Limeforce's animation practice thread
polycounter lvl 7
Hey folks!
I'm working on getting better at 3D-animation. This is the current project we're doing at school, would be happy to receive some feedback. The deadline is tomorrow evening (5th) so there's still time to make adjustments. There is obviously floatiness, weird timing and unnatural motion, but its getting to the point where it's hard for me to tell which changes are for the better. I guess its also worth pointing out that I'm using a classmate as reference rather than some pro tennis player.
http://syncsketch.com/playground/569ca8761d2d438e87e0d79d05a215e8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXP2zzFFno
I have also started working on a very basic 3rd-person animation system with a ball+legs rig to get a better grasp of gameplay animation, I'll write a separate post about that later.
Cheers, hope my posts gather some helpful feedback!
I'm working on getting better at 3D-animation. This is the current project we're doing at school, would be happy to receive some feedback. The deadline is tomorrow evening (5th) so there's still time to make adjustments. There is obviously floatiness, weird timing and unnatural motion, but its getting to the point where it's hard for me to tell which changes are for the better. I guess its also worth pointing out that I'm using a classmate as reference rather than some pro tennis player.
http://syncsketch.com/playground/569ca8761d2d438e87e0d79d05a215e8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXP2zzFFno
I have also started working on a very basic 3rd-person animation system with a ball+legs rig to get a better grasp of gameplay animation, I'll write a separate post about that later.
Cheers, hope my posts gather some helpful feedback!
Replies
I'm going to make some quick notes on your syncsketch link. If you're unsure about something, let me know.
This is what I handed in. Cannot say I'm too happy with it as a whole, but time to move on. I feel the first half turned out pretty good (with improved rhythm and less brickwall after feedback). Everything after the serve though... I started changing it back and forth and never had a good idea where I was going with it.
http://syncsketch.com/playground/95fe5c20e8d94a8dbcf5d552bf2eee62
frame 21, thumb sticks out like a sore thumb
f28: I don't think his feet should roll up, if anything, they should stay flat to support his weight.
f36: This pose isn't quite working. Its like he's stretching so much, his head is tilt back but his spine doesn't really sell it. Also, his arms aren't fully stretched so there is a lot of contradiction in the pose. If the box is really heavy, make that clear, have everything in the pose supporting that. Don't go halfway, if you know what I mean.
f45: bring his head down. I mean, the sky can't be that interesting...
f51: Have the box fully resting on his knee. So before his brings the box up, it goes down a little. Always look for opportunities to show weight.
f68: Drop the box a little lower.
For his walk out at the end, lower the box a little so its not that high. Also his walk isn't showing that the box is heavy. You won't bring that foot up so much like you have on f88. Shoot some ref, your feet will probably graze the ground or come close.
f97- I would shorten the stride. A big stride wouldn't make sense for a heavy box, I think. Shoot some ref, see if I'm right. I may be wrong.
f101: I might delay the footroll for the back foot, I think delay so it picks up after the front foot is fully planted.
From frame 117 on, I'm not sure what's happening. He drops lower for some reason and takes a giant step.
I'm working off a specific reference vid, some things you mention like f45 head tilt come from there but do not make sense in this context. So big thanks, its easy to get blind. Time for me to leave reference/almost-roto-land and push the actual animation aspect here. Will not post the ref, due to both privacy/permission and needing to keep you guys unspoiled by too much knowledge.
f88 --- I forgot to turn AmbOcc on for the playblast, no contact shadow makes the height a tad difficult to estimate. Will check it anyway.
f117 --> Totally agreed, there's absolutely no reason for the drop.
I'm going for a "Whatcha lookin' at" vibe for the ending, that definitely needs more love.
Hey again, took me a while to get back to this (other overscoped projects ate away my time, meh). As you can see, I chose to add a bit of extra fun on top of the assignment requirements
Starting to feel like this is very close to final, but would appreciate if you guys point out the most obvious weirdnesses that I've missed (pops, feet sliding, intersecting meshes, weird arcs, weightlessness, movement hitting a brickwall, twinning, lack of overlaps etc etc).
Easy commenting & viewing availabe on Syncsketch and Youtube as usual: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/a13d62490f694648ad9bbe3b9dc2a991
-Offset the hands and adjust the weight when he adjusts his grip on the box (second 2ish);
-The right foot slides between seconds 1-2;
-Left foot slides aroudn second 5;
- Look at strong men lifting heavy stuff, there's a burst of power to life the object, right now yours is very linear and it just slides upwards;
-The box could fall just a little bit slower, it looks like it's being sucked into the hole rather than falling in. If it's being sucked it, you could show it through the character hodling the box back a little bit before letting go.
I'd say with these tweaks you'd have a really good animation on your hands. Good work!