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 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.

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.

Vehicle Modeling

Vehicle Modeling

 While browsing the internet for a video tutorial of how to model a simple vehicle in maya I came across these articles. They go in depth in explanation on how to model various types of cars. Check it out when you have some free time, because I know its hard to find when you constantly read my blog posts!!

Model an Airplane in Maya!

Here is a very interesting series of videos on modeling an airplane in maya. I have provided a link that should show you all ten of the videos in the series. Although he is using an older version of maya, I am sure the same methods can be applied to the most recent version. Enjoy, and check out some of his other videos.

Here is a sample video (the first in his series):

Red Wagon Reference

This is the best video I could find that had a clear footage of a red wagon on different surfaces. Even though it may not have been intended for animation purposes, I will refer to it as if it was!

Squash & Stretch - Video

Here is a video that I found on youtube, and it is one of my favorite animations in regards to squash and stretch. As you can see the smaller balls that are being launched have a lot of squash and stretch. Then when the bowling ball/cannon ball is launched it has little to none.

Also the balloon gives the animation a nice touch, because the balloon just floats towards the garbage can. It is almost as if the balloon is a character in itself.

Squirrel Tail Reference

I found it rather difficult to find a good reference video that captures a squirrel's jump. This video is the closest that I found. They left some peanuts on the ground to capture video reference of squirrels. Luckily they had an HD camera, and were able to slow down the jumps enough to see the tail movement. I think that this is the most relevant squirrel jump animation reference out there.



Here is another video that showcases a squirrel who moves his/her tail in a weird fashion. Although it does not show the squirrel jumping, it helps me understand more complex movements of the tail.

Pendulum Reference

While searching for reference for the next project, I came across this very in depth video. This video is a little over 5 minutes long, but he captures a lot of reference. He moves the pendulum in different intervals to give enough reference to animate multiple ways. I believe that this reference video will be able to help me get a realistic feel to the pendulum I will animate.

Weighted Balls - Reference

I found it surprisingly hard to come across any good reference for a light ball bounce. However, after much research and time wasted looking through low quality video footage I have found two really great videos. The first video is reference for the distance, height, timing, and spacing for a light weight ball (tennis ball).




I also found a great video to incorporate squash and stretch in my ball bounce animation!




Finding reference for a bowling ball drop and bounce was much easier than the tennis ball. I came across this video where he drops a bowling ball onto a hard surface.