I unfortunately missed last weeks lesson/feedback session due to health issues. I’m still dealing with that, so the project hasn’t progressed since my last post unfortunately.
Class Content
This week a few of us did mocap. I was able to capture various pieces of data, which I’m hoping to use for 3D animation pieces over the summer. Since mocap data cleanup would be good to have in my showreel if I apply to any VFX houses after graduation I have wanted to capture some of my own to have for a while now but I haven’t been able to get round to it, so this was a great opportunity.
Make sure IK/FK switches are smooth, and there’s no popping
Make sure animation is following nice arcs. Might need to animate on 1s/key certain parts of body every frame to achieve this
Make sure scene/props are set up at this point
Intro to Acting:
Jeff Gabor: Animator, very animated in his reference footage, great acting. George showed us some of his progressing showreels. He’s also good at animating women, and has clearly paid close attention to the small details of how women move and talk compared to men. With newer animators, it tends to be easier for people to act out reference and animate with characters of their own gender, since its what people know better.
You need a break in the line/in the acting, can’t just be one emotion through an unbroken monologue
Even if parts of body aren’t fully visible to camera, you should still roughly (at least) animate them to make rest of body more believable. If I adjust my feet when standing, the rest of my body will follow.
When starting this shot, some things to consider:
What is happening with the character before the shot that leads into this one?
We should know our dialogue by heart by next week, as we should be really familiarising ourselves to it in detail
Reference is absolutely needed, even if we’re taking our sound from a clip of something
We shouldn’t just recreate the scene our sound is from, we should be adding our own spin on it
This week’s assignment:
Final polish on body mechanics
Audio clip we will be using added to filmed reference
Plan sheet (example below)
Close up shot, chest up, 1 character only.
Avoid overacting in reference, don’t move around too much.
Blue line is the sort of wave the sounds takes, emphasis on different words, etc
Come up with a little bio for the character we will be portraying to give some direction for how we animate them
Week 4 Assignment: Polish 1
I had an easier time this week compared to last week with the spline and polishing, but it was definitely still challenging. I keep running into the same issue where the animation ends up looking quite janky and jittery. I tried to follow the advice of working from the core outwards to avoid some of this, but I found it still happened a fair bit and took a while to fix. When I have more free time I would like to go through a few quick shots and work on improving this issue.
I do really like how the body movement on the opening stumble improved from last week, that portion of the shot already feels heaps better.
Polish 01 Feedback:
Track the arcs of the hands on the shot opening, and make them more satisfying
The arcs of the hips and chest during the fall could be improved, would be good to have them go up for a few frames before curving downwards
The elbows and knees should be locked when weight is being put on them, currently they wobble around the floor a fair bit when the character is pushing themselves up after the fall
I really struggled splining this shot, and I do wish I had added a lot more poses into the blocking before splining to avoid having to redo a fair bit of the animation. I do like the overall progression of the shot though, and I’m hoping to have it looking a lot better by next week with some polish work.
Spline Feedback:
Track the arc of the hips as character stumbles into shot. Arcs should look like bouncing ball arcs to reflect the heavy landing of the body with the stumble as apposed to more gentle arcs seen when walking
During the fall, rotate the body and legs upwards more so upper body really gets ahead of the legs
Fall could also be quicker, at least for the upper body
Have her start raising a little earlier after the fall
Peel the body off the floor, with her head lagging behind for a while
Could remove the first pause where she notices the camera/audience, have the pushing/standing up be more continuous to help it feel less clunky
As she stands, again have the head and neck lag behind
As she bows, have a leading hand that reaches the chest faster, with the other spaced out more. Then have them swap since the previously non leading hand will be on top, so it can move into the final position faster this time
This week we learnt about NDisplays, which are used to render videos for irregularly shaped screens such as those seen wrapped around buildings. It was interesting to learn about the process within UE5 as beforehand I had only seen the process done in other programs and in different ways. I’m unlikely to use the technique for my current project, but I have considered if I could use the technique with some 3D animated characters as a cool and unique shot for my showreel, while also looking into the differences in how 3D animation is done for such projects.
Project Progress
I haven’t made a huge amount of progress on the practical side of things, but I have gathered a lot of visual research to reference when I start designing the clothing. Focusing on the main character, I have taken inspiration from both traditional Romanian (and other similar eastern European traditional wear) clothing alongside techwear/cyberpunk clothing. Reflecting on the various aspects from both clothing types, I think having the clothes shaped like techwear/cyberpunk clothing but with colours, patterns, textures, and detailing from traditional Romanian wear will work best, but I will still play around with different combinations when I begin the concepts.
I also took the rig I will be using for Rahela and took screenshots of a neutral pose at various angles that I can draw over for the concepts.
Finish up blocking this week, apply the feedback, then go to splined for next week.
