Falling, with style! (Animation)

Mezz

Been working on another animation! This time, it's a short scene with a character on crutches.

I'm a little slow to posting the thread this time, but better late than never!

First, I did his walk cycle:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxRx2rH62c"]Walk W/ Crutches Animation (Test 02) - YouTube[/ame]
I've already tweaked it a bit in the scene I'm using it in--mostly in the hold of the crutches around his armpit.

Then, my first version with him falling. After suffering through and hating it, I ended up scrapping it (so don't bother looking too closely :P):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbKY8Ix9vLw"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 01 - YouTube[/ame]

I was much happier with this one, but the way he fell still wasn't right:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb50UQt7cbY"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 02 - YouTube[/ame]

**So now, this is where I'm at, and hopefully it's finally on the right track. I wanted to post where I started with this project, but please, focus your critique on this version!**
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3_yUxlSGyw"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 03 - YouTube[/ame]


Thanks for looking, and any and all comments or critiques appreciated!!

-Joe-

Did you use any references? The walk looks fine and fall as well but i think you could add more movements in the recovery part. Maybe move the legs a little when he's face palming.

Oh and a teeny little hangtime right before he falls would be nice as well

Mezz

Thanks, -Joe-! I did use reference, but I didn't find much that was directly helpful to the fall. I looked at various 'walking with crutches' vids on youtube, and different ones of people falling on stairs, though they were usuall faked.

This one is possibly the most useful I've found:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXvAD1UcGeI"]Boy Falls Down Escalators With Crutches - YouTube[/ame]

For this update, I tweaked the recovery to make it flow a little better, and tried adding a bit of that extra hang time.
I fiddled with other areas overall. Have him looking to the side longer now, and smoothed out some of the falling movements.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S0mJ4iJkg4"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 04 - YouTube[/ame]

Any comments or critiques appreciated! Thanks

Mezz

More tweaking and some changing of things.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WYb9-pOt0"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 05 - YouTube[/ame]

Any comments or critiques would be great!

BARDLER

I know nothing about animation, but lucky for you my girlfriend does.

This is what she said.
-Look at this video, specifically around the 1:24, but the whole thing might be helpful.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPlfay5f6KA"]Girls With Crutches - YouTube[/ame]
-Your crutches are sitting in the wrong place, your character arms would get super tired by supporting all that weight. You are meant to tuck the crutches under your arm pit and rest your weight on them as you swing. Basically your arm pits act as your second leg.
-Your crutch walk is to fast, it is almost regular walking pace. People in crutches move slower.
-Be more clear about the injury. Your characters leg is bent to more then they would if it was a full leg cast, but then at the end of the fall it relaxes a little bit. Be more clear if the cast is above or below the knee.
-Need more spine movement for when he is walking.
-His crutches are sliding as he walks, she said to check your tangents if you are using Maya.
-When you turn the head it should dip a little bit, plus when you turn your head your upper body turns as well, especially when you turn 90 degrees like your head does. Try it your self it is rather uncomfortable.
-She thinks the the rig breaks after he falls and the pelvis shears off the body.
-There is twinning in the arms and legs. The legs are in the same position at the same time, and it looks like he is walking with only his arm strength. Your arms are to identical, and she said you need to figure out something to do to fix this.
-He needs to be leaning over more with a hunch in his back, his spine is to straight.

Her last piece of advice was get REFERENCE! Go out and get some crutches and record your self from multiple angles so you can a better idea of what the animation should be like.

Mezz

Wow, tell your girlfriend a big thanks, Bardler. That was a lot of helpful points!!

I did my best to address all these points and improve upon them. The only thing I couldn't fix was the part where the rig looks broken--there's a weird problem I've found with the 3DSmax biped where once you rotate the main biped piece, the pelvis and spine get off centered. I unfortunately can't seem to fix this.

If she's around again, I'd love to hear if she thinks these points were fixed, thanks!

Update:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpAbGmzAyq8"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 06 - YouTube[/ame]

Once again, any comments or critiques are great! Next, I'll probably start tweaking the camera angle and movement.

Mezz

Another update! I did some more tweaking to the fall and changed the head turn near the beginning. Almost ready to call it done:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwFD6sesgjI"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation WIP 07 - YouTube[/ame]

redwake

Hey, that's hilarious -- although the key moment is missing panic/emotion/realization/follow-through/cowbell. One of those.

Mezz

Thanks, Redwake! I see what you mean, but at this point, I feel like it's too late into the project to tinker with it too much. I'll definitely keep that in mind for future animations, so thanks a lot!

Trying to get some nice lighitng and camera movements going now. Here's what I got for my first render:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WewnSTVqyRs"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation (Lighting Render Test 01) - YouTube[/ame]

Any comments are still great, thanks!

Snader

Why not use these kinds of crutches?

Mezz

Snader -- Arbitrary decision, I guess? I just didn't feel like modeling those kind of crutches, essentialy. Perhap it would have been easier though, but too late now :P

Another update as I do my final tweaks. Changed the lighting and shadow, and did a bit more polish on some areas of the anim:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w4vyheZMec"]Falling On Stairs (w/ Crutches) -- Animation (Lighting Render Test 02) - YouTube[/ame]

Almost dooooone...

Chimp

Hey, if you remove the videos we can't critique you..

Lazerus Reborn

There all gone ;')

Cexar

Everything suuuucks.
No but seriously get them back online