CI7880 CHARACTER ANIMATION FOR FILM AND GAMES
KU ID: K2348637
MENTOR: RICHARD CUNNINGHAM
INTRODUCTION:
Hello, this is Ashwanth Dhanusumani. This production blog explains the overall workflow pipeline and methodology carried out for the module of Character animation for Film And Games. As a first step I decided to proceed with the walk cycle animation and the animation required for the game asset pack since we had an option to pick from the character performance art and the facial expressions.
Since Animation is not my main stream line and had a lot of new things to cover I decided to stick with the basic personality walk and the game asset pack which included the following animation cycles such as.
1. Idle Animation cycle
2. Run Cycle
3. Jump Animation
4. Dodge/Flip/Dive/Dash Animation
PRE PLANNINGS AND SCHEDULING:
The below included image is the mind map which explains the overall plan that was made for this module in order to figure out the workflow which is going to be carried out throughout the entire process.
Mind Map for the Animation Module
Since Animation was not a familiar thing to do I had a lots of new information and techniques that I had to cover before diving into the assignment part. The following were the steps that were carried out before working with the module.
1. Browsing for suitable Rigs.
2. Testing out the rigs in Maya
3 Animation plugins and scripts for easing out the workflow.
4. Covering the Basics of Animation Principles
5. Gathering Reference materials that depicts basic key poses required for the animation cycles.
6. Setting up the Gathered References in Pure ref.
After tackling these crucial steps I decided to just proceed with the initial step which is setting up the required Maya project file. Once the project files were setup separate folders were created in the scene folder accordingly based on the different assignments. As a next step the following parameters were tested out before jumping into the assignment.
1. Downloading the required rigs.
2. Setting up the reference editor in the Maya project for the Rig
3. Gathering the required information about the rig functions to figure out the rig operations using the provided walkthrough videos which came along with the rig.
The following were the two rigs used in the animation module:
1. Delta Rig
2. Spider Gwen Rig from Spiderman
Credits :
Delta Rig- Agora Community
Spider Gwen Rig- Alex Salmar- Animation methods and the Gum road website
GETTING STARTED WITH THE MODULE:
ASSIGNMENT-01: Personality Walk cycle:
In this particular assignment I decided to start with the most basic animation exercise where everyone starts, which is the walk cycle. It has always been the starting point for all the animators which almost include all the basics of animation which can be implied into the workflows.
As per the requirement for the submissions the walk cycle was animated in 24 fps as mentioned in the course assessment document.
The following were the reference images gathered for the personality walk cycle:
General Reference for the Walk Cycle
Key poses for the Walk Cycle obtained from the video
The following were the key poses gathered from the You tube video by I want to be an animator- Animation Tutorial Channels were I found 16 different walk cycles personalities included in the video. Among all these different walk cycles I chose to go with the Shy walk which seemed to be quite interesting and challenging enough for me as a beginner animator. For the walk cycle I decided to proceed with the Pose to Pose animation technique were the basic poses were setup as a first step.
STEP-01: Blocking out the Key poses:
Using the general key poses references I started with blocking out the key poses required for the walk cycles. Getting to these poses was a lot more challenging with the Delta rig that I chose for this cycle since the character posing in the reference had its shoulder a lot more tucked in and hands clenched together with subtle movement while walking.
As mentioned in the mind map and the pre planning part I have added the required animation plugins for mirroring the poses.
The following were the two plugins used in the overall animation module:
a-Tools : Basic, free and the initial version of the Animbot plugin.
Mirror Controller tools plugin : Just a separate plugin for mirroring the poses.
Credits:
1. ATools Plugin
2. Mirror Controller tools plugin-Mikkel Diget Erikson
a- Tools plugin almost includes all the basic functions which can be done using the Animbot plugins including the easing in out, Tween, Mirroring the poses, creating selection sets etc.
The following You tube video helped a lot in almost covering all the basic functions that can be done using the 2 plugins that I have used in this animation module:
Animbot vs ATools Maya Animation Plugin Comparison: Mark Masters
Mirror Controller tools plugin - Mikkel Diget Erikson
Since this was just the blocking out phase the most commonly used function in the walk cycle the mirroring the pose options.