Week 2 Assignment: Blocking Plus (+ Redone planning)
I replanned my shot and redid the blocking. I was able to reuse a couple of the poses from last week since the start was the same. Reflecting now, I do wish I had pushed myself even more, but I still learnt a lot and I’ll want to do more body mechanic exercises and shots in my own time anyway so I can push myself more then.
I do need to get better at shooting reference, as I always struggle to capture all the elements I like into one shot so I end up with multiple references. This isn’t terrible, but does mean I end up pulling from multiple clips and then having to match up certain movements later.
Blocking Plus Feedback:
Have the character come in a lot more strongly, really stretch back the arms and arc the spine
Currently the character catches herself a bit too well before falling, the way she steps down looks like she should be able to avoid falling. Have body angled backwards more just before step down and then have her quickly leaning too far forward
Keep the second step down closer to the first foot, again to make it look like she isn’t able to balance herself
Arc the body more as she falls, create some nice lines of action
Be mindful of her upper body making impact first, with the head and hips hitting next, then the upper legs, then the lower legs
Twist the body as she is pushing up with different hands. As she pushes with one hand, that same shoulder should be raised with the pressure of the push upwards, with the other shoulder dropping as that arm hangs looser
Bend toes more as feet push up
When she stands, have torso straighten sooner and knees bent a little
Add some difference to the angles of the body in the pose before she bows, tilt shoulders one way and hips the other
During the bow have variation in arms and hands, they look too mirrored at the moment
Have the shot end with the character centre stage, she’s too far to the side
This week we were experimenting with Virtual Production Cameras within UE5. A few of us had some technical issues setting up the app in class, so I tried it on my home PC where having access to my home wifi seemed to help. We used the ‘Unreal VCam‘ app on our phones and connected this to a virtual production scene in UE5. While I found the process very cool and useful for VFX style production, I am unsure how much I will use the process in my own work. I would like to research the use of it more to see how I might be able to make use of it, but for my current project ideas the cameras are either hand animated or physically held and then tracked for compositing purposes.
Project Progress
I started doing some visual research for ideas, and based on project ideas Serra mentioned last week I also considered window sets seen in store fronts.
My idea for my FMP is based in a futuristic cyberpunk version of London, so incorporating punk themes to this project feels suitable. Above are some cool window sets I found and liked the vibe of, including some punky ones and one of a runway show with punk/alternative themes.
I also did some visual research for cool unique digital media styles that I could potentially experiment with, both for animation and otherwise.
When I showed some of these things to Serra today, she suggested I could potentially have different window sets in different visual styles, which would allow for me to experiment with multiple styles in one project. I do really like this idea, but I later realised this might take a lot of time depending on how long the Marvelous Designer side of things takes me.
I think the next steps for me will be figuring out the scope of the project overall, and designing some clothes to make in Marvelous Designer.
Blocking is like the bones of the body, aka: the blocking is the foundation that everything else is laid on top of. The poses shouldn’t be the same as those from reference, be mindful of line of action and the other fundamentals to push the poses and make them and the movement more visually appealing.
Some tips for blocking:
Time can be saved while blocking be copying similar poses and making adjustments on top
Don’t forget hands and fingers in blocking. While the detailed finger movement can be left until polish, they should still be moving and posed nicely at this stage. Don’t just have open basic poses for the hands in every pose.
Establish your key poses that tell the story
Don’t worry TOO much about timing right now, get the poses down first. You can do retiming later if needed
Don’t forget to use FK/IK where needed
Finished, not perfect! Getting the base of the shot down at this stage is most important
Don’t key parts of body on different frames, everything should be keyed to same frame for blocking
George also showed us a cool video explaining how important the ‘finished, not perfect’ approach is when making progress in learning. I definitely struggle with this myself, and find it difficult to finish tasks due to focusing too much on the smaller details. It was good to hear and understand the idea that in a year what I consider perfect now won’t look great to me because I will have improved, so why should I waste time trying to be perfect now when I can spend more time on learning.
Blocking Plus:
Essentially a way of adding in more keys to get that feeling of polish within your blocking
Moving holds: when pose is holding, adding some movement in (breathing, dragging, settling into pose, etc).
Copied pairs: a technique where a keyframe (or pose) is duplicated and repeated for a specific duration, creating a hold or a static pose within an animation sequence.
Breakdowns and Arcs Breakdown: a pose somewhere between two key poses that better shows the movement
This week’s assignment:
Apply blocking plus stuff to current shot blocking to take it to the next level
Should be in stepped still. Poses are important at this stage so make sure they are really strong.
Week 1 Assignment: Body Mech + Planning
Filmed reference:
I both filmed myself and one of my housemates for my reference. I was struggling a bit to do a natural fall/stumble myself, so I asked one housemate to push the other into view, and gave the one on camera directions on how to act out the rest of the shot.
