Secondary Action - Tail Ball

Critical Evaluation

This is the Secondary Action - Tail Ball exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Firstly, the main topic of this project was the Secondary Action principle. In this case, main action is the ball jumping on the floating surface, and the secondary action is the motion of the tail, because it is not necessary for the important action to happen. However, various kinds of principles are also evident in this animation. In my opinion, the anticipation as the ball squashes and rotates in the beginning of the action, is very efficient, because the timing is slow enough for the object to gather its energy in order to make the leap. Furthermore, I moved the floating surface further, because the arc was not curved enough. I used Motion Trail, moved the points of the curve to reshape the arc, and I believe, that the movement is more believable and less mechanical, as it would be if the arc was straight. Additionally, the follow through of the landing is also portrayed by the squash of the ball, and its timing and spacing is appropriate enough to demonstrate the power of this leap. The action is not very fast or slow. In terms of spacing, I could say that the ease in helps the depiction of this energy.

On the other side, I believe that the tail motion is not very successful. This would be probably due to the fact that there is no overlapping action. Unfortunately, I did not know how to achieve this technically, thus, all of the joints of the tail move at the same time (their key positions are on the same frame). This also lead to another problem. I could not focus on the spacing of each joint rotation, thus, their motion is not so relative to the power of the squash and stretch of the main action. In addition, the tail could be more curved when the object is in the air or on the floating surface. However, I believe that the secondary motion in the beginning is more successful, because the problem with the overlap is not very obvious, and also the timing is coherent with the main action; the tail stretches forward as the ball is squashed, thanks to the anticipation, and stretched backwards as the ball stretches releasing the energy forth to leave the ground.

I would prefer to understand my mistakes and upload an improved version of this project.

Secondary Action - Dog Tail

Critical Evaluation 

This is the Secondary Action - Dog Tail exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

The main topic of this project was the secondary action. I began by animating the main action, which is the dog walking. As the story develops, the main action is the character hitting on the box. I believe, that the animation when the character is lifted in the air should be stronger, because in this animation, it appears smooth enough. Additionally, the main action in the end is the dog which attempts to understand what happened, and the motion of the head is very effective, because the slow in and out make the motion believable enough.

While the motion of the walking was completed, I continued with the head turning. This movement is the secondary action of the animation, because the dog is sniffing around and it is not a significant part of the plot. In my opinion, this motion is not realistic enough, because it appears linear. even though I adjusted the spacing in the Graph Editor. After the dog is on the ground again, the secondary actions are the ears lifting and the motion of the tail. In my opinion, the animation of the ears is very efficient, because it portrays the surprise of the dog due to the hit, and the appearance of the cube which it had not noticed, also the timing and spacing are appropriate, giving a fast and believable motion. Furthermore, the animation of the tail is also a successful secondary action. Firstly, it shows the tension of the dog due to the conflict. Secondly, the timing is fast enough and makes the action stronger. However, the stopping of the tail movement in the end is slightly abrupt.

This was a great project because I was occupied with the separation of the main and secondary action and the different elaboration of them.

Dinner by Birdbox Studio - Critical Understanding of Secondary Example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp30_gF1GcY


The task of this assignment is to critically understand the secondary action from the Dinner animation by Birdbox Studio, and find which the main and secondary action is.

Firstly, the main action of the dog is the running as it approaches its food, and the eating of it when it reaches the plate.Additionally, as it eats, it moves its tail, which is the secondary action. This animation, is not necessary for the development of the plot, and it does not help the motion of the character while eating the food. However, I believe that this movement adds more character, because it demonstrates the joy of the animal while eating, and also gives a more natural feel to the animation, as dogs move their tails when in excitement.

Secondly, when the plate goes under the furniture, the dog wants to take it back. Thus, its main action changes from before, because the plot also changes. Its main action is supported with various movements, such as the stretch of its legs in order to reach the object and the use of other objects to help it get the plate back. Furthermore, there are also various secondary actions. For example, the motion of the tail, which has the same scope as before. In my opinion, the barking is a very efficient action, because it depicts its desperation, also the eyes blinking makes the whole animation more realistic, as its an appropriate action for most living beings. Plus, in my opinion, the way it moves its tail and ears down is also a secondary action, which helps the demonstration of disappointment, same for its facial expression. However, the same body parts and the expression on the end, when the plate is under the opposite furniture, have a different aim, they are very efficient secondary actions, because they portray the depression of the dog.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Mime Comedy critical evaluation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPMBV3rd_hI

 In this task, I am asked to critically evaluate the follow through and overlapping action of a mime comedy performance.

Initially, on 1:18 the overlapping action is effective enough, as the mime firstly leans his shoulders, torso, lower body and the waist slightly. Until 1:30, all of his leanings are very efficient in order to give the impression of turning the car while driving. On 2:08, the overlapping action is very well used while the performer attempts to make these dancing movements, as the energy begins from the pelvis and continues to the lower body, torso, shoulders and head. Same for 2:07 when the motion becomes more complicated because he moves his head left and right. Between 3:58 - 4:05, the different parts of the body move in different times, and they clearly create the feel of the comic electrocution. Furthermore, between 4:11 - 4:36, the running is also very well performed, because the mime moves the parts of the body in various times and also gives the essence of travelling a real distance to reach the car. On 4:28, the overlapping action helps him to depict the great force applied to him because he hangs on a running car.

