Assignment #6: Push

Assigned: Thursday, October 31st, 2013
Due: Thursday, November 7th @ 4:00 PM

This week you will be animating the recruit pushing a heavy object. You motion will traverse almost the full animation pipeline, from video reference up through breakdowns. Unlike the jump and walk of previous weeks there will be no predefined starting point. Reference and planning will be of even greater importance this time around as you discover how to approach this action. Before moving on, look through this list of specifics for this assignment:

• We should see the recruit pushing a heavy object from a side view. He should start standing at a rest in front of the object and end by settling back into a rest (which doesn't have to necessarily be the same pose and/or position). He should make some progress on moving the object, but your animation needs to convince us that the object is heavy.
  
  
• Use a simple cube as a placeholder for the heavy object. You can make a prop that's a bit more elaborate if you want, but try not to focus too much effort on modeling.
  
  
• Your motion should be no longer than 10 seconds. If anything it could be much shorter. Go for quality of motion over quantity.
  
  
• Have fun with it! Add some character! However, keep in mind that you want to do so within the context of the motion itself - don't add anything too extraneous.
  
  
• Set up a new camera, label it "render_cam", lock the attributes, and animate exclusively from that camera. You only need to tailor your silhouettes one perspective this time. Naming your camera as such will also allow you to use the quick playblast button on the production shelf.
  
  
• Minimize unecessary weight shifts! Each time the character takes a step, even a small one, you will need to carefully examine how the hips/body shifts to compensate for the weight shift. Try to keep it to just 2-3 or less steps.
  
  
• TIP: It will probably help to have an FK/IK switch on the arms somewhere between the anticipation and the action itself. You aren't required to do this, but getting IK hands to move in arcs believably would require some extra attention.

In addition to the push animation you will also be doing some work with constraints. Just think of it as more of a technical exercise. The push is where you will want to sink most of your creative efforts into.

Part 1: Take Video Reference

So far you've animated actions with well defined starting points: for the jump you had the extremes predefined, for the walk you worked within the structure of the contact poses. This time around you're going to have to discover your starting point. For that reason video reference this time is going to be much more critical.

Take reference of yourself pushing against a heavy object or even just a wall. Do several takes! Study this reference exhaustively to figure out where the extreme poses are.

Part 2: Planning Sheet

As with your previous animations, you will start by drawing out a planning sheet. Study your reference exhaustively. Consider what the extreme poses are. Where are the lines of action? How do the silhouettes read? Let your reference guide your sketches but don't let it constrain you. Try out many different possibilities until you find poses that clearly sell the action.

Part 3: Animate

With reference and planning finished, it is time to animate:

1. Block in the extremes. When you are done with the extreme poses, save out a Maya file.
   
   
2. Add breakdowns. Insert breakdowns when needed to help define timing, motion arcs, and overlap. There should be enough such that we can essentially see what your final motion will be in stepped mode. There's no hard number of frames, but for the more active parts of the motion you may even go as low as only 2-3 frames inbetween poses.
   
   Save out a Maya file.

Part 4: Constraints Exercise

Follow this tutorial covering constraints and save out your resulting file and a playblast.

Turn-In Checklist:

You will be submitting your files into Collect-It on Catalyst. Below is a list of criteria we will be using for grading, in addition to a list of the files you will need to turn in for each part of the assignment along with naming specifications.

Also indicated are the minimum requirements for what we expect to review for your motion check-in.

Motion Check-In:

• The extremes blocked in on the character

Part 1: Video Reference

• For Turn-In
  
  
  • [lastname]_[firstname]_ref_##.mov (at least one video file)
    
    

Part 2: Planning Sheet

• For Turn-In
  
  
  • [lastname]_[firstname]_planning_sheet.jpg (digital copy)
    
    

Part 3: Animate

Grading Criteria

• 24 frames per second
• Full body posing
• All anims keyed on each pose (for extremes and breakdowns)
• Good timing/spacing
• Overlapping action and follow-through
  • Think about where overlap can be applied subtly: Offsetting hand placement on the object by a few frames, weight shift of the hips a right before the character steps, etc.
• Arcs
  • Limb movement through space
• Line of action
  • Indicates force being applied
• Misc Push Attributes
• The object being pushed reads as heavy
• Consider what the body does as force is applied: shoulders, hands/fingers, hips
  
  

For Turn-In

• Maya file with extremes:
  [lastname]_[firstname]_extremes.ma
  
  
• Maya file with breakdowns:
  [lastname]_[firstname]_breakdowns.ma
  
  
• Playblast of the breakdowns (clean, fully framed, 1280x720 resolution):
  [lastname]_[firstname]_breakdowns.mov

Part 4: Constraints Exercise

• For Turn-In
  
  
  • [lastname]_[firstname]_constraints.ma
  • [lastname]_[firstname]_constraints.mov