SNOWMAN ANIMATION PROJECT SET-UP - File Project New - In the New Project Dialog box (pictured right), Name: SNOWMAN Location: Select your Quarter 4 folder. Click Use Defaults at the bottom of the menu. Leave Images, SourceImages, Clips, and Sound. Delete all the rest. - Hit Accept to create. - File Save Scene As Name the scene: Snowman1 Click Save. SNOWMAN BODY - From the Polygon Shelf, create a sphere on the grid. (Specific size does not matter yet) - In the Channels Box on the right, select the psphere1 and change name to Snowman_Base - Set the dimensions of the Snowman_Base to these settings: - Press Space Bar to see the orthographic and perspective views. - Select the Front View Window. Press F on the keyboard to frame object. - Using the Move Tool (W), move the Snowman_Base up so that it is 2/3 above the horizon line. (See image below) - Right-Click and hold. Select Vertex and then release mouse. The purple dots you now see are called CVs (control vertices). - Select the bottom row of CVs by drawing a rectangle around them. - Select the Vertical Move Tool (green) and pull CVs up until they align with next line. - Continue to move CVs vertically by row until they reach the horizon line. - Press Apple+D to duplicate this flattened sphere. (Notice the dashed mesh lines = duplicated) - Press W and select the Vertical Move Tool (green). - Move the dupicated sphere up, placing it on top of the first sphere. - In the Channels Box, change name of this sphere to Snowman_Mid - Change Scale X, Y, and Z to 0.035 - Using the Vertical Move Tool, re-position the placement of the middle sphere so it sits on base.
SNOWMAN BODY (continued) page 2 - Duplicate the middle sphere and move duplicate to sit above Snowman_Mid sphere. - In the Channels Box, change name of this sphere to Snowman_Head - Change Scale X, Y, and Z to 0.0225 - Using the Vertical Move Tool, re-position the placement of the head sphere so it sits on middle. Your snowman should now look like this! SNOWMAN FACE We ll start with the eyes... - Select the Side View Window. Select the Head and press F. - Duplicate the Snowman_Head sphere. - Using the Move Tool (W), select the blue arrow and move it to the side. - Using the Rotate Tool (E), select the RED arc. Rotate the sphere so the flat side is vertical. - In the Channels Box, change name of this sphere to Eye1. - Change Scale X, Y, and Z to 0.002 - Using the Move Tools and the multiple-view windows, position the eye as shown below. - Duplicate this sphere and move it to the position for the second eye. Now lets make the Nose... - Select a cone from the Polygon Shelf and draw it on the grid. - Select the Scale Tool and click on the yellow box. Pull it until it looks proportional to the eyes. - In the Channels Box, change the name to Nose and Rotate X to 90. - Using the Move Tool, position it in the middle of the face. * DO NOT use the yellow move arrow * Moving on to the Mouth... - Select one of the eyes you ve created and duplicate it. - Using the Vertical Move Tool (green), move it directly down until it shows up in the mouth area. - In the Channels Box, change the name to Mouth. - Change Scale X, Y, and Z to.001. - Duplicate and move several times until you have a mouth that looks like a coal snowman mouth. - In the perspective view, pivot around the head and make sure the placement of each piece is ok. On to the Hat... - Select a cylinder from the Polygon Shelf and draw it on the grid. - I have made my Scale XYZ 0.05, but as long as your top hat is proportional, it will look fine. - Using the Move Tools, position the hat so that it slightly intersects the Snowman_Head sphere. - Using the Rotate Tool (blue arc), give the hat a slight tilt. Move the hat again so that it lays on the head realistically. - Select a torus from the Polygon Shelf (looks like a donut). Draw it on the grid. - Use the Scale Tool (R) and select the Y axis (green box). - Smush the torus until it looks like a hat brim. Watch it in the Side View window. - Use the move and rotate tools until it is positioned at the base of the hat. How does your snowman look?!
