Crazy 8's

Step 1: Create a curve on Translate Y (your up/down movement) with 3 keyframes. Put some value on the middle keyframe to offset it's value from the first and last keyframe.



Step 2: Do the same with Translate X (your side to side movement)



Step 3: Grab one curve (doesn't matter which one really) and offset it's time, making sure that the beginning key of one curve lines up in the middle of the other curve. This will make a criss-cross shape.

Select both curves in the graph-editor.
Go to:

Curves>Pre-Infinity>Cycle

and then:

Curves>Post-Infinity>Cycle

This allows your animation to repeat itself indefinitely.

Play your animation. The movement on your object should be a circular motion. Pat yourself on the back. Now you know how to make circles! :)




Step 4: Delete the last key on your Translate X curve. You will now have only two keyframes here.

Select the Translate X curve and in the graph-editor go to:

Curves>Pre-Infinity>Oscillate

then do the same with:

Curves>Post-Infinity>Oscillate

Now look what happens to the curve when you do this and compare it to what happened when you did the Infinity Cycle. This isn't a critical step, but is a good thing to know about.

Next, offset the Translate X curve so that it looks like it does in this picture. This will give you a figure 8 motion.

Anticipation & Squash and Stretch

Like all the 12 principals of animation, Antic&S/S are principals that have been observed in life and exaggerated (sometimes way too much) by animators over the years.

Sure, sometimes it's nice to look at broad and over-the-top animation examples to see these principals being used in a way that's much more clear, although I discourage animators from overusing this because it will end up becoming too much of a focal point in your animation.

A good example of this is in Don Bluth's animation...there's no doubt he's been a tremendous influence in the world of animation but he definitely relies on a TON of over-exaggerated anticipation and squash and stretch to create his style. Unfortunately, this style has brought a lot of professional animators to look at his work today with a hint of disdain. So in other words, following this style isn't the best way to get a job these days! :)



Unless of course, your goal is to create comedy from the overly exaggerated Antic&SS through parody...the catch here is that there can be no mistake that you're going for that in your work. A good example of this is in Spongebob:




Looking at examples where Antic&S/S is either underused or not incorporated at all is a great way of seeing how easily animation can become bland. (With all respect to Willis O'Brien who will always be considered a genius and a pioneer. After all, he paved the way for all future animators, and we all do our work standing on his shoulders.)
In this example, go to 4:10 and ask yourself how antic&s/s could add more life to King Kong as he's reacting to the planes shooting him.



...and finally, don't forget the Contact Frame!

Remember that the contact-frame can add a really nice touch to your anims. Be sure to look at Richard William's example in the Animator's Survival Kit on pages 94 and 95.
Your animation will look "ok" without it, but will really shine if you put it in.

In the Animator's Survival Kit, there are two versions of the contact frame example, which will make a pretty significant difference in the way your animation looks.
The first one, on page 94 shows one contact frame on the way down, but not one on the way up. This example is for a bouncing 'lifeless' ball.
If that's in your scene, then that's groovy- but if you're going for a ball that's "alive" then definitely think about it more like the character's on page 95- with a contact frame on the way down and one on the way up. This will add a sense of life and a greater feeling of anticipation to your animation.
This contact frame is just a small part of what makes the difference between a character that's moving on it's own accord (Luxo is a great example) and a generic bouncing ball, but is something that can really add a ton of personality to this assignment. Don't forget it!

Let's Roll

Here's a basic overview of the graph editor tips I went over today. I applied this to a simple ball bounce so you guys can see more clearly how it applies to ease-in and ease-out, and how tangents can be edited together to produce smoother motions. Following this advice will help you guys to start using good Graph Editor habits and getting the most out of the curves you create.


Start by creating a curve on RotateX (RX) and TranslateZ (TZ).



It doesn't matter what order you do this in, just make sure each channel has two keys over a span of the exact same time.



So for example, if you make your keys in RX on frames 1 and 40, put your keys on TZ on 1 and 40 as well.




Make sure your curves are set for weighted tangents. You can also set this to be default for your curves in the Animation Preferences box. (Bottom right corner of Maya)



Now set Free Tangent Weight on the tangents (make sure they are selected) so you can pull the tangents out and set the ease-in and out manually.



And finally break tangents. Remember, you can hotkey all these steps. I have mine set like this:

J-free tangent weight
M-break tangents

and my tangents are set as weighted by default.

Now edit the values of the TZ and RX so your ball looks like it's rolling. You can grab the keys in the Graph Editor and move them up and down, depending on how much you want your ball to move. You set the rotation to look right by eye, but make sure you playblast every once in a while to see if it's right. Too much or too little rotation will make the ball look like it's sliding. Make sure you get a nice roll:



IMPORTANT: Adjust the ease-ins and outs by pulling your now free and broken tangents out, but make sure that you move the tangents for the RX and TZ AT THE SAME TIME!
If you move them separately, you'll have a really hard time making the ball roll look smooth.



