Updating Old Shots

Part of me updating my portfolio is going back to old shots and applying what I know now to what I did before.  And man, it's a doozy of an update.  In a nutshell, I went back and did lighting and camera for both shots.  I also went back and fixed a slew of timing issues, as well as touched on a lot of the animation, based on what I know now, versus what I knew then.

The Imp Mage one was always meant to have lighting, but the tests I did never matched the lighting concept I started with. The Leaping Thief animation got the most animation touchups and it had an ending added back in.

First up is the Dungeon Crawl Imp Wizard animation.  With the updated lighting, the drama of the monster in the shadows should hopefully read a lot better now than it did before.  He holds the glowing staff for a long longer now, giving time to see the imp's face, for the camera to shift, and for the viewer to see the monster's breathing, before seeing the imp's reaction.



Second is the Dungeon Crawl Leaping Thief animation.  This one needed the new camera and lighting, which meant adding a lot more of the background in.  I did a number of animation changes as well, such as covering his head a bit, as he runs through the traps.  But the biggest animation change is to the end;  I had cut out the original ending because the slow climb up just didn't match the cocky thief at the beginning.  I've replaced it with a dramatic ledge slip to show off that he knew the risk he was taking.



And since this one was missing a nice camera, here's the dynamic camera to go with the update!

Big Sword Animation, First Pass

This one is just a quick update.  I went through it and fixed all of the timing.  I've done a first pass to smooth out everything, and to doubly check the timing, since blocking does a great job at hiding it (I usually block in linear for that reason).  My next step is to go through and clean up all of my arcs, especially in that body.  I've done a bit of it already, but I have a lot more to do.

And for fun, here's a rough camera test, too.

Big Sword Man Animation, Blocking

Here's the current animation I'm working on.  I've been wanting to do a heavy sword combo for a while now.  Right now I'm still blocking it out, using a slightly different method than I have before.  So far I've learned a few things from this one:

1. Joe Daniel's Body Mechanics Rigs are awesome! They're worth every penny.  They have some great features that really show off body mechanics, such as the twisting in the arms/legs.  It does help that they are fairly blank.  Also, I always forget how ridiculously useful turning on and off body parts is.

2. Along those lines, I'm mostly in IK arm space for this one, it really helps to block the hands without the arms visible.  I can focus on where they need to be, then turning on the arms later, I can adjust them so the elbow actually works properly.  In fact, the left hand was the very last thing I touched in the video above.

3. Getting good reference isn't enough unless you are inspired by it too.  I mean, that's obvious, right?  I tried to jump into this one though, with some reference I had shot a month or two ago, and I was just struggling.  When I recorded some fresh reference though, I found the excitement that the old stuff just didn't give me.  I had to delete some old work, but it was absolutely worth doing.

I'll be posting an update fairly soon!

Into Cover and Wall-flip Animation

I've worked on this one for just two days.  I wanted to do that slide up to the wall bit; it's a good practice shot.  I actually think that part is working the best, and I'm looking forward to doing that smooth reload animation from my reference.  The flip though, this is where my reference stopped short.  I didn't decide what I wanted to happen at the end, because I didn't put the same amount of thought into that motion.

I ended up doing two versions of the end, a standing side vault (usually done from a run) and a flip.  Forgive the lack of timing on the first vault.  They do look cool, but I still have to decide what the story of the shot is; that's something that I should have already worked out, and now I'm suffering for it.

iAnimate Games Workshop 2 - takedown

This is my favorite one yet.  There isn't a whole lot to be said. I really liked working with two characters interacting with each other. It is short and sweet, and it just drips with body mechanics. BODY MECHANICS!

This semester has been great, and I really feel like I made some great progress. Confidence comes from mastery, and I feel like I can proudly show off these iAnimate pieces to others, and feel like I'm honestly putting my best foot forward.

In the progress reel below, you can see an additional strike at the end that I ended up removing. I thought it added a really nice punctuation to the end, but I decided it messed up the flow too much. Either I'd scrap it, or completely redo it. For now, I've decided on the former.

iAnimate Games Workshop 2 - the cannon hammer

Ric Arroyo is a badass. He knows how to be hard, and he knows how to push people. Ric, if you ever read this, keep being that guy. I'd love him to be my boss one day.

This animation started out with an idea I've been playing with, a single-shot cannon that doubles as a hammer. If you look at ancient infantry cannons, they were built with a long wooden rod to be planted in the ground, and the iron cannon mounted at the opposite head. I went through several ideas of how to juggle the box and get a cool shot in there somehow. My favorite was flipping the box in the air, and shooting it on the way down. But, I went with this combo, because I wanted to work on the physics of the slide and the knockback -- some real-world physics to work on (mixed with the fantasy of the weapon, of course.)

