Critique walk cycle in spline & video making for animation reference exercise.


Using reference plane video in Maya (Class notes)

Introduction to Animation Workflow

When animating in Maya, it’s essential to understand how to manipulate reference planes and frame rates to achieve the desired animation effects. You can adjust the frame rate within the Graph Editor to make movements appear more abrupt or snappy. However, slowing down the animation may not work if there are no additional PNG frames available.

Blocking the Animation with Primitives

The initial step in character animation is blocking using basic primitives that represent the main parts of the character: the root, head, pelvis, and torso. Match the movement of these blocks with the reference footage to establish the general motion.

Constrain Blocks to the Rig

Once the blocking is complete, constrain these blocks to the character’s bony rig. This step transfers the movement data from the blocks to the rig, allowing the final animation to be created.

Maintaining Proper Foot Contact

It’s crucial to ensure that both of the character’s legs remain in contact with the ground, even if the reference footage suggests otherwise due to the angle it was shot from. Proper foot contact prevents floating or unrealistic poses.

Animation reference and planning: first attempt

FK and IK: Understanding the Two-Rig Systems

What is FK (Forward Kinematics)?
Forward Kinematics (FK) is a rigging system where the movement of one joint affects the others in a chain, moving “forward.” The higher joints influence the lower ones, but the last joint in the chain only influences itself.

For example, think of the FK system as a chain, where moving the root joint will move the whole chain, with each joint following the next.

What is IK (Inverse Kinematics)?
Inverse Kinematics (IK) works in the opposite way: the last joint in the chain has the most influence. When you move the end joint, the system automatically adjusts the rest of the joints in the hierarchy.

An example of this is when grabbing a mug. In IK, the hand will take priority, allowing for the accurate movement of the fingers, while the rest of the arm follows the hand’s movement.

Switching Between FK and IK
Most rigs come with a switch between FK and IK systems, which makes animating characters easier and more intuitive. For instance, if you’re animating a character grabbing an object, you’ll use IK to control the hand. Once the object is released, you can switch to FK to animate the arm’s movement more naturally.

Using IK for Sitting Positions
For actions like sitting where the hands touch the knees, it’s best to use IK. This ensures that the hands stay properly placed on the knees, while the rest of the body adjusts accordingly.

Critique walk cycle & ideas for body mechanics exercise.

Walk Cyckle Spline critique

The main objective of a walk cycle is to ensure that the body moves forward naturally. This means the body must lean forward during the consecutive stages of each step. Below are the key adjustments and considerations for refining the walk cycle:

1. Translation Z (Forward Movement)

• Ensure that Translation Z is represented by linear interpolation to maintain a constant speed as the character moves forward.
• Delete any unnecessary in-between frames. Move the graph (up or down) to approximate the correct forward movement. Add new keys where necessary to refine the body’s shifting forward.
• After readjusting (e.g., by adding new keys at poses where the forward lean should be exaggerated), select all the keys and apply linear interpolation to maintain a smooth and consistent speed between frames.

2. Translation X (Side-to-Side Movement of the Body)

• For Translation X, aim for a sine wave-like pattern in the graph editor to simulate the natural side-to-side motion of the body.
• Adjust the amplitude of the sine wave to exaggerate the figure-eight motion of the body.
• Use the motion trail as a reference to ensure smooth and accurate movement.

3. Adjusting Leg Pivoting

• Focus on the leg that is pivoting off the ground.
• Apply foot roll to the other foot as it makes contact with the ground after the step.
• In the graph editor, check the foot roll curve to ensure there is continuous motion without flat lines. Flat lines indicate unnatural pauses in the foot’s roll motion.

4. Refining Knee Movement and Body Translation

• Adjust the knee in coordination with:
  • Foot roll
  • Translation Y (up-and-down movement of the body)
  • Rotation Y (rotation of the body for balance)

5. Pivoting the Foot Between Poses

• The pivoting of the foot from the ground should occur between the down pose and the passing pose.
• Allocate additional frames if needed to ensure the pivoting is smooth and realistic. This will enhance the overall quality of the walk cycle.
  
  
  

Body mechanics

Planning

Planning is essential not only for the upcoming assessment next week but also for work in the industry. It is important to present the general idea in a way that others can easily grasp what you are doing, including references, storyboarding, notes, and other planning materials.

Overview

Body mechanics focuses on the functionality of body movement, such as body weight shifts, foot placement, and overall physicality. Only after the functional part is well executed can acting and emotional expression be effectively added to the animation.

Shooting your own reference

• Maintain the same angle you’re animating to. Record at eye level for consistency.
• If using a single camera, record in a 3/4 perspective view. Alternatively, use multiple cameras to capture movement from several orthographic views.
• Lock the camera to prevent unintended movement.
• Use mirror reflections if working with a single camera setup.
• Test movements in 2D first, using drawn blocking before animating.

