Advanced Animation: Exercises

22.04.2024 -  27.05.2024 / Week 1 - Week 6
Sylvia Lau / 0356130
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Advanced Animation: Exercises


INSTRUCTION


Exercise 1: Bouncing Ball 

During our week 2 tutorial class, Mr Kamal had a demonstration on doing a basic bouncing ball animation using Blender. In our very first exercise, we were required to animate 4 different kinds of bouncing balls, for example, soccer ball, ping pong, bowling ball, and beach ball. 

We were given some video references of these bouncing balls:

From the references, we needed to observe the difference between each ball's physical properties and its weight. The timing, travel distance of each ball, number of bounces, and the height of bounces were all important to focus on.

Progress:

Figure 1.1

This was the template provided to animate the bouncing ball. There were also some settings that we needed to know while animating, for example, graph editor, motion path, and keyframes.

Figure 1.2

The first type of ball I animated was a soccer ball, using a basic bouncing ball technique. I followed the steps taught in the tutorial and referred to video references.

Figure 1.3

As time progresses, the bounce gradually diminishes, but it doesn't disappear entirely, resulting in lower bounce heights over time.

Figure 1.4

I then animated it slowly rolled out from the screen after it lost its bouncing.

Figure 1.5

Next up was animating a ping pong ball. Ping-pong balls are lightweight, so their bounce heights remain relatively high in the second and third bounces. Also, due to their weight, ping pong balls fall and bounce back up quickly. 

Figure 1.6

Additionally, compared to the soccer ball, ping pong balls bounce more times.

Figure 1.7

Then, I animated a bowling ball. Due to its heavy weight, the bouncing duration is shorter. Also, according to the video reference, bowling balls bounce only three to four times. They drop vertically and don't have as much elasticity or lightness as the previous two balls. 

Figure 1.8

 After bouncing, the bowling ball doesn't immediately stop moving, so I added a small rolling animation.

Figure 1.9

Finally, there's the volleyball. I found that the bouncing of a volleyball is similar to that of a soccer ball. 

Figure 1.10

However according to the video reference, volleyball bounces fewer times than a soccer ball. 

Figure 1.11

 Therefore, towards the end, I animated it gradually rolling to a stop.

First Attempt:


This was the compilation of four types of ball bouncing. 

Continuing with the next bouncing ball exercise, we needed to animate a ball with stretch and squeeze. Compared with the first four animation, I think it would be more work to be done while animating this. 

Figure 1.12

Using one of the examples from the previous week's tutorial, while the ball was falling, its shape should be stretched at the middle point until it landed. 

Figure 1.13

When the ball hitted the ground, it will squash. I found this part quite complex because besides adjusting the shape, it also involved adding keyframes, adjusting the graph, and so on.

Figure1.14

When the ball bounced back up from the ground, it would return to its original shape. The following steps would be repeated in the same manner.

Adjustment:

Figure 1.15

I adjusted the speed of the first bounce of the ping pong ball, moving it from the sixth keyframe to the tenth, because the previous falling speed was too fast.

Figure 1.16

The second adjustment was the duration of the bowling ball. I felt that the previous rolling time was too short and unnatural, so I extended the distance of the roll and made other adjustments accordingly.

Second Attempt:


Final Submission:


Exercise 2: Pendulum Animation

This exercise was to animate the pendulum main object moving from left to right on the screen and swing to show drags, overlapping and follow through. We were given a pendulum blender file to animate.

Figure 2.1

After completing setting the basic controls, set two keyframes for the main body, moving it from the left to the right.

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Then the more complex part is the tail. As the pendulum moves to the right, the tail will swing, and the stopping force will cause the tail to have a small flick.

Figure 2.4

Based on the feedback from my lecturer, the ending part was too abrupt and stiff. I added four more keyframes to the final part because there was still a large gap between the last and the second-to-last keyframes.

Additionally, in the breakdown, I adjusted the direction of the swing. Another important aspect was the graph editor. I was previously unsure about the purpose of the graph, so I only adjusted a small portion of it. However, after the adjustments, the swing amplitude was reduced, and the graph displayed a decreasing pattern rather than an up-and-down pattern.

Final Submission:


Exercise 3: Emotion Pose

In the next exercise, we were required to download the character rig which we could use to explore and create different emotions and poses. 

The action poses that we had to find must show these emotions:

1. Happy
2. Sad
3. Angry
4. Scared

Before starting it, I searched for some pose references that represented the emotions from Pinterest.

Reference:
Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4

The above images were poses that I would be use for modeling.

Happy pose:

Figure 3.5

Figure 3.6

Figure 3.7

Figure 3.8

From the references I found earlier, I combined the actions from the two images. Since it was my first time attempting this operation, I spent a considerable amount of time adjusting the character's posture. Once the rough adjustments were made, I moved on to the facial expressions. I did not use the expressions provided in Blender because the characters in the reference images had different expressions. Initially, I created an excited shouting expression similar to the first example, but I felt it didn't convey happiness well. So, I did multiple attempts to complete it. Lastly, the hands were positioned in a fist gesture.

Angry Pose:

Figure 3.9

Figure 3.10

Figure 3.11

I used Blender's provided expression models, which not only saved time but also allowed me to make small adjustments without starting from scratch. After the previous attempt, I became much more familiar with the process, so I could quickly completed the pose.

Sad pose:

Figure 3.12

Figure 3.13

Figure 3.14

Unlike the previous posture, this time the character is sitting on the ground. I found the most challenging part to be the legs and arms because, in addition to achieving my ideal pose, I had to ensure the character's body parts looked reasonable and natural. I initially planned to have one arm supporting the forehead, but after multiple attempts, it still seemed twisted and couldn't reach the knee. So, I eventually adjusted both hands to rest on the knees.

Scared pose:

Figure 3.15

Figure 3.16

Figure 3.17

The last pose was a frightened stance, and the steps were very similar to the previous ones, so it wasn't difficult.

Rendered & Lighting:

Figure 3.18

Figure 3.19

Figure 3.20

Figure 3.21

To convey an emotion, besides facial expressions, lighting can also enhance the visual experience. I used relevant colors for each expression, such as orange-yellow for happiness, red for anger, blue for sadness, and purple for fear.

Final Submission:

Figure 3.22

Figure 3.23

Figure 3.24

Figure 2.25








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