Straight Ahead - Lamp jump

This week we were looking at the straight-ahead method of animating, which included planning how I wanted the lamp to jump and then animating every frame that the components moved on instead of just using key frames. This was sort of challenging at first due to me being used to setting key frames and then editing the timing/ easing between the frames within the graph editor, but then I was able to just follow the reference video we had and with the help of some other tools (motion trail and shadowing). By using these additional tools, I was able to see what path the objects were taking and I then used it to create a smoother arc for the transition between the frames, which allowed me to make this good animation. The animation might be smooth, but some areas seem a bit off especially with the jump itself and this could have been improved by making the anticipation last a little longer so that you can see the character prepare for the jump before doing it. Overall, I understand that straight ahead allows you to plan and think about the arcs of the animation a bit more and that it can help to make an animation better.

Arks - Lamp character

For the second exercise, we were tasked to animate the lamp character to push the ball and have some follow through as it goes back to its original position. To make the lamp have a characteristic feel, I thought I should make it look down at the ball and then to see where it wants to hit it towards, which it then does and then sees where it’s gone as it goes back to a resting position. I feel like the ark that was created was well done as the lamp hits the ball, but I could have made it more round so that it doesn’t feel like it’s moving to a certain point and then changing directions. Then, the string on top of the head was okay up to the part near the end and I think it snapped backwards too much or came back up too quickly and could have been improved on by using an ease in or out effect. One thing I wanted to do was to animate the lamp base to move, as the rest of the body does, so that it isn’t so static. But, I was happy with the final animation overall and this has also taught me more about how to use arks within an animation more effectively.

Arks - Ball jump

This exercise was mostly to do with arks and making sure the ball has a realistic ark as it travels to the other side, but there was also some squash required which touched upon some anticipation. This was a snappy bounce that slowed down as it got to the middle point of the jump and then eased back out as it landed. I feel like I was able to get the right timing within the animation, which included a believable projection of the ball jumping at an angle and had some form of the other principles. But, I could have improved on this animation by rotating the ball before/ after it jumps which would have made it into a character that prepared to jump and had some follow through as it landed and rolled forward a little. As I was doing this animation, I found that I projected the ball’s jump too low and then I was able to change it so that the ark was more realistic as it jumped and therefore I was able to understand the usefulness of arks within an animation like this one.

Secondary Action - Ball with tail

This week we were tasked with animating a ball with a tail jumping onto a platform and this included some secondary action. This was quite challenging due to me having to animate the different joints on the tail section and some of them had different keyframes on the timeline and so if I was to go back to change one at a certain point, it would look different when it got to the next keyframe. But, I was able to get there in the end to complete the ball animation as if it had a functioning tail, which I think turned out well overall and showed some fluidity with the movements. I like that I was able to give the ball some characteristics as it prepares to jump up and with the flowing motion of the tail as it snaps to the ground whilst the ball jumps. I could have given the ball some additional secondary action after it landed, because it sort of looks like it just stops and then I think the tail could have been improved by using the graph editor to make it vary in the speed of its movements.

Follow through and Overlapping action - Hammer

This week, we were looking at follow through and overlapping action within an animation and this exercise required me to animate a hammer swinging from one side to another. In this exercise, I started off with a good-looking animation for the hammer and the spring on the top of it, but I had to change a few things around for it to be looped and for the timing to look right. Once I got the right look I wanted, I just ended up tweaking the graph editor to allow the spring/ hammer to have the right follow through and for the overlapping action. I am proud of the work I have made due to the spring following the force of the hammer as it swings to the other side and the overlapping bounce that’s caused by the swing too. Overall, I think that I have successfully completed the task very well according to the animation principles we were looking at and if I was to do it again, I would probably increase the timing a little bit so that the viewer can catch the motion of the hammer as it swings.

Anticipation - Diving into pool

This diving pool animation challenged me to get the right sort of look and I wanted to characterise the ball so I made it bounce a couple of times before diving into the pool. The part that I think I got most accurate is the diving board as the ball bounces on/ off it and the ripple that’s caused by the ball character’s final jump. I feel like this gave it a more realistic look that feels right even though it’s exaggerated and I was also able to fit in some anticipation just before the ball bounces one last time. Also, the timing was good for the audience to see that the character is preparing to jump off the diving board and to then use up some of the frames to show anticipation before it jumps. Overall, I think that this animation is quite well done in the aspect that you can tell what’s happening in the scene and that you can see the subtle anticipation I added to it. If I was to do this again, I would animate the rotations of the ball so that it’s characteristics is more believable when it jumps forwards and when it’s falling into the pool.