Thumbnails:
Individual poses:
Week 1.5 Assignment:
As mentioned before we’re a little behind due to losing a day last week to the bank holiday, so this week I did the blocking on Thursday evening for review on Friday alongside my plan.
I didn’t add as many poses as I would have liked due to the time constraints, but I am happy with the poses overall. I do need to hide the skin under the clothing at some point as it clips through the clothes several times and is distracting.
Plan + Blocking Feedback:
The fall and skid along the floor is too simple, I should be pushing myself more. Either have the character fully stumble or completely face plant the floor
Could still do the turn and punch towards the hidden person who pushes them, but George recommends instead just having the character realise where they are after the fall, pause, and then go into the dance/wave
Poses in current blocking are nice, but overall idea needs pushing before I move more into animation progress
Today we were introduced to the unit work we will be doing with Serra. For her side of the unit, we will be doing experimental work where it will be important to try new things and take some risks with the techniques we experiment with. The work we do for this project can contribute in some way to our FMP if we like (such as experimenting with visual styles we might want to explore and expand upon further for our FMP).
Project Progress
Over the break between Term 2 and 3, I was looking into Marvelous Designer. While I want to focus on 3D Animation primarily for my FMP, I do want to still include my own aspects to the visuals outside of animation. My current plan is to use the M-Rigs by Ramon Arango to save time on making my own rigs, but to modify them to personalise the characters to my own designs. This could include altering the textures, the hair models, and the clothing. Hence my interest in Marvelous Designer, as I am hoping to make my own clothes for the M-Rigs using this program. From some research into the process over the break, I found that I could animate the rigs and then import the animation to Marvelous where I can simulate the clothing over the top.
Therefore, for the project I would like to learn Marvelous Designer and make some clothing for at least one of the rigs. I have never used the program before, so I am hopeful this will be a great opportunity to do so. I do also want the project to be more than me learning to program, so I had the idea to create a catwalk scene with interesting visuals to match the design of the clothing.
However I do still want to focus more on the animation side of things, and Serra mentioned that (like in Term 1) we can choose whether to spend more time on George’s project or this one, so I will most likely be spending more of my time on the animation work. I do still want to use this project to develop aspects of my FMP as much as possible though, and I am excited to explore Marvelous Designer and some cool visual techniques with this work.
George went over the work we will be doing with him this term, including how it can be incorporated in our FMP and with Serra’s side of the Adv&Exp unit.
We will be doing two animations with George, an advanced body mechanics shot and an acting shot. For the advanced body mechanics, we will be also covering some acting on top.
What is pantomime?
Dramatic or dancing performances with expressive body or face movements to convey the story.
Acting with the body: Creating clear, full body expressions. To fully convey this, staging needs to be set up first for the shot which includes:
Elements: Characters/Props/Sets
Camera: Placement/Angles
Action: What is happening in this shot?
Idea: Keep it to one idea at a time to not overwhelm the viewer
Point of the shot: What purpose does this shot have? Why include it? Make sure that is clear
Workflow Checklists:
George showed us some workflow checklist examples, aka ways to approach working on an animated shot. Workflow checklists are especially useful when starting out, later they become second nature but shouldn’t be forgotten. These checklists should include:
Additionally, it is important to consider the order of working with different parts of the character’s body. The example given to us was: hips > spine > head > arms > fingers > legs > feet
You don’t want to do clean up work on the arms and legs only to then change the hip placement and have to go back again to adjust the arms and legs. Work on the core first, then work outwards. This will change slightly if you have a specific shot where a different part of the body is leading everything else in place of the hips, so adjust accordingly.
This week’s assignment:
Rough planning drawing
Reference (video/filmed reference)
Shot thumbnails
Maya layout would be good, but not a requirement
Keep the shot to 5-10 seconds AT MOST (aim for 5 second range though, George would rather us have a nicer, more polished shot that is shorter than an unfinished longer shot)
Same as last week, mostly small fixes. I did swap out the tall guy with the main character in Shot 0110/0120/0125, and adjusted the animation accordingly. While there’s a lot of things I want to fix/improve on/add to my previs, I did really enjoy this project and it feels good to already have a good visual plan for my FMP. I do wish I had delved more into previsualising transitions between shots and such, but I’m planning to do this once I am able to come back to the development of the previs along with adding additional shots I didn’t have time for.
Previs Feedback:
In opening shots, the main character’s pose is too visually boring. Have hips and shoulders angled, head tilted, elbow more out, etc
Consider cutting Shot 0060, and have previous and next shot meld together instead (camera just getting closer). Something to play around with
Lots of character in Shot 0120. If buff guy was more stoic it would feel like a power struggle between him and the main character, with hyper kid just on the side doing his own thing. Instead there’s a nice contrast between stoic main character and hyper kid, with the buff guy acting as the big friendly giant trope bringing everyone together. These character’s feel like a team