Video Transmission Submission

The submitted animated characters are presented within their environment and accompanied by orthographic renders to assist in examining movement. Additional design decisions are discussed below.

Environment

Even in this simplified, proxy form, the environment starts to provide some clues to the characters’ world and is reflective of their circumstance. The wasteland of twisted scrap is barren and unyielding and yet, the adolescent, as he comes of age, has started to build and ascend. The child is hopelessly lost. In the early morning sun, a dirty fog is yet to burn away, adding an element of separation from the wider world.

Camera

In the first sequence the camera tracks around the teen character as he climbs above the viewer. In the final moments, a strong and warm, low angle sun strikes his face.

The second sequence uses a similar movement but, with the addition of a subtle pedestal up and tilt, the viewer starts to leave the child behind as he stumbles. The sequence moves to a high angle shot, looking down on the character, emphasising his vulnerability.

Sound

Sound has been added to enhance action and the environment. Foley elements include:

• The lazy, mechanical squeaks of the tower’s windmill, barely moving without wind
• Creaking rungs of the wooden ladder
• Crunching footfalls
• Breathing
• A sombre, rhythmic music loop

Conclusion

Based on live-action reference, the process of animating these characters began as a technical exercise. The necessity for personality, character and storytelling was the goal. In exploration and application of the principles of animation, it is hoped that the characters have been brought to life and convey a sense of their own journeys in the world.

All The World's A Stage - Setting The Scene - Texturing

These playblasts use simple geometry and tileable textures to provide the characters with a world to play in. Lighting is provided by two lights, a warm key and cooler fill. 

The textures have been sourced from:

maxtextures.ru/assets/images/resources/8/scrapyard-1.jpg

images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com

www.aridareastours.com/

Vertical Ladder - Up We Go! - Further Refinement

In this iteration, several elements have been tweaked to improve timing, exaggeration and secondary action.

A summary of changes:

• The supporting hand now flares and displays anticipation
• Fingers grip the rungs and feet bend as they react to strain and weight
• Timing of hand and feet placement improved
• Secondary action on the head improved. Eye-line movements reflect the character's attention on the task. Facial expressions also support effort and concentration.
• Impression of timing improved. Exaggeration has increased the speed of some movements over greater travel distance.

Issues remaining:

• There appear to be inconsistencies between body movement, hand IK (carrying hand) and the bag rig. Maintaining FK control of the arm may have remedied this but switching at this stage in the sequence has proven problematic.

Maya Graph Editor - Vertical Ladder - Refined

Prominent features (top and bottom lines) in the graph editor reveal the supporting hand's rotation as it flares and impacts the ladder rungs. At the point of impact, the tangents have been broken to produce a hard stop in motion, the hand accelerates toward the object and stops abruptly on contact. The same technique is employed for the feet.

Vertical Ladder/Tweened Ladder - Refine

Here we find two more passes of the sequence.

The character pulls his centre of gravity towards the ladder to allow his supporting arm to reach out for the next rung. He catches himself as he is about to fall backward.

This pass exaggerates this pull to increase the impression of weight and momentum.

Vertical Ladder - What A Carry On

The sequence required the character to carry a load. This would affect movement, balance and timing while introducing extra elements of secondary movement.

A simple duffel bag was modelled and rigged to pivot about a point coincident with the rig's IK hand control. The video above displays these controls, the video below has them removed.

Vertical Ladder/Step Ladder - Blocking

The second sequence follows the teen character on a ladder climb. In the story world he will be scaling his Heath-Robinson windmill tower.

Reference video: Vertical ladder climb (edit)

Original video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpHbFYGn9hY

Teen ladder sequence - Stepped keys

There's a balance to be struck here, not only in presenting believable mechanics but also in the performance. Scaling a vertical ladder is awkward enough with two hands. One-handed and carrying a load, the difficulty is compounded. The character is, however, young, fit and adept at the task.

Maya Graph Editor - Teen ladder - Stepped keys

In this case, the blocking was achieved using stepped keys reflecting the timing of the reference. This allowed for a leaner sequence, less dense with redundant keys.

Refining Timing & Tweening

Part way through the refining process, timing has been corrected based on the reference footage. In interpreting the sequence, adjustments have been made to better suit the character's physical attributes and state of mind.

A representation of weariness has been achieved by exaggerating follow through, the character being less able to control the weight of his tired limbs. This floppiness is created by a slow in/out on keys via use Maya's graph editor. Contrasting impacts coincide with contact. Tangents on curves can be broken to produce sharp stops and changes in direction. Overlapping action remote from the point of impact (e.g. the head continuing forward after contact) can also serve to reinforce these moments.

Several technical issues still require attention and, more importantly, performance needs to be refined.

Maya Graph Editor - Kid Stumble - Keys thinned and simplified where necessary

Scrambling Legs - Blocking Out The Kid

This playblast video presents a blockout of the 43 keyframes in the kid character's scrambling sequence.

The method initially applied is more akin to (though not strictly) the straight-ahead approach than pose-to-pose. The keys are tightly spaced. Timing information was disregarded during blocking with a view to adjusting for the refinement phase.

To achieve this, a selection set was created comprising the character rig's main controls.

Maya Graph Editor - Kid Stumble Blockout

The process resulted in per-frame keying which removed the need for stepped keys (and Maya's propensity for adding unwanted curves). The main drawbacks were the lack of timing and the sheer number of redundant keys created and requiring clean up.

Sand is a thing between sea and land - Referencing #8

In the first sequence chosen for presentation, a child character stumbles and climbs a small slope.

Within the story world, the child is lost, tired and unused to his surroundings. The environment is made entirely from loose refuse, crushed plastic bottles and cans. This was emulated in the reference video by sand.

This video has been broken down to examine key frames, limb placement and centre of gravity (CoG). As the subject falls we can see her CoG moving away from the equilibrium point (represented by the vertical blue lines).

Williams, R. (2009). The animator's survival kit. London: Faber and Faber. (p.108)

Through the sequence, the subject transitions from bipedal to quadrupedal movement. Some elements of Williams'  classic biped animation remain despite this transition with contact points, passing positions and a rise, fall and roll of hips and shoulders.