MA 3D Computer Animation
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Author: Tingyi Huang

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Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques project 2 Week 8a

Week 8 Animating and render in Blender

▶SETTING UP THE SCENE AND CAMERA IN BLENDER

I use target to animate the camera in Blender. I create a constraint which makes the camera always points towards a special object(such as an empty target). I set up two empty objects in total. One of them is for rotation, another one is for location.

▶VFX IN BLENDER

Also I use emitter in Blender to add some VFX for the scene. It’s very useful tool, I can use it to create things like smoke, fire etc.

▶NOTES ABOUT DEPTH OF FIELD

F-Stop”: This setting simulates the aperture size of a camera.

“Focus Distance”: This parameter determines the distance at which objects are in focus.

“Max Blur”: This option controls the maximum amount of blur applied to objects that are very close or far away from the focus distance

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Previz and Advanced Body Mechanics Week 10 a

Acting week 7

Blocking face animation

I set up the key expressions that the character will go through during this practice. The character is showing disgusted feeling mostly through the upper face like eyes and eyebrows, so I try to focus on that.

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Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques project 2 Uncategorised Week 7a

Week 7 Finish the second character

▶THE SECOND CHARACTER

For the second character, I want to do something whimsical that looks totally not from the world. In this way I can present the connection between two different species.

I made a moodboard first as usual then sketch the character. With the design and moodboard, I have a guide for the next few process(texturing, scuplting etc). I used ZBrush to sculpt the high poly model and then move it to maya to do the retopology and UV. Finally, I set up camera and scene in Blender.

▶PROCESS

▶TEXTURING

▶SETTING UP THE SCENE IN BLENDER

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Previz and Advanced Body Mechanics Week 10 a

Acting week 6

description:

face of disgust most includes nose wrinkling and furrowed or wrinkled appearance between eyes. The eyes usually quint showing the overall displeasure or revolting feeling.

Sketch

Reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4S7lhiS2E
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Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques project 2 Week 6

Week 6 Rigging and making other assests

▶Rigging

I use accurig for the character rigging. I don’t need a very complicated animation so I want the rigging process to be quick and simple.

▶Asset creation and preparation

Fews things to keep in mind when prepare the asset:

First thing is to set up the correct project scale. Maya has a very small scale compare to unreal engine. Also it is necessary to lower the polygon count for all the asset. Last thing to do is to position the pivot of each mesh nicely and place the mesh in the center of Maya.

Material wise, I used Photoshop and Substance Painter. To save the space on the overall amount of texture input, I use targa format with multiple channels.

▶CORAL

▶CRYSTAL

▶CRYSTAL(FLOWER SHAPE)

▶ROCK

▶Asset library

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Previz and Advanced Body Mechanics Week 10 a

Body Mechanicals week 5

Final animation

Though compare to body mechanical I’m more interested in other aspects of a 3d animation such as concept design, environment animating, texturing and VFX, it is still nice to have the basic knowledge about body mechanicals.

Points about body mechanicals:

I think have an understanding about physical limitations, anatomy, and principles of motion is very important when it comes to the creation of convincing and natural animation.

Personally, I think 3d animating has more limitation compare to 2d animation, which made traditional 2D animation look more interesting. I think that is perhaps why most people in the industry nowadays choose to make it blend more with vfx and 2d animated effects. Maybe in the future as the development of 3D software there will be more possibility in 3D animation.

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project 2 Week 5

Week 5 Retopology

▶RETOPOLOGY

Retopology if the process of creating a new and clean topology for a 3D model which allow the mesh to perform in lower polygon count while preserving the overall shape and details. Also with lower polygon is easier to do the UV unwrapping.

I prefer to use Maya for retopology. Normally, I define the major edgy loop and connect them all together. In the end, I use smooth to smooth the topology. Also it is necessary to check if there’s any bad topology in the end.

▶UV and texturing

▶MOODBOARD FOR TEXTURING

I think about crystal when I was texturing the character. I want to have a similar visual on the character.

▶MOODBOARD FOR TEXTURING

▶FINAL RESULT

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Previz and Advanced Body Mechanics Uncategorised Week 10 a

Body Mechanical week 4

I put the stepped curve into spline this week and add more details into the whole animation to make it look better

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project 2 Week 4

Week 4 Continue with Character

At this stage, I proceed to refine the features of the character and start with the sculpting of the body.

I did two variations of the character and choose the last one in the end as my final design for this work. I think the first outcome looks too cyberpunk, the second one fits in better with the fantasy background I want to have for this project.

▶Clothing Blocking

▶Body detail

▶Final outcome

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Previz and Advanced Body Mechanics Uncategorised Week 10 a

Body Mechanicals Week 3

Blocking plus in 3d animation is the stage that follows the first blocking stage. After finishing the key poses in the initial blocking stage, by doing blocking plus will help with the accuracy of the animation. Generally speaking, blocking plus is a process which includes more detail and subtle movements.

I review my blocking first then refine the key poses. I went to each key poses and refine each of them. It is necessary to pay attention to the shape and proportions of the poses. After the blocking plus, the animation looks more polished.

I try to pay attention to the timing between poses, just so I can be sure that the animation feels more natural.