[Riot Creative Contest 2017] - Henry Truong

thathenryguy

Hey everyone,

A little late to the party, but here's my work in progress thread!

I'm gonna try to rig up and animate with this Munkei character.

This amazing character was modeled and textured by the super talented @Zaphk.  Thanks so much!

WIll do a few rig tests soon.  FIngers crossed it works out well! 

croasan

That character looks stunning Henry! I can't wait to see him moving

imLav

Wow, thats a really cool model !  But i guess there's a lot of rigging comming up.
Good luck ! 

thathenryguy

@croasan Thanks!  Me too!  @Zaphk did a great job on it. I haven't rigged in a while so this might take a little bit.

@imLav Thanks!  Yah... almost done rigging!

thathenryguy

Thanks to a lot of people, the rig is just about ready to go.  Gonna play around with some poses and gather reference.  

ajramsey28

that is a cool looking character! cant wait to see your animation for it!

thathenryguy

Hey folks!  Finally had a chance to get my first pass animation done.  

I'm thinking this is a rogue/assassin type character who like to hunt down and gank his opponents.  My inspiration/reference is an anime ninja type right like Naruto mixed with a raptor run.  (Trying to get a predator type feel.)







Let me know what you guys think!  Your feedback is much appreciated.  : )
Will work on polishing, tweaks and secondary next. 

Cheers and happy holidays!

KielFiggins

Very solid! The legs really feel like they're pushing the body.  My note would be trying an 'over / under' grip to see about relaxing the shape on one of those forearms, feels a bit much in the side view.  Good luck!

Arturow

so cool!!

ajramsey28

So awesome! I love how his body moves! Very raptor like. I can imagine something like that popping out of the jungle and scaring people back to their turrets. XD  

thathenryguy

@KielFiggins Thanks man!  Will try doing that over/under grip.  To clarify, you mean to have one hand with and under grip and one with an over grip, right?

thathenryguy

@Arturow and @ajramsey28 Thanks!   

thathenryguy

Here's a few playblasts of my Ult animation.  Here I'm trying to focus on the "monkey-ness/acrobatics/playfulness" of this Munkei character.  Also wanted to make sure the staff was a big part of the move. 





Feedback welcome and appreciated.  Cheers!

Archanex

Very cool! 

AnthonyAnimation

Do you have any in-progress posts? It would be great to see the thought process of more experienced animators.

Great work!

asphaltcowboy

Really great!

Sotatsu

Very nice
I really like the way he moves during the ult.

KielFiggins

Sweet Ult, love the flex in the staff.  And yes, the over - under grip note was one hand over, the other would be under.

Good luck on your submission.

Dhairyasheel

sweet 

thathenryguy

@AnthonyAnimation Yeah sorry!  I was meaning to do some, but I ran out of time and this animation was coming in hot.  (Where does the time go, right?!)  I'll be writing some in-progress posts next, detailing my workflow and thought process.  Hopefully, it'll be helpful.  Cheers and good luck!

thathenryguy

@asphaltcowboy, @Archanex, @Sotatsu, @Dhairyasheel - thanks!!

@KielFiggins - Sounds great, I think the over/under grip looks much better.  Adds a nice touch of asymmetry too.  Thanks!

thathenryguy

Wooo. Finally submitted.  

InkRose

Absolutely stunning work. I remember this model from the ArtStation contest and I'm so happy to see in in motion.

TWilson

Looking good Henry!

thathenryguy

@AnthonyAnimation  Sorry this is coming in super late (things have been crazy busy), but here's my workflow for this shot.  Hopefully, it helps!

A few things first.  I got this character from @zaphk and I rigged it up using Rapid Rig.  I haven’t rigged or painted weights in a long time so it’s far from perfect.  But I’m still fairly happy with the results.  (As long as I can animate with it, I count it as a win!)

My Anim Workflow

1. Thinking about animation.

This is a super important step for me.  Here I’m trying to think about who the character is and a few main points to hit.

I decided to go with

• The staff has to play a big part in the animation

• He looks like an agile assassin type character to me - (a real ganker in LOL)

• Wanted to add a bit of acrobatic/animal-istic flair

• Needs to look good from LOL camera view so I went with circular attacks to help sell the action

2. Gathering Reference.

I like gathering reference from real life so I can base my move in reality of some sort.  This is just a personal preference, but I find it adds a bit more weight and believability.  (I’ll also look at cartoony characters.  Anything to help me find the feeling of the character.)

3. Blocking in Keyposes

Here I’m looking for a change of direction of the root.  That usually gives me a good pose to keyframe.  I like looking for asymmetry and interesting shapes for my poses.

4. Playing with timing.

Tween the poses that help sell what’s going on.  I don’t usually stick a formula of 2’s, 4’s, 8’s, etc.  Instead, I just key where it feels like it’s missing breakdown poses. Like moving holds, overshoots, slow-ins/outs.  For an attack, I’ll tween every frame of the “action” part of the animation.  This way I can control the arc’s and make sure all the poses working together during this fast action.  

5. Getting feedback and playing with timing a bit more.

This is where I got feedback from others.  It helps to get fresh eyes on it. 

I make a few changes based on their feedback.  ( I like to save multiple copies so I can try a few variations.  Then I can go with my favorite one.)

Here I adjusted the poses and timing.  Lots of little changes.

6. Final Stage - Polishing

I start polishing once everything is working nicely with my timing and poses.  (I really try to make sure everything is buttoned down before polishing.  Otherwise, I might have to go back and redo work!)

Tip for Cleaning up Weapon Arcs

This is where I’ll be reverse constraining the bo staff.  I bake the keys to a null and let that drive the staff.  Then I’ll key parent constraints on the hands when they’re holding the weapon.  

With this, you can:

1. Clean the arcs on the weapon with one controller.  Pivot point in the center of the weapon.

2. Animate the hands independently to avoid weird poses.

3. Still have the hands keyed to the weapon whenever you need.

Loosening things up and adding secondary animation

I’ll add extra keys (play with scale and translation if needed) to loosen things up if certain parts of the animation are feeling stiff.  This is where I’ll work on any secondary parts too.  I find it easier to animate secondary at the end because the base animation is established.  I know where all the forces are coming from.  

I’ll work on this final part until I’m happy or I run out of time.  Whatever happens first.  (Spoiler alert - it’s usually running out of time. Haha)

And voila.  That’s my process!  It’s not perfect, and every shot/animation probably requires a slightly different approach.  But that’s my workflow for this shot.  Hopefully, this helps out!  Let me know if you have any questions or if anything doesn’t make sense.  Would love to hear your feedback.  : )

Cheers!

Henry.

@thathenryguy

KielFiggins

Thanks for sharing Henry, great insight.

imLav

Can you share this rig ? 
If it's possible