Project 5 : Character Animation

Reading:	Learning Alias, lessons 17-22 (as needed, if not read last week)
	Principles of traditional animation applied to 3D computer animation
	The Animation Book, pages 122-128
	The Animator's Workbook, pages 36-50, 52, 56-85, 104-117, (118-129 if needed)

Once again, you will work in groups of three and use the animatable characters from the previous project. It is up to you how to divide the work up within your group.

1. Pick two poses from last week. Plan a short (~1 sec) animation that transitions the character from one pose to the other. To get started, act out the poses and transition, sketch some intermediate poses, etc. Think about the timing, for example, how long the character stays slumped in the initial pose, how long it takes to look up, how long it takes to sit up, etc.
2. Animate the chosen pose transition in Alias. First block out the motion, next add the central body motion and significant gestures, finally add all the missing nuances and details.
3. Plan a walk cycle (or whatever type of locomotion makes sense) for your character. Decide on a mood for the movement like a walk, strut, shuffle, etc. (Check out The Animation Book, page 127). Again, to get started, act out the movement, sketch the key poses, whatever works. Think about the timing of each sub-motion. (See The Animation Book, figures 12.16 & 12.20)
4. Animate the walk cycle in Alias. Again, first block out the motion, next add the most important parts, and finish by adding the details. Create a cycle that can be repeated end-to-end smoothly and put it together for several paces.
5. Start with the exactly-repeated walk cycle and modify it so that there is (subtle) natural variation across the paces.
6. (Optional, if you want to extend yourself.) Do a short animation in which your character picks up or otherwise interacts with a prop (e.g., answers the phone).

1. Think about what motivates the transition and show it in the acting (e.g., character starts sad, then sees something offscreen that makes it happy). Consider how the body-type of the character would affect its motion.
2. Think about conveying the weight of the character. Where is the center of gravity? What's holding it up? The character should look self-motivated in its motion, not like a puppet. The various individual movements should be staggered so they don't happen all at once (e.g., to turn around, first the head turns, then the body, finally the legs), but overlapped so they are not completely sequential (e.g. body starts turning before the head is completely around).
3. Again, think about how the physical construction of the character would affect how it would move. We don't need motivation for the walk, but we do need mood: it doesn't have to be an extreme mood, a simple casual walk is OK, but it does have to look casual!
4. Think about weight and overlap. Note that the legs/feet are generally the last parts to be animated; getting the proper "bounce" of the body and head usually comes first. Make sure there is some asymmetry in the walk so that it doesn't look mechanical. Put a textured ground plane underneath the character and make sure its feet don't slide (if it has feet). The cycle should fit together without "seams".
5. In the previous part, each individual step was asymmetric and natural; now slightly vary the stride length, bounce height, or timing across the animation so that the entire several-pace walk seems natural.
6. Think about motivation and how this can be shown in the way the chacter holds and manipulates the prop. Also think about the way the character's body construction affects the way it handles the prop. Think about the interaction of the relative weights of the character and the prop.

1. Bring your plans to class on Wednesday or Friday.
2. Rendered animations of the initial blocked-out motion, one (or more) intermediate phases with the major components added in but the details left out, and the final animation. (In other words, save checkpoints of your progress at various stages along the way.)
3. Bring your plans to class on Wednesday or Friday.
4. Again, show animations of the various (three or more) phases in the development of the animation. The final animation should include a ground plane and/or background objects to give a sense of relative motion.
5. The final animation, which should have ground and/or a background.
6. The final animation, or whatever you've got and want to show.

Projects will be critiqued in class on Monday. Details for handin will be discussed via email.