Thursday, June 4, 2009

Wow, this is like the worst peice of trash i've ever done. I'm really really unhappy with this. I just went about it all wrong, i dunno i guess i'm not very good with the jason ryan technique, or i had too many keys or something, it was a real pain to use the graph editor with so many keys, and i'm not sure how to do an onion skinning like effect, and i didn't want to inbetween every single frame.

So all in all i'm not sure where i went wrong, but i did...in a big way.

Please...be gentle Ian, i know it's shit, this is by far the worst animation i've done.

BUT ENJOY! :D



Untitled from Nathan Green on Vimeo.

2 comments:

Frank said...

Nathan. You still have a bit of time to polish, or even re-do, this hop/jump and replace the video on Vimeo, since you recognise that it is not up to your standards.

First up. Well done, you met the deadline for submission. That is an important achievement.

I'd suggest you do a ball bounce across the space, or jump your bean character (it is a 'shape of action') across it. Get the principles sorted out clearly: timing, spacing, stretch and squash, anticipation...

Clearly indicate your key poses: line of action, balance, psychological gestures. For example, the anticipation is not deep enough for the height of the jump.

The Jason Ryan technique is all about planning. When you start using it you should aim to get the whole sequence planned out and broken down. That is, from the story telling key poses to a level of breakdown frames every 3 to 4 frames. This has to be done to your satisfaction. Before opening Maya.

Once in Maya and having made all the poses match your planning, you can look at the curves in the Graph Editor and consider deleting key frames, if they create curves that can be matched with adjusting handles/spline tangents. Do this if you like to animate while checking the graph editor.

The videos I showed the class about the JR technique state that he, Jason Ryan, does not use the graph editor very much for animating. He forces the computer to do what he wants by making the poses and setting keys without long rows of computer inbetweens.

That being said, it may turn out not to be the method for you. But that decision should only be made after trying it over a number of projects.

I remember you asking for your line test, "Is that good enough?"

Here's what happens in my head when I get asked that question: I look at the animation, I look at the production schedule, I look at the clock, and I consider the minimum requirement to get a pass for a qualification. I look at the need to gather proof for assessment for the unit, I look at the effort that is being applied in our class time to the task (how many line tests have been presented, how many conversations have been had about the animation), I observe if the animator is getting up and acting out the action. I look if the animator has researched the action with video reference. Those things make up my context as well as the quality of the animation, and I reply, "Yes", in view of covering the minimum requirements for most of those factors, and with a big chunk of consideration given to getting the EAP done by the deadline.

If the context was: "Will this EAP be a good thing to feature on a show reel?", the answer may be different.

If the context is, as a student, you want to get the task out of the way, because you are busy with other things other than 3D animation, the answer is, "Yes, I guess it's good enough." Once again taking into account of getting the task handed in on time.

The question you are answering in your post response is the important one, "Is it good enough for Nathan?"

It is a jump exercise of about 75 frames. Based on Ian's animation challenge , you should be able to churn out 2 of these jumps every 3 days. So you should be able to get 4 versions of improved jumps done by next Thursday :)

Seek to improve.

Thankfully, you have looked at it and recognised, at this point, it is not good enough for you. That is an important thing to recognise.

Now fix it.

(All these comments should be read as encouragement and not as criticism. I am excited about the candour of your post. Good work)

Nathan Green said...

Well i would like to, and i will revisit it if i ever get this stupid problem to go away, i'm still yet to try some suggestions Ian gave me. And i have terry's comic to do which i'm finding really difficult, i'm not a strong artist when it comes to drawing.