Using these following images I completed the most crucial and important step which is blocking out the key poses as shown in the images below.
STEP-02: Polishing and Refining poses:
As a next step the all the blocked poses were converted into stepped mode using the graph editor from spline mode to make sure there was no flipping and foot sliding issue in the walk animation. Once these steps were ensure I moved onto the next step which is converting it from the stepped pose to tangents and to polish the animation further by adding necessary interpolation.
As shown in the above images the graph editor was mostly used to tune in the animations to add the extra bobble of the head. For the foot flapping the heel roll and toe roll operations in the rig were used to get the fluidity while moving the feet of the character.
Getting hold of the graph editor and its function was bit more confusing and tedious than expected. Luckily with the help of friends and the following You tube video by Sir Wade Neistadt channel helped a lot in covering almost all the basic operations that can be performed using the graph editor.
Youtube video : How to Animate With the Graph Editor.
The following were the important information learned from the following tutorial:
1. Shortcuts used in the graph editor.
2. All different tangent modes and its purpose.
3. Placing the new keys in between frames without affecting the shape of the overall curve.
4. When and where to use the linear operations of the curve.
5. Manipulating the timing and spacing
6. Copying and pasting keyframes whenever required within the graph editor.
ASSIGNMENT-02: Game Asset Pack:
Idle Animation:01
As a first part of the game asset pack I decided to go with the idle animation pack before moving onto the complex animations involved with the other animation cycles of the assignment.
For the game assets pack I decided to go with the Gwen Stacy rig as it had more extra parameters on controlling the rig and it felt a bit more appropriate for the game animation pack. As always the in the corresponding project the rig was setup using the reference editor.
STEP-01: Posing the Character:
Since the idle animation reference idea I had in mind had the important part in the overall pose of the character before adding in the keyframes for the animated part.
The following were the main reference image that I gathered for the overall posing of the character based on its personality to get visual narrative and make the scene a bit more interesting.
Since the idle animation for the character was more subtle I decided to go with the pose to pose animation workflow and then to hold the keyframes at certain point along the timeline to make the head rotation and the breathing animation to make it a bit more natural.
The following video helped a lot in assisting with me to get started with the basics and the important tips and tricks to keep in mind before jumping into the animation part of the assignment.
Keep your character Alive - You tube video by Sir Wade Neistadt
From this video the following were the important tips and tricks gathered:
1. Setting up the overall scene for the animating the scene.
2. Adding in the Render camera and setting the up overall visual scene.
3. Using the top controllers in the rig to make the base for the breathing animation.
4. Manipulating the controllers and scaling the controllers which is usually not an option using most of the rig.
Reference images for the Overall posing
After gathering the required reference the overall pose of the character was done using the Gwen Rig.
Posing the Character
For the animation part of the assignment I decided to go with the reference from the Marvel Spiderman Remastered game loading screen where the character sticks on to the building staying vigilante looking out for the crimes happening around the city.
Reference video from the loading screen of Spiderman Game
STEP-02: Placing the Keyframes:
As next step simple breathing animation were applied to make the character to look more alive by keyframing the shoulder, chest and the spine control of the rig to make the movement look subtle, effective and much more natural. After adding on the breathe animation I made some small changes to the posing of the hand.
To match the reference I added the subtle rotation of the head as found in the reference using the head and neck control and to add a much more change I also added movements along the jaws to create make the breathe animation a bit more realistic.
As a final step I added some keyframes along the legs and knees to add a bit more variations.
To match the scene and make it look cinematic I decided to add some props along the scene like in the reference. The asset was downloaded from the Quixel Bridge store along with the textures which was later brought to the scene files.
Addition of Props from Quixel Bridge
Final graph and the Keyframes placed
Run Cycle Animation: 02
STEP-01: Blocking out the Key poses:
The workflow carried out for the run cycle animation was much more similar to the walk cycle. After gathering the required reference most of the key poses were found in the actual reference like I did for the walk cycle.
