Monday, March 14, 2011

WEEK 9: Review of Exam & Assignment Outcomes


Grades a little lower than you were expecting? Me too.

As second year students in the Animation stream, it's rather important that you have a strong grasp of all the basic concepts we've been exploring so far -- the principles of animation as well as the use of Maya tools like file referencing, setting up cycles, offsetting overlapping action using the graph editor, etc.

We're just about to wrap up our animation lessons for the term and head into the technical twilight zone of rigging.  And I want you to be animation-savvy riggers!

So... I'm giving you another chance to solidify key concepts and  pull up your marks a little bit if you need it.
 
This new assingment should be a bit of review. You'll probably find much easier and faster than the first one now that  you know the tools. Please go back over the blog for the key concepts, and look to Digital Tutors for more support if you need it. Always feel free to ask me questions.

Homework due Monday, March 21st:
  • New Walk Cycle. This must start from a stopped position. The character must be in a nice pose at the beginning, do a small anticipation to throw his weight forward, and then start walking.  The cycle may not necessarily start with the first step. The cycle may need a step or two to get going.  
  • Create an .avi for the whole piece AND just the cycling walk.  If your idle was unsuccessful the first time around, you can also add a little idle to the first pose. The idle must also cycle cleanly (include an avi for this as well).  Please write a note explaining what you've included in your file.  For example, someone who's interested in redoing their idle and their walk would have 3 avi's -- the idle cycle, the walk cycle, and the whole piece including an idle, anticipation, step forward, transitioning into a walk. 
  • You may use Surly Squirrel or try a brand-new rig. If you use Surly, you could try to hook this sequence up to your existing runs and jumps.

2 comments:

  1. For the next assignment (the 3 part animation), can we use this assignment as the first two parts? For example, using this for the idle and walk, and then making something like a run for the third part?

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  2. Well, in a way...
    The blending assignment is all about stitching together existing animation cycles to learn the tools but also the shifting of weight, and details you may need to put in place to make the blends work properly. So, no you can't use this part as the 3-part blending assignment. BUT you could start with this piece as part 1, then blend into a run and then a 3rd piece of your choice.
    Hope that answers your question. Just email me if that's not clear.

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