improving this animation

[yihoo86]

I sthink i've figured out how to solve the deformation problem from the previous chitchat, and i've made this animation

http://www.freewebs.com/y1wang86/tempanimation01.avi

and i was wondering

a) is there any way to make the animation more realistic? more lifelike in the movements? I know about the graph editor, but is there something else i can use to edit the animation?

b) is there a way to save this animation so i can use it whenever i want? because this model still has the bad deformation, and i want to export this animation for use on my model with the good deformation in the shoulders

c) i'm trying to make this into a sort of shadow creature, so i'm trying to make the creature completely black with a purple or blue glow on the edges, is there anyway to do that without using the fire dynamic?

sorry for the barrage of questions, but i'm really trying to get a project done before the month is over, any help would be really appreciated.

[sunder]

Hello yihoo!
a) You could also try using the dopesheet for editing animation. I think the motion is very cool, quite stylized/exaggerated. There's some clipping with the left leg and ground in a few frames you may want to fix.
About making it more realistic: see if you can shoot some video of yourself (crawling above a bed?). You might pick up some subtleties that will help push your animation further.

b) There are a few ways of saving out your animation. You can export the animation curves or an animation clip via trax. You can also use retargeting to transfer animation from your current character to another.

c) You can do the purple/blue glow on the edges using Maya Toon outlines. We have some training material on the horizon that goes over normal and unconventional ways of using toon to get some crazy cool effects.

Good luck on your project. Please post it up here when it's done! :D

[delano]

I think your animation is coming along great, yih0086! Here are a few suggestions that I think will really help you out:

-I think, initially, when his hands come out the ground and plant, it’s too much of linear motion.

• My solution is to plant the hands a bit quick, more aggressive! And I think you can add more follow-through to the second hand that rises and plants(Right Hand).

-You’ve got some good movement going on as the creature rises. But something looks a little off when his First Leg (Left Leg) lifts up out of the ground.

• I think it’s because his Body doesn't move when that Leg is lifting up (It should shift to the Right)…

• And I see the same problem when the other Leg (Right Leg) goes up (the Body should shift to the Left).

- I think your character’s Feet should plant faster than they do. Always keep in mind your character’s weight. And it seems to me that he’s got some weight on him. Think about what type of “material” he’s composed of. Is it metal?

-Once his Legs are planted, the Upper Body springs up too fast and rises too slow! Try balancing that movement out.

-I like the movement when he bends his Back backwards.

• I think you could do something with his Arms though as his Back is bending backwards. They seem too loose, and he seems to be warrior-like. Give him a tougher stance, and a sharper line of action. I would raise his Elbows up and turn his Arms out. Kind of like this (Check Out "Attachment 1")

• And I think you should hold that pose (of his Back bent backwards) for a few more frames, especially if he’s about to yell (is he yelling at the end of the animation?).

-If your character is yelling at the end of the animation, I think you should give him a much more aggressive pose, as well as more aggressive movement…

• When he bends forward to yell (if he is yelling), I would throw his Arms back and bend his Elbows so that his Arms have a little more than a 90 degree angle to them (use a comic book character like the Hulk for reference, if you are going for something like that in your animation): (See Attachment 2)


• I think you should also make his Body shake as he’s yelling instead of having him rotate back and forth.. Not much, though. Just to add more subtlety.

But, other than that, you’re doing a great job on this animation, yihoo86! I also agree with Sunder: definitely use reference if you are not! Believe me, it helps! And if you are acting out your animations, try and “become” your character. Also try to find good examples of other characters that are similar the character you’re animating to get ideas.

As for the other areas, I think you will really enjoy the training material we have coming out to help you with the outer glow you want for your character. And, definitely post updates and the finished product if you can :) !

[yihoo86]

what is the toon shader? I have looked through all the material in the hypershade and there isnt a material called toon shader. is it a special node or something?

