Fundamentals. Character Animation. Developing Skills for 2D and 3D. Steve Roberts ELSEVIER AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD

Transcription

1 Character Animation Fundamentals Developing Skills for 2D and 3D Character Animation Steve Roberts AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD ELSEVIER PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier

2 Acknowledgements Preface Foreword xv xvii xix Chapter 1 Introduction to Animation Working Practice 1 How Animation Works 1 The Basics... 1 Frames per Second 2 WhatYou Need for Your Studio 2 Animation Paper 3 Peg Bars 3 Light Boxes 4, X-sheets 5 Sound 6 Action 7 Frame Numbers 7 Levels 8 Camera 9 Line Testers 11 Pencils 12 Let's Get Animating 12 Key-to-Key Animation 12 Animating Straight Ahead 14 Flipping, Flicking and Rolling 14 Flipping..15 Flicking Rolling..21 How to Use a Line Tester to Help Your Animation 22 Exercises 23 A Bouncing Ball in 2D 23 How to Relate Your 2D Animation toyour 3D Animation 27 The 13 Things You Need to Know About Maya 28 1 Maya Screen Basics 28 2 Maya Keyboard Shortcuts 28 Views Shortcuts 28 Animation/Manipulation Shortcuts 28

3 Playback Shortcuts 29 3 Setting Up Animation Preferences in Maya 29 4 Creating Basic Objects in Maya 29 5 Moving Objects in Maya 30 6 Setting Keys in Maya 30 7 Using Graph Editor in Maya 30 8 Creating a Preview in Maya 30 9 Hierarchies in Maya Creating Objects and Putting Bones in them in Maya Giving Your Characters Color in Maya Importing Sound into Maya Rendering a Scene in Maya 31 The 13 Things You Need to Know About 3D Studio Max D Studio Max Screen Basics D Studio Max Keyboard Shortcuts 32 Views Shortcuts 32 Animation/Manipulation Shortcuts 33 Playback Shortcuts Setting Up Animation Preferences in 3D Studio Max 33 4 Creating Basic Objects in 3D Studio Max 34 5 Moving Objects in 3D Studio Max 34 6 Setting Keys in 3D Studio Max 34 7 Using Track View in 3D Studio Max 35 8 Creating a Preview in 3D Studio Max 35 9 Hierarchies in 3D Studio Max Creating Objects and Putting Bones in them in 3D Studio Max Giving Your Characters Color in 3D Studio Max Importing Sound into 3D Studio Max Rendering Your Work in 3D Studio Max 37 Overview of the 'Ball Drop' Exercise in 3D 38 How to Animate a Basic Bouncy Ball in Maya 42 How to Create Your Ball 42 How to Animate Your Ball 43 Adjusting the In-Betweens 45 How to Animate a Basic Bouncy Ball in 3D Studio Max 49 How to Create Your Ball 49 How to Animate Your Ball 50 Adjusting the In-Betweens 52 Drawing 55 The 12 Principles of Animation 58 60, Squash and Stretch 59 Anticipation 59 Staging 59 Straight-Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose 59 Follow-Through and Overlapping Action vi

4 Slow In and Slow Out 60 Arcs 60 Secondary Action 60 Timing 61 Exaggeration 61 Solid Drawing 61 Appeal 61 Chapter 2 Matter and the Animation of Inanimate Objects 63 Inanimate Objects 63 Weight 64 Environment 64 Solidity 65 Force 65 Construction ~ 66 How to Animate Inanimate Objects 66 The Animation of Solids 66 A Bowling Ball 66 A Soccer Ball 69 A Balloon 70 A Water-Filled Balloon 71 The Animation of Liquids 74 A Drip 74 A Splash 75 An Object Falling into Water 76 2D Exercises 77 The Background Level 77 Animating a 2D Bowling Bail 78 Animating a 2D Soccer Ball 85 Animating a 2D Beach Ball 88 Animating a 2D Ping-Pong Ball 89 Animating a 2D Water-Filled Balloon 89 3D Exercises 90 Chapter 3 The Construction of a Simple Character, its Articulation and Balance 95 - ; 96 Basic Human Anatomy 95 The Spine The Rib Cage 97 The Pelvic Girdle 97 vii

