Graph Editor Tutorial

Graph editor tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAtflgHUMY

This tutorial goes through the uses of the graph editor and what some of the main buttons do to the animation you have made. The reason why I think this is a good tutorial is because it is easy to follow the instructor through the video and he explains each command he does in order for viewers to understand what’s going on. For example, he commented on the use of the tangents that are on the key frame points and these can help you to ease in/out from one point to another (this would be an auto tangent, others include linear and step tangents). This is very useful for how fast or slow you might want an object to reach the next translated point and for also how fast or slow you want the object to move from the previous keyframe.

To put this into practice, I thought I would make a simple ball bouncing animation within Maya and for this I used a different tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfzQMv8naYk. This follows the basic guide to the graph editor like the other tutorial and I used both to help me to get a better understanding of how to animate a ball bouncing using the graph editor. With this, I was able to make a simple animation video (with the help of Adobe After Effects to compile it together) and a better understanding of the graph editor.

Flipbook Animation

Flipbook Animation here: http://www.benettonplay.com/toys/flipbookdeluxe/player.php?id=540786

My flipbook animation included two different types of balls bouncing on the floor, where the cartoon ball is on the left and the realistic ball is on the right. I tried my best to capture these two bouncing balls in a simple way and I also touched upon the ‘squash and stretch’ technique with some use of exaggeration for the cartoon version. Trying to use my mouse to draw everything on the different frames was a bit of a challenge, but I just kept it simple enough for the viewer to see what was happening and used the basic tools that were available. Looking back at the animation, both balls bounce quite accurately to how they would n a cartoon/ real life; but, the speed of the bounce could have been more precise by increasing when it bounced back and slowing down as it reached the top. Although this was just a simple task, changing the timing with the balls would have made the animation better. Therefore, this activity has helped me to understand the techniques to use when animating a ball bouncing, whether it includes cartoon-ish or realistic physics, and I have knowledge of what I can do to make it better in the future.

My 5 Learning Contract Statements

[1] I will strive be on time to every session we have.
[2] I will complete all of the work I receive by the deadlines.
[3] Any work I haven't finished, I will do during my own time.
[4] I will not procrastinate during the module.
[5] I will make sure that I apply my best efforts to all of the tasks I get.