Secondly, on 2:04, the follow through is very well performed, as the mime stops his main body and his head still moves forward and stops, due to the brake. However, it is probably exaggerated a little bit, but would be for the sake of the performance. Additionally, on 2:36, the element of follow through is better portrayed, when the mime attempts to open the locked door and stops due to the resistance, and his head, shoulders, torso, lower body and even the hips move for a short period of time backwards, then forward and stop. However, on 2:47 when he opens the door using a crowbar, he could make the follow through even more intense, by probably moving the various parts of his body, similar with his attempt of opening the locked door with the hand, previously.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Cape Ball

Critical Evaluation 

This is the Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Cape Ball exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Initially, the main topic of this project was the principle of follow through and overlapping action. The first bend was animated from the start, thus, I had to animate the Onoff attribute for the ball to leave the board, as it bends up and the sphere is thrown in the air. I created bounces by setting keys on Translate X and Y axes, and used the Motion Trail to select and move the keyframe points on the curve, editing the curvature of the motion. Additionally, I set a keyframe on the last key of the translation to rotate the sphere due to the thrown.

On the one side, I believe that the bending of the board after the ball leaves it is very effective. I only used 3 frames for each bend, and the distance between the extreme poses was decreasing, as the power was decreasing, too. Furthermore, in my opinion, the spacing of the last bounces is appropriate enough to give the impression of a physics based motion.

On the other side, I faced many problems. Firstly, I could not understand how to animate the cape controllers effectively in order to achieve the desired motion demonstrated in the demo video. The animation is not efficient from the beginning, because the moving cape passes through the surface of the board, as the latter bends down. In addition, I approached the animation using my own impression of movement, but, I did not stretched the cape as the ball was rotating before it reaches the ground, because the poses of the rotation were not similar with the ones of the video. Plus, the rotation of the sphere in the start is also problematic, probably due to a technical issue. In my opinion, the spacing of the sphere as it falls is a little bit linear, I attempted to manipulate the curves of the Translate Y attribute, but the distance between the poses was not increasing, as I observed it through ghosting. Furthermore, the ease in as the ball leaves the board is not constructed properly and I could not give the impression of energy released due to the throw.

In believe that this was a very challenging project and I would prefer to understand my mistakes and make a second attempt to complete it.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Hammer

Critical Evaluation

This is the Follow Through and Overlapping Action - Hammer exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya.

Firstly, the main topic of this project was the principle of follow through and overlapping action. I set keyframes on the Rotate Z attribute of the spring mesh, but also assigned it a bend deformer, in order to reinforce the follow through of the object as the hammer hits the ground. I used 3 frames for each up rotation and 3 for each down rotation, and the same timing for the bend attribute. My purpose was to create a coherent motion between the deformer and the orientation. That is the reason that I used the same timing and the same spacing, making the tangents flat and unified, in order to set the motion contiguous, except from the ones where the follow through begins, making them linear to create the slow in effect. When the curves had the same shape, I selected the handles of both curves and manipulated them together.

One the one hand, the motion of the spring depicts the element of follow through very effectively. I achieved that by viewing the poses through the frames using ghosting. In my first attempt, the poses were the same as the object was moving, but the effect of this movement is decreased due to energy loss.

On the other hand, I animated the spring from the start of the animation before the hammer started rotating, because the movie would be played in a loop to create continuous motion. This probably resulted to a less flowing motion, because the spacing between the last and the first keyframe of the timeline is maybe distant. Furthermore, the vibrations are not the same, because the hammer begins to rotate early enough, so there is no much time for it to rotate and bend, as for the second vibration.

In my opinion, thanks to this project I was occupied with the follow through principle and spacing manipulation.

Diving into the Pool - Improved version

Critical Evaluation

This is the Anticipation - Diving into Pool exercise playblast, using Autodesk Maya. This is the improved version of my previous attempt, while this project is more similar to the demo one.

Initially, the main topic of this project was the principle of anticipation. In my opinion, the stretch, squash and stretch again of the ball before it jumps is very effective, because it creates the impression of energy gathering due to the upcoming diving. Additionally, this anticipation of the anticipation enhances the essence of the power which is necessary to be gained. Furthermore, I believe that the spacing is also appropriate to depict the jump. The slow in as the sphere leaves the board is very well constructed in order to portray the impetus.

On the other side, the distance between the last frame where the sphere is on the board and the first where it is on the air is very long. However, the squash and stretch element could smooth out this whole motion. I also believe that the spacing during the fall could be manipulated more to demonstrate the speed due to the gravity, but I made various attempts and concluded to this depicted, because the extensive curve editing resulted to jagged motion.

In the end, this different approach of the project was an opportunity for me to be occupied with spacing and ghosting even more, also manipulate these various attributes to create the feel of anticipation.