SNOWMAN ANIMATION page 3 SNOWMAN DETAILS Let s give our snowman a scarf... - Switch to all four views. - Select a cylinder from the Polygon Shelf and draw it on the grid. Make it a little taller than the snowman_mid sphere. - In the top view, use the scale tool and make it narrow, in the shape of an oval. (see graphic 1) 1 - Now switch to the side view. - Make sure the scarf is still selected. In the Channels Box, change the name from pcylinder1 to scarf. - In the Channels Box, look for where it lists Inputs. Click on the word cylinder below the word Input. This should open up its component settings. - Change the scarf s Subdivision Height to 6. (see graphic 2) This has now broken the shape up into 6 vertical sections. 2 - Still in the Side View, use your Move Tool to position the scarf in front of the snowman, so the top is just below the neck line. - Right-Click and hold. Select Vertex and then release mouse. - Select the top row of vertices by drawing a rectangle over them. - Using your Move Tool (W), slide the vertices in towards the neck. - Select and move the each row of vertices individually. *Attempt to mirror the shape of the snowman s body * (see graphic 3) - Move and Rotate the scarf until it lays realistically on the snowman s body. You can leave it in the middle or have it sit to the side. 3 - From the Polygon Shelf, create a Torus (donut). Draw it large. - Using the Scale Tool, make it look like the part of the scarf that goes around the neck. - Using the Move Tool, move it to lay around the neck of the snowman. He needs some arms now... - Using a skinny cylindar, create a shape that could become stick arms. - Follow the steps we used to create the drape part of the scarf. Manipulate the vertices so that it appears to be an organic stick. - Duplicate the completed stick and scale down to add fingers. - Select the sticks by drawing a rectangle around all elements. Duplicate the first arm and move to other side for the 2nd arm. Your snowman should now look something like this!
SNOWMAN MATERIAL page 4 To edit colors of the snowman, we will need to use the Attribute Editor. Check the map to see where you can find the Attribute Editor so that you are familiar with how edit materials. - Make sure that you are in Object Mode. Select the Snowman_Base. Right-Click and hold. Select Assign New Material Blinn. This material has a slight shine to it (like snow). - Your Attribute Editor Box. should now be shown on the right side. Make sure you are on the tab that says Blinn1. Change the name of the Blinn1 to SnowMaterial. - Where it says Color, click on the adjacent grey box and it will open your color menu. Set the color to White and hit accept. (See graphic 1) 1 - Now select the Snowman_Mid. Right-Click and hold. Select Assign Existing Material SnowMaterial Using these techniques, assign a color to each part of the snowman. If you are applying a color that you have already used elsewhere, use the Assign Existing Mat. For a new color, choose Assign New Material. ** For the scarf and hat material, use Lambert instead of Blinn. Lambert is a matte or less shiny material. ** SNOWMAN ENVIRONMENT You have a lot of options available for different environment possibilities. This will show you how to make an organic surface that could act as a mountain or ground. If you would like buildings, please use the techniques discussed in the Computer Monitor Model handout. - Create a Polygonal Plane on the grid. Make it much larger than the snowman. - Assign the plane the SnowMaterial that you created before. - In the Channels Box, rename this pplane1 to Ground. - Select the polyplane1 under the Inputs section of the Channels Box. Break it into 20+ subdivisions for height and width. - Right-Click and hold. Select Vertex Mode. - Pull various CVs (purple dots) up and down until you have created an environment in which your snowman can be animated. - AFTER you have completed your ground and it has the peaks and appearance that you were going for, switch back to Object Mode. - Go to the Mesh Menu Smooth. This will break the plane into even more subdivisions, making it have a smoother appearance. You can do this more than once if you would like a smoother look Now think of what you want your Snowman to accomplish in your animation. What props/set items will you need? You should now know the techniques needed to help you create additional props for your scene.