[tanya]

http://www.digitaltutors.com/digital_tutors/video_details.php?v=549

[yihoo86]

ok, nevermind, i just realized that what i need to do is use the toon outline available in maya 7, except it gives a really cartoony look to the monster, and i want it to be more of a glow rather than an outline.

I was playing around with the fire dynamic, and i actually found this to be a good way to add a glow to the monster, by adding the fire dynamic.

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/4858/temp01small3ln.png

the only problem is that, when the monster moves, the fire doesnt stick to the body, especially if he does a very sudden movement. Is there anyway to make the fire stick to the body all the time? even when the monster does rapid movements?

[sunder]

Did you try attaching a glow pfx brush to the toon outline?
The fire is particle based so you can reduce the lifespan of the particles so they die quicker and don't seem to be left behind. You could also set the monster as a strong goal for the particles.

[yihoo86]

ok, what about the trax editor? I've finally fixed the deformation problem on the model's shoulder area, and i've been able to import the clip from the bad model to the good model. Now i just need to create like 20 of them, coming out of the ground at different times and at different locations. Is there anyway to completely move the model to a different location while still maintaining the animations from the clip from the trax editor?

[sunder]

Yes, you can move the model to a different location and the trax will play the clip from that point. You could do it by grouping or setting the monster's clip to relative over a keyframe of the new position. Part of the non-destructive nature of Trax.
If you're going to do a crowd of them, you may want to bake out the animation and get rid of as many excess nodes as possible. It'll be a little faster for you.

[yihoo86]

Yes, the animation is going pretty well. I want to create a whole crowd of the monsters, is there anyway to copy an object with all the joints and influence objects attached? Cuz I've just been doing a whole bunch of importing to duplicate and i think there's gotta be a better way.

[sunder]

Have you tried duplicating your object with Duplicate Input Graph turned on?

[yihoo86]

ok, here is the monster, animated and greenscreened against a real background, i made the whole thing into a trailer for a movie that i want to make and use the creatures in

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eeric1987/trailer_small.wmv

but after all that, the creatures still don't look realistic, i dunno what to do! please help!

[sunder]

It's going to be hard sell because of the lighting issues. In one shot, the monster didn't have shadows. If the monsters are glowing also, the ground near them should show it. It will be a little challenging to get it look right also because your monsters are shaded black.

[yihoo86]

so would it be easier to sell if the monsters were not shaded black but textured instead? The reason why i did them black because i dont really kno how to texture, and took the lazy way out.

[sunder]

The monsters are shaded black against a slightly gloomy setting. The black really makes them stick out in that sense. If you could somehow make the environment darker to emphasize the summoning, it might fit and look better.
Also, try and implement some tricks to fool the viewer's eye. Just like you have an afterimage on your actor when he walks, set something like that for your monsters too. Try and put some more motion blur in the renders or speed some stuff up. Having some subtle sound effects can also make a bit of difference. You're doing pretty good. Keep it up.

[laxman]

looks good. Like sunder said, i'd put sounds like when they hit the ground, make a thud sound to make them seem heavy. Also right before the monsters come you shouild make the whole scene darker, to give the fire effect more contrast. Another stylistic thing, at the start, when he is walking towards the camera, that seems like the perfect time to make the effect where you film the person walking from far away while they walk right up to the camera. Then you cut out a few seconds in between, so the person appears to be skiping forwads. Then put a frame blend effect so the person fades from the previous position and appears in the new one. Works really well if you can keep the camera steady.

For the modeling, when the monsters come out of the hole, i would suggest modeling a hole. What you would to is modle a hole with a section of road around it (use a picture to get the texture), so then a hole can open up, and you can have nice fire effects comming form the bottom. All you have to do then is make the edges of the pavement texture attached to the hole transparent (make a gradient so that it slowly dissapears), that way it can blend itself into the pavement and look very reel even if the render is not.

And I think in the trailer, the monsters should come a little faster, people tend to get impatient, and if you look at a trailer for a movie, the action usually starts withing 30 seconds. You should also finish with a close up of the moinster. Maybe having the monster roar while the camera zooms into its mouth and the screen becomes black.