Horse Trot Animation Layered

Topic: Cycle to performance Lecture/Demo: Applying a cycle to a scene Demo : Taking a cycle and moving it forward Demo : Adding spot lights and creating a shadow on a ground plane (by Irena Kuo) Demo : Transfering animation to a new model and referencing a model ( by Brian Lee) Activity: Dailies: Critique animation Assignment: Block out a scene using the cycle Activity: Take the horse trot (or canter) cycle and move it forwards using a duplicated object for foot 'matching' and the all node. Adjust animation to give it more weight when moving forwards. Transfer the animation to new model with control fixes, making sure to reference the model. Home work : Take your trot cycle, and move it forwards. Create a simple render of your animation with the horse trotting forwards, on a ground plane with a shadow to show the foot contact. Add several behaviors to break up the cycle and add spirit to the horse animation. Examples: add a kick head tosses looking to the left and right tail...

Transfer script tutorial In transferstuff there is a folder called "ZooToolBox." If you don't have access to the dropoff then you can also download it here (there is a link that says "download the zootoolbox"). Open it and copy its contents (folders pref, presets, scripts, etc) to your maya scripts folder. You can just paste those contents in the respective version you are using. At school this should be your z:\maya\versionnumber. On Windows it will probably be C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\maya\versionnumber. I don't know where they would go for Mac (sorry!). It shouldn't overwrite anything that you already have in your settings but you might want to make backups anyway. Restart Maya if necessary. Create a new file. Make sure it is on your matching FPS (24 or 30). Create a reference (File>Create Reference) with your existing animation file and move it to the side so it doesn't intersect with the other one when you load i...

Details in the horse trot cycle: WEEK 3 HOMEWORK offset and overlap Legs lock when they go straight (study reference) Shoulders - scapula up and down (study reference) compression in the hooves (study reference) loosen up the head motion (study reference) tail Take some of the motion from the main foot controller, and put it into the hoof controllers. Look at the reference closely to see how the foot absorbs the weight and impact when it contacts the ground. Make sure the feet move back in even increments after contacting the ground plane. Use these controllers to get a sense of weight and compression in the hoof after it contacts the ground. Next week we will take the cycle and make it move forward adding head tosses and other behaviors to break up the cycle a bit. Start gathering some ideas! for next week : ADD A GROUND PLANE AND SIMPLE BACKGROUND THAT YOU CAN USE TO ANIMATE THE HORSE TROTTING FORWARD FOR 4-5 STEPS (80 frames). Other notes: Ideas for the next assignment: Horse and d...

(Leftover from last week) Add x translation to the feet (from front and rear view). Check reference. Take the up and down y translation from the root, put it into the hips and chest and remove it from the root. Add a bit of x rotation in the chest and hips. Copy the x rotation from the chest up the neck, and tone them down. Check list: 1. Make sure the feet are moving back in even increments. 2. Check all your curves. With Pre-infinity cycle and Post-infinity cycle ON make sure that all the curves in the cycle hook up correctly. 3. Check your animation from all angles. Compare it to your reference. Make some playblasts from various angles (front, side, 3/4 front and rear views).

One of the nice things abo ut having blocked in the root node is that the timing for the cycle is established. Hip and Chest keyframes can be placed on the same frame as the root. chest and hip rotations ct_frontTorso_CTRL twist y rotation ct_frontTorso_CTRL tilt z rotation shoulder and hip movement lf_frontLeg_CTRL, rt_frontLeg_CTRL, lf_rearleg_CTRL, rt_rearleg_Ctrl head and neck : Pose the head and neck into an overall pose. foot controllers : Check the footfalls so that the feet contact the ground and leave the ground on the correct frames. For blocking keep the animation on the main foot controller. frame1 ....................... frame 3 frame 5 ...................... frame 7 frame 9 ..................... frame 11 frame 13 ..................... frame 15 frame 17 .................... frame 1 Homework for this week - FINAL BLOCKING Look at checkl...

Comparing the walk with the trot, canter and run. See how these gaits either have: 1. More Diagonal feeling in the total of the legs 2. More fold up or bend in the legs 3. More instants when the animal is completely in mid-air In the trot the horse is completely in mid-air twice during each cycle. Opposite legs tend to imitate each other. No other gait has so much symmetry. The keys are 1 (down) / 5 (up) / 9 (down) / 13 up On the other keys 3 / 7 / 11/ 15 Body is 1/3 closer to top keys 5 and 13 To slow down the cycle to 18 frames instead of 16, add 2 drawings between 4 and 5 (up) and 12 and 13 (up)

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course introduces students to realism in animation as well as working with live action elements. COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES As a result of successfully completing this course, students… Will be able to: (at an intermediate level) Create realistic animation at an intermediate level Work with the graph editor and other interfaces of the software Analyze motion and interpret in CG Work with time specific performances Combine animation with live action elements Will display the following attitudes/professional behaviors: Prepare for, attend and contribute to class. Accept and apply critique Meet project deadlines ATTENDANCE Class attendance is required. Attendance means arriving on time and staying for the entire class session. Each course requires that the student be present at and participate in, every class session. Failure to attend classes, tardy arrivals and early departures will be reflected in final grades as follows: •Four (4) late arrivals may drop the final...