5 The Skull 98 The Shoulders 99 Joints 100 Plane Joints 100 Pivot Joints 101 Hinge Joints 101 Ball and Socket Joints 101 Saddle Joints 102 Condyloid Joints 102 Movement in Arcs. 102 Line of Action 104 Designing a Basic Human Character 104 How to Design a 3D Character 106 Complexity 109 The Graphic Nature of the Character 109 Strong Silhouettes 110 Weight and Balance 111 Gravity 111 Balance 111 Overview of How to Build and Rig a Simple 3D Character 114 Skin and Bones 114 Child of the Joint 115 Planning a Scene 116 Animating Your Characters (Using the Left and Right Sides ofthe Brain) 117 Exercises 118 The Lift Exercise in 2D 119 Working Out the Key Positions 119 In-Betweening the Key Positions 124 The Lift Exercise in 3D 129 The Lift Exercise in Maya 132 Setting the Keys in Maya 136 Setting the Breakdowns in Maya 145 The Lift Exercise in 3D Studio Max 148 Setting the Key Positions in 3D Studio Max 150 Setting the Breakdowns in 3D Studio Max 153 Chapter 4 Timing, Anticipation, Overshoot, Follow-Through and Overlapping Action with an Animated Character 159 Timing 159 Anticipation 161 viii

6 How Much Anticipation? 164 Force 164 Acting and Anticipation 167 Double Takes 167 Speed and Surprise 168 Anticipation During a Movement 169 Varying the Amount of Anticipation 171 Other Ways of Using Anticipation 172 Follow-Through 173 Follow-Through of Inanimate Objects 174 Follow-Through of Animate (Living) Objects 177 Overlapping Action, or Overshoot 183 Vibration 185 Exercises 186 The Stick and String Exercise in 2D _ 186 The Stick and String Exercise in 3D _ 190 The Stick and String Exercise in Maya 191 Building the Stick and String in Maya 191 Animating the Stick and String in Maya 193 The Stick and String Exercise in 3D Studio Max 194 in 3D Studio Max Building the Stick and String Animating the Stick and String in 3D Studio Max 195 The Dive Exercise in 2D The Dive Exercise in 3D 206 The Dive Exercise in Maya 213 Building the Background in Maya 213 Animating the Dive in Maya 215 The Dive Exercise in 3D Studio Max 216 Building the Background in 3D Studio Max 217 Animating the Dive in 3D Studio Max 219 Chapter 5 Animation of Human Walks and Runs 223 Walk Cycles 223 Pace 224 Walking Mechanics 226 The Stride Positions 226 The Crossover Positions 228 Shoulder Movement 230 Arm Movement 232 Up-and-Down Movement ofthe Body ; 234 ix

7 Walk Cycles Displaying Different Moods 234 External Influences 236 Two People Walking Together 237 Running 238 Exercises 240 The Walk or Run Cycle Exercise in 2D 240 The Walk or Run Cycle Exercise in 3D 241 Changing the Pace and Mood in a Walk Exercise in 2D 242 Changing the Pace and Mood in a Walk Exercise in 3D 243 Chapter 6 Animation of Animal Walks and Runs 245 The FourTypes ofanimal Locomotion 245 Construction of an Animal 245 Pantomime Horse Construction 247 Cartoon Four-Legged Construction 249 Correct Four-Legged Construction 251 Animal Leg and Foot Construction.252 Animals with Paws 252 A Dog Walk 254 A Cat Walk 259 Animals with Cloven Feet ; 259 Animals with Hooves 260 Flat Feet 261 Animal Runs 262 Trotting 262 Cantering 263 Galloping 263 Transverse or Rotary Gallops and Canters 264 Exercises 264 The Dog Walk Cycle in 2D The Dog Walk Cycle in 3D 267 The 3D Dog Walk or Run Cycle 269 Chapter 7 Animation of Acting - Body Language 275 Acting 275 Method Acting 275 Theatrical Acting 276 x

