Box test animation

[I_Smell]

You can't be an animator without sooner or later making a guy pick up a heavy box and a light box. Today's my day.

I'm applying for jobs all over the place, and Bizarre Creations in Liverpool (the team behind Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars) have this task on their job vacancies page (http://www.bizarrecreations.com/jobs/character_animator.php). Basically they give you a guy and two boxes, and see what you do. I did this:

8W-VoBxPdL4

Ryr2-kK0aCM

Each one took about 3 hours-ish. I don't think they'll reply, but I think I did allright.
I just now scored an interview at a small independant studio in Manchester by the way, woop woop.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2484/zzz2f.png

[CharlieH]

Good work bro. The animations fine, but they do seem to slide as they please on the floor, especially when turning.

[HappyPalooza]

I think they're real good, particularly the first. What I was thinking with the heavy one was when I pick up a heavy box with my hands that far up I usually slightly toss the box higher and slide my hands lower on it, if not under it, to get a better grip.

I didn't really articulate that well but hopefully you know what I mean.

[I_Smell]

Yeah I should've done that. I wanted to, but was having trouble with the box clipping into the guy's face, chest, legs and pretty much everything. It was hard to reach his arms around the box without it intersecting to him. He does readjust his right hand though, but you can't see it from that perspective. The copy I e-mailed has each scene from about about 4 different angles though.

Keeping feet on the ground and turning are two things I'm trying to work on. It's hugely annoying that you cant just position feet in most rigs.

[Casalen]

Good, but what I notice is that the heavy doesn't feel heavy enough. It has good animation after, but the picking it up I'm a little less crazy about. It's not a deal breaker, though, just something that I notice. I'd at least ask to see polished work or something else you can do if I needed to hire an animator.

[Tyler_Legrand]

I was hoping that the small box was the heavy one and the large box was the light one. I'm a sucker for little twists like that.

I made this just for you Smelly. Though I understand it might be more difficult to get that line of action through a 3D program.

http://www.legrandanimations.com/Weight.jpg

[Antisaint]

You're working in 3DS Max, right? I'm pretty sure there's a way to make the rotation and movement of the feet separate from that of the body. Did you rig it yourself?

Also yeah you didn't give it much illusion of weight.

[PyroOwned]

Why can't I see the images/videos on the 1st post? Do I need a flash plugin or Java or something? It's really frustrating.sexually.

[Casalen]

Go to Youtube. See if you can't see the videos there. If not, it'll take you to a download page for the plugin.

[I_Smell]

They got back to me to say I've got no experience, then gave some shockingly in-depth feedback.



Here’s some advice on your animation that might help going forward…



* Keep practicing with your weight and timing. Some of the moves your character performs are a little bit too fast in some places and a little bit too slow in others. Unfortunately there’s no one trick to this; it’s the kind of thing that only comes with practice. Pay close attention to the fundamentals: The essential books for this are The Animators Survival Kit, and The Illusion of Life. Most of the top animators in the world treat these books like the Bible.
* Collecting and working from decent reference is essential. Personally I act out a lot of stuff, paying close attention to exactly how I’m posed at each stage of a motion, and where my weight is planted. I’ll photograph or videotape this when I can. You should also check out reference from Eadweard Muybridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge). You can see some of his reference images just by doing a Google Image Search for his name, and there are a couple of books available that catalogue his motion photography. The internet and specifically YouTube are also good resources.
* When animating characters, remember that no part of their body will ever stop moving entirely. People breathe or subtly shift their weight around, and even though it might seem like someone is holding a static pose, at no point will any part of their body just stop dead. We see this on a lot of reels: moments when a character’s limb or even their whole body might just freeze and hold its position. Even if this is just for a fraction of a second it can seem unnatural and jarring. All you need to do to fix this is just add a bit of subtle movement to the character. It only has to be a few centimetres here and there and it’ll solve this problem.
* Watch for ‘popping’ in the arms and legs. This is basically where the limb stretches to its full extent and for a fraction of a second will seem to lock. It’s kind of like when you throw a ball in the air and then as it comes down you pop your arm and hit the ball back up with the inside of your elbow. You should look out for this in your animation as it almost never happens in reality. Popping usually occurs because of how IK is calculated in animation rigs and it can make an animation look unnatural. When you see this, it’s almost always best to decrease the extent to which the arm is stretched to its limits. It can go to 98-99% of its limits but it shouldn’t go so far that it locks the limb.
* Check out the Resources section on Carlos Baena’s website (http://www.carlosbaena.com/). Carlos is a Pixar animator and his site is one of the best resources on the web for animation Tips, Tricks and Technique.



Hope those tips help. The final piece of advice is just keep working hard and practicing and you’ll get there.

Thanks Michelle.

I've since got a job somewhere else though so whatevs.

[PyroOwned]

Go to Youtube. See if you can't see the videos there. If not, it'll take you to a download page for the plugin.


I can view Youtube videos on the site perfectly..

[Tyler_Legrand]

Oh gnarly!

The essential books for this are The Animators Survival Kit...

:rock:

[BKS]

Oh gnarly!



:rock:

Was it this book that a thread was posted about? Or was that a movie collection?

[Casalen]

Tyler posted a thread about the DVD once, but I think it's the same as the book. Except with moving examples.

[Tyler_Legrand]

I posted both versions. I am a fanboy.

[I_Smell]

I did think of Tyler as I read that.

[PyroOwned]

I got my plugin sorted and I think they're awesome, I prefer the first because it was sharp and funny. :gj:

[Stealth Prawn]

In the first one, he looks very static at 5-6 seconds. Should have added a breathing animation to make him seem a bit more life-like. His arms also looked a bit odd when he was putting the sphere on the large box.

The second one's problem is that it looks too fluid to be life-like.

Beyond that, he has very realistic head and hand movements in both. Good job. I'm glad you got a job.

[bobbinter]

its pretty good,
the first one was hilarious

[timbot]

I think I'm more impressed by the rejection letter than the animations. That's a decent amount of effort to put forth for someone you're not hiring. I also think it's interesting to see animations that are basic like, instead of done and polished by professionals. It really makes me appreciate the skill and time and effort put in by those who make big movies and such.
Hmmm...that all made it sound like I didn't think you were very good. I did think was pretty cool. I don't know shit about animation, but it looked pretty cool to me. Congrats on the job. Hope it goes well for you.

[slaywithgardentools]

I found blender a good aniamtion tool.

[BlackHood]

Out of curiosity does the psychology behind your animation occur to you? Beyond the technical aspect I noticed both your characters gave up and fucked off, which as an interviewer I would note, and possibly draw conclusions about your personal motivation.

I'm not into animation at all but I would have thought the clip ending with him dragging the box away, or possibly sitting on top of it to think would provide a better image of your subconscious.

[Casalen]

I'm sure it would, but an interviewer really doesn't care about his subconscious.

[BlackHood]

All I know is that If I'm gonna pay someone to do a job, I'd like know that they might one day hand it in, rather than delaying it for all eternity.