SNOWMAN ANIMATION page 5 LOCKING THE ENVIRONMENT We need to lock the environment around the snowman so that it does not mistakenly move while animating the snowman. - Using your Selection Tool, hold shift and select each part of the ground, sky, water, etc. that you have created. - In the Layers Box (pictured left), click on the New Layer icon. (see graphic1) - Double click on this new layer and rename it Set. - Right-Click on this layer and Hold. Choose Add Selected Objects. The environment layers have now been placed on this layer. - Notice the three boxes associated with this layer. The V box is the Layer s Visibility. Clicking this will hide or view the layer. - Click on the middle box. The T sets the layer to Transparent. The R will Lock the layer. (I don t know why it s not an L for Lock.??) Set the 1 layer to R so that the environment around the snowman is locked. GROUPING YOUR SNOWMAN S PARTS In order to animate the snowman as one cohesive unit, he/she will need to be grouped. - Open your Outliner Window by clicking on the icon with the white bar on the left side. (see graphic 2) Or it can be found in the Window menu Outliner. In the Outliner Window, you will notice it lists ALL of the objects you have created. Have you named them? If you see a lot that are named improperly, click on them and rename them. In order to animate, they need to be clearly accessible. 2 - Using your Selection Tool (Q), draw a rectangle around the fingers and arm of the snowman. - Press Apple+G to Group the snowman s arm and fingers. - Notice in the Outliner Window, the snowman s arm is now listed as group1. Change the name of this to arml. - Group each of the following pieces together: - Each Arm with its fingers - Scarf - Hat - Face pieces to head - Three body pieces of Snowman - Holding Shift, now select each of these groups you created in the Outliner. - Press Apple+G to Group the entire snowman and rename Snowman. - SAVE!
ANIMATING THE SNOWMAN page 6 end time The image above depicts the Time Slider and Range Slider, located at the bottom of the screen. There are 24 frames in every 1 second of an animation. For a 30-second animation, we will need 720 frames. (EXTRA CREDIT for every 15-seconds additional in your animation) - Change the end time of the animation on the Range Slider to 720 frames. - Change the end time of the playback range on the Range Slider to 24 frames. - Click to the number 1 in the Time Slider. - Select the Snowman Group in the Outliner. Move him to the place you would like him to be in for the beginning of the animation. (Have a plan for what your snowman will do in the animation.) - Unlock the Set layer for a minute. - Press A to view All in the viewframe. Draw a rectangle, selecting everything on the screen. - When everything is highlighted, press S to set a keyframe. (On the Time Slider, a red tic line will now be marked. This shows there is a keyframe there.) - Re-lock the Set layer. - Drop the + option down on the Snowman Group. Select each of the mini-groups you created (such as the arms, hat, scarf, etc) individually and hit S for each one. This will set a beginning keyfrme for each piece of the snowman. - Click on frame 12 on the Time Slider. (Frame 12 = half a second). Select the Snowman group you created in the Outliner Window. - Move the Snowman to a place that you would like him to move to and press S. - Click on frame 24 on the Time Slider. The Snowman group should still be selected. - Move the Snowman to a place that you would like him to move to and press S. - Located next to the Range Slider, you can find the Animation Preferences. - Change the Playback Speed to Real Time (24 fps) frames per second - Now press the play button on the Time Slider to see it play. CREATING A CAMERA AFTER you have a decent amount of your Snowman Animation set, we will need a camera created in order to record the animation. - Go to the Create Menu Choose Camera Camera. - At the top of the Perspective View window, there is a Menu bar. Select Panels Look Through Selected. You are now looking through the camera. Set the Snowman s animation to Frame1. Move your view so that you are at the desired angle from which you would like to start filming. - Make sure the camera is still selected in the Outliner and press S to set a key at Frame 1. - Let the animation play. Pivot and Set keyframes for the camera along the way. KEEP THE CAMERA MOVEMENTS SLOW! TRY NOT TO MAKE PEOPLE NAUSEOUS!