Monday 11 July 2011

Animation 01 - Walking

The animation for this blog entry is on the CD I handed in. It is called Walking.avi




The only problem I have with this is that, even though he isn't walking, I failed to make it look as if he is. People who I showed this to have said that they didn't get the impression that he was walking, but could recognise that I was trying to make it seem like he was. After I explained what happened to the legs to them, they said it was a good try, but could be better. The arms were okay though. If the character was walking, then the arms would still move like that.

One thing that stands out to me can be seen between 6 and 7 seconds of the animation, at the arm pit of the left arm. As the character raises his arm and points out, there is an apparent defect in the skin.



It is more apparent in the animation than it is in the stills, but it was to be expected. I said earlier that I the arm area may be compromised because of some changes I made in the topology in order to get the shoulder to look the way that it does.

In the future I will be more mindful of this.

The ending, where he points at the camera, was made in order to supplement the camera movement, and to give it a nicer ending that is vindictive of the character's personality.


I prefer the second half of the animation sequence to the first. Not because I have created smoother animations, but because the actions are more interesting. I'm pleased with the apparent seamlessness of the head movements working in conjunction with the arms moving around. The blendshapes worked charmingly, and I think I will strive to use them instead of skin clusters from now.

I am not so much an animator as I am a 3d artist, so I have surprised myself with some of the seamless transitions of the character, save for a few mistakes that I have outlined here.

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