Reflections: Week Two, Pirates and Plans

After sending Lewis from the Pirates group my walk cycles, this is the response I received back:

'Hi Hayley,These are really nice. Very good work. I'm impressed. We should have acharacter ready for animation very soon.Could you look through the animatic and see what shots you are interested in?coolio x'

I am very happy, although I do not know for sure yet whether the Whack'D group want me, and if they do I will have to ask my tutor to make sure I can work on both projects. For now until they have character models ready, I will look through the Pirates animatic for shots I like, and I also want to decide which of my previous University projects I would like to improve so that I have an even better showreel and portfolio for my DVD. I already know I wish to add a character to my environment project, as the last section was a disappointment to me and I feel it would be greatly improved by adding character animation and also a background. I may even make it more of a dusk evening than night time so that the lighting has a warm redish hue and is more dramatic.

On reflection for the last week, I am really pleased with my walk cycles I think they have improved so much since my attempts last year and I have also completed them an awful lot faster than before (obviously as I know more about Maya and the userface now). I do want to add even more to them over the next couple of days, whether this be more steps or even an environment for the character to move in.

Plans for this week:

1. Watch the Pirates animatic
2. Decide which shots I would like to work on
3. Try animating with Max these shots until I have the animated rigs from the Team
4. Continue to contact the Whack'd team to see if they also would like me to work for them... then decision time
5. Choose which of my previous work to improve
6. Begin animating more with my old projects
7. Start making new sketches to also add a gallery section to my DVD ( I want to add more life drawing so will take my drawing pad into London and make some quick sketches of people on the streets, and also some architectural pieces)
8. Continue with my walk cycles

I am giving myself major starting points this week, as I am working as a Runner at The Mill and realise I will probably not finish my ideas, but have the strong foundations to work from so that come Sunday and especially my next University week I can devote my time entirely to drawing and animating. I am really excited about the prospects for this term now :)

My response to Lewis:

'Hey Lewis,Thank you so much I am happy you liked them! :D :D

I was wondering if your animatic appears on youtube or vimeo etc as I tried to watch it on your blog but it is a bit small and slow to watch via blogger. If so please can I have a link to it.

I was also wondering if we will be given one character to animate or for example if we choose a scene with like three characters then will we animate all of them?

I would ideally like scenes of varying difficulty so that some I can complete quickly for you where as others will challenge me, and I can devote time to making them of a high standard.

Oh and I was also wondering if any of my classmates are working on your film and what roles they are taking so I can start talking to them about the project too.

Hope you are well, Hayley'

Run Cycle

The main thing I have been working on this weekend is a run cycle. This is my first attempt and although it is only a few steps I think it is quite convincing so far. I want to add to it now and maybe have a narrative with comedy, perhaps he can run into a wall or something like that. I will work on that over the next few days and storyboard the scene first.

I think the arms are a bit rigid but because he is moving so fast it does not seem to matter as much because you do not see it for too long. The run cycle is on 8 frames per step, so I may try it quicker and slower to get the right level of speed.

Further Jump Research

Chair Jumps

This is my first attempt at making Max jump from the chair, I like how he steps onto the arm for leverage although the arm movements could do with a bit of work. I am pleased that I brought them back before going forward, giving him some anticipation.

Adding an Armchair

Before I start animating different ways of jumping off the chair, I wanted to actually add in a chair, because I think it will help me with scale and proportions of how my character will jump compared to just the basic blocks I had created beforehand. I am using the smallest armchair in this set and I think it fits Max quite well. I found it as freeware at

http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/free-3d-models/sofa9/prod_3878.html



I realise that this will not be the final model as the Whack'd team will have already created that, but it is a start and like I said will be much better to animate with. I also think he would be able to get a little bit of bouce from the chair too, and it also has possibilies to fall over so fits the different types of jump/fall I want to try.

Muybridge Reference

Searching for jumping or types of jump online did not give me much feedback, so I have started to look into the old Muybridge photos for reference. These show different types of jump that I could implement into my work. The first is good because it is a standing jump which my character will have from the chair rather than a run up. I do think he becomes a little too outstretched for my liking and this may look odd in a quick movement off the chair. I do like the way he lands crouched down as you can feel the full weight of the jump.


The second image shows a running jump. This is similar to my google images in that the legs are tucked up and the arms counterbalance the action. I think this is definitely one I am going to try and reference from as I like the strong pose in the middle, although the landing is a little bit boring so I will add more exaggeration to this.



The final image is a little bit different and I have chosen it because the power in the jump comes from the arms pushing down on the body rather than the legs leaping into the air. Evidently the arm of the chair will not be as high as this person and the character will not get the run up either, but the position of the character leaning forward in the jump almost looking down and also the arms being lower are an interesting proposition compared to the other 'normal' jumps. The only problem for me is that the rig would probably have to have his legs very high and this may cause him to look somewhat like a gymnast which probably isn't what the team are looking for. But hey, it is an alternative I will try.

Jump Research

After hearing positive feedback from the Whack'd team I have started looking into jumping so that the character can jump off the chair. I'm not quite sure how he will do it, he may have to stand on the chair first. These videos show how to jump from a height, although he is really just stepping from the platform. I do think the way that he lands is interesting and shows how my character should be positioned. I will try this method tomorrow.






This is a very basic video, of which my interest is the diagram near the middle. It has made me question how extreme a pose he will pull whilst in the air, with the legs that dramatically high it could add good exaggeration to the scene or make it look a bit too much and silly. Again I will try this in my scene. I do like the arms over the head pose however as I used it in my first chair attempt because he is being shot at and it can be seen as a sort of protective gesture like he is trying to shield himself. If it does give him more power in his jump then it could show even more thought behind his pose.



This website tells you how to achieve a high vertical jump just like the video above. This is mostly what I could find about jumping on the internet.

http://http://hubpages.com/hub/Vertical-Jump-Exercises-5-Kinds-Of-Jumps-To-Help-You-Achieve-The-Highest-Vertical-Possible

Looking at pictures of jumps on Google, a common theme is to have the arms in the air and the legs bent up. I think the arms up is a bit extravagant for jumping off an armchair so I may just have a little movement in them, but the legs up is a definite possibility as it will give him more height, be a dramatic key, and also give him enough clearance between himself and the arm.

This research did make me wonder what type of chair he has to jump from?

Obviously the more cushioned the chair, the more bounce he will have from it, which will give him more height and a better jump. If the chair is just a cheap plastic one or more rigid, it is more likely that it will fall over with him rather than a clean jump off it. If it does fall over he could use it as a shield and pick it up rather than hiding behind it.

I think these are more questions for the Whack'd team, but for now I will explore the different possibilties.