8 Consequence «Emotions _ Introduction to Laban MovementTheory 277 Kinesphere ; 278 Space,Time, Weight and Flow Continuums 278 Eight Basic Efforts 279 Pressing 279 Flicking 279 Wringing 279 Dabbing 279 Slashing 279 Gliding 279 Thrusting 280 Floating 280 General Body Language 280 Basic Body Postures 281 Open Body Postures 282 Closed Body Postures 282 Forwards Body Postures 283 Backwards Body Postures 283 Basic Modes 284 Responsive 284 Reflective 286 Fugitive 287 Combative 289 Palm, Hand, Arm and Leg Gestures 291 Palm Gestures 291 Hand Gestures 292 Arm Crossing 295 Leg Crossing 296 Using Rhythm in Animation 298 Acting Out a Scene in Animation 298 Using Video Footage to Help Your Animation 303 Using Rotoscoping and Motion Capture in Animation 305 Rotoscoping 305 Motion Capture (Mocap) 306 Optical Systems 306 Non-Optical Systems 306 How to Import Motion Capture into Maya 307 How to Import Motion Capture into 3D Studio Max 307 The Seven Questions of Character 308 The Different Types of Animation Acting 308 Animated Radio _ ; 308 xi

9 Pose-to-Pose Animation Acting.309 Full Animation Acting 309 Mime 310 Analysis of a Character 310 Exercises»311 Animating Acting in 2D 311 Animating Acting in 3D 316 Building a More Sophisticated Character 318 Chapter 8 Animation of - Acting Facial Expressions 329 Emotions 329 The Eyes 332 Facial Expressions 337 Happiness 337 Smiles 337 Sadness 339 Surprise 341 Fear 342 Anger.343 Disgust and Contempt 344 Interest : Pain and Distress 347 Combination of Facial Expressions.348 Head Angle 351 Hand-to-Face Gestures 352 Evaluation 353 Deceit 353 Stress 355 Extreme Close-Ups.355 How to Animate a Piece of Facial Acting 356 Exercises 362 The Facial Expression Exercise in 2D 362 The Facial Expression Exercise in 3D 364 Adding a Simple Mouth and Eyebrows to Your Basic 3D Character The Eyebrows 366 Making Mouths 367 Creating Mouths with Blend Shapes in Maya 367 Creating Mouths with the Morpher in 3D Studio Max 367 Creating Facial Expressions with Your More Sophisticated Character 368 Animating Mouths with Blend Shapes in Maya 368 Animating Mouths with the Morpher in 3D Studio Max 369 xii

10 Chapter 9 Animation of Acting - Two or More Characters Two Characters on Screen Together 371 Personal Space 372 Mirroring 375 How Characters Look at Each Other 377 Two Characters Acting with Each Other While Talking 379 Two Characters: Alternating from One Shot to Another 381 A Large Group of Characters on Screen at the Same Time 383 Exercises 385 The Double Acting Exercise in 2D 385 Animating It 385 The Double Acting Exercise in 3D 390 Loading Two Identical Characters into the Same Scene in Maya 390 Loading Two Identical Characters into the Same Scene in 3D Studio Max 390 Animating It 390 Chapter 10 Lip-Sync 391 Recording and Breaking Down a Dialog Track 392 HowWe Speak 394 Acting with Dialog 395 Quick from Pose-to-Pose 396 Slow from Pose-to-Pose 397 Eractically From Pose-to-Pose 397 Mouth Shapes 397 Mouth-Shut Consonants 398 'M' 398 'B' 399 'P' 399 T 400 'V 400 Vowels 400 'Ooo' 401 'O' 401 'AR' 402 'A' 402 'EH' 403 'EEE' 403 The Quieter Vowels and Consonants 404 Teeth. 405 Animating the Mouth Shapes Early 405 xiii

11 Exercises 405 The Lip-Sync Exercise in 2D 405 The Lip-Sync Exercise in 3D 408 Importing Sound into Maya 408 Importing Sound into 3D Studio Max 408 Animating the Mouth 408 Mouth-Shut Consonants 410 The Vowels 410 The Quieter Vowels and Consonants 413 Animating the Mouth 413 Animation Equipment Suppliers 415 Index 419 xiv