then builds off of that. This allows for more creative flow, as the animator is making up all of the poses as they move along. This is best used when you want to have some randomness or wildness to your animation.

Either one of these two methods is fine for animating, it is just up to what your preference may be.