Assignment #6: Walk Polish and Facial Expressions

Assigned: Friday, November 3rd, 2017
Due: Friday, November 10th @ 10:00 AM

Part 1: Cardinal Expressions

This week you will be working on facial expressions. There are six main expressions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Surprise, and Fear. You will be using the Corruption rig for these expressions. Keep in mind that even the slightest details can change how the face is read. Use the mirrors in the lab and yourself as reference. Also remember that the position of the head can change how an expression is read, so feel free to rotate the neck control.

You will be using this file as a starting point:

O:/unix/projects/instr/capstone1/cse459_au16_rigs/corruption_rig_expressions.ma

It has a preset camera looking at front and side instances of the face. You just need to click the quick playblast button on the production shelf to output the cardinals when you're done posing the face. If the camera setup slows down the scene or ever gets in your way feel free to temporarily hide the face_render_cam_grp node.

Set a key every 40 frames using the specific sequence of expressions. They will be automatically labeled in the playblast:

000 - Neutral
040 - Joy
080 - Sadness
120 - Anger
160 - Disgust
200 - Surprise
240 - Fear

For those of you who took the summer class with Gary:

In addition to the cardinals, please animate the Tyrant sequence with Corruption and the Lucas rig. Body animation can be mostly blocking and some breakdowns, so please focus on the facial expressions.

As far as grading goes, the total points will remain the same, but the cardinal assignment will count for less. You'll automatically be given extra credit for the additional work!

To unlock the face rig in your existing Maya files select Corruption's top con and set the "P Face Anim Vis" and "S Face Anim Vis" attributes to 1.

Note that the face rig is separate from the body rig. When you select all anims with the Ctrl+Shift+a menu, you will be selecting either all of the body anims or all of the face anims.

Part 2: Walk Polish

You will be finishing up your walk cycle with additional breakdowns and polish.

Refer to this Polish Checklist and make sure your animation is looking smooth and exhibiting correct body mechanics.

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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:

• At least 4 cardinal expressions OR advanced breakdowns of splined walk, some polish.

Grading Criteria:

Facial Expressions

• Do they read?
• Do they contribute to your narrative?
  
  

Walk Polish

• Full body posing
• No sliding feet
• All anims keyed on each pose (for extremes and breakdowns)
• Good timing/spacing, moderately paced walk
• Weight and its effect on the hips
• 24 frames per second
• No partial frames
• Smooth movement between poses
• Arcs
  • Up/down of waist through space
  • Foot movement
• Overlapping action and follow-through
  • Successive breaking of joints
  • Head movement isn't jerky
• Sufficient polish

For Turn-In:

Part 1: Cardinal Expressions

• [lastname]_[firstname]_cardinals.ma
  (Maya file containing your cardinal expressions)
  
  
• [lastname]_[firstname]_cardinals.mov
  (Final playblast of your cardinal expressions)
  

Part 2: Walk Polish

• [lastname]_[firstname]_polish.ma
  (Maya file with polished, cycled walk)
  


• [lastname]_[firstname]_polish.avi
  (Playblast with polished walk cycle, 100 frames -- Clean, fully framed, 1280x720 resolution, static camera, anims hidden)