Now at your Translate Y (TY) onto your ball for the bounce. This is summed up really well in Bobby's video so I'm going to kind of skim over it.

Tip: You can add keyframes into a curve by holding donw "i" and hitting the middle mouse button into the area of the curve you want the key to go.



Change the tangents at the lowest values (when the ball hits the ground) to linear so you get the feeling that the ball is bouncing sharply and not easing into or out of the contact frame.



Next, set the tangents on the apex of the arc (at the balls highest point in the bounce) to free tangents. Move them out accordingly to get some nice, exaggerated air-time on your bounce.

When you pull these tangents out, you'll notice that the curves at the bottom by the bounce will start to "bow" and bend in a way that you don't want.
Change those tangents to free and broken and move them so they're nice and smooth coming into and out of the bounce. Avoid this:



and be sure they look smooth, like this:



Experiment with tangents to see what different effect they have on your animation.

Always be careful when moving a tangent and make sure you're not messing up anything else down the line.

Pose is Key!

One of the biggest things I've noticed, is that most first term students tend to jump head first into their animation assignments but pay little or no attention to the POSE assignments. Don't make this mistake! These poses are a huge part of the learning process, and almost any animator will tell you that a pose can make or break any animation.


As Ham Luske said:
"Your animation is only as good as your poses. You can have good timing, good overlapping action, and good follow through- but if your poses are not strong and to the point (telling the story) you do not have good animation."

I know these pose assignments don't have the "wow" factor of putting things into motion, but I guarantee that if you make these poses as appealing and unique as possible, you will turn heads and get noticed by your fellow students and other mentors. Below are some things to really think about when making your poses.

1. THE LINE OF ACTION





This seems to be the biggest one, next to the hand poses. I can't stress enough how important a good, simple and CLEAR line of action is to any pose. To sum it up, the line of action is a quick way to see if your pose has the proper dramatic "flow" to it.
Your best bet when creating a good line of action, is to start with that line and work around it. If you've already created your pose, try drawing a line through it to see if it's working in the most simple and clear way possible. If you aren't getting that simple line, you should probably re-think your pose. Maybe you need to rework the staging or the arc of the spine. Whatever it is, do the best you can to make that line work!

2. THE HANDS!

The hand poses are a HUGE part in the appeal of your character. I've seen so many pose assignments turned in that were pretty good but had terrible hand poses. These bad hand poses instantly destroy the credibility of the overall pose and make it very inorganic.
Hands are crucial in communicating attitude. Just think about all the attitude that can be conveyed with your hands. That said, don't get too carried away with this. It's important to remember that they're just an extension of the body and they must all flow together.
Also, just because a character doesn't have fingers (like Stu) doesn't mean you can't make great hand poses. Think about the overall shape, not just the individual parts.
Here are some excellent examples of natural hand poses drawn by the great Angus McLane:


3. AVOID THE CHARACTER WITH NO CHARACTER

Let's face it. Stu is one of the most generic characters out there. Faceless, fingerless, monochromatic....Hell, the poor guy doesn't even have clothes! I think it's safe to say that there have been a few other characters out there that have been easier to work with. But there's a very calculated reason to why he's been created that way.
One of the biggest, is that it provides you as the artist with a practically blank canvas to add your own character onto. It also forces you to create the character without anyone else's pre-conceived ideas already built into it.
This is REALLY challenging! Giving Stu a definitive character is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish this term, but I guarantee it is something that if you learn to do well, you will be able to apply to any character you touch in the future. This is the area that makes animation truly interesting.
I took a class with Ed Hooks, you know, the "Acting for Animators" guy, and we did this really interesting exercise that really struck a chord with me. He had us do a pantomime exercise where we picked a profession, (doctor, lawyer, television evangelist) but didn't tell anybody what we chose. We then did a little scene where we were waiting at a bus stop as these characters, not saying a word, but keeping in mind what our professions were. When we were done, the audience then had to guess what we were. I tells ya, it's kind of unbelievable how most people got what the other person was just by STANDING there.
So you see? It just goes to show you how little you need to rely on props and costumes to get the point across. Sure, they're great to have, and really add the little details that make them interesting, but they're in no way necessary to sell your point. This is why I know you can give character to Stu.
I challenge you guys to really think about this one when you're doing a Stu scene. Think about who he is. Is he really a "he" or is Stu short for Stulletta (ok I admit that's a terrible name, but all I can think of right now :P)
Where is she coming from? Where is she going? What mood is she in?
These are just a few questions that good animators and actors use to make their characters shine and come alive, and there's no reason you shouldn't be asking them for these assignments as well.
When Walt said "The mind is the pilot." he nailed the idea behind what makes a character really stand out. Give that character a real thought process, a real mind, and the rest will fall into place.