Animation studies - Create 4 short animations.

12 Principles of Animation.

https://vimeo.com/93206523
Useful break down of 'The illusion of life' by Frank Tompson and Ollie Johnston 

I have always loved Alan Beckers Animations and I have been subscribed to his channel for years. I love how helpful and descriptive his tutorial was for 'the 12 Principles of Animation.' When animation my 4 shorts I will definitely refer back to both Beckers tutorial and Tompson and Johnston book to help me consider the best principles for each short.

Short 1.

Scared awake juice box.

Inspiration:

Williams 'The Animators Survival Kit.' 

This one, in my opinion, feels a bit dull as it was my first attempt at this project. If I was to do this one again I would have exaggerated the jump more to make it more interesting. The beginning of this short works well because of the follow through used - it helps add expression to an object with no face. 

Animators survival kit - Richard Williams.

Short 2.

Juice box encounters a ball:

Inspiration:

Pixar's '1986' animated short 'Luxo Jr'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3O60o5U7w

I drew inspiration from Pixar's famous short 'Luxo JR' having my character interact with a secondary action (being the ball). I wanted the juice box to have a curiosity towards the ball (which I feel I achieved.) When I first made this short, after the juice box loops in the air originally the ball didn't move; it ended up looking quite stiff. I showed it to Shannon and she suggested having the ball roll away after he bounces on it. This helped the loop look a lot more clear to the viewer. With this one, I had difficulties with timing at the end the jump could have done better but I struggled with the bending of this rig. 

Short 3.

Walker trying to cross the street:

Help and Inspiration:

https://www.the-flying-animator.com/walk-cycle.html 

Helpful Blog link below:

http://vidplane.com/2016/05/12/animation-tutorial-2-walk-cycle/

Youtube tutorial to help me understand the Mr Mustashe walker rig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WpY8JqTJuQ&t=41s

Looney Tunes 'Wile e coyote and Road Runner.'

Any Looney Tunes episode is a great example of well-executed animation and I hope someday to reach that level of expertise. 

I drew inspiration from Wile e coyote he always seems to get knocked down (fails to capture road runner) by Road Runner zooming past him all the time. 

So I wanted to create a more subtle approach by having an object zoom past my character and then he twirls and falls on his behind.  

 I wanted to add a secondary action in this short as well, in order to reinforce the action of the walking character falling backwards. This was also my first attempt at making a character walk in Maya. I found it difficult to achieve on my own so I used my source such as 'The Animator Survival Kit' and tutorial and blogs online. Mr H youtube tutorial was really useful as it helped me understand the rig and the even placement of each step within those 25 frames. He showcased the start position of the walker in order to make it loop smoother if needs be.  This was a very time-consuming process for me as I am still getting used to Maya but for my first attempt it's not the worst. However, it could do with a bit more smoothing. 

Short 4.

Juice box sneezing:

I love adding follow through and overlapping, as it gives a more exaggerated feel to the animation. Like Dumbo I wanted to create anticipation before the final sneeze and I am very happy with how it turned out. Although in my animation I paused longer to so the character thinks the feeling of having to sneeze has passed but then... "AHH CHOO!" it surprises him.  


Inspiration:

Disney's 1941 'Dumbo'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLLqxmpuNGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TczrwOz3A_c&t=880s



Keith Lango helpful tips from his blog:
http://www.keithlango.com/tutorials/old/toonSnap/toonSnap.htm





Overall, this assignment has been a great way to explore different emotions and expression of movement with animation in relation to the 12 principles of animation. I didn't have time to render them out but I added sound to the playblast to make them feel more complete. With regards to my final animations, they could have been better as I regret not getting more feedback from my peers and tutors. This task has helped feel more confident in animating within Maya and I have enjoyed working on this alongside my other projects as they all overlap with one another in terms of learning material.