WALKING IN CIRCLES!
This was clearly a huge challenge for any young, newbie student but it was one that I was at least prepared to do with them myself… i.e. to share their pain! So, for 3 x 5 hour class sessions I worked on an 'eccentric' walk, with a simple character, that could be seen to travel eccentrically around the 360-degree track. Although this final result is not at all polished (and I would most definitely want to choose to modify and change a number of things about it if I were doing it professionally) this is the final pencil test of my efforts…
Note: The nature of this blog video playback makes it appear choppier for some reason!
It might be of interested for students to know how I blocked-out the sequence and built it up to the final piece. Below is a movie sequence of the 7 stages I took to get to the final pencil test, which included a little skip at the end to enable me to link the end with the beginning to create a continuous loop action. These 7 stages were…
1) Blocked-out key stride positions.
2) Blocked-out key and passing positions.
3) Rough lower body animation on two’s.
4) More polished lower body animation on one’s.
5) Blocked-in torso positions with lower body animation.
6) First-pass arm actions with full body action.
7) Final head action with everything else.
Remember the most effective process for creating really challenging animation is to start simply, then build… and test, test, test all the way till you get what you want! Also, note the 'body lean' into the center of the circular path that compensates for the velocity of the character's walk on a circular path… very much like the way a motorcyclist has to lean inward when negotiating a corner turn.
In truth, the above movie clip depicts 7 stages of development but in essence I actually took around 12 stages to get it where it ended-up. Some were just working and re-working a couple of strides and therefore not an entire rotation of the path. However, I didn’t include those in this edit as they were not as informative as what I finally chose to show.
Personal critique? I would say that the action needs more rotation between the upper and lower torso action, more variation in the character's movements around the circle and more fluid action on the head. However, as there was limited time for the assignment to be completed, I can excuse myself for these kinds of deficiency.Grade? I would give myself a "B+".for this assignment, were a student in one of my advanced classes.
Anyway, I hope this helps you think of ways of approaching your own animation challenges using a sequence of process that is constructive and informative?
Tony. :^{)}=-
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