My 2nd animation

[_tom_]

You may remember about this time last year I posted up my first ever 3D animation, it was a bit overly ambitious but it worked ok in the end (and got a great mark of 85% :)). This years animation is a lot simpler, the brief was just to create a short piece similar to but distinct from Pixar's Luxo Jr, embracing Lasseter's Principles of Animation. Here it is:

http://www.vimeo.com/9880399

There are a few things I wasn't 100% happy with (such as the jumps which I still feel haven't got enough weight to them) but everyone tells me I'm being too picky! Anyway I can't change anything now really as I've got too much other work on for the next 3 weeks (render times for this were quite long), but your comments would be appreciated :)

[choucas09]

I don't know if it's my dodgy computer, but I can't get the page to stay loaded and I'm gagging to see it cos I'm v interested in animation.

[maverickf1jockey]

I was very impressed by that.
Stellar stuff, Tom!

[_tom_]

Thanks :)

Choucas, I think vimeo has been having problems recently. Works fine for me at the minute though.

[Afghan Dave]

Really good stuff Tom. You should be very proud of that.  PDT_003

[38thBeatle]

That was great Tom. I noticed the reflection of the lamp-great detail.

[_tom_]

Cheers guys. Unfortunately all this uni work means that my guitar playing has really suffered, I've got very lax and can't play as well as I did a few months ago :(

[Andrew W]

There's some very nice moments in this animation.  I agree with you that the jumps could use a little extra animation love but the moment he/she/it gets woken up and then the batting the ball out of frame are really well observed.  Giving things weight in any form of animation is very tricky and it's often getting the rigging right to enable you to animate movement like that that is key.  I think that's why you've been struggling with the jump.

<people not interested in the techniques of animation stop here> Did you use FK or IK joints to rig the lamp?  I think to get the leap working you'd want an IK approach but with the whole IK rig parented under a node to enable the gross animation of the base to shift everything in space.  Does that make sense?<non animation people, you're back in the room>.  

Overall though, this is a big improvement on your first piece.  It's very cute.  Nice one and it's much more enjoyable than my last piece of work :).

[FELINEGUITARS]

Watching the sound effects recording session for the breaking glass - such dedication!

[_tom_]

Jonathan, that breaking glass was for the audio post production assignment. Took forever to clear up! We're recreating all of the sound for the Joker Party Crash scene in The Dark Knight, then doing both a stereo and 5.1 mix. I have to keep reminding myself it's actually work as I have so much fun doing all the foley sounds etc :) There'll be a new video soon which involves us beating the shite out of a chicken carcass stuffed with nuts for punch sounds :lol:

Andrew, thanks for your detailed critcism as always :) The lamp was rigged with IK. There are 5 joints, the first of which is the parent of the whole model. This controls the whole lamp, so I used that for the jumps which allowed me to rotate and move the whole thing in space. The end effector had an IK handle which allowed me to control both the "compression" and movement of all the joints, and the rotation/angle of the head. I could probably explain it better with images, which I'll have to do eventually when writing up the report :(

[Andrew W]

If you find yourself drawn to animation more than any other discipline a really great book (I'm told by animator colleagues) is Richard Wilson's "Animator's Survival Kit".  Can't vouch for it myself as I'm no character animator but those in the know seem to approve. 

When it comes to rigging you might find useful info on my buddy Brad's site: http://www.bradnoble.net/rigging/index.html

Best of luck, as always.

[_tom_]

My animation-course friend recommended that as well, haven't checked it out though. I do enjoy animating but don't think I'm good enough to do anything more complex yet. That being said, compared to some people on the 3D module I do seem to be one of the few who's been able to pick it up fairly easily and get some good results. Suppose its just a case of practice and refining my technique. After all the coursework is out of the way I'll probably have a go at rigging a character and doing a walk cycle.

[Andrew W]

Suppose its just a case of practice and refining my technique.

Nail. Head. Hit.

[Davey]

looks cool ... only thing i'd change, but it's really a non issue as far as this animation goes.. just for added comic effect, is that the lamp gets startled when the glass breaks :P

[_tom_]

My idea was that he was annoyed about getting woken up, so wanted to break the window :) Hard to show that without a cutaway to him looking at the window though, I guess.