As a first step the main poses were blocked out and the key frames appropriately along the timeline for the contact, down, jump poses respectively from the reference. The following was the overall reference was used for the run cycle.
Reference used for the Run cycle
Pose to pose animation principle was mostly used for this run cycle animation too.
Reference plane setup for Animation
Blocked out Key poses for the Run cycle
The blocked out poses were mirrored accordingly using the plugin that I used for the walk cycle along the timeline.
STEP-02: Polishing and Refining poses:
Once the required poses were blocked out the poses were refined using the graph editor like I did exactly for the walk cycle. Except the only change I had to make was to control the timing of the foot landing in the ground. So as a result the most of the curves for the foot control was modified in the graph editor to sharp points to the Translate Y values to exaggerate the pose while the feet touches the ground and make it look smooth.
As a final step head and elbows controls were modified to add in the head wobble and hand follow through animation for the run cycle to wrap things up for the run cycle animation.
Jump Cycle Animation: 03
STEP-01: Blocking the essential poses:
For the jump animation I wanted to try something a bit more challenging and fun to animate with. So I chose an emote reference from one of my favorite game which is Fortnite. This emote was related to the Matrix movies franchise where the character leaps into the air and then performs a kick combo before reaching the ground which seemed to be a fun thing to animate as well as to satisfy the jump animation cycle criteria of the assignment.
Reference image gathered from the Fortnite
The following were the major poses which was performed in the emote and I decided to block out those particular poses:
1. Idle pose
2. Push pose from the ground before leaping into the air.
3. Highest point reached in the mid air while jumping.
4. Transition from jump to the punch and kick pose in mid air
5. Reaching the ground pose.
As a last step all the additional poses were added to the animation to make the animation look more fluid and natural by making necessary alterations along the curve to modify the timing and spacing between each keyframes. For holding the character in the leap position I used the same keyframe from one point to another by using the copy-paste option in the graph editor by selecting all the keyframes.
The final step involves more polishing and refining the poses where the character lands to the ground from the kick animation. The timing was adjusted to make the landing of the character to make it more realistic.
Dodge Flip Cycle Animation: 04
STEP-01: Blocking the essential poses:
So as a first step I decided to go with the animation video he posted out in Shadow fight stunts in real Life Parkour, Flips and Tricks by Nick Pro. From all the various stunts he displayed in the video. I picked one where he dodges the attack by flipping backwards from an attack from the enemy.
Basic Reference setup and the initial posing
Final Render setup with the materials and lights
As always I started blocking out the key poses for the dodge flip cycle animation as shown in the above images.
Once blocking out all the keyframes I moved on to the polishing the keyframes by adding extra keyframes for the flipping animation on the legs. As always I followed all the steps just as exactly carried out in the run and walk cycle. This animation also had an small transition from the jump pose to getting to the landing pose to get into the combat. To tackle this I added some extra keyframes in between the animation using ease in and ease out option in the ATools plugin as mentioned in the above images.
LIGHTING AND RENDERING USING ARNOLD MAYA:
ATTEMPT-01: Lighting and Rendering using Marmoset Tool bag
Once all the required animation were done I moved onto the rendering phase. Instead of taking a play blast I decided to go with rendering out image sequence using the Arnold renderer as per the requirements mentioned in the course work.
As a first step I had a plan to use Marmoset Tool bag which our mentor Richard mentioned that it can be used as an alternative to render out the animations for the final submissions.
But exporting the model as FBX along with the baked information of the animation caused various issues when the model was brought into the marmoset tool bag. I looked onto several videos and forums for help on what exactly this might be causing this issue.
Issues faced in Marmoset tool bag
Autodesk Forum: Suggestion
1. Using the referenced file for exporting the animation might be the reason for this issue.
So I made an attempt to import the referenced file into the Maya scene file and then tried exporting the mesh with the root selected in FBX format.
But unfortunately that did not workout either.
2 As a next step I tried exporting the mesh using the Game exported option inside Maya by providing in all the required frames that has to be exported.