Planning Details

• Animation duration: 5 seconds.
• Include references, sketches, planning materials, and video footage.
• Use the bony rig, focusing on body movement and avoiding hand details at this stage.
  
  

List of Activities:

Easiest:

• Jumping on the spot.
• Getting up from a chair to standing.

Advanced:

• Going downstairs.
• Walking upstairs.
• Jumping down from a ledge.
  
  

Getting Up from a Chair to a Standing Position

When sitting, the center of gravity (COG) is distributed across the spine and buttocks, with the body weight resting on the chair. To stand up, the body weight must shift forward and upward.

1. Initial Movement:
   • The pelvis rotates on the X-axis, allowing the upper body to move forward.
   • The chest also rotates on the X-axis, bending the character forward into position.
   • This movement is pelvis-driven, although the head moves first due to the shift initiated by the pelvis. Avoid misunderstanding this as head-driven movement.
2. Weight Transition:
   • The body weight shifts forward onto the legs before moving upward.
   • The movement transitions from a “C” shape (sitting) to an inverted C shape (standing), with an intermediate S shape to ensure smooth, natural movement.
3. Spine Action:
   • The spine stretches and then compresses slightly as the character stands, creating a dynamic squash-and-stretch effect.

Approach:

• Use a pose-to-pose animation method, beginning with key poses and refining them with in-betweens.
• Blocking should focus on capturing major transitions first, then addressing smaller details.

Timing and Spacing:

• Allocate sufficient time to the initial sitting position so the audience clearly understands the character’s action.
• Ensure smooth and believable transitions between key poses with appropriate spacing.

Critique walk cycle in blocking & walk cycle in spline exercise.

Walk Cycle Animation in Spline

Delivering process

Rotation X. Sinusoidal.

Translation Z. The character moves with a constant speed, and therefore translation Z is described as a linear interpolation. Because the rig is reversed right to left, the graph editor defines linear interpolation that’s decreasing.

Translation Y. The body shifts up and down, in the cycles, so the approximation should be similar to each of wave.

Rotation X. All the poses, in green, refer to down pos. All the oranges highlights to passing pose. Rotation X, is higher in value for the passing poses, as the body shifts towards the front, and leans forward, significantly more than the down pose. For the down pose, the lean forward is minor, so it’s only slightly moving forward.

Rotation Y, foot.

Translation Z FOOT
As the foot is moving, shaping the arc in Y axis, it moves from place A to B, easing in at the beginning of the movement (start of the making a step) and easing out (stop of making a step).

Critique weight shift & Planning and blocking for walk cycle animation.

Philosophy of Walking

“Walking is the process of falling over and catching oneself just in time.”
This simple yet profound observation highlights the forward-leaning posture inherent in walking—a controlled imbalance that propels us forward.

“Walking is the process of being stuck in place for a moment before moving ahead.”
This personal reflection adds a philosophical layer to the act of walking, emphasizing the interplay of stillness and motion that defines each step.

Here’s a revised and polished version of your text, broken into sections for clarity and flow:

Philosophy of Walking

“Walking is the process of falling over and catching oneself just in time.”
This simple yet profound observation highlights the forward-leaning posture inherent in walking—a controlled imbalance that propels us forward.

“Walking is the process of being stuck in place for a moment before moving ahead.”
This personal reflection adds a philosophical layer to the act of walking, emphasizing the interplay of stillness and motion that defines each step.

Walking Styles: Personality Through Motion

Each character has a unique way of walking, which can be crafted to reflect their personality and mood. By manipulating timing, position, and offset, animators can develop distinct characteristics that make every walk cycle feel alive and meaningful.

Inspiration: Ryan Larkin’s Walking

Shows how tiny changes in posture, rhythm, and style can portray various personalities and moods through the simple act of walking.

Body weight shift critique

Overall, this is a good attempt; however, more focus needs to be placed on the centre of gravity (COG) and physical accuracy. Some of the proposed poses in the blocking phase are unrealistic and impossible to recreate with the human body in real life. Therefore, it is advisable to always cross-check the poses against your own body movements to ensure they are achievable and grounded in reality.

Vanilla walk cycle blocking exercise

The purpose of this exercise was to understand how the walk cycle works. Due to the complexity of the movement, where all body parts are in motion—and each can be broken down into principles like the bouncing ball—it is particularly challenging for beginner animators to animate a walk solely based on reference. To address this, George provided full guidance through the animation process, demonstrating how to block a walk cycle in 24 frames per cycle.


My submission on Syncsketch: Walk Cycle -> Walk_cycle_front