Intro
Introduction to fellow colleagues on the course, following and Introduction to the module structure, in-class teaching and summative and formative assessments. The following section describes the detailed topics covered during the initial session.
Maya Setup
Project Setup Instructions
- Create a New Project Locally
Begin by creating a new project directory on your local drive. - Drag and Drop to Scenes
Organize your scenes by dragging and dropping relevant files into your project’s “scenes” folder. - Set the Project
Ensure the project is set in Maya to avoid pathing issues during the workflow. - Reference Project
Use references to maintain an organized and modular project structure.
Maya settings for Animation (general)
- Frame Rate: 24 FPS
- Evaluation Mode: Parallel
- Playback: Play every frame
Selection control
Group all controls under a “selection control” to optimise the workflow, via creation for the quick selection -> adding these to the navigation shelf for easy access.
Master Control
The master control, typically located at the rig’s base, should not be adjusted while animating to avoid unintended global transformations.
Graph Editor
Interpolation Curves
1. Straight line = no change
2. Linnear interpolation: constant acceleration from A to B coordinate space, characterized by robotic-like movement. However in 2D space, for the representation of the movement, the change within the X coordinate space is described as linear interpolation.
3. ARC: create organic movements, particularly for “living creatures,” as they naturally move in arcs, allowing for implementation of ease in and ease out to refine the transitions between keyframes for smooth motion. The change within the y coordinate space, corresponding to height is described with the parabola movement.
XYZ Rotation Order
- X: Forward and backward
- Y: Rotation around the vertical axis
- Z: Left and right
Bouncing Ball Exercise
Key Concepts
- Energy Loss: As the ball bounces, it loses energy, resulting in shorter heights, fewer frames between keyframes, and smaller angles of rotation over time.
- Physics Principles: Applies Newton’s 2nd law (each time a ball hits the ground it loses its energy), gravity is an external force that works on the ball causing it to fall down again after each bounce, alongside the momentum, and friction informs/define the movement and its trajectory.
- Material Properties: The number of bounces depends on the material’s elasticity, weight, and height from which the ball is being dropped. All these must be justified within the animation, to achieve reliability and approximate reality while simulating it.
- Animation Principles
SQUASH & STRETCH:
1) Mass Indication: The amount of squash and stretch should be applied in reference to the object’s material properties, as it reflects the object’s stiffness or softness.
– Soft Objects: High squash and stretch (e.g., rubber balls).
– Stiff Objects: Low squash and stretch (e.g., bowling balls).
2) Volume Consistency: Maintain the object’s volume while deforming it, to avoid inaccuracy (fairly beginner mistake).
3) Timing:
– Stretch: As the ball accelerates downward or upward.
– Squash: At the point of ground impact.
ARC MOVEMENT - Animation principles, state that all forms of the lives follow organic movements which are best approximated by circular/parabola-like shapes, not mechanical straight lines that define the linear interpolation.
- In 2D, this can be visualized as a linear increase in the x-coordinate and a parabolic increase in the y-coordinate.
Keyframe Planning
- Energy Decay:
Each time the ball hits the ground, it loses energy. The subsequent bounce will not reach the same height. - Arc Movement:
Bouncing follows an arc rather than a linear path for natural motion. - Squash and Stretch:
– Gradually reduce the squash and stretch effect over time.
– The volume of the object should remain consistent during squash and stretch.
– Avoid overusing squash and stretch for realism. - Motion Trails:
Use motion trails in orthographic views to visualize and refine curved motion. - Planning and visualisation:
– Work in the left view for planning and demonstrations.
– Upload a picture of the sketch to SyncSketch for reference.
Observations & Practical application.
O. Breaking tangents in the Graph Editor allows finer control over the curve shapes, enabling more nuanced movement adjustments.
O. Removing keys helps explore the animation’s overall feel and assess whether it works before finalizing.
P. Applying the principles of squash and stretch gave the animation more life-like dynamics.
P. Observing motion trails provided a clearer understanding of how the object’s trajectory aligns with the principles of arcs.
Bouncing Ball Exercise
Planning
Delivering
The ball is dropped at the angle. Gradual drop at first followed by step line. As the ball is falling, it accelerates, so the speed up can be developed by making the curve gradual at first, followed by a steep curve.
The parabola-like curves, arcs, decrease in size as the balls lose momentum and energy.
During the first bounce, the arc defines the ball’s movement. It starts steep and becomes more gradual halfway through, representing the drop in velocity. At its peak, the ball reaches equilibrium, momentarily hanging in the air before gravity pulls it down again. As a result, the first parabola will have a noticeably flattened top to emphasize this equilibrium and make it perceptible to the viewer. In subsequent parabolas, the equilibrium point becomes less noticeable as the motion continues.
To refine the arcs, I broke the tangents and manually reshaped each arc to better approximate the natural movement of the bouncing ball.
The red path illustrates the changes in the ball’s rotation. While the direction remains consistent, there is a slight offset toward the end. As the ball moves, it gradually loses energy, momentum, and velocity, which also results in a reduction of its rotation. This is visualized by the decreasing distance between the rotation keys.
Although the overall rotation accumulates over time, as shown by the increasing graph, the spacing between consecutive keyframes reflects a decreasing rotation value.
Stretch and squash. The amount of it’s highest at the first bounce-off and then gradually decreases.