Using the game exporter option partly worked by bringing in the mesh inside marmoset tool bag but the animated information was not found and mesh remained idle in the T-pose without any movement.
Setting up the Lighting and Rendering using Arnold in Maya:
After several attempts I finally decided to just go with the Arnold renderer in Maya.
A simple lighting setup was made inside Maya using the following basic lights:
1. ai Sky dome light
2. Area light
A simple HDRI light was used for the sky dome light and the visibility for the camera was brought to zero to hide the HDRI in the final render image sequence. A ground plane was added to get the shadows of the character. A separate ai Shadow matte materials was added to the ground plane accordingly. For the spiderman Gwen Stacy rig ai Standard surface material was added and the corresponding source textures which came along with the rig were added using the hyper shade editor window.
As a next step the render settings were adjusted accordingly. The following were the main parameters modified for the before rendering out the image sequence.
1. Bringing up the samples count of the lights which are included in the scene to avoid the noises in the final render.
2. Bumping up the overall camera, diffuse, specular samples in the scene in the render settings.
3. Setting the required resolution to 1080p and the checking on the motion blur option .
4. Making sure of the project path.
Once all these parameters were ensured the render sequence was used to obtain the render sequence. A similar setup was used for rendering out all the animation required for the final submissions.
FINAL COMPOSITION IN PREMIERE PRO:
The image sequence rendered out from the Maya was later exported into Premiere Pro as an image sequence. A simple BG (Background) color matte was created to add in some color information for the background for the animation to pop out a little more.
As a next step from the presets lumetri color preset was added to create vignette effect along the background of the render. To make the final render a lot more appealing I decided to add some FX elements based on the visual narrative of the animated elements included in the scene.
Overall setup in Premiere Pro
Once these elements were added the required animated videos were exported as per the final submission requirements which is 24 fps for the personality walk cycle and 30 fps for the game pack asset cycle animation in HD 1080p format.
CREDITS AND LINKS USED FOR THE OVERALL REFERENCES ANIMATION MODULE:
Credits:
Spider Gwen Rig- Alex Salmar
Source Website : Alex Salmar- Gumroad
Character Design : Olivier Desirée (Capi)
Character Artist (Modelling and Surfacing): Joan Berenguer
Rigging: Alex Mann
MgPicker: Trefle Meilleur
Rig Walkthrough video : Chus Herrero
ATools Plugins: Source- Github
Animbot vs ATools Plugin - Mark Masters You tube channel explaining the major difference between Animbot and the ATools plugin.
Source: Mirror Controller tools plugin Mirror Controller tools plugin-Mikkel Diget Erikson
Walkthrough Video for the Plugin - You tube video- Mikkel Diget Erikson
How to Animate with the Graph editor - Sir Wade Neistadt
Breathing Animation Tutorial - Sir Wade Neistadt
Shadow Fight Stunts in Real life - Nick Pro You tube channel
Spacing and Overlap - Skitty Animates Youtube Channel
SELF CRITIQUES AND REFLECTIONS:
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
1. The animation module was a bit lot than I expected. I had a lot to learn while using the graph editor in Maya and to figure out what exactly is happening around while manipulating the curves in maya using the different curve options or when to use the linear, tangential curves or to make it smooth.
2. Plus how to add the extra animation crisp to the character by including the follow through and overlap animations in between frames of the key poses. Using the plugins came back at me with some issues where mirroring the identical poses from one control to the other did not work as exactly as planned.
But the assignments which involved the game asset pack animation was challenging and had lot more fun in animating the characters especially in re creating the emote from the Fortnite game which really made me come out of my comfort zone in animating something new. Maybe I could have done some better job in refining the animations by using alternatives instead of sticking to the similar workflow and it kind of felt monotonous at the end while animating with the pose to pose workflow.
CONCLUSION:
Considering the overall experience I had a lot more new interesting things to learn in the animation workflow which includes all the basic information to some of the intermediate and the advanced workflows and did my level best for this animation module and to submit the final renders.
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