The idea wasn't fully fleshed out right away, as you can see from the progress reel. I make some pretty big changes partway through. The original flick of the butt end of the cannon just didn't feel powerful at all. I ended up switching to two-hands, which made a huge difference on that hit; but then I had issues with hand rotations, and shoulder alignment. And throughout the whole thing, I struggled with the slide/jump back just looking natural. It was hard to reference, because I specifically wanted all in one motion; not a skip and not a stumble. But hey, that is what learning is about.

iAnimate Games Workshop 1 - a turn

This seemed like a really simple assignment, but at the same time, just like the poses, I was really surprised at how many little corrections Brett did that made a huge difference. There were a lot of areas I could push it and smooth it out even further. The final version just looks nice and clean.

Animation Mentor Class 3 Dungeon Crawl - The Thief on the Ledges

Last one of the semester, and I'm ending strong!  This has been a great semester so far, and I feel that I've learned quite a bit.  Shoutout to my mentor, Drew Adams, for his support and guidance.

I combined two ideas to make this one.  I really wanted to do a leap to a ledge; but that idea wasn't interesting on it's own.  I also had an idea of a thief going through a bunch of springing traps: wall arrows, spikes, tripwires, etc.  I thought that latter idea, though potentially hilarious, would be much less suited in this series.  So I kept the pressure plates and wall darts, and merged it with that broken rope bridge.

The dagger spin is really neat.  That gets some attitude down, not to mention, tosses and catches just look straight up cool.  I had to make sure the pressure plates read.  That intro was a bit heavy handed to reveal how they work, but I think it is worth the readability to the shot.

In the progression shots below, you can see that he originally climbed onto the ledge.  I ended up cutting it out because it just didn't match the leap the character did.  If I were to come back to this (which I may still do), I would give him a spring leap up -- maybe something a bit more cartoony.  But as is, with that lumbering heavy pull, it just didn't add to the animation, which was really about the run and the jump.  I AM getting better cutting stuff, and being okay with losing time, if it strengthens the shot.  Progress!

Animation Mentor Class 3 Dungeon Crawl - Scary Rooms, Cute Wizards

(Note: I added in the beast at the bottom at a later date. Subtle, right?)

I loved the last one?  No, I love this one.  I could make animations like this for the rest of my life.  I need to do more cute characters.

This one came together really well, just as the last one did.  I'm getting a bit better at my reference; something really clicked once I started my Animation Mentor classes.  I think it's the experience that comes with time, too.

I thing the story in this one is nice and simple.  The animation just came easily with this guy.  I don't know if it's because he is blobby and all about shapes, or if the idea was jut that well visualized.  I got to the point where I was polishing to the camera a lot quicker than I have in the past.  And every part of it, I enjoy watching back.

I decided to play with the lighting a bit, because I wanted that staff glow to play a part when he 'takes a closer look' in the room.  That gave me the opportunity to get that nice lean-in pose, and the really exaggerated waggle before he runs out.  Natural looking lighting is still difficult for me, but I think I pulled it off here.

You can see from my reference below, that he was originally supposed to recover the staff, in an even cuter pawing at the ground from around the door.  But for the staff to land in an orientation that the door could open and close, and he could grab it and pull it out, AND for his stubby arms to be able to reach it; it was just unrealistic.

Animation Mentor Class 3 Dungeon Crawl - Collapsed Tunnel Escape

The three body mechanics assignments in class 3 don't have to be related, but it seems as if most people like to put them in the same theme, myself included. I chose the theme "Dungeon Crawl", though I'm not making them sequential shots, because I want to try out the other rigs available to me. I'm haven't decided on the other two yet, but I have plenty of ideas on paper.

I must start by saying, I love this shot. The reference (which you can see below) went really smoothly, and gave me a great idea of how this would look. I have axes flying in from some unknown pursuers, and the warrior girl cleverly causes a cave in with the loose doorway strut. It translated really well into real life, including the shield prop, and it translated back into an animation quite well.

I love the slide in, and I love the stumble on the run out. There is something really flowing and visceral about the weight when she stumbles. It's easy for me, as a viewer, to empathize with the speed or panic in which she's moving and stumbling about.

The one spot that I need to take another look at is the second swing. The first swing has nice power to it, but the second swing is just kind of weak. I think I need to cut out that whole section and reanimate it from scratch. I spent an extra week trying to strenghten that section, but I was a bit limited by what I already had, and I don't have the time right now to make that broad change.

I also want to come back and clean up the modeling. The walls are fine, but I need to make the wooden struts look actually weak, and actually like wood. Of course, the cave in should use proper rocks; I think I can do that with a simulation. Also, her shield and mace need some love to up the badass factor. Last, I think she could probably use a helmet or something that says "warrior" at first glace. Maybe I can do something to the texture.

I'm pretty darn happy with the way this came out, and that only makes me more excited for the next two! But first, here is my video refence, and a few progress shots along the way: